Friendship Youth Craft Show

In order to raise money for their 2007 mission trip, the youth of Friendship are holding a craft sale. Items will be on sale at the church building, 1300 White Oak Road, on Friday, December 15, from 4:00 to 8:00 PM and on Saturday, December 16, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Tell your friends!

The First Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson...

is here.

This Past Weekend's Message...

can be found here.

The Friendship Vision for 2007 must, I believe, include the following four essential elements:

• Exalt the Lord
• Each one reach one
• Engage in service
• Expand your vision

To Help You Prepare for Worship...

here's a first look at the Bible lessons for both Thanksgiving Eve and for Christ the King weekend.

'How to pray for healing' book group...

meets tonight at 7:00PM.

Please Pray...

for Vic Feine, the father of Steve Feine, who has recently undergone heart surgery. Ask God to bring him complete healing.

Thanksgiving Eve Worship...

happens this Wednesday, November 22, starting at 7:00PM. This is a service held jointly with the people of Lutheran Church of the Resurrection and All Saints Lutheran Church. The offering will be designated for the World Hunger Appeal of our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Please plan on attending.

No Tuesday Bible Study This Week

We'll resume next Tuesday, November 28, 7:00 to 8:30.

Thanks to you...

for your participation in Operation Christmas Child this year. Jimmy Jordan reports that he was able to deliver fifty boxes this year.

Thanks to Lisa Wood for once again coordinating this great Christmas outreach!

Special Thanks to...

the Ball, Barrett, Daniels, DeVore, Erdmann, Feine, Herdtner, Jordn, Knorr, Niehaus, Snoke, Wagner, and Witkowski families for providing food for the Thanksgiving feasts that Friendship shared with four families this holiday.

Thanks also to Charlene Hauke and the Sunday School children for decorating the Thanksgiving boxes so beautifully!

The Latest with Moe and Joe...

is here.

This Past Weekend's Message...

is here.

Be Sure to Be Present for Consecration Sunday!

Consecration Sunday happens this Sunday, November 19. During this special day, you’ll be asked to turn in your 2007 Time and Talent Survey and a 2007 estimated giving card.

Please pray about what you want to try to accomplish as another of God's ministers at Friendship in the coming year. Then, please bring your surveys and cards with you to worship.

After worship on Consecration Sunday, we'll be having a potluck. Coffee and soft drinks will be provided. You're asked to provide the following:

• THOSE WHOSE LAST NAMES BEGIN WITH THE LETTERS A THRU E: Desserts
• THOSE WHOSE LAST NAMES BEGIN WITH THE LETTERS F THRU P: Main dish/casseroles
• THOSE WHOSE LAST NAMES BEGIN WITH THE LETTERS R THRU W: Salads

Also after worship this coming Sunday: Kassidy Lambert, daughter of Kelly Lambert, will be holding a BAKE SALE. The proceeds will go to CASA for Clermont Kids!, the agency which provides court-appointed advocates for foster children who go through the Clermont County court system. Kelly is working with CASA for Clermont Kids! as part of her Senior Exit Action Project.

If you're unable to be present on Sunday, remember that we'll still be having our Saturday GoDeep worship celebration at 5:30PM. You can turn in your completed forms on that day as well.

Attention: Friendship Men

Our next men's group is this Saturday 11/18 at the new Bob Evans in Amelia. We will meet at 8AM for breakfast and fellowship. Our meetings typically end by 9:15 and everyone has a good time. Please, if you haven't attended a meeting, plan to do so this Saturday and check out our newest Bob Evans, east of Amelia.

Results of This Week's Youth Fundraising Efforts

Thanks to all the people who volunteered to wait and bus tables at TGIFriday's tonight, we raised $755.02 for the youth mission trip to New York! I thought that this was a great success on a night when it rained like crazy. (I also thank the Friendship folks who were there tonight to support the congregation's youth!)

When added to the $276.78 cleared from last week's Sam's Cookout, we've so far raised $1031.80 for the trip.

I'm keeping track of who has been able to work on a spread sheet. Some of the money raised will go toward gas money for the trip and the rest accounted to fund-raising participants.

There will be more fund-raisers after the first of the year, including a return to Friday's in early May.

Quick Note on Dry Erase Board

If you want to post items on the dry erase board, please be sure to use the proper dry erase pens. Otherwise, the board will be ruined.

Note: No Verbal Announcements This Sunday

There will be no verbal announcements during worship this coming Sunday. Be sure to pick up a paper copy of our weekly announcements or check them out as Don Wood runs them on PowerPoint before and after worship.

We Have Two Bible Lessons This Weekend

Here is the first pass at them.

