There is a LOT going on in the announcements. Please read through so you don’t miss anything.
Jon Cook; Millie Mutka, Zima family friends Stefan Sladek, Dave Butschli, Mick, Steven and Marilyn Hummel; Gregory Bowens; Laurie Nelson; Amber Ross’s daughter Linda; Randy & Diane Niemczyk’s niece Sarah Joda, and their dear friend Denise Hazel; Valeria Hesselberg; Chris Markussen; Mary Akins; Bev Epping’s friend Betty Rosenbaum; Anne Verona’s sister/brother-in-law Pat & Woody Woodworth; Pastor Grant’s father-in-law Mark Van Donsel; Bobbie Schmidt’s brother William and her step-daughter Cheryl; Dawn Gonitzke’s brother Scott Premo; the Eberts friends Patricia Kulzick and John Oliver; the Waggoner’s sister-in-law Cheryl Busse; Karen Engels’ niece Lisa and friends Bob and Dawn and Gail Wogsland; Ann Carlson’s people Dwight, Staci, Curt, and Troy; and the people of Israel, Russia, Palestine and Ukraine. And for those continuing to restore their communities after devastating floods around the world.
PRAYER LIST PROCEDURE – Submit your prayer requests to the office in writing, by phone, by email or in person. If requesting prayers for someone other than yourself or an immediate family member, please obtain permission – unless the circumstances are public in nature.
WORSHIP ON FACEBOOK – Live on Facebook on Sundays at 9:00 am and posted for later viewing.
GUESTS – if you are visiting us today, please sign our book at the entrance to the sanctuary.
ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE BULLETIN – if you want to get announcements in the bulletin, please get your information to the Front Office Wednesday before noon.
CHRISTMAS GARDEN – Please pick up a sheet in the Narthex if you want to contribute towards our Christmas Garden this year. Forms need to be turned in by Dec 12th.
NORTHWOODS SINGERS CONCERT SCHEDULE: Mark your calendars. They put on a great show. What better way to get into the holiday spirit?
Friday, December 6th, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Three Lakes Center for the Arts
Three Lakes, WI.
Sunday, December 8th, 2024, at 4:00 pm
Ely Memorial UCC Church
Land O Lakes, WI
Reception will follow.
Sunday, December 15th, 2024, at 4:00 pm
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Eagle River, WI
Reception will follow.
OH ENDOWMENT TREE! OH ENDOWMENT TREE! December is here, you may have noticed the POP Endowment Tree in the Narthex at church adorned with handmade ornaments contributed by members of our congregation. This year, we’d like to invite you to make a donation to our endowment fund. A portion of profits from the endowment fund is contributed back into our community for various programs–Caritas, Tri-County Council on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, Praise in the Pines, Northwoods Shares, Worship in the Wild, Sunshine for Humanity & more! All donations are tax-deductible and can be included in your 2024 taxes if received at the church by end of day on 12/31/24.
Grab an ornament, make a donation and know your contribution is benefiting our community! Questions can be directed to Zach Braunel, Shayne Wilfer or Betty Wright.
A special thanks to Adelyn Braunel, Lily Van Lishout and Hope Van Lishout who have been contributing their creativity by filling up that tree with ornaments as part of our Sunday School program!
ANGELS! SHEPHERDS! JOSEPH & MARY, OH MY! – 12/15 CHRISTMAS PROGRAM:
Dust off your wings! Grab your headdress! Be a townsperson! Get ready for our 2nd Annual Non-Rehearsal Christmas program at POP! Again this year, we’ll be calling on the entire congregation to join us in the program. There will be a part (non-speaking) for everyone! The program will kick off at 9 AM during our regular service on Sunday, December 15. Fellowship will follow with a smattering of delicious Christmas cookies—bring a dozen cookies to share! This is a service you won’t want to miss!
Let the story of Jesus’ Birthday come alive before us and through us!
PS. Show up a bit earlier than normal so we can fit you for your favorite role in this year’s Christmas program! First come, first fitted for role of your choice!
NEW! MARK YOUR CALENDARS! PRINCE OF PEACE WOMEN’S CHRISTMAS!
Calling women of all ages to join us for the first-ever Prince of Peace Women’s Christmas! This special program is designed to bring women of our church—including friends and family—to share in food, fellowship & friendship! We’ll have men helping with the programming, cooking, serving, and cleaning. Registration forms will be available soon in the Narthex. You can also register by calling the church office. The cost of the dinner and special program is $40. What a wonderful gift to give to family & friends or yourself! Space will be limited to the first 35 who sign up! You won’t want to miss this first-ever event! Sunday, January 12
Men—looking for a great gift for your wife, friends & family! OR…want to give of your time to this special event! We’re still looking for volunteers to help deliver this special evening!
