the Voice March 2015 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church The Lifetree motto is…You're welcome just as you are. Your thoughts are welcome. Your doubts are welcome. We're all in this together. God is here, ready to connect with you in a fresh way. Lifetree Café is a safe place where great conversation is served up.” Lifetree Café will be another way we will reach out for Jesus, and I’m inviting you to participate in this adventure. To start, I’m looking for folks who are interested in helping me get this ministry setup and started. If you would like to be a part of the Lifetree Café steering team…let me know soon…as we are already putting things in motion and would love for you to be a part of that process. I hope you will also participate by attending a weekly episode at our Lifetree Café when you can. If you would like to know more…let me know and I can answer whatever questions you may have. You can also go to lifetree.com to check it out for yourselves. Maybe you might want to visit an existing Lifetree Café in our area…there are few on the Westside of Columbus. The Lifetree Café website will give you more info on where to go for the latest weekly episode. I’m excited about the new Pataskala Lifetree Café opening soon. I hope you are too! Please pray for our success with this new ministry. Peace, Love, Joy, PBret From the Pastor … An hour of stories and conversation to feed your soul. At a special congregational meeting back in January, the members of Hosanna voted to move forward with establishing a Lifetree Café in our area. I have been working since then with folks at the main Lifetree Café office to start getting things in place for that to occur hopefully as early as May. Some of you are probably still wondering what is Lifetree Café? Here is a description from the Lifetree Café webpage: “Lifetree Café is a comfortable place and time to gather weekly to explore life and faith. It looks and feels like the kind of place you'd typically meet a friend for food, drink and fun. Where the atmosphere encourages conversations, questions, and personal stories. There’s compelling stories about fascinating people. Stories from the news. Stories from our own lives. The story of what God is doing in the world around us. At Lifetree Café, we explore all those stories - and make sense of our faith and our lives. Every week, Lifetree Café gathers friendly people to experience the intriguing stories of life around us. Stories about the big-and little stuff that shapes our lives. Family. Friends. Fears. Busyness. Balance. Money. Materialism. Health. Heaven. Peace. Purpose. 1 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church March 2015 Please keep these names near at your times of prayer and hold them before God who knows our every need:, John Kohn, Rick Dodsworth, Eloise Kagey, Sherry Ferrell, Molly Nye, Pat Scarmack, Liberty Carey, Harry Siebert, Joyce Klinger, Shawn Garrett, John Keller, Ken Buzzard, Ryan Varnum, Jonathon Buzzard, Elaine Willey, Sharon Bauerle, Wanda Quay, John Stockdale, and all those who continue to suffer from illness. For all those who risk their lives for the sake of freedom from oppression especially men and women in uniform. TRADITION. Among other things it helps us mark events in our lives giving us stability and comfort in relationships and belonging. Christ’s 12 disciples, who were Jews, observed the Sabbath (Saturday) according to the Genesis story of creation. When Christ’s resurrection occurred on Sunday, a new tradition was in the works. His resurrection was seen as a new creation by the disciples and early Christians. Their day of worship, praise and rest moved from Saturday to Sunday. Jesus’ resurrection happened after Passover, and still today, the alignment of those two events brings their celebrations close to each other on the calendar. They both have movable dates in the spring, but sometimes Easter precedes Passover. Although the tradition of Lenten observance isn’t mentioned in the Bible, repentance and use of ashes in mourning is found in several places. Among them are Matthew 11:21, 2 Sammuel 13:19, Job 2:8 and others. Altar Guild is an enabler of tradition. The Lenten season is an especially active time for the members. Planning for it continues at the next meeting, Monday March 9, at 7:00pm. Join us won’t you? Please call Donna Roberts at (740) 9276857 or Pat Crawford at (740) 927-2037 for details. If you are not presently part of Hosanna’s prayer team and you would like to join this ministry, please contact Sandy Bricker at [email protected] or (740) 9277422. Every time a prayer request is received, Sandy sends the request to you by e-mail. You don’t have to contact anyone else—just pray for the person in need. If you don’t have access to e-mail, a list will periodically be mailed to you. Presently there are 83 of us on the team. We’d love to have your help in this vital ministry. The Newsletter Deadline is the third Sunday of each month. The “Hosanna Happenings” Sunday Announcement Page Deadline is every Wednesday by Noon. Please email your articles to: [email protected] Our Shut-ins: John Stockdale, Wanda Quay, Kenny King, Eloise Kagey, and Virginia Leiter 2 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church March 2015 Women’s Group meets using the book Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World and DVD discussing