Hope Lutheran Church “Pointing to Christ...Hope for the Home” January 6, 2019

2308 Gravois Road, High Ridge, MO 63049 (636) 677-8788 hopehighridge@sbcglobal.net www.hopehighridge.org

THIS WEEK AT HOPE

TODAY January 6, 2019 8:00 AM Holy Communion 9:30 AM Sunday School & Adult Bible Study 10:45 AM Holy Communion 6:30 PM Confirmation

MONDAY: 10:00 AM Ladies Bible Study 6:30 PM Board of Early Childhood Ministry

TUESDAY: 6:00 PM Board of Trustees 7:00 PM Al-Anon 7:00 PM Choir

WEDNESDAY: 6:00 PM Worship & Holy Communion

THURSDAY: 9:00 AM Men’s Bible Study

SATURDAY: 8:30 AM Oil Painting Class

NEXT SUNDAY: 8:00 AM Holy Communion 9:30 AM Sunday School & Adult Bible Study 10:45 AM Holy Communion

Remember in Prayer Tim Friedel, Ella Cook, Cindi Hawkins, Gerry Schumacher and Gil Tritch

Fruits of Our Faith Week of: December 30, 2018 Gifts to do His Work - General Fund: $13,863.78 Worshipped: 117

Birthdays January 6th Mary Ann Morris January 7th Richard Kraemer, Wayne Rainey & Chase Scarato January 8th Laverne Glandt & Joshua Nelson January 9th Christine Yakel January 10th Bonnie Rees, Landon Schilling & Tony Sharp January 11th Phoenix Morris January 12th Paige Freiner

Anniversaries January 7th Harold & Linda Lindahl

HLECC Corner

Before break, Ms. Jesi's class enjoyed all kinds of Christmas fun: gingerbread tasting and puzzles, dressing up & reenacting the story of Jesus' birth, manger letter

matching, candy cane sensory fun and more!

Changes to the Calendar

Wednesday 6pm worship resumes January 9th

Wednesday night Bible Study at 7pm resumes January 23rd, continuing the study of Romans.

ALTAR FLOWERS

Today’s altar pieces are given by

Ken & Kathy Gustavison with thanks for God’s

many blessings.

Witnessing. What’s it all about? The Every One His Witness Lutheran evangelism program puts sound doctrine into practical action for sharing

the faith with people in our everyday lives. Participants learn: What is witnessing? Why do we witness? And the “how-to” of witnessing using the

LASSIE approach — Listen-Ask-Seek-Share-Invite-Encourage. Pastor Jason will be offering this class a few times over the coming year. To help the class be the most beneficial, we are limiting each class to 18. The first class begins January 27

th and will take place on Sunday mornings through

March 3rd

. Please sign up on the bulletin board today!

Sunday Morning Bible Classes at 9:30am

Here is a quick run down on what's coming up...

- Beginning January 13th, the Adult Bible class in the church basement will

be led by our two seminary students Chris Deneen and Alex Smith. They

will be teaching on the book of Colossians. In Colossians, Paul speaks to

several issues that are relevant to us today. In this letter, Paul warns

Christians against false teachings, gives instructions for holy living, and

points to Christ as our ultimate hope and glory.

- On January 27th, Pastor Jason will add the EveryOne His Witness class

that will be taught in the Activity Center. More information is below.

Donations Needed to Update Children's Busy Bags

If you ever attend 10:45 am church service, you will notice that all 8 of

our children's busy bags get used each week by our youngest members!

These bags are great parent tools as kids learn to be a part of the church!

The busy bags were created about 3 years ago and the contents have

not been updated since! We would like to add some new activities and

books to each of them and are in need of some help. If you are willing/able,

please consider donating a small amount of money towards updating these

bags for our young members. Please put any donations in an envelope

marked "busy bags" and place in Julie Wagner's mailbox. Thank you!

Hope Congregation - Merry Christmas and Happy Healthy 2019! Thank you so much for the Christmas basket of love! We appreciate your concern, care and many prayers. Also for the “thinking of you” cards we’ve received. You’ll always be our Hope friends and family. We love you and pray for you all. Your brother and sister in Christ, Gil and Naomi Tritch

Please take some time to review the Bible readings below, they

will be the subject of next week’s sermon.

