Trinity Trumpet Trinity Lutheran Church 295 Shaul Avenue ~ Ottumwa, IA 52501 ~ 641-684-7279 Pastor: Rev. James Preus ~ Pastor s email: jamespreus@gmail.com www.trinitylutheranottumwa.com February 2017 "And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:19-20 Dear members of Trinity Lutheran Church, The above passage of Scripture comes from our Epistle Lesson for Transfiguration Sunday, in which St. Peter retells how he was a witness of Christ's glory when he was transfigured before him. The transfiguration of Jesus teaches us a number of things, but here St. Peter makes the important point that this event proved the reliability of Scripture, as the light that shines in the darkness. Where do you get your information? There is much information out there. This past election cycle we heard much about so-called "low information voters." However, the same political pundits on television, filled with political knowledge, might find themselves embarrassed at their lack of knowledge about our Lord Jesus were they to sit in on a catechism lesson here at Trinity while the middle schoolers next to them display a constant growing understanding of their Savior. Everyone gathers information everyday. The dutiful student, who reads hundreds of pages a day and the slacker who watches sports news and reality TV both take in knowledge. But not all information is equal. So, where do you get your information? Scientific journals? Various websites? Gossip columns? Your music? Sanctimonious unbelievers on television? It matters where you get your information. It determines how you think; what you believe about yourself, your neighbor, your God... St. Peter tells us the prophetic word (Scripture) is more sure, because he witnessed Christ's divine glory and heard God the Father speak from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!" St. Peter assures us that this Scripture is the lamp that will give us true light. The information you get from the world is inferior to the information revealed in Scripture, because Scripture was caused to be written by the Holy Spirit himself! St. Paul agrees, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 2:16).
Scripture reveals to us the saving faith (Romans 10:17). It reveals to us Jesus (John 5:39). This means that learning God's Word from the Bible is never a waste of time. If you lived to be 120 years old you still would not have learned all you could from God's Word. For this reason, I invite everyone of you not only to come to church to hear God's Word, but to take advantage of our numerous Bible Studies here at Trinity. Every Sunday morning at 8:45 we fill ourselves with that priceless information from the Prophetic Word. Every second and fourth Sunday our Women's Bible meets at 6:00 PM. All men are invited every Thursday at 6:30 AM at the County Kitchen diner, where we have breakfast and study the Bible. If you aren't taking advantage of one or more of our Bible Studies, please come, invite a friend (either from the congregation or not). Come and learn, discuss, ask questions about your Savior. You will admit you get plenty of useless information through your week. Take time to be filled with God's Word. God's richest blessings to you as our Savior shepherds us through this valley of sorrows to himself in heaven. Pastor Preus
Prayer Request To add someone to the Sunday morning prayers, please call the Church office or speak to Pastor Preus on Sunday morning. The Lord s Cupboard We are collecting any brand of Dry or Canned Beans for the month of February to be given to the Lord s Cupboard. Please place your donations on the table in the Narthex. Your participation is greatly appreciated! Newsletter Deadline This is a friendly reminder that the deadline for the March Newsletter will be Tuesday, February 21st, 2017. Please e-mail information to Fred Grover at blindboyfred@hotmail.com. If you would like to receive an e-mail version of the newsletter, just call the church office or e-mail Linda at trinitysecr@centurylink.net with your e-mail address. Thank You - Fred Grover. LWML Meeting Minutes Wednesday, January 18, 2017; 6:00 pm Attendees: Brenda Lewis, Lea Ann Mercer, Annette Raebel, Sherrie Roberts, Kim Tanner and Janis Wetterich. Devotion: President Annette Raebel opened the meeting by reading a devotion titled Give Your All to God which was from the Lutheran Church Charities. Secretary s Minutes: Minutes from the last LWML meeting were approved as published in the Trinity Trumpet. Treasurer s Report: Brenda reported a balance of $762.33 as of 01-18-17. In August 2016, she sent in mite donations in the amount of $511.07. Currently, she has $98.44 in mite money, along with several baggies of recent donations, that she will send in. Annette moved and Brenda seconded a motion to donate an additional $50 from our treasury to be included before the deadline in March. Motion carried. Annette reported that at the end of November $129,000 was still needed for the National Mite Grants. The goal for 2015-2017 is $2 million. The National LWML Convention will be held June 22-25, 2017 in Albuquerque, NM. Annette has information if any LWML member would like to attend.
