1. society
2. social institution
3. marriage

News N’ Notes
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, School and Day Care
The Lutheran Church----Missouri Synod
Our Mission Statement:
Living, Sharing, and Celebrating Christ’s Love in Our Community
Volume 29, No. 3
WHAT’S INSIDE:
 Join us for Lenten Suppers
Page 2
 Journey to the Cross
Page 2
 Support Meals on Wheels
Page 3
 Pastor’s Pages
AND MUCH MORE!
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran
Church, School & Day Care
210 South Ringold Street
Janesville, Wisconsin 53545
Telephone: 608-754-4471
On the Web:
www.StPaulsJanesville.com
Worship Schedule
Thursdays:
6:30 p.m.
Saturdays:
6:00 p.m.
Sundays:
8:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.
March 2015
THE SERVANT SONGS OF ISAIAH
For nearly five hundred years, Lutherans have taught that Lent is
a time to reflect on your Baptism and renew yourself through the
anticipation of celebrating Jesus’ victory over our sin, our death, and
our enemy the devil on Easter morning. Lent is a time when we can
especially walk closely with our Lord, learning from Him, and
growing in faith as we see Him walking His God-given course to the
Cross, the Tomb, and finally into our hearts.
During this season of Lent we continue to hold a series of
sermons and services based on Bible passages that describe what
happened to Jesus as He walked His weary way to the Cross. We
will look at how our Lord Jesus became a servant for us all. The
theme for our midweek Lenten sermon series is THE SERVANT
SONGS OF ISAIAH. Our worship service schedule during Lent,
Holy Week, and Easter is:
March 4, (2:15 & 6:30 p.m.) –
The Servant of All: The Successful Failure – Isaiah 49:1-13
March 11, (2:15 & 6:30 p.m.) –
The Committed Servant: Learn and Live! – Isaiah 50:4-9
March 18, (2:15 & 6:30 p.m.) –
The Suffering Servant: The Servant Suffers for You – Isaiah 52:1353:12
March 25, (2:15 & 6:30 p.m.) –
The Triumphant Servant: The Great Reversal – Isaiah 61:1-11
April 2, (2 & 6:30 p.m.) – Maundy Thursday Service
April 3, (2 & 6:30 p.m.) – Good Friday Passion Play
CAUTION: This Passion Drama may be unsuitable for young
children. As an alternative, families are invited to attend the 6:30p
Good Friday worship service at St. Mark, 2921 Mt. Zion Ave,
Janesville.
April 4, (6 p.m.) – Easter Vigil
April 5, (6, 8 & 10:30 a.m.) – Easter Sunday Services
March 16 at 2 p.m.
For the April Newsletter
During the season of Lent the Thursday evening services will
not be held. Be sure to attend the Lenten Suppers from 5 – 6 p.m. in
Fellowship Hall (the church basement).
Volume 29, No. 3
News ‘N’ Notes
Join Us for
Lenten Suppers Each Wednesday
Various groups will host Lenten Suppers each
Wednesday evening from 5-6 p.m. in Fellowship Hall
(the church basement). A free-will offering will be
taken to cover the cost of the meal.
You are welcome to join us as we prepare our
hearts for the Passion of our Lord.
Afternoon Communion Service
Canceled in March
Due to JLIT Weekend, we will CANCEL our
Afternoon Communion service on March 1, 2015.
Please remind any of your friends who may
attend this service of the schedule change.
Fifth Grade Students to Entertain at
Adult Fellowship Club
Adult Fellowship Club invites you to join them
for dinner on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 6p in
Fellowship Hall (the church basement). Please bring
a dish to share.
Then stay for our guest speakers, Lynne Jacobsen
and some of her students, who will share with us
information on the Pledge of Allegiance. The
program starts around 7p. We hope you will be able
to join us.
It’s Treat Time for LWML!
All ages are invited to join the ladies of LWML
(Lutheran Women in Mission) who will be meeting
in Fellowship Hall (the church basement) on
Tuesday, March 17 at 1:30p to assemble treat boxes
for St. Paul’s homebound members. LWML
members are asked to bring treats to fill these boxes.
Sugar free items are most appreciated! LWML
members will then deliver these boxes to the
homebound members of our congregation.
Ladies, please also bring a package of toilet
paper for the House of Mercy Homeless Shelter.
