Looking at Scripture - We Are the Body of Christ
The Apostle Paul compares the church to a human body in this week’s second reading (1 Corinthians 12:12-31a). We are the body of Christ and individually members of it. It’s a nice sentiment that as we live and work together, we are the very real presence of God in the world.
However, Paul doesn’t leave things with a nice sentiment. As we all know, our bodies have aches and pains. So, Paul says, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” If our backbone is aching, it can cripple the rest of us. If our arm throws a fastball, our legs do a happy dance. We are connected, and we care about what’s going on in the lives of the people in this congregation.
Therefore, it’s also important to heed Paul’s warning, “The body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body.” Hosanna! is not the pastor. It is not just you and your best friends. It is all of us.
I invite you to pay attention to the other members of the body. Who is hurting? Who is rejoicing? Who are we missing? Each is important, as are you.
Looking at Life Together - Our Shared Ministry
This is your congregation, and what happens through Hosanna! happens because of you. If someone feeling down is enlivened during worship, you were a part by adding your voice to our song. If someone hurting feels the comfort of prayer, you were a part of the prayers of the people. If someone sick is visited by your pastor, you were a part of making that possible. If a child reads their comic book Bible, you were a part of placing the Word of God in their hands.
You may be involved in a lot of things in the life of our congregation. For that, I thank you! However, I also want you to know that even though there may be things you’re not actively doing, they are still part of your ministry as part of Hosanna! Serving at a food pantry may not be your thing, but something as simple as fixing a toilet in our building makes it possible for someone else more passionate about hunger to focus their time and energy at the pantry.
I hope you’ll join us for the congregational meeting this Sunday after worship as we reflect on our past, plan our future, and elect leaders to help get us there. I also hope that you’ll read our annual report. It’s a great place to see a lot of the ministries you’re supporting through our congregation. We’ve redesigned the report to make it more readable, but we’ve also included invitations for you to consider how else you’d like to be involved.
We are blessed to be able to do big thing together with each other and with God. Thank you for your active participation and your ongoing support.
Contemporary Lord’s Prayer
During worship in the season after Epiphany, we’re saying a version of the Lord’s Prayer that uses more modern language. It’s not a permanent change, but a simple way for us to escape rote recitation of this special prayer and remember that it’s relevant still today.
So Many Announcements!
There are a lot of great things happening at Hosanna, so it’s easy to succumb to information overload. If you have news to share with the congregation, you’re welcome as always to share it, but please help us keep it short and to the point, with clear information about who to contact. To keep things moving during worship, we won’t be inviting spontaneous announcements anymore, but you are welcome to speak to Pastor Mike before worship if you’d like him to highlight your ministry or to invite you to speak during the announcement time.
Adult Sunday School
There will be no adult Sunday school this Sunday, Jan. 27. Join us again in February as we look at what makes us different and how we relate to one another. We’ll explore personality traits and the Five Love Languages.
Sunday School at the Annual Meeting
The kids won’t meet for Sunday school class during the annual meeting, but will have other group activities planned so that their parents and teachers may attend the annual meeting.
Annual Congregational Meeting
Our annual congregational meeting will be January 27, 2019 at 10:45 following the service. All are welcome to attend, but only confirmed members who have communed and whose household has made a contribution of record to the congregation in the past year are eligible to vote. The congregational meeting is the highest legislative authority of the congregation. In addition to the “business” items of budgets and resolutions, we’ll take stock of our ministry the past year and discuss our shared future. Please plan to join us for the meeting. Because the annual meeting takes place during the Sunday school hour, we will have activities for the kids to do during the meeting so that parents and teachers may attend.
Click here for a copy of the report.
2018 Contribution Statements
Your 2018 Contribution Statements are ready and available for pickup in the Fellowship Hall. Please pick yours up and carefully review it as soon as possible. If there are any corrections that need to be made, contact the church office. Please don’t wait until April !
Valentines for Vets
February 10th our Sunday School children will be making Valentines for our Vets. If adults would also like to bring valentines, the more the merrier! Between now and February 10 we will be collecting items for hygiene kits: toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss and deodorant. In addition, we thought it might be nice to include some kind of snack, perhaps granola, energy or protein bars for our homeless Vets. We will assemble the kits on February 10 after the church service. While the children and anyone else willing to assist are making Valentines join us for the fun and snacks!
Dinner In /Out Groups
We need two more couples for dinner in/out to even the groups. Anyone interested can contact Anne Herman, (402) 239-6078 or ahermanpharmd@gmail.com.
New Hand Chime Choir Opportunity!
Starting in February we will be offering the opportunity to take part in a new Hand Chime Choir. The ability to read music is not required. Rehearsals will last just a few minutes and we’ll plan on performing once or twice a month. We will plan on meeting for rehearsals following fellowship time on Sundays starting February 3rd.
**Save the Date**
Second parking lot fundraiser
Valentines Italian Dinner
Feb 10, 2019 at 5:30
Come and enjoy an evening of fun and fellowship!
Three course Italian dinner includes
salad, main course and dessert.
Wine and iced tea included.
Price is $40.00/person. Reservations required. Payment is due at time of reservation. Contact Janeen Bollhoefer for more information.
In Our Prayers:
Celebrations:
Gunnar Stillwell - Born January 8 to Amanda and Stryker. Born several weeks early, baby will be in the NICU for a few weeks.
Birthdays:
- Dawn Harper, January 29
- Fran Schwenk, January 29
- Steven Goins, January 30
- Nona Oprinovich, February 1
- Samantha Schoening, February 3
Sympathy:
Joe Popper (1/20)
Concerns:
Gertrude - surgery recovery (1/20)
Rika Heruth’s mother - health concerns (1/20)
Fran Lantz - health concerns (1/13)
Darlene - diagnosed with lymphoma, beginning chemo (1/11)
Mary Jane (aunt of Margaret Grote) - colon and hypertension issues, upcoming surgery, alone at home (12/21)
Kevin (friend of Mary and Brad Kunkel) - diagnosed with rare blood cancer (12/21)
Bill Buss (grandfather of Geremy Grote) - mini strokes and falls (12/21)
Galen Grote (grandfather of Geremy Grote) - fighting cancer again (12/21)
Margaret (grandmother of Margaret Grote) - difficulty with breathing (12/21)
Margaret Grote - pain (12/21)
Ava Lavenberg - 2-year-old fighting cancer (12/6)
Michaela Watt (friend of Bonny Grauerholz) - brain tumor (11/25)
Ongoing:
Janet Baken - receiving care at Ashton Court
Kim Berry - heart concerns
Tom Anderson - health concerns
Bob Johnson - at Norterre assisted living
Council Highlights
Click here for the latest council highlights
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