DECEMBER A.D. 2018

The Epistle The monthly newsletter of St. Paul Lutheran Church & Little Lambs Preschool, Garner, Iowa

St. Paul Lutheran Church is a congregation whose focus is “Living and Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.

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The Epistle ~ December A.D. 2018 ~ Page 2

The following figures represent the activity of St. Paul congregation from

October 28 through November 18 Sunday Worship Attendance

Worship Communed October 28 105

November 04 151 November 11 129 100 November 18 126 110

TOTAL 511 210 Average Sunday Worship Attendance: 128

Other Worship Attendance Worship Communed

October 31 0 November 07 34 November 14 31 10

TOTAL 65 Average Other Worship Attendance: 33

Rev. Scott A. Kozisek (Off on Friday)

Church Office: M-T-W-Th-F … 8-12 & 1-4 stpauloffice@comm1net.net - 641-923-2261

Fax: 641-923-2190

Altar Earl & Linda Webner Banner Eileen Madsen Flower Janan Griggs

Tom Formanek David Rosendahl Bill Horstman Fred Schroeder

December 02 Gretta Gouge

December 09 Sarah Schmmidt, Kale Johnson December 16 Tristan Smith, Tori Johnson

December 23 Rachel Bierle, Trey Johnson December 30 Braden Boehnke, Luke Lamb

Acolytes, please remember that YOU are responsible for serving as an acolyte for the entire week to which you are assigned, from Sunday through the next Saturday. If you are unable to acolyte when you are scheduled, please find a substitute and notify the church office (641-923-2261 or stpauloffice@comm1net.net) to advise who will take your place by the Thursday prior to your scheduled date.

Fred & Lisa Schroeder 641-587-2386

ISO (in search of) those willing to serve as

Courtesy Drivers. Please contact the

Church Office 641-923-2261 or

stpauloffice@comm1net.net

Thank you for serving

and ALL that you do!!!

The Epistle ~ December A.D. 2018 ~ Page 3

God With Us, an Advent series, focuses on the

ways in which God is with us through our Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ. Each week will focus

on a different word picture of the coming

Christ found in the poetic and prophetic words

of Isaiah. Services will reveal how Christ

continues to be present with us even now. The

theme verse for the entire series is: “Behold, the

virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they

shall call his name Immanuel (which means,

God with us)” Matthew 1:23.

Week 1: Our Potter (Isaiah 64:8): God is

with us as our Potter, who shapes us

according to his will.

Week 2: Our Shepherd (Isaiah 40:11):

God is with us as our Shepherd, who

carries us close to his heart.

Week 3: Our Living Branch (Isaiah 11:1):

God is with us as our Living Branch, who

died and rose to give us eternal life.

Week 4: Our Guide (Isaiah 2:3): God is

with us as our Guide, who leads us

according to his Word.

The prophet Isaiah foretold, “The people who

walked in darkness have seen a great light”

(Isaiah 9:2). Join us for Christmas Eve to

celebrate the great Light that has come into

our world to dispel the darkness of sin

forever. Candlelight, carols, Scripture, a

homily and prayers reveal the Good News

that our Great Light has dawned: Jesus Christ

is born; let us rejoice!

The prophet Isaiah said, “Therefore the Lord

himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin

shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call

his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Join us for

Christmas Day to celebrate that our

Immanuel has come, God with us, in

swaddling clothes. Carols, Scripture, a homily

and prayers reveal the Good News that the

sign long promised has arrived in the flesh;

Our Savior is born!

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Interested in planning mission opportunities? Contact Barb Kozisek at 812-525-9464

Please provide contact information: address, email & phone numbers to the Church Office. 641-923-2261 or stpauloffice@comm1net.net

Genesis Sundays @ 10:15am

With Pastor Kozisek (Fellowship Hall)

Exodus Wednesdays @ 5:45pm With Dave Rosendahl

John Selected Mondays @ 7:00pm

With Sheryl Rohlf Will resume in the Spring.

Lutherans for Life sends their sincerest appreciation for our monthly gift of $200 whose mission is “Equipping Lutherans to be Gospel-motivated voices for Life”.

November has been a very month for the

preschool. The preschoolers have been

continuing to work on the Zoo Phonics letters

and their numbers. In this past month they

have been learning about the letters G and H.

They have also been working on the number

4.

The preschoolers continue to have a lot of

fun with Pastor during Chapel time. During

Chapel we have learned about God Helps us in

Times of Trouble, Crossing the Red Sea

(Exodus 14), God Provides All We Need, Israel

in the Desert (Exodus 16:1-17:7), God Knows

What’s Best for Us, The Ten Commandments

(Exodus 19-20, 32, 34), and God Forgives His

Impatient People, The Bronze Snake (Numbers

21:4-9).

We also had parent/teacher conferences

with all of our parents, which allowed us to

inform all the parents on how their child is

doing in the classroom.

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Finally, during the week of Thanksgiving we

will be having our Thanksgiving Feast party

with the students to celebrate Thanksgiving!

In the month to come we will be continuing

to work on our letters I and J, and our Bible

lesson that we cover throughout the month of

December. We will also be continuing to

prepare for our Christmas Program

throughout the month of December. Our

Christmas Program will be held on December

18th at 6:30. Before we send the students off

for Christmas break we will be having a

Christmas Party with the students.

To everyone in the church community and to

everyone who has support the preschool we

like to thank everyone for their love and

support. During this time of year, we

remember the gift of love that gives to us by

bring Jesus to us. I know myself and everyone

else at the preschool we very grateful for

everyone’s love and support that we receive

throughout the year. We like to wish everyone

a very blessed and Merry Christmas!

