Pastor’s PageBy Rev. Hal Toenjes

Safe In His Everlasting ArmsAs we look into the coming days of 2017, it is inevitable that in our weaker moments we may scan the horizon with some degree of apprehension. No doubt that the year ahead of us will have its “anxious hours” of sickness, interpersonal conflict, sleepless nights and perhaps even death;there are moments in life that put a lump in your throat and a tear in the eye that’s almost always ready to fall. As a redeemed child of Christ, we place our hands into the hand of God and courageously march into each new day. We know that we are safe in His everlasting arms despite our “anxious hours.” Becky learned this lesson from her mother. Little Becky sat quietly at the kitchen table, evidently deep in thought. Finally with child-like innocence she asked, “Mommy, does tomorrow ever come?” “Why, of course, it does,” her mother replied. “Why do you ask?” The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “Because every morning when I wake up, it’s always today!” In her child-like way Becky had given expression to an outlook on life that you and I well might remember as we look into the new year. For us every morning is today — not yesterday with its failures and regrets— not tomorrow with its uncertainties and fears — but today with its promises and Christ’s presence. His everlasting arms guide us in daily ways.Becky was beginning to learn the age old lesson of “living one day at a time.” Christians do that in a better way. Because our Lord’s mercies are “new every morning,” living for today is a great way to live. God’s “everlasting” reaches into our “daily” to bring hope. That’s a great way to enter a new day. That’s a great way to enter a new year.

See you in Church, Pastor Toenjes

8001 Panorama DriveBakersfield, CA 93306Phone (661) 871-1289

Fax (661) 872-6302E-Mail: office@lcop.or g Website: www.lcop.org

January 2017Volume 17, Issue1

In this Issue

Pastor’s Page......................................1Birthdays & Anniversaries............2Member Info........................................2Board Articles................................3/4Wonder Window..........................5/6Puzzles...................................................7

CalendarJanuary event calendarServing us in January

Newsletter Deadline!Thursday,

January 23, 2017

The Prayer Line

MEMBER NEWSMember changes or additions will be posted in this section

Cards, calls and prayers are much appreciated by our homebound members:

Ruth JonesCarol Kritsch

Norm & Margaret Snyder

LCoP Prayer ChainWhen you have any prayer concerns, please let our prayer chain pray for you by contacting Chuck Jordin at 661-873-9565 or email chuck.jordin@yahoo.com.

Online Calendar!Did you know that our event calendar is online so you can access it anytime, anywhere, from the internet? Check it out at www.lcop.org, click on Info Center and Calendar. This will also be updated during the month as events change or are added! To update, please email info@lcop.org.

Join Our Email List!Are you on our email list to have the newsletter and event reminders delivered to your inbox? Subscribe by sending an email to info@lcop.org.

God’s blessings to everyone on your special occasion. If you don’t see your name, please call the office to make corrections or additions. We want to include everyone!

♥ December ANNIVERSARIES ♥

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS

We honor birthdays and anniversaries on the Second Sunday of every month. If you would like to help with refreshments for those who are celebrating, bring your treat to church that morning.

In the Hospital?If you find yourself hospitalized, I would like to visit!

But rather than relying on the hospital to contact me, please give me or the church office a call with your information. I’d be happy to stop by, share a word of Scripture and prayer.

If you have a planned surgery, I’d be happy to visit before the procedure. Just let me know the specific hospital as well as the time you are supposed to check in and the time of the procedure. I’ll do my best to be there in between those two times.

Thanks! – Pastor Toenjes

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UPDATE FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS As we move forward this year, our prayer is “May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us… Psalm 90:17.” Looking back at we recognize how God richly blessed us in 2016 and are eager to see His plan for us in 2017. We have some new faces on the Board of Directors this year as well as several others who will be serving in different capacities. This years’ Board consists of David Madding serving as Member at Large, Kristy Sturz as Treasurer, Kate Zimmermann as Secretary, Terry Vergon as Vice President and Tim Hartnett as President. We want to be sure to recognize the wonderful job that Tom King and Gary Adams did in faithfully serving on the board the last two years. Both of these men served as great examples of what service looks like and will be greatly missed. As we look ahead to the coming year our goal is to have even more transparency than in the past. We would like to know your concerns and thoughts as we move forward. The Board meetings are the third Monday of the Month. If you have something you would like the Board to consider, please send your ideas to, tim.hartnett@att.net, by the second Monday of the month so we can place it on the agenda. Your ideas will be disseminated to the board so we can have ample time to consider your thoughts. We will also be having our Member at Large, David Madding, attending the various committee meetings quarterly, so we can better serve you as you move forward with your projects. Please keep the Board in your prayers as we strive to move LCOP forward. We know if we put our reliance on God, He will show us new opportunities to better serve Him.In Christ,Tim Hartnett

