Prints of Peace - January 6

Dear Friends in Christ:  Sunday: This Sunday we get to celebrate the Epiphany – the magi following the star and visiting the Christ child. This celebration of the Epiphany happens only every six years. Do you know the story? You might be surprised what misunderstandings people have about this story. We will unpack this other Christmas story.  Come and hear God’s Word and be fed by Jesus in bread and wine. Adult Education: Join us this Sunday at 9:15. We will learn about Christianity as it relates to other religions.  Reading for this Sunday: Please read Matthew chapter 2 and the sidebar notes for this chapter in your Lutheran Study Bible (LSB.) This chapter is Matthew’s version of the Christmas story, including the magi – the sages from the East (perhaps Persia.) These visitors with their gifts are not included in Luke’s Christmas story which we hear on Christmas Eve. This chapter includes refugee status for the Holy Family, and the tragedy of the infants in Bethlehem. We need to remember the full biblical story of Jesus’ birth. If you don’t yet have a LSB, see Pastor Mark.


Worship Schedule: The service of Holy Communion is at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
                                                                                         
Reading for Next Week:  Please read Luke chapter 3 and the sidebar notes for this chapter in your Lutheran Study Bible (LSB.) This chapter includes John the Baptist’s preaching about the coming of Jesus, and Jesus’ baptism, along with Luke’s genealogy of Jesus. Apparently the baptism of Jesus was more important to the writers of the Gospels than was the infancy stories, because the baptism story is in all four Gospels, whereas the infancy stories are only in Matthew and Luke! If you don’t yet have a LSB, see Pastor Mark.


Adult Education: Join us again for Adult confirmation at 9:15 in the sanctuary. Do you remember your confirmation training? Can you explain Christian faith to someone who isn’t Christian? If not, it’s time for a tune up. Join us for a basic confirmation course. We will be viewing quick-paced, clever videos, then learning about faith all over again. Pastor Mark will be leading. Please plan on joining us.
 
Attendance: On December 30, 2018 60 attended service.  On January 2, 2019, 15 attended the  service at Lexington.
 
Pastor’s Day Off: Monday is Pastor Mark’s day off. He is not in the office that day. If you need him urgently, you can call his cell phone, which can be accessed by calling church.
 
Church Administrator: Allison Hearst is our church administrator. She works part time - Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. One of the many things Allison is in charge of is the church calendar. She can be reached by phone at 847-438-4400.


Prayer Requests: We pray for those who need healing and wholeness: for Wes Willard,  Kristen Jorgensen, Brian Bounds, Joyce Smith, Lindsey, Theresa Sacamono, Bob Kayser, Carol Nordquist, Kurt Stefans and Bella Velasco. Our practice is we will pray for an individual for at least 4 Sundays or until the end of the following month. After that time, we ask that you contact the office or Pastor Mark to keep your loved one on the prayer list. If a loved one inadvertently falls off the prayer list, please request to put this person back on the list. Thank you. We need pray-ers! If you would like to be a participant in the Circle of Prayer, please contact Terry Koncel at peaceprays@mail.com.
 
Youth
                                                                                                                                      
Youth Director’s Days Off & Office Hours: Our Youth Director is Tracy Katschke and her days off are Friday and Saturday. She does not check church voice mail or emails on those days. Tracy is engaged at Peace half-time, and her office hours are Monday - Thursday 2:30-6:30pm. She can be reached on her cell for urgent matters. Her cell phone can be accessed by calling church.
 
THANK YOU!!: Thank you to the Peace congregation for the beautiful card and generous Christmas gift! I am so blessed to call Peace Lutheran “home” and I could not do my ministry without the love and support of each of you! Thank you for all that YOU do for our Peace Lutheran youth!
 
Confirmation Class Break: Confirmation classes will resume on Wednesday, January 9th at 7pm at St. Peter UCC.


High School Youth Group: We will be going bowling at Brunswick Zone Deer Park on Sunday, January 13th from 2-4pm. We will meet at the bowling alley and our teens need only bring money for food. Come ready for some friendly competition!


Save the Date! Our high school students will be going to West Virginia in July of 2019. Our first mission trip fund raiser, the Holy Spaghetti Dinner & Auction, will be held at Peace Lutheran on Saturday, March 2nd! Please make sure to mark your calendars for a wonderful evening of good food and great fellowship!
 
Joyful Noisemakers: Children in grades K-5 that can read are invited to join our children's choir, Joyful Noisemakers.  We have short rehearsals every Saturday morning at 10:30, where we learn how to sing beautifully to the Lord!


