DEVOTION: John 20:19-31 English Standard Version (ESV) "Jesus Appears to the Disciples"19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld." "Jesus and Thomas"24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe."26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." "The Purpose of This Book"30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Have you ever thought or heard someone else say, "I wish Jesus would appear today to people, then more would believe in Him"? I must admit that I've thought it from time to time. The trouble with that is that it isn't true. Jesus was with people in the flesh. He spoke to them. He did miracles among them. He cared for them. They still didn't believe in Him. The other truth is that we have Him with us already. His Spirit is not just "with" us, but "in" us. His Spirit lives in us! How do we know? We know, because we have faith, because we are able to share that faith with others, because we are able to forgive others from our hearts, and because we can love with AGAPE love. Another truth is that God cannot and will not be restrained to Jesus in the flesh. He does appear to us, just not as Jesus in the body! He appears in Word form, and He appears in Bread and Wine form. He appears through us as we forgive each other and love each other. If you want Jesus to appear to you, GET TO WORSHIP! You'll find Him there in His gifts of Word and Sacrament! Get to CHURCH FELLOWSHIP! You'll see Him there in the love, forgiveness, and peace that we give each other. The last truth is that HE WILL COME AGAIN! He promised that the last time he appears will be the one at which he sticks around! When he does, everyone will see Him, even those who pierced Him! We will see Him eternally, because He will live with us and we with Him forever! Praise the Lord! Christ is risen! Prayer: Lord, bless me as I look for you where you have promised to be found. Help me to look for You on Your terms and not mine. And help me to be patient as I wait to see You face to face forever. Amen. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
CALENDAR:Fri- Jr. Hi Youth Leave at 3:30pm for Camp Windermere
Sat- Worship 5pm
Sun- worship 8:30; Bible Study 9:45; Worship 11; Jr Hi youth return 2pm
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- Jacob Cluver 11- Cara Klaustermeier
Ushers- Charlie Figura, Jason Figura, Erv Yoder (We need one more usher for this group!! Any volunteers?)
Altar- Set up- Don Hance; Clean Up Sandy RobineElders- Sat-- Randy Sweet; 8:30- Jason Cluver; 11- Charlie Figura Greeters- 6:30- Rich and Peggy Talbert; 10- Marv and Molly Hendershot
Lay Readers- 6:30- Tim Linke; 10- Jim Rahn
Organist 8:30 and 11-- Rachel Fisher
Sat Piano- Barb Dreyer
Projectionists: NO PROJECTOR THIS WEEK
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YESTERDAY'S BIBLE QUIZ: What were the names of the members of Saul's family (three sons, one wife, and two daughters)?
Son's are Jonathon, Ishvi, and Malchishua. Wife is Ahinoam. Daughter's are Merab and Michal. I Samuel 14:49 and 50.n Good job Don Nolte!
(Pat King added a son "Abinandab" which could be correct, although I can't find a record of it.)
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TODAY'S QUIZ: Why did David go out to the battlefront to his older brothers?
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NEWS!!!!
OUR NEXT GUN CLUB ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING WILL BE ON TUESDAY, APRIL 5 at 7PM!!
We will be finalizing our calendar of events and getting things together to start. We are going to start with a basic hunter's safety course.
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LUTHERANISM 101 IS GOING TO START THURSDAY, APRIL 7 AT 7PM!!
If you: