January Newsletter - Zion Lutheran Church and Preschool

The Wheatlander
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church | The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
The Time of Christmas
JAN U ARY 2015
N aperville, Illinois
Keep Nothing Dry This New Year
Following Jesus is always Good News, which means that what the Bible teaches about stewardship is
Good News too.
In a book called Giving to
God, Mark Powell retells an old
story that is the medieval
equivalent of an “urban legend”
about the baptism of the Gauls.
Pastor’s
challenge:
I’m asking that the whole
congregation, everyone
confirmation age and older,
commit to reading through the
Bible together
that outstretched arm NOT clutching an ax or
sword…but a purse or wallet. Jesus said, “You
cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt 6:24).
Mammon refers to money and the things money
can buy. Jesus could have said “God and poliRev. Jared
The Gauls were a warlike tics,” or “God and sports,” or any number of
Eggebraaten
other obsessions. But He didn’t. He said, “God
people who in ancient times
lived in what is now France, Belgium, and West- and money.” Even baptized Christians like to
ern Germany. They spoke a Celtic language and keep their money dry. In fact, many of us try to
rope off this one area of our lives as “off limits.”
were influenced religiously by pagan Druids.
“It’s nobody’s business what I do with my
Eventually Christian missionaries ventured into
Gallic territory and, over time, many of the Gauls money,” we might say. But if you’ve ever said
those words out loud, they instantly sound foolbecame Christians. As the story goes, when a
ish. Of course, it’s God’s business, and it’s our
converted warrior was baptized in a river or
stream, he would hold one arm high in the air as business too because we’re in this together.
the missionary dunked him under the water. This
But this is something that we don’t hear
seemed like a strange custom and the missionar- enough; and if you remember anything from this
ies soon learned the reason for it. When the next sermon, remember this: what the Bible teaches
battle or skirmish broke out, the warlike Gaul
about stewardship is Good News! Being a discould say, “This arm is not baptized!”, then grab ciple is good news! Loving Jesus is good news!
a sword or ax, and ride off to destroy his enemy And when we understand that (and put it into
practice), we will have happier and better lives.
in a most un-Christian manner.
Again, this is probably not historically accu- Following Jesus is always Good News. It’s not
rate, but the image is compelling. It’s a picture of easy, and it’s not always fun—but there’s nothing
better.
someone—anyone—trying to keep one part of
their body, one aspect of their identity, free from
the influence of baptism. Today our focus is on
stewardship, and stewardship is about getting
completely wet. It’s about looking at ourselves,
discovering what it is that we would like to keep
dry, and then plunging whatever that is in the waters of Holy Baptism.
Observed
Sunday, January 11th
8am & 10:45am
Family Movie Event
Saturday, January 24th
3-5pm
Activity Center
Stewardship
Sunday
January 25th
Celebratory Luncheon after
Second Service
Stewardship is about giving to God. It’s
about taking seriously the words that we so easily
pray: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”
When we pray, “Thy will be done,” we ask for
what God wants to happen in our lives to take
place—already, now, on earth as in heaven.
Powell, to whom I owe many of these insights,
points out that stewardship is always about giving
with a sense of both duty, and delight. In the
New Heaven and New Earth we will do all things
with delight. But this side of the final Resurrection, there is also duty when it comes to God’s
will.
Many people instantly think of money and
“fund-raising” when they hear the word
“stewardship.” But stewardship is not fundraising. Stewardship is a way of life. We use the
phrase “time, talents, and treasures” to sometimes
broaden stewardship to encompass more than just
money, and that’s a good thing. But even “time,
talents, and treasures” doesn’t say it all. The Bible speaks of stewardship of the earth, taking
proper care of creation (Gen 1:26). Stewardship
of our bodies (Rom 12:1, 1 Cor 6:19-20). Stewardship of our families, our marriages, and even
stewardship of the Gospel: preserving the lifegiving message of what God has done through
Christ Jesus and sharing that message with the
world. Stewardship involves lots of things.
But in this world, money is the one thing that
many of us would like to keep dry. Just picture
modern Christians going under the water with
And if following Jesus in repentance and
faith is Good News, so is following His invitation
to live a generous life. It’s good news to know
we have a Redeemer, and that we are only stewards living under the lordship of Christ, listening
for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
It’s Good news to know that through sacrificial gifts we demonstrate our praise and adoration
of the God who is so good to us.
And it’s good news to experience the simple
joy of benefitting others with our gifts, even
when we can’t always see the immediate benefits.
There is duty and there is delight when it
comes to giving, but God invites you not to hold
back, not to keep anything dry, but to let His calling and His washing of you in Baptism take hold
of your life—you’re whole life. Jesus plunged
His whole-self into our salvation. He invites us
to repent, believe, and pray “Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven.”
