october 2018 the newsletter of bethlehem lutheran church,...
TRANSCRIPT
People Building
Phebe…hath
been a suc-
courer of
many. Romans
16:1-2
Your church needs mem-
bers committed to sup-
porting and encouraging
each other. People like
Phebe, whom Paul calls ‘a
succourer of many’.
Succour: In Greek, it ap-
plied to Olympic coaches
who supported athletes
and made sure they were
trained and equipped to
win. Bible scholar H.F.
Moule describes Phebe
as ‘a champion…who
divine rewards outweigh
any earthly compensa-
tion: ‘Whatever good any-
one does, he will receive
the same from the Lord’
Ephesians 6:8. As one pas-
tor observed: ‘You have
something nobody else
can give. Think about
how you can make some-
body else’s life better.
Who can you support
(Continued on page 6)
stood up for others…a
devoted, brave friend of
converts in trouble, who
fought battles of protest
where she found oppres-
sion…and pleaded the
cause of the poor’.
That’s a heavy-duty as-
signment! And in today’s
‘Me Generation’ not many
are willing to take it on.
But the truth is, there’s
no greater investment
than people. When you
invest in another person
you give yourself a gift,
because you can’t light
their path without bright-
ening your own. And the
Regular Features:
Walther Homecoming 2
Janitor Wanted 2
Stewardship 3
Worship Anew 4
Dignity 4 Girls 5
Craft Fair Nov 3rd 6
Volunteers Needed 6
Reformation Day 6
Inside this Issue:
Bd of Director’s 2
God’s Treasure Report 3
Flower Chart 5
Birthdays & Anniversaries 7
Calendar of Events 7
The Newsletter of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, River Grove, Illinois
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod Rev. Roger Gallup, Pastor October 2018 Volume 12, Issue 10
Numbers 11:11a, 14-15a -
Moses said to the LORD,
"Why have You dealt ill
with Your servant? ... I am
not able to carry all this
people alone; the burden
is too heavy for me. If You
will treat me like this, kill
me at once."
You get tired when you're
a pastor or missionary; it's
the sheer weight of taking
care of people, I think.
Day in and day out, peo-
ple have problems. Peo-
ple cause problems.
Sometimes, on good days,
people solve problems,
but it's never as often as
you hope, and you can
newly freed slaves, trav-
eling through the wilder-
ness, on the way to the
new country God had
promised them. In so
many ways, they were
spiritual babies. They
kept looking back to
Egypt, yearning for the
life they had there, re-
membering the great
food, and conveniently
(Continued on page 4)
never get away for a
break as often as you
want -- or know that you
should.
I think this is true for any-
one who routinely cares
for people, in the church
or out of it. Human beings
go to extremes. They are
like the little girl in that
nursery rhyme, who,
"When she was good, she
was very, very good; but
when she was bad, she
was horrid."
Moses must have known
this better than practical-
ly anyone. He had the
whole people of Israel to
take care of: a nation of
“The Burdens of Caregiving”
The Bethlehem Star Page 2
“Serving GOD and the
community since 1898”
Board of Directors Chairman
Gerald Erjavec
847-671-1677
Vice-Chairman
Ray Bernero
708-456-4344
Secretary
Kurt Kugelberg
630-248-2571
Treasurer
Marian Sperling
847-288-0334
Financial Secretary
Tim Saar
847-455-2123
Deacons
Harry McGinnis
708-837-9753
Properties
Bob Schultz
At-Large
Liz Mork
708-453-2187
Diana Arndt
847-455-5193
Walther Christian Acade-
my’s Join the families of
Walther Christian Acade-
my at a Friday Night
Lights Football Game on
Friday,
October 12th at 7pm.
Come out for the fun and
cheer on your Walther
Broncos!
Do you know of families
who want their student
to have the benefit of at-
tending a strong Luther-
an middle or high
school?