Events
 
Brewing Questions: We will have our January Brewing Questions event on Tuesday, January 22nd at 7pm at Chasers! Everyone is welcome to join us for good food, great conversation and, of course, BEER!               
              
Social Outreach
 
Bernie's Book Bank Book Drive: Looking to do some shelf cleaning in the New Year?  Did you know 2 out of 3 low-income children have no books of their own? Please consider donating to our social outreach Bernie's Book Bank Children's Book Drive. We are collecting new and gently used children's books aged birth through 6th grade (please no workbooks, textbooks or reference books).  Books can be placed in the bin in the narthex.  Our book drive will run 1/13-2/10 and we are hoping to collect 500 books during our book drive.  You can learn more about the organization at www.berniesbookbank.org and contact Gretchen Collins from social outreach at 847-540-6907 with any questions.
 
LSSI Christmas Gift Cards:  THANK YOU to all of you who helped with providing the gift cards to LSSI.  They were just so happy and very appreciative of the help that Peace provides to them.  You helped some children have a wonderful Christmas!


St. Francis Food Pantry: We collected about 13 advent boxes loaded with all sorts of food items that are needed at the food pantry.  THANK YOU for helping put food on some families tables.  St. Francis is very grateful for our help.


Hope Partners Africa:  The Quilt Group at Peace decided to use their annual Christmas party gift exchange as a time to help others.  They collected money for Hope Partners Africa.  Hope Partners Africa is a non-profit organization that brings together psychologists, psychiatrists and other professionals who specialize in treating refugees, orphans, and people living in rural communities that live meager lives without modern health services.  The money the group collected will go towards teaching refugees to sew useful products to sell inside and outside of refugee camps so people can work towards self-sufficiency.  A total of $125 was donated to this project.
 
Cutters and sewers needed for Mission Projects Day:   If you can help cut the tabs in fleece or sew a pillow cover for our hospice project, please see the bin and sign-up sheet in the hallway.  All items need to be returned by January 20th.  Please call Sue Koenig, if you have any questions.  Thank you!
 
Ripping Good Mexican Potluck party is back! All adults, mark your 2019 calendar now! Come to the Koenig’s house, 9440 Thousand Oaks Circle, Spring Grove on January 12th  at 5 pm. We will be having a Mexican themed potluck party and at the same time, rip sheets into strips for the bandages that we will roll on Mission projects Day (which is February2). The potluck is an adult only event but mission projects day is for all ages. Please sign up in the narthex and be prepared to have fun!
 
Mission Projects Day 2019:  Join us Feb. 2, 2019 for our annual Mission Projects Day Event.  This is a service day for people of all ages! We start at 9:00 am and work until our projects are completed, usually around noon.  We will be helping a variety of nonprofit organizations.  Some of the activities include:  Global Health Ministries - rolling bandages for clinics that cannot afford commercial bandages, Lutheran World Relief - assembling baby kits, school kits and health kits for those in need overseas and tying quilts, Project Linus - making blankets for children in need, Cards for hospitalized children, craft projects for nursing home residents and Operation Gratitude - making paracord bracelets for our troops.  No special skills are needed.  Come for as much time as you can and YOU will help us make a big difference to others!
 
Adult Mission Trip: Please consider coming on the adult mission trip this summer in Hattiesburg, MS to help families rebuild from a flood in 2016 and a devastating tornado in 2017.  Many people were affected and we will be working with an agency that has been in the area helping people recover from natural disasters since 2006 following Hurricane Katrina's destruction. The dates are June 23-29th.  We will be staying in a renovated 100 yr old inn with showers and laundry on site and making our own meals.  You do not need to have any special skills and there will be an opportunity for community service as well.  It is a great way to make new friendships and do something awesome this summer! Please sign up in the narthex.  A non-refundable deposit will be collected at a later date to hole your spot.  Please email or call me (Sue Koenig) if you have any questions!
 
In Crisis?  Anyone anywhere can be affected by mental health struggles including depression, anxiety, having feelings of being overwhelmed, or having suicidal thoughts.  There has been a significant increase (up nearly 30%) in the annual rate of suicide from 1999-2016. The key to preventing people from reaching the point of suicide is to talk about it and offer help, encouragement and resources to those struggling to keep living.  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the crisis text line is text CONNECT to 741741 for people who are in distress and feel like they are at risk of hurting themselves, or if you know of a person who is at risk.
 
