River s Edge Good News

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St. James Lutheran Church Happy Easter! River s Edge Good News Pastor Michael Nielsen Office: 1106 S. Main St. Necedah, WI. 54646 608-565-7252 stjames.luth@tds.net St.

One might ask why that is: Well, as I matured both in age and in my faith, I noticed something different about Christmas. Christmas was much more commercialized than Easter.

With Easter on the other hand, commercialization hasn t taken over yes Hallmark makes its cards and Easter eggs and bunny rabbits are a big hit.

Really, it s the whole week of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday onward. We have four different days in the course of eight to worship our Crucified and Risen Savior.

1 St. James Lutheran Church Happy Easter! River s Edge Good News Pastor Michael Nielsen Office: 1106 S. Main St. Necedah, WI stjames.luth@tds.net St. Paul s Lutheran Church A P R I L My Favorite Holiday Dear Fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ, When I was growing up my favorite holiday changed from Christmas to Easter. One might ask why that is: Well, as I matured both in age and in my faith, I noticed something different about Christmas. Christmas was much more commercialized than Easter. Christmas was no longer a day where we remembered the birth of our Savior (yes, many still come into churches across America, but not A L E T T E R F R O M T H E P A S T O R all). With Easter on the other hand, commercialization hasn t taken over yes Hallmark makes its cards and Easter eggs and bunny rabbits are a big hit. Little girls may even get a new Easter dress and the boys a new Easter suit, but there isn t a shopping day dedicated to Easter. It isn t just that part of Easter that makes it my favorite. Really, it s the whole week of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday onward. We have four different days in the course of eight to worship our Crucified and Risen Savior. The biggest reason for Easter being my favorite is the traditional Easter Sonrise Service. I am not a morning person; perhaps many of you have seen that! However, when I walked into church at 5:30 AM growing up, in a dark sanctuary, it gave me time to mediate on the crucified LORD. Then the pastor and the choirs would come in and sing with the sound of trumpets. Lights would be turned on and the scent of Easter Lilies filled the sanctuary. At 6 AM as the Alleluia rang out for the first time since Transfiguration Sunday, something is new, something is dif- A N I M P O R T A N T A N N O U N C E M E N T S E E K I N G V B S H E L P! Please see Pastor Mike if you are interested! The dates will be August 8th thru 12th from 9-noon. A L E T T E R F R O M T H E C O U N C I L P R E S I D E N T Dear Friends in Christ, It s April already and we are half way through our Lenten Season. Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ has forgiven all your sins, so now is the time for everyone to renew their Faith in God. As we venture through Lent in the upcoming weeks, let s remember who our Savior is and Praise his name. As I was walking through the Church last week with my Grandson I noticed something that troubles me. We have a nice bulletin board outside of Pastor s office so we can show members what is happening and also what we have accomplished. As I was 1 looking at the pictures that were taken and displayed I can t help notice that some of them had the eyes poked with a pen and some were drawn on. I don t know who would be troubled enough to do this, but when we have new members walking through and enjoying the atmosphere of our Church I wouldn t want them to see this. So please let s be GOOD CHRISTIANS and be proud of our Church and the accomplishment that we have done. I would like everyone to keep Pastor Mike in your prayers, for these next few months, as he is going to be very busy. Let him know that we as Christians really appreciate everything that he is doing. May God s Peace and Love be with you ALL. Yours in Christ, Brian Jump, Congregational President

2 A N N O U N C M E N T S Servants Elder of the Month: Dan Rabold Trustee of the Month: Mike Belmonte April Needs Tomah VA-Current Magazines and Cookies Necedah Food Pantry- Any non-perishable item Please leave your items in the VA Box or the LWML Box Altar Care St. James: Sherry Randall and Terri Jump St. Paul s: Denna and Gail (Spring Cleaning!) Fellowship April 3rd Tom and DeAnna Winters April 10th Gerald and Karin Ganther April 17th Sylvia Heinzelmann April 24th Easter Breakfast Confirmation will be held Sunday May 1,2011 Confirmand Questioning (by the Elders) will be Wednesday April 13, 3:30pm Upcoming Events April 4th Trustee s Meeting 7pm April 7th Secret Pal Potluck 6pm April 9th Men s Bible Breakfast 8am Elder s Meeting 9am April 13th St. Paul s Soup and Sand. 11:30am-2pm Confirmand Questioning 3:30 pm Council Meeting 8pm April 14th Banner Meeting 7pm April 17th Palm Sunday April 21st Maundy Thursday April 22nd Good Friday April 23rd Easter Breakfast Set up 9am April 24th Easter Sunday Sunrise Service 6am Easter Breakfast following Sunrise Service St. Paul s Easter Service 8am St. James Easter Service 10:30am April 27th No Midweek Service Highway Cleanup 5pm following Confirmation class. April 20th No Midweek Service 2

