Page 1
"Yah! (Yes!)"
Revelation
2:10 - (Jesus
said) "Do not
fear what you
are about to
suffer. Behold, the devil is
about to throw some of you
into prison, that you may be
tested, and for ten days you
will have tribulation. Be
faithful unto death, and I
will give you the crown of
life."
A good many years ago, I
was in Alaska for a Refor-
mation Day rally. Totally by
accident, a tour which was
being hosted by my brilliant
Lutheran Hour predecessor
and octogenarian, Dr. Os-
wald Hoffmann, happened to
be in Anchorage at the same
time. Hearing that Ossie was
to be an interruption, the
speaker turned to Ossie
and asked, "Okay, Dr. Hoff-
mann, just what were Lu-
ther's last words?" For the
first time Ossie opened his
eyes and said, "Luther's last
word was "Ja"--"Yes."
I looked it up and found Dr.
Hoffmann was right. Martin
Luther, the great reformer,
was born in the small Ger-
man town of Eisleben. Sixty-
three years later, Luther
returned to that town to
preach. While he was there
(Continued on page 5)
going to be making a
presentation in the after-
noon, Pam and I decided to
attend. Before Ossie took
center stage, another fellow
was there talking about the
Reformation.
During the course of the
man's rather dry remarks, I
thought Ossie had fallen
asleep. I was wrong. When
the speaker asked, "Does
anyone know what Luther's
last words were?" without
opening his eyes, Ossie
said, "Yah." Ignoring Dr.
Hoffmann, the speaker
asked again, "Does anyone
know what Luther's last
words were?" A second time,
Ossie responded, "Yah."
Appearing somewhat put
out by what he considered
The Newsletter of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, River Grove, Illinois
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod Rev. Roger Gallup, Pastor
Regular Features:
Brunch: Nov 12th 1
Bound 3
Stewardship: Thanksgiving... 3
Be Joyful! 4
Four Steps to Overcoming 4
Walther News 6
Inside this Issue:
Bd of Director’s Minutes 2
God’s Treasure Report 3
Flower Chart Information 5
Birthdays & Anniversaries 7
Calendar of Events 7
November 2017 Volume 11, Issue 11
Page 2
The Bethlehem Star Page 2
“Serving GOD and the
community since 1898”
Board of Directors Chairman
Gerald Erjavec
847-671-1677
[email protected]
Vice-Chairman
Ray Bernero
708-456-4344
[email protected]
Secretary
Kurt Kugelberg
630-248-2571
[email protected]
Treasurer
Marian Sperling
847-288-0334
[email protected]
Financial Secretary
Tim Saar
847-455-2123
[email protected]
Deacons
Harry McGinnis
708-837-9753
[email protected]
Properties
Bob Schultz
[email protected]
At-Large
Liz Mork
708-453-2187
[email protected]
Diana Arndt
847-455-5193
[email protected]
motion passed
-Pastor introduced motion to
submit three overtures to The
District after discussion motion
passed
-Diane recommended that we
use bulletin board in narthex to
better inform all of upcoming
events
-Zoar wants to close their books
by year-end what other projects
are priority?
-Ray & Pastor will meet with
engineer to get estimate to re-
pair choir loft
-Next meeting October 24
Closing – Lord’s Prayer 8:21pm
Respectfully submitted
Kurt Kugelberg
Secretary
-installed kitchen faucets
-school roof problem repaired
yesterday
-Next big project will be gym
windows
Deacons Report: not present
Ad hoc committees:
-next brunch will be November
12th
-next Portillo’s event will be
October 16th
Vice Chairman’s Report:
-State said that Village is the
agency to approve removal of
chairlift
-Rummage sale will be Sat,
Oct 12th
Old Business: none
New Business:
-District nominations due for
March 18 election Pastor pro-
posed Alan Buss-President,
Steven Anderson-VP,
Leonard Peyton-Circuit Visitor
Attendance: Pas-
tor Gallup, Jerry
Erjavec, Diana
Arndt, Bob
Schultz, Liz Mork,
Kurt Kugelberg, Marian Sper-
ling, Ray Bernero
Opening Prayer/Devotions:
7:05pm
Approval of past Minutes: Mo-
tion approved
Official Acts: None
Treasurer’s Report: $36,000
in bank & signed with VANCO
will be sending us information
and forms to give out
Financial Secretary’s Report:
emailed report
Pastor’s & Properties Report:
-Parsonage siding delivery
due by end of Sept
-Garage finished except for
electrical
-Asphalt install by Friday
Board of Director’s Meeting: September 26, 2017
35). Paul answers his own
question: ‘Neither death nor
life, neither angels nor de-
mons, neither our fears for
today nor our worries about
tomorrow - not even the pow-
ers of hell can separate us
from God’s love … nothing in
all creation will ever be able to
separate us from the love of
God that is revealed in Christ
(Continued on page 6)
3) ‘Who dares accuse us…?
