Shepherd of the Pines Lutheran Church

1950 125th Street NWRice, MN 56367

Phone: 393-4295Pastor’s Home/Study Phone: 320-363-1323

Email: sotpministries@jetup.net

2015 Church Website: sotpministries.com

Greetings,We are in the Lenten journey reflecting on what Jesus has made

possible for us by His suffering, death and resurrection. I want to share a devotional from Martin Luther's Devotional Book, "Faith Alone".

In Paul's letters, such as Romans, Galatians, and Colossians, there are many passages that say God has fulfilled all the requirements of the law in Christ (Romans 10:4). Christ is the fulfillment of all things. Chris is all and has all.

The person who holds on to Jesus in faith will receive forgiveness of sins. God's laws will be fulfilled, death will be conquered, and the devil will be overcome. That person will receive the gift of eternal life. for in this one

man, Jesus, all is settled. He has fulfilled everything. Whoever accepts him has everything. As Paul says here, "You have been given fullness in Christ."

(Colossians 2:9-10)When I feel anxious about sin and hell, I remind myself that when I

have Christ, I have all that is necessary. Neither death, sin, nor the devil can hurt me. If I believe in Christ, I have fulfilled the law; it cannot accuse

me. I have conquered hell; it cannot hold me. Everything that Christ has is mine. Through him, we obtain his

possessions and eternal life. Even if I am weak in faith, I will have the same treasure and the same Christ that others have. There's no difference: we

are all made perfect through faith in him, not by what we do.For example, imagine that two people each have a hundred dollars. One person carries it in a paper bag. The other keeps it in a nice chest. Both

have the same treasure no matter where they put it. Similarly, we all have the same Christ. It doesn't matter if one person has a stronger or weaker

faith than another. Both of them believe in the same Christ and have everything through him.

God bless you with the assurance of His grace working in your life because of Jesus.

Sunday, March 9 th

Board of Lay MinistryPending Approval Minutes

February 19, 2015

BOLM members present: Brent Betker, Deb Erdmann, Curt Kvamme, Keith Hackett, Sarah Anderson, Tim

Neutz, Wayne Johnson and Pastor Bob.

Absent: Keith Peterson, Tom Ollman

Meeting was called to order by President Brent Betker at 6:36pm. Pastor Bob opened the meeting with prayer.

Mission statement was read by Wayne Johnson.

Acts Chapter 8 was read and discussed.

Treasurer’s report was reviewed. Motion made to accept the report by Deb Erdmann, seconded by Wayne

Johnson. Motion carried.

Properties Report: Tom Ollman will not be able to meet the current meeting schedule for several months.

Changing the BOLM meeting schedule was discussed, but will not work for all members. BOLM will

encourage Tom to send a representative of the committee until his schedule allows him to attend.

Secretary’s report was read by Sarah Anderson. Correction that Pastor Bob will be on vacation on March 1st and

Brenda Presnall’s Sister-in-law will be speaking during the service that day. Motion made to accept the report

as corrected by Keith Hackett, seconded by Deb Erdmann. Motion carried.

Old Business: Financial Peace University schedule was discussed. BOLM rebate on successful completion of the class was

discussed. Rebate is open to both members and non members. Wayne Johnson made a motion to continue the rebate, Keith Peterson seconded the motion. Motion carried.

New Business: Worship Shepherd schedule was reviewed through March 18th.

Next BOLM Meeting will be on Thursday, March 19th at 6:30pm.

The Service Team drafted a job description for a Contractual DCO at their last meeting. Wayne and Tim brought the description to BOLM for discussion of a possible short term opportunity and wages. The Service Team envisioned that this position would be a supporting role in SOTP’s pastoral transition period in the area of outreach. Next steps are to see what Peter Keyes has in his plan for outreach and how that fits with the job description. Pastor Bob will get in touch with Peter to set up a presentation at the next joint EMT/BOLM meeting. BOLM will continue to be in prayer regarding this opportunity.

