H I G H L I G H T S

Creamed Chicken Dinner Sunday | February 10 11a. m. - 12:30 p.m.

Hosted by the First Lutheran Women of the Church. Serving creamed chicken on biscuits, green beans, assorted salads and desserts. Please plan to join us; freewill offering.

F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 9

Greetings North Branch!

The wisemen followed a star. They were the foreigners who saw something in the heavens and believed in it enough to de-vote their lives seeking it. And while we put them in the Christ’s nativity scene on day one, they most likely spent years following the sky seeking Jesus by that star.

In all likelihood, Jesus was at least a toddler by the time they arrived. They sought him though, through the elements and through the years, and across several countries, and with no promise of certainty that their efforts would not be in vain. They traveled because they believed.

And I wonder, as I read the Christmas narrative how many star-seekers start-ed off the journey with them? Look at a map and you’ll find that it’s a long way from Iran to Bethlehem. Plus, unknown forced marches are detrimental to morale. Like, if you told me you were following a star, I might walk with you for a few days to humor you, but years? You’d have to be nuts. I wonder how many started that journey with them? And yet, we know that at least three made it. The wisemen who found the Christ-child were the ones who kept the faith for the long haul.

Now, as I get older, I am finding that the things that I thought were sprints are actually marathons. For instance: faith. When I was a college kid, I went to church because it made me feel good. It kept my week in balance, it root-ed me in friendships, it helped me keep life in perspective, and it led to da-ting a lot of women. And I kept going to church because I enjoyed the spir-itual “rush” if you will. But as I get older, I realize that not everything about faith is a rush. That faith – following Christ, much like the wisemen following the star – is something that can only happen over the long-haul, and follow-ing God rarely comes with instant gratification. We as God’s people get to be in it for the long-haul. We as God’s seekers get to be the people who relent-lessly seek Christ, follow Christ, share Christ – and we get to do it over the long haul!

Another Christmas story: This ones about a man named Simeon. Simeon was an old and faithful man who was promised that he would see the Messiah before he died. And as he grew old, he waited in the temple day after day for that day to come where he would get to see the promised Savior. And when the day came when he got to see young Jesus, he was so ecstatic that he ran over, snatched up child-Jesus (cause imagine someone doing that to

Leaders’ Spotlight 2

Council Notes 2

Giving Opportunities 3

Church News & Events 4

P.O.P. 5

Church Council & Boards 6

Continued on page 2

Comfort food on a cold day

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Outgoing Council President By Jill Nosal

your kid) and danced. And then he said these words that I hope to live by. He said, “Lord, let your serv-ant depart in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation” and then Simeon was then ready to die.

Simeon had waited his whole life, served God his whole life, sought God’s will for him and obeyed his whole life. And then he got to see that “star” that was promised to him in Christ Jesus --- and was ready to go to death. He was in for the long-haul.

And that’s my hope for you dear Church – that we can be in for the long-haul. Following God, seeking God, praying for how God is working in our lives, is something that happens over the long-haul. And so, may you have Spiritual “rushes” when you need them, but more so, may God grant you the relent-less persistence Follow and Seek God over the long-haul.

-PD

Pastor’s page continued

Leader’s Spotlight

WE ARE CHURCH TOGETHER At the writing of this article we have just had our Annual Meeting and voted new members onto Church Council as well as the different Boards. Thank you in advance for dedi-cating your time and energy to our church. Our Youth group served another won-

derful soup luncheon that warmed us all up on that cold and blustery day-thank you to all the youth and their parents! Our Annual Report demonstrates over and over how we are Church Together. Each Board Report as well as the Endowment Fund Com-mittee report and Women of the ELCA report shows what they have done with their unique talents and gifts to show God’s love to each of us here at First Lutheran as well as those in our communities near and far. Thank you!

December 2018 Report Old Business Motion carried to accept Annual Meeting Agenda with the addition of Sabbatical discussion.

Board Reports:

Stewardship & Social Ministry Increased Steward-ship Misc. to $250 to support Lutheran Campus Min-istries at Peru State College for each of the next two years.

*A complete set of minutes is available on the kiosk in the narthex.

Council Notes

January 20, 2019 First Lutheran Church, We have inspected the financial records of the treasurer and have found them to be in balance and in an orderly fashion.

