St. John’s Lutheran Church ELCA 1300 W. Benjamin Avenue

Norfolk, NE 68701 (402) 371-1985

stjohn@cableone.net www.stjohnsnorfolk.com

Our Mission: Loving God . . . Loving People . . . Reaching Out!

Please remember in prayer: Janet Jundt Dallas Esser Norma Hunter Leona Pfeifer Bradley Wise Stephanie Rabbass Ann Schroeder Jo Schaefer Don Freese Keagan Sullivan Warren DeWald Thad Murren Bailey Suehl Boston DeWald Pr. David Cox Renee Bauer Kevin Rasmussen Rosemary Westerhold Bob Henning Doug Stratton

If you know someone who is in need of prayer but whose name is not listed, it may be that they have asked not to be included in the printed bulletin. Please remember them in your personal prayers.

Flowers on the altar this weekend are sponsored by Diane Sobotka in loving memory of her brother, Jim; and by Diane Hansen in loving memory of her mother, Frances Schafer.

Everyone is invited to Fellowship Hour for coffee and rolls between

services each Sunday in the Fellowship Hall.

PLEASE CONTACT THE CHURCH OFFICE if you or someone you know is hospitalized and would enjoy a visit. Our church staff and hospital visiting volunteers visit daily and would be happy to greet, see, and pray with you.

THANK YOU to all the elves who helped with the hanging of the greens last Sunday. As everyone can see, the church is wearing her finest in anticipation of the birth of the Christ child. With the first Sunday of Advent, the lights will begin to be lit throughout the church

until Christmas Eve, when the church will be fully lighted. Join us for services @ 5pm, 7pm, or 9pm on Christmas Eve.

Please be mindful of our members and visitors who would benefit most from the handicap and “senior” parking areas at the front of the church. With winter weather imminent, our seniors need the assurance of a shorter, level walk in to the building. Thank you for your

attention to this matter.

Dr. David E. Cox – Interim Senior Pastor Justin Wiese – Assistant Pastor, NeLCM-Norfolk Campus Pastor

Jacquie Samway – PMA, Coordinator of Congregational Care Jolene Ziebell – Coordinator of Youth Ministries

Gail Ermels – Office Manager Jim Carter – Custodian/Grounds Keeper Midge Hedrick – Office Assistant

SUNDAY, NOV 29 8:30 am ....................................................... Worship 9:15 am Sunday School Christmas Program Practice 9:30 am ........................................... Fellowship Hour 9:45 am .............................................. Sunday School 11:00 am ..................................................... Worship 7:00 pm .................... God’s Ambassadors ChristCare Kristy Booras, 402-371-6218

MONDAY, NOV 30 10:00 am ............................................. Staff Meeting 6:30 pm ............................ Stephen Ministry Training 7:00 pm ............................................. Praise Forever 8:30 pm………… .......................................... Solid Rock

TUESDAY, DEC 1 7:00 am ................................ Men’s Prayer Breakfast 7:00 pm ....................................... Beloved ChristCare Tracy Meister, 402-379-2484 7:00 pm .................................................... SEA Group

WEDNESDAY, DEC 2 1:30 pm .................................... Searchers ChristCare Connie Hagstrom, 402-649-4862 2:30 pm ................................. First Communion Class By appointment 3:35 pm Sunday School Christmas Program Practice (Speaking parts only) 5:00 pm ................................. First Communion Class By appointment

THURSDAY, DEC 3 6:30 pm .......................................... Cantata Practice 7:15 pm ................................. Majesty Choir Practice

SATURDAY, DEC 5 11:30 am ...................... WELCA Christmas Luncheon 5:00 pm ........................................................ Worship

SHOP FOR MINISTRY

NOV 29 NO SALES – THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

DEC 6 8:30 am Alice Gentzler 11 am Terri Denkinger

OFFERINGS Mission Emphasis (DEC) ..... Norfolk Rescue Mission Greenfiber Funds for OCT-DEC ...................... Mosaic General offering for 11/22/15 .................. $8,394.04 The above general offering figure reflects

weekly additions of direct deposits and advance pledges.

End of Oct. Net Profit / (Loss) ................. {$4,143.41) Year-to-Date Net Profit / (Loss) ............ ($28,774.29) Attendance 11/22/15 ....................... (51, 98, 94) 243

FOLLOW THE STAR

The St. John’s

Sunday School

Christmas Program

is scheduled for

Saturday, Dec. 12,

@ 5 PM.

