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News & Notes

Sunday Worship - 9:00 a.m. Monday Worship - 7:00 p.m.

www.portagelutheranchurch.org crossofchristportage@hotmail.com

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Church: (608) 742-5609 Pastor Scott Schultz: (608) 617-8409

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Inside This Issue Daily Walk with God 2

Pastor’s Article 3

Lenten Worship 4

Lenten Suppers 4

Camp Phillip 4

February Mission 5

Thank You 5

College Student Thank You 5

Schultz Family Thank You 5

School Calendars 6

Tuition Assistance Fund 6

NPH Items 7

WELS Websites 7

Committee Reports 8-9

New Members 10

Shut-Ins 10

Church Council 10

Thankful Giving Opportunities 11

Newsletter Information 11

February 2018 Issue Feb. 1 Genesis 47; Psalm 105 2 Genesis 48 - 50; Psalm 121 3 Exodus 1 - 4:17 4 Exodus 4:18 - 7:13 5 Exodus 7:14 - 9 6 Exodus 10 - 12:42 7 Exodus 12:43 - 15:21 8 Psalm 78 & 93 9 Exodus 15:22 - 18 10 Exodus 19 - 21 11 Psalm 119: 1 - 88 12 Psalm 119: 89 - 176 13 Exodus 22 - 24 14 Exodus 25; Psalm 103 15 Exodus 26 - 27; Psalm 84 16 Exodus 28; 2 John; 3 John 17 Exodus 29: Psalm 51 18 Exodus 30 - 32:29 19 Exodus 32:30 - 35:29 20 Exodus 35:30 - 38:23 21 Exodus 38:24 - 40 22 Psalm 2, 45, 102; Hebrews 1 & 2 23 Psalm 95, 110; Hebrews 3 - 6 24 Hebrews 7 - 10:31 25 Hebrews 10:32 - 12 26 Hebrews 13; Leviticus 1 - 3 27 Leviticus 4 - 6 28 Leviticus 7 - 9:22

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Pastor’s Article

What Is The Season Of Epiphany About?

Anyone who has ever been to Walmart knows they have specific sections dedicated to an upcoming holiday or special event. In January, it is Valentine’s Day. Immediately after Valentine’s Day is over, it is Easter, followed by the 4th of July, back to school, Halloween, and then Christmas. In a similar way, the Christian Church has seasons, which change every several months throughout the year. It begins with the season of Advent in December, followed by Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and in some Christian Churches the season of End Time. In this column entitled, “Questions About Christianity”, we have already learned what the seasons of Advent and Christmas are about. In this article, we will learn about the next church season Epiphany. We will do this by answering this question: “What is the season of Epiphany About?”

The season of Epiphany originated in the Eastern Church shortly before the fourth century. Originally, they celebrated just the Day of Epiphany on January 6. On this day, they celebrated Jesus’ birthday. Today, some Eastern Churches still celebrate Jesus’ birthday on January 6. After the fourth century, the Western Church began to celebrate the season of Epiphany. However, the changed the focus of the season because they celebrated Jesus’ birthday on December 25. The word Epiphany comes from the Greek word epiphaneia, which means, “appearing or revealing”. During the season of Epiphany, the Christian Church celebrates how Jesus revealed he is true God and the Savior of all people. On January 6, the Day of Epiphany, the Christian Church studies the Bible lesson about the Magi or Wise Men, which proves Jesus is the Savior of all people. On the following Sunday, they study the Bible lesson about Jesus’ baptism where the Triune God revealed Jesus is the Savior of all people. Over the next several weeks, they study Bible lessons about the miracles Jesus performed, such as his first miracle at the wedding of Cana. These miracles prove Jesus is true God. The season of Epiphany ends with Transfiguration Sunday. On this day, the Christian Church studies the Bible lesson about how Jesus revealed his glory as God to his disciples, Peter, James, and John on a mountain as he talked with Moses and Elijah.

