Welcome to St. John Lutheran Church-LCMC
November
Important Events for November
Thanksgiving Harvest Dinner
Join us for dinner on November 22nd after church service for turkey, dressing, and all
the fixings. A signup sheet will be passed around or located in the Narthex. We are
looking forward to a fun time together!
ALL SAINTS SUNDAY ~ Remembering the Faithfully Departed
On November 1st, we will celebrate All Saints Sunday and remember those that have passed away in the past year. If you would like us to include your loved one in our service, please let the church office know.
WOMEN’S THANK OFFERING
On Sunday, November 22nd the women of the congregation will bring their annual Thank Offerings. Offering Boxes are available in the Narthex. Gifts can be put in the Offering Box or in an envelope marked “Thank Offering” and placed in the basket in the Narthex. All thank offerings will go to support our work with our Food Pantry and Shepherd’s Heart. Feel free to bring canned goods also!
CHRISTMAS EVE CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
Plans are being made for the Children’s Christmas Eve Program. Please let Cindy Beckermann, Romadene Mohel, or Linda Richter know if your children or grandchildren will be able to participate in the program this year.
Our Food Pantry
We are stocking up for Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. We’ll give a holiday meal during November and December. Suggested items include Stove Top stuffing, instant mashed
potatoes, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce, canned fruit and turkey gravy mix. We’ll also be purchasing ham and turkey breasts. If you are able to help with these purchases, please speak with Joy Moehnke. Place donated items on the bench by the Food Pantry. Items can also be purchased through Amazon and shipped directly to the church at 409 S Main St, Thrall. Monetary donations are always welcome!
Thank you for your generosity!
LUTHERAN MEN ~ MONTHLY BREAKFAST
On November 7, we will have a Lutheran Men Monthly breakfast. Breakfast will be served at 8:00 a.m. We will have a hot breakfast, devotion, and a Bible study.
December Special Events
Here is a quick snapshot of December special events (not including the regular monthly events).
More information on each event will be coming in the Newsletters and Bulletins.
• Dec. 2, 9,16-Advent Services and Soup & Sandwich Meal ~
• Dec. 6-SS Kids sing at Taylor Rehab & Nursing Center ~
• Dec. 6-Snoop Party & Meal ~
• Dec. 13-SS Kids Christmas Practice after Church & Pizza lunch ~
• Dec. 20-Sunday School Christmas Party & Breakfast ~
• Dec. 20- Open House at the Parsonage ~
• Dec. 24- Christmas Eve Children’s Program ~
Ladies Bible Study
The Ladies Bible Study will meet on November 12, at 10:00 a.m. We are studying the Women of the Bible. Please plan to join them for time in God’s Word.
PRAYER VIGIL
On November 20th, we will have a prayer vigil from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. You are invited
to sign up for a half-hour time slot and come to the church to pray. If you cannot come
to the church, still sign up and set aside that time to pray wherever you are. We will
have a prayer list, church directory, and some devotional resources available. Please
be a part of this event to pray for our ministry, our families, our communities, our
nation, and our world. Your ongoing prayers are also a blessing and are appreciated.
CHURCH DECORATING FOR ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS
We will decorate for Advent and Christmas after church on Sunday, November 29th. A pizza lunch will be provided. Please plan to join in the fun of decorating.
Thrall Band Fundraiser
Chickern Spaghetti Band Fundraiser Dinner
at St. John Lutheran Church
409 S. Main St.
Thrall Tx
on
November 8, 2026
From
4:30 pm-6:30 pm
Cost: $15.00
Thrall Band Spaghetti Dinner Tickets are available from Claire Schernik, Jacob Geske or in the church office.
Proceeds Benefit Band Students & Participants.
Shepherd's Heart
FROM THE DESK OF PASTOR GESKE
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The Joy of Giving!
Greetings to you in the name of Christ!
In many churches, November is a time for Stewardship Sunday or a mission festival. Both are incredibly fitting for this season as we celebrate Thanksgiving and see the earthly harvest completed. In gratitude to God, we celebrate the blessings He has given us and focus on how we can be a blessing to others. Our Lord has so richly blessed us with everything we are and everything we have!
This leaves us with two important questions to consider:
• How are we using the blessings of God to be a blessing to others?
• How are we individually sharing the love, hope, and forgiveness that is ours in Jesus?
On Sunday, November 22, we will host our annual thank offering and a Thanksgiving dinner. This year again, we are especially thankful for the women of our congregation, who will bless our ministry and local outreach through our food pantry. We are also thankful for our Sunday School children, who are doing special tasks to earn canned goods for the thank offering; they will be presenting their food baskets during the service. Everyone in the congregation is invited to bring canned goods on this day to help stock our pantry.
As we approach the end of the year, it is a wonderful time to look back and reflect on how God has walked with us and blessed us. As you reflect on those blessings, please prayerfully consider making a special thank offering gift to our church's ministry, above and beyond your normal giving.
In other congregations I have served, we used a meaningful tradition where members filled out pledge forms and placed them in sealed envelopes. These were presented as an act of worship, and the following November, they were returned to each person unopened. No one else ever saw what was written. It was simply a personal, powerful way to move forward by faith and support the ministry. Let us continue to step forward in faith together this season.
We recall these words of Scripture:
‘“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. ’ But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ ‘In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, ’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (Malachi 3:8-10 NIV)
“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NIV)
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”(1 John 4:7-11 NIV)We love because He first loved us. We give, we serve, we share, and we rejoice because of what God has done for us in Jesus. We want our world to know the love and forgiveness that comes from Jesus Christ alone.
I pray that God will excite you and fill you with the joy of giving in service to Him. I look forward to seeing you in His house and working alongside you in His Kingdom.
In Christ, Pastor Jeffrey D. Geske
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Please make the study of God’s Word
a priority for you and your
family. A church that is growing is a church that is in God’s Word.