3 S T. J A M E S B I R T H D A Y S A N D A N N I V E R S A R I E S Birthdays April 2 Daryl Fabian Olivia Nokovic April 5 Isabella Emanuel April 6 Sue Kosinski April 9 Richard Brooks April 11 Stevie Emanuel Cheryl Harvey April 12 Paul Nugent April 13 Edna Jensen Peter Taraban April 14 Max Winters April 16 Sadie Weber April 17 Ray Brandt Adam Nokovic Hailee Ruskowsky April 19 Basil Berggren April 20-Tanya Stankey April 21 Cretia Bartels Kelly Jump (Wade Jump s Daughter) April 22 Rick Olson Destiny Skubis April 23 Carla Fabian Sherry Stephens April 26 Mary Ann Peterson April 27 Bev Hornburg Tiffany Parce Anniversaries April 5 Annette & Steve Fischer April 6 Richard & Kris Brooks Marty & Vivian Kueker April 13 John & Doris Hayden April 16-Jim & Amanda Negaard April 17 Shelly & John Waltemath April 29 Drew & Diane Houy S T. P A U L S B I R T H D A Y A N D A N N I V E R S A R I E S Birthdays April 4 Mary Lou Trutt April 6 Gail Herms April 7 David Miller Terra Bellmer April 12-George Tomesek April 15 Joy Pals April 23 Jaime Miller April 25 Ben Martinson Anniversaries April 12 Victor & Sandy Tomesek Bible Readings for April: Week 13 March 28 Numbers 22:1-25:18 March 29 Numbers 26:1-27:23 March 30 Numbers 28:1-30:16 March 31 Numbers 31:1-54 April 1 Numbers 32:1-34:29 April 2 Numbers 35:1-36:13 April 3 Come to the Lord s House and Worship Him! Week 14 April 4 Deuteronomy 1:1-46 April 5 Deuteronomy 2:1-37 April 6 Deuteronomy 3:1-29 April 7 Deuteronomy 4:1-49 April 8 Deuteronomy 5:1-33 April 9 Deuteronomy 6:1-25 April 10 Come to the Lord s House and Worship Him! Week 15 April 11 Deuteronomy 7:1-26 April 12 Deuteronomy 8:1-20 April 13 Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22 April 14 Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32 April 15 Deuteronomy 13:1-18 April 16 Deuteronomy 14:1-15:23 April 17 Come to the Lord s House and Worship Him! Week 16 April 18 Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20 April 19 Deuteronomy 18:1-19:21 April 20 Deuteronomy 20:1-21:23 April 21 Deuteronomy 22:1-23:25 (Maundy Thursday) April 22 Deuteronomy 24:1-22 (Good Friday) April 23 Deuteronomy 25:1-26:19 (Holy Saturday) April 24 Come to the Lord s House and Worship Him (HE is RISEN)! Week 17 April 25 Deuteronomy 27:1-26 April 26 Deuteronomy 28:1-68 April 27 Deuteronomy 29:1-29 April 28 Deuteronomy 30:1-20 April 29 Deuteronomy 31:1-29 April 30 Deuteronomy 31:30-32:52 May 1 Come to the Lord s House and Worship Him! (Confirmation Sunday) 3

4 Spring greetings to you all. L A D I E S A I D We are having our Secret Pal again this year. I would like to explain what Secret Pal means. First, you fill out a sheet with some info on yourself and drop it in the box. (Pretty easy, right) Then come to our Secret Pal Potluck on Thursday, April 7 th at 6pm to receive a Secret Pal sheet of another Sister in Christ and the fun begins! Being a Secret Pal is easy and a fun way to get to know each other. All you have to do is remember that person on holidays, birthday, anniversaries and any time you want. Give prayers for that lady and let her know you are thinking of her and praying for her. It really is a great feeling. You don t have to spend much, or you could even make something or just send a card. So, won t you join us for a fun way to show someone they are special?!?! St. Paul s Soup and Sandwich Wednesday April 13 11:30am-2pm On May 7 3pm we will be having a Mother & Daughter Tea Party. If you are a Mother or a Daughter or an Aunt or a Grandma, you are welcome to join us for some entertainment, food, fun and fellowship. Here at Ladies Aid we want to make it fun for you to come to our meetings (or should I say gatherings). Watch your bulletins for some fun themed gatherings for our May meeting to be held Thursday, May 5 6:30pm. Easter Blessings to you. Deb Belmonte St. Paul s Fellowship Hall Please RSVP (Last one of the school year!) Q U I L T E R S C O R N E R Time is running out! Hurry and get your bid in for this beautiful Quilt that the St. James Quilters are auctioning off! It is on display in the fellowship hall. Proceeds will go to the Quilters to help replenish their stock. Help them beat their record from last year of 109 quilts. God s Blessings, St. James Quilters 4

O U R M I S S I O N To share God s love in Jesus Christ with those around us as we continue to experience and grow in His goodness and mercy. Y O U T H G R O U P Attention all youth.