Lots of News

Our Cookout at Sam's Club, in spite of the cold weather, netted $230.76. In addition, members gave freewill offerings of $46.00 for leftovers this past Sunday. Thank you to all who helped with this fundraiser, proceeds from which go toward the youth trip to New York!

Thanks also go to everybody who participated in Operation Christmas Child this past Sunday. Special thanks to Lisa Wood for coordinating and to Judy Jordan for transporting the items for distribution! If you still have a box to donate, you can call to arrange to get it to Judy Jordan before this Thursday morning.

Here are a few critically important reminders:

(1) By now, everybody should know that our adult volunteers and youth will be waiting tables at TGIFriday's this Thursday, November 16, from 5:00 to 9:00 PM. We're doing this also to help raise funds for the youth mission trip to Canandaigua, New York. All tips will go to Friendship's youth group.

Yesterday, I received a copy of an email sent by one of our Friendship members to all the local people on their email address list, inviting them to dine at TGIFriday's this coming Thursday. What a great idea! It would be wonderful if all of our Friendship folks did the same. We could pack the joint!

(2) VOLUNTEERS: We're asked to be at TGIFriday's at 4:30PM on Thursday for an explanatory meeting. (I know that several can't be there right at 4:30.)

(3) By the way, a few more adult volunteers would be helpful, if you can be there at 4:30. Let me know if you could get involved in this worthwhile and fun fund-raising activity.

Other reminders....
(4) Consecration Sunday happens this coming Sunday, November 19. Within a few days, you'll be receiving a snail-mail letter from Steve Feine. There will be two enclosures: a 2007 Time and Talent Survey and a 2007 estimated giving card. Please pray about what you want to try to accomplish as another of God's ministers at Friendship in the coming year. Then, please bring your surveys and cards with you to worship.

(5) After worship on Consecration Sunday, we'll be having a potluck. Coffee and soft drinks will be provided. You're asked to provide the following:
THOSE WHOSE LAST NAMES BEGIN WITH THE LETTERS A THRU E: Desserts
THOSE WHOSE LAST NAMES BEGIN WITH THE LETTERS F THRU P: Main dish/casseroles
THOSE WHOSE LAST NAMES BEGIN WITH THE LETTERS R THRU W: Salads

(6) Also after worship this coming Sunday: Kassidy Lambert, daughter of Kelly Lambert, will be holding a BAKE SALE. The proceeds will go to CASA for Clermont Kids!, the agency which provides court-appointed advocates for foster children who go through the Clermont County court system. Kelly is working with CASA for Clermont Kids! as part of her Senior Exit Action Project.

(7) As you know, we're providing four Thanksgiving baskets for area families. Thank you to all who have signed up to donate items for the baskets. We still need the following items: three large foil roasting pans, four frozen pumpkin pies, and three turkey roasting bags. If you can provide one or two of these items, let Jan Witkowski know. All items need to be brought in by Sunday, November 19.

(8) Finally, remember our annual THANKSGIVING EVE worship with two other area Lutheran congregations. This year's service happens at Friendship. The day and time: November 22 at 7:00PM. I hope that a good contingent of Friendship folks will be in attendance.

This Past Weekend's Message...

is here.

The Second Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson...

is here.

First Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson...

is here.

Clothes Makes the Person

So says our friend, Glen VanderKloot, here.

This Weekend's Message...

can be found here.

Thankful?

Pick a cause and serve. Here. (Watch out, I brag on you people!)

Put Thanksgiving Eve Worship, November 22, on Your Calendar

Every year, the folks from Friendship join with those from Lutheran Church of the Resurrection and All Saints Lutheran Church for Thanksgiving Eve Worship. Together, we thank God for His blessings and rededicate ourselves to sharing them with others.

This year, the service will happen at Friendship's building facilities on Wednesday, November 22, starting at 7:00 PM.

Our offering that night will go to the World Hunger Appeal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The Newest Church Directories...

were sent out via email today. If yours got lost in cyberspace, let me know at MarkLuth@aol.com.

The annual Chili Cookoff...

happens after worship this coming Sunday. Come hungry...first for God's Word and then for chili!

The Third Pass at This Weekend's Lesson...

is here.

The Second Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson...

is here. By the way, several people mentioned problems with the site they'd been happening recently. I know that Blogger, the server, has been having some troubles, which may account for that. But I also republished the entire blog last night. Sometimes, that clears out the cobwebs. Let me know if things have been corrected.

