Mt. Z

ion Ev. L

utheran Church

320 Mt. Z

ion Dr.

Ripon, W

I 54971

The Sheppard’s PenIt’s almost complete! Just one more piece and the puzzle will be together and we can see the full picture – just like the picture on the puzzle box. But…where is that last piece? Could it be on the table under something? Could it be on the floor under the table? “I must find that last piece,” we say to ourselves. How disappointing! Then suddenly, we find it! It was stuck on the underside of our arm. Whew, what a relief! Jigsaw puzzles can be a great way to spend free time. The more complicated the puzzle, the more effort, time, and energy it might take to get the picture complete. Some of us enjoy the challenge of assembling a complex puzzle – until we find a piece or two missing from the box.The Lord Jesus has revealed to us the most beautiful picture. In the Bible our Savior has shown us his love as God revealed to us his plan from eternity to rescue us from eternal death in hell. Studying God’s Word is like putting a puzzle together. As we study his word more and more, we start to see the picture come together. Sometimes we might think there is a piece missing, because our Savior has not told us everything. There are some things which our Savior does not reveal to us that we don’t need to know. We realize these things aren’t in the picture Jesus paints for us. The missing pieces aren’t pieces that must be found out as if God’s Word is unclear or insufficient. The missing pieces are those things that we have not yet learned from God’s Word. As we study his word, we see the pieces and put them into place so that we

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can understand more fully the picture, the plan, and action of our Lord Jesus Christ in rescuing us as he suffered and died on the cross. As John the Apostle wrote, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31 EHV). What he has revealed to us is the picture of God’s salvation for us sinners. The Holy Spirit helps us to grow in our faith and in our understanding.Keep working on the puzzle. The pieces are all there.

All of the Bible is the complete picture .“In the past, God spoke to our forefathers by the prophets at many times and in many ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of the divine nature. He sustains all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)

Council HighlightsHearing Loop Fund:There is a dedicated fund to contribute to a possible hearing loop for our church. The cost for such a

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project is estimated at $7,800. As of this time there is approximately $1,620 in this fund. Thank you for your contributions!

Gathering Room:It was decided to pay off the Gathering Room loan with Thrivent Funds and dedicated Gathering Room funds totaling approximately $10,150.

Ladies’ Aid HighlightsMeeting Dates

The officers will meet this summer to decide on dates to meet next year. There has been brief discussion of whether to meet in summer and not winter, or vice versa, and other options.

Befriend A MissionaryPlease keep our assigned missionaries in your prayers:

Pastor Paul D. Nitz, One Africa Team, Malawi Mission

Illumine Church, Rock Hills, SC

Pastor Lincoln Albrecht, River of Life Lutheran Church, Goodyear, AZ, who currently is holding a call to Peace Lutheran Church in Kokomo, Indiana.

Kids C.A.R.E. NewsThis year’s Kids C.A.R.E. home mission project, Kids Summer Bible Camps, has ended. Through mission boxes, your contributions, and other projects, we will be sending $759.47 to Kids C.A.R.E. The next Kids C.A.R.E. project will support a world mission program,

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and will be announced at the LWMS convention in June. Thank you for your generosity and support.

Helping HandsMt. Zion’s Helping Hands continue to serve our members. We are looking for volunteers to help members with technology needs. If you are interested in becoming a technology helping hand, can help in other ways, or

know someone that needs assistance, please fill out a blue form found on the table by the window as you enter church, or you may contact Lisa Tremore at 920-229-1297, Tammy Niemuth at 920-299-0240 or Joanne Gregor at 920-896-1518.

Spring Banquet

Girls and ladies had a marvelous time at the 2019 Spring Banquet. We had a wide variety of salads to choose from to eat, and Sara Grunert helped us make greeting cards.

Vacation Bible SchoolPARENTS and GRANDPARENTS OF CHILDREN AGES 4 THROUGH 6TH GRADE: We’re “looking ahead” to Vacation Bible School, where we will “go back…”Yes, we’ll go back in time-----Back to Jerusalem. We’ll enter a time machine and go

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back in time the week of June 10-14th from 1:00-4:00. Please put registration forms in Joanne Gregor’s or Dianne Witkowski’s mailbox. If you forget your form there are extra forms in the back of the church. Anyone from 7th grade to adult is welcome to help. See you then.

