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This Week at St. Luke’s Sunday, March 13

2:00 am-Daylight Savings Time! 7:00-Prayers (Prayer Room) 8:00-Traditional Worship (Sanctuary) 9:30-Sunday School & Adult Bible Study 10:45-Contemporary Worship (Sanctuary) 5:00-Accreditation Team Arrives (Library) 6:00-High School Youth Group (FLC, Loft & (Small Gym) 6:30-P316 Committee Meeting (Downstairs)

Monday, March 14

Culver’s Night 7:00-6:00-Accreditation Team (Library) 6:30-Girl Scouts (Classrooms) 6:30-Cub Scouts (FLC & Kitchen) 6:30-Boy Scouts (Small Gym)

Tuesday, March 15

6:00-7:00-General Voting (Gathering Area) 7:00-6:00-Accreditation Team (Library) 6:00-1st Communion (Downstairs Lunchroom) 6:00-Adult Bells (Balcony) 7:00-PALS Meeting (Multi-Purpose Room) 7:00-Choir (Balcony) 8:00-Men’s Basketball (FLC)

Wednesday, March 16

5:00-Lenten Supper (FLC) 6:00-High School Study Night (Gathering Area) 6:30-Lenten Worship (Sanctuary)

Thursday, March 17

5:00-Private Rental/Baseball (FLC) 7:00-Leadership Meeting (Library)

Friday, March 18

No School / Spring Break

Saturday, March 19

8:00-Praise Team (Sanctuary) 10:00-Egg Hunt (FLC, Small Gym & Yard) 5:30-Worship (Sanctuary) 6:00-PADS (FLC, Kitchen, Small Gym)

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church Newsletter for the Weekend of

The Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 12 & 13, 2016

Lent & Easter Schedule

Wednesday, March 16

Lenten Supper at 5:00 pm (Family Life Center)

This week the OWLS will be serving soups and chili.

Worship Service at 6:30 pm

Saturday/Sunday, March 19 & 20, Palm Sunday Weekend

Regular worship times.

Thursday, March 24, Maundy Thursday

Worship Service with 1st Communion at 7:00 pm

Friday, March 25, Good Friday

Prayer Vigil Worship Services at Noon & 7:00 pm

Saturday, March 26, NO Saturday Service

Sunday, March 27, Easter Sunday

Easter Breakfast 7:00—11:00 am Sunrise Service at 6:00 am Traditional Worship Service at 8:00 am Family Service at 9:30 am Contemporary Worship Service at 11:30 am

Welcome to Worship! Members and Visitors—Please complete the worship attendance

cards in the pews and place them in the offering plates. If you are visiting with us, we welcome you!

We hope to meet you at Fellowship time (Sunday, 9-9:25 am).

Regular Worship Services Saturdays, 5:30 PM

Sundays, 8:00 & 10:45 AM Sunday School & Bible Study

Sunday 9:30 AM

St. Luke’s Vision Powered by the Holy Spirit we: Trust God! Live an Extreme Faith! Are Bold in God’s Word! Bring People Home to Christ! Fully Commit to the Body of Christ! Pray and Worship with Enthusiasm! Expect Results!

Lesson for This Weekend - Psalm 126

THIS Weekend!

March 13 at 2:00 AM Daylight Savings Time Begins!

Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour or you’ll be late for church on Sunday!

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They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship…” Acts 3:42

Calling All Kids! Join us for Sunday School!

Sundays - 9:30 to 10:30 am Classes for all youth from Pre-School through High School

For Sunday School curriculum, grades 1 through 5, students will work together in “crews”. Crew leaders develop a relationship with their students as a teacher directs the activities, discussion, praise and prayer.

Pre-school and Kindergarten will meet in the Pre-school 2 classroom.

Elementary (grades 1 through 5) will meet in the Multi-Purpose Room: Each Sunday, students will participate in a large group “Welcome” activity, move into an “exploration time” in small family crews, then complete the hour with praise and prayer.

Junior High (grades 6 through 8) will meet in the Youth Loft.

High School (grades 9 through 12) will meet in the Gathering Area.

3/13 Bible Point Key Verse Lesson / Scripture

1st –5th grade

God gives us hope through His amazing

strength.

“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

Isaiah 40:25-31

There will be lesson topics in the newsletter each week so parents can know what their children are learning.

