File - Our Saviour`s Lutheran Church

February 2016
The
Questions
JESUS Asked
Feb. 17th - Do You Believe That I Am Able to Do This?
Feb. 24th - What Is Your Name?
March 2nd - Why Do You Worry?
March 9th - What Is It You Want Me to Do for You?
March 16th - Does It Come from Heaven or Is It of Human Origin?
(See inside cover for more details on our
Lenten Midweek services.)
Just Around the Corner
Our first Soup Supper of the 2016 Lenten
season will be held Wednesday, February
17th.
The Questions JESUS Asked
Midweek Lenten Worship
6:30pm
he New Testament is filled with stories of
people coming to Jesus with questions.
Some of “question asker's” are people who
want something from Jesus: Can you raise
my dead child? What must I do to obtain
eternal life? Or the lepers begging to be
healed. And then there are the questions
some asked, hoping to trap Jesus into claiming a position that the religious leaders
would interpret as blasphemous.
But what about the questions Jesus asked?
At each of our Wednesday evening services
this Lenten season we are going to look at
the questions that Jesus asked of the people
around him and how those questions have
power and significance in our lives today.
Delicious homemade soup, along with sandwiches, bread and cheese will be served
each Wednesday evening before our
Midweek Lenten Worship Services. Serving
begins at 5:30pm and continues until
6:15pm with worship beginning at 6:30pm.
To make this event happen we need your
help in these areas:
 5 people each week to bring their
favorite soup and serve it.
 2 sandwich makers each week.
 Serving & clean-up crews.
This would be a great servant event for
Confirmation groups, families or Cursillo
groups. Consider helping out one week
during Lent and give the office a call.
The stories of the prophets have reinforced again and again that no matter
what the situation, for followers of Jesus Christ, God is in control, working
throughout the Upper Story so that the dice ultimately fall in our favor. No
matter how bleak, no matter how distant God may have seemed, he is working
behind the scenes. Every chapter, every page of the Old Testament tells the
extent God will go to in order to get us back.
Everything in the Old Testament points to the first coming of Jesus. Christ
comes in the midst of our crowded world and knocks on the door of our
hearts. Jesus does not come to complicate life, but to simplify life. It’s not the
presence of Christ that creates complication. It’s the lack of Christ which
creates complication. He does not come in telling you to get your act together.
He comes in because you can’t get your act together. He doesn’t come in with
a list of things for you to do. He comes with a list of things he’s already done.
The Story for February continues:
Feb. 7
Feb. 14
Feb. 21
Feb. 28
Esther….Queen for a Day
Nehemiah….If You Build It
Jesus’ Birth…A Scandalous Gift
Jesus’ Ministry- The Beginning All
Over Again
Saturday, Feb. 13th
9:00 - 3:00pm
Tuesday, February 9th
5:00 - 6:30p-m
Shrove Tuesday
Pancake Supper is back!!
Pancakes, sausage, applesauce, pczkis and
beverage will be served from 5:00 – 6:30pm.
Mark your calendars. Cost is $4 - adults,
$2 – children under twelve or $12 per
family. Proceeds will go to First Lutheran’s
Backpack Ministry. Confirmation Youth will
be serving.
ManorCare Service Help
Every other month on the second Tuesday
at 2:00pm Pastor Bob leads a Communion
Service for the residents of ManorCare. Linda Westman plays piano and volunteers help
with the residents during the short
service. Last month we had one person
show up to help, which isn’t enough. If you
would like to be a part of this special ministry you can just show up on our scheduled
day. The residents enjoy treats too, but they
must be store bought.
Our next service is scheduled for Tuesday,
March 8th. Why not stop by and lend a
hand.
Our Saviour’s will be holding a Call
Committee Workshop with Steve Lein,
LCMC Coordinator of Pastoral Services.
This workshop is open to everyone in the
congregation as well as other LCMC area
congregations.
If you’ve ever wondered about the Call Process this would be a great way to learn
what’s involved in this process. Please RSVP
to the church office by Sunday, Feb. 7th so
we can plan for the lunch.
An Early Start to Spring Cleaning!