We have started rehearsing songs

before Sunday School at 9:15 AM

during November (Nov. 22nd and 29th)

and Dec. 6th. There will also be an

additional dress rehearsal on Saturday

morning, Dec. 12 from

9-11 AM.

Christmas for a Soldier For those who are deployed overseas,

the holidays can be a difficult time, especially if you don’t have family’s support back home. By “adopting” a soldier, you may be the only “warm fuzzy” from home. Jeann & Desiree Granstra are organizing holiday boxes to be sent to single soldiers serving abroad.

Boxes would have to be in the mail by Dec. 10 to reach their destination before Christmas. Anyone would love to receive movies, books, a deck of cards or non-perishable food items (no homemade items, please). Use your own ideas to fill, decorate and send words of encouragement.

Please contact Jeann at 402-860-2667 or jegtb@hotmail.com for more details. She has the boxes along with the information sheets needed to get these mailed. For many soldiers, this is their first deployment or time away from home. Let’s make a difference in their lives as they make a difference in ours!

STUDENTS IN GRADES 3 – 8 are invited to sing with Jill Miller at the King of

Kings Concert on Dec. 19 @ Johnny Carson Theater. Practices will continue Dec. 3, 10 and 17 @ 6:30 pm at St. John’s. Pick up a flyer at the back of the sanctuary for contact information.

All Ladies, Mothers & Daughters of St. John’s

YOU ARE INVITED to a Christmas Luncheon on Saturday, December 5th in the Fellowship Hall beginning at 11:30. Food will be furnished by the WELCA Board. The menu will be a Chicken Rice Casserole, Cranberry Salad & dinner roll with peppermint ice cream and a cookie for dessert.

Start your Christmas Holidays by joining us for a couple hours. Lori Kallweit will have a short program talking about her collection of Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE CELEBRATION MEAL ON DEC. 6

FOLLOWING THE 11 AM WORSHIP SERVICE. This is a catered meal

RSVP via today’s Registration Slip or contact the church office @ 402.371.1985.

Dear St. John’s Benefaction,

I would like to take this opportunity

to express my heartfelt Thank You to

all the wonderful sponsors that

support the SMILES Inc. Without your

generosity, this program would not be

available to our daughter Ellie. Ellie

was born with several medical issues

which have led to balance problems for

her. Through the SMILE Program, Ellie

has learned to stay focused on task at

hand like putting on saddles or bridals.

Ellie also has developed better balance

from riding correctly in the saddle.

With gained balance comes better self-

confidence in daily activities most take

for granted like running or walking.

When Ellie started the SMILE Program a

year ago, she was a shy tmid little

girl. Now she is a spunky outgoing

friendly girl that shows self-

confidence and pride. We believe

this is fro her ability to have better

balance. With this confidence, she

can accomplish goals in life. None of

this would have been possible without

your kind hearts and donations. There

can never be enough words to express

how much the donations made a

difference in our daughter’slife. We

could not have afforded it without you.

Thank you for helping us help our Ellie

gain her self-confidence. Now the

sky’s the limit for her life goals.

A heartfelt Thank You,

The family of Ellie Plisek

WINTER WARMTH GIVEAWAY

A huge, sincere THANK YOU to all the wonderful people at St. John’s who donated clothing for our Winter Warmth Giveaway. All the items were so nice and we had wonderful response. We had

579 items and gave away all but 124. The 77 women and children items left and the 22 hats & gloves were taken to Bright Horizons, and the 25 men items left were taken to the Rescue Mission.

Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH! St. John’s spread the warmth of God’s love to many grateful people. Hopefully we can do this again next year. Temple Christ Care Group Pat, Terri, Laura, Jeann, Linda,

Maureen, Janet, Katrina

It’s time again to order

your poinsettia for the

Christmas sanctuary.

Floral Expressions will

provide a supply of

poinsettias -- foil wrapped and

delivered to St. John’s for you! Plants

with at least 5 blooms are available for

$13.50 each. You can order yours

today by marking your envelope

“poinsettia” and making any checks

payable to St. John’s. Deadline for

ordering will be Monday, December 13.