Even though our ingathering for them is scheduled
for April, they are in immediate need of this item.
Any members of the congregation that would like to
donate to this collection for the House of Mercy,
there will be a marked box in Fellowship Hall after
JLIT weekend.
We invite everyone to join us on Wednesday,
March 4, when LWML serves the Lenten Supper
from 5 to 6p in Fellowship Hall. Please join us for a
meal before we worship together. We look forward to
seeing you!
March 2015--Page-2
Journey to the Cross
Families with children in K through 5th grade are
invited to participate in Journey to the Cross every
Wednesday in Lent at 5:30p. This “Journey” will
help them better understand the events of the last
week of Jesus’ life.
As they travel in small groups, they will stop at
various stations each week and use their senses to
connect to the Bible Story. They will have the
opportunity to walk where Jesus walked in
Jerusalem; meet Mary Magdalene and smell the
aroma of anointing perfume; talk to a Roman Guard;
feel a crown of thorns, and much more! Please make
plans to attend with your family.
No Flowers on Altar
During Lent
St. Paul’s Altar Guild would like to remind
everyone that flowers will not be placed on the Altar
during Lent. If you donate flowers, they will be
placed under the hymn- boards.
We thank everyone who donated flowers in
February.
On Wednesday, March 25, Altar Guild serves the
Lenten Supper. Members are asked to help set-up
beginning at 4p; help with serving from 5 to 6:15p;
and help with clean-up afterward. Following the
evening worship service, we will have a short
meeting in Fellowship Hall. Members of the
congregation are also invited to join us.
With Sympathy:
Our thoughts and prayers are with all who
mourn. Please remember: Cindy Perkins on loss of
mother, Geraldine Seedorf; Kelly Zastoupil on loss of
grandmother Jean Tanda; Betty Mitchell on loss of
sister, Evelyn Lokken; Robert, Dale and Kaitlyn
Brockway on loss of wife/mother/grandmother Ilean
Brockway; John and Carson Henning on loss of
father/grandfather Richard Henning; Mary Schulze
on loss of father, Keith Zeilinger; the family of Lois
Turner.
Daylight Savings Time
Begins
March 8, 2014
Set Your Clocks
AHEAD
One Hour
Volume 29, No. 3
News ‘N’ Notes
Much Happening in March at
St. Paul’s School
Blessings and peace to you from the Master
Teacher, Jesus Christ. As we enter into March we are
making a transition in the school year. Basketball
season is winding down and we shift our focus to the
items that remain towards the end of the school year.
Yes, I did say the end of the school year. By the end
of this month, we will be entering into the last quarter
of the 2014-2015 school year.
But, before we do, on behalf of the athletes,
students, and staff of St. Paul’s school, I would like
to thank everyone who helped with JLIT (Janesville
Lutheran Invitational Tournament) for making it a
successful weekend. It is more than just basketball. It
is the Christian fellowship that we share with other
schools who are in the same ministry that we are in
here at St. Paul’s. What a great feeling.
We are in the enrollment process for the 20152016 school year. If you know of anyone who is
looking for a difference in their child(ren)’s
education, please share with them the blessings of St.
Paul’s. We are in the open enrollment period, so we
have seats to fill. If there is a classroom with an
empty chair, the first year qualifies for the Reach
Program. There still are spots available in the P4J
program as well for parents to enroll their children. If
you don’t want to make the contact, please share their
names with me and I would be more than willing to
reach out to them.
As we look towards the following school year,
families will once again be applying for Tuition
Assistance. This year, we gave out more assistance to
more families than we have in the past. With the local
economy still staying about the same, I anticipate this
number to stay the same and even increase. If you
would like to make an additional donation, over and
above your normal church offering, please consider
making it to the St. Paul’s Family Tuition Assistance
Fund. Please help a family that truly wants their child
to attend St. Paul’s.
As we look at what else will be happening in
March, we have IQ testing the week of March 3rd and
then Achievement testing the week of March 16th. On
Wednesday, March 18th our Music Boosters Club
will be hosting the Lenten Dinner. Why not come and
enjoy a good meal and support the band and choir
programs of St. Paul’s School? Spring break will
begin at 3pm on March 27th with school resuming
April 6th.
Thank you for your continued support of St.
