October 2018 The Newsletter of Bethlehem Lutheran Church,...

People Building

Phebe…hath

been a suc-

courer of

many. Romans

16:1-2

Your church needs mem-

bers committed to sup-

porting and encouraging

each other. People like

Phebe, whom Paul calls ‘a

succourer of many’.

Succour: In Greek, it ap-

plied to Olympic coaches

who supported athletes

and made sure they were

trained and equipped to

win. Bible scholar H.F.

Moule describes Phebe

as ‘a champion…who

divine rewards outweigh

any earthly compensa-

tion: ‘Whatever good any-

one does, he will receive

the same from the Lord’

Ephesians 6:8. As one pas-

tor observed: ‘You have

something nobody else

can give. Think about

how you can make some-

body else’s life better.

Who can you support

(Continued on page 6)

stood up for others…a

devoted, brave friend of

converts in trouble, who

fought battles of protest

where she found oppres-

sion…and pleaded the

cause of the poor’.

That’s a heavy-duty as-

signment! And in today’s

‘Me Generation’ not many

are willing to take it on.

But the truth is, there’s

no greater investment

than people. When you

invest in another person

you give yourself a gift,

because you can’t light

their path without bright-

ening your own. And the

Regular Features:

Walther Homecoming 2

Janitor Wanted 2

Stewardship 3

Worship Anew 4

Dignity 4 Girls 5

Craft Fair Nov 3rd 6

Volunteers Needed 6

Reformation Day 6

Inside this Issue:

Bd of Director’s 2

God’s Treasure Report 3

Flower Chart 5

Birthdays & Anniversaries 7

Calendar of Events 7

The Newsletter of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, River Grove, Illinois

Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod Rev. Roger Gallup, Pastor October 2018 Volume 12, Issue 10

Numbers 11:11a, 14-15a -

Moses said to the LORD,

"Why have You dealt ill

with Your servant? ... I am

not able to carry all this

people alone; the burden

is too heavy for me. If You

will treat me like this, kill

me at once."

You get tired when you're

a pastor or missionary; it's

the sheer weight of taking

care of people, I think.

Day in and day out, peo-

ple have problems. Peo-

ple cause problems.

Sometimes, on good days,

people solve problems,

but it's never as often as

you hope, and you can

newly freed slaves, trav-

eling through the wilder-

ness, on the way to the

new country God had

promised them. In so

many ways, they were

spiritual babies. They

kept looking back to

Egypt, yearning for the

life they had there, re-

membering the great

food, and conveniently


never get away for a

break as often as you

want -- or know that you

should.

I think this is true for any-

one who routinely cares

for people, in the church

or out of it. Human beings

go to extremes. They are

like the little girl in that

nursery rhyme, who,

"When she was good, she

was very, very good; but

when she was bad, she

was horrid."

Moses must have known

this better than practical-

ly anyone. He had the

whole people of Israel to

take care of: a nation of

“The Burdens of Caregiving”

The Bethlehem Star

“Serving GOD and the

community since 1898”

Board of Directors Chairman

Gerald Erjavec

847-671-1677

[email protected]

Vice-Chairman

Ray Bernero

708-456-4344

[email protected]

Secretary

Kurt Kugelberg

630-248-2571

[email protected]

Treasurer

Marian Sperling

847-288-0334

[email protected]

Financial Secretary

Tim Saar

847-455-2123

[email protected]

Deacons

Harry McGinnis

708-837-9753

[email protected]

Properties

Bob Schultz

[email protected]

At-Large

Liz Mork

708-453-2187

[email protected]

Diana Arndt

847-455-5193

[email protected]

Walther Christian Acade-

my’s Join the families of

Walther Christian Acade-

my at a Friday Night

Lights Football Game on

Friday,

October 12th at 7pm.

Come out for the fun and

cheer on your Walther

Broncos!

Do you know of families

who want their student

to have the benefit of at-

tending a strong Luther-

an middle or high

school?

