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GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCHa Launchpad for God’s Kingdom
402.371.1044 [email protected] 416 W Park Ave, Norfolk, NE 68701
www.gracelutherannorfolk.com
Rev. Ray Wilke – senior pastor Rev. Chris Asbury – associate pastor
Make plans tojoin us for ourweekly AdventServices onWednesdaysDecember 5, 12,
and 19 at 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m withsupper at 6:00 p.m.
This year the Grace/Immanuel ChoirConcert will be held here at Grace onSunday, December 23 at 4:00 p.m. There will be a light supper afterwards intheir Fellowship Hall.
Times for Christmas Eve Serviceswill be a Lessons & Carols Service at3:00 p.m.; the Children’s ChristmasService will be at 5:30 p.m.; and theCandlelight Communion Service with aTouch of Brass will be at 10:30 p.m. There will be NO Service on ChristmasDay.
There will also be a CommunionService on New Year’s Eve at 5:30 p.m.
We will be preparing for theChildren’s Christmas Eve service themonth of December during our SundaySchool time. The children in grades 1-8will have assigned parts to read. Parents,please help them to memorize their parts. We will also have one group practice onSunday December 9.
Families are encouraged to stay andeat at the Tuition Assistance Dinner thatday. Practice will be after that atapproximately noon. Pick up yourchildren by 1:30 p.m.
The menu for the meal will beMeatballs, Baked Potato, Corn, anddessert. Proceeds from the meal helpwith tuition at Christ Lutheran Schooland Lutheran High Northeast.
“What’s Not in the Story”
A while back there was a Christmaspageant somewhere in the Midwest. Thepageant had all of the usual characters,Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, theangels, and the Wise men. And then ithad one character that no one was reallysure about, because he isn’t mentioned inthe story in Luke–it just says: “Therewas no room in the inn.” It does notmention the Innkeeper.
Wally was a child who was always abit behind everyone else in his thirdgrade class, but this year he wanted verymuch to be included in one of the regularparts of the pageant. Wally’s classmatesliked him all right, but he was neverchosen when they were choosing up forgames of competition where winningwas involved. This year Wally asked histeacher if he could be a shepherd, but shewas afraid that he could not handle sucha big part, so he was assigned the role ofthe “innkeeper,” because there was onlyone line that he had to say: “There’s noroom.” Rehearsals went fine and Wallysaid his lines at just the right time. Buton the big night, as parents andcongregation members were enjoyingthe children’s performance, there was asurprise. When Wally was approached
by Joseph and Mary, he said his linesperfectly. Three times Joseph asked andthree times Wally said, “no room.” Finally as Mary and Joseph walked awaywith heads bowed down, Wally didn’tshut the door of the inn like he wassupposed to. Instead, while he watchedthem go, he was overcome by emotionand he shouted out: “You can have myroom!” Wally captured the truesentiment of Christmas, didn’t he? Hiswords were not in the text of the scriptfor the pageant, but his passionate wordsof generosity were certainly the stuff of arightly good Christmas.
Maybe it is good for us to look atChristmas in terms of what is not talkedabout in the story. The rich and famousand the religious leaders of the day arenot in the story. There is no royalprocession and no pomp andcircumstance in the story. Even thetemple where God was known to bepresent is not in the story. In realitythere was probably not an inn in thestory; according to the bestunderstanding of the customs of the day,Mary and Joseph probably stayed thatnight in the stable part of the home of arelative. We know that part of CaesarAugustus’ decree was that Jewishfamilies should open their homes to their
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relatives. And this was the town ofMary and Joseph’s relatives, they wereboth of the house of David. The wordfor “inn” is “kataluma” and it means“guest room.” The guest room was onthe roof and to the back of the house. Jesus was born in the “living” part of thehouse. There was no room in the “guestroom” because other relatives werealready staying there. Understandingwhat is not in Luke’s birth story helps usto understand the important parts of thereal story that Luke wants us to hear. All that is important in a family happenson the first floor. The cooking, theeating, the sleeping, even keeping warmby means of the stable for the animalslocated at a level just below the kitchen. Jesus was born right in the center of afamilies’ home life. When God birthedhis Own Son into our human history, hedid it into the midst of everyday humblelife. He didn’t introduce him as atraveler, staying in a motel outside thewalls of normal living, not as a gueststaying in a guest room separate from thehouse. Jesus was born right in the centerof ordinary life. Holy Splendor, shiningincarnate upon every human face andlife. He came like us, wet and warm,into swaddling cloths to be our Brotherand more than a Brother, to be ourSavior. Pastor Wilke
Choirs
All Bell Choirs and the Adult Choirwill be taking the month of January off. There will be no practices at all duringthe month of January. We will start upagain in February.
