A Godly Response to Criticism

Volume 45

Issue 6-7

Epistle

Worship Services Saturday 5:00 pm Sunday 8:00 am

& 10:30 am Sunday School &

Bible Classes Sunday 9:30 am

Pastor Nebel’s

Page

Pastor Koen’s

Page

Church

Business

page

Principal’s

Page

What’s Up at

School

Church/School

Calendar

What’s Inside...

June July 2014

St. John’s Lutheran Church 508 Bloom Street Red Bud IL 62278

Holy Communion

1st and 3rd Saturdays

1st and 3rd

8:00 AM service.

2nd and 4th

10:30 AM service

Communion in all

services if there

Is a 5th weekend or

Festival

Proverbs 15:31-33

No one likes criticism, but encoun-tering some is inevitable, so we need to learn how to respond in a godly way. Al-though you might be tempted to become defensive or angry, remain calm and listen. The words may hurt, but great benefits come to those who carefully consider what is said.

If we refuse to accept reproof, we’ll limit our potential for godly character devel-opment and spiritual growth. Some of life’s best lessons come through difficult experi-ences. If the Lord allowed the situation, you can be sure He wants to use it in transform-ing you into His Son’s image. Whether the criticism is valid or not, whether it’s deliv-ered with kindness or harshness, your goal should always be to respond in a way that glorifies the Lord. Remember that you are responsible only for how you handle your-self, not for how the other person is acting.

When a criticism comes your way, be quiet and listen until the other person has finished. Make direct eye contact to show attentiveness and respect. When your critic finishes, thank him for bringing his con-cerns to your attention, and tell him that you will consider what he’s said. Ask the Lord if the accusation is valid. Let Him search your heart and either affirm your innocence or convict you.

Every rebuke is an opportunity from God. It’s a chance to let your Christian character shine by showing love to your critic. If he is angrily attacking you, your respect and kindness become a powerful testimony. Criticism is also an occasion to humble yourself and accept the Lord’s cor-rection.

Page 2 Page 2 Epistle

From The Desk of Pastor Nebel:

“No Swoon in June”

When I was on vicarage in Bay City, Michi-

gan there was a pastor in the city who told me that

during his first year as a pastor he had resigned his

position. This was because after ten months in the

ministry, he realized that there was no summer

break like he had been used to for all the years he

was in school. Eventually he got over that and re-

turned to the pastoral ministry.

People sometimes ask me what I do during

the summer. It is true that with school not in session

there are no confirmation classes to teach. There

also are no special midweek worship services to

plan as with Advent, Christmas, Lent and Holy

Week. Some of our Bible classes take a summer

break. June and July do tend to be less hectic than

the other ten months of the year.

However, there is still work to be done.

There usually is a wedding or two. I review my con-

firmation material to see what changes I want to

make for the new school year. Vacation Bible

School takes place during June. I am thankful for

those many volunteers who work hard to make this

week a success every year. We still see our mem-

bers who are hospitalized or confined to their homes

or a nursing home. I get to make more home visits

on our members. There are still weekend worship

services and Bible classes to plan, conduct and

teach. God never takes a holiday from caring and

providing for us. We dare not think we should take a

holiday from worshipping Him gathered with our

fellow believers.

This month we have the extra challenge

of finishing the remodeling in the sanctuary. It is

going well so far. I am hoping that we can move

back in there for worship the weekend of July 5-6

if not sooner. What’s more, construction is taking

place at school and I expect that there will be

times of chaos there not only this summer but for

the better part of this next year. We can be thank-

ful that God provides the need and the resources

to complete this project.

I pray that God will bless you these next

two months and that you will make the time to

return a blessing to Him with your presence and

praises in Christian worship.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Mark Alan Nebel

REMINDER...

St. John’s Lutheran

Church & School Annual

Chicken & Pork Sausage Dinner

“All You Care to Eat”

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Serving 11a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Air conditioned School Gym

Corner of State Rt. 3 and 6th Street

Red Bud, IL

Tickets on sale from 10a.m.

Carry outs available

Adults ~ $8.00

Children (ages 6-12) ~ $4.00

Children 5 and under free

Page 3 Page 3 Epistle

The following members of St. John’s are those we know of who have graduated from

some level of education this year in schools other than St. John’s Lutheran.