Any questions can be directed to Rachel Strong, Shayne Wilfer, Barb Zima or Pastor Grant!
GOD’S WORK – OUR HANDS – actually needs a hand. They will continue to host the first Sunday of the month coffee hour, but they are asking for assistance. Asking members of the congregation to take turns bringing in homemade or purchased baked goods. Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex or contact Betty Wright at basslakewrights@gmail.com.
FLAT LUTHER – Flat Luther has been traveling! Check out his adventures on the window to the Fellowship Hall!
CHRISTMAS CHOIR – practice continues for the Christmas Choir every Wed at 4:30 pm in the sanctuary. We will be singing at our Christmas Eve Service at 5:30 pm. Come one – come all! Contact Gary Ebert for questions – ebert@udel.edu or 302-766-0109.
LUTEFISK ANYONE? – Pioneer Lake Lutheran Church is having a Lutefisk/Meatball dinner on Sunday, December 8. There is one seating at 4:00 pm – please be prompt. Adults $20, Youth 7-12 $8, 6 and under are free! Meal includes lutefisk with melted butter and/or milk gravy, Swedish meatballs in brown gravy, boiled potatoes and all of the traditional fixins! All you can eat homemade desserts. Registering ahead is encouraged, but arriving at the door (promptly) is okay. Call the church at 715-479-4966 or Lori Moser at 262-210-4009. Leave your name, phone number, number of attendees and how you are going to pay.
DRESS A TURKEY? DRESS A TREE! – there is a tree in the Narthex. It is there to collect hats and gloves for the upcoming winter for people/children in our community. Items collected are currently designated for our local school district.
QUILTERS – quilters are still meeting the first and third Wednesdays of the month. 9:30 to 11:30 am. Don’t be shy – come by and give a stitch (or two).
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE – there are large plastic kitty litter containers in the front office. If you need a place to store salt or birdseed, come grab a container! Or use as a buoy.
UPCOMING EVENTS: Please pick up a copy of December’s calendar in the narthex.
FOOD DRIVE FOR CARITAS – please bring in a food item. Today is the final day we are collecting items. The items being requested are: cereal; pancake mix; syrup; canned goods (no vegetables please) soups, chicken, tuna and fruit; pasta and sauce; paper towels; and toilet paper.
FUN FACTS: December is the 12th month (and last month) in our modern-day Gregorian calendar (as it was in the preceding Julian calendar). However, it was initially The 10th month of the Roman calendar (until 153 BC). Hence, “December” comes from the Latin decem, meaning “ten.”
In 2024, December 1 is the First Sunday of Advent, marking the beginning of the Advent season.
The Advent wreath first appeared in Germany in 1839. A Lutheran minister (woohoo!) working at a mission for children created a wreath out of the wheel of a cart. He placed twenty small red candles and four large white candles inside the ring. The red candles were lit on weekdays, and the four white candles were lit on Sundays.
Eventually, the Advent wreath was created out of evergreens, symbolizing everlasting life in the midst of winter and death. The circle reminds us of God’s unending love and the eternal life He makes possible. Advent candles are often nestled in the evergreen wreath. Additional decorations, like holly and berries, are sometimes added. Their red color points ahead to Jesus’ sacrifice and death. Pinecones can symbolize the new life that Jesus brings through His resurrection. Families begin lighting a candle on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and light another candle each subsequent Sunday.
The most common Advent candle tradition, however, involves four candles. A new candle is lit on each of the four Sundays before Christmas. Each candle represents something different, although traditions vary. The four candles traditionally represent hope, faith, joy, and peace.
Advent candles shine brightly in the midst of darkness, symbolizing and reminding us that Jesus came as Light into our dark world. The candles are often set in a circular Advent wreath. In Scandinavia, Lutheran churches light a candle each day of December; by Christmas, they have twenty-four candles burning. Another Advent candle option is a single candle with twenty-four marks on the side–the candle is lit each day and allowed to melt down to the next day’s mark.
The Advent wreath is a meaningful guide, helping us prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christ’s birth. The most common Advent candle tradition, however, involves four candles around the wreath. Its four candles represent the powerful themes of hope, peace, joy, and love, with each one marking a week of reflection as we journey toward the nativity of our Lord.
