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Table of Contents Page 2: Immanuel News

Page 3: 150th Anniversary

Page 4: Comfort Dog Ministry

Page 5: Mission in Action

Page 6: Feed My Starving Children

Page 7: ILS

Page 8: Youth Connections

Page 9: Care Ministry

Page 10: Bits and Pieces

Page 11: Financials

November and December Schedule of Events

November 6 November 27 Veterans’ Day Chapel at ILS at 8:15 Thanksgiving Eve Worship at 7pm November 8 November 28 J.O.Y. at 4:30pm Thanksgiving Day Worship at 9:30am November 10 December 6 Worship As One Service Journey to Bethlehem at 6pm 9:30am Belvidere North High School December 13 November 11 J.O.Y. Christmas Potluck at 2pm Congregational Gathering at 6:30pm December 14 November 16 “A Musical Christmas Card Concert” Divorce Care “Surviving the Holidays” “Dan Holmes and Friends at 7pm 9am November 16 December 17 ILS Soup & Dessert Cook Off Once-A-Month Bible Study at 11am Student Art Show, Bucket Auction, Blind Auction and Wine Pull 3pm December 24 Christmas Eve Worship November 18-25 11am, 4pm, 7pm and 10:30pm Operation Christmas Child Drop Off December 25 November 19 Christmas Day Worship at 9:30am Once-A-Month Bible Study at 11am Social Security Workshop at 6pm December 31 New Years Eve Worship November 24 11am and 6pm Grief Share “Surviving the Holidays” 12pm November 25-27 Meals-on-Wheels at 11:15

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Once - A - Month Bible Study November 19th @ 11am (Sanctuary)

December 17th @ 11am (Fellowship Hall)

Ringing in the New Year is cause for celebration. It is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts.

Beginning in January 2020, the Connections newsletter will be taking on a fresh new look.

Social Security: Timing is Everything Workshop

As you approach retirement, take time to determine how you’ll support yourself when your paycheck stops. Find out how you can optimize Social Security and determine how much you can expect to receive from other income sources. Sign-up in the church hallway.

Christmas Eve: 11am, 4pm*, 7pm* and 10:30pm*

Christmas Day: 9:30am

New Years Eve: 11am and 6pm* New Years Day: No Worship

Holy Communion will be celebrated at all services.

*Candlelight Service

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Please join us at Belvidere North High School on Sunday, November 10th, at 9:30 am for Worship As One. Our guest pastor will be Rev. Dr. Allan Buss, President of the LCMS Northern Illinois District. The Concordia College Wind Symphony, Immanuel’s Praise Team, Immanuel Choirs, Immanuel School students and Christ for Kids will be singing our praises to God. Following the service, there will be a time for fellowship and refreshments. Wear your 150th Anniversary t-shirts!!

Seating on the floor will be reserved for those who are unable to climb bleachers!

150th Anniversary Ornaments and Mugs Look for the sales tables at Belvidere North at which you will be able to purchase these items ($10 each). They make a nice remembrance of Immanuel for yourself or your family members. The sales of the orna-ments and mugs will help finance our anniversary service!

As we celebrate our 150th Anniversary, we invite you to join your brothers and sisters in Christ in giving an over-and-above offering with Thanksgiving to God for the blessings He has given to Immanuel over these 150 years.

Immanuel will use this offering for scholarships for students to attend a Lutheran School on the westside of Rockford, to offset the expenses for our Worship As One service and to help with the projection screens in our sanctuary.

Offering envelopes are available at the Connection Center through the end of November.

150th Anniversary Thank Offering

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2020 Comfort Dog Calendars Calendars featuring Kye and Bekah will be available for

purchase before and after the 9:30 a.m. worship service or online after Thanksgiving.

Watch for more information in “The Main Thing” weekly newsletter and bulletin.

Comfort Dog News We welcome Lisa Rateike to the Immanuel Comfort Dog Team as a handler. Lisa attended a two-day training in October along with Bekah. Lisa works at Javon Bea Medical Center as a respiratory therapist and is currently taking the “Welcome to Immanuel” class. She has two dogs of her own and has experience in agility and training. Welcome Lisa!!

Kye and Bekah visited Rockford Christian School in 2018 after the sudden death of two of their students. Their comfort lives on in the bracelets that were given to the students during that visit.