God’s Blessings,

Ms. Alesha, Ms. Donna, and Ms. Mary

Thank you for your continual support and dedication to our

Youth at St. Paul.

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St. Paul Lutheran

Garner, Iowa

Celebrating 125 Years

1894 ~ 2019

LCMS Youth Gathering Minneapolis July 11-15, 2019

The Epistle ~ December A.D. 2018 ~ Page 6

St. Paul Bell Choir and St. Paul Senior Choir

are preparing music for Advent Season and

Christmas Season. Check the December

calendar and weekly church bulletins for

scheduled rehearsals and performance times.

The Senior Choir will meet on Sunday,

December 16 @ 5:00pm to carol for Shut-ins

and residents of Concord Care and Cardinal

Grove. The choir will be joined by the Bell

Choir @ 6:00pm to present a concert at Prairie

View Apartments. Following, the members of

the choirs and their spouses are invited to

Cataldo’s, 490 West 7th Street, for food and

fellowship @ approximately 7:15pm.

Allen Moe provided organ tuning and

maintenance the week of November 26.

Bev Cataldo

Director of Music

A very “Happy Birthday” to members of St. Paul who celebrate their birthday this month!

1 Cindy Harms 18 Ana Kozisek 1 Lori Wolf 18 Lynn Savoy 2 Samara Ades 19 Eric Luppen 2 Mallory Horstman 19 Robert Ristau 4 Kris Juenger 19 Connor Smith 4 Charles Myers 20 Spencer Duregger 5 Mollie Hueneman 20 Linda Lillebo 6 Mykenzie Darg 20 Holden Oulman 6 Samantha Haugen 21 Edwin Enright 7 Belinda Oulman 22 Tricia Baker 7 Deanna Smith 22 Sheryll Denney 9 Rodney Wohlert 22 Jody Horstman

10 Payton Echelberger 23 Bernice Eness 10 Cody Farris 23 Arlene Jass 11 Braxtyn Garcia 23 Aaron Lamb 11 Elwyn Rockow 23 Jordan Smith 12 Jordyn Hrubes 23 Darlene Wood 12 MaKayla Luppen 27 Eldon Hauptmann 14 Gary Book 27 Martin Rogness 15 Lisa Johnson 28 Timothy Anderson 16 David Kapka 28 April Barnett 17 Jayme Dougherty 31 Ashley Lincicum 18 Lorrie Formanek

NOTE: If your birthday is not listed, or there is an error in the listing, please call the church office so we may correct our records. If you do not want your birth date published, please inform the church office at 923-2261.

The Epistle ~ December A.D. 2018 ~ Page 7

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Jim & Cheryl Bakken 12-27-1968 50 years Harlan & Sandy Block 12-27-1971 57 years Eric & Jayme Dougherty 12-27-2003 15 years Gar & Linda Grote 12-16-1961 57 years Earl & Sharlene Jaspersen 12-19-1982 36 years

The LWML Board met Thursday, November

15 at 4:00pm with six members present. Marlys

Luedtke led the devotion from Portals of

Prayer.

Since Bev is gone on vacation, Marlys

conducted the meeting.

The up-coming Christmas Brunch on

December 8 was discussed. The Rebekah

Circle has planned the menu of a baked egg

dish, assorted muffins/breads, and fruit. A

punch will be served as guests arrive. Hope

Circle has invited Kelly Zwald, Co-chair of Cure

Rett Iowa Strollathon and Silent Auction, who

will speak about Rett Syndrome with the

theme of Seven Christmases. Decorations will

reflect the Theme. As was noted in last

Month’s Highlights, all women of St Paul’s are

invited and encourage to attend & bring a

guest or two. Tickets are just $5.00 and will be

on sale November 25 and December 2. A door

offering will be given to the Cure Rett

Syndrome Fund.

The LWML program/schedule for 2019-2020

will be prepared on December 5 in the

Fellowship room at 9:30am.

Hope Circle plans to decorate the Christmas

tree in the basement on November 26.

Rebekah Circle was asked to do the tree on the

mid level if Hope Circle doesn’t get it done.

There will not be an LWML Board meeting in

December.

Submitted by Janan Griggs

The Epistle ~ December A.D. 2018 ~ Page 8

The Messenger, December 2018 edition is

available online. Log on to the link below to

download new and information from Iowa

District West.

http://www.idwlcms.org/publications.php

DISTRICT NEWS

CALLS RECEIVED

Rev. Larry Lemke, EM, Solon, to Trinity, Cedar

Rapids

Rev. Dr. Bruce Peffer, Messiah, Downey, CA,

to Bethany, Sioux City

CALLS ACCEPTED

Rev. Dave Doellinger, Terril, to Trinity,

Marcus/Pilgrim, QuimbyRev. Willie Grills,

Amigos en Cristo, Denison, to St. Paul’s,

Mattoon, IL

MULTI-POINT PARISH FORMED

Christ, Bouton and Zion, Ogden, 11-11-2018

COMMISSIONED MINISTER CHANGE OF

STATUS

Douglas Kading, Spencer (Camp Okoboji), to

Emeritus, 8-1-2018.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

December 6...Principals Meeting, District

Office December 6...YES Group, District Office

December 24-25...Christmas, District Office

Closed December 28-January 4...IOWAY

Mission Trip to California

December 31-January 1...New Year’s, District

Office Closed

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This is the day that the Lord has made;

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!