From Pastor's Desk
How many of you think of February 2020? In some ways it was the last “Normal” month. We have gone through nearly a year that few of us would call NORMAL. I remember a trip I made to the grocery story about a year ago. The trip was either at the end of February or at the beginning of March. I had heard about the Virus in China, but I had yet to hear of any cases in America. So I had no idea that the country was going to be shut down for a few months. I was afraid something was going to happen. I decided to go to the grocery store and buy a few things just in case. I mostly bought things in a can or things that wouldn’t go bad like spaghetti. There was one thing that I did not think to get but would have been really smart, toilet paper. At the house I was almost out of toilet paper and it was the thing that disappeared the most at convenience stores. Yet that day I did not know I needed it nor did I think it would disappear when people started hording things. In contrast, the spaghetti I bought at the start of this COVID pandemic has yet to be eaten. That made me wonder how many things in our lives do we need and how many things in our lives do we think need and yet have never used. On a day to day basis we might not think we need Jesus or his word, but throughout the year we discover how much we use it.
I can’t tell how many times I have said the words of Philippians 4:6 ESV
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
I have also seen, heard, and spoken Romans 5:3 ESV many times. “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,”
I had a friend a few years ago who told me he was dying. He told me that he has always believed that Jesus had promised us eternal life. He said, but now he needed it to be true. I wonder how many of us have been comforted and encouraged by the promise of eternal life in a face of a year of death. There are many things we think we need. There is one thing we actually need, Jesus and His Promises.
Ash Wednesday and Lenten Service Schedule Ash Wednesday Services
February 17th 7 pm at St. Peter
February 18th 7 pm at St. Paul
Lenten Midweek Services
Wednesday Services – 7:00 at St. Peter
Thursday Services – 7:00 pm at St. Paul
St. Peter – LWML
Our LWML will be packing COLLEGE CARE PACKETS at their meeting on February 9that 1:30 pm. Snacks, treats, personal items, pens, pencils, currency and change are suggested. There will be 5 packets sent, (three girls, one boy and our Seminarian Ryan Pumphrey, his wife and their two teenage daughters). If you care to assist with this project, please place your gifts in the box on the table in the Narthex. We will be collecting until February 7th. Thank you very much for considering how you can help.
Lutheran Hour
St Peter is observing Lutheran Hour Sunday on Sunday, February 7, 2021. Literature and gift envelopes will be inserted in the church bulletins. For those interested in sponsoring a local Lutheran Hour radio program the envelopes with the information are located on the narthex bulletin board. Thank you in advance for supporting this mission. The Lutheran Laymens League has been in existence for over 100 years and the LLL began the Lutheran Hour Broadcasts in 1930 with Dr. Walter A. Maier as its first speaker and has continued that very special ministry of sharing God’s Word by bringing Christ to the nations and the nations to the church throughout the world. Many of our parents and grandparents have faithfully supported this ministry over the years with their prayers, financial gifts and by listening to the broadcasts. The present speaker is Dr. Michael Ziegler. Our area is blessed to have the local Napoleon radio station WNDH 103.1 provide air time to the weekly Lutheran Hour broadcasts.
Dear Confirmation Parents:
I would like to thank all you parents for getting your kids to class over these last few months. I also thank you for the times you have let me know your child would not be in class.
I am going to be making some changes when we get to ASH WEDNESDAY. I thought you should all know about the changes. The first Change is starting Feb 17th and 18th I will be having Class at both Churches at 6 pm. This means we will be having Class at St. Peter on Feb 17th. Then we will be having class at St. Paul on Feb 18th.
I suspect that most parents will go to whichever is closer or is their home church. Both Classes in the same week will cover the same material. If you are a member of St. Peter but you know that Thursday is a better night for you feel free to come to St. Paul’s instead (or vice versa), but just let me know.
One of the reasons I am doing this is because we will also be moving back into the class room. Since church is at 7 pm at both Churches people will be arriving and wanting to sit down long before church starts. So we are going to be moving back into the class room. We will still be practicing social distancing and be wearing our masks we just won’t be the church sanctuary anymore.
We will still be following the same schedule of memory work and topics. We just will offer the same class on two different days. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me.
In Christ,
Rev. Jacob Stuenkel
Phone: 715-663-1845
Greetings from Preschool!
We made it to the second half of the school year! Unfortunately, Ms. Marcy is no longer with us and we wish her well on her future endeavors. We were able to hire a new assistant, Codie Brubaker and she will be joining our class on February 1. We are currently working on kindergarten assessment review and the children are doing great! They seem to adapt to the changes well too. We have a lot of new activities, and some exciting changes coming in the near future. The calendar sale went great, and they turned out so adorable. There are plenty left if anyone is interested in one! Thank you all for your continued support in the preschool!
Gods Blessings,
Mrs. Morgan