1. Men’s Class—The Book of Acts, The Gospel Throughout the World—(Church Library) The Church is more than a physical edifice, more than a particular Christian group or denomination. The church is Christ manifesting Himself to the world through the people of God. God speaks to us today through Acts concerning the basis of the church’s power; the central mission of the church’ the inner workings of the church; and the perpetual perils threatening the church from without and from within.

2. Then Sings My Soul by Robert Jay Morgan is a book that tells about the origins of some of our classic “oldies but goodies”. Come and find out the whys and hows of some of our best loved hymns. This is an eight week class that will be meeting in the new wing.

3. Synodical Positions—This class will explore our official stances on over 50 topics that are part of our everyday life. You will learn about topics such as cremation, abortion, gambling, in vitro fertilization, and many more “hot” topics of today and what our church has to say about them. This class will meet in the new wing.

4. LifeLight: Bible Study on Haggai/Zechariah/Malachi—This study is part to the Lifelight Bible study series. The goal of this study it that through an in-depth look at these books you will grow in your understanding of scripture and grow in your faith. The prophets have much to say to us today. Come and see what they have to say to you. This class will meet in the small gym.

Adult Bible Studies Sunday Mornings, 9:30—10:30 AM

Choose a study and begin today to strengthen your faith and knowledge!!

Wayside Cross Ministries for MARCH

Thank you for the 84 pairs of socks you donated to the men at Wayside in February. They will make the men more comfortable during this cold weather. They are always so appreciative of the gifts you give!

In MARCH, we will be collecting toothpaste. Please place your donations in the LWML box located outside the church secretary’s office.

Thank you, again for all that you do for the men in the Master’s Touch Ministry at Wayside. The men are always thankful and so are the women in the LWML.

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Almost Time for Spring Cleaning! Mail Room Alert! LAST Call! If you have items in the mail room please be aware that it will undergo a cleaning the week of March 14! If you have “dumped” items there, and they are not labeled for a specific use or purpose, please make sure to get them on a shelf or in a closet or drawer. As it is, there are bags of empty boxes, a bag of plates, cups, napkins and water, a bag of confetti, a box of misc. books, a bag of old stewardship materials from 2011, room divider, foam boards, etc. Any items left after March 14 will be distributed or disposed of at the discretion of the church office. And please, if you know you have something there that you know needs to be disposed of, we would appreciate your help by getting it to the garbage before then. THANKS for your cooperation! Any questions, please contact the church office.

Anonymous Donations? It seems that random items are showing up at the church. Tables, file cabinets, office supplies, etc. While we greatly appreciate the thought, we can not always use these items. If you have something you want to donate, please call the church and/or school office before bringing it into the building. If it is not needed, it is left up to the office and janitorial staff to try to relocate it or get rid of it.

Food With Friends!

Food With Friends for March will be on Sunday, March 20. The Reinert’s Small Group will be hosting and serving Cindy’s famous Sloppy Joes! And you don’t even need to bring a dish to pass! But you do need to sign up at the Information Desk!

Thanks to the Meas Group for hosting in February and sharing pasta with such a large turn out!

This event is being co-hosted by the St. Luke’s Living Generously Team! You will have an opportunity to meet informally with several local non-profit organizations to hear their needs and how YOU may be able to benefit them with a Thrivent Action Team event! SEE DETAILS BELOW!

St. Luke’s Living Generously Kicks Off New Opportunities to Benefit OUR Community On March 20 several local non-profit organizations have been invited to set up a table and discuss with St. Luke's their needs and how we may be able to benefit them with a Thrivent Action Team. Organizations planning to attend include Kendall County Food Pantry, Kendall County PADS, Habitat for Humanity, 2 Pennies, and more. Please come and talk to the various representatives and find out how YOU may impact our community with a Thrivent Action Team. Matt Hutchison, our Thrivent representative, will be available to help you access your Thrivent account online to initiate an action team or learn more about action teams. If you want to do an action team, but are not a Thrivent member, come and find out how you can become a member. There are many types of memberships AND they do not all require the purchase of a Thrivent product! For information about the event, contact Chris Hansen. For information regarding Thrivent Financial, contact Matt Hutchison; 630-881-5821 or matt.hutchison@thrivent.com.

Food With Friends

War Room Announcement Our War Room Campaign is in full swing and stickers are on the maps! If you cannot access the weekly verse and suggested prayer starters via email, we want you to know that extra copies will be available in the War Room (Prayer Room). Simply stop into the War Room to pray for 5 minutes and then choose a sticker to place on your unit’s map. You may stop into the room multiple times while at church but we do ask that you only use one sticker per prayer session. By this we are asking that you do not use more than one sticker if you were to pray for 10 minutes in one visit. However, if you are at church and wanted to pray both before and after church and each time you pray for at least 5 minutes you would then count that as two separate visits and could place two stickers on your map.

