GOODHUE LUTHERAN MESSENGER — JUNE 2020

A MESSAGE FOR THE MONTH- .The Resurrection: Myth or Miracle?

This year’s Easter celebration was sure different this year, wasn’t it? Rather than coming to church and smelling the lilies, we sat in our living rooms, watching a worship service through the computer. Rather than joining our voice with many others in song, it was likely just us or just a handful of us singing, if that. This Easter will certainly be a memorable one.

Easter is an important day! Since the resurrection lies at the heart of Christianity, the devil strikes at it. Some people challenge the resurrection of Christ. When the apostle Paul taught the resurrection of Christ to the Greek philosophers, they sneered. In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle reminds us how essential the resurrec-tion is to Christianity. “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (verse 17).

What does the resurrection have to do with us today? The resurrection proves at least three things for Christians today:

That Jesus was the Son of God (Romans 1:4)

That our sins are forgiven (Romans 4:25)

That we will also rise after death (1 Corinthians 6:14)

Without Christ’s resurrection, we are eternally doomed.

Most of the arguments against Christ’s resurrection fall along one of these lines:

The swoon theory (he didn’t really die, he just fainted)

The stolen body theory (someone took the body from the grave)

The hallucination theory (the resurrection was imagined)

The twin brother theory (there were two Jesuses all along)

The “spiritual resurrection” theory (his resurrection wasn’t physical, his body did not rise)

Obviously, each of these theories rejects what the Bible says. That is enough for the Christian to reject them. But each argument is very weak.

The swoon and stolen body theories beg the question: What then accounts for the dramatic transfor-mation of the disciples? After Jesus was crucified, the disciples cowered behind locked doors. After the resur-rection, they became bold and fearless. In the coming years they would suffer horribly and be killed for their faith. Why would they do this for something they knew to be false?

The hallucination theory cannot explain how Jesus could appear to various groups of disciples, even 500 at one time. If we were dealing with one or two people we could make a case for this theory, but the Bible’s accounts of appearances of the resurrected Christ do not support mere hallucination.

The twin brother theory—Where was he the first 33 years of “their” life?

The “spiritual resurrection” usually comes packaged in statements like, “It doesn’t matter so much if his body was raised, but that we keep Christ alive in our hearts.” This flies in the face of the eyewitness apostle ac-counts of the risen Christ. Again, the Bible states: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile.”

Many people today and in history have looked for rational explanations for supernatural phenomena. The enemies of Christianity in the early days had only to produce the dead body of Jesus to destroy this growing reli-gion. Yet, they were never able to do it! The tomb is empty—forever!

This was the message that the disciples took to the world—the message of a risen Christ who had paid for the sins of the world—the message of God’s love for all. We who are convinced of the reality of God’s love today are compelled to do the same. We might be bringing the message of God’s love through a computer screen right now, but it is just as wonderful.

Submitted by Pastor Todd Engel

Dear St. John’s church family,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. During the past two months we have only had peace because we have God’s grace. What a stressful, anxious time in our country and state, filled with “stay at home orders”, tragic images on TV, conflicting advice from experts, and a falter-ing economy. We praise the Lord that he is still on his throne, ruling this world for the good of his Church.

Saturday afternoon our governor announced a relaxation of his executive order regarding churches. As of this Wednesday, May 27, churches can operate at 25% of their capacity. We will resume our Sunday worship service this week (Sunday at 9 a.m.). The church leaders that were able to meet didn’t feel that we would normally be in danger of going over the 25% capacity limit.

We are not simply “going back to normal”, however. The situation with the virus is still dangerous. We are taking the following precautions:

People are encouraged to wear a mask, but they are not mandated. Reconsider coming to church if you are uncomfortable being around people who are not wearing a mask. We will have disposable masks available, but it would be great if you could bring your own cloth mask. Thank you for your under-standing and patience.

We will practice social distancing. The ushers can assist people in this. Be sure to leave six feet between families. People will then exit the church starting with the back pews and moving toward the front pews.

We will not sing during the service at this time. Singing, which expels droplets more forcefully than speaking, may contribute to the spread of the virus.

We will shorten and simplify our worship service. This will somewhat minimize the exposure that we have. All the services will still have the invocation, a Scripture reading, a sermon, prayers, and the benediction.

The hymnals will be taken out of the sanctuary. You will be able to follow the order of service using the screen.

