The Eagle July 2018

St. John Lutheran Church & Preschool 122 Cheyenne Mesa

Hamilton, TX 76531

Phone: (254) 386-3158

Preschool (254) 386-3332

Fax: (254) 386-3159

Pastor—

pastorreich@gmail.com

Secretary—

stjohnlutheranoffice@gmail.com

Preschool—

stjohnlutheranpreschool@gmail.com

Youth Coordinator—

youthstjohnlutheran@gmail.com

Website: www.stjohnhamilton.org

May we continue to be used by God and share the Gospel with A Heart for Hamilton County

and the World!!

Reputation of Being Alive, But You are

Dead!

It is really hard to believe that we are already half way through 2018. With the time passing by so quickly, we are reminded that as each day, week, month and year passes, we are getting closer to Jesus’ return. How long will it be? No one knows, but we do know this, it is becoming a more significant time for the church. We need to be joining Jesus on His mission each day so more people will come to know who He is and what He has done for them.

We pick up with the fifth letter to the seven church-es in Revelation this month. It was written to the church in Sardis. Here is the charge that is being brought against the church in Sardis. [Jesus said] “I know your works. You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” In my mind what Jesus is saying is that the people appear to be Christian, but are not. They are going through the right religious motions, they can talk a good talk, and they can even do some very honorable things, but their hearts are not really in it for Jesus. In fact, it is an after thought, if that. A word that people today use to describe a person of this nature would be a hypocrite. Now I know that all Chris-tians are guilty of being hypocrites. We are sinful and will never be perfect at the Christian life, but some-times it is as if we don’t care or don’t even want to try.

Most certainly Jesus does forgive our sins and fail-ures. We will never be perfect, but in this letter to the church in Sardis Jesus tells them to “wake up”. We do have a tendency to get lax. We coast along and let the culture influence our everyday living. Unfortunate-ly, our culture is drifting farther and farther away from our Savior Jesus Christ. And unfortunately, many of us Christians are drifting right along with it. We are becoming numb to the immoral, unethical and unbibli-cal ways of the world. Things that we used to think were horrible in a movie or television show have become commonplace and we watch it without even squinting. Things that used to be seen as wrong are being done right before our eyes and even in our families with lit-tle thought to the wrongness of the action. Words that moms and dads would wash your mouth out with soap years ago are being said by us and others on a daily basis without even thinking about it. (continued on page 4)

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Birthdays

2nd

Justin Squyres, Brad Tomlinson 4

th Rachel Bottlinger, Jenny Witzsche

5th Glenda Schoen, Sandra Witte, Slim Witzsche

7th Colter Johnson

9th Nick Cantara, Colton Robertson

10th Renae Gromatzky 11

th Karen Tyson

12th Caitlyn English

14th Jacob Ellis

15th Jill Muxworthy

17th Heath Hopper, Travis Moore, Greg Niemann

18th Chrissy Hopper

20th Nathan Hall

22nd

Rhonda Geter, Stacy Reich 23

rd Shirley Gerald

25th Emma Cantara, Dan Chorenziak

29th Kayla Edwards, Robert Hoermann

31st

Charla Rudd

Bir

thda

ys, B

apti

sms

and

A

nniv

ersa

ries

Anniversaries 2nd Howard & Tracy Cox—7yrs 5th Martin & Juanita Seider—49yrs 11th James & Donna Smith—27yrs 15th Raymond & Maxine Wenzel—68yrs 17th Darrell & Kristi Wagner—25yrs Alan & Julie Watson—14yrs 18th Steve & Bobby Young—47yrs 20th Calvin & Laurel Friedrich—55yrs 21st Charlie & Mischelle Bottlinger—34yrs 22nd Sam & Chelsi Hall—12yrs 24th Danny & Elissa Crouch—25yrs 26th James & Brandi Surley—3yrs 27th Dennis & Glenda Schoen—16yrs 29th Mike & Brenda Armstrong—23yrs 30th Bob & Suzanne Jarvis—41yrs

