The Voice THANK YOU. Am I Doing Enough for God? DONATION REQUESTED FOR CUPCAKE WALK FOR THE COMMUNITY EVENT

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1 The Voice St. John s Lutheran Church Serving the Lord for 114 years June 2018 Am I Doing Enough for God? Am I doing what God wants me to for my career? or Have I done enough for God? is a question I think many Christians have asked themselves for one reason or another. For some the question of Am I doing what I am supposed to for my career? can come to those who struggle to find meaning and purpose within their life or are unsatisfied with their career. Throughout college and while I worked as a Purchasing Agent for the Air Force, this was a constant struggle in my life. I enjoyed the pay, benefits, traveling, privileges, people, awards and promotion that working as a Civil Servant with the Air Force gave me. But among all these benefits and privileges, I struggled with the question of was I where I should be or am I using my talents in a meaningful way and wondered if I was doing what God wanted me to do with my life. Some of you, in your personal and professional parts of your life, may wrestle with these feelings. Martin Luther addressed these questions when talking about what he called vocation. Luther not only was a theologian but was even more so a pastor and wrote about the many topics of life that bring guilt and worry to the conscience. In writing about the topics of vocation and the fear of not doing what God would want them to do, Luther wrote the following: The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoe maker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship. In life we can feel quite defeated by the day to day ritual in some of our jobs and the wondering if we are doing what we ought to be creeps in. Luther encourages Christians to know that in our vocations of accountant, teacher, mail delivery person, carpenter, store owner, retail worker, fast food workers, stay at home mom or dad, husband, wife or wherever you spend your time to help your neighbor by providing goods and services, that job you have is a calling or ministry opportunity given to you by your Heavenly Father. Yes, at times certain jobs may not be glamorous and full of instant grati- Continued on next page THANK YOU I'd like to extend a special THANK YOU to all the choir members who made the May fellowship breakfast a success. The food was wonderful (what little I had as most of it was gone by the time I got to eat). I appreciated the help setting and cleaning up! Vickey Nelson DONATION REQUESTED FOR CUPCAKE WALK FOR THE COMMUNITY EVENT Donation of cupcakes are needed for the Community Event. Worship and Music is looking for donations of baked chocolate and vanilla cupcakes (unfrosted please) for the cupcake walk. Please drop off your cupcakes at the church on Wednesday, June 13th and Thursday, June 14th during office hours. Worship and Music will frost the cupcakes.

2 Page 2 Continued from page one fication, but when you put your best effort into it, your work isn t just a blessing to your neighbor but also pleasing to the God who created you and gave you the talents to do those tasks. When you have the temptation of the devil, that makes you wonder, the second question of Have I done enough for God?, even as a Pastor I will not be entering eternal life because of my position in the church, I am saved by the work of Jesus. Saint Paul wrote the following in his first letter to the church in Corinth: For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. (1Cor15:22), like Adam we too will die as he did and we do not know the hour in which it may come. But we have the full promise that Christ came and paid for all the sins we have committed and cannot pay off ourselves. Because of Christ s coming, dying and rising, all the work to be done is completed to make peace with our Heavenly Father, and as Paul said, You Will Be Made Alive Again in Christ! So, use your gifts and talents to benefit your neighbors, knowing that the work of eternal life is completed for you and that your neighbor may see these good works in you. Peace to You in Christ Jesus, Pastor Ben Hollingsead BAPTISMS We join with Erich & Jena Benson, Godparents Andrew Deitner and Megan Steinkraus in the joy of baptizing Axel Richard Benson. Also, with Joshua & Nicole Anderson, Godparents Stephanie Hendrickson and Derek Anderson in the joy of baptizing Kellen James Anderson. In Holy Baptism, God claims each of us as a child of his own. The St. John's Community Event is coming soon! At this event, Julie Sauser-Johnson will be sponsoring a craft table for kids. She will be making play-dough for kids to play with and some to take home. She will also be having colored rice to fill bottles like sand art. There may be more crafts involving plastic bottles if enough are collected. Ways you can help: COMMUNITY EVENT All are welcome to come June 16 th from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM to St. John s for our community outreach event. There will be food, games, a silent auction and live music from a North Branch Band, The Neighborz! All from the congregation, the community of Stacy and surrounding communities are invited to this great family friendly event! 1. Collect empty plastic or glass bottles or jars -16 oz. WITH caps or lids. Please rinse. 2. Donate bags of rice to color 3. Volunteer to help at the table 4. Volunteer to help make the play-dough or color the rice 5. Pray for the success of this community building event! Julie is a member of council representing the Stewardship Committee and a member of the Christian Ed./Adult Ed. Committee. Please contact her at to offer your support. Proceeds of the Silent Auction will support the great work of Little Angels Preschool! We are looking to borrow generators to power this event and people to help set up tents. If you have any questions, please contact either Sue Lein or Pastor Ben

