October 28, 2016

On Reformation Day (which we will observe on October 31st), we celebrate God’s gift to the Church through His servant Martin Luther. Luther reminds us of our freedom from the Law in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you remember the story from John 8, Jesus told the self-satisfied

religious leaders of His time, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). You see, they thought, “We’ve got it made!” They believed that their birth status automatically made them free from sin. Later, in the time of Martin Luther during the 16th century, many religious people felt much the same way. Birth and religious vocation gave them a false sense of freedom, too. Is it possible for modern folk like us, lifelong members of a church with a long list of good and charitable works behind our names, to make the same mistake and think, “We’ve got it made”?

Another tragically mistaken group says, “I’ve

got to make it”. People in Jesus’ day followed the Pharisees and tried to keep their numerous religious laws to the finest detail. Paul once lived by those standards, too: “I’ve got to make it.” In the 16th century, Luther along with many others struggled in error, wrongly attempting to gain freedom from sin and guilt through prayers, fastings, pilgrimages, and even the purchase of indulgences. Is it possible that many people today depend on church attendance, financial contributions, church work, and acts of service to “make it” before God? The message of the Law tells us that this is a hopeless task!

But then, in the Gospel message, we realize the joy that we never could

know through works of the Law. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, sets us free from our sins! Jesus took on the slavery of the Law and died on a cross to atone for the sins of the whole world, all people of all times. And through Him, God our Heavenly Father declared the world righteous for Jesus’ sake. We are reminded in Jesus’ own words, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Martin Luther discovered the truth of God’s Word that freedom from sin comes only through faith in Christ in Ephesians 2:8-9, “for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” In these words, the gates of heaven were opened for Luther, and for us, too.

Today and every day, we rejoice in our freedom from sin and our

freedom to live lives free in Christ Jesus. We celebrate this freedom in the motto of Martin Luther which reminds us of its source: “Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone”.

In Christ’s Service, James L. House, Principal

2016-17 School Year Theme – “Superheroes for Jesus” – Hebrews 12:1-3

Prayer Walk Families for

the week of Oct. 28-Nov. 3

Joseph Johnson

Caden Kirkland

Caelan Kirkland

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Oct. 31…Grace (Luther) Fest

– 8:30-11:30 AM

Nov. 1-15…National Young Readers

Challenge

Nov. 2…School Chapel Service

– 8:20 AM

Nov. 4…“Morning Coffee Club

– 7:45 AM

Nov. 5…Harlingen Proud Fall Litter

Bash – 9:30 AM

Nov. 7-11…PTLS Fall Book Fair

Nov. 7…Campus Evacuation Drill

Nov. 10…ECE Thanksgiving

Luncheon – 11:30 AM

Nov. 11…Veterans Day Assembly &

Lunch – 10:30 AM

PSIA Kick-Off Meeting

– 4:00 PM

Nov. 12…St. Paul Ladies Aid Craft &

Bake Sale – 8AM-1:00 PM

Nov. 17…Thanksgiving Parent

Luncheon – 11:30 AM

Nov. 21-25…Thanksgiving Break

From the Principal’s Desk. . .

St. Paul Academy 1920 E. Washington Ave. Harlingen, Texas 78550

Office Phone 956-423-3926

Check us out on the Internet at www.stpaultexas.com or www.fastdir.com/stpaultexas

WHAT WE CELEBRATE. . .While the secular world celebrates

witches, ghosts, and goblins Monday for Halloween, we at St. Paul

Academy focus on another October 31st happening. This event took place

on Oct. 31, 1517, when a young monk named

Martin Luther nailed 95 theses (or statements) of

doctrinal belief on the church door in Wittenberg,

Germany. This event was the start of the

Protestant Reformation movement. The most

important aspect of the Reformation was the

purity of God’s Word as the source of guidance

and strength in our lives. Celebrate with as we re-

dedicate ourselves to the study of God’s Word and thank God for the bold

men of faith who made it possible to read Scripture in its truth and purity.

GRACEFEST 2016. . .The students and faculty of St. Paul will observe

the 499th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation and its message of

“Saved by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ” by participating in

GraceFest 2016 next Monday, Oct. 31st from 8:30 AM to lunch. Students

will participate in a variety of fun activities that teach them about the Great

Reformer, Martin Luther and the

key events of his life and the

Reformation Era. Plan to

celebrate with us!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

To help make our GraceFest

celebration a success, we need

our families to donate food items

and several

parent volunteers to assist the teachers with the center

activities. To date, several donations have come in---but

more are needed. You can still drop food items by on

Monday morning. Thanks in advance for your willingness

to help out with this year’s event and for your support of

this year’s GraceFest activities.

