An Old Widow Welcomes the New Testament

Transcription

1 1600 S. Main St. Fond du Lac WI Telephone: February 2016 Inside this issue Calendar cover News & Notes 1-6 Schedules Altar Guild 2 Cleaning 4 Greeters 3 Special Points of Interest: Congregation Pinewood Derby p. 2 WELS International Youth Rally p. 2 Financial Peace University p. 3 Organ music on CD p. 4 Pathways to Christ Retreat p. 5 Nurses Points of Interest pp. 5-6 An Old Widow Welcomes the New Testament Jesus was forty days old. It was time for his mother Mary and Joseph to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem for two reasons. Mary had to offer up the sacrifices for purification after childbirth. Normally, the sacrifices were to be a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or dove for a sin offering. The Lord made an allowance for those who could not afford a year-old lamb. The lamb could be replaced with a dove or a pigeon. In addition to Mary s purification after childbirth, each firstborn son had to be consecrated in service to the Lord. God spared the firstborn sons of Israel when the destroying angel went throughout Egypt and slew the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. Because of this, every firstborn son belonged to the Lord. His entire life was to be given in service to God. However, every firstborn son could be redeemed, or bought back from their life of service to the Lord. The redemption price was five shekels of silver. How, then, would the Lord s work be carried out? The tribe of Levi served in place of the firstborn sons of Israel. When Mary and Joseph took Jesus into the Temple courts to do for him as the Law demanded, a very old woman named Anna was worshiping and praying there. Depending on how you interpret the original Greek language, she was either 84 or about 105 years old. Her husband had died after seven years of marriage and she lived the rest of her life as a widow. The Bible calls her a prophetess who faithfully worshiped the Lord day and night at the Temple. A prophetess is somebody who is a mouthpiece of God somebody who speaks God s Word in this case, no doubt, by direct revelation. Coming up to Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, she gave thanks to God for the Christchild and spoke about him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. What sort of redemption were they awaiting? Certainly not being released from their bondage to the Roman Empire but, rather, being released from their bondage and slavery to sin, Satan, and the fear of death and damnation. continued on page 3

2 St. Peter s Newsletter - February 2016 Page 3 An Old Widow Welcomes the New Testament continued from page 1 What redemption price would it take to redeem us from such a cruel captivity? Certainly not five shekels of silver. Rather, the redemption price would be infinite. And only the infinite, eternal Son of God could dole out such a price with his holy, precious, priceless blood. This redemption price would be withdrawn on Golgotha s cross. The empty tomb is the heavenly Father s decree that the price Jesus paid was sufficient to release a world full of sinners from our spiritual bondage and bring us into the glorious freedom of the children of God. As God s dear children, we are free from the curse, control, and condemnation of sin. We are free from the terror of a guilty conscience. We are free from the fear of death and an eternity in hell. We are free from Satan s sway and accusations. And one day we will be free from all of the heartache, pain, toil, trouble, hardships, and difficulties that come with living in a sin-infected world. We will bask in the marvelous freedom of the New Heavens and the New Earth, the Home of Righteousness. That s the message that Anna the prophetess proclaimed. That s the message that fills our hearts with joy. That s the message that we, like Anna, will share with others. There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36-38 NIV) Feb. 7 7:45 Deb Dehring Sue Toll 10:30 Gail Ehrenberg Jean Hanewall Feb. 14 7:45 Dan & Chris Stoffel 10:30 Marilyn Abbey Judith Schicker Feb. 21 7:45 Susie Kollmann 10:30 Gib & Ann Trewin June Kartos Feb. 28 7:45 Deb Deere Bonnie Baerwald 10:30 Randy & Joyce Westphal Financial Peace University Good Shepherd will be hosting Dave Ramsey s Financial Peace University beginning on Sunday, February 21. This class will meet for nine Sundays from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. (No class will be held Easter Sunday). This class teaches God s ways of handling money. Please contact Pastor Naumann at with any questions or to request childcare. Sign up for the class at

3 St. Peter s Newsletter - February 2016 Page 4 Take Our Organ Music Home With You! CD recordings of relaxing organ music recorded by Phil Otto may be just what you need during these long winter months. They can be purchased at the narthex kitchen window after services, or by contacting Phil Otto at philotto6@gmail.com or Cleaning Schedule Week of Jan. 31 Denise Fisher Feb. 7 Don & Sue Knuth Feb. 14 Don & Sue Knuth Feb. 21 Joe Tasch Feb. 28 Roger Bargenquast Mark Kollmann Please call Gregg at to become a member of the cleaning team. Transfers Received Membership Matters The matters of membership listed below were acted upon or recognized by the Coordinating Council at its January meeting. Kurt and Courtney Turdo and daughter Kaleia from St. John s, Lannon Johannes Jerman and son Peter from Emmanuel, Montello Timothy and Laura Fuhrmann and children William and Audrina from Good Shepherd, Fond du Lac Catherine Strutz from Good Shepherd, Fond du Lac Transfers Granted Diane Sippel to Resurrection, Verona Seth Westphal to Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel, Madison Unable to Serve and Removed Ashley Tobias Joshua Tobias Baptism Stella Wempner Funerals Phyllis Hensel Jane Pape Angela Behnke