EXTRAORDINARY DOGS Featuring 20 LCC-K-9 Ministry Dogs

Get Your Copy While Supplies Last! – Cost is $25

This beautiful photo book honors the work of the LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs, Search and Rescue Dogs, bomb-detecting TSA dogs, and canine ambassadors from across the U.S. Immanuel’s own Kye Comfort Dog is included in this book.

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Have you had a “tug” on your heart to apply to join the Belize Mission Team?

Applications for the June 6-13, 2020 mission trip to Belize will be available on November 1st.

Contact Cathy Dulgar if you have any questions - cdulgar@immanuelbelvidere.org

Apply on here starting November 1st: https://ilc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/212/

responses/new

Tickets go on sale December 1st! https://ilc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/220/responses/new

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A special thanks to our family donors and local partners . . . Aldersgate United Methodist Church, CMC, Robert Schwarzkopf Family, Richard Kirchner Family, Linda An-derson Family, Belvidere Education Association (BEA), Body Dynamics, Concordia Lanes, Gallano Farms, Ron Nelson Agency, G&L Professional Services, Tim Gifford Family, Hanson Family, Heritage Woods (Belvidere/Rockford), Horizon Distributors, Immanuel Ladies Guild, Midwest Construction Materials, Poplar Grove State Bank, Terry Yerk Family, Belvidere United Methodist Church, Dr. Perry Tuneberg, Jake Dykstra Family, Girl Scout Troop #3487, Jon Goldie Family, Jeff Goll Family, Adam Hartzell Family, Kamholtz Trucking, Janice Schultz, Mark & Jen Nelson Family and Irv Feltman.

Also, thank you to local businesses who donated gifts and services that enabled us to hold this event in the community: Denny’s Towing, Culvers, Horizon Dist., Pizza Hut, Sips & Sprinkles, Portillo’s, Twin Towers, and Berg Industries.

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ILS Event - November 16, 2019 ILS Soup & Dessert Cook Off, Student Art Show, Bucket Auction, Blind Auction, and Wine Pull

Saturday, November 16, 2019 from 3:00-5:45 PM Church Fellowship Hall

ILS would like to invite all master chefs and bakers to our Soup and Dessert Cook-Off. Please complete the form at the link below if you'd like to prepare a soup or dessert for the contest.

Church and school families are invited to come and sample. Tickets are required to partake in the soup/dessert tasting event. (Contestants receive one free ticket.) Tickets to eat are $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for children ages 3 to 13.

Children 2 and under are free. Sandwiches, drinks, and chips sold for an additional cost. Coffee provided. Tickets are available for purchase in the school office, after worship services Nov. 2/3 and Nov. 9/10, or at the door.

All rolled into this afternoon of fun is a Student Art Show, Bucket Auction, Blind Auction, and Wine Pull. These activities do not require an entrance ticket.

Bucket Auction tickets (6 for $5) and wine pull tickets ($15) will be sold at the event. (cash or check only)

Please click the link below to register to participate in the cook-off and for more information. Adult and student entries are accepted. Prizes awarded.

https://ilc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/217/responses/new

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High School November 3rd — HSM 8 pm to 10 pm at GAR South Trampoline Park Cost is $10 per person

November 10th, 17th, 24th — HSM 7 pm to 9 pm at HSM in the Fellowship Hall

December 15th — HSM Christmas Party from 7 pm to 9 pm in the Fellowship Hall. Please bring a white elephant gift.

There will be no HSM on December 1st, 22nd or 29th.

High School Mission Trip July 11-19, 2020. There will be a meeting on January 12 at 12pm in the Fellowship Hall. All current 8-12th grades are invited to learn about this upcoming mission trip.

Movie Night

Jr. High/High School Movie Night will be on December 8 from 6-8:30pm in the Small Gym.

Hometown Christmas Luminary Service Event Immanuel’s Youth will be providing luminaries at Belvidere’s Annual Hometown Christmas.

Hometown Christmas is a celebration of winter and the holiday season sponsored by the

Belvidere Area Chamber of Commerce and takes place in downtown Belvidere. Set-up and

take-down fun happen on Friday, December 6 at 5:30pm. Meet at State & Lincoln. We will

need a trailer or pickup truck with driver for Friday evening.

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Walter Lawson We continue to visit the kids at Walter Lawson Children’s Home. We will soon be collecting items for “Christmas at Walter Lawson” – watch the church bulletin for more information. Your donations make a huge difference in the lives of these kids. The team will be visiting on November 4th and 18th and will be celebrating Christmas with them on December 9th with caroling and delivering Christmas gifts. The Christmas visit would be a great time to meet the kids and see if this ministry is a fit for you! Call Sue Goll (815-544-9723) for time and directions.

