Greetings from Church of Peace - May 3, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace!

This Sunday we will celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion and the chapel choir will sing.  Our confirmands will share with us in worship leadership.  Want your heart warmed?  Join us.

Tonight at Mid-Week Faith Boost we’ll be discussing the vine and the branches statements of Jesus in the gospel of John.  It will be a stimulating discussion with lots of smiles.  We’ll begin at 6:30 p.m.

Dorothy Eggers is in the hospital.  Please remember her in your prayers.  Please also pray for the family of Robert Zimpher; his funeral was yesterday.

A week from tomorrow is the All-Church Dance sponsored by the Mission Trip Youth.  From 6-10 p.m. we’ll be rockin’ to the music provided by J and E Entertainment. This is for the whole family. It is a fund raiser: the cost is $5.00 for those aged 13 and up, $3.00 for kids 12 and under.  This will be such fun – plan to attend.

We need to replace the front steps of the church which are unsafe and unsightly.  If you’d like to help, there are donation envelopes on the bulletin board in the narthex.  Thank you!

That’s the news from Church of Peace.

We’ll see you in church, Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today: Faithful God, guide me to follow the best path for my life today: the path that will bring healing and love.  Make me slow to anger and quick to forgive.  Shine your healing light upon Dorothy Eggers and upon the family of Robert Zimpher.  I pray these things in the name of the Compassionate One, Jesus.  Amen.

Greetings from Church of Peace - April 19, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace!

The littlest Sunday School kids are singing in worship this Sunday and, boy, do they sing this one with gusto! Joining us in worship leadership will be the Rev. Dave Moyer, the Wisconsin Conference President of the UCC, who asked to come and share with the re-enlivened Church of Peace community.  Alek Giese will be baptized.

Diner’s Club at Blanke’s Lake Aire Supper Club will begin at 5:30 on this Sunday evening.  Sign up on the narthex bulletin board so we make sure to save a chair for you.

We have one person in the hospital: Peggy Laehn is a patient.  Please pray for her returning strength and health.  Elaine Hamberger and Marie Michalowske are in hospice care and nearing the end of their lives.  Please remember them in prayer as well.

Mid-Week Faith Boost resumes tonight with Bible study as a conversational focus.  Join us for this time of spiritual and emotional renewal.

Have you thought of stopping in to a Shawl Ministry meeting, just to say “hi” and see if you’d be interested?  They meet this Saturday morning at 9:30 in the Upper Room and would love to greet you.

Be on the lookout: the flocks of flamingos are coming to your neighborhood soon.  If they land in your yard, please give a generous donation. Thanks! Our youth and their leaders will be busy working at the Fond du Lac dog show this weekend.  If you attend, be sure to greet them.  They’ll be wearing their yellow shirts. 

That’s the news from Church of Peace.

We’ll see you in church!  Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today: Source and spring of all our joy and hope, by your Spirit my spirit is fed.  Touch my life with your healing love this day and renew within me all that is beautiful and good.  Give me the courage and faith to reach out in love to the people who need my help.  I pray for Peggy Laehn, Elaine Hamberger, and Marie Michalowske.  May each one feel your nearness and experience your grace.  I pray in the name of the One who brings new life to every day. Amen. 

Greetings from Church of Peace - April 5, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace on this Maundy Thursday morning!  We look forward to greeting you in person at tonight’s service which is at 7:00 p.m.  We will have worship in the candle-lit sanctuary and celebrate communion at tables.

Tomorrow night our Good Friday service will begin at 7:00.  This service commemorates the trial, suffering, and death of Jesus through word, picture, and song.  There will be a tenebrae (putting out of candles).  Pastor Jim will provide special music.

Saturday the church will be buzzing with activity as the youth prepare for their “Alleluia!” social hours the next morning (at 8:00 and 9:45) and the Worship Enhancement Team transforms our sanctuary into a resplendent garden.

