1. King of Kings Lutheran Church 57 Kingdom Drive Jasper, GA 30143 November & December 2012 “BITS” Newsletter It seems that this year had just started, to see that in reality, it is actually coming to a close. A lot of wonderful things have taken place this year. Our membership has grown. We had two couples join by affirmation of faith. We started a visitation program for those who came to visit us during our Sunday services. We continue our “ bring a friend to lunch ” meals. We added a really nice road sign to help attract newcomers. We started having communion twice a month. We had our first Advent/Lenten services. We started another Bible study class including a Wednesday night group at church. We had our first Stewardship drive. We added the women ’ s guild, AGAPE. We have been blessed with the assistance of a trained organist for our Sunday services. Keith’s Korner….. Pastor Knoche Notes: These next months usher in a time of memories, traditions, and special opportunities to refocus our faith. November has Veterans ’ Day and Thanksgiving (with all the trimmings). December welcomes the season of Advent, Christmas, and the anticipation of a New Year. Birthdays and Anniversaries will also be remembered and celebrated. The question is ‘ How will these events strengthen your faith and life in Christ? ’ Will the Joy and Blessings of the days ahead be acknowledged by times of worship and service? The gift of being part of King of Kings is that here is the place to come together to give thanks and praise to the One who has given His all. Do you wonder what would have come of the church if Jesus ’ Disciples had not acknowledged the events of Jesus ’ life? If they had not shared the Good News, often at the price of their very lives, where would the church be? What kind of church would we be if the 12 had put down their crosses and didn ’ t celebrate and tell of the blessings and gifts of faith they had? Several centuries ago in a mountain village in Europe, a wealthy nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. He made a good decision. He decided to build them a church. No one was permitted to see the plans or the inside of the church until it was finished. At its grand opening, the people gathered and marveled at the beauty of the new church. Everything had been thought of and included. It was a masterpiece. But then someone said, "Wait a minute! Where are the lamps? It is really quite dark in here. How will the church be lighted?" The nobleman pointed to some brackets in the walls, and then he gave each family a lamp, which they were to bring with them each time they came to worship. "Each time you are here'" the nobleman said, "the place where you are seated will be lighted. Each time you are not here, that place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to come to church, some part of God's house will be dark“ That's a poignant story, isn't it? And it makes a very significant point about the importance of our commitment and loyalty to the church, the Body of Christ. As we celebrate the blessings we have received, invite others to also experience the gift of faith and life in Christ here at King of Kings. May the Light of the World shine brightly in us and through us! With you in Christ, Pastor

2. We also started reaching out into the community, with involvement at the Marble festival, where we did face painting. We helped a family who lost their home to fire. We are doing Christmas gift boxes for forty underprivileged families in our area. We are involved in the Christmas Child shoe box program this year. More will continue to happen. If you have some ideas-please pass them along. Although we are still a relatively new mission church, our sanctuary has become remarkably complete. We have added candelabras, complete communion ware, linens and collection plates. We were given a stove/oven for our kitchen and monies to refurbish our organ. Just last week we received a piano as a gift. It is amazing how the hearts of many continue to help King of Kings. We started the call process to find a pastor for our church. Again, knowing that Pastor Knoche is doing so much as our interim pastor, I am sure he would love to go back into retirement and not have to do all the weekly tasks of a full time pastor. For this we thank him. Concerning the call process, we are in dialogue with the district since we might change our direction as to who we need to help us going forward. So we are in delay and will keep you informed as we work this out with our district leadership. In closing, you will have a wonderful slate of officers and council persons for this coming year. Please pray for them and support them with you time, talents and monies, so that King of Kings can continue our Lord’s mission in the north Georgia mountains. In Christ. Keith Sadler Congregation President 2012 DONATION A very generous donation by Beverly and Ronald (Ron) Madden, (Keith Sadler’s sister and brother-in-law), has been received to purchase items for enhancing our Communion experience, including the common cup, linens and cruets. We thank them for their support of King of Kings. The items purchased with this donation are: Corporal - linen used under the common cup and on top of the fair linen that covers the altar. Pall –linen square that goes directly on top of the common cup Communion Veil –linen used to cover the communion items Purificators – linens used to wipe the lip of the common cup Cruets – Two were purchased; one to bring the wine to the altar for use in the common cup, and the other to be used to bring forth water for a Baptism or for the Pastor to wash his hands before communion. There have been some questions about the common cup, and you may find the following from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod helpful. In its report on Theology and Practice of the Lord's Supper, the Synod's Commission on Theology and Church Relations includes the following question and answer: "Does it matter whether a congregation uses individual glasses or the common cup to distribute the consecrated wine? In the absence of a specific Scriptural mandate, either method of distribution, when performed in a reverent manner, is acceptable. Many Christians prefer the use of the common cup because of its symbolism as representative of the oneness of the body of Christ– the church–and because there is reason to believe that Christ used this method of distribution. Any decision in this area is to be marked by Christian liberty and charity.” Studies have shown that the risk of contracting illness or disease through the use of the common communion cup (properly wiped and handled) is quite small (though not, of course, non-existent). Bible Study… Wednesday night Bible Study led by Pastor Knoche meets next on November 14 at 7:00 p.m. The class will then participate in the Advent dinners and services on Wednesday nights with the regular classes resuming in January. Be watching for that date.

