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Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

December 2018

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

Wuthrich Hill

3101 CR 417

P.O. Box 1182

Taylor, Texas 76574

Phone 512-365-6155

E-mail princeofpeacetaylor @eccwireless.net

Web Site www.princeofpeacetaylor.org

Rev. Kerri M. Veit, Pastor

Cell Phone: 512-595-4316

LCMC

Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ

LCMC Texas District

Sunday Schedule

Worship

9:00 a.m.

Sunday School

10:15 a.m.

“Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”

1 Samuel 7:13

My husband finally gave in a few weeks ago (I’ve been waiting for months) and he asked me, “What’s with all those Latin phrases in your newsletter articles?”

Truth be told, when I began this back in January, I was simply looking for a different way to close my articles. I wanted something kind of interesting, a little spectacular, possibly out-there. So I chose

Latin. A little bit classy, a little bit old school. Each of the closing lines relate in some manner to the article itself.

Closings are events unto themselves. Think of the fireworks which end Fourth of July celebrations. Or the kiss at the end of the wedding ceremony. Or the bell that tolls the end of worship.

This month, we have reached the close of a long, tension-filled year. 2018 is just about over. Looking back, we ponder what happened in those 365 days. We laughed. We cried. We celebrated weddings and birthdays, cried at funerals, experienced new jobs, rejoiced at retirement. Life touched us in many ways. That’s what life does. I don’t know what 2019 will bring. I pray it will be a good year. A safe year. One thing I know for certain: it will be filled with God’s blessings, just as this year has been.

Our God is a generous God, “who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Eph 1:3 He supplies every need we have “according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19 At times we may complain that God hasn’t provided for us as we would like. But if God never does anything more than forgive us our sins and guarantee us life eternal with Him, He has already been more than abundant in His generosity!

Gloria in excelsis Deo! Which of course means . . Glory to God in the highest!

Pastor Kerri

P.S. Here are the Latin closings and their translations. (the corner clip art above) Keep calm and know Latin

January -“Luceat lux vestra” = Let your light shine

February – "beatus hortorum cultus" = Happy gardening

March – “Deus autem nobiscum” = God almighty with us

April– “Restituere animam meam Domine ad Deum” = Restore me to life O God

May – “Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum Christi” = The peace of Christ be with you always

June – “Vade in pace et diligendum colendumque praeceperat Dominus” = Go in peace to love and serve the Lord

July– “Omnis praeparata” = Come all is prepared

August – “Hoc facite in meam commemorationem” = Do this in remembrance of Me

September – “Ad Dominus Deus truus = Return to the Lord your God

October– “Et duxit me” = He leadeth me

November – “Quaestus magnus pietas cum sufficientia” = Godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Tim. 6:6)

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Council Notes

The Council will meet on Monday, December 10, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.

It will soon be time to vote in new council members. If you are interested in filling these

positions, please contact any current council member as soon as possible.

Memorials

Memorial Fund for Erwin Meiske

Charles Wagner Alice Wuensche Sheri & Marvin Petzolt Bobby & Ruth Ann Wuensche

Maurice & Mary Maluschka Charlotte Vrana & Family

Building Fund for Erwin Meiske

Betty Harbers

Memorial Fund for Linda Limmer

Lou Bergstrom Robert & Donna Rinehart

Please Note: The 2019 Worship Leaders Lists are being assembled and will be handed out soon. Thank

you to all those who signed up to help with the services each Sunday. We could not do it without you.

Also, the 2019 Offering Envelopes will be handed out as soon as they arrive.

And, work will soon begin on updating the 2019 Member Directory booklets. If you have any address, phone

number or e-mail changes to be made, please let the office know.

Completed Projects

Thanks to Brian Neidig, Eric Medford and Ben Veit for finishing

the paint job on the refinished parsonage shed.

It has become easier to enter the south end of the cemetery

thanks to Raymond Lenz and the Williamson County Road

Crew. New culverts were installed and the ditch has been

cleaned out to aid in water drainage.

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Advent

At a time when much of the world is frantically gift shopping, putting up Christmas lawn decorations and anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus, Christians around the world are observing the liturgical season of Advent. From the Latin word for “coming”, Advent is a time of preparation and anticipation for the coming of Christ both in the past in His incarnation as the baby Jesus, but also in the future with His promised second coming as Christ Triumphant. Furthermore, Advent is a time to focus on His present coming to us in the Word and Sacrament. In the Lutheran church there have been many traditions observed during Advent that help Christians to both prepare for and anticipate His coming at this time. Martin Luther encouraged families to observe Advent as a time for them to teach their children about the coming of Christ.

Advent marks the beginning of the church calendar. It traditionally starts on the Sunday closest to St. Andrew’s Day (November 30th) and continues for four Sundays until Christmas. During this time the liturgical paraments and vestments in many churches will change to violet to recognize Advent as a time of preparation and repentance as well as a symbol of the royalty of the coming King. The color blue can also be used as a symbol of anticipation and hope.

