This Week @ St.John

On October 31, 1517 (495 years ago, this week) Dr. Martin Luther, a Theology professor at the University of Wittenburg, Germany posted 95 Theses on the Castle Church door- challenging Christians to discuss and debate what he believed to be errors and corruption in the church of the time. His hope was to reform the Church, not to start a new one. His main teachings were based on Romans 3:22 "...righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." And Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."

Thy Strong Word
St.Johns' Thy Strong Word fund is running low and it will soon be our turn to pay our share. We need your help, please give to the fund, be sure to mark 'Thy Strong Word' on the memo line when you bring your check to the church office. Thank You.

Pastor Merrill will be hosting the 'Thy Strong Word' program on KDSN radio this week Mon- Sat, Oct. 29- Nov.3, at 6:25AM. Start your day off with this devotion on God's Word. http://www.kdsnradio.com 

• Mon 10/29- 7:00pm Building Committee Meeting
• Wed 10/31 9:00am Ladies' Bible Study
• 3:30pm Confirmation
• Thurs 11/1 1:30pm LWML
• 6:00pm Cub Scouts
• Sun 11/4- 8:45am Sunday School & Bible Study
• 10:00am Worship with Communion
• 3:00pm Cub Souts
• 7:00pm 'Truth Project' Study at parsonage

Food Donation Collection for the Temporary Aid Program (TAP) begins in November- This year the Sunday School Children are challenging the grown-ups of the congregation to match their donations.Watch the collection table in the sanctuary all month to see who'll win!

Temporary Aid Program (T.A.P.)
210 S. 25th Street
Denison, IA 51442
Contact Person: Donna Weiss
Phone:712-263-4733
Hours of operation: Mon. & Th. 9-12

VETERANS' DAY, Sunday, November 11-
This year, St. Johns will be recognizing the service of our veterans who served during the Korean Conflict. Those who serves and surviving spouses of those who served will be presented with a special certificate of appreciation. Currently, this will include; Don Friedrichs, Don McCall, Harvey Meeves, Edwin Nemitz, Dan Throckmorton, JoAnn Creese (LaVerne), Lois Goslar (Edward), Dorothy Gries (Don), Jackie Kohnekamp (Walter Boland), Barb Magill (Virgil), and Marilyn Pirwitz (Darlo). If we have missed anyone, please let the church office know.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED- to help with projects for the new church addition in order to be ready for the dedication on December 9. Please call Bob Kroll (678-3407) or Don Friedrichs (678-3720) if you are able to help. Working times will vary and volunteers will be called and scheduled when needed. Examples: moving archive wall, pianos and cooler, installing ceiling tiles, assembling pantry shelving, and dusting kitchen cupboards. All help is appreciated.

LYF Rake-and-Run Sunday, December 4
Call the church office if you need your leaves raked. They'll rake as many lawns as they can, so first come-first-served.

LYF THANKSGIVING DINNER- Sunday, November 11, 11:00am-12:30pm
Turkey, Potatoes & Gravy, Dressing, Corn, Cranberry Sauce, Desserts, Tolls, & Drinks
Free Will Offering. Proceeds raise funds for LYF projects including 2013 National Lutheran Youth Gathering in San Antonio
LWML Cookie & Candy Bazaar Sunday, December 2
11:00am-1:00pm Come fill your box with lots of goodies!

I know that my Redeemer Lives

This week Sunday School kids learned about the book of Ruth.

Even though she was a gentile (a Moabite), instead of returning to her own family after her husband died, Ruth decided to follow her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi (who had also been widowed).

"Your people will be my people and your God my God..." Ruth 1:16

Both women left Moab for Judah to find food.

Through the course of the story, Ruth coincidentally meets one of Naomi's "kinsmen-redeemers," a land owner named Boaz.

Kinsmen-Redeemers were (Leviticus 25:25-25, Numbers 35:19-21, & Deuteronomy 25:5-10) responsible for helping extended family members in need; providing heirs for dead brothers, buying back lost land or even family members sold into slavery.

Boaz hears about how hard Ruth works to take care of her widowed mother-in-law and her loyalty to Naomi and to God. He decides to look out for her, "May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge" (Ruth 2:12).

When Naomi finds out who's fields Ruth has been picking up the leftovers from, she suggests she humbly seek even more refuge, so Ruth asks Boaz to take her in under HIS wing (Ruth 3:9).

Boaz married Ruth and the local elders blessed them, "May the Lord you have standing in Ephratha and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman..." (Ruth 4:12). As it turned out, Ruth would be King David's grandmother and therefore a gentile ancestor of Jesus Himself (Matthew 1:5-6).

Of course, God the Father sent Jesus His Son to be the ultimate "kinsman-redeemer" for all of us, both Jews and gentiles!

Ask your kids about what they learn in Sunday School, have conversations about the Bible and your faith. Talk about times when God used you or times when you may have thought you didn't need God but found out otherwise. 

Take a look at some of the stories they're learning about in Sunday School & Confirmation in the Bible for yourself and make these last few months of 2012 "The Year of the Word."

The  best way to get God's Word into you, is to start getting into God's Word.

Almost done...

 Last week, the stain-glass windows were installed in the new fellowship hall. The large ones depict the nativity and the crucifixion, while the smaller rosettes feature the Greek letters symbolizing Christ- Alpha, Omega, and Chi-Rho. Great care was taken to match the color schemes and styles of the older windows in the church sanctuary.

A dedication ceremony for the new addition is planned for Sunday, December 9, 2012.

Annual LYF Thanksgiving Dinner

Sunday, November 11

11:00am-12:30pm

Turkey, Potatoes & Gravy, Dressing, Corn, Cranberry Sauce, Desserts, Tolls, & Drinks

Free Will Offering

Proceeds raise funds for LYF projects including 2013 National Lutheran Youth Gathering in San Antonio

Set Apart; God's Strength, Not Our Own

This week, Sunday School kids read about the Nazirite, Sampson in Judges 14-16.