Caring Crafters The Caring Crafters have been very busy sewing tote bags to be put into the Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes. Anyone interested in sewing, please contact Sue Goll at 815-544-9723. We will meet in the Multi-Use Room from 1:00-4:00pm on November 5th and 21st.

Saturday, November 16th from 9 am to 11 am Adult Ed Room (Enter Door #14)

Cost is $5 This seminar begins with a video featuring interview clips from respected Christian counselors, psychologists, and

authors speaking on topics pertinent to people in separation or divorce. The videos also include practical advice from people who’ve experienced a marital breakup and have faced at least

one holiday season since then.

This holiday season can be a wonderful time of personal growth and peace as you learn to discover joy amidst the heartache. To register or find out more about DivorceCare Surviving the Holidays, call Charmaine Cornwell

at 815-978-0844 or email charmaine.cornwell@gmail.com.

“Surviving the Holidays” seminar on Sunday, November 24th Join us from 12-2:30 pm in Adult Ed Room for this seminar which will offer practical, actionable strategies for making it through the holiday season. At this two-hour seminar, you’ll view a video featuring advice from people in grief who’ve faced the holidays after their loss. You’ll receive a Holiday Survival Guide with practical strategies, encouraging words, helpful exercises, Q/As, and journaling ideas for daily survival through the holiday season. At GriefShare Surviving the Holidays, you’ll meet with other grieving people who have an understanding of what you’re going through and will offer comfort and support. Cost is $5.

Your holiday season won’t be easy; your emotions may ambush you and suck you under at times. But you can choose to walk through this season in a way that honors your loved one and puts you on the path of health and healing.

To register or find out more about GriefShare Surviving the Holidays, call Cathy Dulgar at 815-544-8058 or email Kathy Hare at khare4216@aol.com.

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J.O.Y. will be meeting a week earlier in November and De-cember. We will meet on November 8th, watch the church bulletin for more information. On December 13th, we will have a Christmas Potluck at 2:00pm in the Fellow-ship Hall. The Immanuel School students will be there to sing for us and we will have a special program. Please bring a dish to pass.

Operation Christmas Child Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization. Their mission is to provide local partners around the world with shoeboxes filled with small toys, hygiene items, and school supplies as a means of reaching out to children in their own communities with the Good News of Jesus Christ. CrownPoint is a Collection Site for the shoeboxes. Drop off your filled shoeboxes during one of the scheduled times listed.

Drop Off Schedule November 18th 11:00 am – 1:00 pm November 19th 11:00 am – 1:00 pm November 20th 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm November 21st 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm November 22nd 8:00 am – 12:00 pm November 23rd 8:00 am – 11:00 am November 24th 8:00 am – 11:00 am November 25th 9:00 am – 11:00 am

Meals on Wheels Delivery for Meals on Wheels is November 25, 26 & 27. Delivery begins at 11:15 and takes 45 minutes to an hour. Watch the bulletin tear offs to sign-up.

Advent Suppers Serving from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.

Your free-will offering covers the cost of food as well as supports the Christian work of those who host the meal. Please give generously!!

Menu for each week will be listed in “The Main Thing”.

December 4 – Ladies Guild (Cheesy baked spaghetti, tossed salad, bread and dessert) December 11 – Helping Hands (Lasagna, tossed salad, bread and dessert) December 18 – Mary Martha (Chili, tossed salad and dessert)

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Connections

Immanuel Lutheran Church 1225 E. 2nd Street Belvidere, IL 61008 Return Service Requested

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage PAID

Belvidere, IL Permit #93

Worship Services at Immanuel: Wednesdays—7:00 p.m. Saturdays—6:00 p.m. Sundays—8:00 a.m. 9:30 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Worship Services at Immanuel North: Sundays—10:45 a.m.

Sunday School: Sundays—9:15 a.m. Adult Bible Classes Sundays—9:30 a.m.

Immanuel Lutheran Church Immanuel North: 1225 E. 2nd Street 13535 Route 76 Belvidere, IL 61008 Poplar Grove, IL 61065 PH: 815-544-8058 PH: 815-544-8058 FAX: 815-544-8059 WEB: www.immanuelbelvidere.org EMAIL: info@immanuelbelvidere.org