Plans were discussed for the Spring Zone Rally to be held here at Trinity on Saturday, April 22, 2017. The program will be God s Comfort and Compassion and will be presented by a trainer and a comfort dog from Comfort Dogs Ministry of Davenport. Registration will begin at 9:00 am with the program beginning at 9:30 am. Lunch will be included and the rally is expected to conclude by 12:30 or 1:00 pm. The menu will be: Homemade chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes, a variety of salads, cake for dessert and a beverage. Annette applied for and received a $250 Thrivent Action Card to specifically pay for food/supplies for the rally. Kim Tanner has agreed to organize the funeral dinner schedule for 2017 and has several months still open for those who would like to volunteer. Lea Ann Mercer has agreed to continue sending cards to the Shut-ins for 2017. She sends cards to them on Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and on their birthdays. Annette will contact Becky Graeve to see if she is willing to oversee kitchen supplies again this year. The LWML will provide food for supper prior to Ash Wednesday Service, March 1 st, at 5:30 pm. The menu will be: Taco Bar/Taco Salad, dessert and beverage. This will be the only Wednesday night supper provided unless other groups want to step up and organize one. There are no fundraisers planned now and the ladies voted to forgo having a rummage sale this year. Theresa Preus is coordinating the Swaddling Clothes Project here at Trinity. If you have any new or gently used baby clothes or related items that you would like to donate, please contact Theresa. Annette compiled a calendar for 2017 with a monthly list of action items. We reviewed the information and discussed the need to meet monthly if nothing pertinent needs to be addressed. Annette will revise the calendar, per our discussions, and e-mail to members. She will also post a copy in the Narthex for others to be aware of our meeting dates. Upcoming dates to remember: Saturday, February 11 th, 8:30 am Help with Deep Cleaning Day at Church Wednesday, March 1 st, 5:30 pm LWML to serve supper prior to Ash Wednesday Service Monday, April 3 rd, 6:00 pm Social gathering at Appanoose Rapids with a brief meeting Friday, April 21 st, 6:00 pm Set up for Zone Rally We closed the meeting at 7:10 pm with the Lord s Prayer. Respectfully submitted, Lea Ann Mercer - LWML Secretary Ash Wednesday, March 1st, LWML will be hosting a Lenten Supper to kick off the Lenten Season. It will be at 5:30pm before the Lenten Service at 7pm. The menu will be Tacos/Taco Salad, along with desserts. This will be the only supper that LWML will be providing this season. However, if others
would want to take it upon themselves to organize any other suppers, please feel free to do so. Hope to see you at the supper! But even more, hope to see you at the Lenten Services each week! On Saturday, April 22nd, the Williamsburg Zone of LWML (which Trinity LWML is a part of) will hold their Spring Rally here at Trinity Lutheran Church. We are privileged to have as the program speaker, "Comfort Dogs", which is a ministry with Lutheran Church Charities. The trainers and their dogs go out when there has been a disaster and they help in comforting people in that particular situation. It will be interesting to learn more of their experiences. At 9am, we will arrive and start off with some refreshments. Then, at 9:30, we will have devotions, followed by the speaker, a zone meeting, and then have a "comforting" lunch. We will be ending around 1pm. All are invited to attend! So please, mark your calendars! If interested please let an LWML member know, so we get a good count for food purposes; or if you would have any other questions, please contact Annette Raebel at 641.459.2099. We hope to see you there!! "CHURCH DEEP CLEANING DAY" is Saturday, February 11th! A sign-up sheet is posted on the bulletin board at church (by the flower sign-up sheet). If everyone would pick a job to do by signing their name by it, then we could give the church a deep cleaning in no time! On Saturday, February 11th, we will start at 8:30am! Babysitting will be provided; but please let us know ahead of time, by adding that to the sign up sheet, so we can provide a good ratio of volunteers for the number of children. However, if you cannot make it that day, please pick a job by signing your name by it and you can do it on your own time. The only thing we ask is that all is done by February 15th. Please bring your own buckets and supplies for whatever job you choose. If extra cleaning supplies are needed, there is a small supply at the church already that can be used. Let's join together to take care of God's House! Trinity Lutheran Church Elders Meeting Minutes January 8, 2017 Attendees: Greg Wetterich, John Schildmier, David Raebel, Mark Jones Jr., Paul Rabbass, Pastor Preus Open Meeting: Greg Wetterich opened the meeting at 11:30 a.m. Devotion/Opening Prayer: Pastor Preus Pastor s Report: Pastor Preus Membership Changes Evelyn Kinney was baptized on 7 Jan. Education Pastor is going to a symposium in Ft. Wayne, IN on 17 th 20 th Jan.