The season of Epiphany begins every year on January 6 with the Day of Epiphany. However, Transfiguration Sunday varies each year because of when Easter is celebrated. If Easter is celebrated early, there are less Sundays in the season of Epiphany. If Easter is celebrated late, there are more Sundays in the season of Epiphany. The color of the paraments on the altar and pulpit for Epiphany Day, Jesus’ Baptism, and Transfiguration Sunday are white. White symbolizes holiness or purity. The color of the paraments for the rest of the season is green. Green symbolizes growing in faith through God’s Word.

We began the month of February with the season of Epiphany. However, on February 14, we celebrated Ash Wednesday. This is the first day in the church season of Lent. Next month we will learn about the season of Lent.

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Camp Phillip Early Registration

If you are interested in sending a child or grandchild to Camp Phillip please check out the details on their website www.campphillip.com or talk to Tim Scharenbroch. There are half week and full week programs for K-8. If you want to get an early bird discount, you must register your child before March 1st.

Lenten Service Schedule

The theme for this year’s Midweek Lenten Services is “Jesus’ Seven Phrases From The Cross ”. Below is the schedule for our Lenten services.

Ash Wednesday service w/ Lord’s Supper 7:00 p.m. February 14 Worship service w/ Lord’s Supper 9:00 a.m. February 18 Worship service w/ Lord’s Supper 7:00 p.m. February 19 Midweek Lenten service 7:00 p.m. February 21 Worship service 9:00 a.m. February 25 Worship service 7:00 p.m. February 26 Midweek Lenten service 7:00 p.m. February 28 Worship service w/ Lord’s Supper 9:00 a.m. March 4 Worship service w/ Lord’s Supper 7:00 p.m. March 5 Midweek Lenten service 7:00 p.m. March 7 Worship service 9:00 a.m. March 11 Worship service 7:00 p.m. March 12 Midweek Lenten service 7:00 p.m. March 14 Worship service w/ Lord’s Supper 9:00 a.m. March 18 Worship service w/ Lord’s Supper 7:00 p.m. March 19 Midweek Lenten service 7:00 p.m. March 21 Palm Sunday service 9:00 a.m. March 25 Worship service 7:00 p.m. March 26 Maundy Thursday service w/Lord’s Supper 7:00 p.m. March 29 Good Friday service 3:00 p.m. March 30 Good Friday Tenebrae service 7:00 p.m. March 30 Sunrise service w/ Lord’s Supper 6:00 a.m. April 1 Easter service w/ Lord’s Supper 9:00 a.m. April 1

Lenten Suppers

The following is a list of when each Fellowship Group is serving for the Lenten suppers.

February 14 5:30 pm Group 3 February 21 5:30 pm Group 4 February 28 5:30 pm Group 1 March 7 5:30 pm Group 2 March 14 5:30 pm Group 4 March 21 5:30 pm Group 1

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Thank You

WELS Christian Aid and Relief sent us thanks for our donation. WELS World Missions sent us thanks for our donation for the WELS mission work in Nepal. Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary sent us thanks for our contribution for Thomas Nicholson’s Seminary Education. Lila Freber, Marian Kreitzman, and Audrey Zunker sent thank you cards for the gift bags they received at Christmas.

February Mission WELS Church Extension Fund

The mission of WELS Investment Funds, Inc. (WIF) is to strengthen and enhance the ministries of WELS and WELS-affiliated organizations by providing professionally managed investment portfolios. WIF serves as the administrator of two investment portfolios: WELS Equity Fund and WELS Income Fund. WELS Investment Funds is governed by an independent board whose directors are members of WELS congregations and who are elected by the Synodical Council. The Lord has blessed WELS with a talented group to serve on this board. For more information, please check out their website at www.welsfunds.net.