3. Those who are concerned about this possibility are certainly free to make use of the individual cup option, which is available in nearly all congregations today. ©The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. L888-843-5267 infocenter@lcms.org www.lcms.org/faqs www.lcms.org/faqs St Louis, MO 63122-7295 Closing… and Opening Thoughts This is my last chance to address the congregation as the first VP of King of Kings! It has been a great, uplifting, confusing, rewarding, exhausting, frustrating, wonderful, and exhilarating experience! This church has had my heart for a couple of years now, and continues to be a source of inspiration to me, as are each and every one of you. We ’ ve accomplished some amazing things as a church family, with what I am convinced is the support of the Holy Spirit - we can accomplish little on our own, but with God all things are possible. We ’ ve been blessed with dedicated leadership by Keith, who has put this church first in everything he has done for the past two years and I can ’ t say enough about all he has contributed. We ’ ve had a number of dedicated volunteers, who have served on Altar Guild, cleaned the church, played the organ, taught Sunday School, coordinated Bible studies, served as readers, ushers, acolytes, Communion assistants, and on the call committee and other committees, visited visitors, welcomed guests, produced the bulletin, made banners, kept the books, served on the council, arranged our flowers, and accomplished a number of other tasks. And of course we can ’ t forget the many pastors who have led our worship services, and can ’ t thank Ernie and Donna enough for their support, knowledge, leadership, and spiritual guidance. But I feel like the easy part is behind us and we will soon begin a new and critical year for KOK. Ahead of us we have the daunting challenge of moving from a mission family to a church family. This is going to require us all to reexamine our dedication to making King of Kings a full-fledged church. God has richly blessed us, and now we have to do our part. First of all, we need to grow our church family. We need each and every one of us to step up, get out of our comfort zone, and invite someone to church. A friend, a co- worker, a relative, a stranger, the person checking you out at the grocery store, the guy who comes to clean your gutters …. Everyone needs a church home, and it is our responsibility to help them to consider King of Kings. Each one brings one… if we do that, our growth will be assured! Take advantage of our church dinners/”bring a friend” Sundays, or Sunday School is putting out a request for any of our members who see children running around their neighborhoods on a Sunday morning meaning they are not at church and in Sunday School and you would like to bring them or your grandchildren that are coming to visit....with or without their parents, they are welcome for Sunday School. We have lots of fun lessons and activities based on Bible Stories about a child's relationship with Jesus Christ. We have fun! Please give me a heads up when they are coming. All ages are welcome. Thanks Ken Advent Schedule - Dinners at 6:30 p.m. followed by Advent Services in the church at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 5, 12, and 19. Candlelight Christmas Eve Service on Monday, December 24 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a 10:30 a.m. service on Tuesday, December 25 th – Christmas Day. All are invited and encouraged to bring family and friends to share this special time of the year. Decorating the Church for Christmas!!! Join us on Saturday, December 8, beginning at 10 a.m., the men of King of Kings will go cut the Christmas tree while the women decorate the church and wrap the packages for the 40 families we are sponsoring this Christmas. Everyone is invited--men, women, and children. There will be lots to do whenever you can come and for as long as you can stay. Watch for more information in the bulletin or your e-mail.