Communion will be offered this Sunday since it has been a while. We will be celebrating the Lord’s Sup-per the second and fourth Sundays of every month as we usually do. Communicants will approach the communion table via a continuous distribution line with all communicants remaining 6 feet apart or by households. Communion will be distributed hand-to-hand. Communicants will come up the center isle and return down the side isles.

As per the governor and CDC recommendations we will encourage people not to visit too long after the service is finished.

Having said all that, I want to make it perfectly clear that those who feel uncomfortable coming to

church at this time should not come to church. As I said before, this virus is dangerous. If someone has health issues, is in an at-risk age group, cares for a young or elderly person, or just feels it’s too risky, it’s God-pleasing to stay home to worship. The Lutheran Chapel of the Air and Time of Grace are great options. St. John’s, Red Wing will continue to live stream their worship services on their Facebook page each Sunday at 10 a.m.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments for me please email (st.johnsrw@gmail.com) or call me or call our chairman, Ken Schrimpf. May the Lord keep you in his tender care.

Pastor Engel

St. John's Church Council

June 2020 St. John’s Council Meeting

Wayne Schilling is ordering new hardware for the sound

system, we are also looking at improving video.

Maintenance is needed on some of the pews, Roger Voth

is working on that.

Joan Hinsch memorial money will go to fix the air condi-

tioning units.

Notes from Pastor Engel -- Church will resume in church

services starting May 31 at 9:00am.

Keep an eye on your emails for more information. And do

not hesitate to contact himself or the church with ques-

tions.

SERVING AT ST. JOHNS IN JUNE

Pastor Engel

ST. JOHN’S ELDERS:

Kenneth Schrimpf, Tim Hinrichs & Jesse Luhman

ST. JOHN’S SCHOOL BOARD:

Trevor Ryan, Derek Weckerling & Jake Diercks

JUNE USHERS

Billy Diercks, Steve Possehl, Carson Morken, Craig Breuer, Dennis Diercks,

Jon Jablonski, Wyatt Gadient

E-GIVING NOW AT ST. JOHN'S -- Our congregation now offers electronic giving!

Go to easytithe.com/stjohnswels and follow the easy instructions to set up, or text GIVE and an amount to 1

-218-304-7066 (ex: GIVE 250.00) and follow the easy directions.

Address to mail: 36620 Co 4 Blvd Goodhue, MN 55027

Congratulations to Cheryl Peters and Donald Darcy

who were married on Saturday May 23rd here at

St. John’s by Pastor Hagen.

Congratulations to our Graduates

St. John’s Preschool - Virgil Dicke, Inez O’Reilly, Clara Weckerling, Ruby Lexvold,

Paisley Gadient, and Kaden Dicke

Kindergarten - Alice Ryan, Clara Raasch, Abigail Sievers, and Mark Hagen

8th Grade - Jessica Hinsch, Teagan Hinsch, and Michael Majerus

From Goodhue High School - Kyle Voth

From the U of Wisc. River Falls - Laura Ringeisen

From Winona State - Brett Schrimpf (Dec '19)

SCRIP Order Due

JUNE 8, 2020

Call, Text, or Email Abigail Brinkman

at abbyrapp@gmail.com

or 507-302-9093

We are encouraging online purchases through

ShopWithScrip and PrestoPay.

www.shopwithscrip.com Enrollment code:

F9188BDF28187

Please contact us if you have questions or

need help logging in.

FROM THE PRINCIPALS DESK….

June 2020 Newsletter

Jesus Lives! In His Name! (Matthew 18:20) “In fact where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am among them.” (EHV)

The one word that describes the 2019-2020 school year is “amazing”. What was so amazing about this year? Why do you think it’s amazing? How do you even prove to me this year is amazing? It all starts with Jesus.

Jesus is still here at St. John’s Lutheran School. We began our school year in a normal way - classes everyday, children learning, teachers teaching, God’s Word being taught. And where God’s Word is taught, Jesus is there. (Matthew 18:20) “In fact where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am among them.” (EHV) The middle of our school year was no different. The end of our school year we had school virtually. God’s Word was still being planted by teachers in student’s hearts. The world, our sinful flesh, and Satan may have tried to change the rules, but God’s Word was still part of our school day at St. John’s. Amazing!

