View this email in your browser

The theme of the Sundays in Lent this year is "crushed." I know, it sounds kind of depressing, but really it's not. Through his Word God crushed our pride and self-righteousness, stripping us of the idea that we can (or must) do anything on our own to win the great battle against temptation, sin, and death. However, this is far from hopeless surrender. We lay down our arms only because we have a champion who has entered the battle to fight and win for us - Jesus our Great High Priest. Join us to fix your eyes on him this Lenten season to once again watch him step by step conquer our greatest enemies.

This week we focus on how sin can tempt us to take the easy path. The devil wants us to stop following Jesus and live our lives our own way. Jesus shows us his determination to travel the path to the cross inorder to save us. Jesus shows us that shortcuts are crushed by determination.

Our worship schedule is Sunday at 8:00 and 10:15 a.m. and mid-week Lenten services are Wednesdays at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m.
The 8am service will be livestreamed here
(During Lent we do not have a Thursday service.)

Our mid-week Lenten services will continue on March 16th focusing on John 18:12 "They Bound Him". Our fellowship dinner will be served by our Thrivent Group. They will be serving chicken rice soup, Glenn’s homemade wieners and desserts. Donations of cakes for the meal are welcome. All donations from the dinner will be given to the TSL Roots program. To read more about the Thrivent action team or to make a contribution towards the TSL Roots, go to https://thrivent.cotribute.co/events/616447/detail?src=crowd-fundraise-active-charity-mailto-185

March 23--Midweek 4
Pastor Anthony Schultz
“The Semblance of Legality”     Luke 22:66
Fellowship Dinner by the Adult Choir
March 30--Midweek 5
Pastor Michael Helwig
“What to Remember When You Are Seized With Remorse”   Matthew 27:3,4
Fellowship Dinner by LLHS Operation Go
April 6--Midweek 6
Pastor Caleb Klatt
“A Part for the Whole?”    Luke 23:13-16
Fellowship Dinner by the Youth Group

Bible Studies

Adult Bible Class— Sunday at 9:15 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. President Schroeder will continue his presentation on the history and intent of these discussions and share areas of agreement and areas where we still might disagree. Childcare is now available for 1-2 year olds during the Bible class. Infants younger than 1 year are also welcome dependent on the number of kiddos attending and the number of teen providers each Sunday. No signup is needed for using this childcare. This will be located in the family room behind the sanctuary.
Teen Bible Class—Sundays at 9:15 a.m. in the 8^th Grade Classroom of the school.
Children’s Sunday School—Sundays at 9:15 a.m.
- Note that we will not be having Sunday School on Sunday March 13 because of Spring Break at TSL School
St. Luke’s Morning Moms: Mondays at 8:20 a.m. at Western Avenue Campus After-School Care Room. All moms with children ages newborn through high school are welcome to attend. You're invited to bring your children with you--many moms do.
Bible Information Class—The Gospel of John - Watch online Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. This class is a wonderful review for all Christians and a great opportunity for those who are new or interested in the Christian faith to grow in their faith and understanding. The studies can be found in this YouTube playlist. New studies will be posted every Wed. You are welcome to join us any week, just email Pastor Cloute at cloutejr@hotmail.com beforehand.
Women’s Bible Study—Fridays at 7:00 a.m. in the conference room at church. Come and join us on Fridays.

The Ministry Minute

Our worship services and Sunday morning school and Bible studies provide almost all of our ministry opportunities right now. We NEED these faithful ministry leaders and participants in order to run things smoothly and to provide a quality worship service - THANK YOU! I'm speaking to all of the ushers, greeters, altar guild members, coffee makers, musicians, projector operators, those who type up the slides, those who gather the friendship registries, those who log attendance - PHEW, my fingers are cramping from all of the typing of ministry opportunities surrounding Sunday worship and study and I probably didn't even type half of them.
But, if you could serve in any capacity outside of our walls, outside of our worship services, what would that be? How would you like to be the hands of feet of Jesus in the community? I'd like you to email me with any passions or callings you feel would be an opportunity for our members to show people Jesus' love, outside of the walls of the church. We do such an excellent job within, I'd like to see how we can extend that to without, all week long. You can email me at kwend05@gmail.com

Special Voter’s Meeting – On March, 27 at 11:30am we will be holding a voter’s meeting to discuss and hopefully approve a worship coordinator position for St. Luke’s. The worship coordinator would work with our pastors and musicians to help us continue to strive for excellence in public worship and use even more of the musical gifts of those in our congregation. This will be a half-time position. If you would like to read more about this proposal, there is more information on the secretary’s desk.