4. or just offer to pick up a neighbor to bring them to church or pick them up and bring them to Bible Study. We don’t have to wait for the new pastor to do this; we can do it now! To support a full time pastor, we are all going to have to step up financially as well. We all have been supporting the church financially to some degree, but to support a pastor we are going to have to do much better. As I report our contributions to the District each month, there has been a disturbing slowing trend in our giving. I know, some of us travel, some spend time visiting relatives, and sometimes we have conflicts that mean that we can’t attend every Sunday, and so on. But if we accept the financial responsibility of supporting a full time pastor, which is what we need to grow, we have to start committing to regular, unbroken sacrificial giving as full time members – whether we attend each Sunday or not. Ernie likes to talk about the joys of tithing and “sacrificial” giving. I don’t know how joyful “sacrificial” is, but it is truly joyful to consider that we could have a full time pastor, leading us, growing our congregation, teaching us how to reach out to the community and working with us to do so. The need to support a planting pastor continues even if we don’t go to church each Sunday – the pastor will still have to be paid, the rent and utilities have to be paid, and we need to be regular givers to cover all expenses. Next year I hope to see us report our giving (in total, not individually) every week, showing last week’s giving, Month to Date and Year to Date, as well as our budgeted giving in the bulletin. I think we all need to own the responsibility to support the church and our new pastor once he arrives, and to do that we need to be better informed and do a better job of managing our finances than our US government… I don’t think borrowing from China is an option. My prayer is that each of us accepts the responsibility to support the church as God has given us the ability to support it... if all we have is a widow’s mite, so be it, but let’s be honest with ourselves and with God as to what we can do to make sure King of King thrives and grows. As we grow, it becomes easier, but for the next two years I think we will face our greatest challenge to show ourselves, the District, and our God that we want this church here and will support it. I ask that when we pray, we thank God for King of Kings Lutheran Church, and ask him to guide our giving and support in terms of not just time and talent, but also financially. Your brother in Christ, Dan Agape Women of King of Kings Agape - Pronounced (ä-g ə -pā) a-gah-pay. - In the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) agape love is the defining characteristic of a Christian. It is also the word used to talk about the love of God for us, for humankind. “Agape” is the kind of love that stems from he ability to see the divine spark in all of life. On September 29 th a small group of women met to organize a women’s ministry here at King of Kings. One of the first items was to find a name for the group, and as you can see Agape was chosen. From it’s definition, it was felt this would describe our work at King of Kings and in our community --- a love we can show for all people that defines the same love we receive from God. Our hope is that all women will find a place in this ministry, whether it’s coming to every meeting or when available, but sharing in bible study, Christmas projects, Easter projects, etc., with other things to be planned in the future. Our first project, Christmas Boxes for children will be completed by November 11 th. We met on November 4 th and put together Christmas Cards for 40 families in Jasper. The Agape Women's Advent Bible Study will begin Thursday, November 29, at 6:00 p.m. at Church. This study of the Christmas Story will meet for four Thursdays and start with a light supper each week. Come straight from work and join us for as many as you can. For more information, please call Judy Hatfield – 706-253-2397, Marcia Rubin – 706-268-1193, or Donna Knoche (412) 310-4199.

5. November Birthdays Lynn KeckNovember 8 Jill PierceNovember 12 Rhonda CombsNovember 16 Bill ShiremanNovember 23 December Birthdays Ernie KnocheDecember 15 Bill Langford (Memorial)December 21 Larry BucklandDecember 23 Carol SchederDecember 30 November & December Anniversaries Bill Shireman – November 25 Cam & Dottie Butler – December 30 THELUTHERANCHURCH Missouri Synod King of Kings Lutheran Church Physical Address: 57 Kingdom Drive Jasper, Georgia 30143 Mailing Address: King of Kings Lutheran Church 744 Noah Drive Suite 113-132 Jasper, Georgia 30143-8706 Telephone: 706-301-9191 kingofkings@windstream.net M onthly Calendars Sunday - November 4 9:15 – Bible Study 10:30 – Service Sunday - November 119:15 – Bible Study 10:30 – Service Sunday - November 189:15 Bible Study 10:30 – Service Sunday - November 259:15 – Bible Study 10:30 – Service Sunday – December 2 9:15 – Bible Study 10:30 – Service Congregational Mtg./Lunch Wednesday – December 56:30 – Advent Dinner 7:30 – Advent Service Sunday - December 99:15 – Bible Study 10:30 – Service Wednesday – December 126:30 – Advent Dinner 7:30 – Advent Service Sunday – December 16 9:15 – Bible Study 10:30 – Service Wednesday – December 196:30 – Advent Dinner 7:30 – Advent Service Sunday – December 239:15 – Bible Study 10:30 – Service Monday – December 247:30 - Christmas Eve Service Tuesday – December 2510:30 – Christmas Day Service Sunday - December 309:15 – Bible Study 10:30 - Service MARK YOUR CALENDAR!!!!! PLEASE attend the December 2 nd meeting. The 2013 Budget will be presented for approval, along with the nominees for Council. Important information concerning King of Kings’ further will also be discussed. Join us for lunch after the service for this important meeting.