St. John Service Time Change

 

It was decided at the Voter's Meeting on June 26 to move our
Sunday Worship time to 9:30 am with Bible Study to follow.

Please join us!

A Look at Pastor Otto's Intallation

                                                          

      

                                                                                                      

                                                                

SCLA Ade Murkey Basketball Camp

 July 18-20, 2022

Grades K-12

 

There are still limited openings for girls and boys at the Ade Murkey Basketball Camps July 18-20. Learn more and sign up at StCroixLutheran.org/AdeMurkeyBasketball.

Campers receive guidance from Ade and other professional athletes to learn the importance of teamwork, discipline, and perseverance for achieving their goals.

 

Girls and Boys K-3: July 18, 2022 9:00-10:30 a.m. $65 

Girls and Boys 4-8: July 19-20, 2022 9:00-11:00 a.m. $110 

Girls and Boys 9-12: July 19-20, 2022 12:00-3:00 p.m. $125

 

Players will be put through drills like ball handling and learn elite-level game play.

Each camp will include a t-shirt and autograph opportunities. No experience needed.

 

Pastor Otto's Installation Service

 

Please join us Sunday, June 19th, at 4:00 pm, 

for Pastor Otto's Installation Service.

Stay to welcome the Otto Family with dinner following the service. 

There will be no 8:30 am worship service. 

Summary Reports from the Council Meeting

Elder's Report

• We have the software for the new hymnal and will continue to print the service and will not be purchasing actual hymnals. Members are welcome to purchase and bring their own.
• A number of pastors are available to relieve Pastor Otto of preaching and other responsibilities as needed. Pastor Otto will make contacts. We still plan to call a part-time pastor for this purpose.
• The council discussed setting up a volunteer homebound visitation team such as we had in the past.
• CLUES will be using our outdoor areas on September 10 for their Fiesta Latina.
• Our Revelation Bible study will be put on hold beginning July 10 so that Pastor Otto can lead us in a discussion of cross-cultural ministry after services. All are urged to take in these brief studies as we venture into this new ministry!
• A proposed budget was adopted to be presented at next week's voters' meeting. Financial information is available in the narthex.
• A trustees report is also available in the narthex.
• We enjoyed having Pastor Al at one more meeting to share insights he gained while so lovingly and faithfully serving us the past year and a half.
• Pastor Otto's present phone number is 702-969-7911.

Trustee Report

The following topics were presented and discussed at the June Council meeting. For specific questions contact a Council member:
· The Boehlke’s moved from the parsonage to the Elmhurst Cemetery house.
· The sidewalk & retaining wall steps were replaced due to deterioration at the parsonage house by Absolute Concrete. Cost $7,900.
· Trustees & volunteers spread 2.5 yards of black dirt around the new sidewalk and other areas at the parsonage yard.
· Pastor Otto & family arrived June 10th and were moved into the parsonage on June 11th with the help of many volunteers & 3 temporary laborers for the heavy items.
· A new 60V battery powered Toro blower was purchased for use on the campus.
· Trustees & Council are reviewing 2 proposals for installation of security cameras and recording device for the campus. Estimated costs are between $12-$14,000.
· A proposal to install additional electrical outlets in the narthex & link is pending approval. Stern Electric submitted a proposal of about $3,000.
· Council is considering replacing the existing church sign with a digital display.
· Privacy & safety fencing is being discussed around the rear yard and retaining wall at the parsonage. There is no safety fence at the top of the retaining wall.
· Deteriorating cement block on the column between the garage doors at the parsonage will be repaired. Cost is $700.
· A new gutter and single downspout will be rplaced on the east roof of the parsonage. Cost is $760.
· Council has approved a plan to remove 1-2 pews at the front of church to provide more room for Immanuel Hmong's musical equipment and Pastor movement.
· Balcony carpeting still needs to be removed along with a pew. The organ facing has been painted flat black.
· We will no longer recycle large quantities of aluminum cans in barrels in the garage. This was a school athletic fund raiser. If you want a large blue barrel, just ask.

· The chimney at the parsoange & a brick column at the rear of the gym have a lot of brick loss due to ice & water that must be repaired. Trustees will seek bids.
· A new riding mower is needed to replace 1 failed unit & the old Yardman.