Work Day January 21st . All helpers welcome!

Properties BoardOur next properties meeting will be on Monday January 16th at 7pm and our work day will be Saturday January 21st at 8am. Looking forward to seeing everyone there. Let’s start out the New Year right. Continued prayers for our pastor and his family, all pastors and their congregations, all Christians, all those who are unbelievers and for our new president, his family and the cabinet he has asked to help him. God BlessDonald Votaw

Wonder Window School Board

Happy New Year from the Wonder Window School Board!We are enrolling 3 new students this month and children turning 4 this month will move up to the pre-K class. A big thank you to all LCOP members who bought popcorn during the Wonder Window fund raiser sale. The schoolwill realize $1150.00 from total sales! As you all probably know by now, our Wonder Window Director, Charla Herider, will be retiring at the end of May. We are preparing to advertise the position through the CNH District Office. Please continue to keep Wonder Window in your prayers. God's Blessings on you!

Vivienne KusterWonder Window School Board

Church Golfers, you need to come and join us

Anyone interested in golfing, we golf every Friday morning. For information please call or text Tim Hartnett at 661-319-8469.

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Women’s Fellowship GuildWelcome all ladies to Fellowship in 2017. Our meetings will be held the 1st Tuesday each month at 11:00 a.m. in the Library. The door is open to join us and let’s see what’s in store as we discuss projects that support the Mission Outreach of LCoP. See you all February 7th and then lunch somewhere!

Shirley CurranSecretary

NOTE FROM YOUR ORGANIST

Dear Lutheran Church of Prayer congregation:

On Sunday morning and other services, you will hear1. Pre-Service music2. Chimes3. Prelude music.

The pre-service music is for me. It helps me get acquainted with the organ and sets my mind for Worship.

The Chimes are played as a “Call to Worship” 3 chimes representing the Trinity.

The prelude music is for YOU the congregation. This is YOUR time for meditation and solemn prayer in preparation for Worship.

SAM(Service and Activities Ministry)

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderfulChristmas. Our next meeting is Monday January 16th.Please come and join us. We are always looking for new faces.

Blessings,The SAM Committee

Golf TournamentOur annual golf tournament is coming in April, on Sunday, the 30th at 1:00 P.M. Mark your calendars if you are interested. If you want to help, please contact Mike Lehmann at 661-805-5258.

Free refills Sure, that’s simplistic, but so are Jesus’ parables. Overanalyze them and they may fall apart. But ponder the single point each makes, maybe get a chuckle and an a-ha! out of it, and that parable has done its job. So grab another free refill — of your beverage and of God’s love!

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CHILDREN’S CENTER

Ms. Charla HeriderDirector

Dear Wonder Window and Lutheran Church of Prayer family,Happy New Year! Did you know we have each been given a new book. There are 365 pages in it….and they are all blank. God willing, we fill a page a day. You choose what is written down. What will you write? I began journaling again a few months ago. Some days, I write how my day went, or that I spoke to a friend I hadn’t spoken to recently. Others, I write my troubles. But, almost every single day, I write something I was blessed by. Whether it’s a Bible passage that spoke to me, an inspirational sign or a way that God showed Himself to me that day. Each day, look for God. He’s here and wants us to know it. Seek Him first and be thankful for what you have.

Now that the holidays are over, we will get back on track with learning. The children in the preschool classes will be learning more about the letters M, N and O. They will also be exploring the numbers 13-15, the colors blue and white and the shape, oval. In addition, our themes are Snow and Ice, the Arctic, Winter Animals and Opposites. Look for art projects that will correspond with our curriculum.