Paul’s School and its ministry to our families.
Mr. Kevin Hendrikson, Principal
March 2015--Page-3
St. Paul’s
Members
Support
Meals on Wheels
A big THANK YOU to all 72 people who helped
deliver meals in 2014. We help provide a much
needed service in the community when we join others
in delivering hot meals. St. Paul’s has been
participating in the Meals on Wheels program for
many years and donated 1,040 hours in 2014!
Please consider helping the next time St. Paul’s is
scheduled to deliver meals. If you feel you are unable
to help during the week due to work, please consider
volunteering on the weekends. Mercy’ Hospital’s
Meals on Wheels program delivers meals seven days
a week, 365 days a year---so there are drivers and
helpers needed every day of the year.
St. Paul’s is scheduled to deliver meals in
August. Please call Bob Knudson (754-6112) or Ed
& Lois James (756-0854) to offer your services. We
pair everybody up: one drives and one delivers the
meals to the door. At apartment complexes,
sometimes both deliver the meals. Talk to those who
have helped to find out how rewarding this service is
for everyone.
A special “Thank You” to the following who
helped this past year: Jack & Sue Arnold; Carol
Canizaro; Gregg & Ellen Davis; Ione Erlien; Sean,
Kim, Kelsi, Addison Fagan and Kim Fagan’s mother;
Pastor Jim & Corrine Hendrikson; Bob & Arlene
Knudson; Kevin, Staci, Amanda, Matthew Neilson;
Dale & Jan Stebbins; Margaret Tegt; Denny
Warnecke; Barry & Ruth Wier; Gwen Brassington;
Ryan Brassington; Rich & Roxann Cannistra;
Richard & Linda De War; Ed & Lois James; Sara
Knuth; Don & Andrea Nelson; Gary & Mary
Schulze; Gary & Judy Sullivan; Carol Turner; Rich
& Karen Zastoupil; Caleb Wier; Ruth Braatz; Bob &
Lois Cook; Tim Ebeling; Mal & Dorothy Fischer;
Naomi Hackbarth; Rupert Klitzke; Mark & Christine
Langdok; Tom & Sharon Roth; Carolyn Seekamp;
Karen Tatge; Dave & Karen Speth; Karen Tatge;
Denny & Dianne Vierk; Pastor Jack Fish; Roger &
Diane Krause; Tim & Dawn Roberts.
Bob Knudson
St. Paul’s Meals on Wheels Coordinaor
Volume 29, No. 3
News ‘N’ Notes
Church Council Meets: March 9, 2015
St. Paul’s Church Council meets the second
Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the
Conference Room of School. Members of the
congregation are welcome to attend. Copies of
approved Church Council meeting minutes are also
available from the Church Office and can be mailed
to you upon request.
St. Paul’s Church Council 2014-15
Brian Laatsch, Chairperson .............. 608-314-0825
Karl Miller ....................................... 608-754-1508
Mark Toberman................................ 608-876-6646
Cindy Ward, Vice Chair................... 608-758-1220
Kathy Zakarias, Secretary ................ 815-519-2181
John Iverson ..................................... 608-554-9230
Bret Rusert ....................................... 608-756-0399
Ralph Bock, Treasurer ..................... 608-449-1460
Bridget Lindau ................................. 608-290-1460
Stephen Ministry
Stephen Ministry is a ministry of trained lay
people who provide, quality, Christ-centered,
confidential care for the needs of hurting people.
Those trained in Stephen Ministry help hurting
people find hope, healing and a new sense of selfworth. We are blessed to have the following Stephen
Ministers serving our congregation:
Carol Canizaro ........................... 608-754-9327
Jennifer Ellis .............................. 608-449-3072
Joan Everts ................................. 608-754-7555
Myra Heller ................................ 608-755-3293 or
............................................. 608-289-2488 Cell
Sue Iverson................................. 608-554-9230
Ed James .................................... 608-756-0854
Dianne Moore ............................ 608-921-8371 Cell
Dawn Oas ................................... 608-754-6894
Jason Steinke .............................. 608-757-0688
Gary Sullivan ............................. 608-754-4267
Kathy Zakarias ........................... 815-519-2181
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran
Church, School and Day Care
The Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod
210 South Ringold St., Janesville WI 53545; 754-4471
Office Hours: Weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
March 2015--Page-4
Elder Zones
St. Paul’s is blessed to have many wonderful men
serving as Church Elders who are responsible for
your spiritual welfare. If you have any personal
needs, questions, or concerns about yourself, your
family, or our church and school, please contact your
Elder or the Pastor.