Isaiah 43:1–7

Romans 6:1–11

Luke 3:15–22

The Baptism of our Lord is an “Epiphany” of the one true

God in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. In divine mercy,

He takes His place with sinners and takes their sin upon

Himself. “When all the people were baptized,” Jesus

submitted Himself to a baptism of repentance for the

forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:21). He had no sins of His own,

but He took the sins of the world upon Himself and so was

baptized into His own death. Therefore, “when you pass

through the waters,” He is with you (Is. 43:2). He created

you for His glory, and He has redeemed you with His blood,

that you may be His own and live with Him in His Kingdom

(Is. 43:1, 7). As you are baptized with a baptism like His, so

also are you united with Him in His death and resurrection

that you “might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). For all

who are baptized into Christ Jesus receive His anointing of

the Holy Spirit and are named by His Father as beloved and

well-pleasing sons and daughters.

Life Thought in the Church Year

The Heavenly Father welcomed outsiders into His household at Christmas (Matthew 2:1, 11). He even escorted them toward His nativity and incarnation by an extraordinary gesture. His loving grace held the

magi as precious as His own Son, regardless of their origin and location. God’s favor shines the same way

upon unborn ones, even in their sometimes unfavorable circumstances. And His forgiveness embraces all sinners—even those with histories

checkered by violence against life.

Calling All Singers! The Hope Lutheran Choir will

resume Tuesday, January 8th at 7:00 PM.

Everyone who loves to sing is welcome to join us.

Coming up, January 12th, your invited to another Hope Lutheran Oil Painting class featuring this classic, rendition of "Arctic Beauty", artist Bob Ross. In the dead of winter, we prepare and paint together this majestic painting as we meditate on the crown of thorns on his head and clothed him in purple to depict royalty: Mark 15:17 And they dressed him in purple and braided a crown of thorns and put it on him;… There are other instances of purple being mentioned in the Bible and each time it denotes wealth, honour and royal majesty. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! By His Grace we "Live Life" with Joy and Peace eternally! Thanks in His Name - Randy Tritch

The ninth annual Christmas baskets for Hope “Shut Ins” were delivered by Pastor Wagner and Hope’s Men’s Quartet members. A

big thank you goes out to Hope’s exceptionally talented Quartet, composed of Steve Knese, Ed Iliff, Rich Sartori and Pastor Wagner. It

is always such a blessing to see the happy faces, hear their stories and words of appreciation! This year’s baskets, special prayers and

well wishes were delivered to: Bud Estell, Bud Gmachl, Susan Green, Cindi Hawkins, Carl Johnson, Terry Longworth, Joy Mathis, Pat Mach, Josh Nelson, Betty Sanders, Melvin Seeman Sr., Gerry Schumacher,

Gil and Naomi Tritch and Judy Woolard. We would like to thank Jackie Fonod, Gloria High, Carole Myers and Donna Schilling who

helped put the baskets together. As usual, the homemade cookies, caramel corn and candy were the favorites this year. A special thank you to the many families that made the delicious treats, this made

the baskets an even more caring congregation effort! We are so blessed here at Hope to have so many thoughtful members. All the

monies for the other basket contents were made possible by a generous Thrivent Grant. Your treat donations help make possible

this ongoing service to many of our Hope members who are not able to be with us at church at Christmas and all year. This remembrance

helps brighten their celebration of Our Savior Jesus Christ’s birth.

Hoping you had a blessed Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year!! As we all remember God is the Giver of the very best gift.

Our Savior Jesus Christ!!

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!!!

Concordia Seminary Guild Luncheon

Date: Friday, Feb. 8, 2019 Registration: 11:30 a.m. in Koburg Hall Lunch: Noon Program: Laura Hemmer, Director, Financial Aid; Adopt-A- Student Recipients Ingathering: Food items for the Concordia Seminary Food Bank Here Am I ... Send Me to Joyfully Serve (Isaiah 6:8 ESV)

The cost is $10.00 per person. Please make check payable to Concordia Jan. 25, 2019.

Please mail reservations with your check to: Mary Jane Autry, 7609 Fleta St., St. Louis, MO 63123 Visitors and new members are always welcome!

You can find the Seminary Guild at http://www.csl.edu/friends/seminary-guild/ and Facebook - Concordia Seminary Guild

Stop by the Children's Ministry Board!

Take a few moments today and sneak a peek at what

Hope's kids have been up to. Get a look inside Ms. Becky's

preschool class during the month of December. Plus, see

lots of pictures of the beautiful job all of our Sunday

school and ECC kids did at Hope's annual Children's

Christmas Program!