No one - for God himself has
given us right standing with
himself’ (v. 33). Every accus-
ing voice, including your own,
counts for nothing in the court
of heaven. God’s acceptance
trumps everybody else’s rejec-
tion - and He accepts you be-
cause He sees you ‘in Christ’.
4) ‘Who then will condemn
us? … Christ Jesus died for us
… he is sitting in the place of
honor at God’s right hand,
pleading for us’ (v. 34). When
your accusers rise up and
speak against you, Jesus, your
defense lawyer, silences
them. Why? Because His
blood covers you!
5) ‘Can anything ever sepa-
rate us from Christ’s love?’ (v.
What, then, shall we say in
response to this? If God is for
us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:31
Paul asks five all-important
questions:
1) ‘If God is for us, who can
ever be against us?’ The as-
surance of God’s presence
tilts the scales in your favor.
So whatever you’re facing to-
day, remind yourself, ‘God is
for me.’
2) ‘Since [God] did not spare
even his own Son but gave
him up for us all, won’t [God]
… give us everything else?’ (v.
32).Think about it: would God
save your soul, then leave you
to fend for yourself? Or ad-
dress your eternal needs and
not your earthly ones? No!
Five All-Important Answers
Page 3
Volume 11, Issue 11 November 2017 Page 3
Date Attendance Income Goal Difference
Year * 5400 $237,569.56 $215,510 +$22,059.56
Oct 1 39 $2,011.00 $2,308 -($297.00)
Oct 8 45 $3,252.00 $2,308 +$944.00
Oct 15 39 $1,727.00 $2,308 -($581.00)
Oct 22 50 $1,892.00 $2,308 -($416.00)
Oct 29 50 $1,244.00 $2,308 -($1,064.00)
YEAR 5623 $247,695.56 $227,050 +$20,645.56
God’s Treasure Report
*The Year row are the totals for this church year prior to but NOT including the dates shown in
the rest of the table
He never fails to remember us
and pours out the fullness of
His promises upon us. We give
thanks for all that He has done,
is doing, and will continue to
do. We give thanks by not tak-
ing for ourselves, but giving to
all even as our heavenly Father
has given to us.
As we prepare for the celebra-
tions of Thanksgiving, may we
all give thanks continually for
all that we are and all that we
have because of God’s provi-
dential care. And may we be all
the more diligent in bringing
everything that we have re-
ceived from God to Him, so that
He may bless it and employ it
for the good of all — even for
us. “For to the one who has,
more will be given, and he will
have an abundance” (Matthew
13:12).
Stewardship: ”Thanksgivings...”
Our Father in heaven has
claimed us as His own. By the
shedding of His Son’s blood,
by the His death for our sins
and His resurrection for our
justification, God the Father
has received us back into His
family. By water combined
with His Word, promise, and
name, the Holy Spirit has tak-
en up residence in us. We
belong to Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. He is in us, and
we are in Him. And
being in Him, all
things are ours. In
Him, we are richly
and abundantly
blessed.
Our true treasure
and wealth is that
we belong to the
most holy Trinity and every-
thing that is His belongs also
to us: righteousness, peace,
eternal life. Even our tem-
poral treasures are gifts from
His fatherly divine goodness
and mercy.