The congregation is divided into 15 Elder Zones
based on your last name. If you are unsure of who
your Elder is, please contact the Church Office for
assistance.
ZONE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Last Name
A-BIS
BLA-CHR
CLA-EBE
EDE-GES
GIB-HEL
HEM-KEN
KEP-LAR
LAS-McC
McD-NEU
NIC-PRI
PRO-SCHI
SCHL-SIT
SKA-TAY
TEG-WHI
WIE-ZUE
Elder
Tom Moore
Don Pingel
Scott Sasse
Jeff Elser
David Jass
Phone
931-5111
757-2037
882-6750
752-5120
755-0564
VACANT
Mark Robinson
VACANT
VACANT
Gary Schulze
Larry Fladhammer
868-4009
752-3327
755-0943
VACANT
Steve Schroeder
Jack Eden
Paul Schieldt
758-8947
751-5999
741-0325
Official Acts:
Deaths:
02-03-2015
02-06-2015
02-13-2015
Ilean M. Brockway
Richard E. Henning
Lois J. Turner
Membership Changes:
New Members by Release from other congregations:
02-13-15
John & Nancy Brome
PO Box 994, Janesville WI 53547
262-203-1875
Transferred to LCMS Congregation
01-27-15
Natalie Davis
Pastor’s Page
Volume 29, No. 3
March 2015
WHAT MARRIAGE IS ALL ABOUT
Genesis 2:24 & 25: . . . and the two shall become one flesh . . . and the man and woman were naked and were not
ashamed . . .
Dear Fellow Members of St. Paul’s,
When you think of marriage you shouldn’t just think about the romantic stuff-pretty dancing, dresses, and
flowers. Instead, you should think about dirt-the dirt of creation. God taking a bunch of dirt and making us male and
female and uniting two people into one flesh.
God invented marriage because He knew it wasn’t good for a man to be alone, something we men prove is true
over and over again. There were lots of great animals for Adam to play with-from aardvarks to zebras, but no suitable
soul-mate for Adam was found among them. And so God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, and from the depth of
sleep He tore out a chunk of the man’s side and made a woman. Adam lost something but he gained something more. A
woman. She is like him but not like him. Equal but not interchangeable. When the man saw the woman God had made
for him he said: Finally! She’s like me. Bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. I’ll call her ishah (Hebrew for woman) for
she was taken out of ish (Hebrew for man).
This is the pattern for marriage that we ought to follow to this day. A man leaves father and mother and is joined
to his bride. This is the Garden of Eden all over again! The Bible says that in marriage the two become one flesh
referring primarily to what happens at the marriage bed not just at the wedding altar. And the Bible goes on to say that
they were naked and not ashamed. Marriage is when a husband and a wife are intimate and not ashamed of it.
When intimacy happens in any other place than the marriage bed-like the bachelor apartment or the dorm room or your
house when your parents aren’t home there is shame or ought to be. But when intimacy happens in the marriage bed
then marriage happens. There is where God blesses us. There two is where two people become one flesh. God says so.
And we shouldn’t mess with it.
So let’s get rid of any romantic view of marriage. Your being married in this church by some guy wearing what
looks like a dress doesn’t give your marriage a 120,000 mile bumper to bumper warrantee. Let’s be honest here-How
many of us had no idea what we were really getting in to on our wedding day?! And there’s no way to find out in
advance. You simply can’t know what it’s like to be married until you marry someone. And from that moment on it’s
catch-as-catch can, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.
Don’t fool yourselves, all married people at one time or another wake up one morning, look at the lump next to
them, and say what have I gotten myself in to? They may want to wander to greener pastures but then they see the rings
they exchanged on their wedding day, rings that won’t come off anymore because their fingers are too fat. And they’ll
remember the promises they made, promises that don’t wear out. And so they resolve to stick it out. Not because you
feel like it but because that’s what husbands and wives do. Christ sticks to us and we stick to one another.