Christians in many countries have adopted various traditions of lighting candles during Advent to observe this as the time of the coming of Christ who is the light of the world. One widespread tradition is the use of an Advent wreath both in the church and the home to mark each Sunday in the Advent season. While the origin of this as an Advent tradition dates back to the Lutheran church following the Reformation, the current form commonly used today was developed more recently and is used in many other Christian churches throughout the world. The wreath is made out of evergreens in the shape of a circle to represent eternal life. It consisted of four candles originally; three purple or blue candles to match the liturgical colors and one pink candle lit on the 3rd Sunday in Advent. This 3rd Sunday is known as Gaudete Sunday, meaning “rejoice” in Latin and comes from Philippians 4:4. Lighting this 3rd candle, Christians relax the fast to rejoice for the promised Messiah is coming soon. Many Advent wreaths also have a 5th candle, the Christ candle, which is lit during the time of Christmas, symbolizing that Christ, the light of the world, has entered the darkness.

There is so much beauty and rich tradition during the season of Advent to prepare Christians for the coming of Jesus, the babe of Bethlehem. When you see the altar draped in purple, remember your King who came to bring you life and salvation. If you don’t have one already, consider getting an Advent wreath for your home as you prepare for the coming of Christ, the light of the world. Give thanks to God for the confession of faith He gave to His people to shine His light in dark places. Finally, anticipate with joy the coming of our Lord! Adapted from the writing of Dcs. Betsy Karkan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come and join in Worship for the Advent Season. Pastor Kerri will be presenting “A Pirate

Advent” over the next few Sundays. It sounds like it will be very interesting. (The keyword

is “Aarrgh”.)

Rejoice, the Lord is King!

May the Christ of Christmas bring

joy to your heart and peace to your

soul. From our hearts to yours,

Pastors Kerri and Gary

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Memorials

Church—Barbara Kuhl (352-7957)

Cemetery—Paulette Patschke (365-8421)

Prayer Chains

Barbara Nygrin (352-6617)

Paulette Patschke — ppatsch@plainscapital.com

Cell# 512-633-3057

January Worship Leaders

Acolytes

January 6 Gracelynn Badgett

January 13 Cade Talley

January 20 Dawson Meiske

January 27 Karson Bradshaw

Lectors

January 6 Deborah Roeglin

January 13 Lea Rhoades

January 20 Maxine Schroeder

January 27 Douglas Stauffer

Ushers

Barbara Kuhl

Gem Naivar

Shawn Gage

Communion Assistants

January 6 Allison Bradshaw

January 20 Randy hehmann

Bread Betty Warren

Altar Guild

January 6-13 Paulette Patschke

January 20-27 Gem Naivar

Council Members Eric Medford-Pres. Randy Hehmann

Gem Naivar-Vice-Pres. Brian Neidig

Deborah Roeglin-Sec Wayne Limmer Barbara Kuhl-Treas

December Worship Leaders

Acolytes

December 2 Karson Bradshaw

December 9 Dawson Meiske

December 16 Cade Talley

December 23

December 24 Dawson Meiske (Candlelight)

December 30 Sadie Medford

Lectors

December 2 Charlotte Vrana

December 9 Anthony Gage

December 16 Megan Medford

December 23 Gem Naivar

December 30 Paulette Patschke

Ushers

Deborah Roeglin

Paulette Patschke

Steven Patschke

Communion Assistants

December 2 Randy Hehmann

December 16 Braeden Lenz

December 24 Gem Naivar (Candlelight)

Bread Betty Warren

Altar Guild

December 2-9 Gem Naivar

December 16-23 Paulette Patschke

December 24-30 Gem Naivar

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December Flower Chart

Dec. 2 Eric & Megan Medford

Dec. 9 Suzanne Lenz

Dec. 16 Louis Menk

Dec. 23 Lea Rhoades & Family

Dec. 30 Steve & Paulette Patschke

Flower Chart Dates Available

The 2019 Flower Chart is available in the Narthex.

If you would like to provide the flowers on a certain date or dates, please sign up as soon as possible or contact Barbara Nygrin,

and let her know which dates you would prefer.

December 3

Eric & Megan Medford

8 years

Dec. 1 Troy Hirsch Dec. 17 Randy Meiske

Dec. 4 Lee Gaydos Dec. 21 Vernon Anderson

Dec. 10 Braeden Lenz Dec. 22 Brian Neidig

Dec. 11 Dawn Hirsch Dec. 23 Danny Vanelli

Dec. 14 Barbara Kuhl Dec. 26 Lillie Krieg

Dec. 15 John Houghtaling

God Said No!!