We receive our treasures
from Him, and thus, as (good
stewards of His varied grace,)
(1 Peter 4:10) we manage
them in such a way that they
may be returned to Him. We
bring them to Him, hallowed
through prayers of thanksgiv-
ing and God’s holy Word, as
an offering. Thus, all our pos-
sessions, as gifts from God,
are also offerings to Him,
from which we eat to nourish
our bodies, share with our
family, neighbors, and fellow
Christians, with the poor and
even our enemies, as holy
things given by the holy God.
His temporal gifts are bless-
ings to and for us, and bring
blessing upon us even as
they are pressed into His
service for His kingdom and
the souls that receive them.
Thus we place all that we
have into God’s hands, and
"Making His House Your Home"
www.worshipforshutins.org
DIRECTV Channel 377 -DISH Network
Sunday – 10:30 am
Network (TLN) –Comcast Cable 138
Sunday – 11:30 am
FREE Day-Old Bakery Open every Sunday morning
7:45am until 10:30am
for more information contact:
Harry McGinnis, Chair
708-837-9753
bound to unbreakable life
circumstances. We are a peo-
(Continued on page 6)
chored to a tree so they could-
n’t move. Over time when a
rope is placed around their
hind leg they don’t even try to
escape.
Spiritually speaking we are a
lot like elephants. Our tenden-
cy is to think we aren’t capa-
ble serving the Lord in mean-
ingful ways because we are
short rope around the right
rear leg that is anchored by a
simple wooden stake pounded
into the ground. The elephant
is more than capable of pulling
away to get free but they think
they can’t move. This happens
because as little elephants a
metal chain was placed
around their hind leg and an-
No animal in the world can
match the power of an ele-
phant. They can uproot mas-
sive trees, kill any other animal
and flip over your SUV as if it
were a small toy. And yet in
some countries elephants are
trained to serve their human
masters. Oddly enough they
are often tethered using only a
Bound
Page 4
The Bethlehem Star Page 4
Bethlehem Church was
dedicated on Sunday,
Nov 4, 1951 it was built
adjacent to the old church
building
circa 1900 Bethlehem
Church (foreground) and
School (background)
Our Church Staff Pastor
Rev. Roger Gallup, M. Div., M.A.
Office 708-453-1113
Home 708-456-9028
Director of Music
Linda Erjavec, B.A.
847-671-1677
Secretary
Elizabeth Gallup
708-453-1113x10
“In every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God.” Phil 4:6
Would you like to submit a prayer request?
Prayer is very powerful & Bethlehem has a power-
ful prayer chain.
Sue Peavey, Chief Prayer Warrior
708-724-6582
[email protected]
We will do the rest and many prayers will be made
known to God.
to focus on God’s goodness
every single day.
b) Reaching out to bless others
every chance you get.
c) Understanding that joy pro-
duces strength, which explains
why your joy is the devil’s pri-
mary target. When you lose
your joy you lose your strength
and he wins - so be joyful!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, In You
I have joy because I know
where I am spending eternity.
There is nothing more im-
portant than to know that fact.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
devotions.lccharities.org
different - positively different!
And unless you commit your-
self to walking in the joy of the
Lord, you’ll find negative ways
of distinguishing yourself from
nonbelievers. Paul
writes, ‘Rejoice in the Lord
always’ (Philippians 4:4). If
you’re thinking, ‘That’s easy
for Paul to say; he doesn’t
have my problems,’ think
again! When Paul wrote those
words he was in prison with no
chance of getting out. For him
joy was a decision, not a reac-
tion to circumstances. You
ask, ‘How could Paul be joyful
in prison?’ Because he under-
stood that true joy comes from
devoting yourself to something
bigger than your own interests.
The Bible says, ‘The joy of the
LORD is your
strength’ (Nehemiah
8:10). True joy calls for three
things:
a) Making a conscious choice
You will go out in joy and be
led forth in peace; the moun-
tains and hills will burst into
song before you, and all the
trees of the field will clap their
hands. Isaiah 55:12
Every morning say, ‘Today, I
will go out with joy.’ That’ll set
your attitude straight! General-
ly speaking, there are three
kinds of people:
1) Those who feel bad about
feeling good. They believe
we’re not supposed to be hap-
py, just ‘responsible’.