College Student Thank You

Members of Cross of Christ: Thank you so much for the College Care package! It is so nice to always remember the family of believers that I have back in Portage. I will most definitely use the gas card because traveling isn’t cheap anymore, and also the Culver’s Card. Ice cream is one of my favorite foods. Thanks for all the prayers and support. God’s blessings. Emily Scharenbroch

Thank You From The Schultz Family

Dear members of Cross of Christ, Thank you very much for the Christmas presents you gave to me and my family. Thank you for the Walmart, Family Video, Kohls, JC Penny, and Northwestern Publishing House gift cards. They are all very useful and very much appreciated! We thank you, not just for the Christmas presents you gave to us, but also for the love and support you give to us all throughout the year. We feel extremely blessed and it is a tremendous joy to serve you. Thank you once again! Love, Pastor, Jill, Caleb, Chloe, Eli, Naomi

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School Calendars

February 14 Ash Wednesday

February 19 No School - Presidents Day Kinderfest

231 Woodland Beach Rd. Lake Mills WI (920) 648-2321 www.llhs.org

St. John’s Lutheran School 505 E. LaFollette St. (608) 429-3636 Pardeeville WI 53954 www.stjohnspardeeville.org

Tuition Assistance Fund

In order to assist parents in sending their child(ren) to one of these schools or another WELS school, Cross of Christ has established a Tuition Assistance Fund. The goal of this fund is to give $100.00 per child a month for 10 months each school year to the school their (child)ren are attending for their tuition. If you would like to receive assistance from this fund, talk to the Education Chairman. If you would like to contribute to this fund at any time, please mark on the front of your weekly offering envelope how much you want designated to go to this fund.

FEBRUARY EVENTS

February 9 4K-Kindergartten Roundup

February 14 St. John’s in Session—no AM busing

February 15 & 16 Western Wisconsin District Curriculum Conference—No School

February 22 & 23 St. John’s in Session—No Busing or Hot Lunch

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Northwestern Publishing House

WELS Websites

www.wels.net The official website for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. www.nph.net Northwestern Publishing House’s website that sells religious materials. www.whataboutjesus.com Learn more about Jesus, the Bible, how to deal with social concerns, etc. www.christianliferesources.com Stay up-to-date with important life issues and get answers to difficult ethical questions. www.goodsearch.com A search engine (comparable to Google or Yahoo) that donates money to the Wisconsin Synod when it is used. www.lwms.org The official website for the Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society.

You can place your order by visiting www.nph.net or call Northwestern Publishing House at 1-800-662-6022.

Escaping the Deathtraps

The Joy of Gathering Around the Truth Follow the story of Tashi, Pastor Pedro, and other members of a Lutheran congregation in a Peruvian village as they wrestle tough questions about church fellowship: - “Why do there have to be so many different kinds of churches?” - “Does it matter that churches teach different things?” - “Is it okay to worship with Christians from other churches?” - “Can I pray with those Christians?” This exciting and even humorous story illustrates how God lovingly protects his people from false teachings. You will discover that church fellowship is an expression of love—not exclusion or judgment. Study questions are included after each chapter, making Escaping the Deathtraps an ideal read for church book clubs and informal Bible studies.

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Fellowship Committee January Recap Current Members: Adam Gaffney, Vi Burmeister, Sandy Beimborn, Joan Klappstein, Pat Eckert, Judy Trebatoski

Groups have been set up on the calendar. Group 2 will serve on Sunday, February 11 and Group 3 will serve Ash Wednesday.

Next meeting will be on Sunday, March 4 at 11:30 a.m. There will be no Valentine party. Fish Fry will be on Friday, March 9 at 5:30 p.m. at Dinos

Restaurant. Card Party will be Saturday, May 5 at 6:00 p.m. Marriage Vow Renewals will be on Sunday, June 10. WELS Night at Milwaukee Brewers against the Colorado

Rockies will be on Friday, August 3, 2018. Game time is 7:10 p.m.

Church basement clean up. Please put items away and keep tables and counters wiped clean.

If you are interested in helping serve on Sundays, being on a Fellowship group, or are willing to provide snacks for Sundays, please talk to Sandy Beimborn.

Church Council January Meeting Recap At their January meeting, Church Council discussed fixing the power point for worship services, the vacant Church Council positions, finishing the pictorial directory, finalized the 2018 church budget, and discussed items for the Annual Voters’ meeting on January 28.

Education Committee December Recap Current Members: Matt Buchholz, Joshua Veglahn, Jill Schultz

At their December meeting, the Education Committee discussed the Education Sunday speaker, Christmas gift bags for the children, and only meeting every other month.