4 St. Peter s Newsletter - February 2016 Page 5 Pathways to Christ Retreat May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2 Ladies, please join us for the 16 th Pathways to Christ Retreat March at LaSure s Banquet Hall in Oshkosh. The 2016 theme is taken from Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer rise before you as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. On Friday night Aneela Jordan will open the retreat by sharing her personal journey that she and her family experienced in Pakistan. Find out how her faith and her prayer life helped her endure the struggles that she and her family faced. On Saturday we will continue our prayer journey with the patriarchs of the Old Testament and then examine Jesus as both our Sacrificial Lamb and our Great High Priest in the New Testament. Pastor Leon Ehlert and Pastor Dan Cole will give us visual insights of what these prayer sights look like today in the Holy Land. Naomi Schmidt will then walk us through our daily journey with prayer. On Sunday Pastor Ehlert will share with us a Bible Study on the Lord s Prayer and then lead us in worship. Additional information, along with registration forms, can be downloaded from the website, If you have no internet access, please contact Kelly Messer at extension 303 and she will place the information in your member mailbox. NURSES POINTS OF INTEREST I saw this more than a few years ago. I just wanted to share it. A Cowboy s Guide to Aging by Patrick Dorinson Published April 8, 2012 Every day for the next 19 years 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 and be eligible for Social Security and Medicare. That is, if there is any money left. This year along with other boomers who were born in 1952, I will turn 60. I am not quite ready to retire and the way the economy is going it looks like a lot of us including myself will be working longer than we anticipated. And with my youth and middle age in the rearview mirror, the end gets closer every day unless they figure a way to replace all the worn out parts of my body or find a fountain of youth. Even if I make it to the ripe old age of 100, I am way past the halfway mark of my life. This point was painfully driven home the other day when I received a solicitation for burial and final expense insurance from the AARP. I guess before you die you need to write that last check for that final expense. The good news is it will be the last bill you will ever have to pay. The bad news is that it will be the last bill you will ever have to pay. When I get up in the morning my body makes sounds like a bowl of Rice Krispies when the milk gets poured on it snap, crackle, pop. But I am reasonably healthy, I exercise as much as I can to stay one step ahead of the Grim Reaper and can still be in the saddle all day if need be. continued on page 6

5 St. Peter s Newsletter - February 2016 Page 6 NURSES POINTS OF INTEREST A Cowboy s Guide to Aging continued from page 5 And turning 60 doesn t scare me one lick. According to some things I have read lately, 60 is the new 40. But no amount of Botox or plastic surgery, regular exercise or a more healthy diet can turn back the clock and actually make you 40 again. That fountain of youth doesn t exist. So to help my fellow baby boomers prepare for the next phase of life, here is a little cowboy wisdom as we all get closer to that final sunset. 1. Be careful about reading health books. You could die of a misprint. This quote from Mark Twain is right on point. Every day we are bombarded with articles, books, studies and TV doctors telling us all the things that will kill us. They happen to be all the good things like a cheeseburger. So pay absolutely no attention to all these scare tactics. Just ignore all that noise and enjoy life. Unless you want to spend your golden years worrying about what may or may not kill you. 2. Make time for your loved ones. We are not promised tomorrow so make the most of today. At the end of the day family is all you really have. Stay in close contact with siblings and other family members. And if you have been at odds with a family member, make peace with them now. It doesn t matter how it all started or who was to blame. Carrying grudges is bad for your health and it makes family gatherings like Thanksgiving unpleasant. 3. Don t interfere with something that ain t botherin you none. There is no need to elevate your blood pressure any more than you have to over things you can t do anything about. If it ain t bothering you let it go. 4. Live a good honorable life. Then when you get older and think back you ll enjoy it a second time. Cherish your memories. Look back and see how far you have come and give yourself a pat on the back. It may not have always gone the way you wanted but if you lived an honorable life and always strived to do the right thing you should feel justly proud. 5. Finally, we all need to accept the fact our time on earth is limited. In 1962 when I was 10 years old, the Cuban Missile Crisis was in full swing. My dad had started me on newspapers as soon as I could read so I knew what was going on. There was talk of a nuclear war and neighbors were building bomb shelters. People were scared. Was this the end? I started thinking about death and it really worried me. So I took my worried look into the kitchen where my mother was cooking dinner and asked her about dying. She sat me down and said, Patrick, everybody is going to die someday. The quicker you understand that, the sooner you can get on with the business of living. It is something I have never forgotten.

6 St. Peter s Newsletter - February 2016 Page 2 WELS International Youth Rally Get ready to head to the mountains! The WELS International Youth Rally will be held at Colorado State University in Fort Collins June 28-July 1 under the theme Our God Reigns. Our teens will participate in worship, workshops, presentations, activities, entertainment, and there will be plenty of food! Over 2000 of our WELS teens will gather at the rally to be encouraged in the Christian faith we share. Due to the rally being in Colorado, we had to secure prearranged airfares. We have 20 spots and they will be given out to our teens on a first come basis. Pastor Guse has all the information and you can also look up the rally on the web at wels.net/events. Pinewood Derby Let s turn those chunks of wood into racing machines! We will be hosting our annual St. Peter s Congregation Derby Races on Sunday, March 6 at 12:00. You can pick up your car kits from the narthex for $7 per kit, or get the amazing special rate of three kits for $20. There will be trophies and medals given out for the categories of Speed and Craft. See the display for more information. Disciples of Christ News Thank you to all our parents and teens for a great year so far. As we move into the new year, we continue to hold our classes on Sunday mornings at 9:00 in the multi-purpose room. Our group is open to all 6 th -8 th graders, with groups of high school students as well. As we continue to grow in God s Word and Christian service, we also have some extra events planned. We will be doing an afternoon bowling venture, hosting a Lenten dinner, maybe a photo road rally, planning the year-end trip, and some other great things. Come and see what the Lord can accomplish through our amazing group! February 1-15 February Else Cuppan Deb Deere Rose Orvis Chris Orvis Look for our flower chart on the bulletin board at the end of the member mailboxes. Please be sure to call Else Cuppan at when you plan to donate flowers so that proper delivery and placement arrangements can be coordinated.