Worship with us
Saturday (Contemporary) @ 4pm
Sunday @ 9:30 am
LENT 2015 “Miracles of Lent”
Midweek Worship and Holy Week
The Lenten Midweek Services for 2015 is the “Miracle of Lent”. It will focus on the important and significant miracles
and miraculous signs that God the Father performed to set apart His Son’s death from all others. These miraculous
signs and miracles were performed by our Heavenly Father during the passion of His Son to help spread the Good
News, which is centered in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the face of opportunity. Paul in Ephesians
6:10-20 reminds us of our opposition “Proclaiming the Miracles of Lent equip us with some of the “armor” Paul writes
about.
Wednesday – 6pm Supper (different groups) 7pm Worship in Fellowship Hall
March 4
Matthew 27:51b “The Miraculous Earthquake”
March 11 Matthew 27:51c “The Miracle of Splitting Rocks”
March 18 Matthew 27:52-53 “The Miraculous Raising of the Saints from death”
March 25 Matthew 27:54 “The Miraculous Faith of The Roman Soldiers”
Holy Week Services: (in the Sanctuary)
March 29
April 2
April 3
April 5
Palm Sunday
9:30am
Maundy Thursday 6-8pm Seder at Trinity, Glendora
Good Friday 7pm 1 Peter 3:18 “The Miracle of Good Friday”
Easter Sunday with Holy Communion each service 8am & 10:30am 9am Breakfast
Matthew 28:1-10
“The Miracle of The Resurrection”
These Special Worship Services are opportunities to prayerfully invite family, friends and neighbors. May God richly Bless us on
our Lenten Journey.
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WORSHIP SCHEDULE
2/28&3/1
nd
2
Sunday in Lent
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Romans 5:1-11
Mark 8:27-38
3/7&8
rd
3 Sunday in Lent
Exodus 20:1-17
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
John 2:13-25
3/14&15
th
4 Sunday in Lent
Numbers 21:4-9
Ephesians 2:1-10
John 3:14-21
th
3/21&22 5 Sunday In Lent
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Hebrews 5:1-10
3/29
Mark 10:32-45
Palm Sunday
Zechariah 9:9-12
Philippians 2:5-11
Mark 14:1-15; 47 or Mark 15:1-47 or
John 12:20-43
Maundy Thursday at Trinity, Glendora
CHRISTIAN SEDER CELEBRATION
Trinity Lutheran Glendora, Trinity Lutheran Sawyer, and St. Paul Lutheran Buchanan invite you to
a Christian Passover celebration called a Seder Service. The deliverance the Lord gave the
children of Israel from slavery in Egypt anticipates in many ways the deliverance the Lord gives
from sin through THE Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ. It was while remembering and celebrating
the Passover that our Lord instituted a new covenant in His blood poured out for us for the
forgiveness of our sins. Therefore we will celebrate God’s deliverance in ways faithful to the
traditions of God’s people going back to the first Passover while also celebrating and honoring our
Lord for the greater deliverance provided for us through Jesus Christ. The Seder Service includes
a program, meal, and the Lord’s Supper. This will take place on Maundy Thursday, April 2, from
6:00-8:00 at Trinity Glendora, 1733 W. Glendora Rd. Buchanan, MI, 49107. Rev. Liebich, Rev.
Lett, and Rev. Barz will be co-hosting and leading. The meal is a pot-luck with a specific menu.
Please sign-up if you would like to attend and also consider signing up to bring a dish from the
menu. Contact Jeannine Krieger or Ruby Schaffer for sign up and recipes.
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A WORD FROM OUR PASTOR
In His time together…
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet
they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
In one way or another we are all “caught by the lake effect snow”. We look out our
windows at the winter wonderland. It’s usually about this time of year we start to get cabin fever
and long for spring, but we know it is a ways off. “Lake effect” is still new for us. So forgive my
curiosity and fascination… The snow is lighter than system snow, so snow removal is easier. The
snow bands off the lake bring snow, not to all of Michiganders, just us. God treats us special that
way. The snow banks are driven by wind blowing across Lake Michigan, the cold temperatures
hold the white fluff in the air and deliver it to us. Some is caught in the trees and bushes and held
there by gravity until the wind blows it loose. This “winter only” scene is often captured by artists
in their drawings, paintings and photographs. They intend to capture the moment so others in
other places and times will also have the opportunity to be in awe and marvel along with them.