Ongoing Opportunities
 
Simply Giving: Many of our members and friends give with Simply Giving automated debit. This program is very important for our congregation. It keeps income steady during the summer months when giving drops because people are out of town. Please consider it! Giving forms are on the table in the narthex. If you do participate in Simply Giving, or if you do not have an offering on a particular Sunday you can still participate in the act of giving during the service by obtaining Giving Acknowledgment card from an usher and placing it in the offering plate to acknowledge your support of our ministries at Peace.
 
On-Line Giving: You now have the option to make a gift to Peace from your computer, tablet or phone! To give online go to the Peace web site www.PeaceLutheranLZ.com and click on the "Make a Donation" button. To give from your phone, download the Give Plus Church app and search for Peace in Lake Zurich to make your gift. Finally, to give from your phone without downloading the Give Plus Church app just text a gift to the Peace text number, 224-458-2996. Just enter an amount and send the text to the Peace number and you will be sent a link to complete the transaction. See Kirk Swanson if you have any questions.
 
Inspirational Messages: Pastor Mark would like to reach out to the congregation with a brief message a couple times per week. If you want to receive these, please fill out the form in the red attendance folders. Messages will be sent via a text, Facebook account, and Twitter. Any questions, contact Beth Papke at (847) 438-5294 or papkeb@wwdb.org


Caring Tree: This outreach ministry provides services to those in the congregation with special need, i.e., dinners for new moms, meals for those following a hospitalization, or short term help with lawn cutting or snow removal. Please contact Jean Foltin or Pastor Mark with requests for assistance. Jean may be reached by email (jfoltin5@comcast.net) or by phone/text (847-738-8599).
 
Altar Flowers: If you have a special date you would like to remember, please consider bringing flowers for our Sunday services. The calendar is on the bulletin board in the hallway. Vases are available for use in the kitchen cabinet behind the door. Flowers should be set out before the first service and can be picked up any time after the second service. Enter your first name on the calendar, as we have several families with the same last name. Any questions, please contact Jean Foltin.
 
Choir: Adult choir practices on Thursday evenings at 7:30pm at Peace.  We usually sing on the 2nd and 4th Sundays from September through mid-May then take a break over the summer.  Bring your voice and come join us!
 
Hand Bell Choir: Hand Bell Choir practices on Tuesday evenings 6:45 to 7:45pm at Peace. We play 1 Sunday a month.  No experience needed. Come have some musical fun
 
Wednesday Morning Women’s Bible Study: We meet at Panera Bread in Deer Park at 9:00 a.m.  Anyone is welcome to join us for coffee.  


AmazonSmile: Shop on AmazonSmile and 0.5% of your purchase can be donated to Peace Lutheran. For information about it, go to http://smile.amazon.com/about.


Peace now has Opt-Out Photo Release Forms: they are on the main table in the narthex.  If you do NOT want your/family member picture on the Church's website or Facebook page please sign and put in Cathy Malloy's mailbox in church office.
 
Peace Lutheran Church Facebook Page: Be sure to visit our Facebook page - Peace Lutheran Church of Lake Zurich. It's the one with recent posts. If you have an event or ministry you want promoted, and haven't seen it on our Facebook page, POST IT!! If you have questions or need help please email your request to one of the page administrators:  Jean Bishop, Karen Zicco, Bridget Heroff, Nicola Prybell or Pastor Mark.       
 
Church Calendar: The 2018 church calendar shows events and activities of the church and is posted on our website. You can find it by clicking "Calendar of Events" on the home page, or you can access it by visiting http://peacelutheranlz.com/calendar/  
If you have an event you want posted on the calendar, please email the church at the church social email:  office@peacelutheranlz.com


Online Newsletter: Do you get the Peace Lutheran weekly newsletter Prints of Peace online?  If not, please send your email address to peacelzoffice@yahoo.com and ask to be added to the emailing list.


                             
                                          This Week at Peace                          


     January        6      8:00am                   Worship (Holy Communion)
                                 9:15                         Sunday School
                                 10:30am                  Worship (Holy Communion)
     January        7      7:00pm                   Al-Anon
     January        8      6:45pm                   Bell Choir                
     January        9      9:00am                   Women’s Bible Study - Deer Park Panera
                                 10:30                       Lexington worship 
                                   7:00pm                    Confirmation at St. Peter’s
     January      10      12:30 - 6:30pm     Voice Lessons
     January      12       8:00am                  Men’s Bible study at Dunkin Donuts
                                   10:30                      Joyful Noisemakers
     January      13       8:00am                  Worship (Holy Communion)
                                  9:15                        Sunday School
                                  10:30am                 Worship (Holy Communion)