St. Paul Lutheran Church - Rockford

This Week at St. Paul

Sunday, March 29^th Palm Sunday

   8:00am & 10:30am – Worship (Central Site)

   9:15am -  Bible Class/Sunday School  (Central Site)

   9:15am -  Worship (Northwest Site)

 10:30am – Confirmation (Central Site)

 10:15am – Bible Class (Northwest Site)

   2:00pm – Northwest Site Reserved

Monday, March 30^th

 10:00am – Monday Morning Bible Class (Central Site)

   4:00pm – 8:00pm – St. Pauliday (Culvers, N. Main)

Wednesday, April 1^st

  7:00am – 8:15am – Men’s Devo & Prayer (Spring Garden-Loves Park)

  10:30am –Mid Week Lenten Worship (Central Site)

    7:00pm – Ambassador Ministries

Thursday, April 2^nd Maundy Thursday

  10:30am –Worship/Communion (Central Site)

  11:00am -  Knitting Etc./Community Activity (Northwest Site)

    7:00pm – Worship/Communion (Northwest Site)

Friday, April 3^rd Good Friday

   OFFICES CLOSED

    8:30am – Church Grounds Clean-up (Northwest Site)

  12:30pm – Worship (Central Site)

   7:00pm – Worship (Northwest Site)

Saturday, April 4^th

   10:30am – 1:30pm – Women’s Workshop (Northwest Site)

    6:00pm – Easter Vigil/Communion (Northwest Site)

 Sunday, April 5^th  Easter Sunday

   8:00am & 10:30am – Worship/Communion (Central Site)

   9:15am -  Bible Class (Central Site)

   NO Sunday School (Central Site)

   9:15am -  Worship/Communion (Northwest Site)

 10:15am – Bible Class (Northwest Site)

  

       Serving in God’s House at Central Site Today:

Preacher: Pastor Ciprys

Ushers: 8:00am –  Group 2               10:30am – Group 6

Elder: Jeff Gibbons

                   

       Serving in God’s House at Northwest Site Today:

Preacher: Pastor  Ciprys              Elder: Dennis Slagell

Acolyte:   Katie Wolf

        

Prayer for the Day is a daily devotional ministry. To hear a devotion recorded by Pastor Thies, please call the special Prayer for the Day phone number (963-7641) and then dial 3 when the call is answered.

Generosity Moment - Zechariah 9:9  “Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” No king ever rode to war like this. But no king had ever come to wage battle by dying. In His Passion, our Lord Jesus gives everything He has and is to bring us from death to life: He is the king who wins by losing. In our regular, generous and committed financial giving to the Lord’s church we are invited to the same.

COME TODAY! - In the introduction to the Large Catechism, Martin Luther wrote "I must still read and study daily, and yet I cannot master it as I wish, but must remain a child and pupil of the Catechism, and am glad so to remain".  The Large Catechism contains the basic foundations that all of our doctrine is built upon: the Ten Commandments, the Creed, Lord's Prayer and the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.  Would you like to dig deeper into these basic biblical doctrines that we as Lutherans hold so dear?  Join us as we study Luther's Large Catechism during Sunday morning Bible study at both the Central at 9:15am and Northwest site at 10:15am.

Join us for the Vigil of Easter, a very traditional service of prayers and readings from Scripture.  We have no sermon so as to highlight the story of salvation read directly from the Scriptures. The service has four parts: Service of Light, of Readings, of Baptism and of Holy Communion.  Many who have attended this service in past years have remarked that it is very worthwhile and unique. So plan to spend a little extra time Easter Eve with God’s word and the ancients in preparation for the Easter worship the next day at 6:00 p.m., Saturday, April 4th.

Central site New Carpeting – Mostly through a bequest of our deceased member Mrs. Marie Eggert and several other substantial gifts by members, our Central site has received new flooring including carpet for its entrance ways, steps and sanctuary. It is truly beautiful.  Today on Palm Sunday, March 29th, St. Paul dedicates it to the Lord’s use through a special Rite of Blessing the worship services. May the Lord bless these wonderful improvements to His Glory as well as those we enjoy at our Northwest site for many years to come.

Missing Pews -- Our church leadership (Council, Elders with Trustees’ help moving) wanted to follow up on one of our outside consultant’s suggestions that we could use some of that space between and after services for fellowship and greeting space since our narthex entrance ways are limited in some respects.  Of course the challenge will be in protecting quietness before service starts.  Some with love it.  Some will hate it.  But after six weeks or so we hope to invite your thoughts to building a consensus as to whether to leave it this way or have the pews returned. If you have any questions or concerns, please call Mark Beck at 815-222-9938.