Trinity Lutheran School, Prairie

Joshua Adam Laufer

Red Bud Elementary School

Sophie Camille Richards

Griffin Riley Ziebold

Freeburg Elementary School

Samantha Nacole Zacheis

Red Bud Community Unit High School

Sierra Nicole Baxter Joshua Michael DeRousse

Allister Lloyd Gunter Lucas John Hartmann

Alexandra Marie Kueker Maria Elizabeth Miller

Samantha Katherine Moeller Shawn Michael Nichols

Rachael Dawn Renner Sarah Elizabeth Ann Roy

Kody James Schoenbeck Joshua David Snyder

Mallory Alexis Van Dorn

Saint Paul Lutheran High School

Michael Elliott Nebel

Southwestern Illinois College

Candace Koester - Associates in Arts

Audrey Mueth- Associates of Teaching

Peggy Sitzes- Registered Nursing

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville

Kory Liefer

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

Southern Illinois University – Carbondale

Joshua Reinhardt

Bachelor of Agricultural Business Economics

Saint Louis University

Chelsea Koester

Bachelor of Science in Occupational Science

Concordia Seminary

Rev. Daniel Ostlund

Master of Divinity

Page 4 Page 4 Epi

School Families Financial Support of

St. John’s Lutheran School for 2014-2015

Members: Regular and proportionate worship offerings (per pupil cost to the congregation is about $5600)

Non-member Tuition: Sister Congregations: $2100/ year; Non-Lutheran: $2300/ year

Registration / Book Fees: $375 per student; $300 per student for 3 or more children

Lunch: Daycare – 2nd grade: $2.10 or approx. $42/ month

3rd – 8th grade: $2.20 or approx. $44/month

Adult: $2.60 or approx. $52/month

Milk: $0.40 per carton or approximately $8 a month

Athletics: $30/sport/child $60 maximum per child

**Pre-Kdg. 3-year-old $75/month **Pre-Kdg. 4-year-old $95/month

SAVE THE DATE June 1st Chicken Dinner June 16-20th Vacation Bible School 2014 July 4th Office Closed for Independence Day July 9th 4-8pm Book/Registration Night

SUMMER FOOD PANTRY CHALLENGE: Our Randolph County Thrivent chapter is putting out a challenge to all county chapter congregations to help replenish food for the summer food demand at all county food pantries. Due to all children being out of school that no longer get school breakfasts and lunches the food pantries are hit hard! We would like to ease the burden of this problem with your help! Randolph County Thrivent chapter will give $1 for each food item collected in your congregation to the food pantry of your choice, up to $500 per con-gregation! This will hopefully give the food pantries plenty of food and extra money to get though the summer months. Please place items on the table in Room 1 of the Fellowship Hall by June 8. Thank you!

Look What’s Happening

At SJL...

Altar Guild Flower Servers

Page 5 Epistle

HELLO

Rev. Ralph and Edith Laufer

and children from

Holy Cross Lutheran, Renault

5/5/14

GOODBYE

Danica Camryn Narup

5/24/14

SINCERE THANKS Hello fellow believers at St. John’s. I finally graduated from Concordia Seminary on May 23rd! Ecclesiastes 7:8

says, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” I can certainly say

“amen” to this verse. I suppose it would be foolish if I took pride in how quickly I made it through the seminary.

I think the Lord just had a lot to teach His “slow-poke” servant.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Edward J. and Margaretha Guebert Fund. It is really a great

blessing to be the recipient of their Christian generosity. It really would have been very difficult to pay tuition

without this wonderful fund. Additionally, I would like to thank everyone involved with the Guebert Fund. Eve-

ryone has been so helpful and encouraging. Thank you for your service.

In Christ’s love,

Dan Ostlund

Baptism

Laura, Bartholomew and

Thaddeus Henry to

Holy Cross Lutheran, Renault

5/5/14

Evening Guild is on break for the summer, we will meet again in the fall.

We are always welcoming new members. Please watch the Epistle and

Bulletin for details on when meetings will resume.

Page 6 Epistle

From the Principal:

Another school year has now been completed.

It has been a good year with many activities and special

events. We have had many awards in the last few

weeks so I will try to recap for you:

Many thanks to the students who serve for our

safety patrol throughout the year: Nick Guebert, Bryce

Becker, Andrew Ottoson, Drew Kueker, Emmett Cow-

ell, Taylor Giglotto, Erin Hewitt, Gage Baldwin, Han-

nah Meyer, Alyssa Heller, Bailey Montroy, Jessie De-

terding, Tyler Koester, Austin Whelan, Jarrett Fleming,

Kole Liefer and Michael Ratcliff, Claudia Watters, Bai-

ley Booker, Mackenzie Schweizer, Amber Mollet and

Tanner Valleroy.

Our band students played for Chapel recently.

Members include Sophie Heller, Carolyne Mulherin,

Kane Trost, Christian Stechmesser, Logan Salger, Noah

Tepe, Taylor Luthy and Ashley Ottoson. They are un-

der the direction of Mr. Fred Palmer.

Thank you to the students who participated in

the St. Jude Math-a-thon: Dylan Roscow, Olivia

Schluter, Molly Ellner, Kole Liefer, Megan Henry, Ben

DeRousse, Merideth Whelan, Lucas Guebert, Summer

Luttman, Daniel Stapleton, Blake Henry, Addyson Piel,

Christine Liefer, Sam Roscow and Corbin Lange.