Although Lent starts early this year, before
spring appears in many areas, it’s an appropriate time for spring cleaning. Indeed, Lent
comes from old German and English words
for “spring.” So, while it might be too soon
to open windows or hang clothes on the
line, now is ideal for some spiritual spring
cleaning.
Lent calls us to examine our beliefs, confess
and dispose of old grudges and selfish habits,
dust off our Bibles for a new routine of
study and prayer, air out our hearts and
brighten up our attitudes. “Lent cleaning”
lets the Holy Spirit freshen our faith — and
it’s never too early for that.
Once you get to the website, there is a box
on the right side of the page or in a drop
down menu titled 'Congregational Survey'.
We earnestly seek your prayers, your support and also your patience. And again, if
you have any questions or concerns about
the survey or the call process, please do
not hesitate to contact any one of us on the
Call Committee.
The Congregational Survey is now
online! We need your help through this
process!
You have the opportunity to give the team
important information that will guide us to
the best candidate. The initial step of the
process is to define the direction of where
our congregation is going and who will be
leading.
We cannot lose sight of whose church this
is. This is Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church.
Hebrews 12 reminds us to “Fix our eyes on
JESUS, the author and perfecter of our
faith.”
Thank you, and God’s blessings.
To Him be the Glory.
The Call Committee:
Nancy Buchcuski
Carol Christesen
Bryan Laurila
Doreen Olson
Bruce Buckman
Kathy Kelm
Tom Nelson
Renee’ Yake
We are asking that confirmed members
who are 15 years or older take the survey.
While we encourage you to take the survey
online, there will be paper copies for those
of you who prefer to fill out, both ways
anonymous. There are boxes in the Fireside Room and the office to return the survey. It will take about 30 – 40 minutes to
complete. We are asking that you please
thoughtfully and prayerfully take your time
as you answer these questions. They are
good questions! Here is the direct link to
the survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/oslfamily
Due to the lack of devotionals turned in
(10) we are sorry to say there will not be a
member written booklet this year. We have
struggled the last couple of years in getting
in enough.
Here is the link to the Our Saviour’s website: http://www.oslfamily.org/
Instead we will be purchasing one entitled
“Living Lent as People of the Resurrection”.
Each household will receive one of these.
Lenten Devotional
Prayer for Ash Wednesday
Dear righteous Lord, we enter the holy
season of Lent confessing our many sins that
separate us from you. We’re sincerely sorry
for offending you repeatedly through our
thoughts, our words and our actions — and
often through our inactions, too.
Forgive us, Lord, and show us your tender
mercy. Restore and strengthen us to become your faithful and faith-filled servants.
During our Lenten journey, remind us to
show mercy to other people, just as you’ve
shown mercy to us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Welcome to Our New Custodian
Mark Moraska!
Mark Moraska has taken over duties as our
new custodian. Mark worked at Niagara
Paper for 30 years and most recently at the
Iron Mountain schools until they outsourced
their workforce. Mark is a member of
American Martyrs Catholic Church. He enjoys outdoor activities like fishing, hunting
and trapping.
Mark has 3 children. His oldest son, Mark is
an x-ray technician at DCHS. Son, Jesse lives
in Marquette and works at Fabco as a diesel
mechanic and his daughter, Krystle is in seminary to become a Lutheran pastor and is
currently serving in Argentina.
Mark is doing a “fantastik” job here at OSL.
If you have the opportunity, introduce yourself to him and make him feel welcome.
I, Pastor Bob, need your help! Unfortunately, the Dickinson County Hospital isn’t always able to make the connection that you
are a member of Our Saviour’s Lutheran
Church. It happened just this past weekend . . . a member of the congregation was
admitted to the hospital, but didn’t show up
on the Our Saviour’s Lutheran list at the
hospital.
Please, please . . . if I haven’t visited you
within 24 hours of your admission to the
hospital, call the church office and let us
know you are there or ask one of the nurses
to contact the church office for you. If you
need to reach me even quicker call my personal cell phone: 712-578-8747.
February 4th all grades will meet for a Power Nite. Then the following week, Ash
Wednesday, we break from our regular
Power Night format and meet instead for
our midweek Lenten worship services at
6:30pm. Come and enjoy a soup supper
from 5:30 – 6:15pm (Feb. 17 – Mar. 16) and
then attend worship at 6:30pm.
