This week at Ascension. Thursday, February 11th Bible Basics Class 7:00-8:30 pm

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1 th Ave N This week at Ascension Weekly News February 7, 2016 Transfiguration Sunday Monday, February 8th Wednesday, February 10th Ash Wednesday No Monday worship Sisters Sharing Lenten Meal Choir Practice 9:30 am 5:45-6:45 pm 6:15 pm Thursday, February 11th Bible Basics Class 7:00-8:30 pm Sunday, February 14th Worship Service 8:30 & 11:00 am Sunday School & Catechism 9:45 am Adult & Teen Bible Class 10:00 am Ascension Day at Wise Penny Mission Prayers, February 14: Living Shepherd, Laramie, Wyo. Lord Jesus, you are the good Shepherd of our souls. As the members at Living Shepherd Lutheran Church work with Pastor Zaferos to reach the lost sheep in Laramie, Wyo., continue to encourage them with your promises. Let Living Shepherd be known to college students in the community as a place of refuge for them. Give these brothers and sisters of ours wisdom as they search for land and a more permanent worship location. Amen. Church Cleaning Schedule: We are so thankful for all of the hands that work together to keep Ascension clean and welcoming! February 12th: February 19th: Brian & Michelle Stein Terry & Mary Steinbach Dennis & Beth Svendsen Ron & Mary Swift

2 Glorify God, Grow in Grace, Go with the Gospel Page 2 Mission Festival and Potluck Meal: On Sunday, February 21 st Pastor Pheng Moua will join us for worship and Bible study. Pastor Moua shepherds Immanuel Hmong Lutheran church in St. Paul. Pastor Moua also reaches out to Hmong people around the world through a weekly online worship service. Please gather with your fellow members to learn about and rejoice in this wonderful ministry. After our second service Pastor Moua will join us for our potluck meal. Be sure to put this important date on your calendar. This week s Bible Basics topic: Nothing lasts forever; even this world won t last forever. But what will happen when we die? What will happen when this world ends? When will it end? We rejoice that the Bible gives us clear and fulfilling answers to these otherwise elusive questions. Adopt a Crib Drive: Christian Life Ministries provides much needed supplies for young families who are in crisis and desperately need help. There are many more families in need than supplies available! We will be collecting children s items through the month of February. There will be a Pack & Play set up at the end of the hall near the playground to collect your donations. The most needed Items include: Diapers (all sizes), Pull-Ups (size 2 & 3), Wipes, Layettes - sizes 0-6 months (must be new. Layettes include a receiving blanket, onesie, clothing outfit, socks, baby wash, and an infant toy), Pack & Plays, gently used clothing up to size 5T. Ashes on Ash Wednesday : Many Christian churches use ashes to make the sign of the cross on the foreheads or hands of worshippers. This practice has a long and rich history, going back to the earliest days of Christianity. We also recall that Old Testament believers like Job humbly cried out, I repent in dust and ashes. Placing ashes on the forehead or hand is a powerful outward sign of inner repentance. Ascension plans to offer this meaningful rite to all who worship on Ash Wednesday. During the service those who would like to participate will be invited to come forward. The pastors will then use ashes from our Palm Sunday branches to make the sign of the cross. Worshippers of all ages are welcome to participate.

3 Glorify God, Grow in Grace, Go with the Gospel Page 3 Sunday School Lessons and Memory Work Pre-K & Kindergarten - JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA (John 4) : Jesus showed her love for a Samaritan woman by teaching her that he is the Savior. Every sinner is important to God and to us, so we eagerly tell others about God s gift of salvation. Memory Verse: Matthew 28:19 Go and make disciples of all nations. Grades NAAMAN (2 Kings 5:1-17): God used a young girl and the prophet Elisha to bring Naaman to faith. God also wants us to share his Word so the Holy Spirit can bring others to faith. Memory Verse: Matthew 28:19 Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Grades The Lord s Prayer The Address & 1 st Petition: Who can pray? How should we pray? What should we pray for? We ll explore these questions about prayer as we look at the model prayer our Savior taught us. Teens - Super Bowl Subs: The teens will be working to complete their sub fundraiser during Bible hour. Sunday School Mission Offering Update: Great news! By God's grace we are going to surpass our goal of supporting a whole month of Hmong-language podcasts for Immanuel Hmong in St. Paul! Thanks to our Sunday School families for responding to this challenge and supporting this international mission work! Let's see how much more we can raise before Pastor Pheng Moua arrives for our Mission Festival on February 21st! Youth Dodgeball Tournament: All youth grades 7-12 are invited to participate in a dodgeball tournament being hosted by the St. Croix Conference Youth Committee on March 13th, at St. Croix Lutheran from 1-4 pm. Let's get a team together from Ascension and take home the gold! See the flyer outside the teen room or Pastor Roloff for more details. Baby News: We welcome our youngest new member, Gia Mae Grumbir, daughter of Justin and Katie Grumbir. Gia was born on January 22nd. Congratulations Grumbirs!