our relationship with the Lord. Sandy Bricker leads the group on Monday’s at 10:00am and 6:30pm. On February 22nd, March 1st, 8th and 15th, Pastor Bret will be holding a class for 2nd graders and at least one parent during the Sunday School hour to talk about communion and the importance of it. The students will then be going to Camp Mowana for an overnight entitled “Come to the Table” on March 20th and 21st. The students will be signed up as a group from Hosanna. The parents are asked to pay $20.00 toward the cost of the overnight. Older students who have not already taken the classes or have not yet received communion are welcome to attend the classes please let JoAnn Fettrow know at [email protected] as soon as possible. The students of this class will take their first communion at the Hosanna Service on Sunday March 22nd. The topic in Sunday School focuses our attention on the gift of grace. Join us from 9:45-10:45am. The Men’s group is studying Luke. They meet on the first and Wednesday’s of the month at 7:00pm but will be taking a break during Lent. All 20 copies of the devotional, Christ in Our Home, have been picked up. New booklets will be available next month so make sure you check the table in the Narthex! The monthly scripture reading list that appears in the newsletter is a gift from one of our members. Please let Pastor Bret, Sandy Bricker, Fred Kaufman, Rhea Mathias or Charlotte Kurt know how you use it and if you rely on it being available. To help Hosanna adults see what is available in the libraries, adult ministry is looking for a volunteer carpenter to build a book cart for the Narthex. We like to bring a display of sample areas to you. Materials will be provided. WELCA GATHER FOR FAITH AND ACTION: WELCA Bible Study will meet on March 11th at 10:00am in the Amber Park Family Dining room. The theme of our study is Suffering and Endurance based on the story of Job. Please plan to join us followed by lunch (cost of $6.00). Call Nancy Sander at (740) 7398381to receive a copy of the study and to make lunch reservations business. We will be having another rummage sale this June to raise money for Day Camp, so if there’s anything you plan on giving away, set it aside and save it for the rummage Sale. 3 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church March 2015 On Sunday, March 15th Junior LYO will be going to SkyZone Indoor Trampoline Park in Delaware. After second service we will be either ordering pizza or grabbing fast food before heading to SkyZone. We are reserved for jumping, flying and any other acrobatic stunts from 2:304:00pm. Hosanna is graciously paying the admission for the Jr. LYO members. The kids will still need to bring money for food and drinks before and while at SkyZone. Anyone who has not filled out the waiver yet will need to do so before their child goes on the trip and we will have it available on March 15th. Please RSVP to [email protected] or [email protected] It is hard to believe that Easter Season is upon us. With that comes a lot of fun activities here at Hosanna! Inserted in this Newsletter you will find a flier created for the 2015 Annual Community Easter Egg Hunt here at Hosanna Lutheran Church. During this event we have a ton of eggs that are placed in the large grass area between the church and the Hosanna House. That is where our church family comes into play. We are asking that all of you bring in a bag of small toys, small candies, tattoos, stickers etc. that will fit into the small eggs. The Catechism students are already in the process of stuffing eggs with the donations we have already received. There will be large donations tubs in the narthex at the church for you to place your donations. Please consider helping us make this event last. Stay tuned for more exciting information and feel free to hand out the flier to a friend! We hope to see you there! God bless, Denny and Suzanne Catechism/Promise Seekers/ Middle School June 21st – 26th, 2015 is the Lutheran Memorial “Confirmation” Summer Camp. You can register online by going to www.lomocamps.org. Please remember that Hosanna pays $200 for each camper. Camp is always fun with Pastor Bret attending. You receive many points for attendance, so please consider joining. Please contact JoAnn for further information On February 8th Junior LYO went to Kelly Marie's Pottery in Pataskala and painted mugs and plates which were fired and available for pickup on February 17th. Afterwards the kids were are able to create their own pizza next door at Mama Linda's Pizzeria. Nothing better than pizza and pop after honing everyone's artistic talents. Mark your calendars for Youth Sunday May 3rd. There will be one combined service that Sunday at 10:00am and we want to see you there!!! 