THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE:
BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK:
Week of 4/28: Sandra Marshall 4/20; Oscar Kolka 5/1; Holly Jones 5/4
ANNIVERSARIES THIS WEEK:
Week of 4/28: Becky and Dean Reed-29yrs 4/29; David and Sarah Hartman-42yrs 5/1
FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT:
Budgeted/Regular (including mortgage interest) $6,693
Budgeted/Mortgage Principal $1,000
Total Weekly Budgeted $7,693
Received/Regular: $5,927
Received/Designated Mortgage Principal: $100
Total Weekly Received $6,027 Better/Worse: $1,666
MEMBERSHIP ACTIVITY: 4/7: 8:00 – 42; 10:30 – 94 Total: 136 YouTube YTD: 1,248
GOOD NEWS KITCHEN MINISTRY: FREE lunches served on 4/23: 237 Year-to-date served: 4,211.
THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE:
Sunday, April 28: 8:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. Worship Service
Monday, April 29: 9:00 a.m. Women’s Quilting
Tuesday, April 30: 10:00 a.m. Women’s Bible Study – The Chosen
6:00 p.m. Speakers Series Presents: Jason Denovich –
New Look Data, April 24:
Wednesday, May 1: NO CARDIO DRUMMING-done for the season
Thurs, May 2: 8:00 a.m. – Men’s Bible Study – Big Boy Restaurant
10:30 a.m. – Sparrow Grief Coffee Hour
6:30 p.m. – Women’s Bible Study
UPCOMING EVENTS:
June 6 7:00 p.m. The Garms Family presents: A Night of Encouragement
GREETER SCHEDULE: April: 8:00 Jerry and LouAnn Roberts; 10:30 Jan Motz May: 8:00 Sue Brinley; 10:30 Liz Webster June: 8:00 Judy and Barry Boettger; 10:30 David and Sarah Hartman
ACOLYTE SCHEDULE: April 28: 8:00 Ryan Park; 10:30 Makenzie Manas May 5: 8:00 Ryan Park; 10:30 Max Wardin
USHER SCHEDULE: April 28: 8:00 Charles Reed; 10:30 Ryan Rieves May 5: 8:00 Jerry Roberts; 10:30 Mike Longoria
READERS: April 28: 8:00 A Park 10:30 David Link May 5: 8:00 MaKenzie Kindel; 10:30 Samantha Pearl
AV TEAM: April 28: Samantha Pearl May 5: Marty Kolka
ALTAR GUILD: April: Becky and Barb May: Cindi and Shirley
DIVINE DONUT CREW: May 12: Samantha and Crew
2024 GRADUATIONS: Do you have a senior graduating this year? We would like to know about it! Please reach out to Carla Warding with details. Carla can be reached at 989-640-9284.
WOMEN’S GUILD – TREASURE SALE: Praise and Glory to God for Blessing us with the willing hands and support of SO many people that volunteered to help make the Treasure Sale a huge success. Could never have happened without you ALL. With these financial blessings we will be able to continue the mission work God has intended for us to do. THANK YOU!!!
A MATTER OF BALANCE: Tri County Office on Aging is offering a free workshop on Tuesdays and Thursdays May 7th through May 30, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. This 8-session workshop is designed to improve balance, flexibility, and strength, helping people reduce fall risks, strengthen their confidence, and become more active. The sessions will be held at Sparrow Clinton Hospital. Call TCOA at 517-887-1465 or email histedc@tcoa.org to register.
NIGHTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT: The Garms Family bands together to love on people with live music, honest stories, and God’s Word. Since 2008, the family has brought "Night of Encouragements" to churches and venues across America. They are bringing musical skills to St. John’s Lutheran Church on Thursday, June 6 at 7:00 p.m. We are excited to have this talented family provide this free concert for us. Mark your calendar and plan to attend. Bring your family and friends, too. For more information on their national tour, visit their website at www.thegarmsfamily.com.