A new candle is lit on each of the four Sundays before Christmas. Each candle represents something different, although traditions vary. Often, the first, second, and fourth candles are purple; the third candle is rose-colored. Sometimes all the candles are red; in other traditions, all four candles are blue or white. Occasionally, a fifth white candle is placed in the middle of the wreath and is lit on Christmas Day to celebrate Jesus’ birth.
The first candle symbolizes hope and is called the “Prophet’s Candle.” The prophets of the Old Testament, especially Isaiah, waited in hope for the Messiah’s arrival. The purple color symbolizes royalty, repentance, and fasting.
The second candle represents faith and is called “Bethlehem’s Candle.” Micah had foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, which is also the birthplace of King David. The second candle is also purple to symbolize preparation for the coming king.
The third candle symbolizes joy and is called the “Shepherd’s Candle.” To the shepherd’s great joy, the angels announced that Jesus came for humble, unimportant people like them, too. In liturgy, the color rose signifies joy. This candle is colored pink to represent joyfulness and rejoicing.
The fourth candle represents peace and is called the “Angel’s Candle.” The angels announced that Jesus came to bring peace–He came to bring people close to God and to each other again. This color is also purple to represent the culmination of love through the Messiah.
The (optional) fifth candle represents light and purity and is called “Christ’s candle.” It is placed in the middle and is lit on Christmas Day. This candle is white to represent pure light and victory.
Here at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church – our Advent candles are blue. Mary Kunau was at the church this morning and I asked her why our candles were blue. She said that color was selected at the beginning of the church (ie – the congregation here) – but she isn’t sure why.
Pastor Grant stepped in and said, “Blue is for the royalty of the coming King. To be distinguished from the purple of Lent – which represents the King who became a sacrificial Lamb. It’s an alpha/omega – beginning/end – represented by colors.”
NOTES FROM ANN – The cartoon at the top was just for fun. Tho a good reminder – however you want to take it. Next up is the picture of the Prince of Peace Advent Candle in front of our stained glass window into the Narthex. Gorgeous. Next up – you get to see a picture of my Thanksgiving Day shoes. Yes – there are turkeys on them. Pie as well on the sides. Have to have fun!
I know I’ve told you many times before that Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday. About a month out – I would scramble through my recipes. Finding which ones I wanted to use this year. Did I or did I not want to introduce something new to the table? Most of these conversations would take place with my Mom over the phone. We didn’t get to spend a lot of Thanksgivings together with me in the midwest and her in California. Plus – the draw of grandchildren in California was strong. We did have a few together in her last years and those were very special. When Burt and I were serving – many Thanksgivings were spent apart or at least most of the day. He had 10 hour shifts and I had 12 hour shifts. The sliver of togetherness was great when we could get it.
Being here – in the Northwoods – has brought a new challenge. Family is far away. We cannot easily get away due to our menagerie. They don’t want to make the drive in snow and cold. And now they are drawn by their grandchildren. So we adjust and make our new traditions. Letting go of the old ones and creating new ones. And by being willing to do that – we have found we have inspired others. (I’m jumping the gun into another holiday – but I’m going with it because that is what is coming through the keyboard at the moment).
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas – we had been introduced to a concert at the Colorado Theater in Rockford, IL called the Holiday Pops. We went our first year as guests and then we continued to go for well over a decade. It became our “thing”. Driving 6 hours for a concert in mid-December is not practical – even to me. So we started doing other things. So far we have seen Harry Connick Jr’s Christmas show (amazing – I could write a whole paper on his show); George Winston (again – another amazing performer. I didn’t realize how sick he had been) and this year – we are going to see the Vienna Boys Choir – actually tonight, in Minocqua.
Which brings me to today’s devotional. (“Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young. This devotional, quite seriously, saved me more ways than one) – I’ve attached a screen shot below. “A life full of praise and thankfulness becomes a life full of miracles”.
Not huge miracles mind you. But small and impactful ones. I fall back on to the renovation of our house – when so many things went wrong – only to turn out being right. Or to Burt’s retirement trip – where seemingly disasters (a tornado) turned the trip into a continued comedy of errors – where the outcome was so much better than the original plan.
So tomorrow – on a day – which holds great joy and great sorrow for me – I will continue to remain thankful and I know – I just now – a small miracle will happen.
From my keyboard – I am wishing all of you and your families – a beautiful Thanksgiving, with joy and fellowship. Safe travels to your destinations and back again. May small miracles find you.
