St. Paul’s Epistle November 2017 edition

God’s House.

Your Home.

Praise God By Sharon Baur

November 2017 edition

Sunday worship

at 9:00am

www.stpaulswr.org

Soles for Jesus pg 2

We Are Living Proof of

God’s Grace pg 2

Worship Notes Pg 3

Fall Bazaar & Bake Sale

pg 3

School News pg 4-6

Prayer from an

Anonymous Soldier pg 7

This month I am celebrating my five year anniversary since being diag-

nosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. The average life span of an ALS patient

is 2 to 5 years. That I am entering my sixth year living with this disease

qualifies me as “above-average” by ALS standards. (It’s high time I

scored well at something! ) So, yes, I’m celebrating!

Although the disease has been progressing, I still have relatively good

respiratory function and can eat and

speak. With my arms no longer

functional, I control my power

wheelchair with head controls and

I can access my computer with an

eye gaze device. This amazing

technology allows me to navigate

and control my computer by track-

ing where I’m looking on the

screen. For example, I’m typing this

message by looking at the letters

displayed on a keypad and spelling

out words simply by using my eyes.

I am so grateful for these adaptive

devices that help me maintain some

of my independence, and especially

for more time to enjoy my family

and friends!

The upcoming year includes the arrival of grandbaby #4 in January (Brian

and Marga) and Martin’s retirement in May. Who would have thought I’d

live long enough to share all of these special moments? Praise God from

whom all blessings flow!

St. Paul’s Epistle November 2017 edition

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Not having shoes has a major impact on people in Africa. Children are not able

to attend school because they do not have shoes. Men and women are turned

down for jobs because they do not have shoes to wear to work. People have

serious injuries or infections because they have no shoes to protect their

feet. Your donated shoes (new and gently used) can change lives in Africa! We

will be collecting shoes for "Soles for Jesus", a Milwaukee based non-profit. All

sizes and types (men's, women's, children's) are accepted. Donations of new

shoelaces as well as cash to defray shipping costs are welcome as well. There

will be collection boxes set up in the Welcome Center and School hallway Oct.

29 - Nov. 10. Cash can be dropped off at the church office or room 108. Please

contact John Quint at 715-712-0016 with questions.

We Are Living Proof of God’s Grace. “Shake things up!” Hiro, in the movie Big Hero 6, was stuck. He couldn’t solve what he was working on. “Look for a

new angle,” Tadashi, his big brother, told him. Tadashi promptly flung Hiro upside down, playfully bringing his

advice to life. And that’s all it took! Hiro’s eyes were opened to what he had been blind to before. He just needed a

new angle.

Students of the Bible sometimes get stuck at the questions, Why are so many people lost? Now, a word of caution:

Don’t think you are ever going to “solve” this type of question to human reason’s satisfaction. We’re not going to

attempt such a feat. However, that doesn’t mean we’re left without any answers. Through his Word, the Lord shakes

things up for us. You may come to Romans chapter 11 with the thought, Why are so many lost? In answering that

very heartfelt issue, God leads us first to see things from this angle. Ask yourself: Why are any saved? Why am I

saved?

Paul cites his own case first. It’s well-documented in Scripture. God chose

Paul—who had made Jesus his own personal enemy—to know and believe.

That’s the place for us to begin.

Consider the following conversation:

Person 1: “I never understood why God allows so many to be lost… and it

troubles me.”

Person 2: “What I never understood is why he’d ever go to the lengths he

did to save us and to bring any of us to believe it…And it amazes me!”

Are you more like Person 1 or 2? Do you spend enough time marveling over, Why are any saved? Or, Why am I

saved?

What better question to start asking today? [October 31] is the 500th anniversary of the day Martin Luther posted his

Ninety-five Theses, shaking things up in all of Europe and calling the churches back to their most important work: to

point sinners to grace.

It’s painful. Taking a good hard, honest look at ourselves, we ask, Why am I saved—I, who have sinned against my

God in so many ways?

Grace. God in his love chooses to save sinners. He chooses you. Look at that evidence of God’s amazing love!

Meditations Daily Devotional, Volume 60, Number 4, October 30, 2017

I never understood why God allows so many to be lost…

St. Paul’s Epistle November 2017 edition

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A few notes on worship Oct. 29 - We will celebrate Reformation Sunday.

Nov. 5 - Daylight Savings Time ends. Set your clocks back 1 hour.

Nov. 13 - Our last Monday night service until after New Year.

Nov. 19 - Saints Triumphant Sunday.

Nov. 22 - Thanksgiving Worship at 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 23 - Thanksgiving Worship at 9:30 a.m.

Dec. 3 - Advent begins.

Dec. 6 - Our first midweek Advent service.

Western Wisconsin District

Reformation Celebration

Sunday, October 29

Dane County Coliseum

Madison, WI

Festival Worship: 4:00

Special Hymn Sing: 6:00

Come early to visit displays

and vendor booths.

