April 2010

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From the Desk of Pastor Matt

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:

I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”  (Jeremiah 31:33)

            The prophet Jeremiah certainly knew the tough road of life. At that point in his prophetic career, Jeremiah had spent about 25 years beating his head against the brick wall that was Israel. For the better part of a whole generation Jeremiah had been telling the people of Israel what they had to do and how they had better shape up.  He told them to turn their minds to God, stop cheating their neighbors, act justly, and love truly. Then, it dawned on Jeremiah that his people already knew what to do. They already had the law of Moses and the witness of earlier prophets. They had the knowledge. Something else was missing. That’s when Jeremiah came to the conclusion that Israel's problem was not between their ears, but in the heart, at the center of human will.

            A century earlier the Prophet Hosea had condemned Israel's priests for allowing the people to perish for what he termed "lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)  But Jeremiah prophesied that Israel's problem went far beyond a mere lack of knowledge. Jeremiah knew, of course, that ignorance can do a person in, but Jeremiah also came to discover that even with all the knowledge in the world, if the heart remains untouched, then true change and authentic repentance will never come. "The heart," said Jeremiah, "is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?" (17:9)

            Who, indeed? Who knows why we do the very things we've been told over and over again not to do? Who knows why we don't do the things we've been scolded, nagged, and repeatedly preached at to do? Why can’t we all just get along? Why can’t we just be nice to each other? It’s so simple. It’s so obvious. A child could understand. But the problem is not lack of knowledge. The problem is a corrupt heart that can withstand all the lectures, scoldings, sermons, and sappy songs of a lifetime.

            Words aimed at our heads alone won't do it. Mere knowledge is insufficient to produce change. That's why the hope Jeremiah held out to Israel was aimed at the heart.  Jeremiah prophesied that to overcome the gap, the chasm between what we know and what we do, the Lord will have to affect a fundamental change in our hearts. The Lord will have to make a new covenant. This newness, however, would not be in the content of the covenant, but in the way that content would be delivered. No longer would the Lord communicate his will as words coming from outside us and into our heads.

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (31:33)

            If all God were trying to do was tell us to just get along and be nice to each other, then the Cross would be unnecessary. The wisdom of the Law and the Prophets is sufficient for that message; its pages amply testify to God's love and will. What's new in the New Testament is not more information about the divine love and will, but the way in which that love and will are communicated. In the New Testament we hear the will of God for us taking its final form not as angry prophecy, nor pleading call, nor even surpassing wisdom. Instead, God’s will takes the form of a dying man, suspended on an instrument of torture, crying out for deliverance.

            For centuries now, we've managed to turn a deaf ear to God's call for righteousness. We've murdered the prophets, ignored the wise, silenced the just. But in almost 2,000 years we've never quite been able to block out completely the memory of that dying man, suspended on an instrument of torture, crying out for deliverance. In him God gets to our hearts, and that's our hope.

God’s Peace!

Pastor Matt

April Birthdays & Anniversaries     

9       Terry and Frank Borden
15     Dave and Ann Marie Kraemer                     
20     Truman Schultz                                            
20     Joseph and Vicky St.George                                     
26     Brian and Jennifer Schutze                           
30     Lawrence and Lisa Rolefson

  2      Hannah Snowberger
  3      Mary Jacobson, Kelly Senfleben
  4      Dennis Portz
  5      Jason Bates
  7      Esther Mason, Dennis Uhlman
  9      Michael Stuettgen
  10    Christina Byerly
  11    Carol Evert
  14    Linda Egelseer, Sandy Friedl
  14    Donna Schell, Scott Stewart
  15    Abigail Hoffmann
  18    Debra Solveson
  19    Bruce Benson, Lauren Snowberger
  20    Tiernan Byerly, Mike Snowberger
  20    Joshua Uhlman
  21    Brenda Houghtaling, Kathy Smithyman
  22    Connie Kreuser
  25    Jeffrey Brewer
  26    Lauren Morrissey
  27    Christine Guenther, Alexander Schuett
  28    Bert Chaffin, Dale Eske
  29    Sarah Stuettgen
  30    Mitch Solveson
 

Contemporary Worship

Our Praise worship services will continue with the first Sunday of each month at 10:30 a.m.  Get the word out, pray for us, and join us! 

New Member Classes

Classes are beginning for anyone interested in joining St. Olaf's. There will be four meetings April 11, 18, 25 and May 2, Sunday evenings 6:30 - 7:30. Please contact the church office 920-474-7042 or Tom Ziebell 920-474-7411

Special Communion

There will be a special communion worship service followed by a meal on Maundy Thursday, April 1 beginning at 11:00 a.m.  Please call the church office if you are in need of a ride.

