Table of Contents 2 Calendar 3 Pastor’s Corner 4 Amen Corner 5 From the Council President 6 Youth Report 7 Announcements 8 Prayer Requests 9 Celebrations 10 Serving Schedule 11 Youth December 2015 The Tree of Life Lutheran Church - Monthly Newsletter A Star To Guide Them Be our guest on Christmas Eve. Services at 5, 7, & 11pm. O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. - Psalm 96:1-4
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Tree of Life Lutheran Church - Monthly Newsletterl.b5z.net/i/u/6107371/f/Branches_for_Web.pdf · Youth Report 7 Announcements 8 Prayer Requests 9 Celebrations 10 Serving Schedule
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Transcript
Table of Contents
2 Calendar
3 Pastor’s Corner
4 Amen Corner
5 From the Council
President
6 Youth Report
7 Announcements
8 Prayer Requests
9 Celebrations
10 Serving Schedule
11 Youth
December 2015
TheTree of Life Lutheran Church - Monthly Newsletter
A Star To Guide Them
Be our guest on Christmas Eve. Services at 5, 7, & 11pm.
O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. - Psalm 96:1-4
Calendar of Events
December
3 - Car Seat Check 8-11am
6 - Consecration Sunday
9 - Council Meeting 7:30pm
10 - Office Closed
12 - Band Practice 9am
12 - Christmas Parade 11am
13 - Christmas Program 10:30am
13 - Contemporary Service 10:30am
19 - Band Practice 9am
20 - K-5 Ticket Draw 9:15am
24 - Christmas Services 5, 7, & 11pm
Each Wednesday - Christianity and Islam Adult Class at 11am & 6pm, Youth Fellowship at 6pm
Ways to GiveOnline Giving Churches, because of their heavy weekly check volumes, were among the earliest organizations to embrace electronic giving as a way to automate contributions. Today, electronic giving in all its forms provides convenience for frequent check writers and donation consistency for churches.
Simply follow these easy steps: Visit TreeChurch.net, click on "Online Giving." Click on "Create Profile." As a side note, if you choose to give via bank draft instead of a credit card, the fees Tree of Life pays are greatly lowered!
Bank Draft Another simple way to tithe is to set up reoccurring payments through your bank. Most banks offer this service online. If you need assistance setting this up, please schedule an appointment with Bunny, [email protected], after enrolling in online services with your bank.
By Mail Mail payments to:Tree of Life Lutheran Church 3201 N. Loop 336 W Conroe, TX 77302
During Service During worship, we pass the plate with prayers of thanksgiving.
Community Programs
Kroger Did you know you can support Tree of Life just by shopping at Kroger? It's easy when you enroll in Kroger Community Rewards®! To get started, sign up with your Plus Card at KrogerCommunityRewards.com, and select Tree of Life Lutheran Church. Once you're enrolled, you'll earn rewards for Tree of Life every time you shop and use your Plus Card!
Amazon Smile Many of us shop at Amazon, and now they have introduced a way for non-profits to earn money through your shopping! The price of the items remains the same, and you'll use your same Amazon user id and password. Simply visit Smile.Amazon.com, and set Tree of Life Lutheran Church in Conroe as your charity. Simply click "Your Account" then "Change Your Charity." When you shop, remember to shop through Smile.Amazon.com instead of Amazon.com, it's an easy way to help Tree of Life!
Adult Class!
Join me each Sunday morning in the education building to take part in our current study, “Our Neighbors Faith.” The class begins at 9:30am.
Pastor’s CornerHow do I sum up the last year.? I can’t yet, but I am working on it. Using all the events seen below of all that I has occurred this year including The good, the bad, the amazing, and the “you can’t be serious” has truly been . How do we find hope when things just don’t seem to be going your way or how to respond to peoples overwhelming generosity? It is all overwhelming.
The first part of Romans 5 has been helpful to me and others this year.
5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Now read this verse agin with this in mind:Hope is the expectation of the impossible not the possible. I no longer feel that I am being unrealistic as I cling to hope for things that seem impossible or out of reach because the Gospel gives me permission to do so. I am learning that this is not false hope because I know that I am not clinging to the impossible. It is not much, but it is enough. I pray that hope sustains you this year as you face life’s challenges. I pray it can be the light in the darkness or the sound of the familiar in strange places. If you find your self in a place that is full despair know this, God did not come into the world to push it further into despair up to give it hope and hope never disappoints.
