MONONA MESSENGER December 2021
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MONONA MESSENGER
December 2021
Adoring Him with Our Gifts
Throughout Scripture, everyone who has come into the presence of the Lord has been in
awe of Him and has adored Him. Think of Moses and the burning bush. Quietly
watching over his father-in-law's sheep, Moses saw a bush on fire but not being
consumed. When God spoke to Moses telling him to remove his shoes, Moses realized
who was speaking, and "Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God"
(Exodus 3:6). But he listened and spent 40 years showing adoration to God by obediently
leading God's people according to God's direction.
Isaiah writes about the vision through which God called him to be His prophet: "1 saw
the Lord ... high and exalted ... [and the angels} were calling to one another: 'Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. '" His reaction was to confess his sinfulness and, like
Moses, to adore God by answering His question, "Whom shall 1 send?" with "Here am I
Send me!" (Isaiah 6: 1-8).
This is the Christmas season, and we cannot help but think of the Wise Men, too, who
came in search of the newborn King, bringing their gifts and bowing before Him in
adoration. Matthew 2:11 records, "On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His
mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped Him." And they offered to the
Christ Child the gifts they had brought for Him, "gifts of gold and of incense and of
myrrh".
The shepherds adored Him, too. They heard about Jesus from the angels as they sat
outdoors watching their sheep and ran to Bethlehem to see the Christ Child. They didn't
have gifts to bring as the Magi did, but they, too, responded in adoration. Luke writes,
"When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them
about this Child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them"
(Luke 2:17-18).
God gives gifts to each of us and uses us to tell the Good News of the birth of His Son
Who came to bring us forgiveness of sins and life eternal. Some of us, like the Wise
Men, are blessed with monetary gifts to be used to support mission and ministry. Others
of us are more like the shepherds, able to "spread the word concerning what [we} have
been told ... about this Child. " By God's grace, all of us can respond in faithful
obedience to God's Word. In these ways, we adore our Savior.
In the Love of The Christ Child,
Pastor NowakHealing Service: The next Healing Service will take LWML NEWS
place on December 12th following the service. If you
have a burden or sickness that you would like to LWML Meeting: Thanks to all of you who attended
commend to the Lord, this would be a great time to our first LWML meeting (since Covid) in October. It
do so. Copies of the service can be found on the table was great to have 7 women together to share time in
in the narthex. bible study, talking about the mission of LWML and
working on witness bracelets. It was also great just to
January 2022 Messenger Deadline: be together - sharing our lives, thoughts and prayer
Monday, December 20th, 2021 requests.
No Late Articles
Please submit articles by this date. Email to: mlc-
Our next meeting will be December 9th at
ms@hotmail.com OR leave a copy in the office. 9:00 a.m. and we welcome more women to join us. We
will be working through a devotion from the fall
Sunday Morning Bible Study: quarterly titled, “Merciful Care” and working on a
Please join us after the service as we continue to look mission project.
at the book of Job. Remember to bring your mite boxes! God be with
St. Stephen’s Food Pantry: There is always a need you, Ellen
for food pantry items. Next time you are out Upcoming Events:
shopping, please add a couple of things to your cart SWD *Winter Getaway: February 4th & 5th, 2022
for the Food Pantry. Donations of food, personal Clarion Hotel & Conf. Center, Wisconsin Dells
items, paper products, baby food and diapers are
always gratefully received. Any items can be put in *2022 LWML SWD Convention: Sat., June 18th
the little red wagon in the Welcoming Area. St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Grafton
Operation Christmas Child: *2022 LWML SWD Fall Retreat: Sept.23rd-24th
On Monday, November 15th we delivered 20 TBD
shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child to our local
drop off location. Evelynn and Colton MacLeod and
Emma Steingraber helped with filling the boxes and
making cross necklaces. A big thank you to Jeanne
Nowak for organizing and executing this year's ADVENT & CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE 2021
project. Next year we will be working with Orphan
Grain Train. We look forward to participating in this MIDWEEK ADVENT SERVICES
new adventure. Wednesdays – 6:30 p.m.
Christmas Eve Choir: I think there is enough December 1st – “Zachariah’s Song; Amazing Gift”
interest in having a Christmas Eve choir so we're Luke 1:67-79
gonna give it a go! To celebrate the occasion, and to th
December 8 – “Mary’s Song” Luke 1:46-56
help our small choir along, Judie has composed an
December 15th – “Simeon’s Song” Luke 2:25-35
original piece for us to sing. Thanks Judie!