Each company also has a target posted in the Family Life Center on which we will post a weekly summary of how many strikes were made against the Evil One. Remember this is not just about how many times your individual company can assault the Great Pretender, but how many attacks our church as a whole can wage against him. The best defense is a good offense and these targets will help us determine our tactical maneuvers in our war against Satan.

Please SAVE THE DATE: Saturday April 2. We are planning for this to run from approximately 9-2 where we will have a workshop to help those interested in setting up a personal WAR ROOM in their own homes.

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The Egg Hunt Committee is looking for

donations of individually wrapped candy for our community egg hunt on March 19. We will be using standard eggs (not large or mini).

Please place donations in the box located in

the Narthex.

THANK YOU!

The Next Women’s Small Group Study Begins April 7 Faith Lessons on the Early Church; Conquering the Gates of Hell As Modern Christians today we can deepen our appreciation of God’s Word by visiting the land of the Bible (by video) to help us better understand God’s revealed mission for our lives by enabling us to hear and see His words in their original context. This small group of women will start meeting on April 7, 6:45 pm, in Yorkville at the home of the Springborns, 1271 Clearwater Dr., where we begin our journeys by visiting Galilee, Caesarea Phillipi and the Mount of Olives. We will learn about Jesus as teacher/Rabbi and his relationship and interaction with the disciples. We will continue our journey together every other Thursday through June 30, visiting Sardis to better understand what it means to stand for God in a pagan culture; Ephesus to discover what it would mean for the Ephesians to choose who was Lord in their lives and why God was able to use Paul and other Ephesian Christians and more. Contact Debby Springborn, (630) 362-6952, for more information and to reserve a book ($9 if you are able). There is space for 12.

ANNUAL EASTER BREAKFAST SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 7:00 AM – 11 AM

Free will offering. All proceeds go to St. Luke’s 7-8th graders for their DC Trip.

On the Menu: Eggs, Sausage, Bacon, Donuts, Bagels, Milk & Coffee

For more information, contact Julie Franken

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2015-2016 Budget & Income (#s reported are as of 3/6/16)

Monthly Need $87,595

Weekly Need $20,214

February Tithe $5,662

Accounts Payable $16,072

Concordia Plan Services (CPS) payments due (5) $53,700

Monthly Anticipated Offering Income for March $67,200

Current Month’s To Date Offering Income Contributions to General Fund $16,562

Current Month’s To Date Income Received from School to General Fund $0

Current Month To Date Contribution Total to General Fund $16,562

Previous Month’s Contribution Total to General fund $69,657

Budget #s effective 8/2/15: 10.5% Tithe from your offerings includes .5% to LBT,

2% to Mission trip fund, .5% to LCC, .5% to Walcamp, .5% to San Pablo, 6% to NID, .5% to Joe Boway New Life.

General Fund is used for mortgage, CPS, accounts payable bills, and payroll. Does not include contributions given to a specific fund or ministry (Parking Lot Fund, Youth, flowers, etc.).

Accounts Payable includes maintenance, utilities, office supplies, printing, security systems, commercial insurance, ministry expenses (communion, worship, advertising, etc.), and school expenses. (Does not include payroll & mortgage.)

Concordia Plan Services includes health care, retirement, and disability for church and school staff. Download a QR Reader app and scan

here to make a contribution to St. Luke’s from your mobile device.

Give Online. It’s easy.Give Online. It’s easy. Stlcfamily.org Stlcfamily.org

Prayer Request Updates We welcome your prayer requests to pray for your needs or the needs of others. Please remember to submit an update after two weeks so that we can pray more effectively, whether it be prayers of thanksgiving or to continue to pray as directed. Without these updates, the prayer request will be removed after two weeks as we will assume that these needs have been met.

“Pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to him.” 1 Timothy 2:1

Last Week’s Attendance

Regular Worship March 5 & 6 239

Communed 193

Adult Bible Study 25

Sunday School Pre-K thru High School 12

Sunday School Teachers & Support 2

Confirmation 6-8th 17

Confirmation 9th 9

Confirmation Teachers & Support 10

Lenten Worship March 2 110

Voters’ Meeting On, Sunday April 10, we will have a voters meeting to elect new members to our three boards. We are holding elections early this year to allow new members the opportunity to learn from the current incumbents and not just be “thrown into the fire”. This will also allow the new members to have some ownership as leadership works on setting the 2016/2017 budget.

