If you need a large print bulletin or would like to use a hearing impaired device, please speak with an Usher or Lay Assistant.

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1 YOUTH MINISTRY (Grades 6-12) 2019 LCMS National Youth Gathering July in Minneapolis MN If you are in 7th grade ( ) this year and older you will be able to attend. This event usually will have 20,000-25,000 students from around the world. This often called a once in a life time event. Questions talk to Greg. Wednesdays there will be Lenten suppers and service. We begin at 5:00pm to set-up, we know not everyone can be there at 5:00, so come when you can. Supper is served from 6:00-6:45pm followed by clean-up and then worship at 7:00pm. (Also help is needed at the noon time lunch, if available let me know.) This is considered one of our service event so please plan to help at as many as you can. The Wednesdays are: March 21. Easter breakfast set-up is Saturday March 31. The Bible Bowl topic this year is the Gospel of St. Matthew. If you are interested in being part of a team let Greg know. If there is interest we will have a team, you can begin by reading through the Gospel of St. Matthew. Contact Greg at ST JOHN S EAST MOLINE CELEBRATING 100 YEARS IN MINISTRY The members of St. John s Lutheran Church of East Moline invite the members of our sister congregations to join us for a cake and punch reception to be held from 2-3pm on March 18 th. Displays commemorating our one hundred years of ministry will be available for your entertainment. We hope that you will be able to join in our celebration. If you need a large print bulletin or would like to use a hearing impaired device, please speak with an Usher or Lay Assistant. ATTENDANCE LAST WEEKEND Sat. 5:30 p.m. 66 Sunday School 14 Sun. 11:00 a.m. 88 Bible Study 15 Lenten Wednesday Worship 11:00 a.m. 61 7:00 p.m. 42 St. Matthew Lutheran Church 115 West 12th Avenue, Milan IL Phone ~ Fax ~ ~ stmatthewmilan@gmail.com Web ~ The Rev. Leonard A. Astrowski, Jr. (Vacancy) Mr. Gregory G. Mueller, DCE pastrowski@gmail.com dcehog@derbyworks.net (cell) (cell) Mr. Joel Chapman, RN, Parish Nurse joelchapman1955@yahoo.com (cell) Fifth Sunday in Lent March 17 & 18, 2018 WELCOME TO THE LORD S HOUSE We pray that you are blessed through God s service today. We invite everyone to sign the Record of Fellowship in each pew. Our guests are also invited to sign the guest book on the Welcome Table in the entryway. TODAY WE CELEBRATE THE LORD S SUPPER At St. Matthew we believe that the Lord s Supper (Holy Communion) is a ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and an expression of our unity in belief and teaching. Therefore, in Christian love we extend this ministry to baptized Christians who Have been properly instructed and confess the teachings of the Bible as taught in The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS); Acknowledge their sins and repent of their sins; Confess Jesus Christ alone as Savior from all sin; Believe with us that Christ s body and blood are truly present in, with, and under the bread and wine; Intend, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to amend their sinful lives and forgive others as Christ has forgiven them. Guests who do not hold membership in a congregation of the LCMS are respectfully asked to visit with the pastor before or after the worship service regarding their desire to commune. Martin Luther s Christian Questions with Their Answers on pages in Lutheran Service Book is a good resource to use to prepare oneself to receive the Lord s Supper. NOTES FOR COMMUNION DISTRIBUTION Receive the bread the body of Christ in your hand. You may receive the wine the blood of Christ with either the individual cup or the common cup. Please assist with the common cup. The individual cups in the center of the tray contain reduced alcohol wine for those that need to receive Christ s blood this way. Those not receiving the Sacrament but wish to receive a blessing (including non-confirmed children) are asked to take a wooden cross from the basket next to the baptismal font. Hold the cross in front of you as the communion elements are distributed. As you then return to your pew, please place the cross in the basket next to the collection tray for individual cups.

