'Do not worry...for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.' St Matthew 6.31-32

"All these things". By that Jesus does not mean all the non-necessities of life, with which we surround ourselves. No, he's talking in this passage about the very basics of life: food and clothes. There are so many, many families deep in worry about the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter in this seriously flawed economy, where CEOs get bonuses of obscene amounts of money, while the soup lines and food banks and thrift stores are overrun by millions of the poor in this, the richest country in the world.

Jesus' simple words, "Do not worry", present a challenge of the highest order to all of us. No matter how much or how little we have, we are worriers. And Jesus points straight to the heart of our worry: "You of little faith." But it's less an accusation and more of an invitation to trust: "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." And he promises that because God gives the birds their daily food and the flowers their glorious 'clothing', he will certainly provide for us. In abundance, so that we can provide for others with the surplus of his gifts to us. We, the people of God, are vessels of his love. Guaranteed.

THANKSGIVING WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY: The spirit of thanksgiving to God will pervade our worship on Nov. 22. Let's fill the church with voices uplifted, and fill the food barrel and wagon with generous gifts of food for the hungry!

OUR ORGANIST RETIRES NOV. 29: Celia Elmore has been our primary organist for the past several years. She is retiring at the end of the month, and Nov. 29 will be her final service with us here at Redeemer. We want to recognize her ministry of music and thank Celia for her service by presenting her with a gift from the congregation. So the Council is asking for your donations: please give your donations to one of our Elders, in order to provide Celia a farewell gift and flowers. Our Elders are Fred Gargiulo, Lloyd Bauer, Bob Kosta, and Rick Crawford. There will also be a reception in Celia's honor following worship on the 29th so you can personally thank her.

YARD WORK PARTY THIS SATURDAY FOR THE SPEGELS: Long time members Albert and Loretta Spegel are having health problems that prevent them from keeping up their yard. Our Properties Board is organizing a work party at the Spegels on Saturday, Nov. 21. This is primarily for mowing and raking. If you can give a few hours of time, please come to the church at 9am and we'll proceed out to the Spegel house in Brooks with mowers, rakes, etc. Questions: contact Al Binder.

NO-BAKE SALE COMING SOON: What's this?? You'll soon find out when the Redeemer Community Garden Task Force team gives you a single cookie in a plastic bag and asks you to donate to the cost of buying the fence around (the now closed) Concordia school grounds. We need to raise just over $300. Together we can do it! Watch for more details to come...

NEWSPAPER DROP BOX: Please continue to 'feed' the big box on our parking lot. All those newspapers go to recycling, and the money raised goes towards feeding hungry people via Lutheran World Relief.

FOOD WAGON / BARREL: What a joy to see each week's wagon load of food donations wheeled to the altar for a Sunday blessing! Your thankful and generous hearts result in these gifts of food to the poor through Marion Polk Food Share, our partner agency.

'WALK TO BETHLEHEM': Currently, we have about 50 Redeemer members signed up! By tracking the miles we walk for exercise each week, we hope to cover enough miles to complete a 'walk' to Bethlehem in time for Christmas. Please see Jonet Schutz, our Faith Community Health Minister, for information and for a pedometer to help you keep track of your miles.

ADVENT COMING SOON: The season of Advent begins on Sunday, Nov. 29. Once again we will offer an additional opportunity to worship with our Wednesday evening Midweek Advent Vespers, on Dec, 2, 9, and 16, from 7 - 7:45pm. These Vespers will be preceded by Soup and Bread Suppers, provided at 6pm. Please offer your help in preparing these suppers by signing up on the sign-up sheet posted on the bulletin board. Or contact Joy Anderson.

DATES AND EVENTS TO NOTE ~ Saturday, Nov 21.................9am, Work party for the Spegels (see above) Sunday, Nov 22.....................Thanksgiving worship Thursday, Nov 26.................Thanksgiving Day: office closed Sunday, Nov 29.....................First Sunday in Advent Wednesday, Dec. 2...............6pm, Soup Supper / 7pm, Midweek Advent Vespers Friday and Saturday, Dec 4 and 5.........Packing Christmas boxes for military Christmas Eve Day................12 noon and 7pm worship opportunities