Call Committee Mtg - 15 members were present for the meeting with Pastor Brady Finnern. A congregational survey will be distributed at worship services for three weeks, the committee will meet after the surveys are gathered to compile the results. Keith Peterson will be asked to participate on the committee as the SOTP Constitution calls for the Vice Chairman to be on the committee.

April Starry has requested to be dropped from Membership Roster. Motion made by Keith Hackett and seconded by Deb Erdmann. Motion carried.

Pastor was approached regarding having a Gideon Speaker at the beginning of an upcoming service; Pastor will arrange the date of presentation.

A workshop on writing policies for sexual misconduct Saturday March 14th was discussed, contact Pastor Bob if interested.

Benefit for Schlichting’s is March 7th at the VFW in Sauk Rapids starting at 2pm for Kris who has suffered a brain aneurysm and has been hospitalized for 26 days due to complications.

Brent shared the sponsor a day offer for Spirit 92.9 for a full day sponsorship. Motion was made for Shepherd of the Pines to sponsor a day by Sarah Anderson, seconded by Tim Neutz. Motion carried.

Keith mentioned a benefit on March 14th at St. Joseph's Parish Hall, Morrill MN from 4:30pm to 7:00 pm for Kieran (age 5) and Allison (age 7), both girls have been diagnosed with inoperable tumors.

Pastor comments First Communion for 11 young people will be on February 22nd in both services. Lent started Wednesday, February 18th. Attendance was up for Ash Wednesday. Getting ready for Membership Classes - Saturdays March 14th & 28th

Leader’s comments Keith reminded the BOLM about watching “Never Too Late” by Rob Reinow on Right Now Media for future

discussion. It’s a four session study.

Motion was made by Keith Hackett to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Deb Erdmann. Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 9:24pm.

Meeting was closed with circle prayer.

Respectfully submitted by Sarah Anderson, BOLM Secretary

March in Minnesota is FoodShare month. Food shelves in Minnesota depend greatly on the generous donations of individuals and businesses during March to

assist in keeping their doors open. During FoodShare month, each food shelf reports donations (money & food) to Minnesota FoodShare and in turn the food shelves receive allocation checks based on their total donations reported. Food Shelves then can use this money to purchase most food from Second Harvest Heartland for a greatly reduced price.The Rice Area Food Shelf (RAFS) depends greatly on these donations! RAFS would like to take this opportunity to THANK valued donors whom have generously given to support the RAFS in the past years. We are asking you to consider donating again this year (2015), to assist in meeting the needs of your friends and neighbors in the Rice and surrounding areas. The RAFS averages serving 200 individuals monthly and distributes roughly 6,000 pounds of food each month. Like many food shelves, the RAFS has been experiencing increasing usage. In 2014 the RAFS fed 2,369 peoplpe by distributing 68,870 pounds of food!

To donate non-perishable food items, please contact Peggy at 393-2915 or Sherry at 393-4441.

RAFSP.O. Box 334Rice, MN 56367

Thank You for your support!!!

Minnesota FoodShare giving envelopes are ALWAYS available on the counter in the narthex at SOTP. Please consider supporting this wonderful ministry.

Have you asked

yourself, "How can I have a variety of inspiring Bible based information and teaching on many topics & issues for kids, teens and adults available on my smartphone, I-Pad, TV, computer, etc?" Shepherd of the Pines offers you, for no charge, all of that on RightNow Media. Just send us your email address and we will send you the way to connect to all this wonderful stuff to help you grow in your faith.

We offer membership classes to those who would

like to become members of Shepherd of the Pines

and join us on our journey with Jesus. The class

consists of two Saturday sessions. The next ones

are: March 14th and 28th. Each class will be from

8:30am to 12:30pm with a brunch included. Please

sign up on the sheet on the counter in the church

lobby so we can plan for food and materials. Our

goal is to help each person take steps into God’s

good plan and to discover and live out God’s

wonderful purposes for our lives. If you have any

questions contact Pastor Bob at 393-4295.