It’s Time toDecorate For
Christmas
On Thursday,December 6, wewill be having apotluck supper at6:00 p.m. and we
will then be decorating the church forChristmas. Everyone from thecongregation is invited to help.
It’s time toorder poinsettiasto decorate thealtar forChristmas. The
cost will be $13.00 each. If you wouldlike to order a poinsettia, contact Vickiat the church office or you can put themoney in the offering plate–mark it for apoinsettia. Deadline for ordering isSunday, December 16.
God’s Indescribable Gift
The month of December is for manypeople the busiest time of the year. Inthe weeks surrounding Christmas, wehave gatherings, parties, and shoppingthat fill up our days. As enjoyable andeven beneficial as these activities can be,we must guard against their taking ourfocus off the gift of our Savior Whobrought with Him forgiveness of sins,salvation, and life forever with Him inHeaven.
We should never tire of hearing howmiraculous an event Jesus’ birth was. Can you picture yourself being one ofthe shepherds, half asleep, yet watchingover a flock of sheep settled down forthe night? On the night of Jesus birth,the sky was filled with light. Theshepherds were awakened and becamefearful, wondering what was happening. They heard the words of the angelssaying: “Fear not, for behold, I bringyou good news of great joy...for unto youis born...a Savior, Who is Christ theLord” (Luke 2:10-11). What the angelssaid likely calmed them slightly, butthey had to be very excited. Filled with
awe, they went to find the “Babywrapped in swaddling cloths and lyingin a manger” (verse 12). They foundJesus with Mary and Joseph, and theycouldn’t keep quiet about it. Just as theshepherds made known what was told tothem, we in the same way are to sharethe good news of the Christ Child.
How sad that, just because we’veheard the story countless times, we loseour sense of awe and gratitude and don’tmake known all we’ve heard concerningthis Child born to be our Savior. Because of His birth and His sufferingand death and resurrection, our lives arenot what they have been. Therefore, wehave a story to tell. What has Jesus donefor us? How does He help us in ourdaily lives? What is it like to have thesure hope of Heaven? What can we sayabout the “inexpressible gift” (2Corinthians 9:15) of God’s grace givento us in His Son, the Baby ofBethlehem?
There will be NO newsletter in January. The January calendar is included withthis newsletter. Watch upcomingbulletins for news.
Deadline for articles for the Februarynewsletter is Thursday, January 17.
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There are two ways to financiallycontribute electronically. One is throughautomatic withdrawal. This is a set dateand amount. There are forms areavailable at church. The other is throughan app calling Give Plus Church.Download the free app. Search for GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church. You canchoose a one-time or recurring donationusing your debit/credit card orchecking/savings account.
~ Kristen Rosner, Treasurer
“Warmth, Peace, and Pajamas”
The Salvation Army this ChristmasSeason, along with their usual “Toy andFood Drive” is again collecting newpajamas for their pajama project. Ourgreatest need is sizes 5 thru AdultMedium, boys and girls. Please considermaking either a monetary donation orbuying a new pair of pajamas so that allof Norfolk’s children can sleep inwarmth. Checks made payable to:“Norfolk Salvation Army PajamaProject” can be dropped off or mailed toSalvation Army, 112 N. 7 St., Norfolk. th
New pajamas can be dropped off in thebox marked “Pajama Project” in theNarthex of the church, at SalvationArmy, or WJAG radio station. Deadlineis Monday, December 17. Blessings toall of you for your support.
