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St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
April 2019 Newsletter W2604 Cty Hwy P, Merrill, WI 54452 715-536-8459 Please leave a message Pastor Gregory Laska can be reached at Cell #715-350-9741, e-mail address is grlaska@yahoo.com or at church office on Mondays 9am till noon. “St. Paul’s is Committed to Encouraging Growth and Fellowship by Sharing the Word and Gifts from GOD and by living our Christian Beliefs Everywhere and Always/” Information for the monthly newsletter needs to be sent to loriloug@yahoo.com before the 20th of each month for the next month’s newsletter. This allows for planning, editing, layout, printing and availability to members by the last Sunday of the month in Church. If you would like your newsletter by 3-mail, please send your request to loriloug@yahoo.com so we can add you to the list of members getting this newsletter by e-mail. April Worship Schedule April 7: Communion Worship Service @9:00 am April 14: Worship Service @ 9:00am April 18: Maundy Thursday @ 5:30 pm April 19: Good Friday @ 5:30 pm April 21: Easter Sunrise Communion Worship Service @ 6:30 am April 21: Easter Communion Worship Service @ 9:00 am April 28 Contemporary Service @ 8:30 am Saturday evening worship services are offered at Luther Memorial-Gleason at 6pm. All are welcome to Worship Services at St. Paul’s 9:00am or at Luther memorial-Gleason 10:30 a.m. on Sundays.  April Usher Schedule April 7: Mark Fredericks, Christine Baumann, Dale Erickson April 14: Dakota Vasa, Dave Schulz: April 21: Sunrise: Kaytlyn Stenberg, Dean Hill April 21: 9:00 Service: Valerie Isaacson, Matt Stenberg April 28: Jack and Otis Grawien Volunteers, please come20 - 30 minutes before worship time to prepare the building for the Worship Service. Please take head count of attendance and write it on the clip board posted by the last pew on the east side of church each and every worship service. Please wear your Sunday best clothing, you are serving in the King’s house. Thank you for your service to our Lord and our Church Family. Save the Date Lenten Organ Meditations: First Presbyterian Church, 406 Grant St, Wausau, Fridays from 12:15-12:45 pm, April 5 - Kartika Putri, April 12 - Patrick Burkhart Bow The Knee: A Dramatic Musical for Easter can be experienced on Saturday April 6 @ 7:00 pm at St. Mary’s Catholic Church (Corpus Christi Center), 320 E Washington Ave, Tomahawk or on Sunday April 7 @ 7:00 pm & Sunday April 14 @ 2:30 pm at Trinity Lutheran Church, 501 Stewart Ave, Wausau The Ladies of St. Paul's Lutheran Church are invited to the Lutheran Women Missionary League Spring Rally to be held on April 27th at St. Paul's Evangelical. Lutheran Church Irma Wisconsin. The day starts with registration and refreshments 8:30 am to 9 am, Spring Rally starts at 9:00 am. Guest speaker is Lynne Johnson, speaking on Paul's second ministry journey in Greece told thru pictures (please bring your Bible). Registration is $5.00 per person which includes lunch. A collection is taken during the rally to help fund mission projects. Gifts of the Heart will be collected for Haven Shelter in Merrill. The following is a suggested list of items needed at the shelter at this time: Napkins, Plates, Plastic spoons-forks-knives, Silverware, Tablecloths (vinyl or plastic), Dish soap, Dish washer detergent, dish towels, Dish clothes. Bleach, Lysol, Lysol wipes, All purpose cleaners, Air Fresheners, Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Garbage Bags (White and Black heavy duty-13 gallon or larger), Adult & Children Pajama's, Bath towels, Wash cloth's, Kleenex, Body Wash, Shampoo, Conditioner, Deodorant, Liquid hand soap, Diapers-all sizes, any Non-Perishable Food item. We look forward to an informative and restorative Morning. Children are welcome to attend with parent. Joint Church Meeting: April 4 @ 7:00 at Gleason Memorial  Food Pantry: The Ladies Aid has a basket the back of the Church to accept your gifts from the heart that go to the food Pantry at Trinity Lutheran Church, Merrill, Please consider giving to the families struggling to put food on the table by buying 1 item a week to help out. SAVE! SAVE!SAVE! Please save your cancelled postage stamps for Missions. Also box top points, milk caps & label and bread loaves for educations.. They are collected on the table in the back of the church for St. John’s School The Ladies Aid LWML Group of St. Paul's Pine River is happy to announce that $500 was raised at the Sauerkraut Dinner on Feb 17th. And $1,341 was raised at the Benefit for Maggie Duley on March 3. The membership voted to present Maggie with a check from both events in the near