An Open House will be
Thursday, October 18th at
7:00 p.m. Tours are
available any Tuesday
Bethlehem needs a part-
time janitor to keep the
1st-floor bathrooms &
multi-purpose room
clean. We would pay a
fair wage for work. If in-
terested please contact
Pastor Gallup.
Walther Christian Academy News
Attendance: Pastor Gal-
lup, Ray Bernero, Kurt
Kugelberg, Liz Mork, Jer-
ry Erjavic, Diana Arndt,
Bob Schultz
Opening Prayer: 7:04pm
Approval of past
Minutes: motion ap-
proved
Official Acts: None Amy
Wahl getting married in
church 9/8/18
Treasurer’s Report: $58-
60,000 in bank after
bills paid
Financial Secretary’s Re-
port: emailed report
Pastor’s Report: none
Deacons Report: none
Properties Report:
* Doors rekeyed
* Installed another air
conditioner on 2nd floor
* Signed $8,000 plumb-
ing contract- waiting for
start date
* Painting HVAC & win-
dows – having trouble
finding contractor
* Formed committee
( Bob, Liz & Kurt) to pick
floor tile for kitchen
Ad hoc committees:
* Rentals – new policy
will be to charge $100
deposit to be refunded
after inspection
* Brunch income $82 -
next will be in October
Vice Chairman’s Report:
Authorized contract to
design wall stabilization.
Downspout and sewer
problem have been fixed.
Old Business:
*Theater company: no
further contact from
them
New Business:
*Village is concerned
about traffic in front and
want to eliminate week-
day parking on church
side of street. Picket
Fence wants access
keys to rear doors so
staff can park behind
school. After discussion
motion passed to rekey
double doors for Picket
Fence if the Village fol-
lows through with no
weekday parking re-
quirement.
* We will investigate the
possibility of air condi-
tioning the church
* Budget preparation
should begin sooner this
year.
next meeting Sept 25
Closing – Lord’s Prayer
8:45pm
Respectfully submitted by
Kurt Kugelberg
Secretary
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES: August 28, 2018
Volume 12, Issue 10 October 2018 Page 3
Date Attendance Income Goal Difference
Year * 1680 $81,532.01 $78,472 $3,060.01
Sept 2 57 $2,134.75 $2,308 -($173.25)
Sept 9 41 $1,334.00 $2,308 -($974.00)
Sept 16 88 $1,785.00 $2,308 -($523.00)
Sept 23 42 $1,506.00 $2,308 -($802.00)
YEAR 1908 88,291.76 $87,704 $587.76
God’s Treasure Report
*The Year row are the totals for this church year prior to but NOT including the dates shown in
the rest of the table . +includes Lenten services attendance & income
of us what He declared of
Jesus at His Baptism in
the Jordan: “You are my
beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased.” God the
Father claims us as His
own. He takes away all
our sins, and in exchange
He gives us His righteous-
ness, His purity, His holi-
ness, and His Spirit, by
which we cry out, “Abba,
Father.”
We are born again, born
from above, born of water
and the Spirit, to a new
life in Christ as His chil-
dren. We are sons of God
in Christ, through Bap-
tism. And since we are
sons, we are heirs – heirs
who share in the glory of
the Son of God. The inher-
itance is ours because of
the Father’s grace and
mercy, His generosity in
sending His Son in time to
save us for all eternity.
And this is why we give
generously of our income
to the work of the church.
We want to be like our
heavenly Father. We want
to emulate His generosity
by being generous our-
selves. We give to the
work of the Church be-
cause we have witnessed
the generous giving of our
Father in heaven.
More than that, we are
recipients of it. It is be-
cause we have received
God our Father’s gifts that
we desire to give our-
(Continued on page 5)
Stewardship: ”Back to Basics”
Why do we give? Is it
simply because God
commands us to? Or is
there more to it? To be
sure, the instruction and
Word of God in the Bible
says we should give, and
this is sufficient to en-
courage us to give (Luke
6:38; Acts 20:35; 1 Cor.
