March, as it is said, comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. The referent, of course, is to the transitional period between the bitter winds and frost of winter at the beginning of the month and the gentle warming of the earth as the month concludes in the season of Spring.

In our church’s liturgical calendar, we can make this parallel to this April. We begin this month in the comprehension of the pentitental season of Lent. Lent, like a roaring lion, seeks to remind us of the destruction of unrepentant hearts and sin in our lives. Like a blustery wind that blows the hats off our heads and messes our hair, we are reminded that even as we walk as yet by faith and not by sight in the Kingdom of Grace, we must still “hold onto our hats” in the endless gusts of temptations: lust, gossip, laziness, gluttony, pride, and the love of earthly pleasures.

Yet, more wonderful than the weatherman’s report of the first signs of spring is the message that we will hear on Easter morning: “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here” (Mark 16:6). For the Crucified Lamb who was slain began His reign and came out of His tomb to give you and me reconciliation with our heavenly Father and the hope of the promise of eternal life! What great joy to change from our season of reflection on our sin to our new season of reflection on our being crucified and resurrected with Christ!

Not to say that the paths of sin and our forgiveness in Christ will never cross. Just as we are always susceptible to unusual seasonal weather, our unity in Christ and His resurrection does not guarantee we will live our lives perfectly or be prevented from stumbling in sin (read St. Paul in Romans 7:18-19!) When you are united to Christ, His crucifixion and His resurrection, the devil may tempt you, but you are reminded that he can never overcome you, for: “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1^st John 4:4). That is the warm sun that God shines upon your life this Easter. That is the promise of a

changed life; a life resurrected from death into a life that reflects that light from heaven. And as the Spring brings forth growth, beauty and life, so does your changed life as the Holy Spirit is fed and nurtured by Word and Sacrament to create a bloom of grace and love in you. Like a freshly blooming garden, He who is in you brings forth fruit in a life that reflects God’s glory; a life that served the Great Gardener and feeds the world around it.

May God grant you the blessings of joyous Holy Week and celebration of great joy this Easter.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Young

This month we will read the one Easter story of when Thomas heard the news of Jesus’ resurrection. After his refusal to believe that Jesus was alive, Jesus appeared to Thomas and said, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Those words to Thomas are our words as well.

For the world, “Seeing is believing.” Yet even our own eyes can deceive us. We want further proof. Thomas demanded to put his fingers into the wounds of Jesus and thrust his hand into Jesus’ speared side. That must have been a big opening, not unlike the pictures we see of a narrow slit. (We tend to ‘clean up’ the crucifixion in art so as to make it tolerable. But Thomas’ description gives us the accurate picture of that gaping hole ripped open when the soldier struck the dead body of Jesus with his spear.)

You, the twin of Thomas, are blessed as Jesus’ words declare. “Blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed.” We remember Jesus saying many times, “Blessed are…” Just look at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel with the Beatitudes. That evening of the week after the resurrection was yet one more time Jesus would give His blessing on faith. It is important for us as we won’t be at the tomb of Jesus to see Him like Mary, Peter and James, and the rest of those who would make their way. But we do know “Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”

It is this Christ we proclaim. “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith…And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17, 20).

It is this Christ we proclaim: Jesus who was crucified and was raised to life. It is Jesus who grants us strength in our sufferings. It is Jesus who gives us grace in every time of need. It is Jesus who walks with us in the valley of the shadow of death and walks with us to our graves. It is Jesus who by baptism raises us to new life.

It is unusual this year that income taxes are due the day after Easter, April 17. “Death and Taxes” are often spoken in the same sentence as those things unavoidable in life. But to the believer in Jesus Christ, so is Easter; to the one confessing the Apostles’ Creed, so are the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Jesus’ resurrection guarantees it. Like Peter on Pentecost Sunday, we now proclaim the Savior who made this possible.

Our Parish Fellowship Board does that in ways that build the body of Christ here at St. John’s. You have seen them busy with the preparations for the Soup Suppers, the Progressive Dinners, the weekly refreshments before Bible class time, and the Hog Roast. Their purpose, according to our constitution, is to “Strengthen the fellowship between congregation members spiritually and socially, to integrate new members into the life of the congregation, to build up and promote cooperation, trust, and enjoyment among congregation members.” We commend the members of this board for their faithful and tireless work. AND you are encouraged to help them in their endeavors with your time and abilities. Can you help with a special project, like the hog roast? Can you help provide refreshments for a couple Sundays’ Bible classes? Can you assist with preparation or clean up after some events? And have fun doing it?

You don’t have to have proof like Thomas to know how important the Parish Fellowship Board is here at St. John’s. You don’t have to stick your finger into someone else’s hand. Simply give your hand and your side and your whole body in service to proclaim the Savior in all you do. You, like Thomas, are blessed already with that faith that saves you. Continue to live in that faith all your days while serving Christ.

Pastor Ron Brauer

Matthew 11:28-30

I. Calendar Items

3/28 STEVEN’S PUPPETS 1:00 pm

3/29 Pizza Hut 4-11:00 pm

4/26 Pizza Hut 4-11:00 pm

4/28 Musical 12:30 pm and 7:00 pm

5/6 Academic Challenge

10/25 Wheel of Wisdom 10:00 am

II. Enrollment

Preschool-8th Grade: 149

III. Other Items

(By each name you will see the individual results)

5^th Grade: Nathan Gerick: 1^st

Zach Robbins: 2^nd

David Cooley: 3^rd

6^th Grade: Nick Wilczewski:1^st

Renate Wiltfong: 3^rd

Sky Shortt: 5^th

7^th Grade: Kerry Cooley: 6^th

Andrew Scherer: 6^th

Kathryn Scherer: 6^th

8^th Grade: David Brauer: 1^st

Jacob Williams: 1^st

Zac Ulmer: 1^st

Zac Ulmer scored 48 out of 50 points on this test which is a record

high! He also received a one pound chocolate bar for 4 years of competition.