FALL LITTER BASH. . .“Keep Harlingen Beautiful” and the City of

Harlingen will hold its annual Fall Litter Bash next Saturday, Nov. 5th

from 9:30-11:30 AM. The deadline for turning

in permission slips and requests for t-shirts and

lunches is Monday, Oct. 31st (no exceptions)!

Be “Harlingen Proud”—plan to help keep Harlingen beautiful and join us

at the Fall Litter Bash on November 5th.

READING CHALLENGE. . . National Young Readers Day will be

celebrated again this year on November 15th. To promote the pleasure of

reading, Mr. House and the teachers are challenging

the students of St. Paul Academy to read 30,000 pages

during the weeks of Nov. 1 thru 15th. We’re sending

home a flyer today that further explains the Challenge

and encourages your participation. Are you up to

the challenge? Start reading toward your 250 page

goal this weekend and bring your Challenge Sheet to

school next Friday for our first “Sticker Check Day” to receive a “reading

sticker” for every 50 pages read so far. Keep reading…reading…reading

as you help us celebrate National Young Readers Day.

PTLS FALL BOOK FAIR. . .The

2016 PTLS Fall Scholastic Book Fair is

just a week away, Monday thru Friday,

November 7-11. The theme of this year’s

fair is “Feelin’ Groovy Book Fair”.

With the wide selection of books and

other materials being made available for

purchase by our students and families,

we know we’ll have lots of book-loving

customers throughout the week. Book

Fair dates and times are: Monday thru

Friday, Nov. 7-11 before and after

school 7:30-8:30 AM and 3:30-4:30

PM, and all

day on

Wednesday,

Nov. 9th. It’s

still not too late

to volunteer to

work a shift or

help with set-

up on Nov. 4th. Check out the Parent

Volunteer flyer coming home again

today with the newsletter and sign up for

a shift (or two)! If you can help, please

return your flyer by next Tuesday, Nov.

1st. We appreciate your support of this

fun and exciting event!

PARENT COFFEE & LUNCH. . . Parents, our next monthly Parent

Fellowship Event will be held next

Friday, Nov. 4th. The

St. Paul “Morning

Coffee Club” will meet

in the cafetorium from

7:45-8:30 AM. Come

join the other parents and Mr. House for

a cup of coffee and some early morning

conversation!

RED RIBBON WRAP-UP. . .

Throughout this past week, our St. Paul

students observed Red Ribbon Drug &

Bullying Awareness Week by

participating in a variety of classroom

activities, including the wearing of “Red

Ribbons” to show everyone that we

“Live Eternally—Be Drug Free”.

Yesterday, we signed a giant “pledge

sheet”, pledging our support of living a

drug-free life. We encourage every

student to continue wearing the ribbons

to demonstrate their commitment to the

goals of Red Ribbon Drug & Bullying

Awareness Week!

GraceFest 2016

OFFERING PROJECT. . . During the 2nd quarter, our weekly chapel

offerings will go to support the Samaritan Purse “Operation Christmas

Child” project. Building on the success of last quarter, we hope to collect

$400 in support of this important ministry so that we

can pack 50 shoeboxes for children in Latin

America this Christmas. This week’s offering was

$65.15, for a total after two weeks of $111.65.

Please remember your chapel offerings every

Wednesday during the 2nd quarter in support of

Operation Christmas Child.

VETERANS’ DAY ASSEMBLY. . . Veterans’ Day will be observed

at St. Paul Academy on Friday, Nov. 11th with a special Veterans’ Day

Assembly featuring a special performance by our friend, Rickey Pitman.

Various other activities include prayers for those who have and are

presently serving our country in the Armed Forces, and the pledge to the

American flag. Following the assembly, we invite our veterans to join us

for lunch, too. All veterans and parents are especially invited to join us

for this Veterans’ Day tribute as we give glory to

God and honor our service men and women.

HELP US INVITE THEM. . .Students, we need

your help to invite your friends and relatives to our

upcoming Veterans’ Day Assembly and Lunch. A

flyer is coming home today to obtain information

about your parents, relatives, and friends who are veterans of the U.S.

Armed Forces. Take a moment this weekend to invite that special veteran

to join you at the Assembly and Lunch. If possible, let us know who’s

coming on Nov. 11th by returning the information form to the school office

by next Friday, Nov. 4th.