*There is no Soup Supper on
Ash Wednesday.
A Couple of Changes:
1. We have moved Confirmation to Pentecost Sunday, May 15, 2016. The reason for
the change is to connect the rite of Affirmation of Baptism (Confirmation) with the
birthday of the Church. Pentecost is when
we celebrate the Holy Spirit filling the disciples and empowering them to share the
Good News of Jesus with everyone they
met. The sending of the Holy Spirit to the
disciples was the beginning of the Christian
Church. The disciples then, all the members of the Church today and all of the
confirmation students that are claiming and
professing their faith on Pentecost Sunday
were/are called by Jesus as he said in Matthew 28, “To go and make disciples of
all nations,” called to be witnesses, faithful
followers and workers in the church. That
is why Pentecost is called the birthday of
the Church.
2. ALL confirmation students are expected
to regularly attend worship and confirmation classes, participate in the life of the
church through servant events AND help
with worship as acolytes. From January 24th
to Pentecost Sunday there are 22 worship
opportunities. The expectation is that every confirmation student will attend at least
10 worship services and turn in 10 sermon
notes between now and May 15th. The
sheets will be located next to the bulletins.
3. And there is a new confirmation
note sheet that was passed out to your
teachers on Wednesday, January 27th.
Please use this new form and attach the
sermon note sheet that is in the bulletin
each week to your Confirmation note
sheet. The box to place your completed
sheets is located in the church office along
with a stapler.
Pastor Bob
Cursillo Weekends
The Non-Roman Men’s &
Women’s Cursillos are just
around the corner. The Men’s
is February 18 – 21st and
the Women’s is March
3rd – 6th. Everyone is welcome
to attend.
If you would like more
information or are
interested in going,
please call Terri in
the church office.
Did You Know?
Our Saviour’s Lutheran has begun a visitation ministry? Doreen Olson and Nancy
Buchcuski are our first two Pastoral visitors. Nancy and Doreen will be visiting at
the nursing homes, assisted living centers
and the homebound.
Everyone they commune will receive from
the same bread and wine as all the folks who
were at worship on Sunday morning.
When they come to visit you, please know
that they come representing Pastor Bob,
your OSL church family and most importantly they come as ambassadors for Jesus.
Go Bellistic
Bell Choir
“Discipline your son,
and he will give you rest;
he will give delight to
your heart.”
Proverbs 29:17 (ESV)
Nancy
Doreen
Both Nancy and Doreen are members of
the OSL Church Council, and they both are
spirit filled, gracious people who sincerely
care about others. They have been authorized to share Holy Communion during their
visits.
As a way to connect those folks who cannot come to worship to receive Holy Communion, the Holy Communion elements
that Doreen and Nancy will be sharing during their visiting will have been part of the
Bread and Wine that was blessed on the
altar during a regular worship service. Each
Sunday we have Holy Communion at OSL
they will take the box containing the consecrated bread and wine from the altar.
Discipline…not punishment, but discipline.
These wonderful children in Go Bellistic Hand
Bell Choir have discipline. Thank you to
their parents for raising them in the church
and for being faithful to this ministry. Each
and every Tuesday, these children show up
and practice their songs so they can praise
God with their instruments. Thank you, children, for being so faithful and for working
hard to honor God with your gifts. We have
had a wonderful year praising God with our
hand bells, at practice and in front of the
church.
We have one more day scheduled to ring in
front of the church and then we’ll break until
fall. God bless each of you ~ keep the songs
close to your heart and honor Him each day
with your thoughts and actions.
Stay Healthy This Winter
With the cold winter months upon us, it is
easy to put aside our health as we focus on
celebrating winter activities with family and
friends. But these activities fall in the middle
of the annual flu season; close quarters,
stress and lack of sleep during this time of
year can make us more vulnerable to illness
increasing the need to avoid the spread of
germs.
One of the most
important steps a
person can take
to avoid getting
sick and spreading
germs to others
is keeping their
hands clean.
Adults and children should wash
their hands often,
especially after coughing or sneezing. Hand
washing is simple! Just follow these steps:
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Wet your hands with clean running
water and apply soap. Use warm water
if it is available.
Rub hands together to make a lather and
scrub all surfaces.
Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds.