16:2; 2 Cor. 8:7; Gal
6:6).
But there’s more to it
than just obligation.
We’re not just trying to
fulfill a work of the Law.
We are bearing fruits of
the Spirit given to us by
our Father in heaven
through His Son our Lord
Jesus Christ. In other
words, we’re not just do-
ing what our Father said,
we’re also doing what
He did.
Children emulate their
parents. When they grow
up they often carry many
of the same mannerisms
and characteristics as
their parents, but there
is more to it than that.
Children copy their par-
ents even on a more
mundane level. They
watch how their parents
cross their legs, how
they fold their hands,
how they stand and sit
and walk, how they do
and say most every-
thing.
And children try to copy
it, which can be quite
humorous when par-
ents wish they wouldn’t.
It can be uncomfortable
and embarrassing if a
child copies or repeats
something less than
polite that they learned
from a parent. Sitcoms
thrive on these situa-
tions. It only happens
because children emu-
late their parents be-
cause they want to be
like them.
We are the children of
God, by grace, through
faith. In Holy Baptism,
God the Father declares
"Making His House Your Home"
FREE Day-Old Bakery Open every Sunday morning
7:45am until 10:30am
for more information contact:
Harry McGinnis, Chair
708-837-9753
On-Line Giving/Offerings: You can now schedule contributions to Bethlehem online through VANCO.
To contribute online, visit our web site:
www.BethlehemRiverGrove.com and choose “Donations” in the top banner
Bring your inkjet or laser cartridges to the narthex!
We return them for a rebate
For more information contact: Peggy Shabez
The Bethlehem Star Page 4
Bethlehem Church was
dedicated on Sunday,
Nov 4, 1951 it was built
adjacent to the old church
building
circa 1900 Bethlehem
Church (foreground) and
School (background)
Our Church Staff Pastor
Rev. Roger Gallup, M. Div.,
M.A.
Office 708-453-1113
Home 708-456-9028
Director of Music
Linda Erjavec, B.A.
847-671-1677
Secretary
Elizabeth Gallup
708-453-1113x10
“In every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto
God.” Phil 4:6
Would you like to submit a prayer request?
Prayer is very powerful & Bethlehem has a powerful
prayer chain.
Sue Peavey, Chief Prayer Warrior
708-724-6582
We will do the rest and many prayers will be made
known to God.
forgetting the slavery.
They rarely trusted the
Lord. And instead of
praying for help when
they needed it, they
would whine.
Moses couldn't stand it;
after all, he was a sinful
human being, too. But at
least he knew who to
take his problems to. So,
he went to the Lord
and ... well, he whined,
as if to say, "Did I give
birth to all these people?
Is that why You're mak-
ing me carry them? I
can't handle the load an-
ymore; just do me a favor
and kill me now" (see
Numbers 11).
But look how kind God
was to Moses! He didn't
yell at him; He didn't tell
him to try harder or to
get over it already. In-
stead, God gave Moses
real, practical help. God
called for 70 leaders
from Israel to gather to-
gether, and then He put
the Holy Spirit on them.
From that time on, they
would be helping Moses
lead Israel.
You may be a caregiver,
too. Perhaps you care
for hundreds of people;
perhaps it's just one.
Either way, there are
doubtless times when
you get tired, too -- when
it's all too much -- when
you need help. What do
you do?
Cry out to God! Even if
you feel like you're whin-
ing. God is full of mercy,
and He understands
what we need. He can
help.
After all, the God who
allowed you to be in this
situation is the same
God who came to earth
as Jesus Christ our Sav-
ior. He knows
the weight of
caregiving. He
knows what it
is to work with
people. He
knows what it
is to love peo-
ple so dearly
that He was
even willing to lay
down His life for us --
and to take it up
again at His resurrec-
tion. He is your care-
giver, and He will
surely hear you when
you cry out for help.
