Immanuel Lutheran Church
Altamont, Illinois
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Immanuel Lutheran Church
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ June 2008 The other day I was thinking about what to write this month. Then I had a very strange thought. What if God was to treat us in our lives like we treat Him in ours? In order for this to work, you need to think about how you treat God in your life, as you do this, be sure to think about every aspect of your life. The areas that I was thinking about were worship, giving, and daily living. How do you treat God in these three areas? Do you worship God every week or only when it is convenient to you? Is worship the first thing on your mind on the weekend or the last? Are you raising your children to put worship first in their life or are you raising them to spend very little time in worship? What made me think about this was the last couple of weekends that I have been gone (personal time is a great thing for a pastor!), the worship attendance has been way down. In fact, it was generally 100-125 less than usual. That is terrible! Now you can give all the reason you want for skipping worship, but think about this. What if God treated you in the same way you treat Him in worship? What if He avoided you whenever He didn’t feel like having anything to do with you? What if He got tired of hearing your whining or pouting about things not going your way and decided not to listen to you or help you at all? Wow! That is a terrible thought. But let’s not stop there. What about your giving? As you have noted, if you were paying attention at all this year, the giving has really been down. Now I know that gas is through the roof. I know that the cost of living is up. I know all that. Remember that it is that way for me too. But if you were a first-fruits giver, the giving to the church wouldn’t be down. It is only down if you are a leftover giver. And what would it be like if God decided He would only give when He felt like it? Or when He thought He had enough to spare? Or when He figured that it was time for Him to do a little bit of something for you? You and I would be in serious trouble. In fact, we would truly be lost. We would have nothing at all. Finally, think about your daily, spiritual walk of faith. How is that? Do you follow the Lord every day or only when it suits you? When you are out with your friends, do you still act like a Christian or do you throw caution to the wind and pretend like God means nothing to you? When you are alone in your house, do you still live like a Christian or are you caught up in all sorts of wrongful actions or things? When you are work, do you give it your all or do you only go through the motions? What if God acted that way? What if He only was a part of our lives when He felt as though it looked good? What if He didn’t feel like being the good and gracious God today? Where would we be? I know none of that will come true. God does take care of us every day. He never is too busy or too cheap to help us. He never is overwhelmed with other things. He always has time for us. He always cares for us. He always is, well, God. He cannot be anything but a loving, gracious, merciful, compassionate, and forgiving God. We can rejoice at that. What about you? Next weekend, think about that when you are debating about going to worship. Why is there even a debate? It should be a given that every single one of us will be in worship every week! When you get your paycheck, use your envelope first and then go about the rest of your necessary items. If you don’t use your envelope, and many of you don’t, remember that before you leave for church. Don’t just open you wallet and see how many singles you might have left. Think about how God cares for you every day and give accordingly. Boy, amazing where a simple little thought can lead us. God be with you this month. Call me if you need spiritual help. God bless. Pastor Schuessler - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Trustee Finance Note: We are short about $3,500 to meet our monthly budget for May. We have borrowed $30,000 so far this year, and at present have a cap of $50,000 on the amount we may borrow. Please continue to remember our congregation in your prayers. Remember our weekly budget amount is for 12 months a year. It does not change in the summer months. Please don’t take a vacation from worshipping your Lord and financially supporting His ministry here at Immanuel. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ALIS Thrivent Matching Funds for May total is: $6,979.24. ALIS will receive half of this amount matched for their use. Your continued support of the Thrivent program is beneficial to both church and school. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ministry of Immanuel - The Board of Elders, Pastor Schuessler and Vern have been discussing the ministry of Immanuel. We have met to discuss what is currently being done by the called workers (Pastor and Vern). We will be meeting on June 16 to discuss the direction that we would like to see the ministry take here at Immanuel. Through it all, we are looking at staffing issues, how we can staff for growth and the future ministry at Immanuel. These are important questions that we are dealing with. If you have any input thoughts, contact Pastor, Vern or one of the Elders. Please continue to keep them and the congregation in your prayers as we work to lead the people of God through the ministry of Immanuel. ................................................................................................................ The