Harbor’s Beacon
Anchored in the Word
Growing through Worship and Prayer
Sharing the Joy of God’s Love for All
Harbor of Joy Lutheran Church
1204 L Ave.
Milford, Iowa
Harbor’s Beacon
~Anchored in the
Word
~Growing through
Worship and
Prayer
~Sharing the Joy of
God’s Love for All
January 2017
Looking Ahead
Forgetting what is behind...I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has
called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14
We have all made mistakes in the last year. Some of them were original, some repetitions of people’s
errors recorded in the Bible. Case studies can be found among Christ’s disciples. Judas preferred
silver to the Savior. Peter grossly overestimated his loyalty to Jesus. Thomas declared his
disbelief in His
resurrection. All the disciples were at times quarrelsome as they jockeyed for positions of leadership.
And Paul—how could he forget all his errors as a Pharisee?
We ourselves, if we are candid, can recount our errors of this past year. Whatever our mistakes,
including those the psalmist called “hidden faults” (Psalm 19:12), we confess them before
God. For the sake of Jesus, who atoned for all our sins, God forgives them. He clears them
from His records. He casts them behind Him. The prophet Micah declared that God “will
tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19).
We too, for Jesus’ sake, can forget what is behind and “throw off everything that hinders” so we can
complete the race of faith. We fix “our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith,”
who finished His course with joy for our salvation (Hebrews 12:1-2)
There fore we have the opportunity, as Paul advised, to “straighten out what was left unfinished”
(Titus 1:5).
Ask God to forgive you, for Jesus’ sake, all your failing during the new year.
Happenings Within
HOJ is in need of a list of people who are available
to drive others to appointments when they
aren’t able to. Contact the office if you are
able to do this service for others.
We have a prayer chain in progress. Should you be in need of this chain for yourself or others,
contact Patt Gehrels at712-330-1584. She will gladly put your request on the line.
Still need some prayer partners for our JoyKids, Joy Us kids.
Property Committee Meeting Report:
The committee met December 15th. Items that were discussed: flooring in the fireside room is almost
done with a call to Nick Ballis about finishing the edges, Drapes are up in the fireside room, painting
will soon follow as soon as the anchors are taken out of the concrete and filled in. Future plans
include updating the bathroom to be ADA compliant. We looked over the survey and will discuss
more after the holidays. Our next meeting will be the 3rd Thursday in January, the 19th.
In Christ, Terry Dirks Property Chairperson
Harbor’s Library
Once again the church library has been blessed with more books and
tapes this month. Thank you to all who have so generously
donated. We are in the process of setting up a new Wish List on
Amazon for library books. We will have more information on this
when it is in operation. This will give you an opportunity to
purchase new christian books or tapes for the library. We may also
use the Wish List for purchasing other items for the church.
This month's book review is on Dutch Sheets' book - Dream.
"What happened to us? Why are so many people let down by
life? We once had dreams - important dreams that gave us
purpose - but somehow we got off track. It's certainly not what
God wants for us. Our Designer dreamed unique dreams for
each of us before we were even born. He skillfully wove them
into our DNA, along with the gifts and abilities to achieve those
dreams. But here we are, chasing earthly applause when we
could be experiencing heaven's approval.
If you want confidence in knowing God's will, if you want each
day to count, journey with Dutch Sheets as he presents soulstirring lessons from the Bible and godly dreamers of today.
When you hear God's call on your life, you will never be the
same." This book is available in the library.
The library also received a series of CD's by David Jeremiah titled "
Some of the Bible's Most Amazing People". Dr. Jeremiah has
selected 30 of his favorite biblical characters and tells the story
of their importance and place in God's story of redemption.
Listen and learn from their life lessons.
Also, remember to tell others about our Free Library/Prayer Box on the
west side of the building. It has been "re-stocked" a number of
times, so people are using it. This is for our entire community,
so please spread the word.
Church Council contact information
COUNCIL CONTACT INFORMATION
President- Denny Stuck
712-320-9751
Vice- President- Barb Rohlf 712-330-5137
Secretary- Linda Johnson 712-337-3404
Treasurer- Becky Roe
712-330-7355
Financial Sec- Kristy Peck 712-260-3200
Council
Lynne Koelling
712-338-2130
Adam Clausen
712-330-8074
Elmer Lubinus
712-336-6551
Scott Berry
815-540-7714
Dale Gehrels
712-330-0285
Pastor Tim Nappe
712-331-4245
Growing through worship
and Prayer
Sharing the Joy of God’s
Love
for All
Pastor Tim Nappe
Cell phone: 712-331-4245
Church phone: 712-338-4031 or 3382355
www.harborofjoy.com
[email protected]
1204 L Ave., PO Box 464
Milford, IA 51351
Sunday Fellowship 8:30 AM
Worship 9:30 AM
Sunday School 10:45 AM
Charly—[email protected]
330-0828
Bob—[email protected]
COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
*Your Church Council would like to keep you informed as to what is going on at our meetings so after each
meeting, we will type up a brief outline and include it in the newsletter. There will also be hard copies at the back of the
church each Sunday. Feel free to pick one up for yourself or anyone else. We appreciate our church family and want to
stay connected to you.
JANUARY 10, 2017 MEETING INFO
 Financial end of year discussion was held with total year end expenses $243,172.37 and year end income
$251,336.45. Audit will be week of January 23rd.
 Vision project is being implemented! Teamwork will be needed for both our short and long range plans. We hope
it will be a vision that stirs your hearts! Thanks to Denny and Dena Struck's daughter, Allison Bedore for helping
us with this vision in helping us draw up our plan. We will be asking for your input very soon as to how we can
improve our church and move forward into the future. Continue to pray for the vision of our church!
 Pastor Tim has asked the council's approval for him to speak at United Lutheran Church at Laurel, Nebraska on
January 29th for “Reaching the Unreached.” Council approved this.
 Special thank you to Nick Ballis for installing our beautiful floor in the Fireside Room. He has generously
donated his labor. Many thanks Nick!
 Window treatments have also been installed in our Fireside Room. Travis has painted the walls so a special
thanks to him! Take a look at our beautiful room!
 We are excited about our unified message theme as we kick off our chronological reading of the Bible with our
2017 Sermon Series. Note all of the small group Bible Studies in our church bulletin. Love to have you join.
 Community Outreach and Fellowship- AA Wednesdays and Fridays, 4H second Thursday of month, drop off stop
for Lutheran School in Spencer, Community Table, Prayer Book Box outside our church, Joy Kids and Joy Us,
very active prayer warriors with prayer emails by Pat Gehrels, Monthly supper last Wednesday of month.
 Lent begins March 1st with Ash Wednesday.
 Funding idea discussed and passed at council! We are excited to share with you an idea for helping with expenses
for our church. Expenses for Joy Kids, Joy Us, kitchen or office supplies, mission closet, etc. will have assistance
from our “CHURCH SHOWER” twice a year. We will get a list of supplies and items needed something like a
WISH LIST and then have a shower where you can bring items or donate money or gift cards. Should be a fun
answer to our expenses! Be watching for dates ! Just in the planning stage right now.
 Next meeting will be February 7th at 7 pm.