Slots which will are still open:

President, Secretary, Family Life Board Chair, (4) Family Life Board Position, (5) Worship Committee Board Positions & (4) School Board Positions

We know that we have several talented individuals amongst us. We need your help! Please prayerfully consider taking on one of these open spots. If you have any questions or would like more information about the open roles please ask me or any of the current leadership members listed below.

Al Krodel – Vice President Irene Papa – Family Life Chair Mickey Dusenbury - Secretary Earl Wendorf – School board Chair Steve Steinwart – Treasurer Fred Teftz – Mission and Ministries Chair

God’s Blessings, Elias Omar - President

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Walcamp Outdoor Ministries and Retreat Center Walcamp 2016 booklets are available on the table near the front entrance in the Narthex. It lists all available programs, camps, outdoor education, etc., for ages 6-18, as well as information on camping or renting space in their facilities. Check it out and plan some fun outdoor family fun this summer!

THRIVENT Members! As a Thrivent member, you have until March 31 to direct your 2015 Thrivent Choice Dollars. Thrivent Choice Dollars may be directed to St. Luke’s Church and School. This is free money for St. Luke’s and there is no additional cost to you as a Thrivent member. If you have not directed your Thrivent Choice dollars in the past because you were unsure of the process, attend the Living Generously/Food with Friends event on March 20 and speak with Matt Hutchison, our Thrivent representative.

Auction News The 2016 Auction committee is in need of your help. With the auction coming up on April 23, we are starting to collect items for everyone to bid on in the silent auction. "Blessings Under the Big Top" has a carnival theme and will have games for everyone of all ages. If your

business, or if you know of a business that would like to donate an auction item (a gift certificate, an item, or service) please contact one of the following members of the auction committee: Tami McGraw, Julie Franken, Nelly Needs, Ingrid Croall, Venetia Crowell, Laurel Lang or Jeanne Forster. We also welcome themed baskets from individuals or small groups (movie basket, kitchen basket, spa basket, etc.) (THANKS to the small groups who have already donated! Keep them coming!) Please let us know of your idea to avoid duplications. If you need an official donation letter, they are available upon request. Thank you for your assistance in making our auction a success.

NEW Cards at the Greeting Card Center! Check out LWML’s Greeting Card Center in the Gathering area. It has just been restocked with new Easter, First Communion, birthday and anniversary cards. Cards are still only 50 cents each and most have a scripture verse! Money from card sales is used to support LWML mission projects.

GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER VIGIL As has become a tradition at St Luke’s we are encouraging you to stop by church on Good Friday between 6:30 am and 11:30 am, and again between 1:00 and 6:30 pm (allowing a break for the noon Good Friday Service and finishing up before the evening service). We would love to know that we have prayer warriors all thru these hours as we prepare our hearts and minds for Good Friday and Jesus’ sacrifice for us, so that we might rejoice in his glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday!

Your War Room Commanders would like to carry the campaign into the Good Friday Prayer Vigil. While we normally would like you to pray in the War Room only to place a sticker on your unit’s map, we have decided that if you come and pray in the Sanctuary on Good Friday this year you may place one sticker on your map that day as well. Good Friday is a great day to wage the biggest assault our church can muster in the name of JESUS!

Mark your calendars now for Vacation Bible School 2016! June 20 to 24, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Look for ways to serve, and items to donate, in the coming weeks.

This year, we would like to offer VBS to our surrounding community for free. To make that happen, we need your help! The cost of VBS is $15 per child. How many children are you able to sponsor this year? To help us live generously toward our community, please place your donation in the VBS box outside the church office, or place your donation in the offering tray and mark it VBS.