4 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church March 2015 Chemo Care Bags: Our focus January through May will be collecting items for the “Chemo Care Kits.” These were a huge success last year, and we received many notes of thanks for this project. There is a basket in the narthex to collect items. Our goal is to make 24 kits. Items needed are: travel size hand lotion, travel size hand sanitizer, pocket size tissues, lip balm, packages of pens or pencils, small puzzle books (Sudoku, Crossword, Wordfind, etc.), bottles of water, boxes of herbal tea, lemon drop or other tart hard candy, and Biotene dry mouth products. We will again be asking congregation members to take kits to deliver to anyone who may need one. Kits will be available at the Youth Sunday service in May. If you would like to “reserve” a kit please contact Traci Brandt (740) 927-7684. HLCC ENROLLING: Registration for the 2015-2016 school year is now open to the general public. Please invite family and friends to call or check out our website for more information. We have already seen a great number of alumni families utilize the early registration so are off to a great start for next year. If you know a friend, neighbor or family member that might be interested in placing their child in preschool, please have them give me a call or email me so that we can set up a tour for them to see our preschool. Remember spots are always limited due to class size. Upcoming events at HLCC: Dad's Day is March 12 and 13 Preschool Field Trip to World of Bounce on March 19th Pre-K Field Trip to COSI on March 25th Spring Break is March 30- April 3 “Souper” Bowl Sunday Success SUPER JOB on the SOUPER BOWL SUNDAY collection. A total of $166.26 was collected and will be sent to Lutheran Social Services to help restock their food pantry. THANKS for Date Night/Lock-In: We had over 30 children participate in our last lock-in. A big thank you to our volunteers: JoAnn Fettrow, Melissa Fettrow, and Penny Killilea. We collected $297 in donations. Since it was Valentine's Day, we talked about sharing God's love with others. We decorated Valentine posters for some of our church leaders: Pastor Bret, Ali, Annette, Choir, Praise Band, Lori Butts, and Jodi our custodian. Thank you for all you do for Hosanna. CARING and Sharing Parking Lot Campaign Update Thank you to those of you who have already donated funds toward the parking lot. The Campaign committee really appreciates all your help making this campaign a success. So far we have raised $5,385.00 towards our goal of $43,000.00. Our next Lock-in is Friday, March 20th. This is for ages 3 years old through 5th grade. Drop-off starts at 5:30 p.m. Evening activities include dinner, snack, games, crafts, music, story and a movie. Children can be picked up by 9:30 p.m. Or if they want to spend the night, pick-up is by 10 am 5 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church March 2015 NEW BEGINNINGS: Thank you Hosanna for donating the four large cans of coffee; two small cans of coffee; personal items; wash cloths and hand towels for those who need to be sheltered and well cared for during a time of transition from a life of abuse to starting over again. DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS the NB donations are to be delivered, February 18th. Thank you ever so much for your generous hearts, your food pantry representatives. Inside this Newsletter you will find a survey for the Hosanna Lutheran Church Women’s Retreat. We ask that all women fill this survey out and place it in the box in the Narthex marked. You may also give your completed survey to Tina Blackburn or Charlotte Kurt. If you have questions please let one of them know. Additional surveys will be beside the box in case you may need more than one. Thank you for taking your time to fill out this survey. The women of Hosanna and the team in charge appreciate all your efforts to helping! LEADS DONATIONS: Week ending January 28th: Thank you Hosanna for food donations for LEADS. There were 162 items donated; picked up Wednesday the 28th; and stocked. A big thank you for those of you who have been donating dog and cat food... often times when people lose their jobs; home; or just hit a low spot they have animals to care for as well as their children. Thank you for thinking of their furry friends. There were 20 cans of tuna; 7 large cans of chicken; 11 large cans of soup; along with many other items including cereal, smaller cans of soup; peanut butter and macaroni and cheese. We are pulling from the holiday donations already... thank goodness for the surplus! February 4th - 10th: The donations were picked up and stocked, among the donations were a case of macaroni and cheese; a case of Ensure! WOW!!! Also were items such as large cans of soup; fruit and veggies... Each and every item will ensure someone will not go hungry. February 17th: Due to weather conditions donations were not picked up hope to deliver and stock on the 18th or 20th. RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE Thank you to everyone who made the December Blood Drive a huge success. We managed to collect 45 units of blood which allows us to save about 130 people lives. The next blood drive is scheduled for April 20th from 1-7 pm at the Hosanna House Event Center. To donate, please call 1-800-Red Cross for an appointment time. Volunteers for the registration desk are also needed. If you are available to work the registration desk please call Kathy Sims at 740-927-7145 or email her at [email protected]. 2015 Spring Vendor Extravaganza Located in this Newsletter you will find a flier for the Spring Vendor Extravaganza that will be held at the church on Saturday March 21st from Noon-5pm. This event was created by Ali and Marissa Priest in order to help the youth attending the National Youth Gathering! The proceeds will go towards the youth that are helping at the event. There are 19 vendors that are registered to have a table at the event. You won’t want to miss it so please come and bring a friend! Hope to see you there! 