Many escape winter and go south. We would like to go along with them! We long for the
warmth, sunshine and greening up of God’s creation again.
But this is winter in West Michigan. In our longing for spring, God gives beauty to catch our
attention and to slow and quiet our impatience and restlessness. Our world, racing in a hurry to
get there is forced to reconsider and adjust travel, schedules, and involvement in order to keep
commitments. All this interruption can cause a shift in our focus from ourselves to what we see
and God who made it all for us. We are slowed down, stopped, forced to just be… and to be in
awe.
So we, like Isaiah pause, reflect and encourage others to do likewise. The snow also is a
metaphor a word picture God has sculpted to slow us, and show us. Boldly, yes, our sins are
forgiven. All our sins are all covered like the snow covering the ground.
What Christ has accomplished is delivered to us in our time of anxiety and need and when
we try to do it all and fix it all; but we can’t. We are slowed and shown what only God can do for
us. Behold the Beauty of the Snow! Be reminded of this undeserved forgiveness for our sins, for
us and all. Pause to celebrate and give thanks, Christ died and paid the full price – covered it all,
and rose to give us new life forever! We long for Spring; we long for the future. We believe,
know and trust, it will come one day, but for now…Lake effect. It’s Lake effect…just for us.
Enjoy it together with others!
In Christ,
Pastor Randy Lett
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Nurturing News from PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT
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SUNDAY SCHOOL
YOUTH NEWS
Youth Events
Gathering items for Care Packages
Month of March
For our Military and College Students
Pack Care Packages Sun, March 29 3-5pm
Sunday school for Preschool to Grade 5, meets
the first and third Sunday of each month during
the Church Service. Sunday School. Sunday
School continues to meet on the first and third
Sunday of each month during Church. We have
wonderful teachers, please bring your children to Sunday
School.
Set up for Easter Breakfast
Join us to dye eggs and set up the tables
Saturday April 4 10-Noon
Easter Breakfast Sunday, April 5
Please come to help serve and clean up
Church at 8 am & 10 am
Michigan District Junior High School Youth Gathering
(for those currently in grades 6,7,8)
June 5-7, 2015
Bavarian Inn Lodge, Frankenmuth MI
$50 deposit due to Mrs Kacmar by March 22
Cost: Registration—$59 & Room Fee
Total cost determined by number of participants staying in
each room. The plan is to earn the cost of the rooms with
fundraisters.
Registrations packets available from Mrs Kacmar.
Mrs. Kacmar – 847-971-2860 (cell) call or text
269-756-9525 (home) leave a message
[email protected] email
IM on facebook (Dawn Kacmar)
SCRIP
Fill your Easter Baskets with scrip. Order now to be sure
to get all exactly what you want.
Thanks to all our faithful scrip purchasers. Scrip is
available Sunday mornings or from the office during
office hours. The most effective way to guarantee
that you get the scrip you need is to put in an order
for it. We have the order in by Thursday and will call
you or you can pick it up on the next Sunday
morning. Please consider ordering from scrip. You
pay exactly what the amount of the scrip card is
for. There are many more stores available than we
are able to keep in stock. For example: Meijer is
available to order in denominations of $25, $50, or
$100. Lowe's and Home Depot in even larger
denominations including $500 and $1000 for those
building or remodeling projects. A little advance
planning can provide you with what you need and
include a nice donation for Youth.
VBS
Mark your calendar! Vacation Bible School will be June 1518. The theme is "Camp Discovery", Jesus at Work
Through Us. Please contact Dawn Kacmar to volunteer. We
need lots of people to have a successful VBS. Teachers,
craft leaders, game leaders, publicity people, guides, and
more are needed.
Library News:
MARCH The month that begins the season of SPRING!
So SPRING into the library for a book!
February is the month I stock up on some new books at the
annual sale in Buchanan at LES.
March allows us to prepare for Easter as we attend Lent
services on Wednesday leading to Palm Sunday on March
29th.
