CROSS OF CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH24155 Griswold Road, South Lyon, MI 48178

248-437-8810Fax: 248-437-7708

www.crossofchristlutheran.org Email: cross-christ@att.net Like us on FACEBOOK at: www.facebook.com/crossofchristsouthlyon

F E B R U A R Y & M A R C H , 2 0 1 9

Sunday Worship: 10 a.m.Holy Communion is celebrated on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of the month.

Sunday School: 10 a.m. – 3 years old through fifth grade Adult Bible Study: Sundays 9:00 a.m.

Youth Bible Study: 10 a.m. (1st & 3rd Sundays)Dear Beloved Members and Friends,

There are amazing teachers in our world. Amazing teachers teach with authority. Amazing teachers of the Bible teach with the authority of God’s Word. Some of my professors at the seminary were amazing teachers. All the presenters at last fall’s Michigan District All Pastors’ Conference were amazing teachers. I still remember some of their Bible teaching. You may have had amazing teachers during your years in school. You still remember them and some of their teachings. The older we get, the more amazing it is that we remember what our teachers taught us.

There are amazing physicians in our world. You may have had amazing physicians take care of your body. Perhaps you are still here on earth instead of in heaven because one or more physicians treated you successfully. Some surgeons performed surgeries on you that improved your quality of life and prolonged your life. You trusted these physicians. These physicians proved themselves worthy of your trust. Our Lord worked through these physicians to heal and to help you.

In his gospel St. Luke wrote about a Man who is an amazing teacher and an amazing physician. His message had authority. He drove a demon out of a demon-possessed man with authority and power. He healed many in Capernaum and preached in the synagogues of Judea. Luke wrote about Jesus, the amazing Teacher and Physician.

Jesus taught the people in Capernaum with authority. The teaching, exorcisms, and healings all testify to the new authority in Christ’s Word. Jesus read portions of Old Testament Scripture, then He taught it to the people. The people who heard Jesus were amazed at His teaching because His message had authority. Christ’s messages had authority because He taught God’s Word.

When we teach the Bible to one another, we can do so with authority. The Bible is the Word of God. God’s Word is truth. God’s Word is inerrant and infallible. When we read the Bible to each other we can say, “this is the Word of the Lord . . . thus saith the Lord.” When our teaching is in agreement with God’s Word, our instruction has authority. We may be amazed when we hear some Christian teachers teach God’s Word to us. We might be amazed when we read the teaching of some Christian authors.PASTOR’S LETTER - pg. 2

Let us spread the good news about Jesus throughout South Lyon and Michigan. Let’s tell people that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and Holy One of God. Let us spread the good news that Jesus teaches God’s Word with authority in the New Testament. Let’s tell people that Jesus has given physical and spiritual healing to us and to other believers. We can tell people how Jesus lived a perfect life of love for us. Let us spread the good news that Jesus died on the cross and destroyed the devil for us. Let’s tell the good news that Christ rose from the dead and conquered death for us. We can tell people that they can be saved by believing in Jesus and by being baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

When family members are sick, we can ask Jesus to help them. We can ask Christ to heal them according to His will. We can ask our Lord to bless them with His grace, mercy and strength. Jesus will help family members for whom we pray. Christ will give them physical healing in agreement with His will. Jesus will give them His grace, mercy and strength in their afflictions. Our Lord will meet their needs.

May our amazing Lord bless you and your family this month of February and always!

Sincerely Yours in Christ,Pastor Terry NelsonComing in March . . . .

Midweek Lenten WorshipWednesdays at 7 p.m.

Beginning Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2019”A Lent To Remember”

A LENTEN DINNER will be served before the service on Ash Wednesday at 6 p.m., hosted by Women’s Fellowship.

C H R I S T I A N E D U C A T I O N

“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6

SUNDAY SCHOOL classes are held at 10 a.m. for children three years old through fifth grade. Children are dismissed to their classes from the worship service after the opening hymn.

YOUTH in grades 6-12 meet for Bible Study at 10 a.m. on the first and third Sundays of the month. They will meet on February 3 and 17. They are dismissed to their class after the opening hymn.

CONFIRMATION instruction, for young people in 7th and 8th grades, is held Wednesdays from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. If you are interested in having your child join the group, give Pastor Nelson a call.

SUNDAY ADULT BIBLE CLASS– Sundays at 9 a.m.ADULT BIBLE STUDY is exploring a DVD study Sundays at 9 a.m. entitled: The Odyssey of St. Paul. Aside from Jesus himself, no one had a greater influence on the founding of Christianity than Paul of Tarsus.  Sessions include: Young Saul,

The New Saul, The First Mission Journey, Quarrels and the Second Mission Journey, The Second Mission Journey and Greece, The Third Mission Journey, Arrest and Imprisonment, The Voyage to Rome. All are welcome to join in at any time!