2) Those who rain on your pa-
rade because your joy bothers
them. Often these folks have
been hurt by life and anger
simmers just beneath the sur-
face.
3) Those who lift your spirit
and breathe life into you. You
say, ‘But doesn’t the Bible tell
us believers are supposed to
be different from nonbeliev-
ers?’ Yes, but not negatively
Be Joyful!
The LORD is with me; I will not
be afraid. What can man do to
me? Psalms 118:6
First, be willing to take a risk.
Yes, you might be hurt or em-
barrassed - so what? To over-
come insecurity and gain con-
fidence you must allow your-
self the freedom to take a
chance. Start writing that
book, take those music les-
sons, stand up and speak at
the meeting! Feel the fear and
do it anyway! ‘Fear of man will
prove to be a snare, but who-
ever trusts in the LORD is kept
safe’ (Proverbs 29:25).
Second, learn to laugh at your-
self. Get over your obsessive
need for approval and ac-
ceptance and learn to laugh at
your mistakes. We’re all hu-
man; stop taking yourself so
seriously! When you make a
mistake, be the first to see the
funny side, and you’ll find peo-
ple more supportive than you
think.
Third, start thinking realistical-
ly. It’s time to drop the security
blanket and realize it’s not all
about
you.
You
are
not
the
center
of the universe, and your little
faux pas don’t mean that much
in the bigger scheme of things.
Besides, mistakes are often
better teachers than success.
Fourth, reward yourself for little
victories. When you complete a
(Continued on page 5)
Four Steps to Overcoming Fear
Page 5
Volume 11, Issue 11 November Page 5
BRONCO Resale Shop 5517 St Charles Rd
(at Wolf Rd)
Berkley, IL HOURS OF OPERATION
M-T-Th-F: 10am - 4pm
Wednesday: 10am - 6pm-
Saturday: 9am - 3pm
708-240-4154 Walther HS Boosters
River Grove
Food Pantry “If everyone coming
to church brought just
one item each Sun-
day, think how many
lives we could touch.”
We collect tabs to
benefit Ronald
McDonald House.
Drop them off
in the Narthex.
Many thanks! Peggy Shabez
chairperson
1-630-253-3668
Pull Tabs
PLEASE USE OUR NEW:
Tuition Credit
Shopping Program for current & future students of
Walther High School
www.shopwithscrip.com Linda McGinnis,
Chairperson
708-681-1076
"Making His House Your Home"
Flower Chart 2017:
We are all aware that flowers
bring beauty to the altar as
well as joy to the giver. Unfor-
tunately, we have experi-
enced problems with receiv-
ing payment. If you are like
me we sign up when the flow-
er chart is produced and then
forget about it until the date
comes up and our name ap-
pears in the bulletin as the
donor. We leave church say-
ing we have to pay for them
and then time gets away from
us and the thought is forgot-
ten. Payment can be made
in advance or at least during
the month in which flowers
were requested.
God's blessings to each of
you who donate flowers and
thanks for helping with the
payments. Any questions you
may contact Liz Mork.
he was struck down by an
illness. In great pain he
called out, "O God, how I
suffer!" Then he lapsed into
semi-consciousness. While
Luther was in that condi-
tion, a friend came to him
and whispered, "Reverend
Father, do you still hold to
Christ and the doctrine you
have preached?" With
great effort, Luther re-
sponded, "Yes!" After that,
Luther went home to be
with God.
In the course of his life,
Luther had written more
than 60,000 pages. In
those pages, he had, once
again, placed the Bible into
the hands of the people; he
had reemphasized the
scriptural truth that we are
saved by God's grace rather
than by our actions, and he
had let the world know that
our just God had done eve-
rything necessary so lost
souls could be saved
through the sacrifice of His
Son.