Karen Schweitzer Connie Eidenmiller

Gerri Stubbendick, Jill Nosal

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Giving Opportunities

February: Elmwood Pantry This month the usual needs are desired but definite-

ly: Canned fruit of all kinds Peanut butter Dried noodles Laundry Soap

Of course they will take anything and are very thankful for what they re-ceive. Please have your donations to church by Feb-ruary 24. Reminder: Your donations must be non-perishable and NOT EXPIRED.

A Note of Thanks

Second Mile Giving

Project Estimated Cost Rcvd to date

Kiruweni Dispensary On Going $25,591

Defy Ventures On Going $ 1,310

Peru Missionaries On Going $ 1,050

A/C Units $ 9,500 $ 1,900

The family of Len Haveman would like to thank eve-ryone who attended his service, sent a card, flow-ers, memorial or kind words. Many thanks to the Women of the Church who did a wonderful job serving the food and thank you to all who provided food. Thank you Pastor David for the many visits, com-forting words and prayers in Lincoln and for the great church service.

May God Bless all of you! Fae and Family

David and I would like to “Thank You” for all the prayers, support, phone calls, & cards sent to David these last four months. It has been a tough road and many set backs but he made it by all the “Blessings” given to him and our family.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL! David and Sharon Dickman

I would like to thank Pastor David and my First Lu-theran family for all the prayers and well wishes be-fore and after my surgery, it meant so much to me, and Jill, thank you, you are the BEST nurse ever.

Gerri

Way to Go! The basement kids raised $53.14 and donated 17 blankets to those in need this past Holi-day Season.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Christmas Train this year it was a huge success. Tabitha Threads, Elmwood Food Bank, and the com-munity of Syracuse Thank You for all of your dona-tions.

FLC Education Committee

Thank you for all the food items and donations given to the Elmwood Food Bank this past year. Your year long support is amazing. We appreciate everything you have done! Thank you from every-one at the Food Bank.

Linda Blunt Volunteer

“Baby it’s cold outside” The Coat Drive Continues As long as it is cold and people continue to drop off donations to the coat drive we’ll continue to take those donations to the missions. Thank you to all who have donated thus far. You have shown God’s love and provided warmth to those who are in need. Donated to date: Adult coats 29 Hooded sweatshirts 6 Gloves 44 pr. Stocking caps 36 Scarves 19 Sweatshirts 17 Long Johns 2 Caps 3

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Our Sympathy to the family of…

Leonard Haveman passed away on December 22, 2018, his funeral services was held here on Thu., December 27.

Church News and Events

Church Activity cancellations due to weather We know bad weather can affect our regularly

scheduled meetings on week nights as well as on Sunday morning. If Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca school is cancelled on the

same day as a meeting scheduled at church, the meeting at church will be cancelled as well. We will still continue to do Robo calls if services are cancelled on Sunday mornings.

Corrections to the Annual Report

If you find your address or phone number in the directory is incorrect or if you’ve cancelled your landline and use a cell phone, please contact the church office.

DEFY VENTURES/NEBRASKA

Thank you to those who came to listen to one of the Defy graduates back in Nebraska. Jeremy and Jason gave interesting talks and reminded us that this pro-gram truly works! I’d like to share a little bit about two of the program graduates that returned to the community the week before Christmas.

Kim, a graduate from the Nebraska Correctional Cen-ter for Women in York, NE moved into a transitional living facility in Omaha. Defy staff worked with Kim to secure her state ID, drivers’ license, bus pass and other essential basic needs after four years of incar-ceration. Defy activated their volunteer network to help her find employment and she has already re-ceived a job offer contingent on her identification paperwork arriving.

Pete was also paroled the week before Christmas. He is employed and will be able to get his feet under him while living in our first Omaha transitional house along with a Defy house manager.

The first weeks of release are critical to returning citizens, and through Defy’s case management both in-prison and post-release, they are poised to hit the ground running and begin navigating their new lives with a network of support.

Your support has a tangible, transformational impact on their lives by not only helping to fund training while in prison, but also for the graduates/returning citizens. Gifts to Defy Nebraska provide reentry case management, bus passes, state identification, emer-gency funds, reentry care packages and continued programming.

For more information on how you can help, please contact either Pastor David (402) 269-4180, or Diane Reuss (402-679-2756.)

World Day of Prayer Christ Lutheran Church Women of rural Syracuse will host the service on Friday, March 1, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend. They ask each church to provide one willing reader to partici-pate in the service. If you would be willing to partic-ipate, please contact the church office at office@firstlutheranavoca.org or 402-275-3300.

