Grace Notes

- Greetings from a far distant land.
We post this message from Bozeman, Montana on the morning of the third day of our journey. This morning we’ll join worship with the congregation of First Lutheran Church of Bozeman, then begin the final leg of our outbound trip.

We have been blessed with favorable weather to date, dry and clear by day with rain Friday night to wash some of the bugs that chose to salute our vehicle as we traversed the plains.

We were pleasantly surprised to learn that Zion Lutheran Church in Rapid City had showers. While cross country travel has become much easier in our modern times, a shower is a refreshing start to the day. Pastor Lockie, who greeted us upon our arrival, has ties to Minnesota. He spent part of his life in Riceville and served as in intern in our city government before his discovered his calling to the ministry. Zion Lutheran Church and school is on a hill with a fantastic view of the valley below, it was a very nice facility. Of note were the basketball hoops in the sanctuary and a playground with an array of big toys, very appealing to the younger members of our group.

Saturday morning we cut through the Black Hills with thoughts of touring Jewel Cave, only to find that we not the only ones with those same thoughts and that we couldn’t get space on the tour until 11:00 am, our deadline for leaving to meet our hosts in Bozeman. Instead we took the opportunity to hike a short trail and exercise our legs. It was a very pleasant morning to stroll about mountain pine woods. The woods are very open with gentle breezes scented of pines and fresh air, a sharp contrast to the confines of the van.

We arrived in Bozeman on Saturday evening, and after an eventful Chinese buffet and lessons in eating with chopsticks, we moved into our accommodations for the evening. We spent time in Bible study and discussion about doing every task set before us to the best our our God-given abilities and for God’s glory. As the evening wound down, some watched a movie, some read, and all tried to find the most comfortable spot in the youth room.

After church we have about a five hour drive, and will arrive at Shoshone Base Camp late afternoon. We are looking forward to learning more about the tasks that have been prepared for us to do in the upcoming week.

Internet availability has been quite sparse on our journey, and will be unavailable until our return to the fair city of Bozeman, who supplies the public with wireless internet access. Please continue to remember our youth in your prayers, give thanks for the success of our travels and continue to pray for our safety, that our work may be joyful and fruitful.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 9:10

We have the distinct pleasure of having Dr. Paul Maier come to Grace Lutheran Church from 4:00-4:45pm on Sun, June 22. Dr Maier will be here for the LWML convention that is being held in Rochester this weekend and will visit our church prior to returning home.

It will be an informal gathering to meet Dr. Maier and he will also autograph any of his books (or paper) if you would like. The Grace Book club has read two of his books this year (Pontius Pilot and A Skeleton in God’s Closet) and are very excited to have him at Grace. Please come join us!

Wednesday evening services begin on May 28th. This service starts at 6:30 pm and is more informal than the weekend services. Pastor prepares additional information about each of the readings to provide background and setting. Fellowship time follows after the service.

Our traditional Saturday 6:00 pm Saturday evening service continues as it has throughout the year, with added fellowship time following the service.

Starting June 1st, we change to a single 9:00 am worship service, with study and fellowship opportunities for adults and children following the service. Adults can join Pastor to continue the study of the week’s Daily Bible reading while the children can enjoy Christian based videos and popcorn.

Worship is based on the old English phrase “weorthscipe” which means to ascribe worth or value to something. Attending worship services regularly this summer allows us to keep Christ first in our lives.

Vacation Bible School at Grace will be amazing fun for the while family! If you like camping, this is for you! Come camp out at Grace for a week - each night celebrating the Friendship of Christ through songs, food and FUN! There will be something for ALL ages, whether it is participating or volunteering. So get ready to Trek with us. A small meal will be offered at 5:00 pm with the program running from 5:30-7:30 pm.

Brochures and registration forms are available at Church in the Narthex.

Information or questions? Contact Christine Howard or send email to education from the contact page.

For those of you who have been at Grace for a while, you know that our recent tradition is to have our Stewardship emphasis begin in Lent, As we were considering what sort of message to use this year, we decided to mix it up a little bit. We realize that people are individuals. We know that different people learn from and react to different messages. With that in mind, rather than having one theme, we’re going to have several, and we hope you will find one of them particularly helpful as you consider your Stewardship response to God’s Great Grace.

And so, today, we begin with a message we call “Let Me Put it This Way.”

When Pastor Heidorn has collected the offering each week, he speaks these words that are so familiar to us now: “We give Thee but Thine own, whate’er the gift might be. All we have is Thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from Thee.” I really like those words. They’re very poetic, memorable and meaningful.

Sometimes, words we hear over and over get lost, though, as they become routine. So, to help us focus on their meanings, I offer a few new ways to say much the same thing.

• Hey, God, I know you gave this to me, but I’m sure you can use it better than I can. Don’t worry, I have enough for me.
• Wow, thanks for giving me all this, God! Here! I brought you a gift to show you my thanks. Use it however you think best.
• God, you promised me my daily bread, and you gave me that and more! Let me give some back so other people can learn to be as thankful as I am.
• Father, I know you gave me this, but some of my brothers could really use it. Would you mind getting it to them?
• God, you trusted me to hold onto this for a while. With what you gave me, I was able to make even more, and I want you to have some of it.

