The great and holy week of our Lord Jesus Christ is almost here! We hope that these reminders of upcoming opportunities for worship, education, fellowship and service will be helpful as we move from March to April.
WORSHIP AND CLASS SCHEDULE:
Our regular Sunday schedule of worship and classes continues on April 2, 16, 23 and 30, with the Divine Service at 8:30 and 11:00 am, and Sunday School and Bible Class at 9:45 am. 11:00 am services are scheduled to be livestreamed at
Our website www.messiahgr.org
Our Facebook page www.facebook.com/messiahgr.
Bulletins formatted for use with our livestream are available for downloading and/or printing at home. These are posted at least two days before each service at www.messiahgr.org/worship-resources
Readings and hymns for each service are also listed in the informational note found on the same pages as our livestreams.
Bible Class is also livestreamed at www.messiahgr.org/adult-bible-class.
Special Holy Week services will be held as follows:
Maundy Thursday, April 6th at 7:00 pm. This service will be livestreamed.
Good Friday, April 7th at 11:00 am & 7:00 pm. The 7:00 pm service will be livestreamed.
Services on Easter Sunday, April 9th will be held at 7:30 & 10:30 am; the 10:30 am service will be livestreamed. The annual Easter Breakfast will be held between services, with proceeds going to Messiah's Food Pantry. There will be no Sunday School or Bible Class on Easter Sunday.
During the week:
CARES (Caring, Active, Reaching, Encouraging Sisters in Christ) continues on Wednesday mornings, led by Pastor Twietmeyer. CARES will begin at 9:30 am on April 5th, returning to the start time of 9:45 am on April 12th, 19th and 26th.
WHAT'S UP, WHAT'S COMING:
(Details in our weekly announcements andin the April newsletter)
NEW! Making Palm Crosses this Saturday, April 1st at 9:30 am, sponsored by the Altar Guild. Sign up at the Welcome Center.
NEW! Lutherans in Fellowship Together meeting this coming Sunday, April 2nd after the 11 am service. The group will plan upcoming events and prepare goodie bags for our Easter Egg Hunt.
NEW! Stripping of the Altar Maundy Thursday, April 6th, sponsored by the Altar Guild. Sign up to help with the closing ceremony of this worship service at the Welcome Center.
Messiah's annual Easter Egg Hunt, sponsored by the Board of Outreach, is set for Saturday, April 8th at 10 am. Families attending are strongly encouraged to RSVP online by Friday, April 7th at www.messiahgr.org/events/2023-easter-eggs. We need plenty of volunteers (sign up at the Welcome Center or in Bible Class) to help with:
Set-up
Registration
Greeting and guiding families
Scattering eggs
Monitoring the egg hunt
Distributing goodie bags
Clean-up
NEW! Spring Clean-Up sponsored by the Board of Trustees on Saturday, April 22nd from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. Watch for more details!
NEW! Lutheran Women's Missionary League Spring Rally on Saturday, April 29th from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Big Rapids. Sign up at the Welcome Center by Friday, April 21st.
NEW! Secret Prayer Pals Spring Gathering on the evening of Sunday, April 30th. Watch for more details!
APRIL NEWSLETTER
Our April 2023 newsletter is now available online! Click here to preview or download it in its entirety. A reminder that:
Paper copies of the newsletter are available for members and guests at the Welcome Center. We also continue to mail the newsletter to homebound members. If you want to continue receiving the newsletter, please contact the church office to make arrangements.
We also post the newsletter (including monthly calendars) online at www.messiahgr.org/news; calendars are also online separately at www.messiahgr.org/calendar.
LOOKING AHEAD (from Pastor Twietmeyer's newsletter article on spiritual warfare):
"In the Bible, the fools are those separated from the Wisdom of God – those who cannot see the truth, those who are blind. Jesus uses this word, in the Gospel of Luke, to describe the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who are unable to recognize their risen savior. And in this, the master strategy of the Devil unfolds. His goal is to cloud your vision of the risen Christ – to make you blind, deaf, and dumb to the salvation won for you on the Cross."
"But God will have none of this. Refusing to sit idly by, His Holy One, His champion, has already fought the one battle that counted. In the fullness of time, God sent not just a prophet or a messenger, but his own Son into the race of men to redeem them. The combat was fierce, and at first there appeared to be only one casualty: Jesus. But the Devil celebrated too early and did not anticipate the pit trap that he had just fallen into. For Jesus was born under the law, and so, his perfect death now accomplished victory and redeemed mankind, those under the law ..."
"The only words in the air at the altar of God are the triumph songs of the new Jerusalem, the faithful baptized, the children of God:Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins."
Yours in Christ,
Rick Krueger, Parish Assistant
