From our Senior Pastor Twenty-two years ago I met Pastor Mioche Rock in a

seminary class. Practicing the hospitality I learned while growing up, I invited him to Thanksgiving with my family. We did not particularly know each other; we were just classmates. He stuffed himself into our full car and we set off for the farm. He sat down to a table groaning with food, surrounded by about 20 people. All those names, all the strange food and all those questions being asked of him; what a brave man. Pastor Mioche was not the first guest to join the family Thanksgiving table. One year we had guests from three different countries. My parents and paternal grandmother taught hospitality through extending it. I remember one particular incident when I was almost a teen when I did not think so much of hospitality. The kids in the family had been promised we could also eat steak that night, not just the grown-ups. Then unexpected guests, in the form of army buddies, showed up in the afternoon and the kids were back to hot-dogs. Hospitality means generously sharing what one has; food, accommodations and welcome. Each time I’ve visited Haiti I have been treated to the most generous hospitality in all ways. The most notable is: People who do not have enough to eat have given me their most valuable treasure, food. Hospitality happens because we believe all we have comes from God and that God will continue to provide. I encourage you to practice hospitality this Thanksgiving and see who shows up. Shalom, Pastor Marie marieannka@aol.com

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Colossians 2:6-7 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

From our Part-time Associate Pastor With the approach of Christmas, it

might be good to reflect on what we may “want” ‘under the tree’. After all, this is quite a tempting time of year to think

“extravagantly” about more than just ‘sugarplums’. On a recent Wednesday I lead the Oasis Worship. The appointed theme was the 9th & 10th Commandments ~ about not Coveting. My points included God’s abundance in giving us all we need…and wanting us to share with others cheerfully. The Commandments are needed because of our lack of contentment, meaning: we always want “more”…and, often, more than others. Therefore, with Commandments 4 through 10, God sets limits and boundaries on our desires and impulses – for the sake of living together in harmony with others and our being content / satisfied within ourselves. When it comes to “things”, God doesn’t want us being all greedy and grabby. That’s a tough sell to sinful people in any “consumer culture” midst “Christmas Glitz.” We must also fight the urge to “Love Things and Use People” ~ rather than the other way around. Given our predisposition and bad example of some adults, we need to subdue and control our immature, covetous, sinful natures…of wanting it all…now! A good example of bad attitudes is Toddlers. Don’t we know they (and some adults) are exposed by this little ditty (that Cheyenne and Brittney read for me in worship).

The Toddlers Creed by Dr. Burton L. White

If I want it, IT'S MINE! If I give it to you and change my mind later, IT'S MINE!

If I can take it away from you, IT'S MINE! If it's mine ~ it will never belong to anybody else,

NO MATTER WHAT. If we are building something together,

ALL THE PIECES ARE MINE! If it looks just like mine, IT'S MINE!

If it breaks or needs putting away, IT'S YOURS!

http://www.scrapbook.com/poems/doc/1811/351.html Most importantly, the First Commandment reminds us we are NOT the center of the universe nor Numero Uno. God loves ALL his children and TRUSTS us to share God’s Bounty – resources, food, things – because we CARE about others…and we want to please God. Therefore, let us not be so consumed by or concerned with our own Christmas Lists that we ignore God’s purpose in creating an abundant world, and for sending a Savior, His Son, Jesus Christ into our midst…to show us the Way through it.

Merry Christmas PrC (Pastor Chris) Miller prcmiller.author@gmail.com

List of Saint Paul Veterans Pastor Chris is working on getting a list together of all of Saint Paul veterans. Here is a start. Please contact the church office if you can add to the list.

NAME Branch of Service Gordon Anderson Army (Korean War) Don Baker Army (WWII) Tom Bollman Navy Willard Brandt Army Louis Burmester Army Ken DeBoer Nat’l Guard/Reserves(?) Bob Holets Army Carlyle Johnson Army Jerry Kruse Marines Roy Larson Navy Dave Morken Air Force Miller Ness Army Norm Pipho Army Bill (FW) Sanborn Air Force Tom Thompson Army & Air Force Dan Toft ? Tom Webb Army Stuart Weis Army Active Duty Ty Pike ? Evan Schacht ? Dustin Witthoeft Navy

December 1st Happenings Our Dec. 1st Mission Coffee Hour offering will go to PI Area Home Services. Your donations are greatly appreciated to help support this worthwhile organization! The Special Food Sunday for Dec. 1st for the PI Sharing Shelves is Canned Tuna and Chicken. You may place your canned donations in the shopping carts in either entry way at church.

Missions Committee News (God’s Work Our Hands) Bell Ringers Needed! Sign up to ring bells at Island Market in Pine Island for Goodhue County Salvation Army Friday and Saturday afternoons until Christmas. Register to ring at www.registertoring.com. Additional information is available on the church’s narthex table. All donations will be used to support Goodhue County programs.