Our top Accelerated Reader awards went to:

Sofia Jones-1st grade Mrs. Valleroy, Cadin Voss-1st

grade Mrs. Miller, Addison Dilley-2nd, Logan Salger-

3rd, second row Megan Henry-4th, Avery Piel-5th,

Madalyn Valerius-6th, Tyler Koester-7th and Claudia

Watters-8th. Great job everyone!

Students collected baby items for the South-

western Illinois Lutherans for Life and the Life Network

pregnancy care center. Each student who brought in an

item could place their name in a drawing for a $5 Dairy

Queen coupon. Lindsey Fruth, Ben DeRousse and

Natalie Korando were the winners. Jennifer Becker-

Roscow coordinated the event.

Sports awards were presented on May 15. Spe-

cial awards went to the following people: Softball

MVP Mackenzie Schweizer, Most improved-Bailey

Montroy, Best Defensive-Callie Todaro and Coaches

Award-Bailey Booker. Baseball Coaches Award-Bryce

Becker, Best Offensive-Tyler Koester, Best Defensive-

Caleb Langrehr and Best Pitcher-Drew Kueker. Girls

Basketball Coaches Award-Bailey Montroy, MVP-

Mackenzie Schweizer, Best Offensive-Bailey Booker,

Best Defensive-Paige Moses, Most Improved- Paige

Moses and Alyssa Heller. Boys basketball Best Defen-

sive-Jayden Birkner, Most Improved-Nick Guebert,

Sportsmanship-Adam Wild and MVP-Drew Kueker.

Cheerleading awards went to Allison Fruth, Lindsey

Fruth, Ashley Ottoson, Katie Schneider, Alicia

Koester and Annelise Quinn. Volleyball awards for

Best Offensive-Bailey Booker, Most Improved-Erin

Hewitt, Best Defensive-Mackenzie Schweizer and

Coaches Award-Claudia Watters. Track Coaches

Award -Callie Todaro, Claudia Watters and Bryce

Becker, MVP-Mackenzie Schweizer and Michael

Ratcliff, Christian Athlete-Katie Harms and Andrew

Ottoson.

The Cougar Spirit Award went to Bailey

Montroy and Jared Fleming. Many thanks to all our

coaches for all your hard work throughout the year

and to Mr. Paul Mollet who served as our Athletic

Director.

Graduation took place on May 29 with 15

students taking part in the ceremony. The class had

three Valedictorians: Andrew Ottoson, Mackenzie

Schweizer and Claudia Watters. The Salutatorian was

Emmett Cowell and the Scholar Athlete was Bailey

Booker. The President’s Award for Educational Ex-

cellence went to Bryce Becker, Bailey Booker, Em-

mett Cowell, Emma Fritsche, Katie Harms, Drew

Kueker, Andrew Ottoson, Alex Quinn, Mackenzie

Schweizer, Claudia Watters and Adam Wild. 73% of

this class kept their grades at or above the 3.5 grade

point average for 4 years, this is a great accomplish-

ment! Mr. John Christman presented Scholarship

awards to the Valedictorians and Salutatorian to at-

tend Christ Our Savior Lutheran High School. The

class choose the Dahlia as the class flower, Coral and

Turquoise as their colors, 2 Corinthians 5:7 and 8 as

their motto, “For we walk by faith, not sight. Yes, we

are of good courage, and we would rather be away

from the body and at home with the Lord.” and they

sang their song, “I am a C” at the close of the service.

We are blessed with many volunteers and

helpers, we could not accomplish all the things we do

without your help. Thank you for your service to our

students. As we close one year we are planning for the

next year. With the building of the new additions of

our school we know we will be making many changes

and flexibility will be very important to make every-

thing work smoothly. Please answer the call when

asked to offer a lending hand in service. Your help

will be greatly appreciated.

I pray that all of you have a great summer

with family and friends. May the Lord protect and

keep you in all your activities.

In His Love,

Deitt Schneider

Page 7 Epistle

ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN Vacation Bible School

SUMMER 2014 June 16-20

9a.m.-12p.m.

Children who have just finished 3 year old Pre-K through 6th grade

(Please notice the change in age. It goes according to the grade you just finished

in school rather than the grade you will be entering.)

COME AND JOIN THE FUN

Cut and Return the Portion Below

Vacation Bible School

June 16-20, 2014 9a.m.-12p.m.