Today, much of Christiani-
ty celebrates the 500th an-
niversary of the Refor-
mation which began the day
Luther nailed his 95 debat-
ing points on the church
door in Wittenberg. We give
thanks to the Lord for using
the writings of a humble
German friar to bless us.
But as we do, we also must
say that of all of his words
in all the books, pam-
phlets, sermons, and let-
ters Luther said and wrote,
no word was more im-
portant than his last, sim-
ple, "Yah."
With that single word,
Luther declined to recant
that which he had so pow-
erfully preached and pro-
claimed. With that word,
Luther showed that when
everything else is gone and
there are no more tomor-
rows, we are saved by God-
given faith in the crucified
and risen Redeemer.
Is this something you also
believe? I pray that you,
like Luther, can say, "Yah!"
PRAYER: Dear Lord, we give
thanks for the heroes of
faith whom You have raised
up. We rejoice that You
took sinners and used them
to accomplish Your purpos-
es. Today I ask that the Ho-
ly Spirit touch lost hearts
and let them join with Lu-
ther in his last confession
of faith: "Yah. I am saved by
faith alone, as shown in
Scripture alone, by God's
grace alone." In Jesus'
Name. Amen.
"Yah! (Yes!)" (continued from page 1)
Four Steps to Overcoming Fear (continued from page 4)
thank you for helping me
overcome my fears – know-
ing You are with me at all
times. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
self with 20/20 vision. Once
you can do that, your fears
will be replaced by confi-
dence in yourself and in your
future.
Prayer: Heavenly Father,
used to the idea that you’re
valuable, talented, and skilled,
and your worth in God’s eyes
is inestimable. Stop scrutiniz-
ing yourself through distorted
lenses and start seeing your-
project, reward yourself. When
you take advice or correction
without retaliating, reward
yourself. Often the people we
lash out at, are those trying
the hardest to help us. Get
Page 6
The Bethlehem Star Page 6
circa 1927 Bethlehem Church
& Parsonage prior to remodel-
ing of church building which
occurred in 1928
Our old church altar
Sundays-6am-WGN 720AM
Daily Devotion-Lutheran Church Charities
www.devotions.lcccharities.org Read or listen to a great daily devotional
www.lcms.org/witness
Walther News
Save the Date
Bronco Benefit Dinner The Second Annual Bron-
co Benefit Dinner will be
held on Sunday, January
28th at Elmcrest Banquets
in Elmwood Park. This im-
portant fundraiser helps
students, whose families
have financial need, at-
tend Walther Christian
Academy. For event spon-
sorship, program ads,
auction donations or din-
ner reservations, visit
Walther.com/dinner.
Christmas Concert
Kick off the Christmas
season with Walther
Christian Academy at
their concert on Friday,
December 1st at 7:30
p.m. in the school gym.
Veterans Day Service
Calling all veterans and
their family members,
please join the faculty,
staff and students of
Walther Christian Acade-
my for a special chapel
service honoring veter-
ans on November 10th.
Coffee and donuts will be
served in the Walther caf-
eteria at 9:45 a.m. fol-
lowed by the service in
the gym at 10:20
a.m. Please R.S.V.P. to
[email protected] .
come only from You. In Jesus’
Name, Amen devotions.lccharities.org
Jesus our Lord’ (vv. 38-
39). Knowing these five truths
will help you enjoy your day
and sleep better at night!
Prayer: Heavenly Father,
thank You for Your Word that
guides me in all that I face
with the assurance that can
Five All-Important Answers (Continued from page 2)
ple bound by time, bound by
past failures, bound by lack of
confidence, bound by systems
that don’t support us, bound
by lack of experience, bound
by lesser priorities, bound by
apathy, and the list of what
binds us goes on and on.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, for-
give us for forgetting you have
created us for good works
which you have prepared in
advance. Set us free from
that which binds us and open
for us a way of service in your
Church. Increase our love for
You and use our witness for
the conversion of unbelievers
in the name of Jesus.
Scripture: Now to him who is
able to do far more abundant-
ly than all that we ask or
think, according to the power
at work within us, to him be
glory in the church and in
Christ Jesus throughout all
generations, forever and ever.