Blessings from your Harbor of Joy Church Council
The property committee met January 19, 2017.
1. We first had Kaira Sargent speak to the committee about the use of the Toddler/Nursery Room. There are several
issues that need addressed: Bookcases need to be attached to wall, new high chairs are needed, new toys that are child
safe, getting rid of most if not all of the stuffed animals, taking down of the chalk board and cork board and possibly
covering the electric baseboard heater.
2. The furnace still has not been taken care of and Steve Letcher called Lakes Plumbing and Heating and they are to call
Charly and set up a time to come and look at the furnace and possibly schedule looking at the air conditioners since
spring is not all that far away!
3. We are looking at installing a commercial dimmer switch in the sanctuary and there is an outlet that will need to be
installed in the fellowship hall for the coffee makers.
4. Kaira Sargent had given us some ideas for the womens bathroom, just a little updating by taking down the wallpaper
and putting up paintable wallpaper, painting the vanity and painting the stalls. This was approved by the committee as
was the painting of the vanity in the mens restroom.
5. Spring projects: Weeds on east side of parking, tuck pointing, gutter on east side of building, parking lot?,
6. Other discussion: chairs in fireside room need something on bottom that will be more permanent than the felt, the
key lock doesn't work very well anymore.
7. Nick has been called about finishing the fireside room and has ordered the 1/4 round to finish.
Respectfully Submitted in Christ,
Terry L. Dirks

Logan, Brian Peck, Nick-Shirley Berry’s grandson
Angel Haverkorn, , Betty Wilson healing from surgery, Robert Zimmer, Kristi Peck’s dad, lung Cancer.
HOJ, JoyKids/Us, James Adams, Bev Nappe’s dad, Bob Floss, healing from surgery. Sympathies to the
Russ Burgeson family.
Coming Events:
 First Sat. of the month: Men’s Breakfast at Sunshine Foods. 7:00 A.
 Every Tuesday is Nursing Home Ministry with Shirley Berry
 2nd Sunday of each month: Legion Breakfast at the Legion

2nd & 4th Thursday nights of every month is Community Table dinners. 5:30-7:00PM at Bible Conference
Community Center. No cost to you. Everyone welcome.
 May, August, & November are the months we deliver meal-on-wheels. Keep in mind as I will be calling you
to help.
 Feb. 1, 3:30pm JoyKids/Us will resume after school; 6:00PM Ethnic Supper for Wed. Night Fellowship.
 Feb. 22, Easter Choir Practice begins.
 Blood Mobile: Spirit Lake, Jan 30th 1-6 pm; Feb 1st 1-6 PM in Milford. More info in Narthex
 We need your help!!!There is a sign-up sheet on the table to sign up for helping with choirs on Sunday mornings.
Please sign up.
Divorce Care: The Courage To Heal is a 13 week series of videos, featuring nationally recognized experts on
divorce recovery, and small group discussion sessions. This series addresses many phases of working through a
divorce including emotional, spiritual, financial, child issues, moving on, etc. It is designed to encourage you and
help you to put things into perspective so you can make more rational choices about your future. It is a nondenominational recovery group for men and women that are separated, divorced, in the process of a divorce or
ended a long term relationship. You will receive encouragement and understanding in a non-threatening, positive
environment.
You do not have to go through this alone. If you cannot attend all sessions you are encouraged to attend as
many as possible.
A Word from Pastor
Tim