3 Page 3 WE WISH EACH ONE OF YOU A BLESSED DAY AND PRAY THAT GOD WILL BLESS YOU THROUGHOUT THE YEAR MAY WILLING WORKERS FOR CHRIST Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4: 8 AM SERVICES GREETERS Norm Auger Amber Hollingsead Dave & Kim Schmidt Cliff & Barb Holcomb READERS Kathy Spiczka Bea Palmer USHERS Terry Linroth & Ken Waha Mike & Matthew Kment LAY-SHEPHERD Bea Palmer Barb Peterson Corky Peterson Mike Kment COUNCIL PERSON ON DUTY Louise Wilner Derek Fitcher FELLOWSHIP HOST Sue Lein Sue H. & Kathy Amber Hollingsead Kathy Spiczka ACOLYTE 8 AM ACOLYTE 9:30 AM 9:30 SERVICES GREETERS Barb Johnson Kathie Eliason Shirley Weekes & Courtney Gloria Stephens Joan Kaiser Joan Kaiser READERS USHERS Teresa Humble LAY-SHEPHERD Joan Kaiser ALTAR GUILD Set Up Clean Up Set Up Clean Up 3 Cindy Johnson Louise Wilner Loreen Beckett Sharon Jaworski Nancy Charpentier Evie Dockham Loreen Beckett John Rice

4 St. John s Lutheran Church June 2018 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 3 Traditional both services Lavone Baptism 8 AM Reutzel twins Baptism 9:30 AM 8 AM Traditional Service 9:30 AM Contemporary Service :30 AM Confirmation Class 8AM Traditional Service 9:30 AM Contemporary Service Traditional both services Congregational Potluck & honoring Senors(70+) :30 AM 4 5 School Board 6:30 PM 11 Christ. Outreach 6 PM Missions 7 PM 18 Chris. Ed. 6 PM Church Council 7 PM Evangelism AM Anxiety Mtg. AM Worship & Music 6 PM 14 Anxiety Mtg. AM 21 Anxiety Mtg. AM 28 Anxiety Mtg. AM 1 2 Feed My Starving Children 4:30-6:30 PM Community Event 4-8 PM Silent Auction 4-8 PM Page 4

5 Page 5 CONGREGATIONAL POTLUCK Mark your calendars, a congregation potluck will be held on Sunday, June th following the 9:30 service. There will be a short program and door prizes to honor our seniors who are 70 years or older. Let s all plan to attend to enjoy the fellowship together. St. John s Community Events Call to Service! Saturday, June 16th our congregation is hosting its first ever St. John s community event. We are hoping that this event will bring people from Stacy and the surrounding community to our property for a fun evening of food, live music and activities for children. In providing this community event, we are hoping to achieve three key goals. 1. Introduce or reintroduce our community to St. John s Lutheran Church. A. Show them what we are doing to share the Gospel. B. Show that we are a loving congregation who cares not just for the people who worship here on Sundays, but also, for those who do not call St. John s their home church yet (after this event maybe they will pay us a visit.). My hope is that each committee will have information available about what mission work they do and how the community is welcome to take part or benefit from our outreach ministries like Vacation Bible School (VBS), holiday baskets we give to families in need, and our worship service information. 2. Raise money through a silent auction for our Little Angels Preschool. Deb Hoppe, Dayna Borne, Fritz Wheatley and everyone involved with Little Angels have done great work to revive our preschool and our Lord has blessed it with growing numbers in registration. With continued growth of our preschool, the congregation of St. John s, I believe, will be blessed by their success with new life of young families being exposed to the love of Christ and the generosity of our loving congregation at St. John s. 3. Build bridges of unity! With the St. John s Community Event, I pray that by His Holy Spirit our Heavenly Father will bring a renewed sense of love and unity to our congregation and community. Our congregation has had much hardship over the last two years and it has caused a bit of division, if we are to be honest with ourselves. With this event, I pray the people of St. John s, young, old, and in between, will join in this effort and a new bond will be formed throughout our congregation. A new sense of excitement and love with be visible not just by us, but also by those who come to this event from Stacy and the surrounding communities. Perhaps this will cause a chain reaction response in our city and surrounding communities that we all would love to see. So, I ask that you, my brothers and sisters of St. John s, consider giving your time in volunteering for this event because these goals cannot be accomplished without you! If you have any questions or if you would like to find out where we could use your help, please feel free to contact me via my cell phone at or at pastorbenh@charter.net. In the Love of Christ, Pastor Ben Hollingsead Little Angel Preschool's Silent Auction is on a roll! We are very thankful to say that many businesses have contributed. The businesses that have donated understand our mission to keep tuition as low as possible, giving all children a chance for an excellent education, and their support is inspiring. In the past we have received generous amounts of donations from our congregation to the Silent Auction. This is very helpful to the school and we are grateful. If you would like to donate this year, please drop off any items at St. John's by June 11. Call Dayna at if you have any questions. Thank you for your support!