This is about the time it takes to sing
"Happy Birthday" twice through.
Rinse hands well under running water.
Dry your hands using a paper towel or
air dryer. Sharing cloth towels can
spread germs.
If possible, use a paper towel to turn off
the faucet and open the door.
In addition to hand washing, there are several other good health habits to practice now
and throughout the rest of the winter season that can help your body stay healthy and
fight off the flu and other illness. Public
health professionals in Michigan recommend
the following:
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Eat a balanced diet including plenty of
vegetables, fruits and whole grain products.
Drink plenty of water and go easy on
salt, sugar, alcohol and saturated fat.
Exercise regularly. Thirty or more
minutes of physical activity most days of
the week can help boost your immunity.
Get plenty of rest. Sleep is shown to
help your body fight off illness.
Try not to touch your eyes, nose or
mouth. Germs are often spread this way.
Stay away from people who are sick as
much as you can.
If you get sick, stay home from work or
school.
At this time of year, sickness and disease are
the last things anyone should have to worry
about, which is precisely why we should not
let preventable health conditions get in the
way. Stay Healthy Over the Winter Months!
Taken from the Dickinson- Iron District Health
Department THE PUBLIC HEALTH PRESS.
Applying Bible Principles
Think deep thoughts for a moment. Really deep thoughts. Think about the word
“stewardship.” What comes to mind? If you’re like most people, money is what comes to
mind. You might even envision the offering plate being passed here at Our Saviour’s or
writing out your check to support this ministry.
Steve Mizerany used to own a large appliance store in St. Louis. Many people in St. Louis
remember him as being a bit eccentric as he moved throughout the store on roller skates,
shouting out to potential customers his slogan, “Don’t be confused!” That’s good advice
when it comes to buying appliances. It’s also good advice when it comes to stewardship.
Don’t be confused! Money is a very important part of stewardship. There are more verses
in the Bible dealing with money, material possessions and giving than there are with heaven
and hell combined. The Bible has more to say about money than about faith. Even a casual
reader of the Bible would have to conclude that money is important to God. But money is
not the be-all, end-all of stewardship. It’s important all right, but it’s only one-third of what
we might call “total stewardship.”
Total stewardship consists of “three Ts.” Money is one of those, the “treasure” aspect of
stewardship. “Time” is another, and “talents” complete the picture. Time, talents and treasure comprise total stewardship. How we use these invaluable resources says much about
our Christian faith and our relationship to God.
You see, the Word of God is very clear: God owns everything. God has never relinquished
the title deed to the world. According to Psalm 24:1, God owns it all. According to 1
Chronicles 29:11, everything in the world belongs to God. That means that all of us own
exactly the same amount: Zero. That’s right. We own absolutely nothing. We are managers
who have been entrusted by God with time, talents and treasure. God is the ultimate Owner; we are managers who are responsible to manage that which belongs to God.
Information
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Annual Meeting - Sunday, Jan. 31st at
12:15pm following a Soup Luncheon put
on by the Church Council.
Call Committee Workshop - Saturday,
Feb. 7th from 9:00 - 3:00pm at OS.
Pastoral Acts for December.
Pastor Bob, Todd Veale, Brett Baij, Larry
Swartout, Jon Walimaa, Damian Taff,
Doreen Olson, Jan Buckman, Melissa Laurila,
Nancy Buchcuski, Chuck Vercoe, Tim Grunlund, Tracy Husing, Terri Shoquist
Action
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Accepted the 2016 budget as presented
by the Council budget Committee to be
voted on at the January 31st Annual
Meeting.
Accepted the nominations of (3)
Endowment Board members - Sandy
Meier, Donna Tanguay and Bob
Truscott to be voted on at the January
31st Annual Meeting.
Accepted the nomination for Fortune
Lake Camp delegates, Vic & Joann Seppi
to be voted on at the Janaury 31st Annual Meeting.
Appointed the Nominating Committee Nancy Buchcuski, Doreen Olson, Todd
Veale & Jon Walimaa.
Appointed Kathy Kelm and Dodie Wagner as the Auditing Committee for 2016.
Approved the 93rd Annual Meeting
Agenda with additions.
Approved the hiring of Mark Moraska as
custodian at $10.20 per hour.