Easter Sunday’s first service will begin at 7:00 a.m. and the second service at 8:45 a.m.  The music will be festive and triumphant.  Holy Communion will be served at the altar. 

PARENTS: The Sunday School children will NOT be wearing robes as originally planned. Please have your child sit with you in worship at the 8:45 Easter service, then send them up to the front when it is time for the anthem, “O Happy Day.”  There will be no Sunday School on Easter.

Esther Fiebig and Virginia Reimer have been hospitalized this week. Please remember them in your prayers. 

If you purchased flowers for the Easter service, you may take them home after the second worship service.  The plants are labeled by name. Thank you. 

We’ll see you in church!  Pastors Jim and Jenny

A prayer for today: On this Maundy Thursday, O God, I pray for an awareness of your presence with me.  Show me the people whom I can love and help in Jesus’ name.  Shine your comforting, peace-filled light upon Virginia Reimer and Esther Fiebig.  I pray in confident trust.  Amen.

Greetings from Church of Peace - March 28, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace on this last Wednesday in Lent.

Tonight marks the end of our sermon series on “The Bible and Calvin and Hobbes”.  Many folks have indicated that they have found these meditations interesting and inspirational.  Tonight’s service begins at 7:00.  Join us!

Sunday is Palm Sunday, a festival of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  Come experience for yourself the glory and the impending sadness of that day.  The Chapel Choir has prepared a special Palm Sunday anthem.  Everyone will receive a palm branch to take home.  We will not be serving Holy Communion; we will do that on Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday. 

We will be receiving our One Great Hour of Sharing Offering this Sunday.  Please give generously to this appeal which feeds the hungry, offers drink to the thirsty, provides jobs to the unemployed and health care to the sick, and, in a host of ways, ministers to the “least of these” in Christ’s name.

Sunday is the first day that the flocks of flamingoes will be visiting homes of Church of Peace members to raise money for the mission trip.  If a flock lands in your yard, call the church office to have it moved to the lawn of the person of your choice.  Envelopes for donations will be included with the flamingos.  Let’s have fun doing this and supporting our mission trippers.

A sign-up sheet for the Church of Peace softball team will be on the narthex bulletin board beginning today.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK

A week from tomorrow is Maundy Thursday.  We will set up the sanctuary to transport you back from 2012 to the first century Upper Room.  Communion will be served around tables. The children’s feet will be washed.  Join us for this remembrance of the night that Jesus told us to love one another.  The service is at 7:00 p.m.

A week from Friday is Good Friday. This somber service helps us to enter the arrest, trial, suffering, and death of Jesus.  Pastor Jim will provide special music. Attending this service prepares your heart for a jubilant celebration of Easter.

That’s the news from Church of Peace.

We’ll see you in church.  Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today: Loving God, how often you have waited patiently for me.  Yet when I’ve turned to you, you have led me safely and wisely into the future.  Whatever the circumstances, may I place my life in your keeping.  Make me thoughtful and considerate in all my dealings today.  May I go bravely though this day, aware of your strengthening presence with me.  Amen.

Greetings from Church of Peace - March 21, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace on this Lenten Wednesday!

Our Calvin and Hobbes Lenten series continues tonight at 7:00.  Tonight our attention will focus on God’s gift of the created order.  How are we to respond to the great beauty around us? How do issues regarding the environment impact Christian disciples? Come be renewed and refreshed by this service.

This Sunday the Sunday School children (4^th-8^th grades) will grace our worship with song.  The prophet Jeremiah calls us to open our hearts so God can work miracles within us.  Come worship at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday.

This is the last Sunday on which you can order flowers to adorn our church for the Easter service.

Sunday evening you are invited to enjoy the company of other church members as we dine together at Rolling Meadows Restaurant at 5:30 p.m. Please sign up on the bulletin board so we can alert the restaurant to the proper number of people to expect.  It will be a fun (and delicious!) time together.