6 Page 6 St. John s Lutheran Church Financial Report APRIL 2018 Budget Offerings (4 Sundays) $, PLEASE CAN YOU HELP? We need help with the Sunday morning fellowship. We need people to make the coffee and bring the treat. If you can help, please sign up on the clipboard during the service. PLASTIC CUPCAKE HOLDERS If you purchase cupcakes (by the dozen) could you please save your plastic cupcake holders for our cupcake sale in November? Thank you. Vickey Nelson Worship and Music Committee Actual Offerings Received $ 15, Offering Budget Shortage - $ (2,433.00) Office Expense $ Offering Envelopes $ Insurance Bldg. Liability $ 1, Pastor s Discretionary Fund $ 0.00 Computer Operation $ Payroll Service Fee s $ Administrative Exp. $ 2, Excel Electric $ 1, Excel Gas $ 0.00 City Water & Trash $ Custodial Supplies-Misc. $ Building Repair & Maintenance $ Building Expenses $ 1, Employee Salaries $ 21, Visiting Pastors $ 0.00 Work Comp Ins. $ 0.00 Total Salaries $ 21, Total Expenses $ 25, End of Month Total - ($,541.00) (offerings minus expenses) Check Book Balance $ 49, Liabilities $ 0.00 Actual Cash Balance $ 49, Dedicated Accts. Balance $ 23, Church Acct. Balance $ 25, N. Branch School Rental balance $ 3, Gen. Offering Bal.: Year to Date - ($,779.00) If you have any questions regarding this report, please call Patha Vue Treasurer at (651) Thank you!

7 Page 7 THANK YOU Little Angel Preschool would like to thank God for another blessed year. We saw good academic and Christian growth in our students. Thank you to our staff, aides, volunteers and all who donate and pray for our school. FYI Christian Education would like to give everyone a heads up that Vacation Bible School will be August 13-. So, mark your calendars and come play with us. The Social Obligations of a Christian The Bible teaches that the Christian should be law-abiding. The Bible also teaches loyalty to country. A loyalty and love of country does not mean that we cannot criticize certain unjust laws that may discriminate against special groups The Bible says that God is no respecter of persons. All should have equal opportunities. The government of God is to be our model. The Bible also teaches that we are to co-operate with the government. Jesus was asked, Is it lawful to give tribute? Jesus set the example forever by paying taxes. It takes money to run a government and to maintain law and order. The tax dodger is a civic parasite and an actual thief. No true Christian will be a tax dodger. Jesus said, we are to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar s. We ought to be more than taxpayers. To be simple law-abiding is not enough. We ought to seek and work for the good of our country. Sometimes we may be called upon to die for it. We are to do it gladly as unto God. We are to be conscientious in our work as good citizens. By Billy Graham The Voice of St. John s St John s Lutheran Church P. O. Box Genesis Ave. Stacy, MN Non-Profit Organization Postage Paid, Permit #3 Stacy, MN Return Service Requested Church Office: Pastor Ben Hollingsead Cell: Inside This Issue: Am I doing enough for God? Cupcake walk Community Event Pot Luck Silent Auction