Celebrating First Communion

The following students will celebrate First Communion on Maundy Thursday at the 7:00 p.m. worship service:  Hannah Fick, Colin Hautala, Keya Schmitt, Lauren Snowberger, Krista Stewart, Catherine Van Lare and Andrew Wiegel.

Holy Week Schedule 

Maundy Thursday, April 1           11:00 a.m.    
            Special Communion Service

Maundy Thursday, April 1             7:00 p.m.    
            Maundy Thursday Service with First Communion for 4^th/5^th graders

Good Friday, April 2                     7:00 p.m.
            Good Friday Tenebrae Service

Saturday, April 3             5:00 p.m.      
            Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday, April 4     7:00, 9:00 
            Worship Service with Holy Communion

          10:30 a.m. Praise Service w/ Communion

Praise Band

We are looking for musicians to play in St. Olaf’s Praise Band.  Our Praise Service is the first Sunday of each month and practices are held on different days.  All musicians of varying skill levels are welcome.  We are especially in need of a drummer and a bass guitar player.  See Kathy Johnston or Bruce Benson for details.

April Lay Ministry Schedule

April Altar Guild: Marlene Connell & Liz Laack
April Counters:  Larry Christopherson & Roger Johnson

Participate in 2010 Earth Day
April 24, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Oconomowoc High School Field house
www.greeneroconomowocwildapricot.org

Third Thursday

We will have two get-togethers in April because of how Maundy Thursday falls on the calendar, so get ready for another gathering on April 15^th at 11 a.m.  Please join us for a program and lunch. 

Taking Faith Home
Love One Another     By Marilyn Sharpe (TYFI.org)

 Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” John 13: 34

What would it mean to love one another as God in Jesus Christ has first loved us? Let’s explore a few of the elements of loving our children with the love of Christ.

Know each child uniquely. Each and every child yearns to be known, just as they are. None of us wants to be compared to a sibling, cousin, classmate, or friend. Name their gifts. Each is uniquely created by God, with special gifts and passions, interests and fears, successes and challenges. Celebrate those differences.

Separate behavior from personhood. When you correct your child’s behavior, make it clear that it is the behavior, not the person that you dislike. This says to your child, “I may not approve of your behavior, but I always love you.” We can change our behavior; we cannot change our personhood.

Forgive one another. Before becoming a parent, I thought that I was patient, kind, loving, generous. Then, I found myself yelling at a two year old that I loved more than life itself. I dropped to my knees, held her hands, and said, “Can you forgive me for losing my temper? I am so deeply sorry.” She did. Then and there, I knew what it was to experience the grace of God. Confession and absolution aren’t just for Sunday morning.

Love one another, no matter what. In Judith Viorst’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, we meet a little boy whose mother loves him, no matter how miserable and whiney he is. We all have days like that. Would that we could pass on love like that to the children we love.

Express love every day. Express that love in words; in loving acts of service; in little surprise gifts that delight; with physical affection; and by choosing to spend quality time together.

This is what Jesus did. Can we do the same for family, community, nation, and world? Imagine if we and our children could pass on this love to all God’s family.

FAMILY ACTIVITIES

Affirmation Dinners: perfect for a birthday. Give each person a tea light candle. Let each light their candle, naming a gift, quality, or behavior in the honoree for which they thank God.

Put love notes in school lunches, camp duffle, backpack, or on a pillow.

Catch them being good. Be twice as vigilant to observe good behaviors and qualities, as you are to catch them doing it wrong.

As a family, commit to doing “random acts of kindness.” Brainstorm kind, loving things that you can do for one another and for others outside your home who need this.

On a day when behavior has been challenging and difficult, wrap your arms around your child and say, “I love you.” (This works for teens and children)

Mt. Meru Coffee Project

Your Consistent Support is Appreciated

During the tenth year of the Mt Meru Coffee Project your support has helped to maintain our sales volume so that is nearly equal to that of last year. While many organizations are experiencing large declines in their activity, the Mt Meru Coffee Project continues to be blessed with the support of members of the many congregations that are associated with it.

The Project has been helping to increase the standard of living for the small coffee growers of the Meru Diocese in Tanzania. The families of these coffee growers live on plots of land that are often as small as 3-5 acres. Most of the crops grown are for their own sustenance and in most cases coffee is the only cash crop. Before the Mt Meru Coffee Project began shipping coffee to the USA the coffee was purchased by international coffee buyers. The low prices they paid made it impossible for many of the coffee growers to send their children to school or to afford adequate health care. The standard of living has improved in the Meru Diocese because of the Mt Meru Coffee Project. The story is told on the back label of every package.