The WELS International Youth Rally is going to be in Tennessee, June 28 - July 1. Registration is going to be opening soon. This is open to all Teens who are graduating 8th grade this Spring through those graduating High School this Spring. Please contact Pastor Redfield to register.

Check these links for more information.
Rally Workshops
Rally Excursions
Website

The Adult Choir will be meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesdays during Lent. Come and join us as we prepare music for Lent and Easter services. Anyone is always welcome for whatever practices you can make.

Help Is Needed on March 17 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to help prepare to open TSL Roots Early Learning Center in June. We are looking for people to help build furniture, clean toys and move furniture and toys. We are flexible—come and help us as much as you can. Feel free to come for an hour to the whole day. Coffee and donuts will be available in the morning. If you have any questions, please contact Keely Prekop at 920-261-3615 or kprekop@tslwels.org.

MEMBER NEWS

Usher, Technology & Greeters

March 13^th 8:00 a.m. Randy Mensching, Larry Kuehn, Roger Kuerth, Dave Oestreicher & Tim Uttech; Projector: Brandon Mensching; Greeters: Gene & Sue Frank
March 13^th 10:15 a.m. Will Wendorff, Jim Boulden, Tom Lindert, Aaron Lindert & Mike Redfield; Projector: Eleanor Wendorff; Greeters: Pete & Sandi Thompson
March 13^th Video Caleb Cloute
March 16^th 4:00 p.m. Ryan Borgwardt & Bob Schmidt; Projector: Ben Vasold
March 16^th 7:00 p.m. Brent Archer & Dyle Hrobsky; Projector: Maddie DeGalley
March 20^th 8:00 a.m. Sean Young & Pete Kiecker; Projector: Jeremiah Borgwardt; Video: John Ristow; Greeters: Dan & Shirley Wiedenhoeft
March 20^th 10:15 a.m. George Zaferos & Andrew Zaferos; Projector: Kim Winters; Greeter: Rachel Cloute

Keep in your prayers
We pray for the following people who are having health issues or recovering: : Betty Gerstner; Ken Staude; Toni Feder; Jim Roberts; Rodney Zoern; Millie Zoern; Jessica Christian; Jennifer Judge; Lois Meier; David Tietz, Dean Freson, Betty Gerstner; Tom Probst; Kathleen Graf; Jenny Raduenz, Dean Freson, Alice Kuerth, Michele Adams, Carole (Mrs. Charles) Nehls, and Helen Jannke.

Call Meeting News: This past Sunday, February 27, St. Luke's had a call meeting for a 7th Grade Teacher/AD as well as a half time 4K teacher. Seth Kock was called to be our 7th grade teacher/AD. He is currently serving at St. Marcus in Milwaukee. Shawna Jaeger was called to be our halftime 4K teacher. Please keep both in your prayers as they decide how they can best serve the Lord!

Lutheran Pioneers: Our next meeting is March 15, at St. Luke’s, from 6:30-8pm.

Easter Breakfast Is Back! Everyone is welcome to help with Easter breakfast. Breakfast will be served from 8-9:30 a.m. between services. There is a signup in the church entryway. Please take a look to see what you can do to help serve our Lord and others on the best day of the year. Thank you!

A Blood Drive will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church on March 24 from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. Sign up at bit.ly/trinitymarch2022 or call 877-232-4376.

A Day at the Fireside Theater!

Our winGs group is hosting a day at the Fireside Theater in Fort Atkinson on Saturday, April 23. The show “A Mighty Fortress is Our Basement” is a comedy about what goes on in our church kitchens and the lives around it. This is a day performance at 1:30pm with a meal of choice before the show. We plan to meet at St. Luke’s at 9:30am and be back to St. Luke’s around 4:30/5pm. Please see the bulletin board in the church narthex for ALL the information. Any questions contact Kirsten Young at (608) 843-7291 or kirstenlyoung@gmail.com. Hurry! We only have 18 tickets!! Deadline is March 23!!!

Lead Teachers Needed!

TSL Roots Early Learning Center is hiring Lead Teachers for the following rooms: Infants, Toddlers, 2’s, 3’s, and Summer School Age Care. We are looking for individuals who are willing to care for God’s littlest lambs, share the Good News, and support the developmental needs of young children. TSL Roots is eager to be a community resource and can’t wait to meet our future staff additions. If you are interested in applying please call 920-261-3615 and pick up an application packet at TSL’s Western Campus. If enrollment is high enough, classroom assistants and an office administrator positions will be available too!