Rehearsal times will be after worship as follows: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24TH, 2021
Sunday, 11/28 Candlelight Service – 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 12/15
Sunday, 12/19 (If needed) Corey SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25TH, 2021
No Worship Service
Prayer Chain
Life presents challenges to all of us, but sometimes
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26TH, 2021
those challenges can feel like it’s just too much. If you Worship Service w/Communion – 9:00 a.m.
are experiencing situations, whether physical,
emotional, or spiritual, call our Prayer chain. You may FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31ST, 2021
give your prayer requests to Angie TerMaat at 608- Worship Service w/Communion – 6:30 p.m.
246-9608, Susan Bartlett at 608-437-5765, or the
church office
at 222-7071 or call if you would like to become a
part of our Prayer chain.
“Hear my prayer, O Lord;
listen to my cry for mercy.”Steward Builders
A newsletter to help you grow as a steward.
The purpose of this newsletter is to share
God’s Word so that our members will better
understand who we are to be and what we are
to do in the light of the Scriptures. It is our
hope that this monthly publication will help
you grow in your relationship with the Lord
and as a Christian steward.
Rise and Shine
In his Gospel John wrote, “In [Jesus] was
life, and that life was the light of men” (John John the Baptist, sent from God, witnessed to
1:4). The prophet Isaiah some 700 years the light of Christ. As individual Christians,
earlier foretold the Messiah by saying, “Arise, we have a responsibility to do what John did,
shine, for your light has come, and the glory to testify to “the true light that gives light to
of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness every man” (John 1:9). Each of us has been
covers the earth and thick darkness is over individually gifted and equipped to work
the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and together within the whole body of Christ that
His glory appears over you. Nations will we might testify to Christ, “the light [Who]
come to your light, and kings to the brightness shines in the darkness.” (John 1:5).
of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:1-3).
As you reflect during this Advent season on
Darkness covers the earth—darkness so thick all that Jesus has done for you, pray that the
we cannot see our own way, but Isaiah same grace and love that moved John the
encourages us, “The Lord rises upon [us].” Baptist to tell others about Jesus move your
No longer do we grope our way. No longer heart to share the Good News with others.
are we left to our own wisdom and resources.
No longer do we live in despair. No we
“Arise,” and “shine,” for our light has come More Blessed to Give
upon us! Have you ever become really excited about
giving a gift to someone? Maybe for a
The night of His birth, the sky was filled with birthday or at Christmas you were so excited
light as the angels brought the message of that you could hardly wait for the person
good news to the shepherds. The bright star receiving the present to open it. Do you
in the East continued to shine to guide the remember how proud you felt when the
Wise Men to the Christ Child that they might recipient opened the gift and was so happy
worship Him. and thankful to receive it? Then, when you
saw that person use or wear your present, you
Jesus, the Light of the World, continues to probably beamed with pleasure because you
draw us to Himself, and, as we reflect the had given it.
light of Christ in our lives, others will see that
light and be drawn to Him.Giving gifts can be fun, and it is an activity will give us all that we need so that we “will
that as Christians we are called to do. Jesus abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians
said in Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to give 9:8).
than to receive.” If you have had the
experience related above, you know what Prayer for Christmas Day
Jesus meant. Dear Heavenly Father, today all of Christendom
sings with jubilation, “Joy to the world, the Lord
Giving is part of life. Parents constantly give is come!” How incomprehensible the love You
to their children. Teachers give care, have for us that would cause You to send Your
attention, wisdom, and information. God only Son to earth to bring us joy. Yet we confess
that we often are mired in discouragement and
created things in nature for your use and grief. While looking at our present circumstances,
enjoyment that keep on giving: the sun gives we forget that You have gone before us on the
energy, the clouds rain down moisture, roads we travel and You are with us to take us
cornfields share their nutrients, and apple through all the difficult passages of life. Suffering
trees bear their fruit. with our various losses, we forget that You, in the
God Who loves you receives more joy in
giving to you than you can imagine. He
knows you by name. He daily gives you food
to eat, clothes to wear, and a warm place to
sleep. It is God Who has given you life and
the world to live in.
The prophet Jeremiah wrote that God also has
a plan for you—a plan to prosper you, to give
you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
Person of Your beloved Son, have come and are
still with us today to bring us abundant joy.
God uses us to help provide for the needs of Forgive us for our lack of trust in You. Help us to
others so that we, too, may experience the joy keep in our hearts every day the joy of this holy
of giving. As His stewards, we are merely day and to share that joy with all we meet.
Through Christ we pray. Amen.
His conduits through which He feeds the
hungry, shelters the homeless, and provides
clothes for the naked. Through His grace, He
Blessings on your Stewardship Journey!
Christmas Eve Sing-along - Come to church early on Christmas Eve for
a sing-along of Christmas carols of your choice. If there is something
you’d like to sing that is NOT in the hymnal, please get your request to
Corey no later than Sunday, December 19th so we can prepare copies
to handout. The sing-along will start at 6:10 pm.Who Wants Pie?