Over and over again, Samson failed to keep his vows to God, he got drunk, he touched dead things, and he fell in love with a Philistine woman, Delilah who worshiped false gods. Eventually his pride and self-assurance caught up with him after he told Delilah the secret of his strength, she handed him over to the Philistines who blinded him, humiliated him and made him a slave.

But God was faithful. Once Samson's hair grew back, his captors put him on display and celebrated how their gods had delivered them this great Hebrew warrior. In the midst of this humiliation, Samson asked God to strengthen him one more time, to defeat thousands of Philistines all at once, even if it meant dying with them.

There are times, (like in last week's lesson about Gideon, Judges 6) when God wants us to depend on His power, rather than our own.

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." ~2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)

We can also rejoice because, just like Samson, God still loves us and will use us for His purposes, even when we stray or make the mistake of relying on ourselves instead of Him. 

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." ~Romans 5:8

Ask your kids about what they learn in Sunday School, have conversations about the Bible and your faith. Talk about times when God used you or times when you may have thought you didn't need God but found out otherwise. 

Take a look at some of the stories they're learning about in Sunday School & Confirmation in the Bible for yourself and make these last few months of 2012 "The Year of the Word."

The  best way to get God's Word into you, is to start getting into God's Word.

This Week @St.John

• Tues 10/23- 1:00pm Quilting
• Wed 10/24- 9:00am Ladies' Bible Study
• 1:30pm Confirmation
• 8:00pm Elders' Meeting
• Sun 10/28- 8:45am Sunday School & Bible Study
• 10:00am Worship with Communion
• 3:00pm Father/Son Event
• 7:00pm 'Truth Project' Study at parsonage
• Sun 11/4- Father/Son Event

Food Donation Collection for the Temporary Aid Program (TAP) begins in November- This year the Sunday School Children are challenging the grown-ups of the congregation to match their donations.Watch the collection table in the sanctuary all month to see who'll win!

Temporary Aid Program (T.A.P.)
210 S. 25th Street
Denison, IA 51442
Contact Person: Donna Weiss
Phone:712-263-4733
Hours of operation: Mon. & Th. 9-12

Gideon puts God to the Test,God teaches Gideon to Trust

This week Sunday School students read through the Old testament book of Judges chapters 6-8, where God appoints Gideon leader of Israel. God's people, like we so often do, were once again rejecting Him for other gods. And as usual, it got them in trouble. They literally had to hide from bullies (the Midianites) who stole their food. 

God Himself ("the Angel of the Lord") visited Gideon, to ask him to lead a military charge. First Gideon asks God for a sign to prove He's God- God almost instantly consumes soaking wet goat meat with fire from a rock. Apparently that wasn't enough for Gideon, because when God tells him to attack the enemy, he lays out a wool fleece and asks God to cover it in dew but leave the ground around it dry. Still not convinced, he asks God to leave the fleece dry and soak the ground around it with dew.

How often do we not trust God? Do we beg for signs and proof like Gideon?

God wanted to teach Gideon to trust Him, so when they started with an army of 82,000 men, God has Gideon layoff most of his soldiers, so that his force was only 10,000. God must have REALLY wanted to make sure that the Isrealites gave Him the glory for the victory, because he cut the troops back to only 300 men, armed mostly with torches and trumpets- but the Midianites were defeated.

God promises to be with us and to protect us. Read more of His promises in Romans 8:18-37.

There's still time to make 2012 the 'Year of the Word,' ask your children what they learn about in Sunday School and look it up in the Bible yourself. God might just surprise you with the things He'll share. Then, ask your kids about what you BOTH learn!

7th & 8th Graders share their "Wows, Pows, and Thank-Yous" from their prayer-journals with Sunday School Leader, Bethany Mallory in the church basement.

This Week @ St.John

St. John Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML) Treasurer June Neddermeyer hands St.John Lutheran Church Treasurer Becky Dorale a $10,000 check for the new addition building fund. Standing with them are Pastor Richard Merrill, St. John LWML President Karen Weiss and Congregational President Bob Stoltze Jr. Sitting in front are members of St. John. October 14, 2012 was LWML Sunday at St. John.

This Week @ St.John

• Mon-Tues Oct. 15-16- Pastor at "You Lost Me. Live" conference in Minneapolis, MN
• Tues-Wed Oct. 16-17- Linda out of the office in the afternoons
• Tues Oct. 16- Quilting 1:00pm
• Wed Oct. 17- 9:00am Ladies' Bible Study
• 3:30pm Confirmation
• 8:00pm Quarterly Voters' Meeting- On the agenda; 2013 Budget and Candidates for 2013 Church Council and other officers. Please come, open to all confirmed members.
• Sat Oct.20- 6:00pm Worship with Communion (last Saturday Evening service till next summer)
• Sun Oct.21- 8:45am Sunday School & Bible Class
• 10:00am Worship with Communion
• 7:00pm 'Truth Project' Bible Study at Parsonage

Mark Your Calendars!

Sun. October 28- 3:00pm-6:00pm Father & Son Event, grilling burgers & dogs, games, & a video Bible Study featuring Cold McCoy, NFL quarterback for the Cleveland Browns and his dad, Brad. Sign up in the church lobby. Boys without dads and dads without boys are welcome to sign up too and we'll match you up so you can be a mentor/mentee for a day.

Sun November 11- Annual LYF Thanks-Giving Dinner, immediately following worship

Fri-Sun November 16-18- Iowa, District West Youth Gathering in Des Moines, 'Power Up'

Sun. December 23- Sunday School Christmas Program at 6:00pm