Last month I observed that March was all Lent.

April this year is all Holy Week and the season of Easter. In Isaiah 53 we read: “Surely He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we have been healed.” Of course, the prophet is referring to the coming Messiah, and specifically His suffering for our sake. Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ was stricken, smitten, afflicted, wounded and crushed because of our sin and its terrible weight. I have a framed print of a painting by Thomas Blackshear II. It’s titled “Forgiven.” In it is a young man with a spike in his left hand and a mallet in his right. He represents you and me, and our sin that nailed Jesus to the cross. The background is dark. He realizes what he has done, and begins to collapse and fall to the ground. On his face is an expression of pain, guilt, and repentance. That’s Good Friday

But the young man is caught up in the arms of the figure behind him, preventing his fall. That figure – a man in a white robe, has his arms around the man, raising him up. You can see the face of the bearded figure beneath the hood. All around him is a glow of light, chasing away

the darkness. And the hands of that robed figure… those hands bear the wounds of the crucifixion. The hands that hold up you and me with the mallet and nail in our hands is the risen Christ. His left hand under our left shoulder, his right arm wrapped around us, with His nail- pierced hand over our heart.

That’s Easter. He is risen! Alleluia!

Blessings,

Pastor Stanton

Maundy Thursday, April 6th: In-Person Worship at 11am and 7pm. Online Worship will be posted in the early afternoon.

Good Friday, April 7th: In-Person Worship at 1pm and 7pm. Online Worship will be posted mid-afternoon.

Easter Sunday, April 9th: In-Person Worship at 6am, 8am and 10:30am. Online Worship will be posted by mid-morning.

I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.

Isaiah 48:17

I am guessing that most of us will admit that we desire to do things God's way, but we don't always succeed. We think we know what's best. We make decisions based on how we feel, instead of seeking God for clarity. We have all been guilty of this. God's Word is chalked full of examples of people doing it their way instead of God's way and even though examples are all laid out for us we still fall into the temptation of doing things our way. Have we ever found our way to be the right way? Absolutely not!

How many times have we failed to recall what God has said about handling a certain situation? How many times have we failed to recall how God said to handle our enemies? How many times have we failed to recall how God said to handle making decisions? Countless times we have failed because we made decisions based on how we feel and we have made many errors that we did not have to make.

We must always be reminded that we simply have to trust God to be our help! Yes, some things seem impossible. Yes, some obstacles seem too hard to overcome. But when we do things God's way, He gives us the strength that we need to overcome and conquer what seems too hard for us. We tend to forget that nothing is impossible with God. We tend to forget where our help comes from. Doing it God's way means trusting His plan and relying upon His power to be a very present help. We see time and time again that God's way IS the right way!

In His Service,

Jennifer Leinss

Our Sunday School students have started their annual Penny Challenge, all with the goal of supporting LOVED ministries. Loved Ministries is an organization that is bringing comfort and hope to youth ages 12-18 living in foster care group homes in Milwaukee. Our offering will supply Loved Ministries with items such as fleece for tie blankets, and items for their quarterly care packages. Pennies and dollar bills are all positive points, and nickels, dimes, and quarters are negative points. You may participate by dropping your donations in the bottles on the purple wall in the hallway. We look forward to a friendly competition, all for a good cause!

For our second quarter missions, our Special Mission offering will support Orphan Grain Train. Orphan Grain Train is a 501c3 Nonprofit Christian volunteer network that shares personal and material resources with needy people in America and around the world. Grain Train volunteers gather donations of clothing, medical supplies, food, Christian literature, and other aid to meet real needs. The Orphan Grain Train movement is a loving response to Jesus Christ’s example as a servant and His love for us. The following link is Orphan Grain Train's wish list. Please take a look! https://ogtrain.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/05-2022-OGT-Wish-List-REV-2.pdf

Many of you may not be aware that we have had a military ministry at Blessed Savior for many years. There are four aspects of this ministry.

We reach out to members, friends, or relatives of members, who are on active duty both overseas and stateside. In a timely manner they receive birthday cards, holiday cards and various religious items, or a note to let them know they are in our thoughts and prayers. If you have someone you would like us to reach out to, please contact Jackie O’Neil or the church office (putting them on the prayer list does not place them on this list).

Another aspect of this ministry is collecting manufacturers coupons from mailings, newspapers, inserts and magazines, and sending them to an Air Force base in England. These coupons can be used up to 6 months past their expiration date, but ONLY at overseas facilities. If you clip these coupons, please keep together by month of expiration dates. If you prefer not to clip, just place the coupons in the military basket in the fellowship hall. Last year we sent out 3 boxes of coupons. We are hoping increase this number in 2023.

Our third project is sending items to the USO in Korea. A list of needed items can be found in the large green tub in the fellowship hall. Extra candy from holidays is always a great treat. Last year we sent 16 boxes to the USO.

The last project is collecting canceled first-class stamps. These stamps are sent to the Lions Club who then use them to benefit America’s veterans. Cut off the stamps, leaving at least ¼” around it. Then drop them off in the basket or tub in the fellowship hall. Last year we sent out one box of stamps.

Thank you to all who have contributed to these projects in the past.

If you have any questions regarding these projects, please contact Beverly Krause.