I’m sure there are many more ways we could rephrase that meaningful prayer. I thought about trying to do it in different dialects. You know, Surfer Dude (Whoa! Awesome!), Five-year-old (Thanks, Daddy), or Rocky Balboa (Yo, Adrian, um, I mean, Holy Father) but I’m not a Surfer Dude, or a Five-year-old, or Rocky, and I don’t think many of you are, so I hope you get the point and I hope one of those helps you focus on the meaning of “We Give Thee but Thine Own…”

We’ve all been given so much, but it is, after all, God’s. He owns it all. As good stewards of His things, it’s important to realize it, and give Him thanks, however we say it.

Come join us for Grace Book Club!

On Sunday, May 4th, 2008 from 6:30-7:30pm at Grace, we will be discussing the book:

What’s so Amazing about Grace by Philip Yancey

Grace is the church’s great distinctive. It’s the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world.

In What’s So Amazing About Grace?, award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. What is grace? If grace is God’s love for the undeserving, then what does it look like in action? If Christians are its sole dispensers, how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy? In his most personal and provocative book ever, Yancey offers compelling, true portraits of grace’s life-changing power. He searches for its presence in his own life and in the church. He challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately wants to know What’s So Amazing About Grace?

If you have questions about book club, please contact Tracy Grove.

Come join us for Grace Book Club! It’s time to think about how you will walk with the Lord this Lenten season. Book club is offering a unique opportunity to see Lent through different eyes. On Sunday Feb 24, 2008 from 6:30-7:30pm at Grace, we will be discussing the book:

Pontius Pilot by Paul L. Maier

If you need a new perspective on Lent, walk in Pilot’s shoes. Books are available to purchase at church for $15.

If you have questions, please contact Tracy Grove.

Grace Youth are taking orders for sub sandwiches now through January 30th. Order forms are available in the church bulletins, the RCLS office, the Grace office and on the GYM bulletin board. Return your completed form to any youth board member, the church office or the Wingren mailbox. Sandwiches will be available for pickup Saturday Feb 2nd at 5:30 pm or Sunday Feb 3rd at 9:15 am.

Order subs for yourself or to be donated to families at the Ronald McDonald House or Hope Lodge. These sandwiches are delicious fresh and may also be frozen.

Did you miss your daily reading? Are you stuck at a computer with nothing to do and your daily Bible is at home?
Get caught up online!

Links for the daily readings can be found here.

Click on the verse to be taken to that day’s reading on bible.gospelcom.net. When you’ve finished reading, just use the “Back” button on browser to return to GraceByTheLake.

We know from the Bible what division Zechariah was in. We know when his division served in the Temple. We know that when he went home after his division was done, his wife Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist. We know that Mary visited Elizabeth when she was six months along, right after Gabriel appeared to her and by the Holy Spirit she conceived Jesus Christ, God the Son. From this we know that Jesus was born sometime in late December. The early Church did celebrate Christmas on December 25^th before the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius invented the feast of Sol Invictus to try to compete with it.

When was Jesus born?

Astronomy plays an interesting role in this question. We know from the Bible that Mary, Joseph and the little Jesus returned from Egypt when they heard that Herod was dead. We know that Herod died in 4 B. C. We know that they had been in Egypt a little while. Church tradition says two years. A Dr. Mollnar decided to look at what sorts of planetary signs Babylonian Magi would have understood and gone by. He discovered a particular conjunction of planets that meant to them that a king was to be born in Judah. Remember that Daniel was the chief of the magi? His book tells roughly how many years it was from his time until Jesus rode into Jerusalem as king. His book would have been kept by the magi after his death. So, they were looking, as they knew a baby had to grow up before he could have a triumphal entry as king. There was the appropriate conjunction in 6 B.C., which recurred several months later, giving the magi time to debate, pack up and travel to Jerusalem, and when it occurred “the star which they had seen in the East went before them.”

Why was Herod worried? The magi had a reputation as king-makers. A number of years before, a group of magi had traveled to Rome, and told the Roman Senate that a king had been born to them. Rome had thrown off monarchy and was a republic at that time, and the Senate wanted nothing to do with a king. But they were afraid. So was Herod when the magi came to him. This sort of activity by the magi was not unknown, and was taken very seriously. And that is why there came to be weeping in Ramah.

Let’s see, though. 5 BC plus AD 33 is 38. But didn’t Luke say that Jesus was 30 when He started His ministry? Luke wrote “about thirty,” Not specifically 30.This age was important because you did not become a full man able to teach and to participate in government until you turned 30 (you became a man able to marry and be personally responsible before God to obey Him at 12-13 at bar mitzvah, or confirmation). Luke had to point out that Jesus wasn’t too young to go about preaching. Scholars believe that they see *at least* 4 passovers during Jesus’ earthly ministry, and there is nothing in the Bible that He ministered for only three years. Therefore that the crucifixion happed on Friday, April 3^rd, A. D. 33 isn’t a problem. We know it happened then, because that is when there was a total eclipse of the moon (“the moon turned red as blood”) and there was a darkness recorded during the day over the eastern Mediterranean, and there was an earthquake felt as far as Athens. So, perhaps Jesus was 37 when He was crucified in atonement for our sins. That doesn’t disagree with Luke, with history or astronomy. It all fits together. It really happened. If you want to learn more about this part of the story, join the book club during Lent and read Dr. Paul Meier’s excellent novel _Pontius Pilate_ with the rest of us. Don’t worry, he keeps the historical and archaeological goodies in the end notes, while giving us an enjoyable, and extremely historically accurate novel, that puts us right there in the midst of things in the Judean desert, back during Jesus’ earthly ministry.