Worship Service

Sunday 10:30 am

Sunday School and Bible Class 9am

Upcoming:

October 9th—Back to Church Sunday

2016

It's time for gigi! Middle School & High

School girls come & join us! gigi meets

Sundays, beginning in October, after church

until 1:00pm. We nourish our bodies as well

as our souls.

Persistence

Persistence is keeping on going even when the going gets tough. It is getting back up again after getting knocked down. Persistence is a component of good character but often times it feels like a burden. At times we don’t want to persist, we just want to throw in the towel. God says, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself

and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16). Persistence is a matter of life and death. It is of eternal consequence for you and your hearers.

There is an article from the evangelism committee in this newsletter about how “Now is the Time” to spread the seeds about the life saving message of Jesus love that brings us to eternal peace. Back to Church Sunday which we will celebrate on October 9 is a way of being persistent in our calling to share the Good News with those around us. Many of you have done this in the past and sometimes it works and other times it appears not to. We are encouraged by God not to give up. Whether you are inviting someone you have invited before or someone new, you are doing God’s good work when you offer a warm, loving invitation to someone, to join you to receive God’s good gifts through our Sunday service.

Romans 5:3-4 says, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Endurance here is like persistence and it leads to hope and hope is just what we and those around us need – now and for eternity.

I was using a turkey baster today to suck water out of the tray under the washing machine because the water was overflowing. After suctioning the water out with a hose didn’t work this was the only other idea we could think of. It was a tediously slow process and my legs were starting to protest the extended squatting position. I was tempted to give up and thrown in the wet towel which we had used to sop up the wet floor. Now, maybe persistence isn’t the solution in this case. Maybe a new washing machine is the answer but you get the picture.

But for some problems you can’t just buy your way out of it. You can’t buy new neighbors to have someone new to invite to church. Although someone I know moves often enough that they get new neighbors every year or so. You could try that if you are so bold. You have all heard the saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” This is an important and true sentiment that God puts before us. But he doesn’t drop it and run. He offers us words of truth as the seeds to spread and he nourishes our soil with fertilizer so that we can mature (mature and manure differ by just one letter, hmmm) and grow. He rains down life sustaining water to us and to those we witness to. He gives us the strength we need to carry on. He makes our burdens light. He supplies the patience to endure for the long haul. He offers joy so that our service is a privilege not a chore. He promises that his word will not return to him empty.

May the Lord lead you to his eternal waters to drink so that you are sustained for the journey before you and may he show you who you can help lead to those same waters of forgiveness, hope and life. Peace to you! Pastor

Matthew 23:11

Lay Ministry

As we begin another school year, your Lay Ministry Team would like to re-introduce

ourselves to you. The Lay Ministry Board members are: Carole Aguirre, Jean

Cartwright, Steve Galbraith, Dick Johnson, Lenore Onyon and Angus Pratt. Hopefully

each of you has been assigned a Lay Minister, if you haven't or don't know who your

Lay Minister is, please contact the church office at (360) 332-6589, or me at (360) 332-

7311, and we'll provide you with their name and telephone number. The Lay Ministers

are here to assist you and Pastor, and encourage you to contact us so we can get to

know one another.

Cares Committee

I'd also like to re-introduce you to your Cares Committee program. Currently we have

approximately 14 participants on the committee serving 31 people within our

congregation. Based on the individual requests, the committee members send out

cards, make telephone calls, and visit people in their homes or retirement facility. If

you're interested in receiving a visit, a note or card, or telephone call, please contact

me at (360) 332-7311 or call the church office at (360) 332-6589, and we'll add your

name to our list. In addition, volunteers for the Cares Committee, are always welcome.

You can volunteer for whatever you feel led to do, whether it be sending greeting cards,

visiting someone at their home, or making telephone calls, we'd love to you join our

committee.

Blessings to You and Yours

Lenore Onyon

Lay Ministry Chairperson

SARAH’S CIRCLE ladies will be

making fleece tied blankets instead of quilts for their next project to benefit

Lutheran World Relief. This is an easy , inter-generational activity. For more

information contact the church office.

Novels, History, Devotionals, Children’s Stories,

Christian Living, DVD’s— we have them!

CHECK IT OUT:

The Story Bible by Pearl S. Buck. The complete Bible translated into

easy-to-read modern English. Especially good for young readers or new

Christians.

The Church in History by B. K. Kuiper. A brief but thorough history of the Christian Church from

Roman times until 1996. Includes all major and some minor Christian churches and how they came

about. A good read if you like history.

Plant the Seed

A couple of weeks ago we sang in the church the song, “Make Me a Servant”, and it got

me thinking. We are only being asked to plant or scatter the SEED, while the Lord does the actual

work through the Holy Spirit. Again we are being asked to scatter or plant the seed!! So why not

just make a list of co-workers, neighbors, friends, and family members that may need a “nudge”,

some encouragement, or a friendly invite to attend church, a bible class, Sunday School, a church

event, or even a visit from the pastor.

On Sunday, October 9th, we are hosting a special worship service to help reach those

mentioned above. This service is called “NOW’S THE TIME” and will be hosted by our Evangelism

Committee. Caring for people is our heart ministry and reaching out to fellow members as well

as those outside our membership. We need to communicate our faith by being sensitive to the

needs of others, while still maintaining our “servant” attitude.