This is a free will offering event.

The Board of Parish Fellowship is planning the Spring Progressive Dinner for Friday, April 21, 2006 at 6 pm. After meeting up with host families over appetizers in the school, participants will travel to the home of their host family for the entrée. Following the main course, all will return to the school for dessert and fellowship.

If you haven’t been involved in previous Progressive Dinners, please give it a try! Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join us for an enjoyable evening. This is not a “couples only” event!

Please fill out the form found in this newsletter, or in the weekly

bulletin, and return to the church office or place in the offering plate by April 11. The Board of Parish Fellowship will then draw names to fill a host’s party of eight. Perhaps this group will include a mixture of old friends as well as a chance to establish new ones!

The Willing Servants would like to thank all the ladies who have made donations of food dishes and help for our past funeral luncheons. Without your help we cannot function. Unfortunately, a lot of our ladies are no longer able to offer any assistance and our calling list is being depleted. If any ladies would like to be added to our calling list for food dishes, please call Jo Ann Borg at 326-6089 or Louise Mellenthin at 324-9257. Your help will be greatly appreciated, as we feel this is truly a labor of love.

The Board of Parish Fellowship is looking for some additional members. This has become a very active and hard working board, and they could use more help. Some of their responsibilities include; Fellowship Coffees with monthly “Specialty Fests”, soup suppers,

progressive dinners, recognition celebrations, new member welcomes and annual hog roast/church picnic. If you are interested in helping out, please call Linda Peters at 393-3496.

We are in urgent need of more volunteers at our Thrift Shop! Shifts are from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. or 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Any of you ladies who could give three or more hours a month of your time, please call Arlene Hacker at 362-8916. Your willingness to help will be most appreciated and of great benefit to our congregation.

Easter Lilies:

It is time for us to start asking for donations for the Easter Lilies. We do appreciate all your help in the past and pray that you will be so generous again this year. The cost per lily is $10.00. You can make your donation to the church office, Kathy Page, Joan Scherer, or Sherrill Lee. The lilies will be taken down after the second service on the Sunday following Easter (April 23). If you are going to take your lily, please be there at that time. If not for yourself, maybe you know someone who would really appreciate a flower and a visit from you. Thank you again for your donations to the flower fund.

Mark your calendar—June 4 is the date of the Sunday School Picnic, held after the 10:45 am service. New this year will be a Fun Fair, with games, activities and fun for kids of all ages!

Mark your calendars now for the Annual Parking Lot Sale on Saturday, June 17 from 8 am–1 pm. For $7 you may rent a space to sell your garage sale items, crafts, plants, etc. Space rental proceeds go for advertising and to the church and school. You keep the profits from selling your wares!

An added feature this year will be a St. John’s Church/School Rummage Sale held outdoors at the same time as the parking lot sale. We need your help with this. Please look through your closets and basements for any items you could donate to the rummage sale. Proceeds from this sale will be shared equally between the church and school. We are looking for clean, sellable items that can be carried by one

person—please, NO LARGE FURNITURE, LARGE APPLIANCES, and NO CLOTHING! Most importantly, bring your donations to the school after school is out for the summer (June 7-16). With your help, this can become an annual project to help your church and school.

Any group or class interested in selling refreshments at this sale, for their own profit, please call Ellen Heidel at 362-5694 for more information.

From the School Board:

The School Board wishes to thank all of the other boards and many individual volunteers for another successful LILY Event this year. We had over 130 auction items and about 225 attendees. A terrific time was had by all and we raised a total of $18,629.00 that night! After expenses, the total net profits are $15,107.00. Thanks be to God for his blessings on our efforts!

Contribution statements for 2005 will be available in the church

office until April 17. After that date, they will be destroyed. If you need your statement, please pick it up by that date.

The Finance Committee now has the capability of providing contributors with a quarterly contribution statement, if requested. Please speak to Linda Peters or Ron Scherer for more information.

Saturday, April 22, from 7 am-12 pm we are having a work day to clean up the church and school grounds. Anyone able and willing to help us out will be greatly appreciated.

The Elders have been trying to contact members who have been inactive for three years or more, to see if they are interested in retaining their membership at St. John's. The following is a list of those who have not responded positively. These names will be presented at the February Voter’s Meeting for exclusion from membership. If any of these names should not be included, please contact an Elder or the Church Office with an explanation.

The Board of Parish Fellowship is planning, with your help, our Spring Progressive Dinner on Friday, April 21, 2006.

First of all, we will meet in the school at 6:00 pm to enjoy appetizers. Which room, Ladies Lounge or Cafeteria, depends on the number of guests.

After the social gathering, we will journey to the host family’s for the entrée for a group of eight people.

Following the entrée, all will return to the school for dessert and fellowship.

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join us for an enjoyable evening. This not a “couples only” gathering. The Board of Parish fellowship draws names to fill a host’s party of eight. Perhaps this group will include a mixture of old friends with a chance to meet and make new friends.

Please complete the following information to indicate your willingness to participate and/or host a party of eight in your home for the entrée.

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