Business: The duties of the Elders, according to our constitution, were reviewed for the benefit of new Elders and for refreshing the memory of existing Elders. David Raebel will establish a sign up list for being on a prayer chain. The process will be that one person calls the next person on the list until they get ahold of someone and so on. Other folks are needed on the Altar Guild. Please inquire for additional help. Linda will call the acolyte that is supposed to serve on a Sunday. If that acolyte will not be attending church, that person needs to find a replacement. Pastor will try and mention that during Wed. class. Worship service cancelation policy The Elder on duty for the Month will make some inquiries to road conditions and if deemed too bad, will call KTVO and have them announce that church service will be cancelled. Pastor will make the announcement on our Facebook page. Elders will call the congregation members. The Elder calling list from our church directory is as follows: John S. A thru Boettcher Mark Hones Jr. Bohlmann thru Edgren David R. Francis thru David Klyn Greg W. Lewis thru Rabass Paul R. Raebel thru Swayne John B. Tanner thru Workman Pastor closed with the Lord s Prayer at 12:15 p.m. Next meeting was scheduled for 12 Feb. after the service.
Trinity Lutheran Church 295 Shaul Ave Ottumwa, IA, 52501 (641)684-7279 (641)814-3292 (Pastor) jamespreus@gmail.com www.trinitylutheranottumwa.com
~ February 2017 ~ Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday School 2 6:30 a.m. Men s Bible Breakfast at Country Kitchen 7:00 p.m. Vespers 3 4 6:00 p.m. Divine Worship 5 8:45 a.m. Sunday School/ Youth Group/ Adult Bible 10:00 a.m. Divine Worship 12 8:45 a.m. Sunday School/ Youth Group/Adult Bible 10:00 a.m. Divine Worship 11:00 a.m. Elders Meeting 19 8:45 a.m. Sunday School/ Youth Group/Adult Bible 10:00 a.m. Divine Worship 26 8:45 a.m. Sunday School/ Youth Group/ Adult Bible 10:00 a.m. Divine Worship 6 7 8 6:00 p.m. Altar Guild Meeting 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday School 7:00 p.m. Vespers 13 6:00 p.m. Women s Bible 20 6:00 p.m. Council Meeting 27 6:00 p.m. Women s Bible 14 15 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday School 7:00 p.m. Vespers 21 22 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday School 7:00 p.m. Vespers 28 Acolytes 5 th Thane Alexander 12 th Olivia Parker 19 th Matthew Graeve 26 th Sam Mattheisen 9 6:30 a.m. Men s Bible Breakfast at Country Kitchen 16 6:30 a.m. Men s Bible Breakfast at Country Kitchen 23 6:30 a.m. Men s Bible Breakfast at Country Kitchen Ushers Don Bailey-Head Usher 10 11 8:30 a.m. LWML Deep Clean Church 6:00 p.m. Divine Worship 17 18 6:00 p.m. Divine Worship 24 25 9:30 a.m. LWML Meeting 6:00 p.m. Divine Worship Altar Guild Kim Ansley Gail Bainbridge Communion Elder David Raebel