Our students reflect Jesus and his love for mankind at St. John’s. Why do I know this? God shows us His love. 1 Thessalonians 1:4-7 (EHV) states, “Dear brothers, loved by God, we know that God has chosen you, 5 because our gospel did not come to you with mere words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. You yourselves know very well what kind of people we proved to be for your sake, while we were with you. 6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you welcomed the word during a time of great affliction with the joy from the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” Our students show their love that Jesus has shown them. They smile, hug, talk, and miss each other. They laugh and share their joy with each other. They act like everyone is part of their families. AND THEY ARE! We are part of God’s family! The love of Jesus is seen with everyone.

How do you even prove to me this year is amazing? I can not prove it. But I do know God approved our efforts. 1 Thessalonians 2:4-6 (EHV) - Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts. 5 Indeed, as you know, we never at any time used flattering speech, nor did we act with greed as a motive. God is our witness. 6 Also, we did not seek the praise of people (neither yours nor anyone else’s), 7 even though we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles. On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing moth-er taking care of her own children. 8 We yearned for you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gos-pel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. Our goal is to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. St. John’s Lutheran School preaches the Gospel. St. John’s also preaches the Law - the do’s and the don’ts. Our students know this. They may still do wrong, but they also know they are forgiven. This year was amazing because God was here.

We are done for 2019-2020. Jesus Lives! May God grant us a relaxing, refreshing, rejuvenating rest that comes from knowing His peace. God will be with us until we meet again!

For His glory, Albert Karnopp

New Website

www.stjohnsgoodhue.com

Grace Lutheran 8:a.m. Worship

10:a.m. Worship 7:00 p.m. Wednesday Worship

St John’s Lutheran 9:00 a.m. Worship

St Peter’s Lutheran 9:a.m. Worship

11:a.m. Worship 5:pm Worship

Come worship With Us

Grace and St Peter’s Council and Dual Parish Meetings decided on the following guidelines for opening our

churches for Worship Services. If you have any questions please reach out to Pastor Weigand, or our

Church Presidents Ed Gadient at Grace and Larry Holst at St Peter’s.

See service schedule above. We will practice Social Distancing-6’ between those not regularly exposed to

each other. If two unrelated people are in the same pew, must sit one at each end. One couple per pew.

Two empty pews between used pews, except back chairs cah have just one empty pew in front of them.

Hymnals will not be used. All the words the members need will be printed in the bulletin, Grace will also

have the words on the screen. While we do plan to include singing in the service, members will be seated

when singing.

The offering plates will be on stands near the entry door, so people who wish to give can drop offerings in

the plates either on the way in or the way out. People can continue to mail their offerings or Grace mem-

bers can use direct giving.

Pastor will not shake hands. Members who wish to visit with each other, please don’t stay in the entryway

to do that-do your visiting outside, and at a safe social distance it it’s with people who aren’t regularly ex-

posed to you.

Communion will be celebrated on the 2nd and fourth Sundays of the month, plus the preceding Wednesday

and Saturday.

Pastor will wear a mask at the Saturday service and when distributing communion and sanitize his hands

immediately before distribution. He will hold the wager vertically so he can place it in the person’s hand

without touching their hand. The individual cups will be spaced so when a communicant takes a cup they

won’t touch any other cups. Pastor is also available to do communion privately to those who would prefer it

as a safer way to receive the Lord’s Supper, whether they attend a service or not.

Those who are feeling sick, who have COVID-19 like symptoms( fever; persistent dry cough; extreme tired-

ness; loss of taste or change in taste; low blood oxygen levels), or who have recently been exposed to a

COVID virus carrier, should not attend, but can watch the recorded service on our website or Facebook

page, and/or request that a printed sermon and bulletin be mailed to them. If you don’t feel comfortable

coming to church yet because of the threat of the virus, stay home and use the online services and/or re-

quest to have sermons and bulletins mailed to you. No one should make you feel guilty about it.

We plan to have plenty of hand sanitizer and masks for those who choose to wear one available when our

shipment arrives.

