3/19/08

Dear Friends and Members of St. John,

A couple of years ago I heard an interesting comment from one of our congregational members. This person had attended all the Holy Week celebrations and worship opportunities that year. After Holy Week was over they said something like, ‘Pastor, I never realized how it all fits together. I never realized how celebrating Passover and Maundy Thursday and Good Friday can help my Easter celebration!’

This week we have a busy schedule, from our Passover meal on Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. (with the Mat Su Stringed Orchestra playing again), to first communion for 7^th graders at 7:30 that night with our Maundy Thursday Worship, to our Good Friday Dramatic Worship at 7:30 on Friday night presented again for the ninth year in a row by our high school youth, all culminating with our Easter Worship Services at 7:00, 9:00, and 11:00 a.m. on Sunday.

The enormity of God’s love and actions through His Son Jesus in Jerusalem that first Holy Week are truly beyond our ability to describe. Our sin was so dark that it took the death of God’s Son Himself to pay the price owed. God’s love is so great that He willingly sent His Son to the cross on our behalf! God’s victory is so total that Jesus’ rising overcame the sin and death of the whole world.

And we get to remember and celebrate these world changing events again this week. May God bless your Holy Week worship and celebration, all of it!

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Rockey

P.S. When thinking of Holy week activities, don’t forget the Easter Breakfast on Sunday from 8:00 – 10:00 a.m., and our First Annual Easter Festival for Children on Saturday at church from 10 a.m. – noon!

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have. However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

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Some Volunteers are still needed!

PASSOVER – We still need some ladies to serve the food at their table during the meal. This includes going to the kitchen to get the food, and bringing it to the various tables. If you can help, please let someone in the kitchen know and sign up on the sign up sheet.

EASTER BREAKFAST Karl Kopperud is heading this up this year. You could help by doing one of the following.

Ladies - Please bring hot cross buns or cinnamon rolls for Easter Breakfast.
Men – Set up for Easter Breakfast is at church at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday night.
Men can start showing up for cooking and serving Easter breakfast between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. on Easter morning.
We could probably still use some Easter griddles.

HOLY WEEK WORSHIP SCHEDULE:

THURSDAY, March 20

6:00 p.m. Passover Supper (Please call the church office at 745-3338 if you haven’t yet made reservations.

7:30 p.m. Maundy Thursday Communion Worship

FRIDAY

7:30 p.m. Good Friday Worship and drama – Led by St. John High School Youth.

SATURDAY

10:00 a.m. Easter Festival with Easter Egg Hunt

SUNDAY, March 23

7:00 a.m. Sunrise Worship

8 – 10:00 a.m. Easter Breakfast

9:00 a.m. Easter Worship

11:00 a.m. Easter Worship

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IF YOU WISH TO DONATE EASTER LILIES for our Easter Worship, please bring them to the church during the week of March 16, for Easter morning, March 23. The lilies will be kept in an office until Easter Morning. Please place your name on the bottom of the lily so you may pick them up after worship.

CONFIRMATION DAY at St. John is Sunday, March 30 this year. A Total of 13 young people will be confirmed; Ian Ahrens, Brittney Anderson, Jenna Arlow, Aaron Butcher, Taylor Cottingham, Jessica Dennis, Stewart Forrest, Jared Gilden, Conner Hannam, David Ingalls, Sarah Olson, Kalah Statz, and Chris Ziegler. They will share their faith in the Lord and their desire to live for him.

Confirmation ceremonies will take place in late worship. This is also a time that those of us who are already confirmed can remember our vows to the Lord.

COULD YOU HELP A MEMBER, COLLEGE STUDENT, in need of a vehicle? Member, Kim Dietz, needs a new vehicle because her old one stopped working. She has a job, and is going to school. Because she works as a care giver, Kim needs a car big enough to hold a wheel chair.

If you have a car that would be reliable, and could hold a wheel chair, and is relatively inexpensive to purchase, you can contact Kim at 745-3735, or at her e-mail address, dattei_demon@hotmail.com.

READER SIGNUP - WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO READ IN WORSHIP SERVICES?

We are re-organizing our Lay Readers a little differently than in the past. We are looking for people who could read on a normal first, second, third, fourth, or fifth Sunday. We are also looking for people who could fill in when the scheduled reader cannot attend worship.

At the present time there are openings for a reader on the fifth Sunday for early worship services, and for the fourth or fifth Sundays for late worship. If you think you can commit to help with Scripture readings in worship, please put you name on the sign up sheet on the back table.

Pastor Rockey has also written a pamphlet on reading that would help people know what is expected as they read for Sunday worship.

THANK YOU! - At the February Elders’ meeting the Elders said to me, ‘Pastor, we think you need a month to get your doctoral paper written. When do you want to take off?’ In all honesty, I have struggled with time to work on my paper, which is actually partially written.

So, I am taking April to work on my paper. Pastor Allen and others will be filling in for worship and other areas. Judy still knows how and when to get in touch with me, but you should know where I will be. And, THANK YOU, for this gift!

SUNDAY ADULT BIBLE CLASSES – New Sunday Adult Bible Classes are being offered in March, April, and May. Following is a list of classes.

COMMUTER BIBLE CLASS, taught by April Miranda. April will have a set of tapes or CD’s people can listen to on the way to work in Anchorage (or elsewhere), and then discuss and study this during Sunday School Hour.
Ken Davis – Christian Comedian Studies, taught by Pastor Allen. These will be held Sundays, April 6, 20, and 27.
Ezra, taught by Randy Luffberry, April and May.
Jesus the One and Only, a Beth Moore Ladies’ Bible Study held in the Cry Room, and
Places of the Scripture – taught by Pastor Rockey in March and May, using pictures from His trip to the Holy Land, and stories from the Bible about those places.

CONTINUING ANNOUNCEMENT

HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT THE ST. JOHN WEB PAGE??? Our web page is up and running and is a tool we can use as for ministry.

Go to http://www.st-john-lutheran.org/ and see what you think. If you have suggestions for information or communication that could help our web page, please let the church office, or Jacki Rose – our ‘web master’ - know. You can e-mail Jacki at jackirose@gci.net. Jacki is only a volunteer, so her time is limited, but she is doing a wonderful job for our congregation.. We are thankful for Jacki’s continuing work on this web page. Ryan Murphy and Eric Hurst have been resources too.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE YOUR NEWSLETTER BY E-MAIL INSTEAD OF IN THE MAIL??? There are many advantages to receiving a newsletter by e-mail. They include

Those who receive the newsletter by e-mail will it faster than if they receive it in the mail.
Receiving the newsletter by e-mail will save money on printing, paper, and postage.
Receiving the newsletter by e-mail will save volunteer time.

If you would like to receive your newsletter in this way, please e-mail Judy Stahancyk, our administrative assistant and let her know. Judy’s office e-mail is stjohn@mtaonline.net. Judy will send you an e-mail with a link to our newsletter on our web page. You can read the newsletter on line, or you can print it out.