Child’s Name______________________________Grade attended in 2013-2014________ Child’s Name______________________________Grade attended in 2013-2014________ Child’s Name______________________________Grade attended in 2013-2014________ Child’s Name______________________________Grade attended in 2013-2014________ Parent/s or Guardian Name___________________________ Phone______________

Church Where Member____________________________

No Fee Required-Donations Welcome

Please return registration form to basket in church- or- St. Johns Lutheran School Office in Red Bud. Questions can be directed to Laurie Wright 443-7021

Page 8 Epistle

St. John’s Lutheran Church & School

Day at Busch Stadium

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014 (Saturday)

Cardinals VS Rockies @ 6:15pm

Ticket price - $25

Ticket Value $54

Section 231– Right Field Loge

Drawing will be held for 4 people to attend Cardinals batting practice

Each ticket purchased will receive one entry into the drawing

Please complete bottom section of this form and send your payment to reserve tickets:

St. John’s Lutheran School

SJL Cardinals Game

104 East South Sixth Street

Red Bud, IL. 62278

PLEASE TRY TO PURCHASE TICKETS BEFORE SCHOOL IS OUT FOR SUMMER!!

Tickets will be delivered to you after purchase

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: ________________________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________________

Phone #: ______________________________________________________________________

Email address:

________________________________________________________________

Number of Tickets ____________ ($25 per ticket)

(Please order together if you would like to sit with a particular group)

Total Amount: _______________

Checks may be written to St. John’s Lutheran School Class of 2017

Sponsored by St. John’s Lutheran School Class of 2017

Questions: Contact Patty Salger at 282-5338

Page 13 Epistle

June 7 Sat 5:00 Harold and Debbie Siegfried

June 8 Sun 8:00 John and Norma Preston; Loren and Nancy Harms

June 8 Sun. 10:30 Ken and Karen Wetzel

June 14 Sat. 5:00 Virginia and Mark Moeller

June 15 Sun. 8:00 Ken and Joan Voges; Ron and Diane Kunkelmann

June 15 Sun. 10:30 Gerald and Nancy Holmstrom; Carl and Flo

Zschiegner

June 21 Sat. 5:00 Harold and Debbie Siegfried

June 22 Sun. 8:00 Kalin and Kathy Liefer; Gerald and Jill Hanebutt

June 22 Sun. 10:30 Bruce and Christa Brundage; Larry and Cindy

Ebers

June 28 Sat. 5:00 Virginia and Mark Moeller

June 29 Sun. 8:00 Lois Mesnarich; Roger Hanebutt; Ken and Joan Ruwald

June 29 Sun. 10:30 Bob and Arlene Pratt; Omar and Neva Liefer

July 5 Sat 5:00 Harold and Debbie Siegfried

July 6 Sun 8:00 Milton and Mary Ann Weber; Clyde and Kathy Rowold

June 6 Sun. 10:30 Jackie Esker; Ron and Donna Burgdorf

July 12 Sat. 5:00 Virginia and Mark Moeller

July 13 Sun. 8:00 Wil and Martha Krick; Cindy Steele; Olivia Schmitz

July 13 Sun. 10:30 Ken and Karen Wetzel

July 19 Sat. 5:00 Harold and Debbie Siegfried

July 20 Sun. 8:00 John and Norma Preston; Loren and Nancy Harms

July 20 Sun. 10:30 Gerald and Nancy Holmstrom; Carl and Flo

Zschiegner

July 26 Sat. 5:00 Virginia and Mark Moeller

July 26 Sun. 8:00 Ken and Joan Voges; Ron and Diane Kunkelmann

July 26 Sun. 10:30 Bruce and Christa Brundage; Larry and Cindy

Ebers

June-July Greeter Schedule

June-July Acolyte Schedule

Page 14 Epistle

June 7 Sat 5:00 Gage Baldwin

June 8 Sun 8:00 Dominick Liefer

June 8 Sun. 10:30 Sophia Liefer

June 14 Sat. 5:00 Callie Todaro

June 15 Sun. 8:00 Alyssa Heller

June 15 Sun. 10:30 Logan Cowell

June 21 Sat. 5:00 Bailey Montroy

June 22 Sun. 8:00 Kole Liefer

June 22 Sun. 10:30 Nick Guebert

June 28 Sat. 5:00 Jarrett Fleming

June 29 Sun. 8:00 Tanner Valleroy

June 29 Sun. 10:30 Lydia Wright

July 5 Sat 5:00 Amber Mollet

July 6 Sun 8:00 Dominick Liefer

June 6 Sun. 10:30 Reese Foster

July 12 Sat. 5:00 Austin Whelan

July 13 Sun. 8:00 Megan Schrader

July 13 Sun. 10:30 Alyssa Cowell

July 19 Sat. 5:00 Jayden Birkner

July 20 Sun. 8:00 Cole Booker

July 20 Sun. 10:30 Michael Ratcliff

July 26 Sat. 5:00 Hailey Guebert

July 26 Sun. 8:00 Sophia Liefer

July 26 Sun. 10:30 Kambri Moffit