5 O U R M I S S I O N To share God s love in Jesus Christ with those around us as we continue to experience and grow in His goodness and mercy. Y O U T H G R O U P Attention all youth. We have some exciting times coming up for us! Take a look at the list of events that are possibilities for us to participate in. Sign-up sheets will be posted in the near future for some of these events. April 23/24 Easter Breakfast Weekend. Proceeds of the Easter Breakfast will go towards the youth account. April 5 PM Annual Spring Highway Clean-up. Following clean-up there will be pizza and some sort of dessert item. Come and join us in making our community look clean for the Spring and Summer season. June 17, 2011 South Wisconsin District Day at the Dells. If you are interested in going as a youth group, please let Pastor know. Cost is $27/adult and $23 for children July TBD OAFC will be at Prince of Peace in West Salem. Look for more information in the coming months. November State Sr. High Youth Gathering at the Kalahari. Be on the lookout for more details. C O N F I R M A T I O N March has been a time of growth for our confirmands. We finished up our formal studies with the third article of the creed the Holy Spirit and the Holy Christian Church. We have four youth and one adult that will confirm their faith on May 1 at our 10:30 worship service. Please keep our young people in your prayers as they are about to take a giant step of faith. P R E S C H O O L Green was our main color for the month of March. Mixing blue and yellow was fun and even educational. Our St. Patrick s Day celebration was on Wednesday the 16th. We had green snacks including green milk. Hunting for gold was a challenge. We did a lot of working on cutting out shamrocks and leprechauns. It was a very busy time. We are excited to welcome Jazmyn back. We are also sad that Isabella will be leaving us. We are looking forward to spring and getting outside again. During these Spring months we see how God works in Mysterious ways through nature and we need to remember that He is with us always. In every way His arms are always around us. This is the time to remember and thank God for his love and protection, especially during this season of Lent. Our Bible stories were: Jesus is Crucified The First Easter Jesus Appears to His Disciples Jesus Goes Back to Heaven Kind of intense stories but also exciting. Singing the Hosanna song was fun along with waving our palm branches. As we learned about Easter we used our plastic Resurrection Eggs. Each plastic egg has a small item in it: a donkey to reflect on the journey to Jerusalem coins to remember how Judas betrayed Jesus a cup to remind us of the Last Supper praying hands to show that Jesus prayed to His Father in Gethsemane a strip of leather to signify the whipping Jesus took for us a crown of thorns like the one the soldiers placed on Jesus head nails to represent how Jesus was nailed on the cross dice like the ones the soldiers used to gamble for Jesus clothes gauze representing the burial clothes of Jesus a stone to tell us that the tomb was sealed and lastly, is the egg which is empty just like the tomb was and is! These eggs are a great visual aid for the children and by the time we get through them the children remember the events which lead to Easter morning. We hope your Lenten weeks are filled with love and satisfaction in know that God loves us totally, unconditionally and eternally. God's Blessings, Sandy, Angelina, Blake, Caleb, Emma, Jazmyn and Isabella 5

6 L E T T E R F R O M T H E P A S T O R ( C O N T. F R O M P A G E 1 ) ferent. This worship experience was not about us, but all about the Risen Lord of Glory! I pray that as we continue our Journey towards Holy Week and the ultimate ending, The Resurrection of Jesus, that all of us remember that Jesus was born on Christmas to ultimately come to this place in history, the Cross on Golgotha and the Empty Tomb on Easter Morning. Without this Passion Week of our Lord, Christmas wouldn t mean anything. So ask yourselves, What is your favorite holiday? Is it Christmas or is it Easter, and why? There really is no wrong answer to the question, as long as your answer is All about Jesus! Join with me on April 24 at 6, 8, and 10:30 AM as we proclaim loudly and clearly: Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! Pastor Mike BIG JUNGLE ADVENTURE A Faith Journey with Jesus Everyone is getting excited around here for a week of fun and learning about our Savior! Do you have the dates marked yet? Dates: Monday through Friday, August 8-12 Time: 9:00 AM Noon each day Ages: Preschool through 6 th grade Each day, everyone will be learning about a different Bible Story: Baby Moses, Crossing the Red Sea, the Sermon on the Mount, Peter and John at the Empty Tomb and John s Vision of Heaven. Kids will also participate in recreation activities, have a tasty treat and make a fun craft to take home. We ll learn some fun songs about Jesus and even share them with the congregation on Sunday after VBS! In order for VBS to happen, we re going to need help from many of our fantastic church members! Help is needed in a large variety of areas from prayer and encouragement to snack helpers, from music leaders to Tribe leaders and helpers, from craft helpers to recreation helpers, and everything in between. We guarantee there s a place for you! We encourage you to mark the dates on your calendar and sign up now. Fill out a volunteer information sheet today and let us know where and how you can help kids learn about Jesus love! Confirmation-age students and high school students are welcome (and encouraged!) to volunteer. Not only can you all have fun helping younger children learn about Jesus, confirmation students also have the added bonus of earning servant hours! Leave your Volunteer Information sheets in the church office, with Pastor Mike or with Emily Nielsen. Thank you so much for using some of your precious time to teach our kids about the love of Jesus! 6

River s Edge Good News

St. James Lutheran Church Big Jungle Adventure! 8-8 thru 8-12...9am-12pm River s Edge Good News Pastor Michael Nielsen Office: 1106 S. Main St. Necedah, WI. 54646 608-565-7252 stjames.luth@tds.net St.