RICE AREA FOOD SHELF

March

distribution is Thursday, March 7th,

3:00-5:30pm at the Old Village Hall

We have been praying for our church family each week as we go through our church directory from A to Z. As you go

about your daily tasks lift a prayer for the family of the week as the Lord brings them to mind. In March we will be praying for:

March 1 - Paul & Lila Tschida

March 8 - Irene Vick

March 15 - Ashley Vogel

March 22 - Karie WagnerChild: Nathan

March 29 - Charyl Walberg

The Our theme for Lent this year is “Jesus Opens The Door of

Prayer For Us” as we examine the Lord's Prayer and how we can apply it to our own

lives.Lenten Suppers

5:30 - 6:15 pm Free will offering Soup suppers

immediately preceding Lenten services IF we have volunteers

to serve

Lenten Services - 6:30pmFebruary 25, March 4, 11,

18, & 25

Maundy Thursday Service w/Holy CommunionApril 2, 6:30pm

Good Friday ServiceApril 3, 6:30pm

Easter Sunday ServicesApril 5, 6:00am, 8:00am,

10:30am

Are you interested in an SOTP

Fellowship/handgun Target Shooting

Event?

WHEN: Sunday, March 29th 4 -

5:30pm

WHERE: Firing Line Indoor

Range

3409 Mayhew Lake Road NE

Sauk Rapids (Near High School)

COST: $18.00 per person if using own gun

$5.00 to use range guns + ammo

There is a sign up sheet on the

counter in the church lobby. We

need at least 10 people to make it a

go, but limit of 16 total. Kids need to be 11

years old. Rifles that shoot no more than

3300 feet per second are allowed. For those

who would like, we will grab a bite to eat

afterward for fellowship together at the

Golden Spike Road Perkins. For more info,

contact Pastor Bob at 393-4295.

Annual Lion's Club Breakfast

Sunday, MARCH 1st

Graham United Methodist Church

8:30am-12:30pm

Serving: French Toast,

Eggs, Sausage, Juice/Coffee

* Silent Auction Items Available

**Free Diabetes Testing!

Pastor Bob & Carol will be away on

vacation February 26th

thru March 6th. If you need pastoral care during this time please Pastor Tim Rehwaldt at 320-968-6400 or call the SOTP

office at 393-4295.

We had an amazing turn out for the Sweetheart’s Breakfast and for our Ash Wednesday Soup Supper! Thanks to all of you for attending and for your generous support of our SOTP Youth. We are about ready to take-off to Acquire the Fire. This event will be on March 13th -14th. There are 23 in

our group including chaperones. We are assured of a spirit filled 2 days and we are all looking forward to it. Please pray for our group as we attend Acquire the Fire as this can be quite an amazing faith building event!Blessings,Karen

There are sign up

sheets on the counter in the church lobby for both helpers and to provide food items for our annual Easter morning breakfast. This is a wonderful time of fellowship, service and an opportunity to support our SOTP Youth Group. Please prayerfully consider how you may help!

Hi Everyone,Sunday School is going great. Attendance has stayed steady all year! We have a great bunch of

committed teachers teaching our children God's ways. Our Faithweavers curriculum is going great and we are gearing up for fall when we start the Dave Ramsey church wide momentum called Jubilee.If you have any questions or concerns about Sunday School please let me know. BlessingsJennifer Betker320-248-9813

Resource Training & Solutions is offering the following courses in March:

1-2-3 Magic ClassTime will be well invested in this family

garden plot. Dig into the ground of this

interactive class addressing the difficult

task of child discipline with humor, keen

insight and proven experience. This

program provides easy-to-follow steps for

disciplining children ages 2-12 pruning

out yelling, arguing or spanking.

