The final date to submit year-end gifts for 2017 is on or before Sunday, December 31, 2017.  Contributions received on New Year’s Day, (Monday - January 1, 2018) will be recorded in 2018, even if they have a 2017 date on the check.  For online giving, please visit sjtosa.org/giving. Please take note of these important dates as you plan your year-end gifts.

The Board of Outreach is challenging the congregation to hand out “Jesus Comes” postcards and invite friends and neighbors to worship with us during the Christmas season.  For every postcard handed out, add a silver star sticker to the chart on the narthex bulletin board.  Then, for every TEN stars posted to the chart, a star in the sky will be lit.  Our current count is 208 with little time left.  The challenge is to see if we can “light up the sky” by delivering all 500 postcards!

Sunday, January 28 –An appreciation night is planned for our St. John’s volunteers at the Grace Center in downtown Milwaukee from 5:30-8:00 PM.  Formal invitations, with more details, will be delivered after Christmas.  If you have volunteered at St. John’s in any way, even if it was very small, mark your calendar and make plans to attend this evening of food, fellowship, and fun.

The Board of Outreach is challenging the congregation to hand out “Jesus Comes” postcards and invite friends and neighbors to worship with us during the Christmas season.  For every postcard handed out, add a silver star sticker to the chart on the narthex bulletin board.  Then, for every TEN stars posted to the chart, a star in the sky will be lit.  Our current count is 102 with one week left.  The challenge is to see if we can “light up the sky” by delivering all 500 postcards!

“For the word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12). St. John’s daily Bible reading initiative, “By Scripture Alone,” has been richly blessed in 2017, and we’re excited to flip back to Genesis 1:1 on New Year’s Day and hear anew the amazing account of God’s grace. Whether you are right on track with your readings, started but fell behind somewhere along the way, or intended to start but never quite found the time, let 2018 be a time to renew your commitment to daily spend time in God’s Word. In the coming year, we’ll feature new daily insights from St. John’s members. We’ll also provide an optional New Testament chapter to supplement each day’s reading. For all the details and to order your copy of The Daily Bible, visit www.sjtosa.org/ByScriptureAlone, or contact Pastor Eric Schroeder at eric.schroeder@sjtosa.org.

Please consider an “Above and Beyond” offering to assist with funding for the cost to repair one of the school rooftop units, which heat/cool our students, faculty and staff.  Since the $7,300 repair was not anticipated (nor included with the annual school maintenance budget), we ask for gifts to this special project.  If you would like to contribute to this project, please use your green Above & Beyond envelope and make checks payable to St. John’s. 

Saturday, December 9 - Parents, enjoy a free evening out while St. John's teens provide childcare on Saturday, December 9, from 5:00-9:00 p.m. Donations are appreciated and will go towards the annual teen mission trip in July. Please feed your children before dropping them off at school. We will provide some light snacks only. Please click here to register by Friday, December 8. For questions, contact Dawn at bdtrei@yahoo.com or call 414-530-8214.

The Board of Outreach has set a congregational goal this advent season of personally inviting 500 people to worship with us during the Christmas season.  If every family invites just one person, we will easily accomplish this goal as a congregation. We bulk-mailed Christmas invitations to the community, but we printed 500 extra that are available in the display in the church entry way.  For each invitation you hand out, you may place a “star in the sky” to mark our progress as a congregation.