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LIVING WORD LUTHERAN CHURCH 438.9672 CHURCH MAY 2020 NEWsLETTER

WHAT’SINSIDE

Youth NewsEaster Sunday

Women of the Living Word

Pastor’s LetterCouncil Minutes

May Event CalendarMay Birth/Ann. Calendar

MACI KASUSKE plansto attend Dakota StateUniversity (DSU) in Madison, SD majoring in Cyber Operations.

Congratulations on your graduation. YourChristian upbringing has equipped you to apply your faith in your daily life. With your

faith in your heart, you are ready for whatever you may encounter. Walk humbly the path toward yourfuture, always remembering that God is with you, and is using His Word as a light to your path and alamp to your feet.

We ask the congregation to keep these specialyoung adults in their prayers as they journey intoGod’s future for them.

The SENIOR RECOGNITION will be May 10 duringthe 10:00 AM parking lot service. At this time we willhonor and pray for them and give each of them a giftfrom the congregation.

CHASE M.VARPNESSplans to attend culinaryschool.

ABIGAIL DEJONGplans on working a yearafter graduating and then plans to attendcollege for nursing. She is undecided as to whichcollege right now.

LILY TRAPP plans to attendthe University of Sioux Fallsto study psychology.

Congratulations and Godspeedto Our High School Graduates

PO Box 301, Milbank, south Dakota 57252 • 605.438.9672 • [email protected] • livingwordmilbank.com

YOUTH NEWSThis is a crazy time we are

going through right now. Weare confined to our homes

and kept from doing things thatwe normally do. This is a greattime to get our spiritual lives inorder. God is longing for us tospend time with Him. We nowhave no excuses as far as nothaving time for devotions andprayer time. God deserves ourpraise and devotion. Think of theword PRAY. start your day withPraise. Praise and thanks to Godfor what He has done for you.Worship Him! He loves to hearyour praise. Repent. Repent ofyour sins and ask God to forgiveyou. To cleanse your heart of all itsimpurities. Ask. Ask God what ison your heart. Finally, Yield to Godin your life. Allow Him to be incontrol to lead and guide you inevery aspect of your life.Remember Jesus is your solid rockto cling to. Use this PRAY tool tohelp you in your everyday walkwith Christ.

We have heard from ourCAMPS that all summerprogramming is canceled for2020. We need to continue to prayfor our camps during this time asthey are hurting now financiallywith their loss of programming.

Pray, pray, pray! God is at work.May He do a mighty work in yourheart to be Christ’s hands and feet

YOUTH

during this time.some RESOURCES to be

mindful of during this time areRightnow Media that I gave to youall. It is a great resource full ofBible studies and devotions. Letme know if you need the link tobe sent to you again. Also PastorKent has daily talks on our

Facebook page. Take advantage ofit! We also have live worshipservices in our parking lot onsunday mornings at 10:00 AM.Come and worship!!!!

Let’s take this time to grow inour faith and impact the world!

Love you all! Kay


EASTER


After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, thechurch’s pastor slowly stood up, walked over tothe pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the

evening, he briefly introduced a guest minister who wasin the service that evening. In the introduction, the pastortold the congregation that the guest minister was one ofhis dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him tohave a few moments to greet the church and sharewhatever he felt would be appropriate for the service…

With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit andbegan to speak. “A Father, his son, and friend of his sonwere sailing off the Pacific Coast,” he began, “When afast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get backto the shore. The waves were so high, that even thoughthe Father was an experienced sailor, he could not keepthe boat upright and the three were swept into the oceanas the boat capsized.” The old man hesitated for amoment, making eye contact with two teenagers whowere, for the first time since the service began, lookingsomewhat interested in his story… The aged ministercontinued with his story, “Grabbing a rescue line, theFather had to make the most excruciating decision of hislife: to which boy would he throw the other end of the lifeline. He only had seconds to make the decision. TheFather knew that his son was a Christian and he, also,knew that his son’s friend was not… The agony of hisdecision would not be matched by the torrent of waves.As the Father yelled out, ‘I love you, son!’ He threw out thelife line to his son’s friend. By the time the Father hadpulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son haddisappeared beneath the raging swells into the black ofnight. His body was never recovered.” By this time thetwo teenagers were sitting up straight in the pewanxiously waiting for the next words to come out of theold minister’s mouth. “The Father,” he continued, “knewhis son would step into eternity with Jesus and he couldnot bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into aneternity without Jesus… Therefore, he sacrificed his sonto save the son’s friend. How great is the love of God thathe should do the same for us. Our Heavenly Fathersacrificed his only begotten Son that we could be saved. Iurge you to accept his offer to rescue you and take a holdof the life line he is throwing out to you in this service.”

With that, the old man turned and satback down in his chair as silencefilled the room.

The pastor again walked slowly tothe pulpit and delivered a brief sermon with aninvitation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal.

Within minutes after the service ended, the twoteenagers were at the old man’s side. “That was a nicestory,” politely stated one of them, “but I don’t think itwas very realistic for a Father to give up his only son’slife in hopes that the other boy would become aChristian.” “Well, you’ve got a point there,” the old manreplied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A big smilebroadened his narrow face. He once again looked up atthe boys and said, “It sure isn’t very realistic, is it? But,I’m standing here today to tell you that story gives me aglimpse of what it must have been like for God to giveup His Son for me. You see…I was that Father and yourpastor is my son’s friend.”

