EVENTS
MLC NEWS
CONFIRMATION
On September 27, there was a confirmation ceremony at the 11 am service. Those who confirmed their faith were: Morgan Maser, Emily Poole. Ethan Cariveau, Grace Holmgren, Rachel Holmgren, Myka Hoover, Aidan Bowman, Andrew Wiley, Maddie Collins, Gia Bavone, Addison Petrinos, Lauren Potts, Madeleine Belsha, Sam Remus, Abby Hall, and Mark Snider. Congratulations to all of these students!
ONLINE GIVING
Online giving is an easy way to give to MLC, and there are three ways to do it:
1) Follow this link: messiahlutheranchurch.churchcenter.com/giving
2) Download the Church Center app on your phone or tablet and choose to use either your debit/credit card or automatic bank withdrawal.
3) Text your dollar amount (with a dollar sign in front of it) to 84321.
WORSHIP SERVICES FOR OCTOBER
We are now meeting inside for all three services. Make your reservation for what service you plan to attend at mlcjoliet.org. The 8:00 and 9:30 services will be streamed live as well, and there will be overflow in the narthex for those services if we surpass the 70 person threshold. Check out our indoor services FAQ at mlcjoliet.org for more info. If you’d like a standing reservation at one of the services, call the office or email Lloyd at and we will put you on the standing reservation list.
PASTOR APPRECIATION MONTH
Our Pastors could really use some appreciation and October is Pastor Appreciation Month. We encourage you to take time over the next few weeks in October to let your pastors and their wives know how much and why you appreciate them. Tell them in person, send a card or a note; give them a call or share something on social media, pray for them daily or surprise them with something special. “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching..” (1 Timothy 5:17)
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER SERMON SERIES
There are so many wonderful and positive promises made by our God in the Bible. This sermon series, called “Uplift”, will focus on the wonderful promises God has made to all of us upon which we can always rely.
NEW LEADERS
We have two new board directors. Mike Brown will be serving at the head of the Evangelism board, and Aimee Gipes will be serving as the interim Christian Education board head. Please be in prayer for these two individuals as they take on these ministries. Nan Dusek will be heading up Altar Guild as well.
THANK YOU
Dear Messiah Lutheran Church, The Institute of Lutheran Theology (ILT) is an accredited Lutheran seminary providing graduate, certificate, and lay level theological education through a fully integrated online campus. The ILT deeply appreciates your prayers and financial support. We encourage you to visit our website to see what ILT has accomplished with your generous giving. Thank You.
GET INVOLVED
DAYBREAK SHELTER
Because of Covid-19, Daybreak Shelter is now doing boxed dinners. We will be packaging those boxes after the 11 am service on the second Sunday of the month, and boxing and delivering them on the second Monday of every month by 4 pm. To fill the boxes, we need donations of whole fruit, homemade cookies and two five pound containers of potato salad. Call the church office or sign up in the church narthex to let us know if you’ll be helping at one or both of these opportunities.
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD BOXES
We plan on doing shoe boxes for Samaritan's Purse again this year. The only difference is we plan to distribute the shoe boxes earlier in order to give you more time to fill them out. Boxes are available now and will be due back November 22nd. You can pick up and drop off the boxes in our container by door 13 (the door by the offices) any time during office hours. Any questions, please call Donna Stier or the church office.
MLC NEEDS
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
If you’re interested in working in any of these ministries, please contact the church office at worship@mlcjoliet.org.
Greeters: People will have different questions about safety, and you can be the one to assure them and thank them for making worship a priority.
Ushers: There is less to do during the service, but helping people find the right place to sit has never been so important.
Tech Team: We now have three important jobs in the tech arena: We need three people each Sunday to take care of sound, displays and cameras.
Altar Guild: Working behind the scenes to make sure the Altar and communion elements are ready for worship.
QUILTERS NEEDS
Quilters are in need of any size sheets. Please be sure they are without rips, tears or stains. There is a basket in the narthex to put them. Thank you.
