VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 MARCH 2013

Easter Egg Hunt Page 2

Sunday School Page 2

“the table” Award Page 3

Altar Guild Page 3

Next Door Project Page 4

Worship Page 5

Lutheran Schools Page 6

Bobcat Boogie Page 6

LifeLight Page 7

Mary Martha Page 8

Stephen Ministry Page 8

Prime Timers Page 8

LWML Page 9

Field of Dreams Page 9

Summer Camp Page 10

March Calendar Page 11

Coffee News Page 12

Children’s Ministry By Marva Tonniges

HIS SON,

GOD‟S GIFT OF LOVE “He is risen; He is not here.” Mark 16:6

Praise the Lord and have a Blessed Easter!

From the staff and children of Sunday School

NO Sunday School Easter Sunday

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Saturday, March 30th

Bethlehem Lutheran Church and School

10:30 am

Children ages 2 to 7 are invited to participate

Appropriate Age Groups

We‟ll start in the school cafeteria making an Easter Basket, move into the gym for crafts and a devotion, enjoy an egg hunt (rain or shine), and return to the cafeteria for a

refreshment.

Jesus Lives! Let’s Celebrate!

The EASTER BUNNY will be making an appearance!

No Basket needed ~ you‟ll make your own!

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“the table” Wins 1st Annual Guido Merkens Award By Adam Winterhof

During the recent Best Practices Conference on February 7-9, 2013 at Christ Church Lutheran, Phoenix, Arizona, “the table" ministry was awarded the first ever Guido Merkens Award for entrepreneurial ministry. Guido Merkens was a pastor for many years at Concordia Lutheran Church in San Antonio. Concordia is known for the creative ways they engage the community with the love of Christ.

Pastor Tim accepted the award on behalf of Beth-lehem and "the table" and was able to share the story of what God is doing at "the table" with over 100 ministry leaders during the conference. Pas-tor Langewisch also was one of the key note speakers for the over- 800 conference attendees.

During his presentation, Pastor Tim shared our new "table story" videos with the folks in atten-dance. To see what is happening at "the table" and to see our new ministry videos visit our web-site at www.tablebethlehem.org.

Purple for Lent? By Ann Ornelas

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Lent is a forty-day period before Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and continues until the Saturday before Easter. We skip Sundays when we count the forty days, because Sundays commemorate the Resurrection. The traditional activities of Lent are prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial. These activities are meant to remind us of Christ‟s suffering. Ease the burden by replacing an activity with prayer time or Bible study. Surely we can endure these small sacrifices of time or pleasure by remembering how much more our Savior suffered and endured for each and every one of us.

Why the purple colors? In antiquity, purple dye was very difficult to make and therefore very expensive, so purple came to signify wealth, power, and

royalty. Therefore, purple is the color for the season of Lent, which marks the coming of the King. Since as Christians we prepare for our King through reflection and repentance, purple has also become a penitential color.

The Altar Guild is a LifeGroup that focuses on preparing our worship areas for worship activities. If you are interested in the changes through the church year, consider joining us on the Altar Guild.

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Many Hands Needed By Pastor Tim Ahlman

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Servant Leaders By Pastor Langewisch

It takes a lot to make the ministry of Bethlehem go; an amazing congregation willing to take risks for the Gospel, hundreds of volunteers and ministry partners engaging at every level of our organiza-tion, and a committed staff to serve and inspire God‟s people.

The team we call our Leadership Staff is a compo-nent of those “committed to serve and inspire God‟s people.” The leadership staff members keep one

eye on the day-to-day operations of the ministry with the other eye on the vision to which God is calling us. How does the organization need to re-spond to the changes in our culture and community so that we can even more effectively help people experience fullness of life in Jesus? This team then collaborates with the other team members to make sure everyone is aligned and moving in step in our mission.

Believe it or not, The Next Door Project construction is set to start in less than three months! Praise Jesus! We are primed to enter a new season of ministry to reach more and more with the fullness of life that is ours in Jesus!

Yet, this side of eternity, beautiful things often pass through suffering, pain and hard work. The six months of construction will be our season of hard work. Can you please join us to lighten the work for the entire community? Many hands certainly make hard work lighter.

