Mess iah Mes s enger

Messiah Lutheran Church

December, 2016

Pastor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rev. Susanne Smith Youth Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Benz Organist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hal Morton Choir Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gloria DeVilbiss Administrator/Bookkeeper . . . . . . . . . .Dennis Wohlers Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Toni Landon Facilities . . . . . . Jerry & Kay Claussen, & Matt Mitchell Nursery Attendant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ashley Gerst Preschool Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Margie Gerst, Director Aubrey Gerst, Deb Jensen, Krystal Klein 2016 Council Members: Joel Hanger-president, Mark Smith-vice-president, Steve Sanders-treasurer, Joanne Mohr-secretary, Deb Brinkley, Joy Shah, Christa Ruther, Carm McBeth, Dan Wiedemeier, Judy Stewart, Marcia Taeger, Rich Miller, Roger Hatteberg, John Larson

Inside this issue:

December Happenings, Congregation

Council Motions, Stewardship Message. .2

Youth Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Advent coloring calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Preschool News &

Advent photo challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Scheduled to Serve,

Birthdays & Anniversaries . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Staff and Council Members at Messiah

FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY AT MESSIAH

Messiah’s administrator, Dennis Wohlers, is teaching Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University for us on Monday evenings, beginning Monday, January 16 at 7:00 p.m. The last class will be on March 13. Financial Peace University is a biblically grounded process for getting out of debt and becoming financially independent. To sign up for the class, please contact Dennis Wohlers in the church office.

Advent and Christmas Events at Messiah Wednesday, December 7, 7 pm-Advent worship: Holden Evening Prayer

Wednesday, December 14, 7 pm-Advent worship: Holden Evening Prayer

Sunday, December 11 at 8 am-worship; at 10:30 am-Sunday School Christmas program

Wednesday, December 14-6:00 pm 3rd Wednesday supper; 7 pm Advent worship

Sunday, December 18, 8 am-worship; 10:30 am-choir Christmas cantata

Wednesday, December 21, 7 pm-Advent worship: Holden Evening Prayer

Saturday, December 24, Christmas Eve worship ~Christmas Eve worship 5 pm; special music begins at 4:30 pm ~Christmas Eve worship 11 pm; special music begins at 10:30 pm

Sunday, December 25-8 am and 10:30 am worship

From the council president’s desk: A note about stewardship

Our annual meeting is just two months away. In preparation for that meeting we have been working on changing our budget into two separate ones. A Trust budget which is of course funded totally by the trusts and covers our mortgage, the property and maintenance, as well as any tangible items-that would be any physical items for the church. Like the candles for the everlasting light behind me, to postage, youth program materials, Bibles, to bathroom supplies. You know stuff...or things you can touch.

The gifts we-the members of Messiah give-are shown under what I’ll call ministry and support. These are the things we need to do in order to make our church operate, as well as reach out to others. Things like mission support, that would be for Phebe shipping and freight, The Lutheran home in Muscatine, Community action, the noon meal at the Salvation Army. When our youth go on trips we pay for chaperon expenses. Camp fees. We have the administration costs with running a church. The phone, electricity. Gas. Internet, insurance.

We also support the Lutheran church worldwide through Synod, that alone is currently 9.5% of what we give.

And of course our local salaries.

IF everything works out as planned we will have this for you a week before the annual meeting.

By presenting the budget in this way, we hope you can see what you need to think and pray about for your stewardship for the coming year.

Joel Hanger

COUNCIL MEETING HIGHLIGHTS— November 15, 2016

By the grace of God . . .

Funeral - William Ruther 07/17/1927 - 11/07/2016 Bob Bellville 02/11/1958 - 11/07/2016

TEACHING AND LEARNING

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL/ADULT FORUM December 4-December 18: Joel Hanger presents:

Bible study on the book of Leviticus

NOTE: Due to length of reports only highlights are provided here. Full reports and minutes of council meetings are available in the office and on the council bulletin board in the hallway.

MOTION Requests for use of facilities for: Aubrey Siegle, December 31, 2016, 8am-1pm, social hall & kitchen; Beth Barker, January 6, 2017, 6pm, social hall; Marcia Wiedemeier, March 3, 2017, noon-3pm, social hall & kitchen . MSC MOTION New members to be accepted: Ben Lundell; Diane Gray; Darrell and Linda Sweezer; and Scott and Meghan Ganschow and children, Hazell and Sean. MSC

COMMUNITY AND CARE

MITTEN TREE Soon our Mitten Tree will be up, ready to be decorated with mittens, caps and scarves for ele-mentary students. Have fun decking this special tree. Thank you for your Christmas presents.