This new study will focus on personalities mentioned in the Gospels and their participation in the life of Jesus. Each lesson will have scriptures to be read before arriving to class and a fictional account of the person being studied based on the facts known about their life. Through reading, sharing ideas and discussion we will clarify the people and events in Jesus’ life. This thirteen week study will examine: Joseph the earthly Father of Jesus; Herod the Great; John the Baptist; Simon Peter; John of Zebedee; Levi the tax collector; Nicodemus the Pharisee; Mary of Bethany; Caiaphas the High Priest; Mary the Mother of Jesus; Judas Iscariot and Mary of Magdala. We will be using blended materials of fiction, traditions and actual facts from scripture as the basis for our discussion. This method of study has proven to be very effective in deepening understanding of the culture, customs and events recorded in the Bible.
Classes will be one hour each Wednesday, with one week off for Spring Break. The classes will meet at 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. in the conference room (music room). Signup sheets are available NOW for this study that will begin Wednesday, January 6, 2016.
Direct questions to Pastor Larry: [email protected] or 281-761-8480.
Earlier this year, we asked 9 people from our congregation to form a team to formulate a long term vision for Tree of Life. During the past 8 months this team has worked with Paul Marsh, our Seeds consultant, to envision how Tree of Life could better achieve our mission over the next 12 to 72 months. They developed a 34 item list of dreams and visions they believed would help us achieve our mission.
Joel 2:28 NIV “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
I will discuss more of their ideas in future newsletters, but focus on seven of their top goals now. 1. We will work closely with our budgeting process to increase staff benefits and will consider salaries increases during the budgeting process over the next 60 days. We ask a lot of our staff and they are doing an excellent job, but not just a job, I believe they see it as their ministry.
2. Council discussed how to best regularly communicate our financial status; congregational meetings, morning announcements, Branches notice, letters accompanying the quarterly financial statements, or all of the above.
3. A facilities manager who could be on site several times during the week for cleanup and minor repairs. As we are growing, our facility is in use more and more causing our once per week model for cleaning in need of a change In great part, this depends on our budgeting process over the next 60 days and into 2016. But, this is a worthwhile high priority goal.
4. I certainly agree with finding a youth director to fill Ryan's position when he leaves for his seminary internship, fall 2017. We have been in touch with Dani Tripp, who was our intern last summer. She worked so well with our kids and fit in with staff. We are exploring the possibility of her returning. This depends on many factors, including timing and visas, and the 2016 budget. I welcome additional input into this process.
(5) Online giving: our online giving has increased during the past year. This helps Tree of Life smooth out the summer lull in giving as people are away on vacation.
(6) Welcome center: We are blessed with several visitors each week and are looking for ways to make them more comfortable here and to help them connect with our people and mission.
(7) Children's sermon: I like this idea of having a children's sermon once per month. Pastor Chris, Ryan, Pastor Larry, what do you think?
It is my hope and prayer that we can move forward with these 7 goals from the larger list of 34 that I would like to continue discussing as we consider our 2016 budget in January. If you want to see their entire list, please let me or Bunny know.
Thank you to our hard working visioning team members: Jim Johnson, Linda Baumgartner, Susan Blough, Brian Chaffee, Pastor Chris, David Zuelke, Jeremie Brown, Kirk Helberg, Melissa Minieri.
Hello TOL family! So what have I been up to in India? Well for starters, I got married to my best friend, Satya, in October. We had a very traditional Indian wedding with around 1000 guests. It was a huge turnout and I only knew about 10 of the 1000 people, haha. Not to mention only 2 of the 10 spoke English. But that's my life here even now.
We live in a village where everyone speaks Telugu and stares at me because I'm the only white person for 500 miles. Sometimes it gets tiring being surrounded by a culture so different from my own, but God did not call me into a comfortable life all the time. In fact, I would rather be uncomfortable knowing I'm growing in Christ than be comfortable and spiritually stagnant. India is definitely not a comfortable country. It's not luxurious unless you're rich (which includes very few). In the village, Satya and I live with his family. We take bucket showers, use a squatty potty, sleep on the floor in a room used for meals, playtime, prayer, Bible studies, and basically everything else. We have power-cuts at least twice a day (no electricity), all our water has to be filtered before using it, and I sweat pretty much every second of every day. This is village life and although it seems and feels hard at times, I am thankful for the true experience of life here.
Satya and I usually spend our days doing house visits, praying for people who come to our home, and learning Telugu/English. Life is much slower here, but very intentional with time. It was a hard adjustment from American time, but I've learned to appreciate the mindset of time here as well. Other parts of my time have been focused on getting Satya's birth certificate, passport, and visa for the USA. So far we have the first two and are working on his visa as I write this to y'all. The visa is no walk in the park - it is such an overwhelming, daunting, and exhausting process. Also very expensive. But we know the Lord provides, so we are trusting Him to help us. This trip overall has been an entirely new experience for me. My first trip during the World Race was in a city with my fellow American team. This trip is in a village with me, myself, and I for America, haha. Its had its challenges for sure. But God is still good.
