St. John’s HELPER

St. John’s United Church of Christ

1513 West Street

Rosenberg, Texas 77471

Church Office: 281-342-5159 Fax: 832-759-5548 Church Email:

Church Website: www.stjohnsunitedchurchofchrist.org

Rev. Daniel Haas, Minister Cell phone #801-368-1180

January 4, 2017 Rev. Donald Kolkmeier, Pastor Emeritus

No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome at St. John’s United Church of Christ

“2016 Completion Letter”

Now that the New Year is in, it is important to let go of 2016. Holding on to old pains is not a healthy thing as Lot’s wife powerfully demonstrated when she turned around to take a last glance at Sodom and turned into a pillar of salt. Forward! One good way for moving on is to explore your present feelings. I just finished reading the Grief Recovery Handbook by John W. James and Russell Friedman. They hold the copyright to what they call “The Grief Recovery Completion Letter”. Basically they suggest to pick an important person – dead or alive – with whom you have unresolved issues. You write that letter for yourself and do not send it to the person it is directed to. Instead James and Friedman suggest you read it to somebody you trust and who can keep it confidential. They suggest to get three categories off your chest: words of apology,

words of forgiveness, and other significant emotional statements. Maybe it would not hurt to treat the year 2016 as a recipient of such a completion letter. So the rest of this article will provide space for you to fill in the blanks:

Dear 2016,

2016, I apologize for …


2016, I apologize for …


2016, I apologize for …


2016, I forgive you for …


2016, I forgive you for …


2016, I forgive you for …

2016, I want you to know …

(significant emotional statement)


2016, I want you to know …

(significant emotional statement)

2016, I want you to know …

(significant emotional statement)

I have to go now, 2016, and I have to let go of what you brought. Good-bye, 2016.

Blessings,

Rev. Daniel Haas

Offering for January 1, 2017

Unrestricted Income

General Fund …… not available at time of print

General Fund income is used to pay our congregation’s operating expenses. We must receive $3,175 each week in unrestricted giving to sustain our annual budget of $165,108

Month to Date for unrestricted:

Restricted Income-January 1, 2017

Benevolence ……………………..

Restricted Income is money given for a specific purpose. It is never used to pay our church operating expenses.

Offering for January 1

Attendance for January 1, 2017

Church Attendance

THOSE IN OUR PRAYERS

Requesting Prayer for Themselves:

Denver McFarland

Requesting Prayers for Others

Brittany Burbridge by Karen Sikes

Nathan Gaskamp by Florence Gaskamp

Nelda Gutowsky by Florence Gaskamp

Gary Harbes by Melba Ashley

Stan Kubelka by Kathy Kubelka

David Kveton by Alice Prosise

Emma Lee Marek by her family

Ginger Pawlek by Gloria Himly

Wolfgang Schmidt by Angelika Schmidt

Kara Schmith by Michelle Gutowsky

Sara Schoditsch by June Weiss

Rebecca Schulte by Gloria Himly

Darlean Swallers by Diana Beck

Sarah Weimer by Petra Weimer

Preparing for Sunday, Jan. 8

Scripture: Romans 7:14-25

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon: “Mujahideen”

Adult Sunday School

The Adult Sunday School class meets at 9:00 a.m. and typically ends around 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings in the Disciples Classroom. All are invited and welcomed to attend and share in various topics. Lessons are led by Leo Niemeyer, however this week John Eixmann will be leading the discussion.

Congregational Meetings

The annual Congregational Meeting will be Sunday, January 22 when election and installation of new church positions will take place. The Nominating Committee has submitted the following names for consideration:

Council:

President-Elect Paul Gutowsky

Secretary Patsy Kubes

Treasurer Margie Krenek

Building/Grounds John Eixmann

Member-at-Large Leo Niemeyer

SCC Delegate Ron Gutowsky

Spiritual Council Janet Enax

Daniel Dunton

Nominations will be taken from the floor from anyone wishing to be considered for any of the above church positions.

Chili Supper

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, January 19 at 6:30 p.m. when the Men of the Brotherhood will be serving a chili supper in the Parish Hall. A sign-up sheet will be in the Narthex for the next two Sundays or you may call the church office to RSVP. Please bring a dessert to share with others and bring a hungry appetite.

Ushers/Greeters for 2017

Please check the sign-up sheet located in the Narthex and confirm by placing a check mark by your name for the months you wish to serve. Make any notes of changes.

Advent Storage

On Sunday, January 8th following the morning worship service we will be packing up the Advent items for storage and any assistance would be appreciated for those that can stay.

Kroger’s Card

Remember to re-register your Kroger’s card each year so that a portion of your spending is given back to the church through the Brotherhood. The more that register their Kroger’s Card each year, the more that is donated back. A percentage of each of your expenditures is donated back to the Brotherhood to further help with our church as special projects come up.

Women’s Guild

The ladies of the Women’s Guild will hold their monthly meeting and fellowship on Tuesday, January 10th at 10:00 a.m. in the Parish Hall. All ladies of the congregation are invited to attend. For more information please contact Margie Krenek.

Offering Envelopes

The 2017 boxed sets of offering envelopes have been placed in the Narthex for your pick up. Boxes are filed numerically and alphabetically, for the most part. Most people’s number stayed the same as in 2016 but there are the occasional cases where someone was assigned a number that does not follow the alphabetical spelling of their last name. So if you do not see your name where it should normally be, please scan each box and if you still do not see your name then please contact the church office. There are a few unassigned boxes at the very end and if you have not been receiving a box but would like one, then please take one numbered between 96 and 100 and write your name and address on the sheet of paper on the table. You do not have to be a church member to use these offering envelopes.

Lay Readers for 2017

Anyone interested in being added to the Lay Reader rotation for 2017 please contact the church office this week.

Correction to January Calendar of Events

Please note that the Family Ministry Team will be visiting and serving Communion to the residents at Cambridge on Wednesday, January 11th instead of January 18th as printed on the January Calendar of Events.

Church Council

The Church Council will meet on Monday, January 16 in the Disciples Classroom.

Calendar

For Sunday, January 8, 2017

Lay Reader: Sandra Croft Bailey

Flowers for Altar: Women’s Guild

Greeters & Ushers for January

Sandra Croft Bailey, Bob Ray,

Kerry Gerken, Christina Woodard

Lay Readers for January

Karen Sikes, Sandra Croft Bailey,

Janet Enax, Tom Gaskamp,

Michelle Gutowsky

Altar Flowers for January

Women’s Guild, 1/1 & 1/8

Patsy Kubes, 1/15

Karen & Ron Sikes, 1/22

Ella & Lawrence Schmidt, 1/29

January 8, 2017

Rev. Daniel Haas delivers the morning

message entitled, “Mujahideen”.

Looking Ahead

Adult Sunday School-9:00-9:30 a.m.

Bible Study-2nd and 4th Tuesday

Confirmation Class-2nd & 4th Sunday

Choir Rehearsals, Wednesday @ 7pm

Advent Packing & Storage, 1/8

Confirmation class, 1/8

Women’s Guild, 1/10

Church Council, 1/16

Mature Adults, 1/17

Chili Supper, 1/19

Congregational Meeting, 1/22

Thought for the week:

“God will never give you more than you can handle. He just sometimes has more faith in us than we do ourselves.”

“Enroll” your Kroger’s card with the Brotherhoods Community Rewards Program. Go online and use #84302 as the organization number.

Link to Kroger’s Community Rewards website: https://www.kroger.com/communityrewards

(On your computer push Control and click your mouse at the same time while hovering the mouse over the above link and it will take you directly to the Kroger registration page.)