SERVICE AND WITNESS

TAKE AWAY HUNGER will be packaging at Westland Mall on December 10th with Messiah packaging at 12 noon. We will be near the south entrance somewhere between the food court and our TAH gift wrap. Please sign the sheet in the narthex if you are planning on helping. We hope this will be good advertising for TAH.

OUR 9TH ANNUAL NEW-TO-YOU CHIRISTMAS SALE for Take Away Hunger Greater Burlington was a success due to all of those who donated the wonderful Christmas items, gift items, toys and the delicious baked goods. We appreciate and thank all who gave their time in pricing and setting up our beautiful dis-plays. This year’s proceeds were $2000 and will pro-vide over 8000 meals for the hungry while helping at least four groups package who are unable to raise their own funds.

TAH GIFT WRAPPING If you are interested in helping at the Take Away Hunger gift wrap at Westland Mall this Christmas season, please check the calendar in the narthex and sign your name & phone number if you plan to help.

TO JOIN CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Facebook meet-ings, please contact Christa Ruther or Kelly Benz via Facebook Messenger. We “meet” the second Tues-day of each month at 8:00 p.m.

PAGE 2

PAGE 3

Youth News

This year for the annual Christmas pro-gram the children will be performing a

nativity play during the 10:30am worship service on Sunday December 11th. The children will begin learning their

parts in Sunday school. If your child is unable to participate,

please contact Kelly at Kelly.messiah@gmail.com or

319-572-3947. We need help making some props! If you

can help, please contact Kelly!

Children, Youth

, &

Fam

ily M

inis

try

LIFT

Children 3 years old–6th grade join us on Sunday, December

11th, at Trinity Lutheran Church from 5:00-6:45pm for a night of fun, education, music, prayers,

crafts, dinner and worship.

ALL ARE WELCOME!!

Confirmation will meet on December 7th, 14th & 21st

High School Trip

Early Bird Registration Deadline is December 15th

$150 non-refundable deposit reserves your spot!

A note from Kelly...

Practice for the Christmas program has begun during Sunday school. Please make sure your child is at Sunday school so they can be a part of this time. The Christmas program will be held on Dec. 11th during the 10:30am worship service with a simple play and music they have been working hard on with Marcia Taeger. Our children are getting excited for the arrival of Christmas! One way we can help them learn about the season of Advent and celebrate Jesus’ birthday is by using as a family an Advent calendar. In this news-letter you will find an Advent count-up coloring calendar. Each day color an ornament and count up to the star. While the kids are coloring, it would be an excellent time to share different parts of the Christmas story. For teens and adults, look for the Advent photo challenge. Each day you have a theme to take a picture of and a Bible verse to read. Talk with your family members about your pictures and Bible verse. Also you can post your pictures to Messiah’s Facebook page. Be sure to label it “Advent Photo Challenge” and include the day, number, theme, and Bible verse. I look forward to hearing about your Advent journey as together we wait for the birth of Jesus!! We will also be sponsor an “Adopt-A-Family” tree for Christmas. Any member that would like to be considered for adoption, please see Kelly. Names and family information (congregational or community) are kept strictly confidential. We receive families from Community Action who are unable to participate in Toys for Tots.

Blessings, Kelly

PAGE 4

Messiah Preschool 3, 4 & 5-Year-old Sessions

SHAPING FUTURES THROUGH FAITH BASED EDUCATION

Messiah Preschool News Greetings from the children’s wing in the church. Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you! We are very busy preparing for the Christmas season that is quickly coming upon us. Our Christmas programs will be coming up soon as well. Thanksgiving tasting parties were so much fun and we enjoyed many healthy and very yummy dishes prepared by our families. Making them just a little more fun in that we also enjoyed singing some of our Christmas program songs. There is nothing quite like eating great food and singing fun seasonal songs. Our music Turkey in the Barnyard was followed by Jingle Bells! The children thought that was a lot of fun!! We continue with our Sharing and Caring curric- ulum throughout December by remembering others in our community with our Food Basket giving. Please say a few prayers for our preschool’s staff, children and their families through the Christmas season. A financial gift to our preschool would be a huge blessing too! If you are interested in pre-school information, please contact Ms. Margie at 319-754-7591 ext. 2.