Good Newsletter - June 2022

 

June 2022

     Does prayer really make a difference?

“I must not be asking God for the right things.”
 
“If only I could concentrate better when I pray.”
 
“Maybe God is not really listening after all.”
 
If these are thoughts that ever cross your mind or settle in your heart, then maybe you are asking the question, “Does prayer really work?” Maybe you have been praying for a long time and have not received the answer you wanted or felt that there hasn’t been any change.
 
Well, there is good news. Prayer really does make a difference. There are two reasons for this. First, prayer does not depend on us. If answers to our prayers depended on us, we would never have our prayers answered, because as sinful people God would not listen to us. That might hurt our feelings, but it is the truth.
 
That leads to the subsequent reason why prayer makes a difference. It depends upon God. In the Bible, we read this little prayer, “Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief” (Psalm 143:1). The person who spoke this prayer recognized that it was God’s faithfulness on which the answer to his request depended.
 
God’s faithfulness was demonstrated when he kept his promise to send us Jesus. In saving love, Jesus died to pay for our sins that had separated us from God and had closed his ears to our prayers. Jesus’ perfect sacrifice opens the way to God and gives believers in Jesus the gracious promise that their prayers are heard and answered.
 
If you are struggling with prayer—if you don’t know what to pray for, or how to pray—worship with us to hear more about your Savior, Jesus, and the difference he makes for your prayers. Because of Jesus, prayer really does work. We have his Word on it.
 
Upcoming Events at St John
Worship Service:  Sunday at 8:30 AM
Adult Bible Study:  Sunday at 9:45 AM
Visit our website at stjohnev.net
Call us at 651-771-6406

Voter’s Meeting.

Semi-annual Voters meeting will be held on Sunday, June  26th, at 9:45 AM, in the Fellowship Hall. The budget for the next year will be presented.  All members should plan on attending. 

Join Us for Worship - Trinity Sunday

 

Please join us for Worship, this Trinity Sunday, June 12, 2022, at 8:30 am.

Fellowship in the link follows.

Adult Bible Study continues at 9:45 am. 

Note from Pastor

 Luke 6:43-45

43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

What determines a person’s actions, words, attitude, etc.? How can we be better behaving Christians? How can our family relationships and our work ethic better match God’s desire for us? It comes down to what is in your heart?

THis week, as a congregation, we’ve been reading through the first chapters of the book of Luke. I hope that you have enjoyed this endeavor and, you can be reassured that God will accomplish good with every verse you plant in your heart. Isaiah 55 promises that God will accomplish his purposes through His Word being read and heard and pondered:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

    and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10-11 

That verse correlates with the passage above from Luke 6. There is good treasure and evil treasure. Put God’s Word in your heart and there will be good treasure from which to have good words, good thoughts, good actions, good attitudes, and good desires. BUt, as might be all too common today, fill up your heart with Not-so-righteous words, music, videos, thoughts, your actions and words will go quickly south; and that is not a good thing. 

So my encouragement to you this week is to filter out the bad things that can enter your heart. Consider what enters your eyes, your ears, your thoughts. What kind of music are you listening to? Is that book you are reading God-pleasing? Would you feel ashamed or proud of the movies you watch as a couple or as a family? Does the content fit godly desires or does it push the envelope toward raucous? What we fill our hearts with determines our actions, attitudes and words.

Let’s see how filling our hearts with the Word of God can make a difference -  the pure and holy Word of God. Blessings as you fill up with the Powerful Word of God!

Join Us for Worship Pentecost Sunday

 

Please join us for Worship, this Pentecost Sunday, June 5th, at 8:30 am.

Seminarian Max Kerr will be leading us in Worship. 

Fellowship in the link following our service.

Adult Bible Study follows at 9:45 am

SCLA Golf Classic

 

Golf Classic

Monday, July 18, 2022

Troy Burne Golf Club, Hudson, WI

Registration is open!  Space is limited to 144 golfers, so sign up today!

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE

Want to sponsor a hole?

Email advancement@StCroixLutheran.org.