2 Altar Guild: Flowers: Lay Assistant Ushers SERVANTS IN THE LORD S HOUSE Vicki Lude, and Audrey Gale Members of St. Matthew 5:30 p.m. 11:00 a.m. Dave & Carole Appelquist Dave Schroeder Nick Bull Jeff Martens Kelly Stevens Organist Sally Brockman Sally Brockman PASTOR S TUESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY Pastor Astrowski s has a Tuesday morning Bible Study from 9:30am to 10:30am at Immanuel Lutheran, Rock Island. All are welcome to attend. Come join in and study God s Word. LIFE THOUGHT FROM THIS WEEK S READINGS My body, my choice ; however, life is not for controlling but for offering and sharing (Mark 10:45). Our Creator bestows life as gift, promise, covenant, connecting us to Him and one another (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Broken covenants become cruel lords (Mark 10:42). Yet still Jesus enters our predicaments and understands our troubles (Hebrews 5:2, 7). No one suffers alone, and He remembers our sins no more. Eternal salvation results! Almighty Maker, enable us to share Your life with each other. Amen. Saturday, March 17 Sunday, March 18 Fifth Sunday in Lent Monday, March 19 Tuesday, March 20 Poling Place Wednesday, March 21 Lenten Mid-week Thursday, March 22 Friday, March 23 Saturday, March 24 Sunday, March 25 Palm Sunday/Passion of our Lord THIS WEEK THE LORD WILLING Office Hours Mon. Fri. 9-12:00 5:30 p.m. Divine Service 11:00 a.m. 8:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m. 9:30 a.m. 6:15 p.m. 11:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 6:30 p.m. Council Sunday School Adult Bible Study Divine Service Home School Group Call Committee Pastor s Bible Study at Immanuel NO Ladies Bible Study Choir Lenten Matins Service (lunch following) Setup for Lenten Supper Lenten Supper Lenten Vespers Service 8:30 a.m. Bulletin Assembled 5:30 p.m. Divine Service 11:00 a.m. Sunday School Adult Bible Study Divine Service LIFE QUOTE FOR THIS WEEK Ultimately abortions are antithetical to the Gospel message the church proclaims, as we marvel over the fact that Jesus says to undeserving sinners: I will lay my life down for my sheep, and so He did, taking on our sin and shame and the debt that stood against us and nailing it to the cross. Abortion instead demands of an innocent life, You will lay your life down for me. Pastor Gunnar Ingi Gunnarsson, Loftstofan Baptistakirkja, Iceland A Life Quote from Lutherans For Life OUR CHRISTIAN CALLING Genesis 22:2 He said, Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. It s hard for us to even fathom a faith as strong as Abraham s: he follows the Lord s Word even when it seems impossibly hard. But he does so because he knows that the Lord only means to bless. What happened here to Abraham should be an encouragement for us: trust the Lord and keep His Word. PREMIER CONFERENCE FOR LUTHERAN LAITY You're invited to attend the Issues, Etc. "Making the Case" Conference Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9 in Collinsville, IL, about 15 miles east of St. Louis. Topics include: Islam, The Prosperity Gospel, Godliness, Religious Truth Claims, The Centrality of Justification, Abortion and Scientism. Speakers include: Hank Hanegraaff, Rev. Hans Fiene, Rev. Will Weedon, Scott Klusendorf, Dr. Angus Menuge, Rev. Jonathan Fisk and Craig Parton. Attendance is limited to 400. For more information, visit or call (618)

3 LWML NEWS Creative Crafters will meet on the 3 rd Thursday, and the LWML Bible Study and LWML meetings will combine on the 1 st Thursday together at 9:30am. The next LWML Bible Study gathering will be March 1 at 9:30am. Creative Crafters will meet Thursday, March 15 at 9:30am. All are welcome. EASTER BREAKFAST Planning has begun for Easter breakfast and we hope you can join us. Breakfast will be served form 7:45am on Easter morning. If you would like to donate food or money to help with the breakfast contact Greg Mueller-DCE at McDERMOTT S IN AFRICA We have received a newsletter from Rev Ryan McDermott-look for the newsletter on Bulletin Board D. Copies are available. We have also received a Thank You from the McDermott's for supporting them in their mission work Bulletin Board E. TEACHER NEEDED We are in need of a Sunday School teacher for grades 5-7. If you are interested let Greg Mueller or Deb Snyder know. SAVE THE DATE! SPRING SALAD LUNCHEON St. Matthew s Pursuing Spring Salad Luncheon will be on April 7, Guest Speaker: Deb Bowen will speak on her purses of love project call Love Like Lorraine Doors Open: 11a.m. Admittance please bring item(s) to put inside purses for women in shelters or crisis centers. Suggestions Kleenex Tylenol Billfold Brush/Comb Make-Up Wet Wipes Socks Hand Cream Scarf Feminine Items Gift card to McDonalds Gently Used Clean Purses SUNDAY SCHOOL AND ADULT BIBLE STUDY Sunday School Sin Enters the World High School Bible Study TBA Adult Bible Study: Gospel of Matthew KICK OFF 2018 CHRISTMAS SHOE BOXES The plan is to catch things on sale. Soooo be on the lookout for socks, hats, gloves and t-shirts. Start bringing your items in and there will be a box out in the hall. We packed close to 200 boxes last year let s start now and see what God and St. Matthew can accomplish for the kids this year! Think of all the lives that were changed because of the shoe boxes! This exciting ministry is possible because of God s blessings and your involvement Thanks again Congregational Life and Outreach Committees. WOMEN S TUESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY We will not meet on Tuesday, March 20 due to being a poling place. We will resume on March 27 at 11:00am with What Will Tomorrow Bring? 1 Samuel 28. All are welcome. See you on Tuesday, March 20 at 11:00am. PANTRY UPDATE Due to generous donations, we have collected all the mushroom soup needed for the Easter dinner baskets. Thank you, St. Matthew for your ongoing, kind, always generous support of the food pantry. You also kept our month of February well stocked with personal care items. You Rock, St. Matthew! LENT IS HERE, LET S JOIN TOGETHER IN REFLECTION OF GOD S LOVE, FELLOWHIP AND FOOD. Worship will be at 11:00am with a lunch to follow, then in the evening supper is served at 6:00pm with worship at 7:00pm. The suppers are a fund raisers for the Youth going to the National Youth Gathering in the summer of You can help the youth meet their goal by attending and donating generously and by providing food to help lower the cost of the meals. You can sign up to volunteer to by seeing Greg.