Immanuel Book Club will be meeting after the newsletter goes out. so we can’t say when we will be meeting next or what we will be reading. We have been reading “The O’Malley Series” by Dee Henderson. The next one in the series is “The Guardian.” We’ll let you know if we decide to read something else. Watch the bulletin for our next meeting time. .................................................................................................................. Pork Burger Sale Sat., June 14 on the Altamont Ń. Bake sale items are needed, bring them to the triangle by 9:00 a.m. if possible. Call Carol Laatsch 483-5961 to volunteer. Workers are needed for: 1st shift 10:30–Noon, 2nd shift Noon-close. All proceeds to Immanuel Parish Hall Building Fund. ................................................................................................................ NEWS FROM BOTSWANA -- Are you interested in hearing about the work Missionaries Kevin and Sarah Witt are doing in Botswana? Letters and pictures from them are posted on the north end of the bulletin board near the rest rooms. ................................................................................................................... Braille workers are needed for Tuesday, June 17. Sign the chart on the bulletin board in the narthex or call Eloise McGuire 483-6439 to volunteer. Pictorial Directory. It is an exciting time for us here at Immanuel. We are going to do a new pictorial directory. I can hear you now: “Didn’t we just do one? Why do we need to do that again?” Good questions. Thanks for asking. The last time we did a directory was in 2004. Now if you look at that directory you will notice several things. First, we have all changed. Children have grown over the last 4 years. Each one of us has changed. It is amazing to see how much we have all changed in those 4 years. Second, we have many new families in the congregation. I was sitting in a meeting the other evening, we brought up asking someone to help out with a committee. One of the members didn’t know who that person was. We got out the directory and that person was not in it! How frustrating. Imagine being a new member and trying to get to know the congregation (we give them a directory when they join) and having numerous people not listed or not having their picture in it. And finally we all need to have updated pictures. When you have your picture taken, you will get a free 8 x 10. You will also have the opportunity to purchase other pictures. Wouldn’t it be nice to give your children a new picture of you to hang on their wall? All right, so I assume you want your family to see your picture on a daily basis. All of those are good reasons for us to do another pictorial directory. In order to make this work, we all, every family, needs to take part. Please don’t say that you don’t need a picture so you won’t have your picture taken. That only hurts the rest of us because then you won’t be in the directory. We will be having sign up days beginning June 7/8. You will be able to sign up at worship each week, in the church office or on line. We are excited to be able to have this opportunity to put together this directory. The dates for photography are: July 16-19 and August 20-23. These days are Wednesday through Saturday. On Wednesday through Friday, the time is 2:30-9:00 p.m. On the two Saturdays, the time is 10:00–4:00. All pictures will be taken in the Parish Hall. More information will be coming out here shortly. Make plans now to sign up. We will also need people to help with being the hosts/hostesses during the picture taking times. When you are contacted, please prayerfully consider and help out your congregation in this great endeavor. ............................................................................................................... PRAYER GROUP - We hear of so many things that are going on in our world, in our country, in our state, and in our city that are prayer concerns. Our Lord has commanded us to pray, to stand in the gap. This is an invitation to join me in our home for a time of intercessory prayer. I'm thinking of 10:30 - 11:30 each Wednesday; however, depending on the schedule of people interested, this could change. Call Marian Martin -6317. .................................................................................................................. Gatepost – On page 7 of the latest issue of the Gatepost, the Extension Fund rates are wrong. The 1-year rate should be 2.75%; the 3-year rate should be 3.15%; and the 5-year rate should be 3.25%. ................................................................................................................ Open House Sunday, June 8 from 2-4 p.m. for Raymond and Marion Berg in the ALIS cafeteria to help celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary. April Sunday School Perfect Attendance3 year olds 4th Haylee Rogers Logan Deadmond Avery Jahraus Adam Mayhaus *Bailee Merkel 4 year olds Margeaux Stuckemeyer Darian Rogers Travis Whitt Anna Sigg Eric Wolff Brayden Stuemke *Klaiton Wolff *Emma Simmons 5th Kindergarten Andrea Wendling Aiden Jahraus 6th 1st Jeri Ann Beesley Katelynn Grimsley Ethan Deadmond Leah Mayhaus Mackensie Grimsley Dawn Pagel Mackenzie Hammer *Grace Simmons *Hannah Roberson Hailey Simmons Christian Stuckemeyer *Danielle White 2nd Abigail Wolff *Emily Becker Jacob Sigg Jr. High Brooke Stuckemeyer Lucas Ahten Austin Wendling Emily Hammer Kaleb Whitt Ryan Mayhaus Hanna Wolff Jennifer Whitt *Karsyn Wolff Matthew Burrow Allison McGuire 3rd Sadie Spilker Josh Miller Catelyn Vail Corey