4 Glorify God, Grow in Grace, Go with the Gospel Page 4 Simply Giving: As we begin a new year and reevaluate our monetary offerings to the Lord, we invite you to consider joining the 15% of our congregation taking advantage of Thrivent Financial s Simply Giving Program. With it your offerings are made by direct deposit through a preauthorized withdrawal from your bank account with no cost to you. Simply Giving allows you to determine the frequency of your automatic gift as well as which Ascension funds are to receive it. The amount of your offering can be adjusted at any time. Enrollment forms are in the entryway and should be returned to Ryan Rodi, our Financial Secretary, to get you started in secure, consistent and convenient giving. Current enrollees should also contact Ryan to make any changes to their donation authorizations. Please contact the Stewardship Committee with any questions (Tim Peterson, Dan Fisher, Eric Felhaber or Dawn Bartsch). Ministry Update: Last spring the members of Ascension adopted a very aggressive ministry plan. Our goal was to reach out to the families of our community and beyond. The Lord in his grace has blessed those efforts. A total of 49 children, and their families, are hearing God s word through preschool. For this we praise the Lord. In addition to blessing our preschool ministry, God has brought many new people to hear his word in worship, Sunday School, and a variety of other programs. Last year Ascension experienced a membership growth of four percent. For this we praise the Lord. Our ministry plan called for a significant increase in offerings. Members of Ascension have responded to this need. Generous gifts totaling $163,222 have been given over the six month period beginning July 1 st. This is an 18% increase over last year s giving! For this we praise the Lord. Our offerings and tuition income however have not kept pace with expenses. If we include checks that have been written but not yet cashed, our unified budget shows a negative balance of about $32,000. In other words our offerings and tuition income are about 20% below what is needed. Your church council urges every member to do two things. First, pray to the Lord. Ask God to supply what is needed so that we may continue to boldly reach out. Your church council also asks every member to consider increasing gifts to the unified budget. With the Lord s blessings, and our best efforts we can carry out the work set before us.

5 Glorify God, Grow in Grace, Go with the Gospel Page 5 Ministry Student Tuition Assistance Opportunity: Out of love for our Lord, we are to pray for, encourage, and support those who preach and teach the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They may be serving close to home or far away, but all are working for the expansion of His kingdom. These messengers from God are entrusted with His words which have eternal significance. We are also to help identify, encourage and train those who want to preach and teach the good news. This is an opportunity for all of us to participate in spreading the Word. We can start by encouraging children and young adults to consider being messengers of the gospel and praying for more workers. Providing financial assistance and praying for the students and the schools that train them are other ways that we can show our support. Currently, Ascension has two members who are preparing for full time service in the ministry. Philip Janisch is in his third year at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and is currently a vicar at a congregation in Oregon. Ben Melott is a sophomore at Martin Luther College preparing for the teaching ministry. On the next two Sundays, January 31 st and February 7 th, we will be collecting a special offering to help these students with their tuition costs. If you would like to participate in this financial show of support, please use the other box on your offering envelope and indicate Tuition Assistance Fund. May God bless these students and our support for them, to His glory! Thrivent Choice Dollars: In 2015 Ascension received over $1100 through Thrivent s Choice Dollars program. If you have investments or insurance through Thrivent Financial you may have Thrivent Choice Dollars available to you. These are funds Thrivent makes available to its qualifying members to direct to an organization of their choice. To designate your Choice Dollars to Ascension please go to the following link. credential&sid=0 The website will prompt you to log in. You will then be able to see the Choice Dollars available to you. You may also designate your Choice Dollars by phone. Please call the member connection center at , and say Thrivent Choice when prompted. Please note that Ascension will be listed under Minneapolis rather than Plymouth.

6 Another Look at the Lessons ~ Small Group Study Guide Getting started: What is the most clever It s not my fault or lost homework story you have heard? Read: 2 Peter 1:16-19a Many world religions include creative stores. List some. What is the goal of such stories? Peter said that the transfiguration was not just a clever story. Why might people have thought it was? Peter spoke of darkness. Share examples of spiritual darkness spreading across our land. Pay attention to the eyewitness account, the Father s testimony, and the words of the prophets. They all proclaim Jesus is the Savior. What does this mean for our outreach or nurture efforts? Read: Exodus 34:29-35 Why were the people afraid when they saw Moses glowing face? Can you think of modern examples of people being afraid or uncomfortable in the presence of holiness? What purpose did the radiant face of Moses serve? What purpose did the veil serve? (2 Corinthians 3:13) Read: Luke 9:28-36 Moses, Elijah and Jesus spoke about his departure. What do you think they said? In what ways did Jesus and the disciples benefit from this event? The gospel writer Matthew adds that Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone about this until after his resurrection (17:9). Why keep this to themselves? What blessings do you find in reading this account each year?

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