We are most likely going to be worshipping in the gym through the entirety of the project. Yes, you heard that correctly – the gym. Providing access to the sanctuary through the “bubble of construction” is exceptionally costly. The gym will serve as school cafeteria, team practice space, “the table” worship space and Sunday morning worship space. This will require the help of the entire community to consistently transform the space for our variety of community gatherings. Could you volunteer to help set-up and tear-down the gym for our variety of functions throughout construction? Please be looking for opportunities to sign up to volunteer for this time limited community effort.

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Remarkable Worship by Marilyn Havekost

Do you remember when Jesus healed the man who was born blind? After his healing, the man was called before the Pharisees, who asked him to explain his healing. The man did so, but the Phari-sees refused to believe. Finally, the man chided them a bit. “‟Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.‟ They answered him, „You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?‟ And they cast him out.” (John 9:32-34)

The truth is they were right. He was “born in utter sin.” However, so were they. That‟s the part they didn‟t recognize. They were so busy admiring their own righteousness that they failed to recognize how truly unrighteous they were. Self-righteousness may be the most insidious form of sin there is. We can begin to compare ourselves with others – “I‟m not nearly as bad as that person” – and think that God likes us better than those people. Wrong! Apart from God‟s grace we have nothing. Without His mercy we are helpless and hopelessly lost.

The apostle Paul said it this way: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19). Can you relate to that? We know the right things to do; we just don‟t always do them. I find it worthy of note that Paul spends more than two entire chap-ters in his letter to the Romans establishing the guilt of the recipients, who are Christ followers, not unbe-lievers.

It is not until we recognize how truly heinous our sin is in the sight of God that we can fully embrace His mercy and grace. In his tremendous book The Disci-pline of Grace, Jerry Bridges said, “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God‟s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God‟s grace.”

The good news is that God has adopted depraved sinners like us. “And you were dead in the tres-passes and sins.” (Eph. 2:1) Can a dead person make himself alive? Of course not! The Lord grabbed on to you, brought you back to life, and said, “This one is Mine!”

I read recently about an interesting legal quirk in the culture of the New Testament. As a parent, you could disinherit a natural-born child, but you could not disinherit an adopted child. Once you made the decision to adopt a child that was not born into your family, you could no longer reverse that decision. Doesn‟t that give new meaning to the adoption of sons? Not only has Jesus adopted us, He has granted us forgiveness of sins. He suffered and died for you! Everything that is vile and evil in us is transferred to Jesus and everything that is good and right in Jesus is transferred to us. He takes our sin, and we stand credited for salvation because of Him.

What a glorious thought during this season of Lent, as we think again of the amazing sacrifice He made for each of us. During this time especially, it‟s impor-tant for us to remember what sinners we are, and then, more importantly, how great is God‟s grace toward us. Praise Jesus for that wonderful gift! See you in worship!

Worship Team News

Do you play a guitar, a bass, a keyboard or the drums? We may have a place for you! We are beginning the process of gathering more musicians for worship leading here at Bethlehem. Watch for further news and an upcoming clinic to come and share your talents. Learn how worship leading with your instrument is different from playing in a band. Hone your skills and get ready to use your talents to God‟s glory among His people right here! More news to come soon!

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Why Send Your Child to a Lutheran School? By Michelle Fischer

Lutheran Schools:

are driven by a commitment to the Gospel and focused on a mission of bringing hope and healing to students and their families.

are governed by board members who clearly understand their roles and focus on the vision and board policies that effectively govern the operation of the school.

meet or exceed state and national academic standards at

all grade levels.

have educators who model visionary leadership. They practice stewardship of resources, build up others and empathize with others.

have educators who model servant leadership. Do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, be-come healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? (Robert Greenleaf)

have educators who model spiritual leadership. They study God’s Word, share their personal faith story, apply Law and Gospel appropriately, exhibit a passion for ministry, act courageously, equip God’s people for service, care for others, demonstrate integrity, and pray.

