We are halfway through our 12 days of Christmas. As we gather for worship on Sunday we will be continuing the story of Jesus. Over the next 4 months we are going be reading through the gospel of Luke. For a great review of the first 2 chapters of Luke check out this great video from the Bible Project

God's Story...Our Story

5 simple steps to help bring your household closer to God and each other. 

A SPECIAL THANKS TO JOY

 

BREANNA'S NEW WALK OF LIFE

 

Words cannot express the gratitude for your out-reach to Breanna and her family.

The food, gifts, love, and prayers were felt and appreciated.

The coming together to help others has always been the focus of the church and will continue to be its strength for years to come.

As Bre said, "Something good will come of all this!"

It's a new beginning to start all over in life. Just as every crisis in our church has been a new beginning to come back bigger and stronger than ever.

I'm sure the family of Joy joins our family in wishing her all the very best for her new life...and the life of the church.

The will of God will prevail regardless of how much we do to mess it up.

It is the "Power of Prayer" that will make it all right with God, who in turn makes it all right with us.

It is not for us to know WHY when we cry out for His love and mercy in taking care of Breanna.

 

We Love You All-

 

Ken and Loretta Knight

THANK YOU to all who supported the Alternative Gift Fair this month. Twenty Three families bought a special Alternative gift for a friend or loved one. We received a total of $2200 in donations to the ELCA Good Gifts program.  the most popular gifts that were purchased were; goats, honey bees, chicks, fruit tree seedlings, school supplies, meals to feed needy people and health and dental care for children.
Together, our church has helped support projects carried out by our church and support ministries for people that need them most. We have made a real, life-changing difference in the lives of people around the world.
Thank you again for your support!

Here are some digital links to help with you estimate of giving

Hopefully you received a letter in the mail asking you to consider making a prayerful estimate of giving for the coming year.  It is a great spiritual discipline to help us be more intentional about our giving, as well as a helpful tool for our congregation in its stewardship of the resources God has given us to manage.  (If you didn't get a letter, let the office know so we can update our records)

The letter had paper versions of the estimate of giving card and a form for setting up or modifying your electronic giving, like we have done for many years.   If you would rather work digitally here are the links:   Estimate of Giving    Set up or manage my electronic giving

If you like the convenience of working from your phone.  We also have a church giving app called Give+  available as a free download.     How it works

Sharing & Caring Hands

Joy will be preparing and serving a noon meal for 250 - 300 homeless people in Minneapolis on Tuesday, January 3rd.

You can still volunteer to sign-up for the following activities:

Please contact Kelly Poff at 715-262-4281 with any questions.

Please sign-up on the clipboards in the narthex. Thank you!

Wednesday Night Suppers at Joy!

January Menu

Jan. 4th ~ Beef Stew

Jan. 11th ~ Fajita Chicken over Rice

Jan. 18th ~ Stroganoff

Jan. 25th ~ Chili

Wednesday Suppers are a free will donation and all are welcome to Joy to enjoy delicious food and wonderful fellowship.  Supper time is 5:15 ~ 6:30 PM.

Joy is now offering alcohol-free wine for Communion. In the past we have offered grape juice as well as wine in the cup, in order to be sensitive to those who prefer not to consume alcohol.  But in doing so we loose the sense of unity of sharing a common cup.  So we are going to try offering alcohol-free wine for all.  Special thanks to Scott Calton for creating the beautiful common cups we will be using.  We will still  be offering gluten free wafers for those who need to avoid gluten.

Via de Cristo is a Spanish phrase meaning "Way of Christ."
Via de Cristo is a highly structured three-day weekend designed to strengthen and renew the faith of Christian people and bring them to a new awareness of living in God's grace. It is a combined effort of lay people and clergy toward renewal of the church.

Via de Cristo weekends are scheduled at Bethel Lutheran Church in Hudson WI.  Men's weekend is Jan 12-15, and the Women's weekend is Jan 19-22.  Prayerfully consider dedicating 1 weekend entirely to God and see what He can do in your life.  Contact Tom Swanson or ask around Joy for other members who have attended a Via de Cristo for information.

Obviously we have an email address because you are reading this. But in many cases we have more than one email address so we need to know which one you want to use to manage your account . So if you have not already done so please reply to bookkeeper@joy-church.org as soon as possible to let us know.