“For where two or three come together in My Name, there am I with them.”(Matthew 18:20)

CROSS OF CHRISTCHRISTIAN PRESCHOOL

“Preschool With a Plus”

Our annual Cherrydale Farms fundraiser (featuring Sanders and Morley chocolates, food items, kitchen essentials, frozen desserts and pizza) will be available to our congregation on Sunday, February 24. An order form and brochures will be available on the table in the Gathering Hall. We appreciate your support of the Preschool. About 30-40% of the sales go to the preschool. The orders will be delivered in time for Easter.

If you are new to our congregation and would like more information, please call the church/school office (248-437-0871). We offer a play-based program for three and four year olds, with age appropriate academics and kindergarten readiness. Three year olds have the option of a morning or afternoon class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Four year olds will meet Monday, Wednesday, and an (optional) Friday – morning and afternoon sessions available.We continue to take new students throughout the school year!

Cross of Christ Preschool will be closed for mid-winter break February 14, 15, 18 & 19. We follow South Lyon Schools for mid-winter break.

REGISTRATION for fall classes will take place according to the following schedule:

Church Members: Sunday, March 17, after worship Current Preschool Families: Wednesday, March 20, at 9:30 a.m. Past Preschool Families: Thursday, March 21, at 10:00 a.m. Open Enrollment for the Community: Friday, March 22, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

Gifts to our Preschool Scholarship Fund are welcometo give families with financial need the opportunity to attend our school.

All are invited . . . .

Soup & Salad Valentine’s LuncheonSunday, February 17 – after worship

Soup, Salads & Desserts!Hosted by Women’s Fellowship

The 2019 ALTAR FLOWER CHART

Thank you for signing up to purchase Altar Flowers in celebration of birthdays, anniversaries, and in memory of loved ones. The 2019 Flower Chart is located in the Fellowship Hallway near the kitchen. Two vases are available each Sunday; you only need to sign up for one. The cost of one vase is $30. Flowers are taken home after the worship service. (When a Sunday isn’t covered, the church needs to pay for the flowers.)

OFFERING ENVELOPES

Members, your 2019 Offering Envelopes can be picked up in your church mailbox, if you haven’t already done so.

FINANCIAL TAX STATEMENTS

Financial tax statements will be mailed the beginning of February. If you do not receive yours, let us know. Thank you.

Due to age and availability of parts, our copier will need to be replaced in 2019. A COPIER Fund has been set up to receive donations. We are in the final stages of receiving bids from companies. Thank you!

2019 CALENDARS

We thank Phillips Funeral Home for providing 2019 Calendars for our congregation. The calendars are available on the Gathering Hall table.ACTIVE FAITH

Thank you for your donations of non-perishable food items for Active Faith throughout the year. Donations are welcome in the box provided as you enter church. Your monetary donations are also invited. Thanks to Judy Nimer for transporting our donations to Active Faith.

Rose Eldridge is generally available the third Sunday of the month at 9:30 a.m. and after the worship service to take blood pressure readings.

EASTER LILIES

Sign up on the Information Board in March to purchase EASTER LILIES for the altar area. Lilies may be given in memory of loved ones and taken home after the Easter service. Plants will be available for $16.50 each. Help us make the church sanctuary beautiful for Easter.

YOGA class will meet on the second and fourth Mondays from 10:15-11:00 a.m. All women are welcome to join in the class. This class is free and incorporates Christian Bible readings. Contact Jessica Wood if you have any questions at: jessica.l.wood96@gmail.co.

EMAIL ADDRESSES

If you’d like to be added to our email list, contact cross-christ@att.net. If you’d prefer to receive the newsletter via email, please indicate that. To check out upcoming events, go to our web site at www.crossofchristlutheran.org. The monthly calendar and newsletter are available each month online.

Like us on FACEBOOK at:www.facebook.com/crossofchristsouthlyon

FOR CROSS OF CHRIST Dream Catchers Save your “spare” change for Cross of Christ ministry in our Dream Catcher containers.Take home a labeled can, available on the entryway table. Change will go to the Mercy Fund.

St. Patrick’s Day Dinner after Church

on Sunday, March 17th,Hosted by Women’s Fellowship

(Free-will donation)

STEWARDSHIP CORNER

Have a Heart

February: the month devoted to love. Stores are filled with heart-shaped boxes of candy and heart-shaped cards and vases of flowers with heart-shaped gift tags. All this is available for the consumer so that he can find the appropriate expression of his devotion to his loved one. If that expression of love has been preceded by a year of thoughtful and loving words and deeds, it is welcomed and cherished by the recipient. If not, it is just an empty ritual, done out of duty rather than true devotion.

Our relationship to the Lord is similar. He, too, desires our sincere devotion, not empty lip service. “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me’ ” (Isaiah 29:13).

Stewardship is serving, helping, giving, but love is the basis for stewardship. Without love, our good deeds are empty and without merit. The first act of true stewardship is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Jesus called this the most important commandment (Mark 12:29, 30). With that love for the Lord in us, we are enabled to be good stewards. Then we can do acts of good stewardship, acts of true devotion.

Blessings on your stewardship journey!

Love One Another

“It is a new commandment,” the Apostle John told his readers (1 John 2:8). That command is to love others as we have been loved. “Beloved if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another,” he repeated in 1 John 4:11. God didn’t just say He loved us. “By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16). What are you willing to sacrifice in order to bring the message of God’s saving grace to others?