December Birthdays
Sawyer McCarter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/1Myrle Mesteth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/2Cary Meyer.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/2Phillis Allison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/3Richard Peterson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/3Rebecca Suehl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/3Colbee Dennis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/4Brad Charter.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/5Dominic Lee.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/5Chelsea Spiegel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/5Vi Johnson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/6Scott Owen.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/6Anthony Valencia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/6Taylor Bonsall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/7Luke Winkelbauer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/9Stan Meyer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/10Norma Wright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/10Richard Brozek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/11Lelice Newcomb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/12Brandon Timmerman. . . . . . . . . . . 12/12Ethan Lee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/13Arianna Rathke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/14Shari Thomas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/14Jeremy Baumann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/15Sherri Fish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/15David Hallberg.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/15Brenyn Ames. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/16Taelin Baumann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/16Julius McWilliams. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/16Madysan Blecher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/17Owen Brummels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/17Shay Conroy.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/17Linda Hoffman.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/17Jared Lechner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/17
Tommy Ellenberger. . . . . . . . . . . . 12/18Myron Wagner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/18Jeremy Ellenberger.. . . . . . . . . . . . 12/19Heidi Brenneman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/20Mariah Peterson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/20Joe Tjaden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/20Barbara Petracek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/21Michael Janssen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/22Bobbi Bowers.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/24Scott Phillips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/25Benjamin Aufdembrink. . . . . . . . . 12/26Bryce Dennis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/26Jim Schaefer.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/26Brooke Zobrist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/26Logan Allen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/27John Allison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/27Lyle Baker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/27Natasha Spreeman. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/27Anita Brenneman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/28Brad Dinkel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/29Skylar Ellenberger. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/29Annabell Fuhrman. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/29Tessa Meyer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/29Jeff Frank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/30Steve Shoemaker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/30Emery Brummels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/31Patty Simpson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/31
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Lutheran High Northeast News December 2018
LHNE Giving Challenge!Great News! Lutheran High Northeasthas been provided a great challenge toraise $50,000 by December 31, 2018. This challenge was created by a donorform the Omaha area! The donor willmatch your gift to Lutheran High–dollarfor dollar up to $50,000 total–as long asit is given by December 31, 2018. Willyou be part of the great challenge? Youcan send your gift to LHNE, 2010 N 37th
St., Norfolk NE 68701. You can make agift through our website–www.lhne.org–click on GIVE. Onbehalf of the students at LHNE–THANKYOU for your prayers and your gifts!LHNE Christmas ConcertThe Lutheran High Northeast MusicDepartment would like to invite you totheir annual Christmas Concert onSunday, December 9 at 3:00 pm. Thestudents in the Concert Choir and Concert Band have already beenworking for over a month preparingChristmas treasures for your listeningenjoyment. We hope that you will beable to join us for an afternoon of celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus,with the joyful sounds of Christmasmusic. There is no admission fee, but afree will offering basket will be availableat the door.Thank You!
A big thank you to all of the area 7 andth
8 graders who visited our campus thisth
past Tuesday for Eagle Fun Day. Wewere thrilled to have nearly 100 gueststudents join us for this day of funlearning and sharing a taste of what it islike to be a student at LHNE. We prayGod will bless us with the opportunityto have many of you as our students inthe future!Trivia Night–Mark Your Calendars!Mark your calendars now for the LHNEBooster Club’s Annual Trivia Night. This fun event will take place on January19. You can put your teams together andgo online at www.lhne.orgto register. We look forward to seeingyou there!Upcoming EventsDec. 2–Self-Defense ClassesDec. 9–Music Concert 3 pmDec. 10–Booster Club MeetingDec. 18-20–1st Semester FinalsDec. 21–Finals Make-up Date (if needed)Dec. 21-Jan. 6–NO SCHOOL Christmas
Break
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Norfolk, NE
Permit No. 8
December 2018 Vol. 38, No. 12
Grace Lutheran Church
416 W. Park Ave.
Norfolk, NE 68701-5240
(402) 371-1044
email address:
Website address:
gracelutherannorfolk.com
Pastor
Rev. Ray S. Wilke
84607 Hadar Rd.
Norfolk, NE 68701-1009
(402) 841-1785
Associate Pastor
Rev. Chris Asbury
2800 Rolling Hills Drive
Norfolk, NE 68701-5240
(402) 302-4232
Grace Lutheran Church
416 W. Park Ave.
Norfolk, NE 68701-5240
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
Grace Lutheran Church Officers for 2018
President Maynard Thompson
Vice President Tim Gansebom
Secretary Paul Leckband
Treasurer Kristen Rosner
Finance Secretary Melodee Drenkow
Elders
Shawn Beaudette Justin Shaver
Brad Dinkel Matt Sheriff
Dave Drevecky Glenn Spreeman
Gerry Mansfield Mike Wiederin
Waylon Petsche
Trustees
Mike Cleveland Dave Pinnt
Craig Drenkow Phil Zastrow
Rob Jenkins
Board of Education
Brian Boning Christine Eisenhauer
Phil Carlson Karri Wiederin
Melissa Dinkel Alyson Wilke
Rhiannon Dyer
Family Life Board
Andrea Beaudette Lee Obermeyer
Sherry Dinkel Barb Schaefer
Lois Leckband Sheri Sheriff
