This Week’s Memory Verse
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ~1 Peter 2:9-10
This Sunday: We continue our worship series on the book of Exodus: “Our Deliverer.” The people of Israel, enslaved and oppressed in Egypt, needed a deliverer to come and save them. We are in need of a deliverer today as well. Thanks be to God that we have deliverance in Jesus Christ, our Savior. As we study the story of Moses and the Israelites, we will be reminded of our deliverer, Jesus Christ, and the call to follow where He leads us.
What does it mean to be the people of God? What do our lives look like? Today we hear the giving of the Ten Commandments. God had redeemed the people and made them His own. Now He describes what it means to live as His redeemed people.
· Exodus 20:1-17
· Matthew 22:34-40
· Earthquake Repair Donation: At the close of services this Sunday, Thrivent Financial will match your donation for earthquake repairs at the church, up to $239. Contributions should be placed in the offering basket at the exits. Checks should be made out to St. John’s Lutheran Church, Memo line: Earthquake. Thank you very much.
· Dave Anderson Concert: Dave Anderson, along with Roger Walck, will present a concert at 7:00 PM on Thursday, November 20 at St. John’s. Dave and Roger’s music is a blend of contemporary, gospel, hymns, and lots of old-time Sunday School songs. During the concert, Dave will share from his personal experiences from having traveled 4,000,000 miles over the past 35 years of concert ministry. These travels have included concerts in Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Scandinavian countries, and 25 trips to Australia and New Zealand. The free-will offering received at the concert will benefit the Shepherd’s Canyon Retreat ministry, a special counseling ministry for burned-out and emotionally wounded Protestant ministers and their spouses.
· CERT Training: The Church will be offering Community Emergency Response Training (CERT), which is a nationally recognized emergency training course that teaches essential emergency response skills. The training is available free of charge to Church members and will be offered
Jan 8th
6:00pm – 9:00pm
Emergency Response & Preparedness
Jan 10th
8:00am – 5:00pm
Disaster First Aid
Jan 15th
6:00 – 9:00pm
Response to Unusual Situations & Managing an Emergency
Jan 17th
8:00am – 5:00pm
Responding to Fires & Search and Rescue Disaster Exercise
Enrollment is limited to 24 people, so you must be able to attend all four sessions. For more information or to enroll, please contact: Ken Arnold napacert@aol.com
· Bible Stick donations: Thanks to all who gave so generously last Sunday for the Thrivent “GodPod or Bible Stick” fundraiser. We learned on Tuesday 11/11 that a fundation contacted Faith Comes by Hearing and offered to match dollar for dollar any donations for military God Pods-Bible Sticks directed to Faith Comes by Hearing by Thanksgiving Day! What a blessing. As soon as we have a final figure donated from St. John’s, we will let you know.
· Abide Daily Devotion: How do I let Scripture guide my prayer life? How can I let Jesus direct what I pray for each day? The Abide Devotion, written by Pastor Mike, is a daily devotion designed to address these concerns. You can click here for more information and to subscribe to receive the devotion in your email each morning.
· Thrivent Election: Please stop by the Parish Hall this Sunday morning to enjoy some special treats and cast your ballots for the leaders of the Napa County Chapter of Thrivent Financial. Your vote is critical in helping our chapter live out its mission – strengthening our community by helping people be wise with money and to live generously!
· With Love From Home: Operation With Love from Home will be collecting sweets for our troops. Every care package sent to our troops is sweetened up with a yummy bag of assorted candy. It is just one of the items the troops really enjoy…a little taste to remind them of home. Halloween is the perfect time to donate candy. When purchasing your Halloween candy, consider picking up an extra bag and bring it to the school office. Girl Scout Troop #10862 will set up a bin at the school office for collections. Also, if you find you have a little extra candy left after all the festivities, bag it up and bring it in.
· 6:00 PM Prayer Time: Our Lunch Bunch Bible Study group agreed to pray each evening at 6 PM for the safety of the U. S., our troops, our citizens, and return our country to a Godly nation. We invite you to join us in prayer at this time wherever you are.
· Molly’s Angels is requesting that local churches help them provide Christmas gifts at their annual party in December for our Napa senior citizens on fixed incomes. Please consider donating items such as scarves, hats, gloves, jelly, craft items, kitchen towels, large print devotions, books, music, etc. Small gift bags are also needed for all the gifts. You will find a collection box in the Narthex. We will collect through Thanksgiving.
· Usher Teams are REALLY needed: We are in need of ushers for the 10:15 AM service. Usher teams serve approximately once a month, making this a convenient way to serve our Lord and His people. Please contact Gary Virkus or the church office if you can help with this ministry.
· Communion Wine Donations: We are welcoming wine donations. One to two bottles of wine are typically used for a service. Donations should be a minimum of two bottles. If you would like to donate wine, please make arrangements with Bob or Doris Klein before bringing the wine to the church. They can be reached at (707) 253-8625 or dorisklein@comcast.net.
· There will be a Skate and Donate on Monday, November 17th from 2pm-9pm at Napa on Ice in downtown Napa. 20% of the ticket price will be given back to St. John’s for the 6th grade Outdoor Education fund. Everyone is welcome to attend. You will need the attached Skate and Donate flyer for St. John’s to receive to 20% donation. There are also available flyers in the school office.
· On Tuesday, November 18th, Filippi’s will be hosting a Dine & Donate to benefit the 5th grade Yosemite trip from 11 am to 9 pm. Eat in or Take out. Be sure to present the attached flyer for St. John’s to receive the 20% donation.