St. Paul Lutheran Church

Transcription

1 April 2014 Newsletter St. Paul Lutheran Church From the Heart of Your Shepherd Easter greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ! N4118 Cty Rd AB Luxemburg, WI Church Office: P: F: Mission Statement The mission of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran is to strengthen and support our members in their Christian faith through God s Word, the Sacraments, education, prayer and fellowship; thereby preparing them to be witnesses of the Gospel in our community and the world, so that all who believe shall receive the gift of eternal life. It seemed like it couldn t get worse but then it did. A family is fractured by an old grudge that has left brothers and sisters not speaking to one another for years then their mother, who seemed the only hope of gluing the pieces back together, dies suddenly of a heart attack. Your bills are piling up, you ve been fighting with your spouse, you worry about being able to afford to send your kids to school next year then you get downsized from your job of ten years. The Rabbi you ve followed and dedicated your life to for the past three years has suddenly been put to death on false charges of insurrection then three days later the tomb is empty and you have no idea who has taken the body. The sudden shift from bad to worse, the last threads that held your world together are suddenly cut this is the very definition of a catastrophe. And that is where Mary found herself early on that first Easter morning: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. (John 20:11-13) J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and other adventurous works of mythical proportions often used his writing to express timeless truths about life and the world that were informed by his Christian faith. One theme that he made great use of in his writings is described in a word which he coined: eucastastrophe (the eu, pronounced like you, is a Greek prefix meaning good). He figured that if there was such thing as a catastrophe, a sudden change for the worse, there needed to be an opposite that was just as powerful: a sudden change from the worst imaginable circumstance to the best of all outcomes, even beyond what could be hoped for or expected. This good catastrophe turns everything around and even makes something good of a bad situation. At Mom s funeral service the siblings end up sitting together, and through the tears their divisions are blurred and old hurts melt away. They are family once again and bound together all the more by the same love one mother had shown to each of them. The day after you clear out your desk you bump into an old friend who s looking to start up a new business. It turns out that you are the perfect partner for this venture and your life opens up to a new vocation you would never have considered before. Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni! (which means Teacher). (John 20:15-16) Tolkien may have coined the word and made good use of it in his writing. We, if we pay attention, might even see it unfold in unexpected ways in our own lives. But it is God who crafted the truth behind it and who wrote into history the greatest eucatastrophe ever! Suddenly Mary realizes, as we remember as well this Easter, that Jesus is not dead, but lives! Suddenly Jesus is shown to be more than just another moral teacher, but the Son of God and Savior of the world! Suddenly we are no longer slaves to sin, languishing under the burden of a debt we cannot pay, but we are set free and made heirs of an eternal kingdom! Suddenly death is no longer a grim foe who will one day overtake us all, but in Christ we have been granted the victory of eternal life! For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:5) Alleluia! Christ is Risen! In Christ, Pastor Jim

2 Ntter Title St. Paul Charger News Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Phil. 2:5 HE HAS RISEN HE HAS RISEN INDEED!! What a wonderful blessing to be able to shout aloud. Christ the Lord has risen today Hallelujah!! May God s promises, His love, peace, and joy surround you this Easter season and always. Up-coming Events: April 3 April April 18 April 25 Report Cards Achievement Testing No School Easter Break Earth Day Registration for the School Year Registration for the school year is open. Please spread the word about our amazing school. Any questions about our 4K or elementary/middle school programs can be directed to Mrs. Kline at dkline@stpaullux.org or by calling the school office. School Office: Missouri Synod Lutheran School Statistics Each year the LCMS asks schools and early childhood centers nationally to submit information about their schools. The following figures represent a 60% response rate. Total number of schools 2,255 Total number of active students 221,302 Total number of teachers 21,256 Total number of elementary schools 880 Total number of schools in the North Wisconsin District 63 LCMS operated international schools 3 (Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Hanoi) Softball Tournament St. Paul will again this year be hosting a softball tournament on May 9 th -10 th. This is a great opportunity to meet with other Lutheran Schools for fun and fellowship. Please save the date and come on out and cheer on St. Paul s softball team. Achievement Testing During the week of April the students in grades 1-8 grades will be taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Test Taking Tips to help your child have a successful week: Be sure your child gets a good night sleep Keep a positive attitude and be encouraging Make morning of the test a pleasant one. Be sure he/she gets a good breakfast and is to school on time. If your child is feeling stressed teach them how to take deep breaths to calm themselves down. Chapel Offerings The third quarter chapel offerings from both the school children and the Sunday school will be directed towards the Gbargna Lutheran School Mission Project. Both the school children and the Sunday School children set a goal to raise $ for this project. The 4 th quarter chapel offering will be designated to Camp Luther located in Three Lakes, WI. Camp Luther offers summer youth camps for children ages Kindergarten through High School. Their goal is for campers to be encouraged and strengthened in their faith through Christian friendships, caring role models, and God s Word. For more information on Camp Luther visit their website at