That’s what marriage is all about. Marriage is sitting down at your table and pouring yourselves a glass of wine
and toasting the most miserable of days and then going to bed (after you put the kids to sleep), not burning with
honeymoon passion but basking in the glowing embers of commitment and faithfulness and forgiveness. And you know
what happens when you do that? You fall in love, real love.
If you don’t believe me just talk to some of these stubborn Lutherans around here who have been married for fifty
or sixty years. They’ll tell you. You don’t necessarily live happily ever after, but you live (if you don’t kill each other
first). A recent study on marriage reveals that more than half the couples who were completely dissatisfied with their
marriages are completely satisfied five years later just for having stuck with it. No counseling, no gimmicks, no
techniques. Just hanging in there—for richer, for poorer, in sickness, in health until that day when one or the other of you
drops dead in the arms of Jesus.
Volume 29, No. 3
Pastor’s Page
March 2015
Allow me to share a few thoughts along this line and then I’ll park this tractor in the shed. First, you only need
two pieces of furniture to have a good marriage-a table and a bed-a place to eat and a place to sleep. Anything besides a
bed and table in your marriage is absolutely optional and often hurtful to marriages. You don’t need the 5,000 square inch
TV or the megawatt sound system or that deluxe Lazy Boy recliner with the cup holder and back massager. But you do
need a Bed and a Table. A place to eat together and a place to sleep together. Those are the places where a marriage
really happens, where a husband and wife commune with one another as husband and wife.
When couples come to me for a tune up because their marriage doesn’t seem to be getting the mileage it used to,
I’ve learned to ask them just two questions: Do you eat with one another? And the answer usually is: Well, no . . . we
used to but our schedules are so hectic. My response is always the same. Where there’s a will, there’s a way and what
better way to say “I love you,” than when you make a way. My second question is this: Do you go to bed at the same
time, presumably in the same bed? Again, the answer is usually no or hardly ever. Not a very pretty picture of a
marriage, is it? No eating together, no sleeping together, no communion between husband and wife. It’s like a Christian
who never worships, never prays, never sings hymns with his fellow Christians, never shows up at Jesus’ Table except for
Christmas and Easter. In the military they call it AWOL. Don’t go AWOL on your marriage. Eat together. Talk
together. Pray together. Sleep together. Worship and commune together as husband and wife.
Second, recognize that Christ is in the middle of your marriage. Now I didn’t say put Christ in the middle of your
marriage. You don’t put Christ anywhere He hasn’t already put Himself. So when it comes to your marriage (and
anything else for that matter) He’s the middle, the center, the focus and source-because He is your God.
He’s your God Who made you, Who called you into existence, Who holds you in His death and life, Who
reconciled you to God the Father together by hanging on the Cross on a good Friday between noon and three. It’s His
robe of righteousness that you wear like a Teflon suit. It’s His innocence that God sees when He looks at you. You live
under the sign of His Baptism. You are citizens of His Kingdom. So worship Him. Worship Him in bed. Worship Him
at your table. Worship Him at work and at play. Hear His Word together. Pray together. Take communion together.
Because you see, He’s the center of your marriage, not you.
Third, forgive one another. Regularly and recklessly. Jesus pours the good wine of His forgiveness of you with a
very generous wrist. Your cup runneth over with God’s forgiveness of you. Let the overflow flow over to your spouse.
You two are justified sinners. Sinners to the core justified in the Cross of Christ. That means you’re going to step on
each other’s toes sometimes, but don’t let it stop the dance. God’s not stopping your marriage song. You’re dyed-in-thewool sinners, but your robes are bleached white in the blood of the Lamb. You’re real sinners who really sin, and you’re
really forgiven in Jesus. Now live and love in the freedom of that forgiveness.
And for all those who have experienced the heartache, pain, and tears of divorce, please know that your God is the
God Who loves you, Who died on the Cross for any and all of your sins, and who rose again to assure you that you live in
His resurrection-assured love and acceptance.
Now, before I turn this tractor off, as your pastor, I want to wish a two-part blessing from God for your marriage.
First of all, may God bless your table-may He cover it with the best of food, the best of talk, and the best of prayer.
Secondly, may God bless your marriage bed-may He cover it with the best of laughter and the best of love. For after all,
that is WHAT MARRIAGE IS ALL ABOUT. Amen.
May God Bless You All!
Pastor Dan Decker