Goodhue Area WELS Youth Group

(youth 6th grade and up from St Peter’s, Grace, and St John’s)

We welcome our new sixth graders to join us when we regroup and meet: Ethan Diercks, Brady Harrell, Hunter Heydmann, Max Lexvold, Colten Lohman, Atticus Miller,

Rylan Post, Jay Ryan, Wesley Ryan, Taylor Thomforde and Elliot Voth Checking account Balance: $1,436.03 and Savings: $582.80 Submitted byTravis Betcher

YOUTH LEADERS:

Chad & Lydia Hinsch Travis & Shannon Betcher lydiahinsch@hotmail.com travis.betcher@gmail.com

651-380-9130 651-764-3475 Shelley Poncelet Heidi & Jeff Miller Dan & Rose Voight

sponcelet09@icloud.com jhmiller@sleepyeyetel.net voightelectric@sleepyeyetel.net 651-212-3219 651-923-5546 651-258-4012

Congratulations to our Graduates

Kathy Weigand,

daughter of Pastor Marty and Deb Weigand

from St Croix Lutheran High School St Paul

Nicholas Hinsch,

son of Steve and Brenda Hinsch

from St Croix Lutheran High School St Paul

Congratulations to our Confirmands! At Grace on May 3 Levi Post; John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and

the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” and Martha

Voight; Joshua 1:9 “Be Strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not

be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. At

St Peter’s on May 17 Michael Samuelson; 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxi-

ety on him, because he cares for you.”

Grace Members, thank you for your offerings support. Our offerings enable us to share the messafe of faith to our congregation and the larger community via internet, giving people the strength and compassion needed to make it through uncertain and difficult times such as these.

We trust you will continue to support us. We have start-ed and eGiving service, Vanco, a simple tool to make giv-ing simple even when you’re unable to attend church. Their eGiving is safe and secure and allows you to desig-nate your contributions.

eGiving with Vanco can be done with a Mobile app– Download the GivePlus Mobile App on the App Store or on Google Play, enter the zip code for our church (55027) and give. Or you may go to our church website gracestpeters.org and click on Give on the tool bar and follow the prompts to enter your donation.

Both eGivig give you the opportunity to pay the charge to offset being able to donate on line. You do not have to but it is appreciated.

4-30-2020 Grace Council Meeting Meeting was called to order by Ed with Pastor, Ed, Markus, Time, Seth, Todd, and Brandon

present. Pastor opened with prayer. The secretary’s report was read and approved. Pastor reported on progress that has been

made on providing church services online. A church Facebook page has been established. Services can be livestreamed and post-

ed, as well as devotional posts and videos from pastor. Grace has two Confirmands who will be confirmed on May 3rd in separate

“mini-services” to comply with Stay at Home orders. Catechism and Sunday School work has been done from home. Pastor will

continue sending out “Daily Thought” emails regularly, which he has been receiving positive feedback on. Shut-ins are being con-

tact via phone calls about every other week and church bulletins are being mailed to them. Communion can be schedule and pro-

cesses are in place to make sure communion is provided in a safe manner. Both the financial secretary’s and treasure’s reports

were read and approved. It was noted good financial status is currently being maintained during this time. The 150 th Anniversary

Celebration was discussed. It was determined a decision should be made by mid-June whether to hold the celebration or post-

pone. A lawn service contract has been signed and Marty’s crew has begun work. Next meeting will be May 26th at Grace.

Meeting was Adjourned. Brandon Lunde

St Peter’s Council

Council Meeting on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 In attendance were Larry, Mark T., Lonnie, Mark L., Curt, and Pastor Secretary’s report read and approved Treasure’s report read and approved Christian Education Fund $230.16, Checking Account $6,991.55, Ag Partners Building Fund $792.19, Memorials $1,050.00 Use of parsonage for Community Ed is not likely to happen this summer. Rain Gutter was repaired by Dave Roschen, rain gutter needs heat tape. Lonnie to talk to Rob about wiring heat tape in. Our internet service is slow, Mark T suggested we call Larry W with a price for livestream. Membership Changes: Nick Luhman passed away- funeral held, Alvin”Bud” ALlers passed away- arrangements are on hold, and Margaret I. (Mrs. LaVerne) Dankers passed away-funeral held. Pastor’s Report: St Peter’s Weekly Average Attendance in March 64 (3 Sundays-online service) St Peter’s Sunday Bible Class Average Attendance in March 13 Mid-Week Bible Class Average Attendance in March 8 Catechism has been on hold since March 11. Worksheets have been emailed or given to the 8th graders and some others. Ser-mons mailed for all students to do outlines. A confirmation date will need to be determined; waiting on the next order from the governor. “Daily Thought” group emails and devotions recorded live on facebook are a way to get the work out. “Great Chapters of the Bible” ended when the school closed doors and went online. Shut-ins are being called by phone and sermons mailed to them. Pine Haven Nursing home is in lockdown so nursing home ser-vices are on hold. Ministry Goals: #1 Continue attempting to contact and work with members whom I haven’t been able to have every mem-ber visits with; most are our of the area or long tern non-attending. Will make at least 5 contact attempts per month and at least 2 of those being either actual conversation in person or by phone. 0 attempts in March #2 Make evangelism calls/contacts regularly on those already