Presentor: Dr. Scott Palmer

When: Saturday, March 21st

Time: 8:30-4:00pm

Cost: $75 for 2 people [Snow day

March 28th]

The New Self Esteem: Creating a Mindset for Success in Your ChildIn this class, you will learn the secret to

helping your child be more successful in

school, athletics and life, creating a

"mindset" for success, the groundwork for

motivating kids and attaining their goals.

Using real-life examples, this master

gardener will plant in your mind eight

concrete ways to create a growth mindset

in your child. Thrive in your results for a lift

time.

Presentor: Toni Schutta

When: Monday, March 30th

Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm

Cost: $15/person or $25/2 people

Both courses will be held at the Resource

Training & Solutions facility: 137 23rd

Street South, Sartell

To register, visit:

www.resourcetraining.com

or call (844) 335-3276

This year of 2015 is SOTP's year of Jubilee! Come experience financial freedom. We are excited that God has lead us to this journey. We are offering a couple Financial Peace

University groups this spring: Sunday mornings beginning March

15th and Thursday evenings beginning March 19th to give you the chance to join us on the journey of learning how to follow God's steps

to financial freedom. We are learning how to be blessed to be a blessing. In September of this year,

we will kick off our church wide experience - Jubilee! as we go on a 9 week journey in our Sunday School,

Youth Group, Sunday morning worship services and adult study

groups. This is based on Dave Ramsey's materials. What we are

learning gives us the ability to pass on a Godly heritage to our children

concerning money. Here is this month's info from Dave Ramsey and

his daughter Rachel Cruze:

LET YOUR CHILD FALL DOWN

Rachel: People make huge, expensive mistakes as adults because they were not allowed to make inexpensive ones as kids. their parents want to spare them the pain of tough lessons. I remember a trip to Opryland we took when I was 6. Each of us kids had money that we'd

earned doing chores. Well, I blew mine within 5 minutes! I remember that terrible moment when I put my hand into my pocket and found nothing but lint and shattered dreams. I ran to Mom and Dad begging for more. "Please, I'll pay you back later!" Then Dad said something that has stuck with me. "Rachel, when the money's gone, it's gone. Once you spend it, you can't get it back. If you're out of money, then you're done for the day." I drove them crazy whining. But they wouldn't budge. I had to deal with the fact that I had wasted all my money on an impulse.

Dave: From our perspective, it was not nearly as dramatic. She ran out of money and got no more, end of story. No amount of cute, pouting or persuasion changes the math - you're still broke. I meet 54 year olds who haven't learned this lesson yet.

Worship ShepherdsMarch 1 Deb Erdmann

March 8 Tim Neutz

March 15 Sarah Anderson

March 22 Keith Hackett

March 29 Keith Peterson

March 1 8:00am Keith & Roxanne Peterson 10:30am Pat & Carol Rolph March 8 8:00am Keith & Evie Kirchner 10:30am Rich & Robin Hemple March 15 8:00am Kevin & Janet Maleska 10:30am Steve & Roxann Ree March 22 8:00am Randy & Donna Klaphake 10:30am Troy & Deb Popp

March 29 8:00am Ron & Barb McKeever 10:30am Wayne & Colleen Peterson

March 1 8:00am Linda Dirks 10:30am Melissa Hinderschied

March 8 8:00am Linda Omann 10:30am Pam Fuchs

March 15 8:00am Lois Perleberg 10:30am Sandie Resch

March 22 8:00am Paul Tschida 10:30am Carol Trinklein

March 29 8:00am Richael Weinand 10:30am Angela Frost

March 1 DJ Janski

March 8 Garry & Bonnie Loidolt

March 15 Jay & Leah Saldana March 22 Keith & Evie KirchnerMarch 29 Jeff & Joan Ramey

MARCH COUNTERSDennis Arntson, Laurie Madoll,

Keith Kirchner

If it is your turn to serve fellowship, please bring some treats to share and arrive early to help set up. If your name is first

on the list, please arrive 30 minutes prior to the 8:00am service to make coffee. The directions for making coffee

are posted on the bulletin board in the kitchen. When you serve fellowship, please plan on serving coffee and treats

and cleaning up the kitchen after the first service. The others serving with you would appreciate it!