Sherrie Bender donated a wonderful booklet of 19 CD’s of
the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. These audio CD’s
are from Focus on the Family Radio Theatre. Here are the
classic stories, that have enchanted millions brought to life
with a cast of over one hundred actors. Check it out for
family listening entertainment. It would be great for long car
trips for listening enjoyment.
May will be here before we know it! Keep saving those
pennies.
My prayer is that we will all have a great spiritual journey
during Lent to the Holy Week.
See you in church!
ADULT BIBLE STUDY
“JOINING JESUS ON HIS MISSION” by LCMS Pastor
Greg Finke. We continue our study of this book in our
Sunday Adult Bible Study at 10:45 am each Sunday in the
Fellowship Hall.
We are learning how easy and
comfortable it can be to follow Jesus and invite others to
also follow along. All are welcome.
At the workshop I was caught by Pastor Finke’s
insights and practical approach, to just learn from Jesus.
So we will explore our apprehensions, and get ourselves
untangled from all our excuses and get back to the
simplicity of learning, following, trusting, sharing…Jesus. If
you’ve never attended a Sunday Adult Bible Study before,
that’s okay. We are at different points on our journey. We
are all learning. I look forward to growing with you. I will
also be sharing in our Epiphany Season Sermons
teachings from Jesus on following Him. Pastor Lett
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JANUARY 2015 SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
BIRTHDAY
CHILDREN’S WEB SITE
The JCPlay Zone website, www.jcplayzone.org, is offered
by Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Evie & Emmett Kempton, Elaine Dinges,
Frances Reisenbichler
MEMORIALS
for WALTER FREYER from Richard & Michele
Kiel: $30 for Maintennce
MEMORIALS
for EVELYN SCHILLER from Agnes Cereske,
Beverly Schmidt, Maureen & Tasha Lindsay,
Virgina Freyer, Larry & Nerma Schmidt, Lottie
Schmidt, Dean Schmidt, Mary Jane Gnodtke:
$110 for Black Top Fund, $60 for Home, $75 for
Portals of Prayer
MEMORIALS
for JOYCE PORAPAT from Erna Jungblut: $25
for Home
PORTALS OF PRAYERS
LUTHERAN TALK RADIO
You can listen to Issues, Etc. on demand. Issues, Etc.
Is produced by Lutheran Public Radio and hosted by
LCMS Pastor Todd Wilken. Topics: Islam, Defending
the Pro-Life Position, God’s Will for Your Daily Life,
Religion & Politics, Biblical Interpretation, the Pop
Spirituality of Oprah Winfrey, Movie Reviews, ChristCentered
Fatherhood,
Creation
vs.
Evolution,
Witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses and more. Listen to
what you want when you want at www.issuesetc.org.
You’ll find weekly updates at the link; http://
issuesetc.org/promote.html.
CD MINISTRY TO SHUT INS
Volunteers are needed to help deliver CD’s of our
worship services to the shut-ins. Contact Harold Abele,
Board of Elders Chairman or Pastor Lett if you’d like to
help.
Hearing Assistant Devices at Worship
The Ladies’ Aid
There has been a great response to the providing of
Hearing assist devices for worship at Trinity. If you are
needing one ask the Elder or usher on duty to assist you.
Each person has their own ear piece to use which is ‘Kept’
in the usher closet in the narthex. We thank God for this
technology and the support for this caring ministry through
his people and their special gifts.
A BIG THANK YOU
Project Connect
JoAnn Trapp
IN HONOR OF SERVICE PERSONS
To Sheila Rose and Bruno Lehmann who
donated the new flooring in the kitchen of the
teacherage in memory of Raymond Harfert and
Ewald Lehmann.
Did you see the Booklet Rack by the door by the church
office? Maybe there is a topic you could prayerfully share
with someone you know.
*********************************
Portals of Prayer
ALTAR GUILD
For anyone who would like to donate flowers for our
church services, or become an Altar Guild member,
please contact either Teresa Krieger (269) 426-4317, or
Teresa Peterson (269) 426-3279 or any Altar Guild
member for more information.
