April 5 Maundy Thursday Refuge Joshua 20:7-9. April 6 Good Friday Nobody Deuteronomy 7:7

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1 April, 2012 Two tablets of stone, a few vessels of oil, simple markings, a small army, a remote field, a solemn oath - these are some of the strangest people, places and things through which God revealed Himself to His people in the Old Testament. Join us as we wrap up our Lenten series by looking for Christ in the strangest places. April 5 Maundy Thursday Refuge Joshua 20:7-9 April 6 Good Friday Nobody Deuteronomy 7:7 Special Easter Sunday Schedule April 8 7:30 a.m. Easter Breakfast 8:30 a.m. Children s Service 9:15 a.m. Easter Worship New Member Class To Begin In April! We will be beginning a Good News class on Tuesday, April 24. The class will run for 12 sessions, and will be held each Tuesday from 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Here are a few of the topics it will address: GOD, THE BIBLE, CHRIST, FAITH, BAPTISM, COMMUNION, and DEATH. This class will prepare you for membership in Christ s church or will make you a better member of Christ s church. This class will be team taught by Pastor Bettermann and Pastor Abatie. The classes are informal and refreshments are served. You can ask questions or just listen. It is free and without obligation. All sessions are on tape cassette in case of absence. Why not give it a try? The impact it will have on your life will be surprising and pleasant. Contact Pastor Abatie so he can include you!

2 God s Great Yes! For I the Lord do not change, spoke our Lord through the prophet Malachi. This statement is confirmed by Paul who wrote these words in 2 Corinthians 1:19-22: For as the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in Him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him. That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for His glory. And it is God Who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and Who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. God does not change His mind about His promises to us. All that God has promised us has been or will be fulfilled through His only Son Who has taken our sins in His body on the cross and Who has risen from the dead, guaranteeing that we, too, will rise from the dead and will live forever with Him in Heaven. We respond with the great Amen! Yes! Yes! Yes! It shall be so! We offer our honor and praise to God through His Son as we rejoice at the empty tomb. We offer our lives and our resources in thanksgiving to the One Who loves us with an incomprehensible love. In Christ alone, God fulfilled all His Old Testament promises of redemption. In Christ, we stand unwavering in faith. In Christ, we are His own. In Christ, we look forward in hope and joyful anticipation to seeing our Savior face to face! We live as redeemed people of the victorious Lamb of God. As that Lamb came seeking us who were lost, we now continue that work, for our will is that of God our Savior, Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth 1 Tim. 2:4. MEMORIAL REPORT CORRECTION Our apologies to the family of Bernard Harms for omitting his name from the 2011 Memorial Fund report which was printed in the March newsletter. REMINDER Please write the amount of your offering on the outside of the offering envelope. This helps the money counters confirm what you enclose. Please use checks if possible. FEBRUARY PAROCHIAL REPORT Average Attendance Average Sunday School Attn Average Communion Attn FEBRUARY FINANCIAL REPORT February Year-To-Date Income: $23,123 $46,155 Expense: $18,535 $42,624 Surplus (Deficit) $4,588 $3,531 Both income and expenses were below the monthly budget in February, but the absence of any major expenses produced a surplus for the month and for the first two months of the year. THE CONCORDIA SOCIETY The Concordia Society held their meeting on Thurs., March 8. Martha Nelms led the devotions and Linda Cox was the hostess. Millie Cordes received the Treasury check book. Get well cards were signed and sent to Mary Gronau and Gary Huey. The Rock that Moved by Peter Marshall was the program. The next meeting will be on Thurs., April 12 at 1:30 p.m. Marian Mattheessen will be the hostess and Betty Ingrassia will lead the devotions. Guests are welcome and new members are needed.

3 Upper Room: Furnished In the midst of a prayer meeting service in a large downtown church, with several hundred people present, a timid little woman arose to speak. It was in the midst of the Lenten season and the pastor had asked a rather simple but searching question: Suppose you had the chance to be some one person associated with those last days of Jesus in Jerusalem, whom would you choose to be? The woman was trying to reply to that question. There are a lot of people in the passion story whose place I could never fill, she said. I could not carry my Master s cross as Simon of Cyrene did. Nor could I have followed Him out to the garden as some of the others did. But I could make ready for Him the best room in my house, where He might eat the last supper with His disciples. I could promise Him that it would be made ready to His satisfaction. There was something very simple in her testimony, but those who knew the little woman were well aware of the truth in her words: it would be made ready to His satisfaction. She was that kind of person. Someone had to make ready a room and furnish it. There is no record of any such thing in the Scripture, but is easy to imagine some housewife telling her Christian friends, years afterward, how the Lord had come to their home that night and had eaten that last solemn meal under her roof. She never wrote a gospel, nor became a martyr, nor did she hold an office in the church; but she could provide a furnished room! A great deal of the service of the kingdom of God (and the church) must be rendered by those who never get their names into the papers, are never publicly commended, and are never elected as a delegate. But there is need for a furnished upper room and some devoted heart furnishes it without thought of publicity or commendation. In the eternal records of God the name is inscribed, and after it the notation - clearly written: Well done, good and faithful servant. It s time to renew! The Lutheran Witness is the official magazine for the lay people of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Each monthly issue of The Lutheran Witness offers church news, reports, stories and other features concerning our Lutheran Church worldwide. It is inspirational and informative. It s time to renew your subscription to The Lutheran Witness. The cost of a subscription is $ The June/July issue is a combined edition, so there are only eleven magazines mailed. Subscribe or renew your subscription by putting a check (payable to Trinity Lutheran Church) in a pew envelope, marking it Lutheran Witness or use the Lutheran Witness envelope in your offering box and place it in the offering plate. Subscriptions must be turned in by April 22.