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THE LAST LAUGH

The poorly paid local pastor grew watermelons to supplement his meager income. He was doing pretty well, but he was disturbed by some local kids who would sneak into his watermelon patch at night and eat his watermel-ons. After some careful thought, he came up with a clever idea that he thought would scare the kids away for sure.

He made up a sign and posted it in the field. The next day, the kids show up and they saw the sign which read, "Warning! One of the watermelons in this field has been injected with cyanide."

The kids ran off, made up their own sign and posted it next to the pastor's sign. When the pastor returned, he surveyed the field. He noticed that no watermelons are missing, but the sign next to his read, "Now there are two!"

As a congregation, we are committed to voicing our praises and “not sitting on our pinches”! To be a healthy, faithful community, we need to be open with one another about what we expect in all areas of our life together. If there is anything in our community life that brings you joy or causes you to be concerned, please share your feelings and questions. Thank you for taking the time to communicate about the ways we are doing well in our ministry together at First Lutheran, and areas that need attention.

If you would like a personal response to your praise or pinch, please be sure to sign this form at the bottom

Praises:___________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Pinches:___________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Desired Outcome (Solution):__________________________________________________________________

A specific question I would like answered:_________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Name ___________________________________(If you would like a direct response to your Praise and Pinch)

Please return this form to the Church Office or place in the box in the Narthex

January Update:

We received two praises and one pinch this month. The pinch was about how the entrance way to our church looked cluttered. We walked over as a Praise and Pinch team and moved some things around and also agreed that it did look cluttered especially over November and December. Without a name we are unable to reach out to the person to see what else we can do, but we will keep an eye on the “clutter-level”

Our two praises thanked Pastor Buco and Robyn Stubbendick for the good newsletter articles last month, as well as thanks to the teachers and children who helped with the Christmas program for telling Christ’s birth story so well!

Praises, Opportunities, and Pinches (P.O.P.)

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PRESIDENT Dennis Knake (21)

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jim Niebuhr (20)

SECRETARY

Cindy Drake (20)

TREASURER

Connie Eidenmiller (21)

YOUTH REPRESENTATIVE Bailey Pearson (20) BOARDS DEACONS Director: Julie Schmale (21) Leigh Schmale (21) Renee Nolte (21)

Josh Stubbendick (21) Leon Bose (20)

WITNESS & FELLOWSHIP Director: Teresa Lorensen (20)

Carol Graham (20) Barb Ludwig* (20) Margaret Jacobson (20) Lisa Buchholz (20)

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Director: Marci Gartner

Pam Rumery (21) Kelly Stephenson* (21) Janet Johnson (21) Paula Brammier (20)

STEWARDSHIP & SOCIAL MINISTRY Director: Ron Schweitzer (21)

Garry Hillman (21) Betty Dressen (21) Morgan Brunsting* (20) Kari Wockenfuss (20)

WORSHIP & MUSIC Director: Hillary Wiebusch (20)

Dixie Dobbs (21) Cathy Callaway (21) Amanda Stubbendick (20) Heather Kestler (20)

PROPERTIES Director: Chuck Phillips (21)

Dayne Wilson (21) Larry Pfeiffer* (21) Jim Buchholz (21) Doug Slattery (20)

YOUTH & FAMILY MINISTRY Director: Jacki Stubbendick* (20)

Allison Hein (21) Chantelle Schroeder* (21) Becca Berner* (20)

Becky Knake (20) NOMINATING COMMITTEE

Sherri Wilson* (21) Bev Panko (21) Jan Niebuhr (20) Marissa Slattery (20)

ENDOWMENT FUND COMM. (3 yr. Term) Jim Niebuhr* (21)

Connie Eidenmiller* (21) Renee Nolte (21) Leon Bose (20) Barb Lamb (20)

DELEGATES TO SYNOD ASSEMBLY/ CLUSTER MEETING Jan Mueller & Bev Panko FINANCIAL SECRETARY (non-council) Teresa Pfeifer

CEMETERY BOARD

Lawrence Lutjemeyer (20) Phyllis Berner (20)

Leonard Buchholz (21) Duane Carlson (21) Ron Schweitzer (21)

*denotes those who are serving a second term and are not eligible for reelection denotes Church Council member

Church Council, Boards and Committee Members