Do you enjoy receiving The Portals of Prayer? Would you
assist the congregation in covering the expenses for this
wonderful devotional? We order them in bulk to lower your
cost. Individual subscriptions cost over $6 for the year, by
ordering them in bulk we pay only $3 for the year per copy.
Large Print is $9.60 instead of $10.60. If you would like to
help with this cost please place a donation for Portals of
Prayer in the offering plate. Thanks!
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BENTON HARBOR LUTHERAN OUTREACH
Events for March 2015
Meal and More – March 12, 2015

“Soup Kitchen” – Benton Harbor at the Salvation Army, Tuesday, March 24, 11:30am

Mobile Food Pantry – Trinity Center, Thursday, March 26, 4pm
Community Noon Meal – Trinity Center 4th Saturday, March 28, 11:30-1pm
Contact 269-983-5000 ext. 402 Debby Miskil for more information or Pastor Lett. We are collecting plastic
shopping bags, for dividing up fruits and vegetables and for making mats for the homeless, and returnable
beverage cans & bottles to help support the Mobile Food Pantry. Bring them to the boxes at “Boiler Square”.
CAN YOU HELP OUT?
“Can” you help out? Trinity, Sawyer has been accepting returnable bottles and cans in a bin by the
gym. The money collected from the refund is donated to the Mobile Food Pantry sponsored by
Benton Harbor Lutheran Outreach Missions (BHLOM). Our youth and other members have been
helping unload the truck, from time to time. The recent refund from bottles and cans totaled $27.
This is proof that Trinity members “can” and do make a difference! We also need plastic shopping
bags to be used for vegetables & fruits. The next Mobile Food Pantry distribution is Thursday, February 26. We meet at 4pm at Trinity Center, St.Joe. Contact Pastor Lett for more information if you
would like to help.
Thank you so much for raising money to assist with the cost of the Mobile Food Pantry. Because of your
generosity we are able to help those less fortunate.
May God Bless you as you are a Blessing to Many.
Debby Miskill
WELLSPRING LUTHERAN SERVICES
Our congregation has partnered with Wellspring Lutheran Services through a pilot program called Together
With Impact. This program is designed to help us get better understanding of what human care ministry
means to our congregation and the surrounding community. The first step of this process is for all of our
congregation members to participate in a survey on the topic of human care. This survey is completely
anonymous and should only take about five minutes to complete. We will be offering this survey either in
written form or there will also be an online version. This step will start on Saturday & Sunday, April 18 & 19
and should be completed by Monday April 27th. Our goal is to have a presentation ready for the
congregation by mid-July.
MEN’S GROUP AT TRINITY
We meet the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month at 8am, March 14 & 28. Men, lets gather and
encourage one another around a lively discussion of God’s Word. The Lutheran Hour Resource
topic video series will be starting soon.
NEWSLETTER DEADLINE ~ March 20th
The Newsletter Deadline is the Third Friday of every month. Please have anything you want in the
Newsletter emailed to Terry Bronson at [email protected] by the third Friday of
the month. Any questions please contact Terry directly (269) 612-0329.
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BENTON HARBOR LUTHERAN OUTREACH (BHLOM)
WITNESS AND MERCY
CALENDAR FOR 2015
MEAL & MORE
FOOD TRUCK
COM. DINNER
Thursday
Thursday
Saturday
SOUP KITCHEN
Tuesday
March 12
March 26
March 28
March 24
April 9
April 23
April 25
April 28
May 14
May 28
May 16 (3 wks.)
May 26
June 11
June 25
June 27
June 23
July 9
July 23
July 25
July 28
August 13
August 27
August 22
August 25
September 10
September 24
September 26
September 22
October 8
October 22
October 24
October 27
November 12
November 19 (3 wks.) November 21 (3 wks.) November 24
December 10
December 17 (3 wks.) December 19 (3 wks.) December 22
____
Worship at Harbor Towers, 250 Wall St., Benton Harbor is every Tuesday at 2pm in the
Community Room located on the 8th floor.
Meal & More is also at Harbor Towers Community Room, serving from 11:30am-1pm
These two events are specifically for the Harbor Towers for security purposes.