future. Thank You all for supporting us in these two events. Soup Suppers after the Lenten Services on Wednesdays is a great success, We have soup, sandwiches and dessert along with coffee, milk and water available for a free will donation each Wednesday in Lent. All are welcome and encouraged to join in the Fellowship. We Need Your Help: The MAC Home in Merrill is currently looking for volunteers for all shifts. If you have any interest in helping us serve the homeless and perhaps change their life into a self-sustaining living experience, please contact us at 715-722*-1200 or MerrillCommunityHomelessCenter@gmail.com  A2O: Are you in need of assistance of any kind, let our Youth help you. Let one of our youth or their leaders, Dean Hill or Melissa Wanie know if you need a hand with cleaning, shipping, minor maintenance. Our youth would be very please to give you a hand. Next meeting for A2O is April 2 at 6:00- 8:00p, Sunday School;: Sunday School children will be working on songs for their closing service on Mother’s Day. Come listen to the enjoyable voices of our young children. We will also be having closing day activities for the children.  Parable of the Whittler In front of Jake’s Hardware Store there has always been a set of four wooden chairs. It is a good place to sit for a while, to listen to the sounds of the village, to talk about the latest news and oh yes that is where the whittlers do their best work. For more than 80 years the work of the whittlers had yielded a wide variety of creations. There were carved statues, nut crackers, animal figures, religious artifacts and just about anything that could be imagined. But over the years the lives of the villagers became very busy. Not many wanted to sit long enough to whittle and bring a project to completion. Some whittlers died, some were just too old, and some stopped caring. One spring, when the weather became warm enough to sit outside, only one whittler remained. It was Dorothy Runkin. She was a widow who had been taught the art of whittling by her late husband, Walter. Day after day, Dorothy would sit and whittle. Customers to Jake’s Hardware would tip their hat to Dorothy as they entered or left the store. Once in a while someone would sit on one of the other chairs. They would usually sit for a few minutes, then ask what it was that she was whittling. Her answer to them was always “Can’t say!” Did that mean she was unable to say or that she didn’t want to say? No one knew. Jerry was a young fellow working toward his eagle scout ranking. He had the idea of learning how to whittle and then to make something worth displaying in the meeting room of the Boy Scouts. He sat next to Dorothy and watched her carefully. Though her fingers showed wrinkles of age, she handling her knife with ease. Her object would tumble around in her hands. After a few days, Jerry could see what the object was becoming. However, his questions of Dorothy came with the same answer, “Can’t say!” “How do you know what you should whittle out of that block of wood?” “Can’t say!” With tears in his eyes, Jerry asked Dorothy, “What can you say?” Dorothy motioned for Jerry to sit closer and with a slow pace to her voice, she began to talk. “When I was a young girl. I had foolish ideas about becoming popular. But with that, I did things to get the approval of friends though I knew those things were wrong. I had lit a cigarette one day to show that I could be in their group. But the cigarette lighter caught my beautiful hair on fire and I didn’t look so good with the popular crowd and they left me. I became a better person from that experience. The Lord had set to whittling me. When I went off to college, I wanted to get excellent grades and from time to time I borrowed from work others had done without giving them credit. I was caught and suspended for an entire semester. I learned from that experience. The Lord was whittling at me some more. Throughout my life I faced many adversities, some were caused by my own sinfulness and some just happened so that the Lord could do some more whittling. What you see of me now is what’s left from all that whittling. Day by day, the Lord shaves a little off here and there. He whittles away that which doesn’t belong to who He wants us to be. Now if you look at the pile of shavings and chips on the ground, maybe you can understand what whittling is. This wooden bird in my hand was always in the block of wood. I didn’t make the bird. But I kept taking off a tiny bit here and there that was not the bird. Young man if you want to be a good whittler, you must see what’s inside the wood. And it sure helps to let the Good Lord do His whittling on you.” |