6 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church March 2015 The Lifelong Learning Institute (LLI) of Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) provides educational opportunities for mature learners to broaden and extend their knowledge, share their life experiences, become more attuned to community resources and interact with other “lifelong learners.” The Men’s Group of Hosanna meet the first and third Wednesday of every month and will resume these meeting times in April after Lenten services are completed. If you have questions or wish to join please see Don Burkey, Bob Lochmeyer, Fred Kaufman or Dick Bricker for further information. Be ready to enjoy activities and fellowship together starting again in April! The LLI offers a year-round menu of courses, as well as lectures, “Coffee and Conversations,” and events that focus on the arts, literature, philosophy, science, languages, technology, spirituality, economics and local, nation and world affairs. Most of the events are held at COTC’s Pataskala campus at 8660 East Broad Street. Direct Thrivent Choice Dollars: Eligible Thrivent Financial members have until March 31st, 2015 to direct any remaining 2014 Choice Dollars. After that date, 2014 Choice Dollars expire. Through the Thrivent Choice program, eligible members have the power to recommend where Thrivent distributes part of its charitable grant funds annually. Choice Dollars can be directed to thousands of enrolled nonprofit organizations and congregations, including Hosanna Lutheran Church. To direct your Choice Dollars, visit www.thrivent.com/thriventchoice or call 800-847-4836 and say “Thrivent Choice” after the prompt. Act soon before your Choice Dollars expire. If you have questions please see Dianne Drozdowicz! To learn more about LLI, please talk with Pat Sagar or Tony Starn. Please consider joining us and becoming a lifelong learner! Every Wednesday evening during Lent we will be having a Soup Supper beginning at 6:00pm. Please sign up to bring a soup of your choice. Please sign up on the Worship Board in the Narthex! Please remember that the Professor and Niko will be joining us every Wednesday evening during Lent at 6:45pm along with a number of their animal friends. Come join us every Wednesday evening and learn what animals represent in the bible. We hope to see you there! Palm Sunday will be on March 29th this year. We will have two worship services as usual. Traditional service will be at 8:30am and Contemporary service at 11:00am. No matter which service you attend you will be moved by the Spirit! 7 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church March 2015 things like that and this year for lent was no different, I decided to give up junk food… mostly because in a few short months I will be wearing a big white dress and I want to look amazing in, but also because it was consuming all of my life. I would eat junk food when I was bored, when I didn’t have anything to do, or when I was upset. But then it hit me this year… what if instead of just giving something up, I fill it with something else. So I made a vow for Lent that instead of putting a bag of chips away or eating the Fudge Rounds… I now pick up my devotional, I poke around on the internet and find an inspirational picture that I share with my friends, or I open my bible to a verse that my finger lands on. Instead of consuming all the unhealthy things that make me feel good for a moment, I consume something that will make me feel good for a life time. Hosanna Monthly Financial Report January 2015 Total Budgeted Income $22,376 Actual Income Received $17,172 Below Budget(negative) - $5,204 Total Budgeted Expenses $24,100 Actual Expenses Paid $21,548 Below Budget(positive) -$2,552 Income Received $17,172 Expenses Paid $21,554 Net Position(negative) -$4,376 This season of Lent is not about giving something up, it is about truly feeling and understanding the way our Lord had to live. It is about understanding the thorns around his head, the nails in his hands and the cold tomb where he laid his head. This year for lent if you have given something up trying adding something instead. I feel completely different knowing that when I get upset with wedding planning, or frustrated because I did something wrong, I have a God who hung on a cross for me! How many of you give something up for Lent? You pick something that you do so much of and you make a “vow” that for 40 days and 40 nights you won’t do that ONE thing. How many of you are successful, how many of you truly give something up and never cheat? Chances are you might do really great during Lent season then as soon as Easter comes around you are back to your old ways, doing the one thing you gave up for those 40 days. Well what if we changed that mind set. What if instead of just allowing ourselves to give something up we swapped it for something? This year for Lent while you have given something up try adding something into that void. Try it, see where God has you go. He makes a path for you that is irreplaceable to anyone’s “back up plan” He makes the way that will not only keep you feeling good, but keeps you feeling whole. God will make a way when there seems to be no way. He loves you and so do I. Please remember this year what he did for us to be here, to be able to worship in