Mission Bible Training Center
Annual Family Supper Night
Saturday, March 5th
Mission Bible Training Center is holding
their Annual Family Supper Night. This
event will be held at Grace Covenant
Church, 316 Jasper Street in Iron River.
This is an all you can eat spaghetti dinner
complete with salad, beverage, dinner rolls
and dessert.
Doors open at 3:00pm for Praise and
Worship by their Praise Team. Dinner will
be served from 5:00 - 7:00pm. Asking donation is $5 per person. There will be many
door prizes too.
For tickets, please call 906.265.6247 and
ask for Mike Turner or make your donation
at the door.
Sunday School
In Sunday School we have been learning
about how the Israelites strayed so far away
from God. We learned that they were not
following the Ten Commandments that
God had given Moses.
We discovered that
God was very patient
with the Israelites and
that he loved them
very much. God sent
many people to help
them remember his
rules and those people tried to help the
Israelites follow the rules God had given
them. Even with all this help the Israelites
still did not listen. They continued to
disobey God’s rules. God punished the
Israelites because he loved them so much
that he wanted to help them learn what
they were doing wrong, just like our
parents who love us punish us to help us
learn what we are doing wrong. We found
that sometimes when everyone else is
doing something we know is wrong, we
need to be bold and do what’s right. God
will help us do this if we ask him.
We will continue learning The Story Rotation in the weeks to come. The Sunday
School children will sing in church on Feb.
14th at the 10:45am service.
Messenger Choir
"Let the high praises of God be in their
mouth, and a two-edged sword in their
hand" Psalm 149:6 (KJV)
Well January flew by! We had so much fun
singing and dancing for the glory of God all
month long! I love how God puts on our
hearts certain praise songs, and helps me
explain to the children how to apply them in
their lives. These children understand the
two-edged sword is God’s word and His
word is our road map for life and it is our
tool and our weapon against fear and all else
that stands in our way of serving our God.
We have a few practices before we sing for
God in front of the church in February.
We’ll then be wrapping it up for the year
until September. It has been an absolute glorious year with this group of young ladies!
A big thank you to Steve Huglen and
Renee’ Yake for stepping up and leading
our Praise and Worship services. Also
many thanks to the Praise Band and singers
for your continued dedication as well.
God Club
Our first God Club gathering of the new
year fell on January 6, the Feast of Epiphany --the celebration of the visit of the Wise
Men. Just in time, Miss Joy managed to get
her hands on 17 small figurines, each with
Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and the Three
Kings. She also found a perfect Readers’
Theater Script, entitled “My Gift: The Story of Epiphany.”
Exactly 17 children
attended that day.
After they had taken
care of their weekly
Bible verse and
snacks, we all made
our way to the altar
area of the church.
We lit some candles,
gathered around the
baby in the manger,
and took turns reading about the special
people in baby Jesus’ life and the gifts that
each gave that first Christmas. With these
readings we sang the first verse of 8 different hymns. In the end, the kids got their
own figurine gifts and we prayed together.
Back in the Creation Station classroom, we
learned how to curl ribbon as we decorated
and assembled little gift boxes for Jesus.
We inserted our own heart-shaped “gifts”
for Jesus, putting in one or more gifts of our
choice… “kindness,” “patience,”
“helpfulness,” “obedience,” “all my heart,”
“loving my neighbor,” etc.
We also made signs to take home and hang
above our doorway. On them was written
20+C+M+B+16. The letters are the initials
of the traditional names of the Three Magi:
Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. These
letters also abbreviate the Latin phrase
Christus mansionem benedicat, "May Christ
bless this house." The beginning and ending
numbers are the year 2016. The crosses
represent Christ. We brought our signs
with us for our final prayers in the Praise
Temple classroom where we prayed that
God would bless all who live, enter, and visit
the homes where the signs will hang.
Back to The Story for Children for the rest of
January, we had a visit from Polly, a kooky
raven (puppet) who claimed to be the cousin
of a descendant of one of the ravens sent by
God to bring meat and bread to the prophet
Elijah in the wilderness. Polly brought
props to tell Elijah’s story and then he gave
us all meat and bread (sausage and crackers).
We also ate chocolate raven cookies and
made 3D paper ravens, each holding a
“God Will Take Care of You!” sign.