4 NEW/UPDATED requests this week ST. MATTHEW AT PRAYER Phil & Karen Burger, Parents of Tammy Robinson (health issues) Those Who Mourn Family & Friends of Carol Waeyaert, friend of Tom Krahl Other continuing request Alyssa Anders, (missionary at St. Petersburg Russia) Arlene Astrowski, mother of Pastor Astrowski (recovering from surgery) Andy Cortez, father of student of Linda Tobin (health problems) Yvonne Cox, friend of Eileen Leonard (health problems) Ron Elliott husband of Karen Elliott (recovering from heart procedure) Jerry Fisher, father of Erica Fisher (recovering from surgery) Jay Gerken, co-worker of Brandi Gale (recovering from car accident) Ashlyn Kiwala, friend of Solomon & Lacey Stroup (Hospice) Lynnette, daughter-in-law of Don & Nancy Mueller (cancer) Mary Ann Michelson, sister of Dave Schroeder (recovering from surgery) Todd Rocha, friend of Tom Krahl (hospitalized) Randy Viager, son of Sally Riddell (preparing for surgery) PRAYER LIST GUIDELINES Below are the prayer list guidelines that the Board of Lay Assistants adopted some time ago. New entries for the prayer list in the weekly bulletin will appear in the bulletin and be mentioned in the Prayer of the Church in Divine Services for 4 consecutive weeks. Please inform Karen if you wish to have a name appear for a shorter period of time. Also, some entries, by their nature (e.g. births, deaths, anniversaries, etc.), will appear for a shorter period of time. Please note that the first of these 4 weeks will be the week that the entry EITHER first appears in the bulletin OR is announced verbally by Pastor in the worship service. Existing entries may be placed in the weekly bulletin for up to an additional 4 weeks by contacting Karen. EASTER LILIES If you would like to help beautify the altar for Easter there is now an Easter Lily signup sheet on bulletin board A. The cost this year is $8.00. Sunday March 25th is the last day you can sign up. Please put you payment in the offering and please note Easter Lilies on your envelope. Vicki Lude, Chairmen UPDATE ON ST. MATTHEW S MISSION SUPPORT St. Matthew s has been supporting a Missionary for a few years now. Our support is $ per year. We were supporting Enoch Peterson for a few years but he left the mission field in December 2016 and we didn t get any notification until March/April of We were supporting Rev. Peter Kolb along with the Milan Christian Food Pantry through our loose change in the offering plate. When we found out that Enoch Peterson left the Mission Field we decided to support Rev. Peter Kolb along with the loose change. We received a letter in December 2017 that Rev. Kolb was leaving the Mission Field December 31, It was at Rev Kolb s request that we select someone who needed a lot of support. We elected Rev. Ryan and Emily McDermott serving in West and Central Africa, based in Togo working in deaf ministry. They have four children. There will be a copy of his information on Bulletin Board D. UPDATE ON COINS FOR CHRIST Our loose coins in the offering plate (Coins for Christ) will now be divided between Milan Christian Food Pantry and Operation Christmas Child Boxes. The Pantry will be using the money to buy food for the pantry and Operation Christmas Child will go for postage and tracts. St. Matthew is a founding board member on the Milan Christian Food Pantry and we support them by food donations, working at the pantry, and financial support. When the pantry was first opened we thought we would do good serving 80 families a month. We now support (depending on the month) serve 250 to 300 families. The need is great. In 2017 we sent over 200 boxes for the Operation Christmas Child. This is a great outreach project reaching children all over the world. Help is always needed for postage and the Christian Tracts that go into the boxes. Don t forget your loose change each week to help these great Outreach Projects. MID-DAY LENTEN LUNCHES Members will be preparing and serving Lenten hot lunches after each Wednesday 11:00 Lenten service. If you would like to help by donating items or your time, there is a sign-up sheet in the hallway. Come for the Word, stay for good food and fellowship. Questions contact Kitty Dornbier.