An Open House will be

Thursday, October 18th at

7:00 p.m. Tours are

available any Tuesday

Bethlehem needs a part-

time janitor to keep the

1st-floor bathrooms &

multi-purpose room

clean. We would pay a

fair wage for work. If in-

terested please contact

Pastor Gallup.

Walther Christian Academy News

Attendance: Pastor Gal-

lup, Ray Bernero, Kurt

Kugelberg, Liz Mork, Jer-

ry Erjavic, Diana Arndt,

Bob Schultz

Opening Prayer: 7:04pm

Approval of past

Minutes: motion ap-

proved

Official Acts: None Amy

Wahl getting married in

church 9/8/18

Treasurer’s Report: $58-

60,000 in bank after

bills paid

Financial Secretary’s Re-

port: emailed report

Pastor’s Report: none

Deacons Report: none

Properties Report:

* Doors rekeyed

* Installed another air

conditioner on 2nd floor

* Signed $8,000 plumb-

ing contract- waiting for

start date

* Painting HVAC & win-

dows – having trouble

finding contractor

* Formed committee

( Bob, Liz & Kurt) to pick

floor tile for kitchen

Ad hoc committees:

* Rentals – new policy

will be to charge $100

deposit to be refunded

after inspection

* Brunch income $82 -

next will be in October

Vice Chairman’s Report:

Authorized contract to

design wall stabilization.

Downspout and sewer

problem have been fixed.

Old Business:

*Theater company: no

further contact from

them

New Business:

*Village is concerned

about traffic in front and

want to eliminate week-

day parking on church

side of street. Picket

Fence wants access

keys to rear doors so

staff can park behind

school. After discussion

motion passed to rekey

double doors for Picket

Fence if the Village fol-

lows through with no

weekday parking re-

quirement.

* We will investigate the

possibility of air condi-

tioning the church

* Budget preparation

should begin sooner this

year.

next meeting Sept 25

Closing – Lord’s Prayer

8:45pm

Respectfully submitted by

Kurt Kugelberg

Secretary

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES: August 28, 2018

Volume 12, Issue 10 October 2018

Date Attendance Income Goal Difference

Year * 1680 $81,532.01 $78,472 $3,060.01

Sept 2 57 $2,134.75 $2,308 -($173.25)

Sept 9 41 $1,334.00 $2,308 -($974.00)

Sept 16 88 $1,785.00 $2,308 -($523.00)

Sept 23 42 $1,506.00 $2,308 -($802.00)

YEAR 1908 88,291.76 $87,704 $587.76

God’s Treasure Report

*The Year row are the totals for this church year prior to but NOT including the dates shown in

the rest of the table . +includes Lenten services attendance & income

of us what He declared of

Jesus at His Baptism in

the Jordan: “You are my

beloved Son, in whom I

am well pleased.” God the

Father claims us as His

own. He takes away all

our sins, and in exchange

He gives us His righteous-

ness, His purity, His holi-

ness, and His Spirit, by

which we cry out, “Abba,

Father.”

We are born again, born

from above, born of water

and the Spirit, to a new

life in Christ as His chil-

dren. We are sons of God

in Christ, through Bap-

tism. And since we are

sons, we are heirs – heirs

who share in the glory of

the Son of God. The inher-

itance is ours because of

the Father’s grace and

mercy, His generosity in

sending His Son in time to

save us for all eternity.

And this is why we give

generously of our income

to the work of the church.

We want to be like our

heavenly Father. We want

to emulate His generosity

by being generous our-

selves. We give to the

work of the Church be-

cause we have witnessed

the generous giving of our

Father in heaven.

More than that, we are

recipients of it. It is be-

cause we have received

God our Father’s gifts that

we desire to give our-


Stewardship: ”Back to Basics”

Why do we give? Is it

simply because God

commands us to? Or is

there more to it? To be

sure, the instruction and

Word of God in the Bible

says we should give, and

this is sufficient to en-

courage us to give (Luke

6:38; Acts 20:35; 1 Cor.

