St John's Lutheran Church

Sunday School Rally Day Info

The 2016-2017 Sunday School year resumes on Sunday, September 11th at 10:10am with special Rally Day activities! This is also “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday throughout the ELCA. All youth and their families should plan to join in the fun. Following a visit to their classrooms to meet their teachers and enjoy a snack, all of our students and parents are invited to the Fellowship Hall at 10:40am to participate in some special activities. Our youngest students will be working to assemble school kits for Lutheran World Relief; 3rd through 6th graders will tie fleece blankets which will be distributed to children at Nachusa Lutheran Home; and our high schoolers will help our quilting ladies fold and pack quilts for LWR. The Confirmation class will meet at 10:10am and walk to the Mendota Lutheran Home where they will spend time interviewing some of the residents. PARENTS: Please plan to attend Sunday School with your child/children on Rally Day, September 11th at 10:10am. What a great way to kick off another Sunday School year!

“God’s Work. Our Hands.” is a motto endorsed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This motto is a sign for us that God has important work to do in our world, and that God is relying upon us to carry out that work.

For the past several years, one Sunday has been set aside each year as “God’s Work. Our hands.” Sunday. This year the selected Sunday is September 11, 2016. On that date, members of ELCA congregations are encouraged to carry out service activities. Setting aside this one Sunday to gives us an opportunity to celebrate who we are – one church, freed in Christ to serve and love our neighbor. The estimated membership of the ELCA is 4 million members. Imagine what a difference we can make in our world when 4 million people commit to doing an act of service on this day.

September 11th will be Rally Sunday at St. John’s. As part of our Rally Day activities, we will have two opportunities following worship to do “God’s Work with Our Hands.” These activities will be offered to all ages.

LWR School Kits: One activity will be the compiling of Lutheran Worship Relief School Kits which are sent to children throughout the world. Lutheran World Relief is very specific about the items that can be included in a school kit. Requested items include: Notebook (spiral bound 70 pages), Ruler, Pencil Sharpener, Scissors (blunt), #2 Pencils (unsharpened), Ink Pens (not gel), 16-24 Crayons, and Erasers. When you are shopping, please consider purchasing and donating any of these items. You can place your donations in the box marked “School Supplies” in the Fellowship Hall until September 6th.

Fleece Blankets: The other activity will be to make fleece blankets which will be distributed to local agencies that care for those who are suffering. The quilting women will prepare these blankets for us to tie. Monetary donations are welcome for these blankets.

We are reminded that service activities offer an opportunity for us to explore one of the our most basic convictions as Lutherans: that all of life in Jesus Christ – every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life – flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God’s grace.

In Christ’s love and grace,
Pastor Janet Lepp

"God's Work, Our Hands" t-shirts

We have ordered a limited number of “God’s Work. Our Hands.” t-shirts in various adult sizes and should have them available for purchase in the office by September 7th. They will also be available in the Fellowship Hall on Sunday, September 11th. The cost is $7.00 each. These are the same shirts that many of you received a couple years ago. You are encouraged to wear them on September 11th.

Do you receive your Eagle by email?

To help decrease our postage and special paper costs, we would like to send as many Eagle newsletters by email as possible. If you currently receive a paper copy of the newsletter in the mail, would you please consider giving us your email address? We will continue to mail newsletters to households that prefer to receive a paper copy, and we will also have some available in the office. Thank you!

Help Yourself...

Several of our quilting ladies have been working on “Walker Bags” for residents of area nursing homes. They are also making them available to members of our congregation. You will find a basket full of these colorful and handy fabric bags in the Narthex. Please feel free to take one for yourself or someone you know.

Why Sunday Fellowship?

The Merriam–Webster online dictionary defines a fellowship as a “community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience,” and “a company of equals or friends.”

God designed His church to be a fellowship, not just a community, but a family of brothers and sisters who share God’s ideals and beliefs, and who can help us improve ourselves.

The importance of fellowship in our lives is part of the reason that the people of God are commanded to consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. Every week, on Sunday, Christians gather both to hear the Word of God taught and to strengthen each other through fellowship.

Sunday Fellowship at St. John’s requires your participation. We are the Church. Please consider signing up for one Sunday during the year to make coffee and serve donuts to your fellow members so that we can meet, get to know each other and focus on God’s desires and goals for us.

There is a calendar in the Church kitchen, pick a Sunday to do your part as a member of the St. John’s community.