The Charger
December 1, 2006


Email: clschool@comcast.net

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December 1, 2006

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING: Advent season is here, and also all the holiday shopping, decorating and merriment. Before we get completely caught up in all the activity, let us all take time to prepare for Christ’s coming both the baby in Bethlehem and His triumphant return in glory at His second coming. Advent is a good time to set up those family traditions which also need to include worship. Truly this is a good time to thank God for “75 years of God’s grace among us”.
     God bless you all as we remember that Christ who was born in a stable also died and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 

Dan Henschen


CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS: What a wonderful opportunity to remind ourselves of the true meaning of Christmas by attending our Christmas programs. The preschools and kindergarten class will present their program on Thursday, December 14, at 7:00 PM, and grades 1-8 will have their program Tuesday, December 20, at 7:00. Come and hear the Christmas story and bring a friend or family member along to share with you. Both programs will be held in the gym. 

CHILI COOK OFF WINNERS: Congratulations to Winner Geri Marion place in the Concordia PTL Chili Cook Off . Buddy N., Denise Hennig and Jay M. for their tasty entries in the cook off. Thanks also to all the volunteers who helped with the chili dinner and the jamboree. A good time was had by all!

BIBLE BOWL: Congratulations to Concordia Bible Bowl teams. 5th grade—2nd place team members were Jordan, Kyle, Michael, and Joshua. 6th grade—1st place team members were Aaron, Jared, Dani, Michael, Tina and Deborah. 7th grade—2nd place team members were Angela, Olivia, and Blake. 8th grade—2nd place team members were Sara, Ashley, Victoria and Jeremiah. 

CHRISTMAS VACATION: Christmas vacation begins on Thursday , December 21, at 1:00. School will resume on Tuesday, January 2, at 8:30 am.

CHRISTMAS WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

12/6 5:30 Advent Meal
      7:00 Advent Worship
12/9 5:30 Evening Worship
12/10 10:00 Worship Service 
12/13 5:30 Advent Meal
      7:00 Advent Worship
12/14 7:00 Preschool-Kindergarten Christmas Program
12/16 5:30 Evening Worship 
12/17 10:00 Worship Service with Communion
12/20 7:00 Grades 1-8 Christmas Program
12/23 5:30 Worship Service
12/24 10:00 Worship Service 
     11:00 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service with Communion
12/30 5:30 Worship Service 
12/31 10:00 Worship Service with Communion
12/31 5:30 New Year’s Eve Service 

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Calendar

12/1 End of Mid-Quarter
12/2 10:00 G(V). B(JV), & B(V) vs. Bethel, Morton at Concordia
12/3 10:00 Preschool & Kindergarten singing is worship service
12/6 Mid-Quarter reports go home
     8:45 Chapel with Dan Henschen
     5:30 Advent Meal
7:00 Advent Worship
12/12 6:00 G(JV & V) vs. Salem, Jacksonville at Jacksonville
12/13 8:45 Chapel with Pastor Koschmann
     5:30 Advent Meal
     7:00 Advent Worship
12/14 6:00 B(JV & V) vs. Salem, Jacksonville at Jacksonville
     7:00 Early Childhood Christmas Program
12/15 TBA G(V) St. John’s Shootout at Champaign
12/20 8:45 Chapel with Pastor Hennig
     7:00 Grades 1-8 Christmas Program
12/21 1:00 Early Dismissal for Christmas Vacation

Quotable Quotes 

GOD AND THE GEESE

     There was once a man who didn’t believe in God, and he didn’t hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.
     One snowy eve, his wife was taking their children to service in the farm community in which they lived. They were to talk about Jesus’ birth. She asked him to come, but he refused.
     “That story is nonsense!” he said. “Why would God lower Himself to come to earth as a man? That’s ridiculous!” 
     So she and the children left, and he stayed home.
     Awhile later, the winds grew stronger, and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump. He looked out but couldn’t see more than a few feet.
     When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn’t go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and few around the field in low circles blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window.
     The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It’s warm and safe. Surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide. He watched and waited hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn’t seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean to them.
     The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them. They moved farther away. He went into the house and came with some bread. He broke it up and made a bread crumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn’t catch on.
     Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn. They only became more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.
     “Why don’t they follow me?” he exclaimed. “Can’t they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?”
     He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn’t follow a human. “If only I were a goose, then I could save them,” he said out loud. 
     Then he had an idea. He went into the barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn—-and one by one, the other geese followed it to safety.
     He stood silently for a moment as the word he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: “If only I were a goose, then I could save them!” Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier, “Why would God want to be like us? That’s ridiculous!”
     Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese—blind, lost, and perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us.
     As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood why Christ had come.
     Years of doubt and disbelief vanished with the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: “Thank you, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!”

web address: www.concordiaspfld.org and www.concordiacares.org
CONCORDIA LUTHERAN SCHOOL
Est. 1931

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