As we studied the prophet Jeremiah, we
made beautiful PAYON (color like crayon /
change to paint with water) paintings on
which we would use fancy fonts to print Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have
for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans
to give you hope and a future.”
Our January 27 study of Daniel included a
Daniel in the Lion’s Den mini-book from
the Love My Bible Series, and a Psalm 56:3-4
origami lion with a tooth-filled mouth that
opens and closes and finally a cool lion light
switch cover reminding us to pray, like Daniel, both day and night.
2 Adam Buchcuski
Kevin Londo
Ben Schroeder
3 Bryce Alto
Paul Edlebeck
Emma Ellis
Sandra Fontaine
Courtney Hyland
Amy Ramme
Britt Slade
4 Karen Peronto
Brianna Peterson
Holden Visintainer
5 Angela Marchetti
Richard Pataconi
Joanne Reid
6 Brad Ellis
Tyler Walimaa
7 Margaret Petrick
Colleen Sleik
8 Amy Cousineau
Sarah Forstrom
Hugh Harris
Sienna Schmoll
Pat Wickman
9 Richard Anderson
Carol Bates
Rebecca Hirthe
Perry Tompkins
10 Carolyn Anderson
Julia Bowles
Steve Faust
Alayna Pietrantonio
Elle Soderberg
11 Denae Brock
Shelly Conery
Rodney Maki
Andrew Watkins
13 Judy Johnson
Alan Perla
Connie DeGroot
14 Jim Meier
Katie Mendina
Jeff Schiavo
Laura Shields
Colin Watkins
Hallie Wendt
15 Jack Bowles
Chris Harris
Donna Poupore
Georjeana Swartout
16 Seth Carlson
Matthew Richer
Brian Watt
Jacob Whisler
17 Jacob Czerwan
Lisa Johnson
Deena Lindeman
Lydia Ohlsen
Thomas Tomasi
18 Mike Berglund
Terry Grippen
Bob Johnson
Gabe LaFreniere
19 Katelyn Charette
Kyle Kruppstadt
Kerry Tushoski
Chuck Vercoe
20 Nathan Johnson
Ward Lindeman
Ethan Metras
Malin Pontbriand
21 Monica Chartier
Evelyn VanGuilder
Karen Zurcher
22 Mary Dieckman
Ryan Pepin
Bob Truscott
23 Daryl Nelson
Sonya Nelson
Jada Skog
24 Susan Anderson
Lynne Reed
25 Cheryl Pugh
Caylee Shogren
Peter Yake
Lacey Yaggie
26 Cody Applekamp
Amy Englund
Jorgen Klefstad
Al Westman
27 Jon Jungwirth
28 Lori Patterson
Josie Scott
Nancy Scott
To make our learning fun and meaningful,
all of our counting and number activities
had a winter theme. We practiced by
counting snowmen, mittens, marshmallows
for our hot cocoa and using winter items as
nonstandard units of measurement (also to
help us count and assign value).
The 4/5 year old class has been working on
winter for the month. We have looked for
signs of winter and have played in the
snow. We melted snow with water, salt,
and just snow to see what would melt faster. We learned how to be Nature Detectives and look for signs of animals when we
go outside and identified animal tracks. We
have learned about winter animals, penguins,
moose and walrus.
We are following along with The Story for
our Bible lessons. We are on lesson
19 talking about Daniel and the Lion’s den
and putting trust in God. We have discussed ways that God talks to us and how
he uses our family and people that love us to
help teach us his way.
Miss Wanda
Each day in 3/4 year old class we count
during our morning circle time, when we
discuss the calendar/date and through various songs and rhymes. Many students in our
class can recite the numbers 1-10 very well.
Some can recite and recognize the numbers.
In January we focused on recognizing and
naming the numerals 0-10 and we discovered what each number means. We did this
through counting activities and one-to-one
correspondence (i.e. counting out 4 objects
and assigning the number ‘4’ to that
amount).
For our Bible lessons, we began our new
year with stories about God’s Prophets.
Our first story was about the prophets Elijah and Elisha and the promise that God will
help and be with us as he was with them.
