ANNOUNCEMENTS
Jon Cook; Millie Mutka, Barb Zima, 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; Karen Stanton’s sister Sioux Vasarella; Dick Volland; Valeria Hesselberg; Chris Markussen; Anne Verona’s sister/brother-in-law Pat & Woody Woodworth; Dawn Gonitzke’s brother Scott Premo; Pastor Grant’s friends Jane Trasosech and Wendie Libert; 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 Stacy, Enid, Carolina, Curt, and Troy; and the people of Israel, Russia, Palestine and Ukraine. Prayers for California and all of those impacted by the wildfires.
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 & posted later for viewing.
GUESTS – if you are visiting us today, please sign our book at the entrance to the sanctuary.
ANNUAL REPORTS – We have copies of the 2024 Annual Report in the Narthex for your review today.
ANNUAL MEETING – is TODAY – immediately following worship (if you need a personal relief break – you have time). If you are a member and haven’t signed it yet – please make sure you sign in! Sign up sheets are in the Narthex. If you are not a member – you are welcome to stay and find out what is going on within our church.
CHRISTIAN WOMEN’s LUNCHEON – will be at Honey Bear Inn on Tuesday, Jan 21 at 11:30. Please RSVP to Mary Kunau at mlkunau456@gmail.com.
DISASTER RELIEF – several people have asked about donating for the various disasters that have been occurring in the world and in our country. The best way to donate is via the Lutheran Disaster Fund https://give.elca.org/page/73064/donate/1. That way you can designate where your funds are going and you can be assured the dollars are being spent wisely.
FLAT LUTHER – Flat Luther has been traveling! Check out his adventures on the window to the Fellowship Hall! More adventures have been documented. AND we now have several Flat Luthers available to go out in the world.
FUN FACTS: Wind chill (popularly wind chill factor) is the sensation of cold produced by the wind for a given ambient air temperature on exposed skin as the air motion accelerates the rate of heat transfer from the body to the surrounding atmosphere. Its values are always lower than the air temperature in the range where the formula is valid. When the apparent temperature is higher than the air temperature, the heat index is used instead.
A surface loses heat through conduction, evaporation, convection, and radiation. The rate of convection depends on both the difference in temperature between the surface and the fluid surrounding it and the velocity of that fluid with respect to the surface. As convection from a warm surface heats the air around it, an insulating boundary layer of warm air forms against the surface. Moving air disrupts this boundary layer, or epiclimate, carrying the warm air away, thereby allowing cooler air to replace the warm air against the surface and increasing the temperature difference in the boundary layer. The faster the wind speed, the more readily the surface cools. Contrary to popular belief, wind chill does not refer to how cold things get, and they will only get as cold as the air temperature. This means radiators and pipes cannot freeze when wind chill is below freezing and the air temperature is above freezing.
Believe it or not there are a variety of ways to determine this. There is the Original model, the North American and the United Kingdom wind chill index, the Australian apparent temperature (which takes into account humidity) and nowadays the “new” Real Feel – which actually has a patent!
I thought RealFeel was a name change thing – it actually is a different process.
The AccuWeather.com RealFeel® Temperature was created in the 1990s by Joel N. Myers, Michael A. Steinberg, Joseph Sobel, Elliot Abrams and Evan Myers.
The RealFeel Temperature is an equation that takes into account many different factors to determine how the temperature actually feels outside. It is the first temperature to take into account multiple factors to determine how hot and cold feels.
Some of the components that are used in the equation are humidity, cloud cover, winds, sun intensity and angle of the sun. Humidity is a large contributor to determining the RealFeel, but the time of the day also is important, due to the angle of the sun.
The equation also takes into consideration how people perceive the weather. Steinberg said that this can be debated, since not everyone perceives weather the same way, but the equation uses the average person’s perception of weather and adds that into the RealFeel equation. The RealFeel Temperature can be used throughout all four seasons with the same equation. (Not sure how I feel about this – forecasting weather on perceptions seems odd).
Wind is a main component that determines how people perceive the weather and a factor that is used to determine the AccuWeather RealFeel. AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski, said that the wind can make a person feel colder because the cold wind blowing removes heat from your body.
Humidity is another component in equating the RealFeel and also plays a role in how people feel outside. If there is low humidity in the air (meaning less moisture) when you sweat, the moisture is able to evaporate. This works as your body’s cooling process, so you won’t feel as hot. If there is high humidity in the air, the evaporating process is slowed down or stopped because there is already a lot of moisture in the air.
{Thanks to Wikipedia, once again, for the wind chill factor information)
Have to abide by Pastor Grant’s wishes in connecting Fun Facts with the church. So – here you go – a good reason to endure the cold!
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. — 2 Corinthians 11:27 (KJV) Paul’s mention of experiencing cold and nakedness in 2 Corinthians 11:27 seems primarily a recounting of his physical hardships. However, this can also symbolize times of spiritual refreshing and renewal. In ancient times, cold water was seen as pure and refreshing. Similarly, being cold in a spiritual sense might mean a purified, reflective state—one that is honest and clear, as opposed to zeal without understanding. Cold doesn’t necessarily imply a lack of faith, but rather can represent moments of introspection and clarity. Believers may find richness in quiet reflection, confession, and a sense of renewal. This can lead to times where one steps back to gain a clearer understanding of God’s will and direction.
I’m guessing we all will experience great introspection and clarity these next couple of days!
NOTES: The first picture – may or may not be – a picture of Pastor Grant at Sunday’s worship. Did we mention the forecast is now a minus 6!!??
The other day I was driving into Eagle River and something happened – and I thought – “Oh – I could tie this into God” and then thought “Ugh – everyone is going to get tired of my analogies and trying to tie everything back to God” and THEN I thought “Well – duh – you idiot everything – big or small – DOES tie back to God”.
So there it is – my note for the week.
Nah – you aren’t getting off that easy. Here are some more musings from Ann. The subject that popped into my head today to share is about being relevant. We all want our lives to mean something – hoping we had some impact. I believe this congregation is relevant. As a whole and individually. Participating outside of worship or in worship. Each action – big or small – is relevant and has meaning. For me – when I come to church – seeing everyone’s face gives me energy, joy and a sense of belonging.
I have told stories about my friend Stacy. I’m pretty sure I told the story about Friendship pie before. I’ll tell it again because today (Thursday, Jan 19th) is the day that Bonnie – the Pie Grandma – is being laid to rest. Stacy is my BFF in blue. She became a police officer the year I joined the Sycamore Police Department. Although we are different in a lot of ways, we bonded and became close friends. One of the things she shared with me was her Grandmother Bonnie. Who technically was her step-grandmother – but “step” was never part of the equation. Grandma Bonnie was a baker of pies. And she was good at it.
One day Bonnie took the full day to walk Stacy and I through her pie baking techniques. We had a great time and made a great mess. That Christmas, I went to Stacy’s house so we could make the Pie Grandma’s French Silk pie recipe. Stacy’s daughter, Sophie, was young at the time and misheard us talking about making French Silk pie and called it Friendship Pie. Which I think is a much better name.
If you’ve never made French Silk pie before – it is rather time intensive – and since you are spending the time, you might as well make more than one pie. French Silk translates perfectly into Friendship because of the time you spend together and the creation is something to share.
Not today – but this weekend – I will be making a pie in honor of Bonnie and raising a fork to toast her.
And that my friends – is very relevant.