I asked God to take away my habit. God said, No, it is not for me to

take away but for you to give it up. I asked God to make my handi-

capped child whole. God said, No, his spirit is whole, his body is only

temporary. I asked God to grant me patience. God said, No,

patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn’t granted, it is learned. I

asked God to give me happiness. God said, No, I give you blessings;

happiness is up to you. I asked God to spare me pain. God said, No,

suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to

me. I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said, No, you must

grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful. I asked

God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, No, I will give you

life so that you may enjoy all things. I asked God to help me LOVE

others as much as He loves me. God said...Ahhh, finally, you have

the idea. This day is yours—don’t throw it away.

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L.A.F. (Lutheran Adult Fellowship)

Deck the Halls

Friday, November 30

6:30 p.m.

Please join us as we set up the Christmas tree

and decorate the Sanctuary for the coming

Christmas season. LAF will provide hot dogs

for a lite supper before we decorate. Please

bring a side dish/dessert to share.

Please come and help beautify our buildings for

the Christmas season and enjoy the fel-

lowship.

All help will be appreciated.

When: Saturday, December 15

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Where: Fellowship Hall

Food: Bring your favorite Christmas dessert

to share.

What: The game is fun, because each per-

son gets to select a wrapped gift, unwrap it

and then possibly lose it to someone else

and have to select again. Being able to select

from unwrapped gifts or “steal” a gift some-

one is holding is what makes this game so

much fun.

Price Limit: $10.00 per gift

Everyone is invited—bring a friend/s.

The Council is sponsoring a Toy Drive to benefit the Thrall Blue Santa

Program. A box is available in the Fellowship Hall to fill with your

donations. Either new or unwrapped toys gift cards, or monetary

donations will be accepted.

Donations will be accepted thru Sunday, December 9th before being

turned over the to Thrall Police

Department by December 15th.

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Toy Donations

For children ages 0-17:

New toys

Books

Board games

Stuffed animals

Please no liquid items

What items can I provide?

Typically, the minimum is 2 toys, a book, and a stuffed animal per child but you are free to help with more. Some sponsors provide gift cards for the parents to buy food or clothing in addition to the children’s gifts. Follow your heart and your

budget.

How much should I spend?

This is a personal choice. There is no minimum dollar amount. Follow your heart

and your budget.

“Never regret a day in your life: good days

give happiness, bad days give experience,

worse days give lessons, and best days

give memories.”

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First Sunday Fellowship

December 2—Potluck

Everyone bring something to share.

The 2019 Sign-up sheet is posted on the kitchen bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall.

Your help is always appreciated.

With the successful start-up of A.C.E.S., it has been decided to participate in the Adult Christian Education Studies and have separate business meetings at various times during the year as

deemed necessary. It is hoped that everyone will participate.

Mission Statement

WinGS is for ALL women at Prince of Peace. Each of us can use our spiritual gifts for the glory of God and the encouragement of one another. WinGs is a growing ministry that welcomes your participation, questions, and ideas. It is the purpose of WinGs to promote lasting friendships through fellowship and

service to our church family, our community, and other meaningful outreaches. Let us join hands and hearts in the accomplishment of this purpose.

All women of the congregation are considered members of WinGS.

WinGS News (Women in God’s Service)

Thank-you to all that contributed to the WinGS Thankoffering Drive. The funds collected this year

have been directed to Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry.

Also, thank-you to all that gave canned and boxed goods for the food box. The food and a check

for $500 ($250 from L.A.F. and $250 from WinGS was delivered to Shepherd’s Heart by Eric and

Hattie Medford.

The “Pilgrimage to Bethlehem”

Nativity will again be presented at

Immanuel Lutheran Church at

West Taylor on December 8th &

9th from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Donations for the Taylor

Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry

and the Hutto Food Bank will be

accepted.

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Bible Study Classes and Confirmation Classes

Gem Naivar is the Sunday School Director.

Pastor Kerri will be teaching the Confirmation class.

Gem Naivar & Megan Medford will be teaching the Beginners class.

Sunday School Schedule: Program Practice—December 9 & December 16

Confirmation Schedule: Program Practice—December 9 & December 16

A.C.E.S.

“Adult Christian Education Studies”

A.C.E.S. meets each first and third Wednesdays of the month and begins each night

with a light supper at 6:30 p.m. with class beginning shortly thereafter.

Join us for interesting and informative classes.

December 5 December 19

Everyone is welcomed to attend.

Christmas Schedule

The children have begun practicing really hard for the Christmas Program. This year the

program will be during the Sunday Worship on Sunday, December 23rd.

On Christmas Eve, December 24th, there will be the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service with

Holy Communion beginning at 6:00 p.m. We sincerely hope that everyone will attend and

invite any friends and relatives to come along and worship with us.

New Acolytes

Joining the Acolyte list with Cade Talley and Dawson Meiske are Gracelynn Badgett,

Sadie Medford, Karson Bradshaw, Harrison and Andrew Patschke. Best wishes to

these children as they reach this new level of church activity.