All of these positions will begin either the last week of May or the first week of June. Please contact the school office at the number listed or Director Keely Prekop at kprekop@tslwels.org if you have any questions.

OWLS: Where in the world is the scariest place to talk about Jesus? That probably depends on what you think is scary! Come and hear where and how the gospel is being spread in a seriously scary place. The government is now threatening people for even mentioning religion on the internet! How do you think Christians there will respond? Would you be intimidated? Reverend Jim Aderman will be at our next OWLS meeting to share how the 316NOW ministry of Confessional Lutherans is responding to the challenge. That's at 1:30 PM on March 15^th in the sanctuary at St John's in Watertown. Our Rock River OWLS group is one of many WELS chapters in the U.S. There's always an interesting presentation, socializing, and refreshment time. Those who are retired and/or ages 55+ are encouraged to become members. Guests are always welcome.

TSL Roots Donations: Would you like to help plant the seed? Items that are still needed for the Early Learning Center are listed on a display in the entryway. If you would like to give, please take a paper from the display, fill out the back, and return it with your donation of cash or a check (made out to Trinity - St. Luke’s School) to the church or school office. Thank yous and receipts for tax purposes will be given out based on the information on the back of the ornament.

Interested in giving your thankofferings online?

If so, scan this QR code and it will take you to our online giving. If you have been using the Give Plus Mobile App on your device, you will need to change to the Vanco Mobile app. This will work the same as the Give Plus app (which is being discontinued in April). Thank you for your gifts to Jesus.

Luther Preparatory School Upcoming Events

March 13 at 2:00 p.m.--Sacred Spring Concert in the gymnasium. Everyone is welcome to attend.
March 11, 12, and 13 at 7:00 p.m.--The Musical South Pacific will be presented in the auditorium. Tickets are on sale at www.ticketsource.us/lutherprep or by calling 920-261-4352 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

WELS/ELS Singles Facebook Group

If you're single (unmarried, divorced, widowed) and looking to socialize, make friends, or enjoy fellowship with other singles who share your faith, we encourage you to join our Facebook group! Our group consists of over 500 members from around the world with ages ranging from 18-65+. We are an active group sharing Biblical encouragement, prayers, Lutheran memes, personal victories, and food. Our page is full of discussion posts and we typically have a weekly video hangout on Sunday evenings. We'd love to have you join us. Facebook Groups .

Employment Opportunity--LPS

Luther Preparatory School has a full-time janitorial position available. For a complete description of the job, click here.

Thrivent members, you can still direct 2021 Choice Dollars to benefit our church or school. The easiest way is to logon to Thrivent.com, type 'Thrivent Choice' in the search box, click on 'Direct Choice Dollars' and follow the prompts. You can also call 800-847-4836 and when prompted, say 'Thrivent Choice'. Your 2021 Choice Dollars will expire on March 31, so direct your dollars soon! If you have questions, call the Watertown Thrivent Office at 920-261-3222.

Suicide. Suffering. Science and Ethics. Keeping your children in the faith. Parenthood’s burdens and blessings. Chances are one or more of these topics may have touched your life, yet how often are they approached from a distinctly Lutheran perspective? These are also all modern-day issues discussed recently on the Life Challenges Podcast from Christian Life Resources. Check it out, give a listen, and perhaps you’ll find yourself better prepared the next time you face tough issues like these. Find it at lifechallenges.us or on your favorite podcast platform.

WELS Coulee Women's Retreat
Christ Lutheran Church, West Salem
April 2, 2022

This retreat provides an opportunity for WELS/ELS women and their friends to gather together, encourage each other with God’s Word and go forth to share God’s Word with others. Registration forms and itinerary are available below. Register by March 15.

Brochure & Application

Our worship schedule is Sunday at 8:00 and 10:15 a.m. and mid-week Lenten services are Wednesdays at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. The 8am service will be livestreamed here (During Lent we do not have a Thursday service.)

If you would like a personal pastoral visit and communion, please call the office to set up an appointment.

Our worship schedule is Sunday at 8:00 and 10:15 a.m. and mid-week Lenten services are Wednesdays at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m.
The 8am service will be livestreamed here
(During Lent we do not have a Thursday service.)