Pieces of the Rock

Pieces of the Rock

November 20, 2020

FROM MR. BRUNE

Parents and Friends,

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18

As we enter into the week of Thanksgiving 2020 these might be hard verses to read. Give thanks? Right now? Really? More restrictions, limited and cancelled events. Thanksgiving possibly without the usual family members. Cases of a virus causing a pandemic continuing to rise. Frustration and fear seems to be around every corner, and if we allow it, they can run our lives. However, as Christians, we put our hope in something much greater than things here on this earth.

I was teaching religion in 6th grade this week (I love any chance I get to be back in the classroom). We were studying the story of Ester and her boldly going to King Xerxes pleading to save the Jewish people. An action that more than likely should have ended in her death, yet God guided her and saved both her and the Jewish people. We can look at our situation right now and feel much like Ester must have. Filled with fear and frustration, uncertain what the future holds. Yet, much like Ester, we too are guided by our heavenly Father who not only looks out for our earthly well being, but more importantly, our eternal wellbeing. Our sin does not change how much our heavenly Father loves us nor does it change Jesus’ death and resurrection serving as payment for that sin. While we can certainly see the negative and sin all around this year, we can also see Christ at work… A virus, our sinful nature and all the workings of the devil cannot change that. He will guide us through this life to one day eternity with Him in heaven singing His praise forever. So even if you are struggling to find things to be thankful for right now give THANKS to God that He is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow!

In Him,

Chris Brune

WEEKLY WILDCAT UPDATES

Family and Friends Day

Reminder, next week we will have school on Monday and Tuesday and shift Wednesday to a Virtual Day. Look for an email on Wednesday morning with a Family and Friends Day message as well as family oriented remote activities. Thursday and Friday are still off for Thanksgiving Break. We are hoping to reschedule Family and Friends Day later in the second semester.

Library Book Sale

Did you know our library owns over 15,000 books?!? Since the school year has started, our students have checked out over 2,900 books!! That averages out to around 15 books per student already! So much use means not only do we need new books we need to replace each year as well when books are warn too much. Our library uses the Family and Friends Day Book Sale to purchase new books and continue to expand our great library. We are offering you the same opportunity this year to purchase a book in honor of a student or family.

Watch for more information to come home or contact to the school office to help support our library.

Canned Food Donations

Each Thanksgiving you have faithfully had your kids bring in canned food and dry good items for our Thanksgiving Food Drive. The items you contribute are combined with the items contributed by the congregation. Volunteers sort the food and deliver it to St. Peter's families who need some help the day after Thanksgiving. With Wednesday now being a virtual day, next Monday and Tuesday are the last two days to bring in items. Especially during this year, this food can have a huge impact on some of our families. The more we bring in the larger impact we can have!

Mmmmm......... COOKIES!!!

Our preschool is raising money to buy playground equipment that will help build our student’s balance and coordination along with a few other items to enhance our preschool. Check out the delicious kinds of cookies we have to choose from. This is the perfect time of year to enjoy warm baked cookies, especially with upcoming holidays. Please follow the link to easily place your order and help support our preschool! Orders are expected to arrive during the week of December 7, 2020. Once the exact delivery date is available, we will notify you of pick up times.

Order your cookie dough HERE

Parent Teacher League (PTL)

Sparkle Shop

We are excited to announce a St. Peter’s fan favorite, Sparkle Shop! Sparkle Shop is a great opportunity for students to do their own Christmas shopping for loved ones. Monday and Tuesday, December 14th and 15th, each class will have a special time to shop. All items will be $2.50. Additional information will be coming after Thanksgiving.

We are looking for donations of Christmas gift labels and bags. If you are like us and have hoards of these items from previous years, and can spare some, we would greatly appreciate it! Send donations into the school office.

Don’t have any items to donate? How about time? We are also looking for volunteers to help at students shop and wrap their purchases. Be on the lookout for a Sign Up Genius request soon.

WEEK AT A GLANCE

WORSHIP

Pastor's Sermon

Pastor Steve Ahlersmeyer is preaching this weekend. His sermon is titled "Living with Giving Naturally". Please take some time to prepare for worship by reading the Bible passages before attending church.

First reading - Romans 12:1-21

Holy Gospel - Matthew 25:31-46

Please join us for worship on Saturday evening at 5:00, Sunday morning at 8:00 or 10:30, or Monday evening at 6:00. The 10:30 service will be live streamed on the church facebook page.

Stepping Stones Worship

Join us Monday evening at 6:00 pm in the Church Gym for our family-style worship service called Stepping Stones. This week we will complete a service project as part of our time together. Check out Vicar Nate and Pastor McDowell in this video where they will explain more.

Learn more about Stepping Stones HERE

Thanksgiving Worship

There are two opportunities to worship for Thanksgiving this year. One service will be offered on Thanksgiving Eve (Wednesday) at 7:00 pm, and the second service will be on Thanksgiving morning (Thursday) at 9:00 am. Join us as we sing to the Lord of harvest and celebrate with traditional songs of the season. Come ye thankful people, come!

Christmas Eve Worship

We will be using tickets for Sanctuary seating during our Christmas Eve services this year.

Starting today, you can request the number of tickets you will require for the service you wish to attend. The church office will assign seating and mail you tickets. The current plan is to offer worship at 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm, and 11:00 pm as usual. As we fulfill ticket requests, we will know if we need to add additional worship times to accommodate everyone. Paper ticket requests forms are available at the church, or you can submit a request online using this Ticket Request Form

Learn more about our Christmas Eve services from our pastors HERE

Prayer List

Please include these requests in your personal and family prayers.

Jan Hieber as she battles returned cancer
Lisa Hieber, mother of Cecelia, recovering from surgery
Prayers of thanks for a cancer CLEAR scan for Mrs. Ripke!

SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL

Thanksgiving Break

We will not be able to fill any physical card scrip orders next week due to Thanksgiving. Have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving break! The regular scrip schedule will resume the following week. (Orders in by Tuesday morning should be ready for pick up or sent home with students on Thursday)