Call out to Him, and
like Moses, give Him
no rest until He an-
swers. He loves you.
PRAYER: Lord, You
know my burdens.
Have mercy on me
and help me. Amen.
This Daily Devotion
was written by Dr. Ka-
ri Vo.
“The Burdens of Caregiving” (Continued from page 1)
Volume 12, Issue 10 October 2018 Page 5
River Grove
Food Pantry “If everyone coming
to church brought just
one item each Sun-
day, think how many
lives we could touch.”
We collect tabs to
benefit Ronald
McDonald House.
Drop them off
in the Narthex.
Many thanks! Peggy Shabez
chairperson
1-630-253-3668
Pull Tabs
"Making His House Your Home"
Flower Chart 2018:
PLEASE USE OUR NEW:
Tuition Credit
Shopping Program for current & future students of
Walther High School
www.shopwithscrip.com Linda McGinnis,
Chairperson
708-681-1076
selves. And His gifts are
not just spiritual. They
are temporal and earthly
as well. As the Small Cat-
echism teaches in the
Fourth Petition of the
Lord’s Prayer:
“Give us this day our dai-
ly bread.” What does this
mean? God certainly
gives daily bread to eve-
ryone without our pray-
ers, even to all evil peo-
ple, but we pray in this
petition that God would
lead us to realize this
and to receive our daily
bread with thanksgiving.
What is meant by daily
bread? Daily bread in-
cludes everything that
has to do with the sup-
port and needs of the
body, such as food,
drink, clothing, shoes,
house, home, land, ani-
mals, money, goods, a
devout husband or wife,
devout children, devout
workers, devout and
faithful rulers, good gov-
ernment, good weather,
peace, health, self-
control, good reputation,
good friends, faithful
neighbors, and the like.”
In other words, God
gives us everything we
need for the care of both
body and soul. His gen-
erosity knows no
bounds. Therefore, we
sit down at the begin-
ning of the year, the be-
ginning of the month, or
the beginning of the
week to set aside a gen-
erous portion of God’s
daily bread for His work
in the Church.
We don’t do this simply
because He has com-
manded us so to do; it is
because we, as His chil-
dren by grace, want to
emulate His generosity in
our own lives. He is our
Father; we are His chil-
dren. And children want
to be like their parents.
Stewardship: ”Back to Basics” (Continued from page 3)
Are you getting the Newsletter via Email? If not please give pastor your email address!
We are all aware that
flowers bring beauty to
the altar as well as joy to
the giver. Unfortunately,
we have experienced
problems with receiving
payment. If you are like
me we sign up when the
flower chart is produced
and then forget about it
until the date comes up
and our name appears in
the bulletin as the donor.
We leave church saying
we have to pay for them
and then time gets away
from us and the thought
is forgotten. Payment
can be made in advance
or at least during the
month in which flowers
were requested.
God's blessings to each
of you who donate flow-
ers.
Any
ques-
tions
you
may contact Liz Mork.
www.dignity4girls.org Contact: Sue Peavey 708-724-6582
The Bethlehem Star Page 6
circa 1927 Bethlehem
Church & Parsonage prior
to remodeling of church
building which occurred in
1928
Our old church altar
Sundays-6am-WGN 720AM
Daily Devotion-Lutheran Church Charities
www.devotions.lcccharities.org Read or listen to a great daily devotional
www.lcms.org/witness
and strengthen? Some-
body needs your encour-
agement today…needs to
know you believe in him,
that you’re for him, that
you think he has what it
takes to succeed. Look-
ing back, chances are
someone played a pivotal
role in helping you get
where you are today. A
parent or teacher who
had confidence in you…a
boss who placed you in a
higher position when you
didn’t feel qualified…
somebody who saw more
in you than you saw in
yourself.’ Now it’s your
turn!
