Lutheran Congregations

in Mission for Christ

DECEMBER NEWSLETTER 2019

Immanuel Lutheran Church “Grace Happens at the Church on

the Hill”

P.O. Box 1355 - 411 CR 401 Taylor, Texas 76574 Phone: (512) 365-9494 - ilc@eccwireless.net

Sunday Schedule Discipleship Classes 9:15 Worship 10:30

Church Secretary: Sharon Fritz (512) 560-0908 Financial Secretary: Evelyn Remmert

Treasurer: Claris Randig, Office: Sandy Trussell (512) 365-9494

Pastor Caleb Bahr

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the

Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

It is the season of hope, love, peace, and joy. It is the season of Advent, a time when

we look for Christ’s coming. This month, we celebrate Jesus birth in Bethlehem over 2,000

years ago and we also look for His coming again. The advent of something means that it is

finally here. For instance, we recently witnessed the advent of a new iPhone. It is the arrival

of something that has been eagerly anticipated.

During Advent, we remember that Jesus is already here. He has come! He is with us

and He brings with Him things only He can provide. He fills us with hope that despite the

state of the world around us, there is a happy ending. He enables us to love those who don’t

deserve love (which is everybody, by the way). He gives us peace in the midst of stress and

life’s problems. He gives us a completely unreasonable joy and fills us with the faith to re-

ceive it. Jesus’ Advent us upon us again so may the God of hope fill you with all love, peace

and joy through your faith, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Peace is with you,

Pastor Caleb

Interested in becoming a

member of Immanuel Lutheran

Church?

If you haven’t already, please contact

Pastor Caleb Bahr.

(512)365-9494

pastorcalebbahr@gmail.com

December 14th & 15th

IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH

Live Nativity @ Church on the Hill

411 CR 401 Taylor, TX 76574 Questions: 512-365-9494

“A COMMUNITY EVENT” “TEACH THE CHILDREN”

FREE TOURS EVERY 20 MIN.

Donations accepted for Shepherd’s Heart Food

Pantry & Hutto Food Bank

Follow the journey of Mary and Joseph from

Nazareth to Bethlehem’s stable

Recipe for Community

Ministry: The Least

I am often asked what churches can do to grow. I have found myself repeatedly encouraging congre-gations to engage in the kind of ministry Jesus did and reach out to the least, the lost, and the left out in your community. I believe Jesus gives us this recipe for community ministry in Luke 15 through the stories of the lost coin, the lost son, and the lost sheep.

In Luke 15:8-10, Jesus tells a parable of a woman who loses a single coin and turns her house upside down to find it. When she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors to celebrate. Biblical scholars point out that the monetary value of the lost coin was miniscule. Who among us would waste our time searching for a penny?! And who of us would throw a party when we found one?! From our perspective, it is just a coin of low value. But Jesus shares that what we see as insignificant is in fact of great value in God’s economy!

I have no doubt that our church is full of Jesus-loving people who earnestly desire growth. But I also have a hunch that the kind of growth we sub-consciously prefer would be people who may look like us, talk like us, think like us, and hopefully have capacity to be significant financial contributors. After all, wealthy people who share our beliefs can really help the church. The poor, on the other hand, seem to have little to offer.

But what if the church desired to reach first and foremost the people who had the least to offer and the most to gain? What would happen if instead of focusing on those who would be most beneficial to the church, the church focused on the individuals that we could benefit the most? From a worldly point of view, the poor may not appear to be of great value to the church. But from God’s point of view, the least among us is worth the passionate investment of our time just like the woman in Jesus’ story who searched tirelessly for the lost coin.

The Gospels are full of examples of Jesus’ care for the poor. If the poor were important to Jesus, then they should certainly be important to us still today. God is calling us to reach out to the least in our community in a meaningful way. Let’s get serious about ministering to those who have the most to gain in Christ Jesus. And let’s get creative and not simply default to a handout. Instead, take the time to invest in getting to know the people that live all around us. Learn their names, become their friends, listen to their stories, pray with and for them, and ask the all-important question, “How can we be a blessing to you and your family.” And don’t forget to rejoice and celebrate what God has done when the lost is found!

Immanuel Lutheran Church

$5.00 ea.

“Our Daily

Bread”

(suggested donation)

Christmas card sent to

Claudine in Burindi, Africa. Note

the translation; every letter sent has to be translated as Burundi is not an Eng-lish speaking country. Please continue to keep Claudine and her family in your prayers. Every month $38 from Noisy Offering goes to the “Feed the Hungry” organization that is working in Claudine’s community.