Food Truck – Doors open at 2pm / truck arrives at 3:30pm / hand out food at 4pm
Community Dinner at Trinity Ministry Center volunteers arrive 10:30 – 10:45am / serve 11:30 – 1pm
If you would like to volunteer for any of these please contact Debby Miskill at 983-5000 ext. 402.
We can support this Ministry with our returnable cans & bottles & plastic shopping bags.
Deposit them in the boxes in Boiler Square. Thanks!
Church Extension Fund
THERE'S MORE to planning for your retirement than just settling for whatever your employer has to offer.
After all, your company's plan may not be robust enough to support you as you'd like in retirement. Or maybe
your employer doesn't offer a plan at all. No matter what, your retirement is your responsibility, and if your
company plan is insufficient or nonexistent, you've got to find a
way to make up for it. Happily, you can solve the problem by
turning to the other tax-advantaged investment options like a
Church Extension Fund individual retirement account (IRAs). For
more information call CEF at 800-242-3944.
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March Anniversaries
10th
12th
14th
22nd
31st
Jason & Katie Schaeffer 9 years
Elmer & Betty Hak 60 years
Arthur & Frances Pearce 45 years
Richard & Carolyn Ghareeb 46 years
John & Shirley Gilman 53 years
March Birthday’s
1st
2nd
4th
5th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
20th
21st
22nd
25th
26th
27th
29th
31st
Karl Strefling, Joel Schaeffer, Tori Fleck
Mark Boyd, Ashley Germain
Angela Lowe
Joseph Hood, Emily Priest, David Forker
William Boyd, Karina Backus, Ruger Kittleson
Harold Abele, Jerry Phillippi, Janice Krycka
Gregg Schaffer
Abigail Craig
Larry Horak
Pauline Keller
Lovey Zeiger
Calvin Gnodtke
Patricia Gnodtke
Erna Jungblut, Delores Glaske, Casey Knapp,
Rachel Folino, Kyle Backus
Karon Gaul, Chad Shafer
Adeline Geik
Dennis Beckman, Bruce Stark
Gary Randall
Matthew Strefling
Maggie Szczypiorski, Dylan Comeaux
Carl Hildebrandt, Carter Hildebrandt, Christine Clament
Tracy Knapp, Joshua Ackerman
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TRINITY OFFICERS
MILITARY ADDRESSES
Kerry L. Krieger Reserves - Home
CHAIRMAN
Art Gnodtke – 426-4789
VICE CHAIRMAN Tom Krieger
TREASURER
Irene Oman
ASSISTANT TREASURER
Sheila Rose
RECORDING SECRETARY
Judy McGhee
FINANCIAL SECRETARY Dave Sinner
SUNDAY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT
Dawn Kacmar
BOARD OF ELDERS Harold Abele (ch), Bill
Marske, Roger Kugler, Ken Priest, Vic Gaul,
Irv Hischke
Jason & Katie Schaeffer
4254A Grayback Ct.
Silver dale, WA 98315
Tim & Elizabeth Philpott
8601 Copper Knoll
Las Vegas, NV 89129
Kris Shafer Reserves
Michael McClenahan
2379 Riverchase Place
Fayetteville, NC 28306
PVT Cassandra Bronson Reserves
Brett Glaske
Cherry Point
Havelock, NC
BOARD OF YOUTH MINISTRIES Rich
Bender (ch), Colleen Kugler, Dawn Kacmar,
Kathi Beckman
BOARD OF FINANCE David Sinner (ch),
Agnes Cereske, Arlene Harfert, Teresa
Krieger, Alvin Krumrie
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Tom Krieger (ch),
Dave Abele, Todd Mantei, Charles Bronson,
JJ Hischke, Matt Strefling, Dennis Wohler,
Richard Bender, Steve Harfert
BOARD OF FAMILY LIFE Irv Hischke,
Ginny Hischke
APPOINTED COMMITTEES
ENDOWMENT ADVISORY Dave Abele (ch),
Dennis Beckman, Heidi Abele,
FINANCIAL REVIEW Bill Marske, Marcia
Dinges, Linda Stanage, Teresa Krieger, Sheila
Rose
If you have someone in the service please let us know the address
so we can send cards and notes. Thanks!