Please be considerate – We are so thankful to the Lord for how often we hear that our church and its services are so warmly friendly and our people inviting.  However, sometimes before the services, many of our attenders wish some quiet time for reflection to pray and prepare for worship in the sanctuary.  As a result, we would ask that any pre-service conversation be at a minimum or and at least at a whisper level in the sanctuary.  We don’t want to stifle our fellowship together but we also want to foster time for meditation and preparation to worship our Lord.  Above all, let’s continue our successfully enjoyed atmosphere of patience with each other as well.

New Invitation Brochure – If not already, you should receive a new St. Paul brochure with your April Epistle newsletter.  This is a joint effort of some of our members, pastor and Evangelism Board.  The brochure updates current services and ministry offerings and presents it all in a much improved fashion from what we had prior.  Special thanks to Melanie Anderson for the graphics and know how, Lowes and Roger Eggert for shepherding the project and Carol Ulrich of our Evangelism Board.  Consider using this brochure as a tool to introduce others to the church and school here at St. Paul THAT YOU LOVE … maybe even for Easter!

THE APRIL LADIES GUILD meeting will be on April 8th the 2nd Wednesday at 1:00pm at the Northwest Site.  We will learn about the "Emotions That Come from Colors" and also ways to accessorize with "Scarves and Fashion."  If you have a scarf, bring it, and discover how to wear it in a variety of ways.  We welcome ALL to join with us and hear Danita Johnson present this program.  Bring any adult or child glasses -- reading, prescription, or sunglasses -- to this meeting which will be forwarded to Lutheran Mission Projects.  Always remember you MITES.

St. Pauliday – Join us on Monday, March 30^th at the Culvers on North Main from 4:00pm – 8:00pm. Invite your family and friends! Our school receives profits from this event.

St. Paul's new wireless internet network is nearing completion.  We thank the Lord for this new technological tool that will add to our students' learning.  We will be holding a "Race for Education" fundraiser in just a few weeks which will cover our internet costs for the next few years.

St. Paul's new playground addition will be installed on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday - April 16 - 18!  Please contact the school office (815-965-3335 ext. 215) or talk to Mr. Volkert if you would like to assist in the installation.  No tools, knowledge, or experience needed! 

St. Paul Moonlight Bowling – It’s that time of year again for the St. Paul Moonlight Bowling Extravaganza! This fun event will take place on Saturday, April 18^th. Check in is at 7:00pm and bowling begins at 7:30pm. Cost is $40.00 per couple, which includes the following: 3 games of Scotch Doubles, shoe rental, door prizes, silent auction and Dinner, which is a Pasta Buffet, meatballs, salad and bread. This will be held at Park Lanes at 5318 N. 2^nd  Street in Loves Park. Please contact Mike Rolando at 815-988-4358 or Bruce Volkert at 815-519-3242 with any questions. Return your sign up sheets (enclosed) to the school or church offices. This event benefits the St. Paul Bus Fund.

St. Paul hosts a Kindergarten Round-Up Open House on Wednesday, April 29th from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM.  Please invite any perspective family to this event where they can learn more about a Christian education for just $70 month (even less for members of St. Paul Lutheran Church!).

Any day is an Open House at St. Paul Lutheran School.  You may direct interested families to our Admission Counselor Team of Dyan Lofgren (ext. 215) and Sue Wilkinson (est. 210).  They can be emailed at stpaulrockford@gmail.com or called at 815-965-3335.

The full student body will present "The Agape League" on Friday, May 8 at 7:30 PM in the Wesling Coaches' Gymnasium.  This is a fun musical featuring superheroes whose super powers are the Fruits of the Spirit.

Our Spring Band Concert is an event to celebrate 125 years of Christian education at St. Paul Lutheran School.  Join us on Sunday, May 17 at 5:00 PM in the Wesling Coaches' Gymnasium for this performance.  We have invited back our band alumni to join us.  Please talk to Mr. Volkert for more information.

Little Lambs is now accepting applications for spring enrollment. Please call Katie Lopez at 815-965-3335, ext. 218.

Little Lambs is hiring a part-time Day Care aid two days a week from 2:30pm – 5:30pm. Start time can be flexible. If you are interested, please call Katie Lopez at 815-965-3335, ext. 218.

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