the place we worship, live in the world we live, and love the people we love. Without all these amazing friends, family and Christians where would we be… Would you be in a storm without help if he wasn’t put on that cross and left to die! Remember that I love you, God loves you and everyone in between. Be kind to one another. Every year I give up something… most of the time it’s the usual Pop, Chips, Chocolate Much Love, Ali Priest 8 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church 1 4 5 5 6 7 8 8 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 13 15 15 17 18 18 19 23 23 24 24 27 29 29 29 29 30 30 March 2015 Altar Flowers Suzy Hahn Brenda Behnke Nate McLeod Cathi Varnum Justin Mohler Annette Plasterer Paula Reliford Dean Shrigley Karen Combs Darlene Gillenwater Kathy Sims Ericka Stemen Don Burkey Bobbi Dopslaf Todd Downs Cristi Lemaster Julie Martin Ben Rizzo Dave Engel Bryce Bulderbergs Matt Carberry Jim Southard David Lynd Sue McLeod Neil Von Ahn Stacey Blum Nancy Dickerson Fred McLeod Valerie Wills Shai Rhoades Carolyn Harne Jackie Roach Rodney Ruark Susie Zavotka Jim Krebs Kayla Napier 1 Tony Starn in memory of Jane Starn There are many dates open for flower donations throughout the year. Stop by the bulletin board in the Narthex and sign up today. You will need to make arrangements with a florist of your choice to order and have your flowers delivered. 17 Mary & Steve Seal 21 Jim & Donna Roberts If you do not see your Birthday or Anniversary please mark them on your connection cards or email them to us at the office so we can get them into the system! Thank You 9 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church March 2015 Quotes to think about this season! A Modern-Day Parable My friend had a large hydrangea bush in her yard. Each year for a decade, she found only one or two blooms. “Cut it down!” she told her husband in frustration. But he, a very patient man, urged, “Let’s give it one more year. I’ll water it and fertilize it with coffee grounds. If it still doesn’t bloom, I’ll chop it down. The next year, as the couple anticipated carrying out the dath sentence, the bush not only bloomed but bloomed in abudnace – and in multitude of colors that amazed my friend, an avid garener. “It’s the barren fig tree all over again!” she exclaimed. Indeed, sometimes God replicates his miracles, perhaps because we need a refresher course in patiently waith for his glorious blessings. Spring Renewal By reading the Scriptures I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me. The sky seems to be a pure and cooler blue, the trees a deeper green. The whole world is charged with the glory of God and I feel fire and music under my feet. -Thomas Merton Fear Not I wonder if fear is not our main obstacle to prayer. When we enter into the presence og God and start to sense the huge reservoir of fear inside us, we want to run away into the many distractions that are busy world offers so abundantly. But we shouldn’t be afraid of our fears. We can confront them, give words to them, cry out to God and lead our fears into the presence of the One who says, “Don’t be afraid. It is I.” -Heidi Mann Bloom A gardner planted two small shrubs side by side. During the dry summer, both plants struggled to get extablished. One developed black spots and lost most of its leaves. The gardner assumed the little plant wouldn’t survive but was sure the heathy-looking shrub would bloom. The following spring, to the gardener’s great surprise, the stronger plant had not a single bloom but the weak, stricken shrub had produced a beautiful flower. This is often true, as well, of people whove expereinced great sorrow and loss. They know the Saviors love and comfort in ways that only those who suffer can know. And by God’s grace they share that love and comfort with others. -Henri J.M Nouwen Unconditional Love No matter what sin we have committed, no matter how terrible it may be, God loves us. -Billy Granham The Greatest News Death carries with it a certain dread. It has always been the enemy, the great, mysterious monster that makes people quake with fear. Death stalks the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated. Death is no respecter of race, color or cree. Its shadow hanuts us day and night. We never know when the momenbt of death will come for us. Is there any hope?... The greatest news that mortal ear has ever heard is the news that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, as he had promised. Because Christ lives, we also shall live. The greatest truth that you can ever hear is that Jesus Christ died but rose again, and that you, too, will die but can rise again into newness of life. -Kari Myers Attitude Check Attitude is the mind’s paintbrush. It can color a situation gloomy and gray, or cheerful and gay. In fact, attitudea are more important than facts. -Mary C. Crowley -Billy Granham 10 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church March 2015 11 The Newsletter of Hosanna Lutheran Church March 2015 NON-PROFIT ORG. HOSANNA LUTHERAN CHURCH U.S. POSTAGE 7714 HAZELTON-ETNA ROAD PAID PATASKALA OHIO PATASKALA, OHIO 43062 PERMIT NO. 3 Office hours are 9:00 am-3:00pm Monday-Friday Pastor Bret is out of the office on Friday’s. If you are calling after hours and need to get in touch with him Please call (330) 559-1846 12
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