Preparing for Easter
It may seem a bit early to talk about preparing for Easter, but since this could be considered the biggest event on the church year calendar, Easter is really a focal point all year round. The resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, is one of the things that sets us apart from other religions. Our God became a human being, lived a perfect life to fulfill the requirements of the Law, and died a sacrificial death to pay for the sins of the whole world. His resurrection from the dead is a declaration that His mission was successful and offers us hope for life after death as well.
Our hope of being made right with God by grace through the free gift of faith is based on God’s acts of love that took place on Good Friday and Easter. The Church has traditionally set aside a six week period of repentance and preparation before Easter to contemplate on the suffering and death of our Savior and to make the celebration of His resurrection even more meaningful. We call this Lent.
Starting on Wednesday, February 22nd (Ash Wednesday), we will have special services at 4:30 p.m. for six Wednesdays. Pastor Mark will be preaching on “Witnesses to Christ.”
I encourage you to join us for these special services as, together, we contemplate and celebrate the amazing love of God which led to the cross and the empty tomb. This is also a good time to invite a friend or neighbor.                                                                                                                          

  Pastor Brian                                                 

March On!

“This is what the LORD says to me: “As a lion growls, a great lion over his prey-
he is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor- so the LORD Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.” Isaiah 31:4

The month of March gets its name from Mars, the Roman god of war, due to the stormy weather that usually marches on in this month. Over time, this same weather pattern became associated with the ferocious attacks of a lion. Poised between the wintry month of February and the warmer weather of April we get the expression, “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb”.

For Christians, these expressions have a far deeper and more significant meaning than just the weather. As we journey through Lent this month, we follow Jesus, the Lion of Judah, as He battles against sin and Satan. As a great lion growls over his prey, Jesus did not let anything stand in His way. He resisted every effort to silence His message of God’s reign on earth. He was not “frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor”. He taught with authority and backed it up with powerful miracles. He created quite a storm among the people of His day, culminat-ing on a cross. Here, the Lamb of God dies to take away the sin of the world. This month, we will gather to worship the Lion/Lamb each Wednesday at 4:30 pm. In our worship service, we will meet a “Witness to Christ.” Some meet Jesus as a Lion, some as a Lamb, but all encounter the Son of God.

As baptized and believing people we encounter Jesus every day. We rejoice that He is al-ways with us. We see Him in the Word we read and study. We see Him in the people in our lives. We see Him in our own life as we reach out in love and service to others. Storms are bound to come our way, but the LORD will see us through. He has won the victory and through faith we are victorious as well. March On!

In His service and yours,

Pastor Mark R. Rhoads

Here’s an interesting comparison by Rev. Dr. James Baneck of the LCMS that might answer that question. The lambs and sheep our Savior sent Peter to feed and tend were not the wooly kind residing on a beautiful hillside. There are, however, rich parallels between shepherding sheep and shepherding God's people.

James Rebanks watches over real four-legged sheep in the United Kingdom. He writes about the parallels in his article, “Are You Hard Enough to Survive as a Shepherd?”
"The romance wears off after a few weeks, believe me, and you will be left standing cold and lonely on a mountain. It is all about endurance. Digging in. Holding on. You will also need to be emotionally. tough … Carrion crows hang over our lambing fields waiting to steal the eyes out of anything sick or dead that cannot resist … You’ll need the patience of a saint, too, because sheep test you to the limit with a million ways to escape, ail, or die … It requires a body of knowledge and skills that shepherds devote decades to learning."

How this applies to our pastors! There is nothing romantic about being a pastor; it is hard work and often lonely. It demands an endurance that comes only from God. Like carrion crows, Satan seeks to devour God’s people. The pastor stands guard. protecting and feeding God’s sheep with Christ in the preached Word and blessed Sacraments. The formation of men for the Holy Ministry begins at Baptism. And while pastoral formation is intensified during seminary, “it requires a body of knowledge and skills that [pastors] devote decades to learning."

Pastors are to be clothed with the humility of Christ, “who humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). Pastors must be equipped to lead Gods people to the waters of Holy Baptism, where God gives new birth to sinners and opens the kingdom of heaven for them. Pastors are formed to be stewards of the mysteries of God. Pastors feed God’s sheep the Word of God in preaching and teaching and with the body and blood of our Lord at His table. Pastors listen, love and seek the lost.

Looking at all that a Pastor does, how is he prepared for this role at the Seminars’? Can you help with this preparation? Could you sponsor a seminarian? Could you help COS in their sponsoring of eight seminary students? Please help with your gift! ‘For more information, contact John W. Smith. God bless your help.