Prayer: Heavenly Father,
help me be a succourer
for others. In Jesus’
Name, Amen
People Building (Continued from page 1)
Volunteers are needed to
help setup the night be-
fore. We also need vol-
unteers to work in the
kitchen, work the bake
table & Chinese Auction
and most importantly, to
help with clean-up atfter
the event.
Please contact:
Nancy Becerra
312-310-8491 or [email protected]
O'Connor, Michael 01-Oct
Robinson, Deanna 02-Oct
Ridge, Ronald 03-Oct
Guhl, Crystal 04-Oct
Sepulveda, Brittany 04-Oct
Husby, Sarah 05-Oct
Brame, Quintin 06-Oct
Diaz, Stephanie 08-Oct
Steimel, Elizabeth 09-Oct
Husby, Cole 10-Oct
Romberg, Jim 16-Oct
Virzi, Madelyn 17-Oct
Naylor, Janet 20-Oct
Burke, Sharon 21-Oct
LeDuc, Mackenzie 21-Oct
Nicely, Duane 23-Oct
Olson, Ronald 25-Oct
Kuhfuss, Gregory 26-Oct
Lee, Loryn 27-Oct
Castillo, Amy 28-Oct
DiFazio, Trisha 28-Oct
Thompson, Heidi 28-Oct
Nicely, Renata 29-Oct
O'Connor, Baily 30-Oct
Birthdays
Volume 12, Issue 10 October 2018 Page 7
Sue & Mark Peavey 10-Oct
Arlene & Peter Capron 18-Oct
Do you want to add to our Birthday or Anni-
versary list? Contact the Church Office:
708-453-1113 or just send us a note!
Anniversaries
"Making His House Your Home"
Note: (C) denotes Common Cup Communion Service and (I) denotes Individual Cup Communion Service;
October 2018
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
30 01 02 03 04 05 06
07 08 09 10 11 12 13
20th S aft Pentecost
8:15am Bible Study
9:15am Service (C)
10:30am Coffee &
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21st S aft Pentecost
8:15am Bible Study
9:15am Service (I)
10:30am Coffee &
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Bethlehem’s 120th
Anniversary
8:15am Bible Study
9:15am Service (C)
10:30am Coffee &
28 29 30 31 01 02 03
Reformation Day
8:15am Bible Study
9:15am Service (I)
10:30am Coffee &
Bethlehem Lutheran Church 2624 Oak Street
River Grove, Illinois 60171
Celebrating God’s Love since 1898
What We Teach and Confess As Lutherans
-There is one true God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
-All People are born in sin, and we sin against God every day.
-Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is true God and true man. He came from heaven, lived a perfect life in our place and died
a sacrificial death on the cross for all.
-Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and opened the gates of heaven to all who trust in him.
-God accepts all who believe in Jesus even though there is no merit or worthiness in us.
-So that we might believe in Jesus, God has given us the ministry, which is the preaching of Christ and the
Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Through these, God also gives us the forgiveness of sins.
-When God brings people to faith, He also produces many good works in our lives. These are done, not to earn grace,
but to do God’s will and please him. We love him because he first loved us.
-God has given every man, woman and child a calling in life. Within that calling He directs us, and through His Word,
strengthens us to live for Him.
-The Bible is the inspired Word of God. The Bible is free from all error and contradiction in all that it says. The Word of
God brings us to Jesus our Lord.
ADVANCE EQUIPMENT
MANUFACTURING COMPANY
CHICAGO, IL
WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sunday 9:15am Service
Communion is celebrated every
Sunday; common cup on the
1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday & individual cup
on the 2nd and 4th Sunday.
CHURCH: (708) 453-1113
PASTOR: 708-456-9028
NEWSLETTER Please e-mail any articles you
want included in the next
newsletter to:
We’re on the Web!
Visit us at:
bethlehemrivergrove.com
8:15am Sundays— For all you Early Risers used to
coming to the first service - Join
us for coffee and a topical discus-
sion of the Bible with Pastor Gal-
lup. Everyone interested in learn-
ing more about the Word are
welcome!