Daylight Savings Time Ends Sunday, Nov. 5

Mark Your Calendar:

Advent by Candlelight Sunday, Dec. 3

at 6:00 p.m.

St. Paul’s Epistle November 2017 edition

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Preschool - by Mrs. Hannah Mueller

Our classroom has been busy this month! We’ve been learning about our five senses, the changes of

fall, fire prevention, and apples. We’ve also been focusing on letters A through F. During fire preven-

tion week we had a brief visit with the Wisconsin Rapids Fire Department. They were kind enough to

show us how they get prepared for fires and what they look like in their gear. We even got to go inside

an ambulance and look at a firetruck!

A reminder, that we will not have school on Thursday and Friday, October 26 & 27 for teacher’s confer-

ence. Our class will be celebrating the Reformation on Tuesday, October 31st with a Reformation/

costume party.

Mrs. Mueller will be gone for a week in early November . She and her husband are going down to

Houston, TX to help WELS Christian Aid & Relief with Hurricane Harvey rebuilding efforts.

From the Principal’s Office

Classroom Highlights

Everything has been going well with the mold issue. We have not had any reoccurrences since school

started. The rooms have remained in good shape, and no students or adults have shown any symptoms

of mold health issues. We thank God for all He has done to help us with this problem.

On Tuesday, October 17, we had our first meeting of our Curriculum Team. This team has been

assembled and tasked with developing an educational philosophy for St. Paul’s School. When this team

is done, the educational philosophy will be taken to the whole faculty. A final draft will be created, and

then development of St. Paul’s social studies curriculum will begin with this new philosophy as the

driving force. Keep your eyes open for more news next month on the progress of the curriculum team!

St. Paul’s Epistle November 2017 edition

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3rd-4th Grade News – by Mr. Jon Engelbrecht

It has been an exciting start to the school year. We have melded together as a class. Each year the room

takes on its own personality, and this year we have a very positive, energetic group. It is always fun to

see how well everyone works together. The 3rd grade class is tackling a bunch of money problems in

math class. The 4th grade class is starting to realize there is little difference between basic Algebra and

some of the missing addend or minuend problems they do. Science class has the students studying

parts of a flower, the life cycle of a plant, and how to classify plants in multiple ways. The students are

reviewing the different types of sentences, different parts of a paragraph, and how to classify sentences

in English. But, the best part of our day is the beginning of the day, Word of God. We have been study-

ing how God’s hand provided for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then, we moved forward to review how

God protected and delivered the Israelites from the hand of Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

1st-2nd Grade News – by Mrs. Karen Obsuszt

1st and 2nd grade is flying by. We have been learning about faith and forgiveness in our Christ Light.

We have been talking about trusting in God above all things. We have finished our first test in Social

Studies about natural resources. We are on to learning about the marketplace. In Reading, the 1st

graders have been working on words ending in –ed and –ing. The 1st graders are very excited to have

just passed on to the next reading book in their reading series. The stories are now getting a little more

challenging. They like that. The 2nd graders have been busy classifying sentences with adverbs,

adjectives, subject nouns, verbs, and article adjectives. The 1st and 2nd graders are working very

hard, and it is always a blessing to see their light shine for Jesus.

Kindergarten News – by Mrs. Trisha Engelbrecht

October has been a busy month with many special treats.

We went on a BUS for our first field trip to see the play, The

Stinky Cheese Man, which puts a twist on traditional fairy tales.

We then compared them to the real fairy tales. For example,

the Stinky Cheese Man is a twist on the Gingerbread Man, only

no one wants to eat him because he smells stinky. The fox ends

up sneezing and the Stinky Cheese Man falls apart in the water.

We also had a visit from some of our very own community helpers, the Wisconsin Rapids firefighters.

They wanted to help young students to see someone dressed in turnout gear as someone helpful, not

scary. We watched the transformation of a firefighter from a regular guy to firefighter and listened to

the change in his voice after putting on a mask and engaging his oxygen tank.

We learned and sang A Mighty Fortress is Our God in church as we remember the church's reformation.

We enjoyed the story line as Jesus fights the devil (and spoiler alert) and wins! We learned a lot of new

vocabulary words, even more sign language, and even what is the "one little word that can fell him".

In spite of all these special treats, we are really settling in to our class routine, taking on bigger and

bigger challenges. The beginning of the year always starts slow as we start our formal, day-long,

education. This class has just turned the corner and is ready for the next step. Just wait and see how

far we fly!

St. Paul’s Epistle November 2017 edition

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Classroom Highlights

5th-6th Grade News – by Mr. John Quint

The 5th and 6th grade students are settled in as the school year is almost two months old. They are

busy with their studies, including reading a chapter book on their own each month and beginning

their first Regional Studies independent projects, which will be on display in and around our class-

room starting November 1. The 5th graders are about halfway through the Old Testament in their

Word of God studies. Moses and the Israelites have just received God’s Law at Mt. Sinai. In science,

we are studying fossils and matter, and we will be doing a unit on water in the near future.