Our other lessons for the month included:
Messages from God –The prophet Isaiah,
God’s Prophet – Jeremiah, Daniel in the
Lion’s Den – Trust God for help and the
Story of Esther.
Miss Sarah
We Welcome into our
Church Family through the
Sacrament of Holy Baptism:
Every wedding anniversary is a special one
and we wish that God’s rich blessing and
love will continue to sustain and fill each
marriage.
** Carter Anthony Mendina, son of
Andrew and Katie Mendina.
Greetings Received
Lutheran World Relief
30 Years - Feb. 8th
Adam & Christine Kruppstadt
15 Years - Feb. 23rd
Tim & Amy Hallenbeck
25 Years - Feb. 23rd
Scott & Justine Metras
Thank You’s
Have Been Received:
Shirley Bradley
Samaritan’s Purse
Beyond the River Academy
Sincere Sympathy to:
** Chris Maki, Melanie Olson & Rodney
Maki and families on the death of
father, Rudy Maki.
** Steve & Rita Huglen, Marc & Carrie
Morency & family on the death of
father and grandfather, Morgan
Huglen.
If you would prefer receiving the
Connections through email, please call
the church office 774.2733 or send an
email to connect@oslfamily.org.
Financial Report
December Receipts per Budget
December Receipts
December Expenditures
Balance
Attendance Report
$31,592.68
$36,610.28
$46,573.37
($9,963.09)
Jan. 3
Jan. 10
Jan. 17
Jan. 24
Jan. 31
213
248
220
217
235
Everyone enjoys a cup of coffee and a treat
between services. To keep this going we
need your help.
We continue to
collect non-perishable groceries for
the First Lutheran
Food Pantry in the
cart outside of the
Fireside Room. If each person brings just
one food item to church with them each
Sunday we can fill the basket. The groceries get delivered to First Lutheran when
the basket is full by Terry & Betty Kennedy.
Fellowship hosts are needed each week to
bring treats and help serve. Coffee is on we just need it put into carafes. This can
be a fun thing for a family or a group to
do. If you would be willing to help call the
church office or see Barb Partanen on Sunday morning.
YMCA Gym or Your Location!
Prayer Points for Jan/Feb
Right to Life/Family/Health
God’s Love Gift Wrapped
The February donation for our
Lutheran World Relief Health
Kits will be:
A sturdy comb
The Praise Walk will take place on Fridays
at 10:00 am at the YMCA (or anywhere
you can walk!) to encourage women to
come together and walk and pray for our
community! They have Praise Points that all
can agree on in prayer and even if you are
unable physically to walk with them, you
can pause in prayer on the same points.
The idea is to get women together in community and pray for our community. In the
warmer months, they can change their location to City Park, or around the lake or
downtown to pray collectively. This has
come from Stonecroft who does Christian
Women’s Connection.
Each week the
Day1 radio broadcast, hosted by
Peter Wallace,
presents an inspiring
message from an
outstanding preacher.
Feb. 7th - A Glory Story
The Transfiguration story is a pivot point in
the gospel of Luke, as Jesus moves from his
ministry in Galilee to his journey to Jerusalem and the cross, a pivot point in the plan
of God for us and our salvation. Above all,
Dr. Leanne Van Dyk says, it is a story of the
glory of Jesus, the hope of the world.
Feb. 14th - The Good Choice
In his sermon for the first Sunday in Lent,
the Rev. Chris Girata says Jesus' temptation
in the wilderness is about our human relationship with God, that we are not alone in
the world and not alone to face troubles,
fears, and temptations of the world on our
own. Jesus provides a model for strength in
the face of temptation and trouble.
Feb. 21st - Your Prophetic Voice
Luke 13 raises the questions, what is a
prophet? The Rev. Chris Girata helps us answer that question, and points out that
prophets have something in common: their
truth is quickly rejected by those who have a
stake in maintaining power and the status
quo. Jesus serves as our example, and calls
us to be prophetic in our own unique way
today.
Feb. 28th - The Cloud and the Sea
In her sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Lent,
Beth LaRocca-Pitts unpacks 1 Corinthians
10:1-13, which encourages believers in
Christ to think more about their Jewish ancestors in the faith, with a goal of building a
stronger faith.