Amen (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Bound (continued from page 3)
Page 7
Tuchel, Mike 03-Nov
Kempke, Mat 04-Nov
Schmidt, Jerry 04-Nov
Garcia, Richard 05-Nov
Schutt, Brad 06-Nov
Guhl, Gina 07-Nov
Glass, Stephanie 10-Nov
Linden, Gary 10-Nov
Hermansen, Ashley 12-Nov
Helm, Daniel 13-Nov
Kuhfuss, Nancy 13-Nov
Cube, Linda 14-Nov
Drennan, Timothy 14-Nov
Graves, Daryl 15-Nov
Graves, Les 15-Nov
Banko, Catherine 16-Nov
Neuman, Gertrude 17-Nov
Guhl, Jenni 20-Nov
Ranallo, Robert 20-Nov
Salerno, Cherie 21-Nov
Schutt, Nancy 21-Nov
Ranallo, Anthony 23-Nov
Schmahl, Daniel 24-Nov
Roeder, Valerie 29-Nov
Lacalamita, Patricia 30-Nov
Zefeldt, Daniel 30-Nov
Birthdays
Do you want to add to our Birthday or Anniversary list?
Contact the Church Office:
708-453-1113 or just send us a note!
Volume 11, Issue 11 November 2017 Page 7
Olson, Ronald & Beth 20-Nov
Hansen, Robert & Sandylee 26-Nov
O'Connor, Michael & Rebecca 27-Nov
Voss, Carl & RuthAnn 30-Nov
Anniversaries
"Making His House Your Home"
Note: (C) denotes Common Cup Communion Service and (I) denotes Individual Cup Communion Service;
November 2017
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
29 30 31 01 02 03 04
7pm Choir Practice Craft/Vendor Fair
05 06 07 08 09 10 11
All Saint’s Day 8:15am Bible Study
9:15am Service (I)
10:30am Coffee and…
7pm Women’s Bible
Study Veterans Day
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
23rd Sun a. Pentecost 8:15am Bible Study
9:15am Service (I)
10:30am Coffee and…
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
24th Sun a. Pentecost 8:15am Bible Study
9:15am Service (I)
10:30am Coffee and…
Thanksgiving
26 27 28 29 30 01 02
Last Sun of Ch Year 8:15am Bible Study
9:15am Service (I)
10:30am Coffee and…
Page 8
Bethlehem Lutheran Church 2624 Oak Street
River Grove, Illinois 60171
Celebrating God’s Love since 1898
What We Teach and Confess As Lutherans
-There is one true God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
-All People are born in sin, and we sin against God every day.
-Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is true God and true man. He came from heaven, lived a perfect life in our place and died
a sacrificial death on the cross for all.
-Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and opened the gates of heaven to all who trust in him.
-God accepts all who believe in Jesus even though there is no merit or worthiness in us.
-So that we might believe in Jesus, God has given us the ministry, which is the preaching of Christ and the
Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Through these, God also gives us the forgiveness of sins.
-When God brings people to faith, He also produces many good works in our lives. These are done, not to earn grace,
but to do God’s will and please him. We love him because he first loved us.
-God has given every man, woman and child a calling in life. Within that calling He directs us, and through His Word,
strengthens us to live for Him.
-The Bible is the inspired Word of God. The Bible is free from all error and contradiction in all that it says. The Word of
God brings us to Jesus our Lord.
ADVANCE EQUIPMENT
MANUFACTURING COMPANY
CHICAGO, IL
WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sunday 9:15am Service
Communion is celebrated every
Sunday; common cup on the
1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday & individual cup
on the 2nd and 4th Sunday.
CHURCH: (708) 453-1113
PASTOR: 708-456-9028
NEWSLETTER
Please e-mail any articles you want
included in the next newsletter to:
[email protected]
We’re on the Web!
Visit us at:
www.bethlehemrivergrove.com
8:15am Sundays— For all you Early Risers used to
coming to the first service - Join
us for coffee and a topical discus-
sion of the Bible with Pastor Gal-
lup. Everyone interested in learn-
ing more about the Word are
welcome!