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Preacher/Liturgist Rev. Peter Hoffman / Tim Scott Acolytes & Cross Bearers 5:30 Megan Schraft & Tyler Middendorf 8:00 Jose Sandoval, Jacob Rienton & Serena Schriber 10:45 Ethan Odean & Vinny Hamann Chancel 5:30 Connie Pittman 8:00 Veronica Bailey 10:45 Lori Len Children’s Message 5:30 Lesli Barron 8:00 Missy Hester Fellowship Howard & Debby Springborn Finance Assistants Eleanor Kothera & Irene Pappa Friendly Callers Heather Claxton & Andrea Nicol Greeters 5:30 Terry & Brenda Kardatzke & Tony Abbattista 8:00 Tim & Jeri Moran & Bernadette O. Schmidt 10:45 Carol Steinwart Information Desk Attendant Bernadette O. Schmidt Nursery 8:00 Shirley White 9:30 OPEN 10:45 OPEN Organist/Pianist 5:30 Ralph Gabrielson, Jr. 8:00 Beth Omar Readers 5:30 Lesli Barron 8:00 Ruth Henning 10:45 Jan Hoffman Sound & Video 5:30 Middendorf Team 8:00 Dave Hester Ushers 5:30 Mickey & Caroline Dusenbury 8:00 Al Matson, Tim Moran & Katie Moran 10:45 Michael Biebel & Carol Witt Worship Assistants Tim Scott / Elias Omar

Servants for The Weekend of Palm Sunday, March 19 & 20

Newsletter Deadline Any new or updated articles and inserts for the weekly newsletter are due to the Church Office by 3:00 pm on the Wednesday before article is to run. Submit via email to connie.pittman@stlcamily.org or mailbox #82. Any questions, contact Connie Pittman at 630-892-9309, x-115.

DVDs are available! All services are recorded. If you would like a copy, please contact Lisa Steinwart, or leave a note on the credenza in the Narthex.

To Reach the Church During Services If you have an emergency during a scheduled worship service, and need to reach someone at the church, please call (630) 892-9309 ext. 140, and the ushers will take your call.

63 Fernwood Road Montgomery, IL 60538 Church 630-892-9309 School 630-892-0310

Reverend Peter Hoffman, Senior Pastor Mrs. Linda King, Principal

stlcfamily.org / churchoffice@stlcfamily.org

Planning Ahead March 20-Palm Sunday March 20-Chancel Practice March 20-Food with Friends March 20-Living Generously Action Team Kick-Off March 20-Youth Groups March 21-1st Communion Presentations March 24-Maundy Thursday / With 1st Communion March 25-Good Friday March 25-Prayer Vigil March 25-Church Office closed 1/2 day March 26-Chancel Easter Set-Up March 26-NO Saturday Service March 27-Easter Worship, 6, 8, 9:30 & 11:30 & Easter Breakfast March 28-Church Office Closed March 29-Back to School

Panera Bread Pick Up for March 18

Ruth Henning

Servants for Wednesday March 16

Preacher/Liturgist Rev. Peter Hoffman / Henry Treftz Acolytes Ythan Houston & Luke Peterson Greeters Dave & Missy Hester Nursery OPEN Organist/Pianist Ralph Gabrielson, Jr. Reader Chuck Snyder Sound & Video Ministry Austin Albright Ushers Tim Scott & Chuck Granholm Worship Assistants Henry Treftz / Terry Kardatzke

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“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.” Mat. 28:19

March 11, 2016 Dear Parents/Guardians, You might see unfamiliar faces around the school next week. We will be having visitors from the Northern Illinois District. Our school staff, Facilities members, and School Board members have been putting final touches onto the preparations for the Accreditation Team to come to our school on Sunday. They will be here from Sunday till Tuesday to evaluate our school. On Monday they will be walking around the school, visiting classes, and talking to teachers. On Tuesday they will continue some of that, but will be working hard on what is called the “Exit Report”. This will be read in an informational meeting to give us advise and hopefully to accredit our school. This is very important for the Illinois State registration and for our parents to have confidence that we are a professional organization equipped to maintain a highly recognized school. We welcome your prayers for a successful three days. We praise God and how He has worked through our school and church to make donations for our teacher, Mrs. Kowalczyk, to be able to go to Washington, D.C. with our seventh and eighth grade students. Your generosity is very much appreciated. We have successfully met our financial needs. Thank YOU! We still want to support the students that are going, so anything that is donated now will help them to afford their trip. We ask for prays of praise and thanks giving and for help for the students. We praise God for the chance to teach His word to the little ones, to encourage those that already believe, and to bring those that don’t know Him to faith. It is our mission to make them all missionaries where ever God sends them after leaving our school. With this as our passion, our school continues to work on enrollment for next year. We give tours and let prospective students shadow other students. Exposure of our school as an option still remains a challenge. Please pray for our school enrollment and continue to help us promote our school. To make us sustainable, we need to have enrollment increases. I repeat: you are partners in our school community. We need you. Thanks for any amount of effort. God bless all our families, Linda King Principal “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace.” Is.52:7

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