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Fully Alive

Bethlehem Lutheran Church & School

2100 N. Wadsworth Blvd. Lakewood, CO 80214

Church office: 303-238-7676 School office: 303-233-0401

Visit us online at

www.bethlehemfullyalive.com E-mail Bethlehem@bethluth.net KLTT 670 Radio Broadcast 11:00

AM Sundays

David J. Langewisch, Pastor

Tim Ahlman, Pastor

Caleb Kruse Vicar (Student Pastor)

Michel le Fischer , Pr incipal

Sandy Wendelin,

Director of Discipleship and Early Learning Center

Administrator

Mari lyn Havekost, Director of Music Ministry

Scott Bubke,

Director of Operations

Paul Beasley, Director of Information Technology

Adam Winterhof,

Director , Student Li fe Ministry

Suke Gnagy, Preschool Director

Melissa Meuzelaar & T imi Schuessler

Cornerstone Counsel ing, 303-238-7676, ext. 315

Fully Alive is published monthly for the members and fr iends of Bethlehem Lutheran. It focuses on news within the congregation and activities in the church each month. Articles may be submitted to the church office by the 15th of each month for the next month’s issue.

e-mail to: fullyalive@bethluth.net

The Greatest of These is Love

By Sherri Wells

Well, the “love month” has come and gone. Each year we celebrate Val-entine‟s Day by giving cards, flowers, candy, or whatever we can think of to show those we love how much we care about them and appreciate having them in our lives. So, how do we keep the love going so those around us know we love them all year long?

Let‟s take a look at the God-Yourself-Neighbor principle. In Matthew 22:37 Jesus tells us the most important commandment is to “love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” God wants you to know that without a doubt He loves you - just as you are! He showed His great love for us by sending Christ Jesus to die for us. Because of your faith in Christ, God forgives all of your sins. Your response to God‟s great love should be to love Him, too. To love God like that means getting to know Him by spending time in His Word. It means talking to Him about everything. It means trusting Him for your needs. To love God means to give Him your life . . . every day. In 1 John 4:19 the Bible tells us, “We love because He first loved us.”

Next, you must love yourself. God wants you to accept yourself and be happy about who you are in Him - because he made you! God knows about your tendency to sin, but he wants to help you change. He wants to develop your strengths and talents. You are unique and valuable to God. Jesus tells us, “love your neighbor as yourself” in Matthew 22:39. This is the second most important command-ment. If you don‟t care about yourself, you‟ll have trouble caring for others. You are unique and wonderfully made. Psalm 139 is a wonderful Psalm to read that tells you all about how pre-cious you are in God‟s sight and why you should love yourself.

When we show our love to other people, we are demonstrating our love for God and how the Holy Spirit has embedded that love He has for us into our entire being. 1 John 3:18 tells us, “let us not merely say that we love each other, let us show the truth by our actions.” In 1 John 4:21 He has given us this command, “whoever loves God must love others also.”

Does someone near you have a need? Lend a hand and give what you can. Is there anyone for who you‟re really thankful? Tell them so. Does anyone need encouragement? Give them a kind word. Does someone really bug you? Start praying for them. Loving your neighbor also means loving those around you who are really hurting and those who don‟t know Jesus. Jesus‟ love is for them too, and it can be communicated by you.

In Lifelight we are currently studying 1, 2 and 3 John. These wonderful short books of the Bible are filled with love and how to grow in love by lov-ing God, yourself and your neighbor.

To learn more about Lifelight, please go to bethlehemfullyalive.com

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Mary Martha Society By Jean Wendelin

At our February meeting, the ladies enjoyed some wonderful refreshments and Vicar Kruse led our devotions explaining the meaning and customs of Shrove Tuesday. Maureen Yockey, from the Alternative Pregnancy Center, spoke to the ladies regarding the mission of the organization since their beginning in 1982, and how they have been able to help many girls and their families.

Mary Martha Society will be hosting the March 6th BBQ Lenten supper; dessert for that evening will be provided by the women in Mary Martha and LWML.

At the March meeting, we will be doing a craft item as well as a kitchen shower for the residents of the Bethesda Lutheran Communities.

We would like to encourage any women in the congregation to join our group on the second Tuesday of each month at 9 a.m. in the PAC.

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Stephen Ministry Corner By Vivian Meyer

My name is Vivian Meyer. I had received a phone call from Pastor Wheeler asking me to join a Stephen Ministry class. So, I have been here for awhile.

Through the guidance of the Pastor and Stephen Ministry leaders and class members, we work on developing skills of confession and sensitivity to the needs of others. The most important skill is to be able to listen to the care receiver.

If you are stressed or have a situation where a dis-cussion of feelings would be helpful, call for a care

giver to listen to your concerns while you work on solutions. Care receiv-ers are free to choose times and places to meet. We always remember that God is the greatest Care Giver.

To find a care giver, you may call the church office or Martha Rowley at 303.425.6971.