COVID 19 could not cancel Easter! As we havecelebrated the resurrection of our Lord, do we reallycomprehend how great a sacrifice was made that wemight have eternal life?

We wish to congratulate our four SENIORS, Maci,Lily, Abbey and Chase. We can hopefully celebratewith you once our social distancing is ended.

Once again this month the ACTIVITIES of thewomen at the church will not be held. This is a timewhen each of you can write notes to shut-ins, cutplastic bags for mats, study God’s word, sew quilttops, do mission projects, call a friend and spendtime with family. May God bless each of you andkeep you healthy in this uncertain time.

Remember our hope is in Our savior, Jesus Christ.

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me,

though he die, yet shall he live,’” (JOHN 11:25)

Marcia Heinje, LWLW Chairperson

WOMEN OF THE LIVING WORD

This is the hour for Christians to be abeacon of hope and faith. We areto shine so that others may

be drawn to the one greatROCK, Jesus Christ. Peopleneed hope – they needconfidence – they needJesus. The first thingbelievers are called todo at this time is topursue God and seekto deepen ourconnections to ourLord. I exhort you all togo deeper – invest inyour spiritual life –rearrange prioritieswith God being first.

Then, secondly, weare to be praying and looking foropportunities to give to others. As we continuein this crisis, more and more people will seetheir financial lives destroyed, their jobs endand their businesses fail. We are restarting ourImpact Team with new members and will belooking for how Living Word can make adifference in the lives of those who have been

significantly affected by the virus event.

Also, God wants to use you at thistime to touch others who are

in your small world. Look forways to encourage othersand maybe assist in someway – be creative, nomatter how small.

I anticipate a revival ofsome kind in thiscountry – this difficult

situation will make manyunbelievers aware of

this world’slimitations andthirsty forsomething solid.

People will becomemore open to the

Gospel. Pray for a widespread revival in ourland and in our small portion of south Dakota.Pray for the spirit to soften the hearts andspirits of millions. Pray that God would deeplyrenew and inspire the faith of all of us at LivingWord. Pray that Jesus might be glorified.

Pastor Kent

PASTOR’SLETTER

Be A Beacon of Hope & Faith



COUNCILMINUTES

Living Word Lutheran Church Council Minutes,April, 2020

No church council meeting was held in April becauseof the COVID 19 guidelines to prevent the spread ofthe virus.

On March 10, 2020 it was announced that the firstcase of COVID 19 was present in south Dakota. OnMarch 13, 2020 it was announced that the schoolswould be closing for a week. That was the start of theclosing down of the various structures in our livesand society which have included the church servicesand various groups and meetings. We began bydiscontinuing Lenten meals, all coffee hours, sundayschool, mid-week classes and finally worshipservices. Our worship services have been recordedon Wednesday and have been broadcast on sundaymornings at 8:00 AM. Pastor has daily videodevotions on the church’s Facebook page (they alsocan be found on the media tab on the homepage ofour website). The Rightnow Media app has beenprovided for members that includes a variety ofChristian resources including Bible studies andvideos. It also has many things that kids will enjoy aswell. There is also a large selection of Christian booksavailable at the church. Pastor has been very vigilantin providing many resources and opportunities toencourage us to grow in faith and have comfort andpeace at this difficult time.

Holy Week activities began on Palm sunday with therecorded service and drive through communion(provided by gloved and masked personnel).

Maundy Thursday also offered drive throughcommunion.

Good Friday a community service was planned,

however, technical difficulties prevented the viewingof this services.

Easter sunday consisted of an 8:00 AM service wherewe gathered in our cars (windows up) and listenedtogether to the pre-recorded service on KMsD radio.Communion was offered car to car. The helpers woremasks and gloves.

Plans are to continue with recorded services until theguidelines to prevent the spread of the COVID 19virus are lifted or changed to allow us to gatheragain as we are accustomed to doing. startingsunday, April 19 a live parking lot service will beprovided by means of a special speaker and 87.9 onour FM radio. Windows will be closed and personnelwill wear masks and gloves.

THE FINANCIAL REPORT:Living Word Lutheran Church March 31, 2020 BudgetsummaryDedicated Account Balance $69,521.14Building Fund Account Balance $22.799.30General Fund Account Balance $112,444.59

On April 9, 2020 Janel sandvig and Lisa Akerreconciled the general, dedicated and buildingchecking account bank statements (dated 3/31/20).

MONTH-END BUDGET SUMMARY:For the month of March, we received $25,216.95 inincome ($3,739.12 more than monthly projectedincome). We had $23,317.39 in expenses ($1,839.56more than monthly projected expenses). This createda $1,899.56 positive impact to the monthly budget.

YEAR-TO-DATE BUDGET SUMMARY:Year to date, we have received $60,088.77 in income($4,344.72 below projected income to date). We had$59,797.77 in expenses ($4,635.72 less thanbudgeted expenses to date). Therefore, we are$291.00 ahead in meeting our projected annualbudget needs.

Respectfully submitted by Vicki Strege

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