FIRST COMMUNION CLASSES

In the month of December, four First Communion confirmation class times will be made available for any baptized youth whose parents have discerned that their children are ready to receive the Lord’s Supper for the first time. These dates and times for class are:

December 2, 2:30-3:30pm; December 2, 5-6pm;

December 9, 2:30-3:30pm; December 9, 5-6 pm.

All classes will be held in the sanctuary.

Attendance is required at only one of the four scheduled class opportunities. Families must RSVP their intent on attending a class no later than noon of the day of the class by calling the church office (402-371-1985). If no RSVPs are received for a class, it will not be held. If these times do not work for a family, Pastor Justin will help schedule a personalized time as scheduling allows. In each hour-long class, we will review how God loves us and that God feeds us, using stories from the Spark Story Bible. Students will also practice and learn how communion is received at St. John’s and other churches. It is strongly preferred that children attend the class with their parent(s).

Students who attend one of these classes will be invited to receive First Communion at a Sunday worship service on December 13. If this Sunday does not work for a family, please be in conversation with Pastor Justin or Pastor David to discuss other options.

We look forward to celebrating First Communion with the families of those baptized young people who will be taking part in the Lord's Supper for the first time.

GOOD NEIGHBORS PACKING Yes – it’s time again for Good Neighbors packing and delivering! Items are already being collected and delivered to St. John’s. Boxes are arriving daily. If you would like to help with packing and delivering, folks will gather at St. John’s on Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 9am for packing, and Thursday, Dec. 17 for delivery. Please contact Carol Severa for any additional information. 402-371-3324.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28

5 PM

COUNCIL PERSON OF THE WEEK –

PATTY BRASCH

WORSHIP ASSISTANT

JIM CARTER

GREETERS/USHERS – Warren & Pat Monson

READER – Amanda Brasch

PRAYER LEADER – __________

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29

8:30 AM

COUNCIL PERSON OF THE WEEK –

PATTY BRASCH

WORSHIP ASSISTANT

BRENDA CARHART

GREETERS – Patty Brasch, Audrey & Jack

Prater

USHERS –Roger Gentzler, Linda Downs

READER – Sherri Kuk

FELLOWSHIP HOUR – John & Susan Skogstoe

COMMUNION ASSISTANTS – Jim & Elenore

Merritt, Carol Waggoner, Sara Fegley

PRAYER LEADER – Maureen Bivens

POWERPOINT – Midge Hedrick

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29

11 AM

COUNCIL PERSON OF THE WEEK –

PATTY BRASCH

WORSHIP ASSISTANT

BRENDAD CARHART

GREETERS—Jana Kuhlman, Patty Brasch

USHERS – Jeff & Cathy Erwin, Mark Nelson

COMMUNION ASSISTANTS – Lon & Jeanne

Timperley, Jeff & Cathy Erwin PRAYER LEADER – Carol Severa

POWERPOINT – Marcus/ Adam Echtenkamp

LECTIONARY READINGS:

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Psalm 25;1-10

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Luke 21:25-36

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5

5 PM

COUNCIL PERSON OF THE WEEK

DANNY OLSON

WORSHIP ASSISTANT

GREETERS/USHERS – Rod & Shirley Hughes

READER – Shirley Hughes

PRAYER LEADER – __________

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6

8:30 AM

COUNCIL PERSON OF THE WEEK

DANNY OLSON

WORSHIP ASSISTANT

GREETERS – Carol Sorsen, Danny Olson

USHERS – Dennis & Lois Braesch

READER – __________

FELLOWSHIP HOUR – Jan Henning

COMMUNION ASSISTANTS – Sherri Kuk,

Diane Sobotka, __________, __________

PRAYER LEADER – Sara Fegley

POWERPOINT – Midge Hedrick

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6

11 AM

COUNCIL PERSON OF THE WEEK

DANNY OLSON

WORSHIP ASSISTANT

GREETERS—Michelle Dagerman,

Martha Thompson

USHERS – Kevin Bonderson, Don Meister,

Carol Severa

COMMUNION ASSISTANTS – Beth Bonderson,

Janet Erickson, Tracy Meister,

Kristy Booras

PRAYER LEADER – Lon Timperley

POWERPOINT – Emma Dagerman

LECTIONARY READINGS:

Malachi 3:1-4

Luke 1:68-79

Philippians 1:3-11

Luke 3:1-6