VOLUNTEER CHILDREN’S SUNDAY SCHOOL COORDINATOR: St. John’s Lutheran Church is seeking a volunteer Children’s Sunday School Coordinator. Vision for this role: To serve Christ and the church by coordinating and encouraging a vibrant ministry to children in our church. To nurture faith and Christian formation while establishing a safe, supportive, and loving environment for children. Complete job description on bulletin board. See Pastor Jim for more information.
CAMP CONCORDIA: Camp Concordia is in Gowen, Michigan. This Summer Camp is for children from 1st grade through 10th grade. There is also a Family camp. Camps begin June 9 and run through August 2. Most camps are for a week, but there are a few weekend options. To review the dates, go to www.campconcordia.org.
LANSING CAREGIVER RETREAT: A free event to support anyone caring for a loved one. April 30, 2024, 10a.m. – 3p.m. at Lansing Community College-West Campus. See the bulletin board for more information.
2024 LUTHERAN ADULT GATHERING: The theme for the 2024 Gathering is “New Beginnings IN HIS PRESENCE”, based on Revelation 21:5. The Gathering is held on October 11 – 13th, on Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel. Registration fee is $50.00 and includes ferry to the island. Lodging reservations are made separately. For more information, www.michigandistrict.org/event/lutheran-adult-gathering-2024
WOMENS GUILD:
Upcoming schedule: NO GUILD MEETING IN JUNE OR JULY
LWML SPRING RALLY: May 4, 2024, registration at 8:30 a.m.. Ladies of St. John’s you are invited to join fellow LWMLers at our Spring Rally being held at Ascension Lutheran Church 2780 Haslett Rd, East Lansing, MI! Not sure if you know, Ladies, but you are a member of LWML when you become a member of St. John’s. We have those quiet members that step in when needed and then there are those (Women’s Guild) who support many opportunities to reach out in helping those in need. YOU can be a part of that for our Spring Rally! The gathering will be in support of 7-10 years of age who reside at Youth Haven Ranch. The ingathering items needed are travel size toothpaste and bar soap. Other items needed are toothbrushes, combs, and wash clothes. There will be a box for this gathering in the Narthex. We thank you, in advance, for your love and care in helping us with this special need. Please pray and consider joining Women’s Guild. Blessing!
GUATEMALA MISSION TRIP:
Please continue to pray for the team as we prepare for the eyeglass clinic in Guatemala City, Guatemala. We have begun having virtual team meetings in which we have met the other team members from St. Paul Lutheran in Trenton, Michigan and talked about what to expect while in Guatemala. Thank you to those who have contributed financially towards the trip! We are still accepting donations which will cover training, travel, lodging, and meals. We are anticipating a cost of $21,000 for the St. John's team and we currently have $18,664.36 in donations. Please indicate on your donation that your contribution is for the Guatemala mission trip. You can also give through Kindred using the code "Guatemala."
CONFIRMATION CLASSES: Confirmation classes resumed November 5, 2023. Contact Samantha Pearl with any questions. 269-275-0072, email: samanthapearlbc@hotmail.com.
f. May 5, 19
g. October 6 – Confirmation Ceremony Preparation
h. October 20 – Confirmation Ceremony Preparation
i. October 27 – Confirmation Ceremony
2024 ONE YEAR BIBLE READING: This schedule allows you to read the entire Bible in 2024. This schedule is laid out a bit differently than 2023.
APRIL/MAY
30 Judges 11:1-12:15 John 1:1-28 Psalm 101:1-8 Proverbs 14:13-14
May 01 Judges 13:1-14:20 John 1:29-51 Psalm 102:1-28 Proverbs 14:15-16
02 Judges 15:1-16:31 John 2:1-25 Psalm 103:1-22 Proverbs 14:17-19
03 Judges 17:1-18:31 John 3:1-21 Psalm 104:1-24 Proverbs 14:20-21
04 Judges 19:1-20:48 John 3:22-4:3 Psalm 104:24-35 Proverbs 14:22-24
05 Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22 John 4:4-42 Psalm 105:1-15 Proverbs 14:25
06 Ruth 2:1-4:22 John 4:43-54 Psalm 105:16-36 Proverbs 14:26-27
WOMEN’S TUESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY: Morning Bible study meets Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. The Chosen series is being shown. All are welcome to attend for The Chosen, including men.