Christian Women's Connection
Wednesday, Feb. 10th
Pine Grove Country Club
12:00 to 1:30pm
Cost: $15.00, inclusive
Guest Speaker – Gina Stanley
“When your Plans Fall Apart”
Special Music – Abe Tunnecliff
Menu: Chicken Kiev with Broccoli
Over Whipped Potatoes and a Roll
(Chef Salad Available Upon Request)
All Are Welcome
No Dues or Joining Fees
RSVP by February 3rd
Call Debby Cavalieri 282-8037 or email
Colleen at colleenvenner@hotmail.com.
(Cancellations by Friday, February 5th)
Free Nursery Available
Indicate names and ages of children when
making reservations.
Like us on Facebook
www.stonecroft.org
Come join us in listening to Miss Gina Stanley share her heart. Gina comes from
Neenah, WI and has been an ICU nurse and
mother of two teens.
Pastors Link
What Is This Thing Called Lent?
The 40 days of Lent are kind of like the four
weeks of Advent before Christmas. The
same, in that Lent is a time of preparing, getting ready, anticipating the significance,
meaning and joy of the Holy Day. Different
in that for Lent, reflection, soul searching
and “giving something up” are often part of
the season.
If one totals up the days from Ash Wednedaysh Wednesday to Easter there are more
than 40 days. In the western Christian
Church every Sunday is a celebration of the
Resurrection – a little Easter, therefore Sundays are not counted in the 40 days of Lent
and the season ends with the Thursday before Easter, known as Maundy Thursday.
Maundy Thursday is the day on which we
remember Jesus gathering with his disciples
in the upper room to celebrate the Jewish
Passover and what has became known in the
Christian traditions as “The Last Supper.”
The day before Ash Wednesday has become
known by several different names: Mardi
Gras, Carnival or Fasching, or as many in the
western church call it – Shrove Tuesday.
Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday was the last
day many folks ate meat or foods made with
fat before Lent. Thus the tradition of having
a pancake supper on Shrove Tuesday was to
clean out the larder, eat up all the meat in
the house and be ready to start the fast of
Lent on Ash Wednesday. That is where the
phrase so often heard this time of year
came from, “What are you giving up for
Lent.” Remember, we too are having a
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper.
The 40 days of Lent were set aside in the
church year to be a time of prayer, fasting
and almsgiving. Some folks give up something they like or the cost of the meat they
don’t eat during Lent and then donate that
money to charity. In the Roman Catholic
Mass, the Lutheran Liturgical Service and
the Anglican Eucharist, the Gloria in Excelis
Deo and the Alleluia are not sung during
the Lenten season.
Why 40 days of Lent, you ask? 40 is significant number in the Bible: Moses and Elijah
spent 40 days in the wilderness, it rained
for 40 days and nights when Noah and his
family were on the ark, the Israelites wandered for 40 years before God allowed
them into the promised land, and Jesus fasted for 40 days while the devil tempted him
in the wilderness.
At Our Saviour’s Lutheran, we have the
tradition that after the Good Friday evening
worship, we “strike” a new fire that burns
in the church yard until noon on Saturday. The church also remains open and a
prayer vigil is kept in the sanctuary during
that same time. Everyone is invited to
come and keep watch over the fire or pray
at the altar. There will sign up sheets in the
Fireside Room for both the Fire Watch and
the Prayer Vigil.
We sincerely hope and pray that this Lent
will be a time of spiritual growth in your
life.
Pastor Bob
Interim Pastor - Rev. Robert Gordon
Phone: 712.578.8747
Email: pastorbob@oslfamily.org
Church Phone: 774.2733
Church Fax: 774.4069
E-Mail: connect@oslfamily.org
Website: oslfamily.org
Ash Wednesday Service
February 10th
6:30pm
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and one of the
most solemn days of the church year.
The early Christians adopted the use of ashes as a visible
sign of seeking forgiveness and as a recognition of our
mortality. As Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, we too
spend the 40 days of Lent reflecting upon our need for a
savior and in preparation to celebrate God’s answer in
Christ’s resurrection and our saving hope.
Holy Communion will be served with the Imposition of Ashes. Our message Ash
Wednesday will be “The Prayers We Don't Pray”, based off of Psalm 51:1-17.
There will also be a special take home gift to use during Lent and the Easter season.
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