Congratulations to our Confirmands

Congratulations to Our Graduates

Congratulations to the following members of our congregation that have received a college degree!

Jillian Chitwood – Associate of Applied Science Degree in Nursing from Moraine Park Technical College

Carissa Ewald – Associate of Applied Science Degree in Nursing from Moraine Park Technical College

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Debra Ewald – Associate of Applied Science Degree in Medical Office Management from Moraine Park Technical College

Brad Krahn – Degree in Mechanical Engineering from UW-Platteville

Thank You from WELS Missions

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ at Mt Zion Lutheran Church, Thank you for your generous gift of $1,350.00 in support of Multi-Language Publications Proclaimer Project on 3/29/2019! We are grateful for this gift above and beyond your church’s congregational mission offering. What a blessing it is for us to share the love of Jesus to as many people as possible around the world. Together, with the help of your gifts, we will be reaching out to more people in foreign countries who need to be fed the good news of the Gospel message. What a privilege it is to feed the hungry with God’s grace and to give the water of life to thirsty souls! Thank you for your gift, and please pray for God’s blessing, for open doors, and open hearts to hear the message. Serving Him together with you and all believers,

Larry

Larry M. Schlomer

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Administrator, Board for World Missions

Multiple Sclerosis Society Silent Auction

The Ripon area annual MS silent auction will take place at Mugs Coffee Shop on Watson St., Saturday, June 8th beginning at 10:00am. All proceeds go to the National MS Society. Any questions about the auction or monetary donations may be directed to Shawn Schliepp. Cell: 920-896-1969; Email: shawnschliepp@gmail.com; Facebook page (Shawn Schliepp); or Instagram (#shawnschliepp).

Featured Recipe

Lemon Kiwi Jello SaladBy Sue Sheppard

2 sm boxes lemon Jello2 c. boiling water1 c. cold water1 can lemon pie filling1 8-oz container non-dairy whipped topping3-4 Kiwi

Mix the Jello with the boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add the cold water, then refrigerate for 2

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hours. After the 2 hours, beat into the Jello the lemon pie filling and whipped topping until well combined. Top with sliced kiwi. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

June Birthdays Ardis Grahn 6/1 June Lynch 6/1 Cindy Viertel 6/1 Gary Quade 6/2 Linda Schliepp 6/2 Beth Lind 6/3 Conner Newcomb 6/3 Benjamin Scott 6/3 Blake Bradley 6/4 Tamala Niemuth 6/5 Kaitlin Frank 6/7 Ethan Schuld 6/7 Jordan Hollatz 6/8 Terry Huelsman 6/8

Melissa Hilke 6/9Shawn Miller 6/11Lyle Strook 6/14Christopher Beier 6/15Rick Niemuth 6/15

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Lily Mack 6/17Crystal Samuelson 6/17Bernice Hollander 6/22Prestyn Wagner 6/22Zachary Kutz 6/23Mark Roeder 6/23Kathleen Sprague 6/23Susan Wichman 6/24Lonnie Mann 6/26Joshua Pedersen 6/26Susan Rivera 6/28Myrtle Giese 6/29Nancy Kemnitz 6/29Dustin Zellmer 6/29

Birthday Club Celebration June 2nd

Anniversaries

Harley and Kathleen Dorsey Jr. 6/3 Rick and Sara Retelle 6/9

Lyndon and June Lynch 6/14Dennis and Lynne Hartman 6/15Raymond and Bernice Ziebell 6/17Ben and Sarah Isaac 6/18Jerome and Dianne Witkowski 6/24

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Mt. Zion MessengerJune, 2019

Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church320 Mt. Zion Dr. Ripon, WI 54971Pastor Michael Sheppard

Church Office: 920-748-5641Church Email: mtzionripon@centurytel.netChurch Website: www.mtzionripon.org

Pastor’s Cell Phone: 920-745-0883Pastor’s Email: revmikesheppard@gmail.com

The deadline for the July newsletter will be Friday, June 21st. Please email the church office, Mary Clement (maryclement1940@icloud.com)

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or Sue Sheppard (sheppwoman52602@yahoo.com) with articles.

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