March 2 - W. Peterson, J. Hoeft, J. Funt, J. Dumonceaux, K. Foss

March 9 - B. Gottwalt, J. Brouns, L. Jenkins, K. Feia, R. McKeever

March 16 - J. Saldana, Ro. Gummert, K. Gummert,

T. Ollman, D. Dirks

March 23 - C. Anderson, B. Fiedler, T. Neutz,

S. Schraut, D. Traut

March 30 - T. Billmeyer, K. Wagner, D. Brannen,T. Hovland, A. Ostendorf

March 1 - Guest Speaker -Christine Gillund

March 8 - Psalm 51:1-17 John 2:13-25

March 15 - Genesis 9:8-15 John 3:16-21

March 22 - Psalm 143 John 12:20-33

March 29 - Hebrews 5:1-10 John 4:4-26

MARCH Roxanne Peterson,

Juli Popp, Richael Weinand

PROJECTIONISTMarch 1 8:00am Samantha Dubbin 10:30am Noah Ellefson

March 8 8:00am Dennis Arntson 10:30am Matthew Neutz

March 15 8:00am Tony Omann 10:30am Denise Leahy

March 22 8:00am Samantha Dubbin 10:30am Donovan Elyea

March 29 8:00am Dennis Arntson 10:30am Matthew Neutz

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDRICE, MN

PERMIT NO. 32

RETURN SERVICES REQUESTED

Jesus Gives Grace to...

Bob Trinklein, PastorChurch Phone: 393-4295 Pastor’s Home Study: 320-363-1323

Email: sotpministries@jetup.netChurch Website: sotpministries.com

SOTP BOARD OF LAY MINISTRY/ELDERSBrent Betker, President 584-8170, Deb Erdmann, 393-4279, Keith Hackett, 393-4531, Keith Peterson, Vice-President 292-4007,

Curt Kvamme, Treas. 393-3353, Sarah Anderson, Secretary 267-2628, Tim Neutz, 393-3386, Wayne Johnson 253-9020

Tom Ollman, Church Properties 253-4623

EXECUTIVE MINISTRY TEAMBrenda Hackett - Small Group Team Leader, Michelle Motschke - Worship Team Leader, Maria Traut - Service Team Leader

In case of church cancellation due to bad weather listen to, 98 COUNTRY 98.1, SPIRIT 92.9, KCLD 104.7, WJON 1240, or call the church office and listen to the message.

Shepherd of the Pines Mission Statement: Connecting People to God…To Others…and To Service The purpose of this congregation is mandated for us by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as found in the words of the Great Commission (Matthew 28), namely first of all to Go. To leave our walls of refuge, going into all the world, comprising of our families and neighbors. We plan to achieve our purpose by identifying persons with whom we are particularly well-equipped to serve and reach with the challenge of becoming Disciples of Christ. Second, to Make Disciples or in the words of St Paul, “To equip the saints” (Ephesians 4:12). This is to be understood as helping people to live the Christian life here on earth. Preparing and encouraging young and old alike to find and to use their God given gifts and abilities for the extension of His Kingdom, and to grow in fervent love for God and for others. Thirdly, to Baptize as commanded by Jesus Himself. As God reaches down to mankind with His means of grace, He would have us baptize His people, bringing them into His family and Kingdom, granting to them life, forgiveness of sins, and eternal salvation. And lastly, to continue steadfast in His Word, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. A continued zeal for the study of His Word, the Bible, is necessary for the growth of any Christian congregation. Thus, the Word of God will be taught and studied in full measure and His Word shall be the rule and norm of this congregation’s faith and life. To that end, our every effort and energy will be used in motivating, training, and putting to use our time, and talents and treasures to Make Disciples.