4 Good Shepherd News Auction The GSLS 6th Annual Benefit Auction Committee wishes to offer a sincere THANK YOU to all who attended the auction, Ewe Are Our Pot of Gold, donated, sponsored, or prayed for this year s efforts to be successful as we gathered to raise funds for GSLS building fund and the Fund-an-Item. The gross amount from just the silent and live auction was over $82,700. This does not include other donations and payment of all expenditures. An amount of $20,400 was raised in the fund-anitem to be used to purchase religion resource material and to purchase and install Mimio (Smartboards) into each of the K-8th grade classrooms. Please save the date for next year s auction which will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2013 with the theme, Back to the 50 s! The Auction Committee wishes to specially thank the Tazewell County and Mason County Thrivent Chapters! Each chapter has given us a grant of $1,000 toward the Auction this year. Thank you to all the Thrivent members! Principal s Search The board has been conducting interviews for the principal s position over the past month. Also Mrs. Renee Manahan has accepted a call to serve as a teacher at Concordia, Peoria so we are also looking to fill a third grade teacher position. Track Season Twenty-four students in 5th through 8th grades are enjoying the great outdoor weather as members of this year s track team. Thirteen track meets are scheduled beginning in March. Enrollment Projections Preschool/Kindergarten Round-up was held the first week of March. Current enrollment statistics are: 22 3-year olds; 40 4-year olds; and 18 for kindergarten. If you know of someone who is interested in enrolling their child, please have them contact the school office. Openings are also available in 1st - 8th. February Sunday School Perfect Attendance Hunter Anton Alyssa Hand Lauren Hand Emily Harms Clara Mattheessen Alicia Moldenhauer 75 & OVER DINNER Saturday April 21 12:00 p.m. The Board of Christian Service are finalizing their plans for Trinity s annual dinner recognizing our senior members who are 75 years old and over. Invitations were mailed out and they will follow up with a phone call. They will arrange transportation for anyone who needs a ride. They are looking forward to providing a special day for our senior members.

5 Join us for Easter Breakfast! Easter Breakfast will be served from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. A free will offering will be taken at the door. All funds raised from the Easter Breakfast will go towards Trinity s youth program. All Jr. High and High School youth need to be at the church at 7:00 a.m. on Easter Sunday, April 8. This will give them time to eat their breakfast beforehand and begin serving at 7:30 a.m. It s important that all of our young people participate with this important tradition! An Important Trinity Tradition! As we greet each other anywhere in the church on Easter Sunday, the greeting you should offer instead of hello or hi or good morning is He has risen! And the proper response will be He has risen, indeed! Let s continue this tradition at Trinity as we share in the joy of Christ s resurrection! Easter Lilies Easter Lilies will decorate the sanctuary again this year. The cost is $9.00 per plant with 4-6 blooms, foil wrap, and ribbon. The deadline for ordering is April 1. Please return this form and money for the lily in your offering envelope marking it Easter Lily. Name No. of Lilies In Memory Of: Amt enclosed Consider donating Easter Lilies as memorials for those we love who are with the Lord!

6 April 2012 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 Palm Sunday 8:15 AM WORSHIP/ COMMUNION 9:30 AM S.S. & BIBLE CLASS 10:45 AM WORSHIP Maundy Thursday 5 7 PM MAUNDY THURSDAY SERVICE 6 Good Friday 7 PM GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE 7 Easter 8 Sunday 7:30 AM EASTER BREAKFAST 8:30 AM CHILDREN S EASTER SERVICE 9:15 A M EASTER CELEBRATION 9 6 PM HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH GROUP YOUTH 10 CHRISTIAN 11 4:30 PM CONFIRMATION 12 1:30 PM CONCORDIA SOCIETY 7 PM CHURCH COUNCIL :15 AM WORSHIP/ COMMUNION 9:30 AM S.S. & BIBLE CLASS 10:45 AM WORSHIP 12 PM PRAYER PARTNERS PM GSLS BOARD 18 4:30 PM CONFIRMATION 19 TRUSTEES PM 75 & OVER DINNER 22 8:15 AM WORSHIP 9:30 AM S.S. & BIBLE CLASS 10:45 AM WORSHIP/ COMMUNION 23 6 PM HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH GROUP 6:30 PM DARTBALL BANQUET AT SAND PRAIRIE 24 6:30 PM GOOD NEWS CLASS #1 EVANGELISM 25 4:30 PM CONFIRMATION 26 9 AM NEWSLETTER ASSEMBLY ELDERS :15 AM WORSHIP 9:30 AM S.S. & BIBLE CLASS 10:45 AM WORSHIP 30

7 Maundy Thursday with Holy Communion April 5-7:00 p.m. Special Easter Sunday Schedule - April 8 Good Friday with Special Music April 6-7:00 p.m. Trinity s Holy Week Schedule 7:30 a.m. - Easter Breakfast 8:30 a.m. - Children s Service 9:15 a.m. - Easter Worship On Easter Sunday the greeting is: He is risen! He is risen, indeed!