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March Prime Timers Activities by Georgia Phillips

Saturday, March 2 "Bunco" in the P.A.C. at 1pm Tuesday, March 5 Committee Meeting in the P.A.C. at 8:30am Bible Study in the P.A.C. at 10am Wednesday, March 6, 13, 20 Lenten Service in the Chapel at 10am Saturday, March 9 MountainAires Barbershop Chorus Concert @ Arvada High School at 2pm Sunday, March 17 Pot Luck in the P.A.C. at 12:30pm Tuesday, March 19 Bible Study in the P.A.C. at 10am Out to Lunch Mimi‟s Café at 11:30am Thursday, March 28 Maundy Thursday Service in the Chapel at 10am

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LWML Mites Push In March By Kay Koch

In 2009-2010, Project JOEL began reaching out to thousands of children and youth in Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Vene-zuela. The goal of Project JOEL is to train and equip young people with practical information and pre-ventative education regarding drug and alcohol abuse, violence, prom-iscuity, and the consequences of these actions, while sharing the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ as the foundation for a solid and productive life.

Bethlehem will be participating in a major March push for mites. Watch for the MITE feet coming back from last year to both the PAC and the Chapel

entry. Men and women will compete for this year‟s top collection recogni-tion. Men, place your quarters in the “leg” with the bow tie. Women, add your quarters to the “leg” with the flower. The Feet will be out the first 4 Sundays in March. For those wishing to donate more than quar-ters, men‟s and women‟s boxes will

be placed alongside the feet. Let‟s top last year‟s total feet collection of over $750!

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Foothills Field of Dreams by Ann Ornelas

When my family first moved to Colorado in 1995 we were attracted to the Green Mountain neighbor-hood for its proximity to the mountains as well as easy access to transportation. We were disap-pointed by the sad little park next to the Foothills Elementary School. Now a local group is organiz-ing to do something about this neighborhood treas-ure.

Foothills Field of Dreams is a public-private partner-ship with a goal to enhance the northwest corner of Zinnia and Youngfield with recreation facilities, landscaping, and community gardens. BLC is part-nering with other area churches in the Green Moun-tain area, local schools, neighborhood groups, local residents, area businesses, and city officials to enhance our community, improve our quality of life and foster community pride by sprucing up neglected public spaces.

The anticipated benefits include:

Physical site improvements to beautify the neighborhood;

Increase neighborhood appeal to new busi-nesses, new residents, and visitors;

Create a community garden for condo/apartment/townhome residents to engage in urban farming;

Increase youth after-school recreational and environmental education activities;

Improve local public safety by creating civic pride, community identity and personal respon-sibility within residents.

If you live in the Green Mountain area, here is another opportunity to take our faith from 2100 Wadsworth and put it into practice in one of our neighborhood communities. For more information about this project, go to www.foothillsfieldofdreams.com.

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Bethlehem Summer Camp 2013 By Gretchen Herd

Daily program from 6:30 am - 6:00 pm

Wednesday and Friday field trips to local attractions (K-6th)

Tuesday and Thursday open swim at local pools (K-6th)

Movies and special presentations on Monday

8 weeks of swim lessons offered for $50 (K-6th)

Guitar, piano and tutoring available for additional charge

Exciting weekly themes

Weekly Chapel

Great camp counselors who want to have fun with your kids

Jr. Camp Counselor program for kids going into 7th, 8th and 9th

Half-day available for preschoolers (8:00am-12:00pm)

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Tuesday, June 4 through Friday, August 9, 2013

(closed July 4 & 5; ELC Summer Camp closed July 1-5)

$36 per day

$20 preschool ½ day option

Registration Opens March 1, 2013;

Early registration until April 29

$50 before May 1; $100 after May 1

(Registration includes swim shirt & camp shirt)

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Non-Profit Org.

U. S. POSTAGE PAID

WHEATRIDGE, CO

PERMIT NO. 68

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Café Misto / Café au Lait ~ a drink consisting of 1/2

coffee, 1/2 steamed milk, and a bit of foam

Latte ~ espresso, steamed milk, and foam

Cappuccino ~ like a latte, only much more foam;

normally 1/2 milk and 1/2 foam

Americano ~ espresso diluted with hot water until it‟s

roughly the strength of coffee

Espresso Con Panna ~ espresso in a big squirt of

whipped cream

March Specials

Nutty Irishman Latte / Steamer

Creamy Clover Latte / Steamer

The Coffee House will be

closed Sunday, March 31st!