5 Holiday Worship Schedule Midweek Lenten Services Wednesday, March 21 Matins Service... 11:00 am Lunch follows Midday Service Evening Prayer Service... 7:00 pm Supper prior to Evening Service; serving begins at 6:00 pm Thursday, March 29 Maundy Thursday Divine Service with Communion...11:00 am Divine Service with Communion.7:00 pm Friday, March 30 Tre Ore at Holy Cross in Moline....12:00-3:00 pm Tenebrae here at St. Matthew...7:00 pm Saturday, March 31 Easter Vigil...7:00 pm Sunday, April 1 Easter Sunrise with Communion :30 am Easter Breakfast 7:30 am Sunday School..8:45 am Easter Service with Communion :00 am USHERING The Lay Assistants would like to set up a family ushering schedule for the year starting in May thru December for the Saturday and Sunday services. Cancelled Stamps Program What do you do with the cancelled stamps on your incoming mail? Do you - like many of us - leave them on your mailing envelopes that get tossed? Did you know that you can donate your cancelled stamps for mission projects? Nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations take donated used stamps and sell them through auctions to stamp dealers or collectors to raise funds for various charitable programs. Our LWML collects used stamps, and the monies that are generated support mission projects in the U.S. and around the world. You can help! Here s how. Save stamps that have their perforations intact, aren t too heavily cancelled, and are not torn, cut or stained. Leave at least ¼ inch on each side of the stamp when cutting it from the envelope or postcard. (Or bring us the whole envelope and we will trim them.) Bring these to church and drop them in the box located under the LWML table in the church entryway. There! It s so easy, and now your used stamps are supporting LCMS missionaries and various LWML gospelcentered mission projects. The following will be needed when you sign up to serve:. Family Name Number of person serving Dates you will serve Phone number. See signup sheets on Bulletin board.

6 VBS 2011 JUNE Has God put on your heart the desire to help with VBS this summer? If so, then give Greg Mueller-DCE a call and let him know that you would like to join the great staff and be part of this exciting ministry at St. Matthew. If you have any questions give Greg a call at / or dcehog@derbyworks.net. Please start praying about this important opportunity we have to share the Good News of Jesus with so many young people and then ask God if He wants you to join the staff. VBS June :00am 12:00 Do you have the dates on your calendar yet?? Why not go over to the calendar and write them it? Then give Greg Mueller-DCE a call and let him know that you would like to join the great staff and be part of this exciting ministry at St. Matthew. If you have any questions give Greg a call at or dcehog@derbyworks.net. Please start praying about this important opportunity we get to share the Good News of Jesus with so many young people and asking God if He wants you to join the staff. I would like to help this year at VBS Teacher, grade Craft Refreshments Office support Work on Closing program Co-Director Music Classroom helper, grade: Child care Recreation Work on materials/crafts before VBS to get them ready for the students Donate cookies/food Donate money for craft Materials Pray for VBS asking God to send the students and bless the teachers in sharing the Gospel EASTER BREAKFAST 2018 Either before or after you have worshipped our risen Lord why not join together with a bunch of your closest friends for what might be the best breakfast you have this year? Mark your calendar for Sunday, April 1 st. We will eat right after the Sun Rise Service (around 7:30am) and you can come anytime till Sunday School starts. At this time we are planning on serving: Scrambled eggs Sausage Fruit OJ Egg Beaters Egg Casserole Coffee Home made sweet rolls/coffee cakes Sausage Fajitas Again this year we would like to ask you to donate a "coffee cake"/ any breakfast cake or any other items found on the list. That way the donations on Easter morning will go even farther to support Youth Ministry at St. Matthew. If you would like to donate an item please let Greg Mueller-DCE know. Name: phone: I would like to donate: egg beaters (3 X 32oz) 8 gal OJ 2 gal milk 2 3 gallons apple juice donuts/sweet rolls 15 dozen 2 pound real butter 4-5 lbs. of shredded cheese Fresh Fruit 2 watermelon, 2 cantaloupes, strawberries, 3 lb. green grapes, 3 lb. red grapes, 2 pineapples, oz cups for juice 15 1/2 aluminum pans 500 napkins 10 Full Aluminum pans Salsa 64 oz. Mild & 64oz Hot 2 lbs. of good coffee 10 cans of steno cash donation Name Phone: Return this to Greg Mueller-DCE or place in the offering plate. (We need to know what you would like to donate by Sunday March 25 th and items need to be delivered by 10:00 am, Saturday March 31 Thank you!) PLEASE RETURN THIS TO THE CHURCH OFFICE OF Greg Mueller-DCE