December 29, 2024
WELCOME! We praise God for giving us the ability to worship in fellowship today! Please remember that if you wish to social distance there is room, if you want or need to wear a mask we will support you.
Please sign the registration books that are in the pews, please pass them to the next person. If you are worshipping from home and watching on Facebook please leave a comment (even if it is just Hi), it would be appreciated.
BRINGING HOLY COMMUNION TO YOU If you would prefer to have Holy Communion brought to you in the pew on the weeks it is served – please let the elder/ushers know prior to the service. We would not want to miss you!
FELLOWSHIP TIME Please join us in the Hillmer Center following the service today and enjoy a sweet treat and coffee or juice. Bible Study will start at 10:30 am and we are studying the minor prophets.
GIDEONS PRESENTATION Someone from the Gideon’s will be here next Sunday for a short presentation and question and answer time. Please come with any questions you might have for them. There will be a door offering for them.
ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED Grace is asking for help with transportation for a student at Valley Lutheran School. If you are willing to be an alternate or to take one of the other days, let the office know. It is our hope this will only be a short term as Janet is in the process of obtaining her driver’s license and buying a car. Also, if you know of anyone with a dependable car that is for sale for a reasonable price, please contact the Church office. Thank you.
LOVE INC. INVITATION Begin Now is our Transformational Ministry Program where we share a meal together, learn different life skills, grow in community and experience transformation. We are preparing for our Spring 2025 Session and are in need of some Relational Assistants! A Relational Assistant is someone who joins in a class and helps and encourages others as they discover their God-given potential. You are there to build relationships with participants, share the gospel with them, ask them about their lives, pray with them, etc. We are preparing for our Spring 2025 Session and are in need of some Relational Assistants! A Relational Assistant is someone who joins in a class and helps and encourages others as they discover their God-given potential. You are there to build relationships with participants, share the gospel with them, ask them about their lives, pray with them, etc. If you would be interested in helping with this project please call the office for more details.
WE HAVE GREAT NEWS, we will be hosting a Life Line Screening event on February 25. Life Line Screening is the premier provider of stroke and cardiovascular disease risk screenings since 1993. As the host of the event, Life Line Screening is extending a special offer to all of our members for a screening package that enables you to get peace of mind with early detection.
J.O.Y. (Just Older Youth): On Tuesday, January 21st, Valley Lutheran School as a family ministry is going to host our first monthly J.O.Y. gathering from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Multi Purpose Room (MPR). This is a great opportunity for retired seniors to come out and have fun and fellowship with Just Older Youth, like themselves, and to take a little time to prayerfully support Valley Lutheran School. Executive Director, Rev. Henry Pahlkotter, will be facilitating the afternoon event with a short devotional, games, discussion of the vision of J.O.Y. and a time to lift up the students, families and staff of Valley in prayer. It is a ministry designed for senior adults. If you know of someone…Grandparents, family and friends…who would love to participate, please invite them to come and to bring a friend. They need not be directly connected to Valley to participate! Rev. Pahlkotter started a J.O.Y. group at Peace Lutheran Church in Saginaw, Michigan, which is still highly successful today! Come and have some Christ-centered JOY with us. All seniors are invited!
MARCH FOR LIFE On Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison and other Lutherans, including a leader from your district, will attend the National March for Life in Washington, D.C. As they march for life, they stand boldly together in the public square and confess our beliefs about the sanctity of life. If you are interested in participating or more information contact the office.
INVITATION FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS The college students of College Hill Lutheran Church & Brammer Student Center in Cedar Falls invite high school students to a weekend retreat with the LCMS U campus ministry near the University of Northern Iowa campus. This will be held January 25-26, Saturday starting at 1 pm to Sunday around noon. The high school students will get a taste of a collegiate life and learn what it means to be a Lutheran student on a secular campus. For more information check out the bulletin board or in the office. This sounds like a fun weekend.
A LIFE QUOTE “We long to hear those words from the master, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! Come! Share your master’s happiness!’ Someday you will hear them as He welcomes you into eternal dwellings. But for now, there is much to do for Jesus. So, as you go to live for Him, let those words echo in your mind and spur you on to be faithful and fruitful servants in His kingdom.” Rev. Peter Sulzle, St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Redwood Falls – A Life Quote from Lutherans For Life • lutheransforlife.org
“Hurting from abortion? Word of Hope can help. word-of-hope.org; 888.217.8679.”