MLC CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
SUNDAY SCHOOL (Sundays at 9:30 am)
If you’re in kindergarten through sixth grade, join this group for Sunday school in the Family Life Center. Social distancing and other safety protocols will be followed.
AWANA (Wednesdays, online)
Awana has started. It looks a little different, but the goal of teaching children the word of God and training them to serve Him will remain. It’s virtual Awana, with weekly releases including worship time, group lessons and bible verse memorization. We’ll gather together occasionally to allow for some fun and social interaction. We’ll be sure to meet in a large area and practice social distancing. It’s for Preschool - 6th grade. You don’t need to have joined Awana to participate this year! Make sure to join Remind to get the latest Awana updates. To join, simply text @awanamlc to 81010 or go to remind.com/join/awanamlc. Get links to Awana videos at mlcjoliet.org/awana.
HARVEST FEST (October 31 from noon to 3 pm)
Come join us for our yearly event of fun, games, and candy for pre-k through 6th grade. There will be a carnival with games, candy and prizes, and we’ll have We’ll have Trunk or Treat with great fellowship. Kids are encouraged to wear their costumes. Volunteers will wear gloves and games will be frequently sanitized. Come on out for this safe event!
MLC STUDENT MINISTRY
MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL SUNDAY SCHOOL (Sundays at 9:30 am)
We’re back in the building for Sunday school for middle and high school students (7th-12th grade) every Sunday. We’ll meet upstairs in the Awana area.
S.A.L.T. (Tuesdays at 6:30 pm)
Our high school program, S.A.L.T., is in full swing at 6:30 pm. All high school students are invited every week for a great time of fellowship, fun and Biblical
teaching.
H2H (HEAD TO HEART) (Wednesdays at 6 pm)
H2H is in full swing. Be sure to get your 7th and 8th graders involved with our Confirmation class.
VAN PURCHASE
The student ministry is fundraising for a fifteen passenger van to compliment the church bus that we have now. You can help by participating in the “180 Project”, which is a board of envelopes numbered 1 to 150, and you choose which number/amount you’d like to donate. The envelopes are available in the narthex or you can contact brian at to ask for the one you’d like.
EVENTS
PRAYER VIGIL (October 24 from 11 am to 6 pm)
You can come to the sanctuary and pray any time from 11 am to 6 pm, or pray using our prayer vigil live stream on Facebook or YouTube. You can submit prayer requests on our website now up until the day of in real time during the vigil on our website.
ACTS BIBLE STUDY LIFE GROUP
(Starting Tuesday, November 3rd at 6:30 pm)
This book of Acts Bible study will be led by Jeanette Wegemer at Mike and Jeanette’s home. The book being used for the study is “New Wine: A Study of Transition in the Book of Acts” which can be purchased on Amazon or through the church office. Contact Jeanette or the church office if you are interested in attending.
PARENTING STUDY LIFE GROUP (Starting in November)
Tom Bond will be leading a study through the book “Tough Guys and Drama Queens” and is asking for input on when to hold it. The options are: Sundays starting at 5 or 6 pm, Monday or Tuesday starting at 6:30 or 7 pm. Email pastor.stier@mlcjoliet to let us know your interest in the group and the best time for you to meet.
PRAYER GROUP (Thursdays at 10 am)
In the sanctuary and on Zoom platform. Email for more information.
INSIGHT ADULT BIBLE STUDY (Sundays at 9:30 am)
Insight has started back up. It’s a great time for study and fellowship. Parents, you can bring your children and there are three options for them: a busy bag will be provided and they can stay with you, they can go to room 101 where there will be videos and they will be supervised, or kids kindergarten through sixth grade can attend Sunday School in the FLC. The topics and teachers for October are:
October 18: Jim Ortinau - "Seemingly Unanswered Prayers, part 2"
October 25: Doug Potts - "Spiritual Gifts" (I Corinthians 12)
November 1,8,15, & 22: Harold Stier - “On the Book of Daniel”
In addition to this, we will be offering a second Insight option in the Gathering House based on the study “Fearless Conversations”. This will be a discussion-driven group starting the first Sunday in November