About Your Kids We hope you were able to hear the Faith Formation children sing and play instruments during Worship Service on November 3. If you missed their wonderful performance, there will be more to come thanks to Myra and Tianyao's help! The children completed the

Spark Rotation on The Lord's Prayer. They have done so well reciting the prayer with confidence. We have begun practicing for the Christmas Program, “The Noisy Night,” held on December 8 at 10:30 a.m. We are excited to partner with the Praise Team for this program! When we haven't been practicing for the program, the children have been busy with activities relating to thankfulness. In December, we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus with a variety of activities. Please remember there will be no regular Faith Formation classes on December 1. Families are asked to join their children for the CrossGenerational Advent Event described in the newsletter. Our last Faith Formation gathering for 2019 will be December 15. We will resume again on January 5. Enjoy the wonderful Christmas season. 2019 Dates to Remember: December 1 - 9:30 a.m.-10:15 a.m. - CrossGenerational Advent Event (No Faith Formation) December 8 – 9:30-10:15 a.m. – Dress Rehearsal 10:30 a.m. – Faith Formation Christmas Program (Preschool-6th Grade) December 15 - 10:30 a.m. Worship Service - Music provided by Faith Formation Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook. Ashly and Cindy

Advent Fun! Join us for our 2nd Annual Cross-Generational

Advent Event! When: Sunday, December 1st at 9:30am (we will not be starting prior to 9:30am) Who: Grandmas, Grandpas, Uncles, Aunts, Neighbors, Friends! What: A morning of fun sanding and staining your very own wooden Nativity Scene and a do-it-yourself Nativity Snack!

Christmas Season Worship Schedule On Sunday, December 8, the 8:15 am worship service will be a regular service. The majority of the 10:30 am service will be our Faith Formation Children’s Christmas program. On Thursday, December 19, we will hold a Christmas worship service at 11:00am, followed by a noon meal. Christmas worship services: We will have three Candlelight Christmas Eve services on December 24, at 3:00pm, 5:00pm and 10:00pm. There will be NO Christmas Day worship service. On Sunday, December 29 there will be ONE worship service at 9:00 am. NO Faith Formation on December 22 and 29.

Scrip Gift Cards We order Scrip Gift cards on a monthly basis, and all proceeds go to youth and family mission events. The next deadline for ordering will be December 8 and this would be an

excellent time to do some Christmas shopping! You should have your cards by worship the following weekend, and can be picked up in the office. There are over 500 retailers available! View the full list at www.glscrip.com. You receive full face value of the card, and our church receives a percentage of the sale from the Great Lakes Scrip Center, sponsored by all of the participating businesses. Order forms are available in the church narthex, or on our church website: www.saintpaulpi.org. Our order forms contain a list of some of the popular places that our members order from, but only a fraction of the ones that are available. If you find something on the website that you’d like to order from, please write it on it the form and include it in your total. __________________________________________

Winter Fun Day at Berne Church - Saturday, Dec. 7 from 10am to 3pm.

Kids can have fun while parents go shopping, on a date, or take a nap! Ages 4-10 (older

siblings welcome as helpers). Lunch, crafts, play,

movie, stories. This event is FREE, but space is limited so RSVP by Dec. 4 to save a spot: 356-4340.

Kitchen Cleaning: Each month's service group leaders should check kitchen for towels to wash periodically and especially after planned events. Please clean the kitchen at the end of the month. November – Group 2 – Joanne Sanborn & Rhonda Sellnow December – Group 1 – Judy Hartl & Nadeen Lunde

*December Circle meeting: The Elizabeth and Lydia Circles will meet together on Tues., December 3 at 12:30 pm at Trailhead Grill for a Christmas lunch. Feel free to bring a guest! We will not have Bible Study this month.

All Saints Remembered

On November 3 we remembered these individuals who we have held Services of Life and Resurrection for in the

past twelve months: Bobbie Heimberg, Marlow McGowan, Betty Scheffler, Betty Danielson, Erma Mensing and Margaret Larson.

Cancellation Policy As we approach winter, we would like you to review the policy we have for worship cancellations:

Saint Paul Lutheran’s policy for worship cancellation (to be made by 3 members of the executive committee): * The decision will be made by noon for a weekday worship service. * The decision will be made by 6:00 pm on Saturday for Sunday worship. * Cancellations will be posted on: – local channel 7 TV if mid-week – this website – our church answering machine (507-356-8925) – our Facebook page – the 2 Rochester TV stations (KTTC and Fox 47) A reminder that if worship is cancelled, so is Confirmation and Faith Formation. If the Pine Island School District cancels classes or has an early out due to weather, there will be no Confirmation class that evening.

NEWSLETTER Saint Paul Lutheran Church 214 Third Street SW, PO Box 708 Pine Island, MN 55963 Address Service Requested Staff – Marie AK Anderson, Senior Pastor Chris Miller, Part-time Associate Pastor Website: saintpaulpi.org 507-356-8925 Office Hours: M-F 9:00am - 4:00pm Worship Schedule Sunday Worship – 8:15 and 10:30am Faith Formation – 9:30am (3-yr-olds-6

th gr.)

Coffee fellowship between services Communion Served on 1st, 3rd and 5th weeks Wednesday Evening Oasis – Meal served from 5:15-6:00pm Worship with communion – 6:15pm Confirmation large groups – 7:00pm ____________________________________________

November 26, 2019 - God’s work. Our hands. ____________________________________________

Sharing and Caring Tree Again this Christmas season we plan to participate in the local L.O.V.E. project, to give you an opportunity to share the Christmas spirit with ones less fortunate in and around our community. Look for the Sharing Tree on Sunday, Dec. 1st in the

narthex. Take an ornament off a tree, and make sure the family number and your name get recorded in the notebook. Our church gives clothing to individuals; while another church is responsible for the toys, food, etc… Please bring back to the church the wrapped article of clothing you purchase, with the "ornament" from the tree attached to the package, no later than Sunday, December 15.

________________________ DidJaKnow that our church office is open

Monday-Friday, 9am – 4pm? Sometimes it is

closed over the noon hour, but outside of

holidays, we are open every week day.

Saint Paul Lutheran Youth

Cookie Walk

Anyone – Please sign up on table in fellowship hall if you are willing to donate cookies! Youth – sign up in fellowship hall to help work! This counts as hours towards Service to Saint Paul’s for Confirmands.

Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Pine Island, MN 55963 Permit # 17