Ask yourself, “why would an unchurched person come to our church? Or, why would

someone who gave up on our organized church sometime ago want to return?” We need to reach

out and touch others in a loving and caring manner, planting that seed that has YOU believing and

embracing the Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you looking for the opportunity to “reach out”? We need you to help us spread the news

about this special day of worship. We will be canvassing neighborhoods, inviting unchurched

people who may be looking for a church home. Share the good news and join us October 9th.

Your Evangelism Committee.

“The convention

was truly a blessing

and I am asking

God to show me

what my purpose is

and what my gifts

are, so that I can

use them to his

honor and glory.”

Heart to Heart Sister

Heart to Heart Sisters Committee

Now that the 2016 LWML Washington-Alaska District

Convention in Everett is a memory, it’s about time to

reflect on our experience with the four ladies, who

came to see just exactly what LWML was all about.

Ruth Skeete was one of the four ladies, she is from Barbados, one was from

Ethiopia, and two from South Sudan. We were all blessed as they shared their

similarities and differences. The session began with information on what

LWML is all about. We then had a Bible study from the Fall 2015 Lutheran

Woman’s Quarterly by Marilyn McClure and Melissa Salomon. After lunch we

began our participation with convention activities starting with attending the

First Timers Welcome.

One of the major blessings was watching the Heart to Heart Sisters’

interaction among themselves. You wouldn’t have guessed that they were

from countries on different sides of the world! What an example of what can

happen when Jesus is the center of your relationships.

A special thank you to Massie Hicks and Aletha Voges

for their hard work in helping to create a meaningful

experience for the new Heart to Heart Sisters.

Now, time to start thinking about 2018…

The preschool room is full of activity with new students this Fall. We have many new faces in both our classes this year. The 4 year-old class has 3 returning students and 13 fresh new faces for a total of 16 kids. Our Little Explorers class has 13 busy and full of energy kids. Miss Ayn and I are very busy in that class! All the kids are doing well getting used to our schedule and are enjoying the many toys we have.

October finds us busy with fall crafts and learning our zoo-phonics alphabet. We will also be visiting a new pumpkin patch this month in Custer and the kids are very excited. The farm is called Triple Wren Farms and the kids will get to learn about bee keeping and how they grow pumpkins on the farm as well as take home a little pumpkin.

Preschool News

October 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

2

9:00 Bible Study

10:30 Worship

w. Communion

3

Ladies Bible

Study 7 pm

4 5

Invites

distributed

throughout the

neighborhood

5-7pm

6 7

1

8

MEN’S Bible

Study 8 am

9

9:00 Bible Study

10:30 Worship

BACK TO CHURCH

SUNDAY

10

Ladies Bible

Study 7 pm

11

Lay Ministry

Meeting

7:30pm

12

Confirmation

13 14

NEWSLETTER

DEADLINE

15

16

9:00 Bible Study

10:30 Worship

w. Communion

17

Ladies Bible

Study 7 pm

18

19

Confirmation

20

21 22

MEN’S Bible

Study 8 am

23

9:00 Bible Study

10:30 Worship

24

Ladies Bible

Study 7 pm

25

Council

Meeting 6pm

26

Confirmation

27

28 29

30

9:00 Bible Study

10:30 Worship

w. Communion

31

Ladies Bible

Study 7 pm

Pastor at Conference 4th—6th

1 Ann Johnson

2 Fred Hartman Ryan Thompson

3 Hannah Phelps-McDonald

4 Anabelle Terris

5 Daizy Dehnke

7 James Aguirre Marilyn Mitchel Sophia Delong Butch Hinchey

8 Joan Gregory

10 Kellie Faulkner-Brinton

13 Gavin MacArthur

17 Butch Hinchey

Tom Rutherford

18 Roy Delong

20 Kyle Thompson

22 Svenna Hrutfiord

23 Lisa Berg

27 Linda Thompson

29 Stirling MacArthur

30 Christie Rector

October Birthday’s

Servants October 2 October 9 October 16 October 23 October 31

ACOLYTES Anthony Emily Anna Corinne Seth Elee

ALTAR

COMMITTEE Pam & Linda Pam & Linda Pam & Linda Pam & Linda Pam & Linda

COFFEE HOUR

Lenore Onyon

Steve & Debbie Roe

Jon & Colleen Huffman

Mary Johnson

Jacquie Robbins

Ron & Donna

Leach

Tom & Hazel

Rutherford

Mike & Jo

Galbraith

Linda Thompson

Jim & Carolyn

Higby

Rick & Gladys

Faulkner

GREETERS Steve & Rachel

Hrutfiord

Evangelism

Committee Jackie Robbins

Carole Liebert /

Nadine

MacArthur

Steve & Debbie

Roe

SCRIPTURE

READERS John Gilliland Kristi Galbraith Dan Persse Lenore Onyon Jim Higby

LAY MINISTERS/

COMMUNION

Lenore Onyon /

Steve Galbraith

Jean Cartwright /

Angus Pratt

Carole Aguirre /

Dick Johnson

PIANIST Cheryl Fischer Cheryl Fischer Cheryl Fischer Cheryl Fischer Cheryl Fischer

ORGANIST Brent Johnson Brent Johnson Brent Johnson Brent Johnson Brent Johnson

USHERS Dan Persse /

Angus Pratt

Jay Pukaluk /

Bruce Shelton

Ron Leach /

Art MacArthur

P.J. Aguirre / Dick

Johnson

Jim Higby /

Andy Higby

FLOWERS

OCTOBER

SERVING

SCHEDULE