on our prospect list, or new prospects or potential prospects-minimum of 5 attempts monthly, of which at least 2 would be actual. Conversations or in person-2 contact attempts in March, 1 with face to face conversations. #3 Continue mailbox follow-up of non-attending current church members – 1 done in March – 0 face to face conversations. Discussion on Communion. Pastor will decide on a time; maybe Sunday or another day by appointment when he is comfortable doing it with the social distancing and safety in presentation. No new activities for the Youth Group; they served supper at the March 4 soup supper. Joint Sunday School Mission Project for the last half of the year is “The Landing” that serves the homeless in Rochester. March average attendance 28. Joint Evangelism Meeting was postponed. New Business items: Mary at Pastor’s request has started a joint church Facebook Page, where services can be livestreamed and posted, along with devotional posts and videos from Pastor Weigand, and other informational and inspirational items. Noted Mary has had to put in more time as secretary to print and mail sermons to shut-ins, and work on the livestream and worship services. We want to thank Mary for all her extra work. You are doing a very fine job on the services. No new update on Volksfest which will likely be cancelled. Daniel Dexter coming to perform at church has been cancelled. Discussion on Memorials that are coming in: Nick Luhman fami-ly says to use for whatever is needed, including home purposes if needed. A special picture- “In the Arms of the Good Shep-herd” is to be donated to church. Margaret Dankers Memorial Larry talked to Steve who will call when the family has decided. Bud Allers Memorial Larry talked to Bud’s Daughter who will call when the family has decided. Mary has set up on line giving for Grace; St Peter’s decided to leave theirs as a mail in. Next meeting set for May 12 tentative. Depends on the gover-nor restrictions. Old Business Items: Get Pastor K’s name off the Youth Group Fund and Jeff and Hei-di Miller’s names on it. Progress? Livestreaming: waiting for cost figure and cost to update inter-net cost for equipment Adjourn with the Lord’s Prayer. Curt Callstrom

Grace & St. Peter’s Sunday School Corner

We are sill collecting Sunday School Offerings for “The Landing”

If you give a donation please mark it ac-cording. Thank you for giving.

St Peter’s Ladies Aid

Greeting cards, and Anniversary Cookbooks always for sale

in the basement.

There is a box for your payment.

LWMS

The LWMS national convention in Georgia the end of

June has been cancelled. It is the hope that Kasson

WELS church can host the fall Hiawatha circuit

meeting in October and our St Peter’s Church will

host the Spring 2021 meeting as St Peter’s turn to

host last spring was cancelled due to the Covid 19 Vi-

rus.

LWMS will be teaming up with WELS Joint Mission

office to host “Taste and See” online from June 27th

to July 11, 2020. Join them on Facebook for 2 weeks

of worship, workshops, speakers, displays and fel-

lowship and fun. There will be a Taste and See web-

site with more information on this.

Joyce Hinrichs

Thank You!

For every lesson you’ve prepared the Love of

God has been shared. Thank you Alivia Holst,

Darby Miller, Mary and Darwyn Tri, Heidi and

Jeff Miller, Grace Poncelet, Kelly Amundson, Chelsey Lexvold,

Becky Holst, Shelley Poncelet, Deb Hinrichs, Emily Weigand, and

Pastor Weigand. Thank you for being willing to volunteer to

teach and instruct our Sunday School Children this past year.

We appreciate everything you have done to have a successful

joint Sunday School at Grace and St Peter’s. A Big Thank You for

helping our children grow in God’s Love.

Proverbs 4:13 “Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it

is your life.” (NIV)

Grace 150th Anniversary

With the uncertainties of the Covid-19 Virus a decision has been made to postpone our Anniversary Celebration until 2021. A tentative date of August 1,2021 has been chosen. Do continue to complete your art work for the silent auction for the event. We look forward to cele-brating it next year when by the Grace of God we will

feel more comfortable in a large group. Be Safe! And Be Well!

Wise Penny will reopen on June 8th. Tem-

porary hours will be Monday-Saturday 12-4.

Donations will be accepted Monday-

Thursday 12-4. Any questions call LuRene at

380-0480 or Ronnelle at 212-0483