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Cross of Christ Ladies January Recap Officers: Sandra Beimborn, Joan Klappstein, Pat Eckert, Jill Schultz, LWMS Reporter: Sandra Beimborn We had a Growth Group Bible Study at the January meeting.

Sandra Beimborn reported that the Executive Board for the Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS) Beaver Dam Circuit met in January at Fox Lake to discuss the spring rally. The Spring Rally will be held at St. John, Fox Lake. Registration begins at 9:45 a.m. and the rally begins at 10:30 a.m. At the rally we will elect new officers and vote for the upcoming year’s Home and World Mission projects. The special project for the Spring Rally is Camp Phillip and New Beginnings for the Fall Rally. More information for these service projects will be provided later.

The LWMS Convention will be this year in Green Bay on the last weekend in June. Early Bird registration runs through the end of March.

At the February meeting, we will be making Love Baskets to share with others.

The Cross of Christ Ladies encourage all ladies of the congregation to come to their gatherings. Children are welcome! Do not forget, they start at 6:30 p.m. All confirmed ladies of the congregation are members of Cross of Christ Ladies (CCL) and of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS).

Stewardship Committee January Recap Current Members: William Beimborn, Bonnie Dorniak, Bill Eckert, Dan Heckmann The Stewardship Committee’s next meeting is on February 1, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. Items of interest: The deadline for SCRIP orders for February is February 11. Accounts were set up for automatic withdrawals in January. It

is not too late to participate.

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Questions or Concerns?

If anyone has questions, concerns, or comments about our church, please feel free to talk to someone on the Church Council because God has provided these men to assist you.

Shut-Ins

Lila Freber Lois Plath

Elmer Glaeske Norman & Bernice Stump

Marian Kreitzman Audrey Zunker

Margery McCluskey

Even though these members are unable to come to regular worship services, please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Cross of Christ Church Council Members

Todd Miller President/ (608) 566 - 0344 Elder’s Comm. Chairman Matthew Buchholz Secretary/ (608) 354 - 8708 Education Comm. Chairman William Beimborn Financial Secretary/ (608) 566 - 6403 Stewardship Comm. Chairman Vacant Treasurer Adam Gaffney Fellowship Comm. Chairman (608) 617 - 9971 Scott McCluskey Evangelism / Outreach (608) 742 - 4025 Comm. Chairman Tim Scharenbroch Property Comm. Chair. (608) 742 - 2421 Vacant Worship Comm. Chairman

New Members

There are no new members this month, but continue to pray for the Lord’s Work that is being done through the members we currently have at Cross of Christ!

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Newsletter

Cross of Christ’s News & Notes monthly newsletter will be placed in your mailboxes the Sunday before the first of the month. If you have an article, meeting recap, note, or flier for publication, please either email your newsletter item to crossofchristportage@hotmail.com or place it in Sandra Beimborn’s mailbox by February 15, 2018.

If you do not wish to continue receiving this newsletter, please e-mail Cross of Christ at

crossofchristportage@hotmail.com or call the church office at (608)742-5609 and leave a message. Thank you!

Thankful Giving Opportunities

In 1 Corinthians 16:2 God encourages believers to give their first fruits as offerings in church in proportion to their income. Believers do this to thank God for what he did for them and to support the gospel ministry.

Cross of Christ encourages all of its members to give their offerings for these reasons. It also offers other programs for its members to give to the church above and beyond their offerings, which do not support our church’s budget.

SCRIP: We offer a SCRIP program where members can buy gift cards for many different stores. A percentage of the money our members pay is given to the church. SCRIP deadline is always the second Sunday of the month. Order forms are available at church in the mailbox labeled SCRIP. If you need help, talk to Jeannine Heckmann.

MILK MOOLA: We offer a Milk Moola program where members can turn in their KwikTrip Milk Moola caps and labels into a box in the church basement. Church then gets money from these caps and labels. Keep saving those labels and bottle caps.

BOXTOPS & Labels for Education: This program is ending. If you still have some, please turn them in as soon as possible.