Come visit the display at the coffee fellowship area before or after services and pick up a bag.  Twelve ounce bags of regular or decaf in whole bean, perc, or drip are available for $9 each.  By supporting the Mt Meru Coffee Project you are helping to give these families a hand up rather than a hand out. If they were here with you now they would say Asante sana (thank you very much).  

St. Olaf SCRIP

Do you eat?  Do you put gas in your car?  Do you shop?  If you do any of these things, you can help St. Olaf.  The Scrip fundraiser is up and running, and has raised over $1000 so far with a core group of support.  If everyone who buys groceries would participate, we could really help our financial situation.  Here is how it works:  You buy a gift card through St. Olaf Scrip for $50 for Piggly Wiggly.  You spend $50, just like you would at the store: however, St. Olaf gets $1.50 from that purchase.  If you spend $50 a week at Piggly Wiggly, that adds up to $78 a year that you are giving to the church and not spending one single extra cent.  If you buy $20 worth of gas at Kwik Trip, St. Olaf gets 80 cents.  Again, if you buy that much gas each week, you are giving St. Olaf $41.60 annually--just by putting gas in your car.  Some of the retailers on our list offer bigger percentages.  Cabela’s gives 11% so if you are buying fishing gear for $100, St. Olaf gets $11.  Barnes & Noble offers 9%.  It doesn’t get any easier than this to support St. Olaf.   It’s painless giving! 

 The only thing it does entail is planning ahead.  If you need to shop at Cabela’s, you need to order the cards ahead of time.  But so many purchases we know about ahead of time, and we can help our church.  If you don’t like to mess with a lot of cards, purchase a VISA card and use it everywhere for everything.  We are going to have a short order form with our most popular cards, so it will be easier to fill out.  If you have questions, talk to Laura Lee or Sandy Friedl.  Let’s use our money to buy our stuff and help our church out at the same time.

 Some of the most popular retailers include:

Amazon, Bath & Body Works, Chili’s, Kmart, Walmart, Walgreens. Home Depot, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Menards, Shopko, Starbucks, Subway, Pizza Hut, BP Gas, Qdoba, Olive Garden, Old Navy, JC Penney, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Noodles & Company, Gap, Aeropostale, Arby’s, Boston Store, Crate & Barrel, Domino’s, Hallmark, and the list goes on and on! 

Mother/Child Event scheduled
Please join us for a fun evening of song and dance at “How Sweet It Is” on Friday, May 7^th at 6 p.m.  We will enjoy some wonderful food before moving into the sanctuary for a lot of entertainment.  Tickets will be $3, with children under 5 free.  Everyone is a mother or child, so this event is open to everyone! 

Thank You

A big thank you to everyone who donated pies, worked at, or attended our Pie Auction/Spaghetti Lunch fundraiser and thanks to Jamie, John and Caroline for their entertainment.  Our proceeds after expenses are $880 to be used for the mission trip and other youth events.  Hope to see you again next year for more laughs, fun and fellowship!

Help Us Paint at PAVE

A group of volunteers will be going to PAVE (People Against a Violent Environment) in Beaver Dam on Saturday, April 24 to do some painting.  We will meet at church in the morning (look in the bulletin for more details) and be back by early afternoon.  If you would like to come along, please contact Laura Lee.  They do need to do a background check on the volunteers so we need to know if you are coming and your birthrate a week before we go. 

Save $10…
Subscribe to the Lutheran Magazine
    April is the renewal month for our church magazines.  The Lutheran Magazine and the Little Lutheran subscriptions are half price or less when we order as a congregation.  The Lutheran Magazine filled with church news, devotions, and Bible Study is published monthly.  The Little Lutheran (or The Little Christian) is written for children 6 and under and is published quarterly.  Be inspired, be informed, even laugh at the joke page.  Subscribe to get The Lutheran Magazine delivered to your home.  We need 50 subscribers to The Lutheran to get the $7.95 price instead of $17.95 price.  We need 6 subscribers to The Little Lutheran to get the $12.95 price instead of $24.95.  We are taking payments in April.  We suggest that you either write your check to Elaine Monis, with The Lutheran Magazine on the memo line, or pay cash. If you do write your check to St. Olaf  Church, please write “The Lutheran Magazine” on the memo line and put your subscription in an envelop marked “The Lutheran Magazine” 
    Suggestion:  Do you need a special gift for a  special day, confirmation, baptism, birthday, anniversary, wedding, thank you, or “just because”?  Think about giving a gift of The Lutheran Magazine or The Little Lutheran as a gift that lasts a whole year..., or a whole life!  You do not have to be a member to receive these publications!