Thanks to your generous donations Immanuel was able to deliver 28 shoeboxes to the collection center in Hutto. The boxes are on their way to children in countries all over the world with a message of hope and stories of Jesus’ love. We were able to register the boxes to receive tracking information on where the boxes go. This in-formation will be available by the end of December and will be included in the Janu-

ary newsletter.

God bless you for your donations!

THANK YOU!

Thank You to our Members that were able to

help at Shepherd’s Heart!

Thank You to our Members that were able to

help at Shepherd’s Heart!

DECEMBER FLOWERS

DONATED BY MEMBERS

DECEMBER ACOLYTES:

12/1/19 Rachel

12/8/19 Ayden

12/15/19 Melania

12/22/19 Krista

12/29/19 Bodie

DECEMBER ALTAR GUILD:

Teresa Wendland, Donna Rinehart

DECEMBER USHERS:

Norm Bailey & Sandy Bailey

Harvey Johnson-council

DECEMBER LECTORS:

12/1/19 Sandra Krueger

12/8/19

12/15/19 Teresa Wendland

12/22/19 Cheryle Kruger

12/29/19

SUNDAY SCHOOL

9:15

TRIP TO THE HOLY LAND

If this is on your bucket list you are not alone. A

few weeks ago at the Texas LCMC Gathering

Pastor Caleb Williams from New Hope Luther

Church in McDade shared information about Holy

Land Tours that he organizes. He wants as many

people possible to have this experience and of-

fers the trip at his cost. There is a photo booklet

for you to glance at on the table in the annex, and

if you want to know more about this opportunity

or how to contact Pastor Williams please talk to

Phyllis Johnson.

November Memorials Report

MEMORIAL FUND

For: Mr. & Mrs. Henry Ray Fritz

& Mr. Jonathan Fritz

By: Charlie & Emily Simons,

Mr. & Mrs. Luke Simons, Mr. & Mrs. Jason Delgado,

& Jonah Henry

Page 6 Immanuel Lutheran Church

FAITH CARDS

& CHRISTMAS CARDS CARDS ARE AVAILABLE NOW FOR .50 CENTS.

Stop and check them out—they are beautiful!!

We are accepting used greeting cards to continue mak-

THANK YOU

FOR YOUR

NOISY

OFFERING

Beautiful DECEMBER

BIRTHDAYS

Rhonda Sing…….……………..……..4th

Rebecca Borgne..…………………….5th

Dale Krueger…….……………….…...9th

Gary Johle.……………..…………....17th

Tyler Talley……………………........28th

Rachel Trussell……………..………..31st

NOISY OFFERING

Here at Immanuel we get noisy every Sunday. We worship the Lord in so

many ways and one is with Noisy Offering that is collected every week

during the regular offering time. Our little members love to be part of the

service and help pass the buckets. The money collected always goes to

a cause that the kids discuss and/or relate to. In December the Noisy

offering will be given for the RED SANTA PROJECT in Taylor.

Your change and/or green is always appreciated.

THANK YOU

FOR YOUR

NOISY

OFFERING

WOW will resume meeting

on Jan. 5th, 2pm

Faith Circle will resume on

Jan 2, 10am

DECEMBER 2019

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

Immanuel Lutheran Church

P. O. Box 1355

Taylor, Tx 76574

Phone: 512-365-9494

E-mail: ilc@eccwireless.net

www.ilctaylor.net

Office Hours:

Tues-Fri-9am-noon

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

COUNCIL

MEETING

7:00 PM

EMERGENCY NUMBERS:

Bonnie Kaderka(512) 468-2962

Morgan Wendland (512) 632-9366

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

SS 9:15

WORSHIP

10:30

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

ADVENT BIBLE

STUDY

7:00PM

29 30

NATIVITY

CONSTRUCTION

31

SS 9:15

WORSHIP

10:30

SS 9:15

WORSHIP COMM

10:30

ADVENT BIBLE

STUDY

7:00PM

ADVENT BIBLE

STUDY

7:00PM

SS 9:15

WORSHIP COMM

10:30

NATIVITY 5:30 PM

NATIVITY 5:30 PM

CHRISTMAS

Eve

Candlelight

Service

7:00 PM

SS 9:15

WORSHIP COMM 10:30

NATIVITY REHERSAL 2PM

Merry

Christmas

NEWSLETTER ITEMS ARE DUE

BY THE 20th OF EVERY

MONTH