16:2; 2 Cor. 8:7; Gal

6:6).

But there’s more to it

than just obligation.

We’re not just trying to

fulfill a work of the Law.

We are bearing fruits of

the Spirit given to us by

our Father in heaven

through His Son our Lord

Jesus Christ. In other

words, we’re not just do-

ing what our Father said,

we’re also doing what

He did.

Children emulate their

parents. When they grow

up they often carry many

of the same mannerisms

and characteristics as

their parents, but there

is more to it than that.

Children copy their par-

ents even on a more

mundane level. They

watch how their parents

cross their legs, how

they fold their hands,

how they stand and sit

and walk, how they do

and say most every-

thing.

And children try to copy

it, which can be quite

humorous when par-

ents wish they wouldn’t.

It can be uncomfortable

and embarrassing if a

child copies or repeats

something less than

polite that they learned

from a parent. Sitcoms

thrive on these situa-

tions. It only happens

because children emu-

late their parents be-

cause they want to be

like them.

We are the children of

God, by grace, through

faith. In Holy Baptism,

God the Father declares

"Making His House Your Home"

FREE Day-Old Bakery Open every Sunday morning

7:45am until 10:30am

for more information contact:

Harry McGinnis, Chair

708-837-9753

On-Line Giving/Offerings: You can now schedule contributions to Bethlehem online through VANCO.

To contribute online, visit our web site:

www.BethlehemRiverGrove.com and choose “Donations” in the top banner

Bring your inkjet or laser cartridges to the narthex!

We return them for a rebate

For more information contact: Peggy Shabez

http://www.bethlehemrivergrove.com/

The Bethlehem Star

Bethlehem Church was

dedicated on Sunday,

Nov 4, 1951 it was built

adjacent to the old church

building

circa 1900 Bethlehem

Church (foreground) and

School (background)

Our Church Staff Pastor

Rev. Roger Gallup, M. Div.,

M.A.

Office 708-453-1113

Home 708-456-9028

Director of Music

Linda Erjavec, B.A.

847-671-1677

Secretary

Elizabeth Gallup

708-453-1113x10

“In every thing by prayer and supplication with

thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto

God.” Phil 4:6

Would you like to submit a prayer request?

Prayer is very powerful & Bethlehem has a powerful

prayer chain.

Sue Peavey, Chief Prayer Warrior

708-724-6582

[email protected]

We will do the rest and many prayers will be made

known to God.

forgetting the slavery.

They rarely trusted the

Lord. And instead of

praying for help when

they needed it, they

would whine.

Moses couldn't stand it;

after all, he was a sinful

human being, too. But at

least he knew who to

take his problems to. So,

he went to the Lord

and ... well, he whined,

as if to say, "Did I give

birth to all these people?

Is that why You're mak-

ing me carry them? I

can't handle the load an-

ymore; just do me a favor

and kill me now" (see

Numbers 11).

But look how kind God

was to Moses! He didn't

yell at him; He didn't tell

him to try harder or to

get over it already. In-

stead, God gave Moses

real, practical help. God

called for 70 leaders

from Israel to gather to-

gether, and then He put

the Holy Spirit on them.

From that time on, they

would be helping Moses

lead Israel.

You may be a caregiver,

too. Perhaps you care

for hundreds of people;

perhaps it's just one.

Either way, there are

doubtless times when

you get tired, too -- when

it's all too much -- when

you need help. What do

you do?

Cry out to God! Even if

you feel like you're whin-

ing. God is full of mercy,

and He understands

what we need. He can

help.

After all, the God who

allowed you to be in this

situation is the same

God who came to earth

as Jesus Christ our Sav-

ior. He knows

the weight of

caregiving. He

knows what it

is to work with

people. He

knows what it

is to love peo-

ple so dearly

that He was

even willing to lay

down His life for us --

and to take it up

again at His resurrec-

tion. He is your care-

giver, and He will

surely hear you when

you cry out for help.