Pentecost is May 22 & 23
Come celebrate and Worship and Have your family picture taken.
Pentecost is the church holiday based on Acts 2.  Remember the day when God sent the gift of the Holy Spirit to His disciples and His church. 
Pentecost is a word meaning “fiftieth day” and occurs 50 days after Easter.  Pentecost is 10 days after the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection, Ascension Day.
The weekend of May 22-23, St. Olaf congregation will celebrate Pentecost with a growing number of activities.  Plan to come and bring others with you.  Worship services will be followed with fellowship, food, and other activities.
St. Olaf’s Congregational picture board needs updating!  During the Pentecost celebration photographers from our congregation will be available for a professional portrait sitting for you and your family.  The goal is to update our congregation picture board, but you will also have the opportunity to purchase photographs from these members that also have their own professional photography businesses.  There will be a sign-up sheet and appointments so we can all participate as we are available.  Sign up early to get your preferred time.
All those who want to help with this project, please contact a member of the Parish Life Committee.
We also welcome Rev. Jeff Barrow, newly installed Bishop of our Greater Milwaukee Synod as our guest for the Pentecost worship and celebration.  We look forward to this opportunity to worship with our bishop.  Please come Sunday, May 23, to greet Rev. Jeff Barrow as he assumes the duties of bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod.

 

Thank You to the St. Olaf Stewards

Jerry & Cindy Schlieve, Marilyn Carlson, Ruby Christenson, Jeremy Davy, Jon & Carol Evert, Jerry & Blondie Green, Jon, Karen & Ashley Hoppe, Dean & Carmen DeBack & family, Bill, Elise & Jon Jaeger, Brian & Renee Krassman & family, Sandy St. George, John & Sara Smeaton & family, Sue & Nick Trimborn, Dennis & Debbie Uhlman and Ken & Hertha Ziebell.

Flamingo Flocking

WATCH OUT!!!  The PINK FLAMINGOS ARE BACK and will be flocking our congregation members’ yards this spring.  Details and rules will be outlined and displayed in the Gathering area.  This was an exciting youth fundraiser two years ago and involved many people from outside the congregation also.  We had many interesting stories to share and it turned out to be a fun event for all to participate in.  So as you drive to and from, look for the pink flamingos.  And for those of you that don’t want to be flocked, Don’t Worry, you can get Flamingo Insurance again this year!!

St. Olaf Sunday School presents

David & Goliath 

David was a shepherd, soldier, song writer, musician, and king, as well as a man after God’s own heart. He was a man with many faults, as well as having great faith.

 The story of David and Goliath is a story from his childhood. While David’s situation is not one most kids can connect to directly (how often do any of us find ourselves in a literal battlefield?), it is one that can be a reminder that even when things look hopeless, children (and adults, too) are not powerless when they have the power and Spirit of God in their lives.

 In this rotation, we will understand that even a child can do God’s work and that we all need to rely on God because God is more powerful than any challenges we will face in this world.

We will also learn that God works in ways that we do not expect.

 A family activity

Find a puzzle that’s easy. Put the puzzle together with your child. Then, share that sometimes things in life seem to be falling to pieces, like this puzzle before we made it. But with God’s help, those pieces can be put back together. What pieces of your life can God help you with right now?

Sunday School Classes

In the Oasis Café we will make David’s Stones out of marshmallows and play a relay with armor.

In Colors of Faith we will make shields that show

God is our protection.

In Creation Exploration we will be watching “Dave & the Giant Pickle”—from Veggie Tales. 

In Jammin’ with Jesus we will try to knock down Goliath on our own.

Our focus verses:

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.

2 Samuel 22:2-3

Hanging Basket Fundraiser

Due to the popular demand, the sale of hanging baskets will be in April when orders will need to be placed and turned in with delivery in May.   The hanging baskets will be from Stange’s Greenhouse where we have purchased them in the past.    

The order forms and list of baskets to choose from will be available soon in the Gathering area.  The pick-up date will be Sat. May 8, 2010, which is the day before Mother’s Day. 

Proceeds from the sale will help students with their cost of the Mission trip to South Dakota, summer camp, or other youth events.  See Justine if you have any questions.

Cross Lutheran Church, Ixonia

Pork Chop Dinner

Sunday, April 18
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Menu includes pork chop, mashed potato with gravy, vegetable, home-made applesauce, dinner roll and your choice of dessert and beverage.

Tickets are $9.00 in advance or $10 at the door.

 There will also be a Child’s meal offered for ages 2-8. 

Hot dog, chips, milk and dessert for $3.00

 Purchase of raffle tickets will be available.  Items included in the raffle are a 3 month YMCA membership, cleaning services, movie passes and more!

Any questions please call the office at

920-474-7707 or email at crosssec@netwurx.net