Baptisms

1st Ben Chorenziak, Mae Pietzsch 4

th Ryan Polster

5th Louis Donahoo

6th Martin Seider

8th Doyle Roberts, Kristi Wagner

9th Piper McNeeley

11th

Nic Bottlinger, Kay Reed, Monica Reed, Justin Stanford 12

th John Tyson

13th Kate McNeeley

14th Jean Ranney

15th Brett Bauman, Cole Bauman, Grant Bauman, Jason Clark, Jane Dodson,

Artie Peters, Glenda Schoen, Luther Smith, Maxine Wenzel, Jenny Witzsche 17

th Travis Moore

18th Kym Jeschke

19th Chris Niemann, Isaac Wenzel,

21st Mark DeLoach, Shirley DeLoach

23rd Gary Gromatzky, Caleb Wagner 25

th Cody Whitt, Julia Whitt

27th Mildred Bottlinger, Colton DeLaGarza, Greg Niemann, Marvin Witte

28th Cora Hurst, Grace Hurst

29th Paul Christensen, Annie DeLeon

Upcoming

July Events

3rd - 7:15a - Men’s Club

1:30p - Nursing Home

Devotions

2nd - 6:30p - Preschool Board

8th - 11:15a - Bd of Trustees

Bd of Ed/Youth

9th - 6:30p - Bd of Elders

10th - 1:00p - Glory Gamesters

5:30p - Bd of Finance

23rd –8:00a –Ministerial

Alliance Meeting

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BUILDING FUND

Opening/Breakfast Sundays 8:30am

Sunday School Sundays 9:00am

Church Worship Sundays 10:00am

Quilting Tuesdays 9:00am

Wednesdays

Various Youth Activities to be

arranged

Moms In Prayer Resumes in September

Men’s Bible Study Resumes in September

$ 10,384 Current

$ 50,000

$ 100,000

$ 150,000

$ 200,000

$ 230,000

Please contact the church office with updates on prayer requests for friends and loved ones.

Noland Arbaugh - family friend of Darryl & Mischelle Beach, has spinal injury with other complications, prayers for comfort and healing and for his family

Molly Beach - niece of Darryl & Michelle Beach suffering from an auto-immune disease & other health issues

Connie Courtney – (John Courtney’s Mother) recovering at Dove Hill after a short hospital stay

Layla Evetts - 6yr old diagnosed with an DIPG tumor… at the halfway point of chemo treatments

Edith Gates – (Clark Pumphries’ Grandmother) having more health issues

Greg Ladesic - father of Melissa Medina is at home and doctors have done all that they can do for him

Carolyn May – 57 yr old cousin/friend of Pat Crouch had a massive stroke

Henrietta Medina - doing good and keeping an eye blood count numbers

Renee Pietzsch – (Jerome & Alice’s daughter-in-law) undergoing chemotherapy

Donna Powe - (mother of Chelsi Hall) diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer

Theresa Schoen - (Gary & Dennis Schoen’s sister-in-law) diagnosed with stage 3 illness

Pat Thompson – having health issues

Please lift up the following in prayer

Our Military & Families:

Travis Beach, Austin Beckner, Nick Cantara, Josh Chorenziak, Anthony French, Charles Gonce, Matthew Medina, Ernie Mendez, Payden Nolen, John Park, Jordan Ratliff, Logan Selman, Richard Sepolio, John Slough, Warren Stanley, Micah Stork, Keith Voges, Garrett White, Scott Williams

Our Homebound & Nursing Facilities:

Dove Hill: Kendra Code, Jean Ranney, Lillye Sanders, Larry Stamberger, Raymond & Maxine Wenzel Hamilton Health Care: Mildred Kauitzsch, Melinda Rogers, Leamon & Lydia Wagner Sr. Care Center, Stephenville: Ruth Young The Meadows, Gatesville: Faye Senger Homebound: Frances Donahoo, Albert Peters, Mae Pietzsch, Ruth Reneau, Frances Schrank