Call out to Him, and

like Moses, give Him

no rest until He an-

swers. He loves you.

PRAYER: Lord, You

know my burdens.

Have mercy on me

and help me. Amen.

This Daily Devotion

was written by Dr. Ka-

ri Vo.

“The Burdens of Caregiving” (Continued from page 1)


River Grove

Food Pantry “If everyone coming

to church brought just

one item each Sun-

day, think how many

lives we could touch.”

We collect tabs to

benefit Ronald

McDonald House.

Drop them off

in the Narthex.

Many thanks! Peggy Shabez

chairperson

1-630-253-3668

Pull Tabs


Flower Chart 2018:

PLEASE USE OUR NEW:

Tuition Credit

Shopping Program for current & future students of

Walther High School

www.shopwithscrip.com Linda McGinnis,

Chairperson

708-681-1076

selves. And His gifts are

not just spiritual. They

are temporal and earthly

as well. As the Small Cat-

echism teaches in the

Fourth Petition of the

Lord’s Prayer:

“Give us this day our dai-

ly bread.” What does this

mean? God certainly

gives daily bread to eve-

ryone without our pray-

ers, even to all evil peo-

ple, but we pray in this

petition that God would

lead us to realize this

and to receive our daily

bread with thanksgiving.

What is meant by daily

bread? Daily bread in-

cludes everything that

has to do with the sup-

port and needs of the

body, such as food,

drink, clothing, shoes,

house, home, land, ani-

mals, money, goods, a

devout husband or wife,

devout children, devout

workers, devout and

faithful rulers, good gov-

ernment, good weather,

peace, health, self-

control, good reputation,

good friends, faithful

neighbors, and the like.”

In other words, God

gives us everything we

need for the care of both

body and soul. His gen-

erosity knows no

bounds. Therefore, we

sit down at the begin-

ning of the year, the be-

ginning of the month, or

the beginning of the

week to set aside a gen-

erous portion of God’s

daily bread for His work

in the Church.

We don’t do this simply

because He has com-

manded us so to do; it is

because we, as His chil-

dren by grace, want to

emulate His generosity in

our own lives. He is our

Father; we are His chil-

dren. And children want

to be like their parents.

Stewardship: ”Back to Basics” (Continued from page 3)

Are you getting the Newsletter via Email? If not please give pastor your email address!

We are all aware that

flowers bring beauty to

the altar as well as joy to

the giver. Unfortunately,

we have experienced

problems with receiving

payment. If you are like

me we sign up when the

flower chart is produced

and then forget about it

until the date comes up

and our name appears in

the bulletin as the donor.

We leave church saying

we have to pay for them

and then time gets away

from us and the thought

is forgotten. Payment

can be made in advance

or at least during the

month in which flowers

were requested.

God's blessings to each

of you who donate flow-

ers.

Any

ques-

tions

you

may contact Liz Mork.

www.dignity4girls.org Contact: Sue Peavey 708-724-6582

The Bethlehem Star

circa 1927 Bethlehem

Church & Parsonage prior

to remodeling of church

building which occurred in

1928

Our old church altar

Sundays-6am-WGN 720AM

Daily Devotion-Lutheran Church Charities

www.devotions.lcccharities.org Read or listen to a great daily devotional

www.lcms.org/witness

and strengthen? Some-

body needs your encour-

agement today…needs to

know you believe in him,

that you’re for him, that

you think he has what it

takes to succeed. Look-

ing back, chances are

someone played a pivotal

role in helping you get

where you are today. A

parent or teacher who

had confidence in you…a

boss who placed you in a

higher position when you

didn’t feel qualified…

somebody who saw more

in you than you saw in

yourself.’ Now it’s your

turn!

Prayer: Heavenly Father,

help me be a succourer

for others. In Jesus’

Name, Amen

People Building (Continued from page 1)

Volunteers are needed to

help setup the night be-

fore. We also need vol-

unteers to work in the

kitchen, work the bake

table & Chinese Auction

and most importantly, to

help with clean-up atfter

the event.