I can speak some Telugu and understand enough to get by, I can finally dress myself in a Saree without help, I can cook Indian food and chai, and have made new friends along the way. Even when I don't see it or feel it, progress has been made here for the Kingdom.
God’s Peace from India, Dani Tripp
Conroe Christmas Parade!
Walk the route with TOL! Meet in the education building parking lot at 11am, dressed in your
Prayer RequestsCancer Willa Huser-cancer Ron Gunter-cancer Linda Lawson-pancreatic cancer Axel Crowley-cancer Jane Cashner-cancer Mike-cancer David Cantrin-cancer Marilyn Larson-kidney cancer Caroline Cascio-Breast cancer Michelle Malak-cancer Josh McConnell-leukemia Leo-bladder cancer Lanette Reese-bladder cancer Susan Vajdak-breast cancer Shara Ault-cancer Sarah Marlone-cancer Joe Dudenhoeffer-cancer Pete Therier-cancer Colt Costrellr-cancer Mike Holt-cancer Jerel Pierce-cancer Keith Moseley-cancer Brent Owens-cancer Enaine Storch-cancer Rox Grozier-cancer Lynne Caldwell-cancer
Recovery Barbara Nelson-healing Katherine Lake-healing Sandy Lindsay-healing Roxanne Ault-dementia Dawnna Spinney-healing Debbie Severson-healing Raverne Landry-healing Cynthia Banik-healing Ernest Hill-healing David Young-healing Dawnna Spinney-healing Paula Donahue-healing Kerry DeVore-healing Alyce DeVore-healing & struggles
Hospital Viola Delpesce-hospice care Don Wilson-healing Judy Grozier-healing Jim Ray Thompson-healing Duane Rossman-healing
Celebrations Heather Hall-passed her Bar exam
Struggles Dorene Place Family-for her passing Family of Doyal Brinegar-for his passing Family of Paul Harris-for his passing Catherine Turek-struggles The people affected by the terrorist at-tacks-healing & recovery Theresa Whatley-struggles Family of Debbie Vann-for her passing Family of Geneva Eaton-for her passing Family of David Burns-for his passing
Our Armed Services - Overseas Bruce Edmond-Air Force Japan Andrew Suggs-in the Marines, serving in Iraq, (friend of Kyla Nelson) Taylor Cameron-Navy, stationed in Japan. (Niece of Pastor & Katherine Lake) Chris King-overseas on Bahrain Anders Helgeson-stationed in Okinawa Japan
Our Armed Services - Stateside Ryan Cole-in Hawaii, Army John Morio-Army Reserves, will be deployed overseas, (friend of Alta Goodnight) Brant Berlehner-stateside, (Nancy Berlehner’s son) Jonathon Dilbeck-stateside, (friend of Mary Pressley) Dan McKaughan-Navy in Monterey. Leland Muehr-U.S. National Guard, (Debra Pieniazk’s nephew) Justin Gilbreath-stationed at camp Pendleton, CA Coltton Erickson-US Army stationed in Georgia Kyle Obrosky-US Army stationed in Anchorage, Alaska Troy Reed-Marine stationed in California Jason Pady-Marines in North Carolina Conner Moeller-entering the Navy Dylan Mora-New recruit San Antonio Korey Moeller-Navy stationed in Florida Jerahmy Lavender-National Guard Jared Bennett-Army stationed at Ft. Hood (nephew of Cindy Robinson) Jana & Howard Bennette-Stationed in Langley AFB Virginia (son-in-law of Jan & Lawrence Zuehlke)
To add your prayer request, please fill out the back of the attendance slip during worship or
Every Wednesday during Advent, Tree of Life would like to invite you for special activities! The events begin at 6pm!
December 9: We’ll practice Christmas Carols, Program Songs, & make handcrafted ornaments to take home.
December 16: We’ll head to the Touchstone Neurorecovery Center to sing carols and deliver handcrafted ornaments.
Important Dates
April 30 - Garage Sale June 19-24 - Confirmation Camp July 11-15 - Vacation Bible School August 7-12 - Elementary Camp
Christmas Program Practice & Fitting
December 6, 9:15am in the Fellowship Hall
Christmas Program
December 13, During 10:30am Worship
Welcome to Tree of Life!
If this is your first visit or 40th visit, we welcome you to Tree of Life. Tree of Life is a congregation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ELCA is a church of over 5 million members in over 10,000 congregations in the United States with missionaries and partner churches around the world.
The ELCA bases its teaching on the Bible. In response to God's love in Christ, the ELCA teaches that people become Christians by baptism, either as children or adults, followed by lifelong study of God's word and by service as disciples.
We offer communion each Sunday, and you are welcome at our table.