The children are wondering what Chapel will bring this year. Pastor has taught them all how God loves each of us. They have learned many new songs and they look forward to heading to the church each week. Our Bible stories for the month of January will focus on the life and miracles of Jesus. We will begin with Simeon and Anna Meet Jesus, followed by Jesus in the Temple, Jesus Welcomes Children and Jesus Heals Ten Sick Men. Each lesson teaches the children that God not only loves us but that he cares for us and how we are feeling. We want to instill in your children that we always have a loving Savior we can turn to.

I would like to thank all of you who participated in our Popcorn Palace Fundraiser. We made $1150 dollars when all was said and done. We

had a TIE for the top two sellers. I am pleased to announce that both the Herrera and the Ehret families will receive a discount on this month’s tuition. Thank you for getting out there and selling!!

As a reminder, the children who are full day need to bring a clean blanket every Monday. These are to go home and be washed on Fridays. Also, unless it is raining, we do go outside every morning. Be sure to send weather appropriate outerwear for your little ones. A change of clothes for “accidents or mud puddles” should always be kept in the back of your child’s cubby. Having these items on hand will help us avoid phone calls to alert you that they are needed “right now”.

My door is always open if you would like to talk, have a concern or a suggestion. Feel free to pop in or if a longer discussion is needed, call and I will set aside time to adequately speak with you. The number for the school is 871-7051.

In His love,Charla HeriderDirector

Days to Remember: Monday, January 16th, Wonder Window Closed for Dr. King Jr’s Birthday

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Miss Vanessa’s ClassHappy New Year family and friends. I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas. I want to thank all of you who brought items for our “Happy Birthday, Jesus” party. I want to wish Dempsey a very happy 3rd birthday on January 7th. I look forward to this new year for the 2’s class. We will be learning new letters, shapes and numbers. We are also excited to be welcoming new friends to our class. I pray all of you have many blessing in the new year.

Miss Rachel’s ClassWOW! It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone. Let’s pray for peace and harmony in the new year. Thank you for attending the Christmas program. We enjoyed performing for you all! Our topics for January will begin with Snow and Ice. We will begin learning more of our teen numbers, beginning with 13. Our colors are blue and white and our shape is an oval. In addition, we will cover the letters M, N and O. We would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. Please keep those that are ill in your prayers. Take care and God bless!!

Miss Stephanie’s ClassHappy, Happy New Year! Can you believe that 2017 is already here? December was filled with lots of holiday fun and so many stories about Jesus. We were also very busy practicing for our program that we hope you all enjoyed. January will bring excitement in learning and play. The Pre-K class will continue with our Jolly Phonics, the numbers 20-23, shapes and colors. Please continue reviewing everything at home. Our first class picnic will be this month, keep an eye out for the date. I would like to thank everyone for bringing all the goodies for our Christmas party. It means so much to me and to the children. Also, a big “Thank you” for all the wonderful gifts and cards. I loved each

one of them. We want to wish a “Happy birthday” to all who are celebrating their birthday in January. God bless.

Ms. Joyce’s Class

Happy 2017 to all of you! I pray you all had a blessed Christmas celebrating Jesus’ birthday. Thanks to the many of you who attended our birthday party for Jesus and to those who were able to bring items for the celebration. We really enjoyed it! We will be getting back into our routine this month. We will work with the phonic sounds w, v, y and x. In math, we will review the oval shape and work on writing numbers and comparing them. We will also be doing a lot of celebrating this month as five of our classmates have birthdays. Happy birthday to Elizabeth (1st), Dax (5th), Sammy (10th), Gregory (18th), and Lucca (31st).! Have you had a chance to work on the skills discussed on the focus sheets I’ve been sending home? If not, January is a great time to begin! God bless you and keep you!

Mr. Jacob’s ClassI hope everyone had a blessed and wonderful Christmas, I know I did. I can’t believe it is already another new year. I am very excited to announce that Pastor will be teaching chapel to the School Age children every Thursday. I know we are all looking forward to this. We would like to wish Kayla and Annabelle both a very “Happy Birthday”! I hope and pray everyone has a blessed and fruitful 2017!..

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