Merry Christmas and blessings for a Happy New Year! From all of us in the preschool

PAGE 5

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Scheduled to Serve in December

8:00 SERVICE Communion Assistant: December 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carm McBeth December 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cathy Borden December 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mary Chicken December 25 . . . . . .Pr. Wayne Weissenbuehler Lector: December 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carm McBeth December 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cathy Borden December 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mary Chicken December 25 . . . . . .Pr. Wayne Weissenbuehler

10:30 SERVICE Ushers: Don Duke (head usher), Paula Ander-

son, John Larson, Pat & Jim Watts Communion Assistants: December 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Deb Brinkley December 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joel Hanger December 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Larson December 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joanne Mohr Lector: December 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lois Clark December 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Larson December 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Judith Stewart December 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joanne Mohr Acolyte: December 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kylie Wolf December 7 (Advent): Brian Newberry, Emma Tessen December 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wayne Carruthers December 14 (Advent): Emma Tessen, Nenyo Lotegeluaki December 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emma Tessen December 21 (Advent): Kylie Wolf, Josie Wolter December 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elle Jones Altar Guild: Brenda Clements family

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS

2 - John Lundgren 3 - Sky Polson 5 - James Egerton, Steve Swanson 6 - Paula Anderson, Genny Lunning 7 - Bob Kremer 9 - Brian Newberry 10 - Colton Hudepohl 11 - Emma Todd 12 - Dale Bartelt, Ben Meyer, Gabby Ruther 13 - AJ Slagle 14 - Phillip Good 16 - Keith Taeger 18 - Bob Beck, Dan Clark, Kiley Newberry, Olivia Taeger, Wayne Tolander 20 - Margie Gerst, Nicholas Hanger, Alan Mohr 22 - Kathy Geren 23 - Lorna Miller, Nancy Tolander 27 - Sheila Zager 28 - Tyler Clements, Meghan Lovretta, Eric Sheagren, Joann Wiegard 31 - Lisa Weiler

DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES

1 Larry and Mary Lee Matteson - 1974 4 Richard and Joann Schoof - 1983 10 Craig and Kadi Wyant - 2011 16 John and Ruth Ann Larson - 1989 20 Bob and Mary Engberg - 1969 29 Tom and Leah Galvin - 1989

*Let the office know if we have missed your birthday or anniversary. If you prefer not to have your name included in the birthday and anniversary lists, please let us know.

Mission Statement

Welcoming all people to share in God’s blessings by strength-ening our commitment to God through prayer, fellowship and service.

Christmas Eve, December 24:

5:00 p.m. Worship Acolytes: Quinlan Kirk, Narisio Lotegeluaki Torchbearers: Nenyo Lotegeluaki, Lachlan Kirk Crucifer: Hunter Leibli Communion Assistants: Pr. Wayne Weissenbuehler,

Barb & Evelyn Adrian Lector: John Larson Ushers: Don Duke (head usher), Ernie & Linda Voigt,

Dan & Marcia Wiedemeier

11:00 p.m. Worship Acolyte: Emma Tessen Communion Assistants: Joel Hanger, Joanne Mohr, Don

Shackleford Lector: Judith Stewart Ushers: Bob Engberg (head usher)

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MESSIAH LUTHERAN CHURCH 2411 West Avenue

BURLINGTON, IOWA 52601

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

Burlington, IA

52601-1598

Permit No. 360

Return Service Requested

Sunday Mornings Worship 8:00 a.m. Sunday School and Adult Bible Study 9:15 a.m. Worship 10:30 a.m.

Third Wednesdays Supper 6:00 p.m. Holden Evening Prayer 7:00 p.m.

DECEMBER 2016

MESSIAH LUTHERAN

CHURCH

Phone: 319-754-7591

Fax: 319-754-7592 E-mail: messiah2411@gmail.com

www.messiahburlington.org

This month -

Weekly Bible Study - every Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. Children’s Christmas program - December 11th at 10:30 worship service Preschool Christmas programs - December 12, 13 & 15 (6:00 p.m.) in the sanctuary Choir Cantata - December 18 at 10:30 worship service 3rd Wednesday-Supper (6:00 p.m.), Advent Worship (7:00 p.m.) Take Away Hunger packaging - at the mall on Saturday, December 10th at noon Advent Worship: Holden Evening Prayer - December 7, 14, 21 at 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Services-December 24: 4:30 p.m.-Special Music; 5:00 p.m.-Christmas Eve Worship; 10:30 p.m.-Special Music; 11:00 p.m.-Christmas Eve Worship