Vail *Molly Verdeyen Ally Wendling *Perfect attendance for the year ................................................................................................................ Family Life Pregnancy Center is looking for pregnant women to volunteer for free ultrasounds so that our Center can complete our medical conversion and nurse training. The ultrasounds will be performed under the supervision of a registered ultrasonographer and medical professional. - Women 7-20 weeks pregnant - June 17-20 and June 23-26 - Morning and afternoon appointments available - Call 217-342-5433 or 800-600-2966 Family Life Pregnancy Center is located at 605 Eden Ave, Effingham, IL. ............................................................................................................... Thank you for your prayers, cards, and expressions of sympathy. God’s blessings to everyone. Gert Heiden and Family The C.E.F.S./Golden Circle Nutrition Program and Senior Services of Effingham County are joining together to promote evening meal programs on Tuesdays. The meals will be catered by Deb’s Catering of Altamont. Anyone 60 or older may enjoy a meal for a suggested donation of $3.00 per meal. If you are under 60 and would like a meal to enjoy with your parents or grandparents the price will be $5.43. Transportation will be offered courtesy of Senior Services of Effingham County, with donations generously accepted. Please reserve your meal or arrange transportation with the senior center by calling: 217/342-5569. ….additional June News Summer Sunday School This Sunday, June 1, the Sunday School Program goes into the “Summer Mode”. This means that: * Perfect (100%) and Faithful Attendance (90%) certificates and Teacher Recognition certificates will be distributed before the services. * Sunday School classes begin at 10:00 a.m. but now will meet in the Parish Hall Lower Level. * S.S. classes will be combined as follows with students entering fall grade levels: a. PS through grade 2. Emily Stuemke-teacher b. Grades 3 through 5, Susan Becker-teacher c. Grades 6 through 8, Leigh Ann Stuckemeyer-teacher d. ’08-09 9th graders attend the high school class. * Important: Substitute teachers are needed on Sundays when the regular teachers are unable to teach. Talk to Vern to offer. * Parents are responsible for their children between the time early service is over and approximately 9:55 since there will be no joint openings. * Pastor’s Sunday Bible class and Vern’s high school class will continue to meet during the summer. Vacation Bible School Monday-Friday, June 2 – 6 from 9 to 11:50 a.m. Remember to Pre-Register for Vacation Bible School by calling the church office 483-6395 or online at www.immanuelaltamont.org. Drop off and pick up is in the driveway/parking lot, north of the Parish Hall. VBS site leaders can come in Sunday evening between 6-8 p.m. to set up their site. If that time is not possible, then contact Vern to arrange another time. Sites must be set up before Monday morning. Rummage Sale Friday-Saturday, June 13-14 Immanuel’s annual Rummage Sale is coming soon. Many workers are needed. Sign up sheets are in the narthex and PH lobby. Items brought in for sale must be clean and saleable with previous garage sale tags removed. No used shoes will be accepted. Work schedule is as follows: Tuesday, June 10, 9:30 a.m. Jr. & Sr. LYF setting up tables Wednesday, June 11, 9:00 a.m. – 7 p.m. Set up signs, etc., accepting sale items and sorting. Thursday, June 12, 9:00 a.m. -- ????? as needed, set up and pricing. Friday, June 13, 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. SALE Saturday, June 14, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 N $2.00 Shopping Bag SALE Saturday, June 14, 12 -- 1:00 p.m. Pack up and store in closet or another location To Be Determined Load trucks and deliver leftovers to Goodwill “20’s something” Young Adults Wednesday, June 4, 7:30 p.m. There will be an organizational information meeting on Wed., June 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall to brainstorm ideas for Altamont Circuit summer social events and Bible studies just for this age group. Singles and marrieds are welcome! Come out and share ideas for initial planning of some fun activities and spiritual growth. Jr. & Sr. LYF LCC Thrivent “Join Hands Days” Monday-Tuesday, June 16-17 Our Servant Event at Lutheran Care Center is from 9:00 a.m.-3 p.m. This is a great opportunity for adults and youth to work together is serving others. Even though youth participation has been good each year, joining hands by the adults could be improved. This event is designed and intended for adults and youth to serve together. Simply show up or call the church office for more information and sign up. Adult Vacation Bible School Adult VBS is June 23-27th from 9-11:30 a.m. in the Parish Hall lower level. FALL After-School Program At the April Voters’ Meeting, the Immanuel Bd. of Ed., presented a recommendation to begin an After-School at Immanuel in August. The voters’ approved unanimously to continue to pursue this endeavor, with a final vote to be taken at the July voters’ meeting to implement the program. The Board is continuing with necessary planning, including interviewing potential candidates for the directorship position. LYF Holiday World Trip Plans are underway for a possible trip to Holiday World in late June or early July. Watch for details to come. C.E.F.S. Meal Delivery dates for Immanuel are June 16th – 27th.
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Last updated on
05/30/2008.
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