The following Sunday is Palm Sunday.  Although it is the first Sunday of the month, we will not be having communion because the Lord’s Supper will be offered on Maundy Thursday and twice on Easter.

On Palm Sunday we will receive our One Great Hour of Sharing offering.  Please prayerfully consider a generous gift. 

We know of no one who is hospitalized at this time. 

The Messenger will be available on line by Friday noon and will be available in print form on Sunday.

That’s the news from Church of Peace.

We’ll see you in church!  Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today: Thank you for accompanying me on my journey today, O God. May I experience new life and new hope as we travel together.  I ask your blessing upon all who feel alone or afraid today.  May your Spirit comfort and sustain them.  Amen.

Greetings from Church of Peace - March 15, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace!

Do you ever wonder who’s in and who’s out when it comes to God’s grace?  That’s a theme for the sermon on Sunday. The Chapel Choir has prepared an anthem for the service. We’ll begin at 8:45 a.m.

Our church family has had three women in the hospital: Delores Emmer and Shirley Hanke are still patients; Aloha Fields has been released. Please remember them in your prayers.

Golden Fellowship will be gathering this upcoming Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. to celebrate the change of seasons with a “Spring Tonic.”  Please sign up so we have enough food for lunch.

The Mission Trip Meeting for this coming Sunday evening has been postponed.  Watch for a newsletter in your mailbox, Mission Trippers. Youth and adults can still sign up for the trip. Let Pastor Jenny know if you are interested.

Because we will be sharing Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday and on Easter, we will not share communion on the first Sunday of April which is Palm Sunday.

That’s the news from Church of Peace.

We’ll see you in church.  Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today: Dear God, when I get down, burdened by life’s difficulties or struggling with painful situations, please lift me up.  Give me energy and zeal for your work in this world.  Please continue to shine your healing light on Delores Emmer, Aloha Fields, and Shirley Hanke. I pray remembering Jesus who is my Eternal Friend.  Amen.

Greetings from Church of Peace - March 7, 2012

Greetings from Church of Peace!

Tonight’s Lenten service is at 7:00 p.m. Join us for this time of spiritual cleansing and renewal as we consider a conversation between Calvin, Hobbes, and the Word of God.

Sunday’s service begins at its usual time: 8:45.  If you forget to set your clock ahead before you go to bed on Saturday night, you’ll arrive an hour late. We’ll be glad to see you whenever you arrive.  The Sonshine Singers have prepared an anthem with which to grace our worship. 

Last Sunday, the social hour tables were not laden with treats as they usually are; no one had signed up to host.  This week, the Stewardship Ministry Team has volunteered, so we will be enjoying our usual snacks.

Harold Kryzyanowski and Shirley Hanke are in the hospital.  Please ask for God’s healing presence to continue to be with them both.

Coming up:

Golden Fellowship gathers on Tuesday, March 20^th for a “Spring Tonic” meeting.  Come watch Pastor Jim’s presentation of the delights that the new season will hold for us.  A lunch will follow.  You can sign up in the narthex or call the church office (921-8215).

The Diner’s Club is a new thing at Church of Peace.  We’ll be sharing a meal at a restaurant about once a month, just for the fun and friendship-building aspects of the time together.  Sunday, March 25^th, we’ll gather at Rolling Meadows Restaurant at 5:30 to share a meal – each person will order and pay for his or her own supper.  Sign up in the narthex or call the church office (921-8215).   

That’s the news from Church of Peace.

We’ll see you in church!  Pastors Jenny and Jim

A prayer for today:  Loving God, I need the strength and help of your Spirit as I face the duties, problems, and joys of this day.  Grant me a humble heart which comes to you in every temptation and trouble, keeping my calling as a disciple in the forefront of my mind.  Bless Harold Kryzyanowski and Shirley Hanke with a return to complete health and strength.  I pray these things knowing that you will answer my prayer with love.  Amen.