This month we will be talking a lot about
stewardship as being Good News. We hope to
provide direction from God’s Word each Sunday,
as well as offer down-to-earth ways to think
about how much you should give to the church
directly verses other giving. On Sunday, January 25 you will have an opportunity to fill out a
pledge card for 2015, and join a celebratory
luncheon.
New Year blessings to you as you “get totally wet” with Jesus and live in the Good News
joy of duty and delight. In Christ,
─ Pastor Eggebraaten
Zion ECLC
Serving This Month
Early Childhood Learning Center
Sunday | January 4
8:00am
Director
Beth Farrell
Elder
December was a busy month for our preschool! We started off
with a visit from Miss Katie Goolish from the Plainfield Library.
She read three books and sang songs with each class. She was
very happy to come and wants to come back. We got a major
compliment from her that our children were engaged and well
behaved.
During Advent we learned about the birth
of Jesus. The classrooms were busy
places filled with song and projects with
glitter! We also practiced singing some of
our favorite songs for the Christmas program on December 14th.
Brad Curry
Mickey Cruz
A colyte Olivea Herzberg
Raymond Dean
Greeters Dick & Delores
Michalek
Ernie & Fran Elkins
Organist Paulette Reid
Sunday | January 11
8:00am
Elder
10:45am
Randy Johnson
Jeff Bull
A colyte Remle Herzberg
Megan White
Greeters Dick & Esther
Morley
Michele Lantvit
Organist Paulette Reid
Sunday | January 18
We had a packed house and ran out of
chairs. The children loved acting out the
motions and using a star prop for
“Twinkle, Twinkle, Special Star”. They shouted for joy and enjoyed that their
loved ones sang along to “Go Tell It on the Mountain”. Many of the children
learned this song in the Preschool 2 class. After the program we enjoyed a big variety of family donated treats at the reception.
During the week of January 25th we will be celebrating Lutheran Schools Week.
We are so grateful to be able to share Jesus’ love with the families and children.
There will be fun activities and theme dress up days through the week. On Sunday
January 25th we will host the coffee hour. The week will end with a VIP/ Dad’s
Day on Saturday January 31st 10:00am. There will be games of skill and a Zion
Preschool favorite Bounce House. Please pray for our families as they continue
the faith formation of their children.
The Zion Preschool staff and I would like to wish everyone a blessed Christmas
and a joy filled new year.
Birthdays&Anniversaries
&Anniversaries
January 
1 Alayna Dieter
1 Adrienne Floyd
2 Willaim Heise
4 Richard Michalek
6 Amy Ortiz
7 Allison Purcell
7 Megan Purcell
7 Sarah Purcell
9 Larissa Cruz
12 Sherri Taylor
13 Frederick Besco
15 Tom Soltwisch
16
16
20
24
25
25
26
26
27
28
28
29
31
Gregg Andermann
Debra Coulman
Kyle Palacios
Alexander Rueffer
Katie Coulman
Ronald Kerst
Adley Eggebraaten
Timothy Lantvit
Sharon Baker
Benajamin Groves
Jim Rueffer
Pam Frazier
Fred Hacker
Homebound
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you to the list.
10:45am
Betty Baldi
16220 Powderhorn St.
Crest Hill, IL 60403
Birthday: A pril 22nd
Arleen Bramscher
The Tillers
4390 Route 71 - Rm. 506
Oswego, IL 60543
Birthday: March 25th
Malinda Woesthoff
C/O Judy Hanson
29W332 Hartman Dr.
Naperville, IL 60564
Birthday: October 21st
8:00am
10:45am
Ron Dieter
Elder
Dave Dong
A colyte Kristen Nielsen
Madyson Lantvit
Greeters Mark & Mary Pantke Miguel & Anabel
Cruz
Organist Paulette Reid
Sunday | January 25
Elder
Dave Seifrid
Mickey Cruz
A colyte Carlie Herzberg
Kristin Blaszczak
Greeters Bruce & SueBea
Wright
David Dong & Pam
Frazier
Organist Paulette Reid
Altar Guild
Fran Elkins, Alice Ragosta
U shers
8:00am
Russ Andermann
Paul Andermann
Alan Andermann
Ben Andermann
Jim Rueffer
10:45am
John Ruskamp
Pam Frazier
Roy Strassner
Dave Vileta
Confirmation
Begins
Thursday, Jan. 29th
Contact the Church
Pastor Eggebraaten
[email protected]
630-991-8770 anytime #
Beth Farrell, Interim Preschool Director
[email protected]
630-922-6086
Laura Bull, Office Secretary
[email protected]
630-904-1124
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
11007 South Book Road
Naperville, IL 60564
Office Hours: M T W F, 9-2pm

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