Our fifth and sixth graders will again be active participants in our annual “Soles for Jesus” shoe drive.

They will be sorting, bagging and counting the shoes as they come in. Last year, over 360 pairs were

donated during the drive, with an additional 280 pairs coming in over the course of the year. We

thank all who donated for their support of this project. Please see the article on page 2 of this news-

letter for more information.

7th-8th Grade News – by Mr. Randy Pahl

With the arrival of October 2017, we Lutherans cannot help but think back to a time 500 years ago,

when that great reformer, Martin Luther once said, “Remember the Alamo! I need to rent a car to get

to Wittenberg!” (Or was it something else…we sometimes tend to forget. )

We are officially off and running and are having a great beginning to our school year! That is the

sentiment being echoed by our upper grade students. What a joy it is to have these wonderful

children in our classrooms. Collectively, we cannot believe that we are already closing in on the end

of the first quarter of the year! The Wisconsin State Teachers’ Conference is just around the corner as

we will be closing out October. Plus, our annual trek up to Northland Lutheran High School for

“Wildcat for a Day” will take place this year on the first Friday in November.

Another successful volleyball season has officially drawn to a close with more matches than we have

played in a number of years! We would like to thank our coaches, Mr. and Mrs. Mueller, as well as

our players, for all of their hard work, dedication, and effort to make for a great season!

In addition to all of the above, things are also progressing very well in our classroom. Christ Light

finds us completing our look at the creation of the world, the fall into sin and the redemption won for

us by our Savior, all of which ties together nicely with our first chapters of Life Science. In history we

now know why the original 13 colonies struggled – no Walmart!!! We have begun dealing with “like”

terms in Algebra, which is very “similar” to the end of 7th grade math. Speaking of which, our 7th

graders memorized a few formulas for the perimeters of polygons, and have committed to memory

the perfect squares up to 625.

Finally, to end on a more serious note than we began, with Reformation Day

closing out our month, we thank our Heavenly Father for faithful servants like

Martin Luther whom He used in the past, as well as those faithful servants who

still serve Him in His kingdom today. May we all remain ever-faithful to His

Word!

St. Paul’s Epistle November 2017 edition

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Current

In memory of Leona Ironside given by Huntz &

Marilyn Link

Mortgage

In honor of John & Sara Batzer’s 45th wedding

anniversary given by Bob & Katie Schalow

Pastor Teacher Assistance Fund

In memory of Sandy Krause’s mother and Rich

Zawatzke’s mother given by Tom & Barb Reitz

In memory of Carol Brown’s father-in-law given by

Ron & Georgene Provost and Edna & Faith

Haferman

St. Paul’s School Tuition Assistance Fund

In memory of Rich Zawatzke’s mother and Sandy

Krause’s mother, and in honor of Dorothy Beyer’s

95th birthday given by Edna & Faith Haferman

Special Gifts and Memorials Through October 15, 2017

Counting Our Blessings New LED light fixtures in the Kitchen and

Dining Room

Shoes for my feet (and more than one pair)

God’s grace

Firefighters

Martin Luther and other church reformers

Prayer From

An Anonymous Soldier

I asked God for strength that I might achieve;

I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health that I might do greater things;

I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy;

I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;

I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;

I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for—

but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself,

my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am among all men most richly blessed.

C. R. Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity

(Waco: Word Books, 1987), 113.

WELS National Choral Festival

50th Anniversary

Pops Concert ~ Nov. 10 – 7 p.m.

Sacred Concert ~ Nov. 12 – 2 p.m.

At La Crosse Center Main Arena

La Crosse, Wis.

Favorite Choral Festival anthems from the past

5 decades, commissioned works by Dale Witte and

Sarah Siegler, and Choral Festival Alumni Choir.

David’s Star Women’s Retreat

Saturday, Nov. 11 8:30 a.m.—2:45 p.m.

Keynote ~ Katie Luther:

A Historical Perspective

Breakout sessions: Germany-The Land of Luther & Beyond; Explore SE Asia, Its People & Culture; From Law to Grace;

Jesus Cares Ministries; Christmas Craft

David Star Lutheran Church 2740 David’s Star Dr, Jackson, WI

davidsstar.org

St. Paul’s Epistle November 2017 edition

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Upcoming Events

Reformation Festival in Madison

Sun, Oct. 29 ~ 4:00 p.m.

Willing Workers Craft & Bake Sale

Sat, Nov. 4 ~ 9:00-noon

Sun, Nov. 5 ~ after worship

Thanksgiving Worship

Wed, Nov. 22 at 6:30 p.m.

Thurs, Nov. 23 at 9:30 a.m.

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church 311 14th Ave S Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54495-2402 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Phone: 715-421-3634

E-mail: churchoffice@stpaulswr.org

November 2017 edition

Non-Profit

Organization US Postage

Paid Permit No. 46

Pastor Martin Baur · 715-421-1424