To All the TGIFriday's Volunteers

This is the complete list of adult volunteers I have for serving dinner at TGIFriday's on Thursday, November 16:

Judy Jordan
Mike DeVore
Donna Seckman
Nancy Ball
Steve Feine
Gene Hart
Marla Hart
Diana Erdmann
Rochelle Feine
Kathy Bendick
Carol Barrett
Fran Klingelhafer
Judy Mikolay
Debbie Snoke
Jane Kuebel
David Kuebel
Steve Snoke
Betsy DeVore

First of all, THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU...especially to those of you who have no children in the youth group!

While one or two are unable to be there for the entire evening, something we can work around, Donna, the assistant manager in charge of this program, wants us at the restaurant at 4:30. At that time, she'll give us specific guidelines and hook us up with the regular Friday's servers with which we'll be teamed.

She asks that we dress professionally, including no jeans. I'd like to suggest that, of we don't have one of the shirts Gene has made available to us, that we all wear blue denim or blue dressy shirts, so that people will get the idea that there's a single group up to something.

Young people, I'll need you there at 4:30 as well. Your job will be to talk to the diners, letting them know what we're doing: Raising money for our mission trip. All tips for those four hours will go toward that purpose.

Invite as many of your friends in the community to be there on that Thursday! The more folks who dine and tip, the more of our trip is paid for. (People also find out that we are a serving church, too!)

Thanks again and God bless!

Your Friend in Christ,
Mark

To All the Sam's Club Cookout Volunteers

Thank you so much for volunteering to help our youth with the Sam's Club cookout on Saturday, November 11. It happens from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM and we'll be stationed near the exit of the store.

Thank you to the following people for volunteering to help:
Mike DeVore
Jerald Miller
Don Niemeier
Gail Niemeier
Steve Feine
Rochelle Feine
Gene Hart
Jane Kuebel
David Kuebel
Jim Jordan
Cheryl Weyant
Paul Niehaus
Marti Niehaus

I'm grateful to all of you for your help, but most especially those adult volunteers who don't have youth in the group. Your help will go a long way toward helping us go on our mission camp in Upstate New York this coming June.

I'll have more details for you soon. But, I know for certain that I need the following:

• Someone to pick up and bring the church grill from our storage shed and take it back after the cookout;
• Someone to pick up two of the long tables and take them back to the church building. (We need to have them there for the 5:30 GoDeep service that day.);
• Three or four folks to bring several folding chairs;
• Several folks to make two or three posters explaining what we're doing.

We signed a form saying that we wouldn't solicit for the church in any way. That means no church material. We can be friendly.

Youth, your participation is key.

Thanks again to everybody and God bless!

Mark

Press Release That Went to Local Media Over Past Two Days

High school and middle school members of Friendship Lutheran Church, 1300 White Oak Road in Pierce Township, are participating in a community service mission trip in upstate New York next June. During their week in New York, the twenty-member contingent may do anything from cleaning and repairing the home of a hospitalized person to providing programming for a community outreach to children or working in a nursing home. To help pay for this venture, Friendship's youth and adults have scheduled two several special fundraising events, with more to follow.

On Saturday, November 11, youth and adult volunteers will be cooking and selling hot dogs, among other things, at Sam's Club, Clepper Lane, in the Eastgate area. The cookout happens from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM. Money raised will go toward paying for registration and other expenses associated with the trip.

The same is true of another event the Friendship youth and adults have scheduled. On Thursday, November 16, from 5:00 to 9:00 PM, they'll be serving dinner and refreshments at TGIFriday's at the Anderson Towne Centre. All tips given by restaurant patrons will go toward the mission trip.

"We hope that our many friends in the community will support our youth's mission effort by getting a hot dog outside of Sam's on November 11 or dinner at TGIFriday's on November 16," says Friendship's pastor, Mark Daniels of Union Township.

Friendship's youth, like the rest of the congregation, have a commitment to service as a way of sharing Christ's love with others. After a recent gift shower at the church, Friendship's youth packed 26 duffel and baby bags. The bags were given to CASA for Clermont Kids!, which in turn gave the bags--filled with things toys, shampoo, blankets, and sleepers, to children who have to be taken to foster homes. Friendship's youth have "adopted" the Clermont CASA organization. (CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates.)

This year's officers at Friendship include: Courtney DeVore of Pierce Township, president; Justin Feine of Pierce Township, vice president; Laura Kuebel of Pierce Township, secretary; and Sean Daniher of Union Township, treasurer.

Friendship Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Worship celebrations are held at the church building on Saturdays at 5:30 PM and Sundays at 10:00 AM. Sunday School and nursery care are provided during the Sunday worship time.

For more information on the youth mission trip, feel free to call the church office at 602-5265.

[Be sure to tell all of your friends about these two fund-raising events!]