A lion has roared! - Who will not fear?  The LORD GOD has spoken! - Who will not prophesy?

-- Amos 3:8

                                         THANKFUL FOR PERMANENT PEACE

     Earthly peace is elusive. Leaders of nations sign treaties to establish foundations on which peaceful relations can be built. Too often, however, treaties are broken and the peace they sought to establish is lost.

     A wonderful as earthly peace is, it is not the kind of peace we need most. We need peace with God, which is something sin took away. Sin brought strife between God and man. This strife is most evident in troubled consciences. It is also reflected in the conflicts that exist between nations, husbands and wives, parents and children, and between employers and employees.

     To establish earthly peace, the involved parties often must give up something or contribute something. By contrast, there is nothing that we could give up or contribute in order to establish a treaty of peace with God. Our sins have alienated us so far from God that such a treaty could never be ratified.

      God, however, did what we could not do. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1) Through the redemption that came by his own Son, God brought to the peace treaty table everything he needed to sign the treaty with us. Jesus' blood blotted out our guilt. He arose from the grave to announce God's peace. True peace is ours forever! Oh, give thanks to the Lord!

(This devotion was taken from the WELS Evangelism Devotion Service: Daily Devotions, December 1, 2005)

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM NOVEMBER 29, 2005 LADIES AID MEETING

The president read a devotion to the 13 members present at the November 29 meeting.

The treasury has a balance of $610.72.

The Ladies Aid will sponsor a fund-raiser for Christian Life Resources during the month of January.

Eight shut-ins were visited by the ladies of the Aid during November.

The Aid will continue collecting donations to the MLC Food Shelf.

The annual Christmas party will be a pot luck supper to be held in the church basement December 18. All ladies of the congregation are invited to attend. Gifts under $5.00 will be exchanged.

The annual cookie walk sale, sponsored by the LA and PTF, will be held December 11.

The Aid voted to send $200 to the Friends of China mission and will again give gifts to the shut-ins.

EVERY MEMBER VISITS (EMV)

The EMV meetings with the members of the congregation are reaching completion. If you have not been involved in an EMV, please contact Jerry Tjernagel (387-1501).

Although it was not intentional, the young members (high school and college) have not had a good opportunity for input. To resolve this oversight, the High School Bible Class, at 10:15 a.m., on December 11 will be used to conduct the EMV with this age group. Young members, this is your opportunity to participate and comment on the mission statements, status and general operation of your church  and school. The identity of the participants contributing comments will be kept confidential. Please plan to attend.

EMV COMMITTEE MEETING

The Every Member Visitation Teams will meet on Sunday, December 11, at 7:00 PM in the church basement.

The purpose for the meeting is to comment on your experiences with the EMV; review a tally compilation from the EMV Survey Forms; and, prepare an initial report for the December 18 Church Council Meeting. You will be provided with a printed compilation prior to the meeting.

DECEMBER WORSHIP SCHEDULE

December 1st and   4th           2nd Sunday in Advent

December 8th and  11th         3rd Sunday in Advent

December 15th and 18th         4th Sunday in Advent  (WELS Chorale/Sunday only)

Thursday, December 22nd      No Thursday evening worship

Saturday, December 24th       Children's Christmas Eve Service     6:30 p.m.

                                             “Light a Candle for the Savior”

Sunday, December 25th        Christmas Day  Service                   10:00 a.m.

                                            Festival of Lessons and Carols

Thursday, December 29th      No Thursday evening worship

Saturday, December 31st        New Year's Eve Service (Holy Communion)  7:00 p.m

Sunday, January  1st               Sunday morning worship                 9:00 a.m.

BIBLE CLASS SCHEDULE AND TOPICS

Sunday, December 4th           Lesson 5     The Fall

Sunday, December 11th         Lesson 6     Consequence of the Fall

Sunday, December 18th         Lesson 7     Bible History from Adam to Moses

Sunday, December 25th         No Bible Class

Sunday, January       1st         No Bible Class

Sunday, January       8th        Lesson 8   Law and Gospel

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS

November 1, Will Dallenbach

November 5, Mildred Kvam

November 6, Leonora Sheehan

November 7, Ray Hanel

November 8, Barb Oachs

November 9, Walt Baumann

November 12, Steve Hoechst

November 12, Naomi Schultz

November 15, Paul Holzhueter

November 18, Char Hackbarth

November 24, Toni Hoechst

NOVEMBER ANNIVERSARIES

November 5, Marc and Kristine Flygare

November 23, Bill and Kristi Hough

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS

December 1, Sarah Hough

December 3, Janine Elling

December 5, Tina Petersen

December 6, Mary Baumann

December 7, Jim Timmerman

December 8, Sharon Feldbrugge

December 9, Jill Hall

December 11, Bill Hough

December 16, Kathy Purdie

December 22, Chris Kind

December 27, Becky Smayling

December 28, Nick Weber

December 28, Ginny Davis

December 30, Warren Albrecht

DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES

December 14, Todd and Robin Davis    

Pastor Keith H. Siverly