Gracelynn Sadie Karson

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Please keep these listed and those you hold dear to your heart in prayer:

Lillie Krieg (Pflugerville N & Rehab) Mildred Kuhl (Home) Thomas Kotrla (SPJST)

Louis Menk (SPJST) Dorothy Walther (Pflugerville N & Rehab)

Cindy Hehmann Randy Hehmann Barbara Kuhl

Alfred Meiske Gem Naivar Lea Rhoades

Randall Roeglin Tammy Talley Vernaline Stolte

Karyl Townsend

Marjorie Dawson Marvin Ford Carol Houghtaling

Mason Kuhl Roy Meiske Cathy Schroeder

Leon Rowald Shirley Townsend Laura Vrana

Ida Watkins

Scotty Clifton Darrell Ford Glennis Formwalt

Janet Greene Jim Harrison Randy Jaecks

David Marcon Carole Merka Darrell Mikulencak

Marcie Zrubek

Lord, look upon us with eyes of mercy, may your healing hand rest upon us, may your life-giving powers flow into every cell of our bodies and into the depths of our souls, cleansing, purifying,

restoring us to wholeness and strength for service in your Kingdom. Amen.

If you have anyone that you would like to have added to the prayer list, please let

Maxine Schroeder know—512-862-3347 or 512-269-8405.

Newsletter Delivery

For everyone who has an e-mail address, the newsletter will be e-mailed to you. There will be some printed copies available at the church on each 4th Sunday of the month for the month following. The only exception will be in months with five Sundays. Copies will be mailed via USPS to the shut-ins, those without e-mail (unless you pick up a copy in church), or to those who request it to be mailed. Let us know your preference. We do not want to exclude anyone.

If you have an e-mail address, but have not been receiving any of the e-mailed notifications, and would like to be included, please send your address to: princeofpeacetaylor@eccwireless.net; princeofpeacelu-theranchurch@ymail.com or to mls@eccwireless.net. Your e-mail address will be kept confidential. If you know of anyone that would like to receive the newsletter, please send that name and address as well.

January Newsletter Articles

All articles for the January 2019 newsletter are due to Maxine by or no later than

Thursday, December 20, 2018.

Fellowship Hall and Church Rental

If you wish to rent the Fellowship Hall or the Church for some occasion such as birthday parties,

showers, family reunions, weddings, etc., please contact Maxine Schroeder for rental information.

Phone: 512-862-3347 Cell: 512-269-8405 Email: mls@eccwireless.net

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Missionary Mandate

The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 has served as the church’s marching orders since the very day Jesus ascended to heaven: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.”

The church has long understood its purpose is to make new disciples and to strengthen the disciples we al-ready have. Church leaders have long debated which is more important: making new disciples (mission) or strengthening the faith of disciples (maturity). Most pastors, if forced to choose, I believe fall on the side of maturity even though they believe mission (making new disciples) is also important.

But what if there was a way the church could more effectively do both? This is the final article in a five-part series on increasing effectiveness in developing disciples by making small shifts in our behavior, based on Daniel Im’s book No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts That Will Transform Your Ministry.

The fifth shift Im highlights in his book is to move from maturity to missionary. Before you start throwing darts, hear this out: Im is not suggesting maturity is in any way unimportant. In fact, what the author is advocating for is a form of discipleship that results in both mission and maturity. Im writes: “In my experience pastoring, leading, and consulting with churches, I’ve discovered that when you focus on developing mature disciples, you do not necessarily find yourself with an army of missionaries. However, when you focus on developing missionary disciples, you will always get mature disciples.”

The author is not advocating that everyone become a pastor or an overseas missionary, but that the local congregation develops a culture of vocation to make disciples as they go about their everyday lives: “In other words, every plumber, poet, and police officer in your church has the same vocation—to go and make disci-ples. This is our missionary mandate as the church!”

I believe the author is spot-on. What does your local congregation perhaps need to shift to increase the mis-sionary culture? What changes need to be made to help followers of Jesus identify their primary vocation in mission? How do we equip and send disciples into the harvest to be and make disciples? I am convinced that as we equip disciples for mission, we will also always be developing mature disciples of Jesus.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pastor Bryce Formwalt is the Director of Mission Growth for the LCMC Texas District. Residing in Georgetown, Pastor Bryce is available to coach congregations on mission. Feel free to contact him with any questions or comments: 512-942-7776 or bryce@lcmctexas.org. Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lcmctexas

© 2018 Bryce J. Formwalt, All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission. December 2018

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Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

P.O. Box 1182

Taylor, Texas 76574

Stamp

Address Label

Mission Statement

Our mission is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, as it is revealed

through our heritage and reflected in our hope for the future.

December 2018 Newsletter