Ricky Brown - dealing with neck, breathing & other health issues

Frances Donahoo - dealing with heart & other health issues

Louis Donahoo - dealing with heart & other health issues

Gary Gromatzky - dealing with nerve damage in back

Derrel Hungerford - hip replacement scheduled for the end of July

Bobby Moore – recovering at home

Sandy Olsen – recovering from a hip injury

H.C. Wenzel - seeing a specialist about his neck problems

Theresa Williams - dealing with seizures and various health issues

Special Prayers: rain, crops, marriages, families

Praise & Thanksgiving: Barbara Jahns recovery from knee replacement

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Reputation of Being Alive, But You are Dead!

(continued from page 1)

The intent of this letter to the church in Sardis was and is to wake us up and turn us back to Jesus. I have already said it and understand it fully that we will never be perfect. That is why Jesus died to save us. Because of His sacrifice we now want to live our lives for Him. As imperfect as it may be, help us Lord to live our lives for You!

May we continue to go with Jesus and to share the message of our risen Savior with A Heart for Hamilton County and the World!

Finance

Update

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MEN’S CLUB

The Men’s Club meets on the 1

st Sunday of the month. Join us

Sunday, May 6 at 7:15 am for the Men’s Club meeting and to help make sau-

sage and pancakes for breakfast.

Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pmSunday mornings at 7:30 am

Sunday morning services can be heard on

Will not meet during the summer

A new non-profit organization that has been formed with the goal of providing safe, comfortable and reliable transportation for Cancer patients and their caregivers

to and from Houston. Tentative schedule is 10:30 am Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday outbound to Houston from Hamilton and Monday, Wednesday and Friday inbound from Houston arriv-ing at 4:50 pm. Pick-up and drop-off location has not been de-termined at this point. If anyone in our congregation would like to volunteer on these days and times, we could possibly be the pick-up and drop-off location. If you are interested in St. John being a part of this and possibly overseeing this, please contact the church office and let us know. For further information you can go to www.drivinghopetexas.org.

Joyful Response Our congregation offers you a

way to respond joyfully in

meeting your stewardship

commitments

Use Joyful Response to:

* Give consistently.

* Help you prepare and fulfill

your stewardship plans.

* Share your generosity efficient-

ly and predictably. ****Forms can be found

in the church office****

Will Resume in September

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St John Ruth Guild-

Ruth Guild Meeting– Sunday July 22nd following worship

service.

Thank you to all of the ladies who helped clean the tables

in the FLC for the June meeting

Ruth Guild Gift Shop– 1/2 price on all items

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For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, The Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20

It was a deadly September attack on America. Casualties on our shores. The nation’s capitol targeted. The White House in danger. Terror. Heroes. One hero was Fran-cis, a Georgetown attorney heavily involved in national politics. An evangelical Chris-tian, Francis taught Bible classes and witnessed boldly, once telling a friend in Con-gress, “Christ alone can save you from the sentence of condemnation.”

He also wrote hymns like this one:

Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise Thee, for the bliss Thy love bestows, For the pardoning grace that saves, And the peace that from it flows;

Help, O God, my weak endeavor, This dull soul to rapture raise; Thou must light the flame, or never Can my love be warmed to praise.

But nothing prepared Francis for the hostage-recovery mission he undertook at the request of the President of the United States. He was seeking the release of a promi-nent physician, Dr. Beanes, who had been taken captive. During that assignment he was detained by enemy troops and forced to watch a brutal assault on the eastern sea-board.

Toward the morning of September 14, 1814, when it became clear that American forces had withstood the 25-hour bombardment, Francis Scott Key penned another hymn, scribbling it on the back of an envelope. The first stanza we all know, but have you ever heard the last stanza of “The Star-Spangled Banner”?

Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must when our cause it is just. And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave

After the sunrise, the British released Francis, and back in Baltimore he wrote out this hymn in fuller form and showed it to his brother-in –law who promptly gave it to a printer who ran off handbills for distribution on the streets. One copy landed in the hands of an unknown musician who adapted it to the tune “To Anacreon in Heaven.” So was born the patriotic hymn that was to become our national anthem.

Music Notes by:

Gary Gromatzky

The Star-

Spangled Banner

by

Francis Scott Key

“O say can you see, by the

dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed at

the twilight’s last gleaming.

O say, does that star-spangled

banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and

the home of the brave?”

It is almost here. It’s time to get ready. July 29 starts choir practice @ 8:30am on Sunday mornings. We are planning on sing-ing on the 15

thof Au-

gust. Please plan on coming and joining the choir. It is an en-joyable way of

serving the Lord.

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Ship

wrecked V

BS A HUGE THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO

HELPED WITH VBS! Director: Shawna McKandless Bible Discovery: Lois Hungerford Imagination Station: Cecelia Jenson Games: John Courtney Spotlight Slideshow: Misti Polster Snacks: Kayla Edwards, Kathy Christensen, Kim Ward, Mary Ellen Kiely Crafts: Jessika Martin, Fabiola Olalde, Landry Yates Registration: Dawn Johnson, Kimber Clark, Christina Ashmore Kitchen: Pat Crouch, Mischelle Bottlinger, Dorothy Hoermann, Roseann Hall, Ima Jean Roberts, Kay Zschiesche Decorating: Lindsey Lawson, Elaine Polster, Ryan Polster

Crew Leaders & Other Helpers:

Dixie Gromatzky Jaleigh McDonald Davin Crouch Averi Poe Fernanda Olalde Joe Polster Kade McKandless Taylor Hall Nic Squyres Avery Cozby Haley Payne Caden Bagwell Mitch Surley Owen Tyson Camdyn Andrews Chasity Ranaghan Annie Hubbard Braylee Wilson Taylor Collett Karah Niemann Marlee Clark Kamryn Hope Kelton Wright Chloe Dolloff Morgan Mehaffey Kolton Kensing Julie Henderson Shaden Curry Lexi Ward Sydney English Lainey Lane Ashlin Cozby Madi Hope Hunter Mize Alyssta Thedford Kyndall Ingram Cole Bauman Madee Crouch Kase Kunkel Cortland Mehaffey Sawyer Wright Jaley Reich Mason Tubbs Cassi Collett McKinley Crownover Cat Diaz Mallory Jeske Cason Ingram John Polster Hayden Bagwell Brad Surely Mitch Surley Ben Cooper Ethan LeGrande Cooper LeGrande Reagan Wagner Cody Tawater Trevor Sellers Carlos Olalde Landon Thompson Kole Bauman Violet Morgan Martin Wenzel Bonnye Wenzel Kinsey Mizell Caden Hopper Emily Smith Amber Tyson Emma Polster Chrissy Hopper Paul Christensen Debbi Haile Kim Cooper Tom White Connie White Luke Knecht Andrea Newby Jaxon Edwards Kodee Crouch Clementine Cooper

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Ship

wrecked V

BS

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VBS R

ETREAT @

Lake W

hit

ney

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July 27th

& 28th

Youth N

ew

s

Shawna

McKandless

our Youth Coordinator

for all of your hard

work for our St. John

youth and families.

Your dedication and

love has made a big dif-

ference our lives.

Shawna will be starting

a new job as a nurse at the Hamilton Rural Health Care

Clinic this next week. She will be tying up some loose ends

at the church and will remain the Sunday School Superin-

tendent as well as attend our summer youth camps this

month.

We wish God’s richest blessings on this new chapter in

your life. We know that you will continue to be used by

the LORD in the lives of our youth because of the connec-

tions you have formed with each and everyone of them.

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12

St. John Lutheran Church & Preschool

122 Cheyenne Mesa

Hamilton, Texas 76531