BUILDING HEALTHY FAMILIES Here’s a novel idea for making a New Year’s Resolution this year: don’t make it about you! What if instead of losing ten pounds, you resolved to spend unscheduled time every Sunday afternoon with your children? What if instead of getting up early to go to the gym, you resolved to read to a nursing home resident who has no family or visitors every Tuesday morning? What if instead…you get the idea. Look around; ask God to open your eyes. Who has He put in your life who needs the gift of your time and attention? Resolve to give it! Happy and Blessed New Year from your friends at Lutheran Family Service! Lutheran Family Service - www.LutheranFamilyService.org (515.573.3138 and LFSiowa.org)
MEMORY VERSE CHALLENGE - This week the verse is:
Matthew 1:21
You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
CATECHESIS – This week for those using the Catechism Study Guide you should be on the following page number according to what year you are doing.
Year 1 is page 9 Year 2 is page 68 Year 3 is page 127;
ONLINE GIVING We now have the option of online giving available on our website: www.gracewaterloo.org You will enter a secure site and can setup weekly or one time gifts to your regular giving or to special funds like the building repair fund. Giving can be setup with either a credit card or your bank account. You can create an account that will remember your information for future use. This is a very secure site so you can setup giving with confidence that your information will be safe.
You can also setup giving using an app on a cell phone. Just search for Vanco in your App Store. Using this you will need to create an account with your information to allow the app to communicate with Vanco.
GRACE FOOD PANTRY
Anyone wishing to donate to the Grace Food Pantry, these are the top items needed:
Top Needs
Hair conditioner, body wash, deodorant (men & women), canned veggies (no baked beans), ramen noodles, hamburger helper
Also we are in need of empty egg cartons that are for a dozen eggs.
Pancake mix, syrup, stick butter, spaghetti sauce and noodles, peanut butter and 32 oz. juice.
We can always use money too. The committee would like to thank all those who have given generously to the Grace Food Pantry!
Anyone needing assistance with the Grace Food Pantry please contact either the church office or one of the following people: Nancy McHone or Judy DePaepe. Anyone interested in helping with the food pantry please contact the office or the people listed.
VALLEY LUTHERAN UPDATE
Valley Lutheran is asking for cylinder style containers with lids, for example, pringles, bread crumb containers. Please no nut containers! We will have our students decorate them and place their Chapel offerings in them. Thank you for all your help!
If you attended Valley Lutheran School or Immanuel Lutheran School prior to our merger, WE NEED YOU! We would like to organize a small team to help us stay connected with those who were a part of the past and to help us get the good word out about all the great things that are happening today. If you would like to be a part of this effort, please contact Shaylene Scheele, Assistant to the Executive Director, in the school office. We want to form a committee right after the first of the year. It could be fun to have an ALL YEAR REUNION Fall 2025! Let us know if you would be interested in helping us make this happen.
Luke 2:38 – “And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” Notice here how giving thanks to God leads to good works (speaking about Jesus, in this case). Thankfulness toward God for all He has done for us is the foundation of a Christian life lived in godliness. For if we know all that the Lord has done for us, how can we not strive to honor Him with what we think, say and do?
The Schedule this Week:
The following events have been planned for this week.
TODAY:
9:00 a.m. Worship - w/Holy Comm. Sanctuary
10:15 a.m. Fellowship Hillmer Center
10:30 a.m. Bible Hour/Sunday School Hillmer Center/upper level
MONDAY:
6:00 p.m. Exercise Library
WEDNESDAY: OFFICE CLOSED Happy New Year
THURSDAY:
9:30 a.m. Ladies Bible Study Hillmer Center
6:00 p.m. Exercise Library
SATURDAY:
8:00 a.m. Men’s Breakfast/Bible Study Kitchen
NEXT SUNDAY: The Gideons presentation
9:00 a.m. Worship Sanctuary
10:15 a.m. Fellowship Hillmer Center
10:30 a.m. Bible Hour/Sunday School Hillmer Center/upper level
Check out the next Grace Greetings for the next activity.