MEN’S BIBLE STUDY: Please join us each Thursday at 8:00 a.m. for Men’s Bible Study. This is held at the Big Boy Restaurant in St. Johns. We take an in-depth look at Pastor Jim’s sermon and dive deeper into the Word.
THURSDAY EVENING BIBLE STUDY: Women's Thursday Evening Bible Study
We are watching episodes 1-4 of season 4 of The Chosen through May 2nd and will pick up with episodes 5-8 once they have been released. Beginning May 9th, we are going to start a survey of the Bible with the Bible Recap study guide. If you like to Learn, Laugh, and Love please join us at 6:30 on Thursdays! New members are always welcome! See Liz Webster if interested.
TIFFANY IN TANZANIA: We will post Tiffany’s updates here, so you can continue to lift her up in prayer. You can also follow her at www.lbt.org/smith
In early March I traveled to Bukundi with some pastors and our American colleague, Dr. Michael Megahan. We wanted to start asking questions from the “Translation Brief”, a document which communities walk through together to decide how they want the translation project to be carried out. It asks many questions regarding all aspects of the translation program, including preference for Scripture-based products (produced once the translation is ongoing/finished) and the language issues that exist (to be discussed before translation even begins). We in the Taturu program are still exploring the latter topic, and so we are beginning with Oral Bible Storytelling as a platform before translating the Bible into Taturu.
When we asked people how many dialects there are in Taturu, they told us 6, which means we need to further investigate how these dialects differ and which one should be used for the official translation once it has begun. This is a very complex issue to navigate, so we want to take our time. We have even considered whether or not the Taturu Bible can simply be adapted from a neighboring language called Barabaig, which already has a Bible (one of the biggest reasons why the Taturu have not been given their own translation yet). The language Barabaig belongs to the same tribe, called Datoga, but it is not the Taturu’s language. This is hard to explain to outsiders who are under the impression that the Datoga already have a Bible, which is what you see when you look online. However, a Taturu man in Bukundi showed me the Barabaig Bible he bought years ago. He attempted to read the entire Bible several times, highlighting words and phrases he could not understand as he went along. Just about every sentence had an underlining, a star, or a mark noting where he couldn’t understand it. Most were very important terms like the name for God. For example, the word for God in Barabaig exists in Taturu, because they are similar languages, but it has a different meaning. The meaning for that word in Taturu means “Witchdoctor”. Very different meanings! There were other significant differences that lead us to conclude that the Taturu certainly need their own translation.
CHURCH EXTENSION FUND: Our representative is Matt Nobis. There are materials available in the Narthex. For questions, you can contact him at matthewnobis@gmail.com.
Thought for the Week of April 28, 2024
Gift Planning creates solutions for donors. A good plan can help to navigate challenging family dynamics. Sometimes there are family conversations that seem too awkward to have. The result is that they never happen. This is often true when parents put together a gift plan in their estate, with inheritance gifts for family and ministry gifts that will support the sharing of Jesus in generations to come through the Church. It is wise to communicate these plans to family now, so that in the future, if family members become involved in helping to manage your estate, they know how to respect your wishes. Your LCMS Foundation Gift Planning Counselor can help you by facilitating those family conversations. Contact… Julie Burgess, Gift Planning Counselor Church Extension Fund Julie.burgess@lfnd.org | 713-822-5284
OUR WORSHIP OPTIONS: In addition to our 8:00 and 10:30 am services in the Sanctuary, we will continue to offer the drive-in option (on 93.1 FM) will be at both services and we are offering live streaming of the 10:30 service on YouTube. We will also continue to pre-record the readings and sermons each week and post them online so those members who are not yet comfortable coming out to service may still join in worship.