3 April Youth activities: Open Gym: Open Gym will be available on Sunday, April 6th and April 13th. The times are 7:00-8:30. Hope you can make it! Movie Night The movie, God Is Not Dead is now playing at theaters. This looks like a great movie for Christians to go to, but especially youth. It speaks of a student standing up to a teacher about the existence of God. I would like to get a group of people to go. Please contact Sherry Byrne if interested. I am looking at the calendar in April, and see Thursday, April 17th(Thursday night is cheaper nights at movies) or Saturday, April 12th. Please let me know if you have a preference. Sherry Byrne

4 Ntter Title Lakeshore Lutherans for Life Lakeshore Lutherans for Life will have available on Sunday, May 4th at 7:30pm an excellent DVD on "End of Life" issues by Rev James Lamb. Additional resources to aid you in these issues will also be available. Watch the bulletin later in April for further information. Christian Service Guild News: Our monthly meeting will be held April 2, 2014 at 7:30pm in the church meeting room. A skit will be performed called A Patchwork of Wisdom. We will also Celebrate life. All ladies are welcome. 4 th Annual Rummage Sale Spring is the time to clean the house the garage the storage building. Remember our annual rummage sale and save all those no longer needed items. Big sellers are antiques, tools and housewares along with books, children s clothes and toys. Furniture is also welcome. The 7 th Annual Time, Treasure and Talent Show will be on Saturday, April 26 th. Spaghetti dinner served at 5:30pm. Show starts at 7pm. Show off your talent or just enjoy some great entertainment!

5 Stewardship News & Views Jesus is the Lamb of God, who by His death takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). John s Gospel takes great pains to show us that the crucifixion and death of Jesus coincides with the slaughter of the lambs for the Passover Feast (John 18:39; 19:31). That means also that the day of our Lord s resurrection from the dead coincides with the wave offering of the first fruits of the barley harvest (Lev 23:9 14). The risen Jesus, then, is a wave offering to the Father as the true bread of life come down from heaven, whose risen and living flesh and blood makes us acceptable to the Father (Lev 23:11). By it, our sins are forgiven and in Him, we have life. This marks us as those whom the angel of death will pass over, those who are marked by the blood of the Lamb for life (Exod 12:13). Christ was offered to the Father for us. He was crucified for our transgressions and raised for our justification (Rom 4:25). We are acceptable to God the Father by His grace on account of the death and resurrection of Jesus through faith. This is God s generosity. This is his love. That while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us and was raised so that the Father would receive us back and that we, in Christ, would be acceptable to Him. And this is what we celebrate in Holy Week. This is what we sing about and ponder on Good Friday and Easter. We meditate on God s love for us and His generous offering of His Son. We have been making our way to the cross and the empty tomb throughout Lent with this singular focus: God by His grace and mercy has redeemed us, forgiven us, sanctified us, and found us acceptable in His sight because of Jesus. In the same way then, we who have received such mercy and grace from God our Father, who have then been the beneficiaries of His generosity are to be generous with all that He has given us. He has given us all that we have for this body and life and sanctified it for use in His service. Your reason and senses, your clothing and shoes, your house and your home, your income all that you are and have are sanctified, made holy, for use in service to him. You are holy and so what you say, what you do, and what you give is holy too. God, by grace, has accomplished it, but He brings you into this service. He makes you fellow workers. Just as Christ is the first fruits to make you acceptable, you are living sacrifices to the Lord, holy and acceptable. Everything you do and are is employed by God, put into the service of the Gospel for the life of the world. Your lives, your giving, your conversations as fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, citizens and workers proclaim this reality Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. With the blood of the Lamb upon you, by water and word, bread and wine, all that you do and give is put into the Lord s work of making those around you acceptable in Him who died but was raised. For He has died. But He is risen. He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Yours in Christ, Lon Fager, Paul Janda, Sue Heim Courtesy of LCMS.org

6 Holy Humor Ntter Title A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child s work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, I am drawing a picture of God. The teacher paused and said, But no one knows what God looks like. Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied happily, They will in a minute. Faculty/Staff Contact Info Pastor: Jim Athey: off2sem@yahoo.com Principal: Debbie Kline: dkline@stpaullux.org 4K Teacher: Tiffany Dart: tdart@stpaullux.org 4K Teacher: Beth Budnik: bbudnik@stpaullux.org 5K Teacher: Sherry Byrne: sbyrne@stpaullux.org 1 st & 2 nd Grade: Heidi Schneider: hschneider@stpaullux.org 3 rd & 4 th Grade: Ruth Bernau: rbernau@stpaullux.org 6 th, 7 th, & 8 th Grade: Ben Phelps: bphelps@stpaullux.org Secretary: Jenny Tenor: jtenor@stpaullux.org Newsletter: Angie Peterson: apeterson0727@yahoo.com Funerals: Tina Peterson Arlene Gruetzmacher Prayer Chain: Tina Peterson Hee Haw DVD s are available of the church service. Call the church office at and one of our volunteers will deliver it to you. Need a ride to church? Please notify the church office for a ride to and from church services. Newsletter Deadline: the 21 st of the month. Join us on Facebook: Search for St. Paul Lutheran Church and School and LIKE us today!