SCRIP ORDERS. . . Hey, St. Paul families! Are you shopping with

Scrip yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Purchasing Scrip each month

is a great way to stretch your shopping

dollars and earn profit for St. Paul

Academy at the same time! The new

November Family Order Forms is

available today (found on the school website or attached to the electronic

newsletter). Return it to the office by 8:00 AM

Tuesday morning. Or, you can place an internet

order online by visiting ShopWithScrip.com and

use your credit card or Presto Pay account as payment. Either way, your

Scrip cards will come to St. Paul Academy, and the profits will, too! When

placing an online order, remember to use the school code. Discover the

ease and convenience of shopping with Scrip this week. And check out

the “special offers” for November, too! Become a Scrip shopper today!

STOCK THE CART. . .Have you

brought in a donation of “fun pak

cereals” for our “Stock the Cart”

collection? Our goal is to collect enough

boxes of cereal that we

can send home 2 small

boxes in the “Backpacks

of Love” with area

children each weekend.

Remember, our “Stock

the Cart” and “Backpacks of Love”

programs provide weekend meals to

local children

who are less

fortunate than

ourselves and

share the love

of Jesus with them! Remember to bring

your donation of “fun pak cereals” next

week for our “Stock the Cart”

collection. Thanks for participating!

Saints Hot Lunch Menu

Week of Oct. 31-Nov. 4

Monday – Beef & Cheese

Enchiladas

Brown Rice, Refried Beans,

Iceberg Lettuce & Tomatoes

Tuesday – Domino’s Pizza,

Cucumbers, Ranch Dressings,

Cookie

Wednesday – Cheeseburger w/bun,

Lettuce & Tomatoes,

Chips

Thursday – Bar-B-Q Chicken,

Rotini Pasta, Baby Carrots,

Sliced Bread

Friday – Chili & Cheese Hot Dog,

Corn, Sun Chips

All meals are served with fruit and a carton of 1% white or chocolate milk

Ticket prices: K-8 students –$3.25 per meal and 35¢ per

extra milk (limit 2) (meals can be purchased on a daily basis by

placing funds on your Fast Direct lunch account—three I.O.U. lunch limit)

St. Paul Academy

School Code is: 1ALL427B37414

BOX TOPS NEWS. . .Thanks to all our Saints families who went

“Batty for Box Tops” during October collecting box tops on the special

collection sheet. It’s time to turn those sheets in as

the new “Thanksgiving” collection sheet for the

month of November is coming home with today’s

Good News newsletter. Keep saving those box tops

for St. Paul, and encourage your relatives and friends

to save for St. Paul, too. Remember, each box top is worth 10¢ for our

Saints kids. Thanks for your support of our “Easy Fund Raisers” General

Mills “Box Tops for Education” program.

SPECIAL BOX TOPS APP. . .Check out the

flyer attached to today’s newsletter email from Box

Tops for Education. There’s a new app available

for your phone or tablet that allows you to scan

your store receipts to earn extra box tops for

products you purchase. Download your Box Tops for Education Bonus

App today and start earning extra box tops cash for St. Paul Academy.

“LOVE & LOGIC” PARENTING CLASSES. . .We’re beginning

Week 3 of “Love and Logic”, our Sunday morning parenting classes that

provide Christian parents with a variety of simple and effective strategies

for parenting children birth to

adulthood, as well as the tools and

resources needed for stress-free

parenting that will make parenting

more fun…again! This week’s topic is: “They Just Won’t Listen” and

“Four Steps of Responsibility”. Come join Mr. House and the other

parents in the St. Paul Church Library on Sunday mornings during the

Bible Study hour, 9:15-10:15 AM.

PUMPKIN FUN IN ST. PAUL KINDERGARTEN

RED RIBBON WEEK FUN. . .

RECYCLNG NEWS. . .What a great

way to help our environment and keep

Harlingen clean! Save your plastic

bottles and aluminum cans for the

recycling program at

St. Paul Academy. The

students will also be

recycling paper from

their classrooms each

week, too. You can

add to the paper recycling by donating

newspapers, magazines, and catalogs.

All recyclables can be brought to the

recycling bins located inside the

courtyard fence (near the cafetorium

door). Start saving your recyclables

today and recycle weekly for St. Paul

Academy. Remember, recycling pays!

LADIES AID BAZAAR. . .Plan to

attend the St. Paul Ladies Aid Bazaar on

Saturday, November 12th from 8:00 AM

to 1:00 PM in the St. Paul Lutheran

Church Parish Hall. Stop by and shop

our assortment of handmade crafts and

baked goods! (If you would like to

donate baked goods for the sale they can

be dropped off in the Kitchen on Friday,

Nov. 11th). Proceeds help support the

mission projects of St. Paul Ladies Aid.