LIKE OUR SAVIOR, LET US NOTCHOOSE OUR OWN WAY, BUTASK FOR STRENGTH TO FOLLOWOUR LORD’S WILL.

“My Father, if it be possible let this cuppass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will,but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).

FEBRUARYBIRTHDAYS

1 Amelia Hindley

Trenton Lach 2 Zachary Lanczki

Christopher Stevenson 3 Mike Conrad 4 Rosalynne Lockard 6 Charles Hamlet II 7 Marci Wasilko 9 Lexie Hackbardt10 Vicki Moak11 Noah Kreipke15 Lauren Lanczki16 Robert Beyer

Nancy Ulrich17 Myra Prueter18 Michael Faust21 Dominick Eldridge22 Patricia Wadkins23 Denise Gerke

Tammy Wyman26 William Reinwand

Andrew Schrom28 Paige Conrad

Kelli Hackbardt-CameronTheodore LockardDustin Wyman

FEBRUARYANNIVERSARIES

10 Warner & Arlene Krause14 Mike & Sherry Bugar

Charles & Rose Eldridge

Please inform the church office of any missing dates or errors.

________________________________

MEMORIALS

+ + In memory of Clarice French, a gift has been given by Ken & Lyne Nelson.

MARCHBIRTHDAYS

4 Thomas Hamlet 5 Lindsay Bray

Travis Miller 7 John Mattison

James Wadkins 8 Kindsey Nelson10 Earlene Reinwand14 Blake Russell18 Jeff Marsh

Jack Petsch19 Lynne Lach20 Kayla Jedanak

Olivia HindleyAaron Nelson

21 Jason PetschMike WasilkoRobert Wolski

22 Carole BedardJohn Candela

24 Dennis Evans29 Dana Hamlet30 Paige Sterling31 Beverly Beyer

Jeffrey Kreipke

We thank Thrivent Financial for continued donations to our church and preschool through the Thrivent Choice Program. If you are a Thrivent policy holder and have not selected Cross of Christ Lutheran Church or Preschool as your designated choice, do so at Thrivent.com/thrivent choice.

For information about Thrivent products, contact Brian Bower, our church representative, at:

brian.bower@thrivent.comor call 734-531-8423.

F E B R U A R Y, 2 0 1 9 CROSS OF CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH

Email: cross-christ@att.net Office: 248-437-8810/ Fax: 248-437-7708 Web: www.crossofchristlutheran.org_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday+ Indicates Holy Communion

1 2

3 9:00am Adult Bible Class10:00am WORSHIP10:00am Sunday School10:00am Youth Bible Study

4 5 6

4:00-5:30pm Confirmation

710:30am Women’s Fellowship

6:30-8:00pm Girl Scouts

8 9

10 9:00am Adult Bible Class10:00am WORSHIP +10:00am Sunday School

11 12 13

4:00-5:30pm Confirmation

14

PreschoolMid-Winter

Break Begins

15 16

17 9:00 am Adult Bible Class10:00am WORSHIP 10:00am Sunday School10:00am Youth Bible Study11:00am Valentine’s Soup & Salad Luncheon

18

PreschoolMid-WinterBreak Ends

Tuesday – 2/19

19

7:00pm Church Council

20

4:00-5:30pm Confirmation

21 22 23

24

10:00am WORSHIP + Rev. William Merrell10:00am Sunday School

25 26

27

No Confirmation

28

M A R C H 2 0 1 9 C R O S S O F C H R I S T L U T H E R A N C H U R C H

Email: cross-christ@att.net Office: 248-437-8810/ Fax: 248-437-7708/ Home: 248-486-4335 Web:www.crossofchristlutheran.org_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday+ Indicates Holy Communion

1 2

3

10:00am WORSHIP Rev. William Merrell10:00am Sunday School 10:00am Youth Bible Study

4 5 6

4:00-5:30pm Confirmation6:00pm Dinner7 pm WORSHIP +

7

10:30am Women’s Fellowship

6:30-8:00pm Girl Scouts

8 9

10 9:00am Adult Bible Class10:00am WORSHIP + 10:00am Sunday School

11 12

13 4:00-5:30pm Confirmation 7 pm WORSHIP

14 15 16

17 9:00am Adult Bible Class10:00am WORSHIP10:00am Sunday School10:00am Youth Bible Study11:00am Preschool Registration (church members)11:00am St. Patrick’s Day Dinner

18 1910:15am Bd. of Evangelism/ Stewardship 7:00pm Church Council

20 9:30am Current Preschool Families Register 4:00-5:30pm Confirmation 7 pm WORSHIP

21

22

10:00am Preschool Registration

(Open to the Community)

23

24 / 31 9:00am Adult Bible Class10:00am WORSHIP + 10:00am Sunday School 4:00pm Rehab Center (24th) Worship Service

25 26 27 4:00-5:30pm Confirmation 7 pm WORSHIP

28

3:00pm Abbey Park Worship Service

29

30

FEBRUARY & MARCH, 2019 NEWSLETTER