As odd as these past couple of years have been, one thing
hasn't changed: People like pie! Last year, rather than
just bringing in dozens of pies on Christmas Eve, I
BIRTHDAYS in December
implemented an order sheet. I believe this resulted in
more pies than ever before, but above all, it made the Harlan Simmons 12
planning a lot easier and less wasteful. I'll be using the Michelle Wallestad 15
order sheet again this year. Brian Culles 17
Tim Rubin 17
Last year I asked people to order however many pies they Dave Krivanek 23
wanted. I also asked that they pay $6 per pie over 2 Kathleen Gillespie 29
ordered. Well, as near as I can tell, everyone paid $6/pie
even if they only ordered 1 or 2. Thank you, I nearly CONGRATULATIONS and
broke even and that was the goal! GOD’S BLESSINGS TO ALL
This year, I'm going to suggest $7/pie. I'm anticipating
Blood Drive: On November 4th, Monona Grove
that my supplies will be more costly than last year. I'll
High School sponsored a blood drive at Monona
keep track of my receipts and any money made over and
Lutheran Church. Two students, Haley and
above what was spent will be given back to the church. Lexi, coordinated the blood drive. They
recruited blood donors and volunteers to work
An order sheet has been placed in the Welcoming Area. the drive. They collected 43 total units of blood,
Please feel free to place your order. Delivery options will with 29 people being first time donors. This
be Sunday 12/19 or Christmas Eve 12/24. If you don't drive alone will help save as many as 129
pick up your pie when we lock the doors on the 19th or patients.
24th, your pies will be placed in the freezers in the Unfortunately, 10 people were deferred
for various reasons. Both students wanted to
kitchen. Like last year, pies will be marked with your
express how thankful they were to our church
name. The order sheet will be removed after worship
for hosting the site. Monona Grove HS will be
on Wednesday, 12/8. hosting another blood drive here at Monona on
Tuesday, January 11th, 2022 from 9:00 am until
Choices: 2:00 pm. Our next drive will be the following
day on Wednesday, January 12th, 2022 from
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake 1:00 pm until 6:00 pm. Any questions contact
French Silk – rich, buttery chocolate Ann Rubin.
French Silk layered with Caramel, Pecans and Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
cheese. Our family at Mt. Olive invites you to join us for
Candy Cane - Chocolate ganache base layer, white a special movie night on Thursday, December 2,
2021. We are having a private screening of the new
chocolate peppermint mousse with crushed movie: “The Chosen-Messengers” at Marcus Point
candy canes folded into the mousse. Cinema on the west side of Madison. The movie
will begin at 7:00 pm. The cost is $15/ticket.
As in the past, the only thing not "from scratch" in the Please contact our Church Office at 608-238-
5656 if you are interested in purchasing tickets for
pies is the Oreo pie crust. The rest is all homemade. your congregation, for yourself and/or for your
Corey family.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate
to contact me, Pastor Mark Baldwin at 1-515-988-
9554; Director of Family Life Ministries; Mt. Olive
Lutheran Church.MONONA MESSENGER
Monona Ev. Lutheran Church, LC-MS
4411 Monona Dr.
Monona, WI 53716
Address Service Requested
December 2021
Divine Worship
Sunday 9:00 a.m.
Monday Evening 6:30 p.m. (Not at present time)
Communion Services
1st and 3rd Sunday of each month.
Midweek Lenten & Advent
Vespers 6:30 p.m.
NO Monday Worship on Legal Holidays
Sunday Christian Education Hour
Adult Bible Classes 10:30 a.m.
Sunday School 10:15 am Sept. - May
Pastor: Rev. Thomas Nowak
Office Phone: 608.222.7071
E-mail: mlc-ms@hotmail.com
Website: www.mononalutheran.org
Our Gifts to Jesus
Christmas is the gift-giving season. In spite of our best efforts, it is often difficult to find
just the right gift for every person on our lists. God had no such problems. He knew
exactly what each person needed. In fact, He knows our needs better than we know them,
and He knew them before we were ever born. The timing of His most indescribable gift
was perfect. “When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born
under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption
as sons” (Galatians 4:4). Now, that’s a gift that can’t be topped! And it’s the gift that
truly keeps on giving! How do we respond to what God has given us? Shouldn’t we be
asking, “What have I given to Him?” The best gift that we can possibly give Him is
to show Him our love by faithfully and obediently doing what He asks of us. Our Heavenly Father is honored when
we seek to please Him by doing His will. In this Advent and Christmas season, remember that, even though we
don’t gift-wrap presents for Jesus, we can give Him the gifts of love and obedience.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You for leaving the glories of heaven to be my Savior. Thank You for Your love that
teaches me to love. Grant me faith so I can follow Your ways and be obedient to Your Word. I ask Your blessings
on this Christmas season. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Blessings on your stewardship journey!
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