Registration Includes:

• 18 holes of golf (scramble) with two golfers per cart

• Sandwich boxed lunch from Blue Ox Sandwich Factory

• Burger dinner by Troy Burne catering in the clubhouse
• On-course contests & prizes
• 1 beverage 

Schedule of Events

10:45 a.m. Check-in, open driving range and putting green, putting contest. Boxed lunch provided.
11:45 a.m. Welcome, move to starting tee
12:00 p.m. Shotgun start (scramble)
5:30 p.m. Clubhouse dinner and awards

All proceeds benefit SCLA students through tuition scholarships, academic programs, fine arts, athletics, and more.

Thank you for partnering with us in this important ministry to youth!

Note from Pastor Al

 The Name above all Names

Remember the message from this last Sunday: The size of your “Alleluia” determines your ability to adapt and sacrifice and cope. If God is small to us, our willingness to live for Him will be small. It is those individuals who have met the living God, with his Holy and Perfect nature, who are most empowered to live large and even give up BIG things in life just because God is amazing and awe-inspiring to them. They are the ones who care more about the Holiness of God and the integrity of His people. They will sweat and labor even though it is dusty and difficult. They will strive and be faithful even when all others fall away from the cause. They stick to it - not out of pride or work ethic - they stick to it because they have sensed the holiness of God and they are truly in awe of Him; God has become LARGE in their Alleluias. The bigger your God, the more willing you are to sacrifice anything for Him.

Would you release control over your reputation, your comfort, your desire for a specific direction in life? Would you give up your cup of coffee, your coat, your children, your life?  None of this matters as much as knowing the true God in his holiness and in his mercy and grace.

How big is your God? Do you know the bigness of God? And do you know how this massive, Holy God has placed significant worth on your soul?

At the Tower of Babel, God had become very small in the eyes of humanity. He was maybe even non-existent to them. They wanted, they craved, they strove instead to make a name for themselves. They sought to create their own worth. Could it be that our human worth, how we sense our importance of lack of it, becomes the basis for all we do? That seems to be what was brewing at the Tower of Babel. We, as personal beings, want to be known and loved. We want to be great. We want to remain untarnished in how others see us. We fight to make a name for ourselves.

I know how this works in my own heart: I’m in conversation with someone and they bring up something that I recently “did wrong.” My heart swells up and jumps into defense mode or makes a sweeping explanation of why my actions were appropriate at the time. Then there are days I would rather place myself in the judgment seat to take the reins and steer this judgment away from my guilt so that my pride can be assuaged. I want to find fault in what they have done instead. Because i fear that my name would become less in their eyes, anyone’s eyes. In other words, I don’t like being wrong because that makes my name, my worth, seem small. I will do everything in my power to prove that my “wrongness” is justified, minimized, misunderstood, etc. I want to prop up my name at all costs. Why can’t I just humble myself and be wrong? Because I want so desperately to retain some semblance of a name for myself. This is one of the mistakes that occurred at the Tower of Babel.

The holy Word of God speaks to all of us when it says, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12)

I don’t want to be humbled. But because of that very strong part of myself, I find the paradox to be  true; I will not be exalted. The exalted names of the Tower of Babel soon walked away from that tower, with their proverbial tails between their legs. They were humbled.  And there is probably a ziggurat in Mesopotamia today that is either a copy of the Tower of Babel or a literal remnant of that attempt to lift up the name of humanity (humanism). Where is our world today? Or to be more personal, where is my heart today?

I’m still in need of a good name. But I’m daily chopping my name and reputation down to smithering, smouldering remains. Sin has that impact on all of us - it sets our reputation of ablaze. I’ve broken relationships - and there goes my name, broken with it. I’ve stolen success and I can’t maintain an image of greatness. I’ve squandered time and my name gets chipped and tarnished. Is there a solution to my broken name?

Two verses from Holy Scriptures (and there are many others as well) give us hope:

I am convinced of this very thing: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

. . . I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one will know except the one who receives it  (Revelation 2:17).

Sin breaks our ability to retain a good name. Jesus begins a good work in us by faith and will continue that work to the point of absolute perfection. We have been given a new name that signifies our place in the family of God, loved by the Father and possessing a permanently fixed reputation based on the Son of God, our Savior. He has redeemed our reputation, our name!