Please contact:

Nancy Becerra

312-310-8491 or [email protected]

O'Connor, Michael 01-Oct

Robinson, Deanna 02-Oct

Ridge, Ronald 03-Oct

Guhl, Crystal 04-Oct

Sepulveda, Brittany 04-Oct

Husby, Sarah 05-Oct

Brame, Quintin 06-Oct

Diaz, Stephanie 08-Oct

Steimel, Elizabeth 09-Oct

Husby, Cole 10-Oct

Romberg, Jim 16-Oct

Virzi, Madelyn 17-Oct

Naylor, Janet 20-Oct

Burke, Sharon 21-Oct

LeDuc, Mackenzie 21-Oct

Nicely, Duane 23-Oct

Olson, Ronald 25-Oct

Kuhfuss, Gregory 26-Oct

Lee, Loryn 27-Oct

Castillo, Amy 28-Oct

DiFazio, Trisha 28-Oct

Thompson, Heidi 28-Oct

Nicely, Renata 29-Oct

O'Connor, Baily 30-Oct

Birthdays


Sue & Mark Peavey 10-Oct

Arlene & Peter Capron 18-Oct

Do you want to add to our Birthday or Anni-

versary list? Contact the Church Office:

708-453-1113 or just send us a note!

Anniversaries


Note: (C) denotes Common Cup Communion Service and (I) denotes Individual Cup Communion Service;

October 2018

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

30 01 02 03 04 05 06

07 08 09 10 11 12 13

20th S aft Pentecost

8:15am Bible Study

9:15am Service (C)

10:30am Coffee &

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21st S aft Pentecost

8:15am Bible Study

9:15am Service (I)

10:30am Coffee &

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Bethlehem’s 120th

Anniversary

8:15am Bible Study

9:15am Service (C)

10:30am Coffee &

28 29 30 31 01 02 03

Reformation Day

8:15am Bible Study

9:15am Service (I)

10:30am Coffee &

Bethlehem Lutheran Church 2624 Oak Street

River Grove, Illinois 60171

Celebrating God’s Love since 1898

What We Teach and Confess As Lutherans

-There is one true God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

-All People are born in sin, and we sin against God every day.

-Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is true God and true man. He came from heaven, lived a perfect life in our place and died

a sacrificial death on the cross for all.

-Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and opened the gates of heaven to all who trust in him.

-God accepts all who believe in Jesus even though there is no merit or worthiness in us.

-So that we might believe in Jesus, God has given us the ministry, which is the preaching of Christ and the

Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Through these, God also gives us the forgiveness of sins.

-When God brings people to faith, He also produces many good works in our lives. These are done, not to earn grace,

but to do God’s will and please him. We love him because he first loved us.

-God has given every man, woman and child a calling in life. Within that calling He directs us, and through His Word,

strengthens us to live for Him.

-The Bible is the inspired Word of God. The Bible is free from all error and contradiction in all that it says. The Word of

God brings us to Jesus our Lord.

ADVANCE EQUIPMENT

MANUFACTURING COMPANY

CHICAGO, IL

WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sunday 9:15am Service

Communion is celebrated every

Sunday; common cup on the

1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday & individual cup

on the 2nd and 4th Sunday.

CHURCH: (708) 453-1113

PASTOR: 708-456-9028

NEWSLETTER Please e-mail any articles you

want included in the next

newsletter to:

[email protected]

We’re on the Web!

Visit us at:

bethlehemrivergrove.com

8:15am Sundays— For all you Early Risers used to

coming to the first service - Join

us for coffee and a topical discus-

sion of the Bible with Pastor Gal-

lup. Everyone interested in learn-

ing more about the Word are

welcome!

http://www.bethlehemrivergrove.org

October 2018 The Newsletter of Bethlehem Lutheran Church,...

Documents

Transcript of October 2018 The Newsletter of Bethlehem Lutheran Church,...