April 2016 Newsletter

Good news

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | CENTENNIAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, APRIL 2016 – VOLUME 4

Jesus Is the World’s Savior “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16 Have you ever loved someone so much that you would have done anything for them? You wanted what was best for them, even if it meant sacrificing what was best for you. Their happiness and joy was your chief concern.

That type of self-sacrificing love inspires us. It is featured in many of the novels we like to read and the movies we like to watch. How would you feel to have someone love you like that? How would it feel to have someone who is so head-over-heels in love with you, that they would do anything, anything at all, to keep you safe?

That’s exactly how Jesus describes the love of God. Jesus tells us that the

heart of God beats for you! He loves you so much that he was willing to do everything necessary to keep you safe for all eternity.

From beginning to end, the Bible traces God’s plan to rescue the world from eternal danger. His Word demonstrates just how far God was willing to go to save you, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” God the Father sent his Son, Jesus, to suffer the punishment for the sins of the entire world. Why would God do that? Why would he allow his Son to endure the tortures of the cross? Why would Jesus voluntarily go through with his Father’s plan? Why was Jesus willing to suffer the agony of hell itself?

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WELS INTERNATIONAL YOUTH RALLY Team Centennial will be attending their 3rd consecutive WELS International Youth Rally in Ft. Collins, CO. from June 28- July 1, 2016. It is open for all confirmed students and up. Cost is $355 for the youth rally early bird special plus transportation (excursions are an additional fee). Any questions please contact Rick Martinez at 414.640.1124.

In this edition: 

Monthly Devotion

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Evangelism Report

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Mission Report

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Stewardship Report

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Centennial News

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WELS Synod News

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Tech Talk

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WELS Events

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Share Faith Evangelism Day!

He didn’t want anything to stand in the way of spending an eternity with you in heaven. He wants you to know just how deeply he loves you. With a God who is willing to sacrifice himself for your rescue, is there any reason to doubt his love? “Whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” You can live confidently knowing that your God loves you and through faith in Jesus you have a place in heaven your Savior has prepared for you. His love truly is inspiring! He is the world’s Savior. He is your Savior.

I believe In Christ Like I believe In the sun…

Not because I can not see it But by it I can see Everything Else

C.S. Lewis

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God didn’t sit back and watch the people he loved so dearly perish forever. He cared too much to see that happen to you. So Jesus stepped into human history and suffered the punishment that was meant for you.

For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.

Isaiah 50:7

STEWARDSHIP The Stewardship Committee will be busy in the next few months as we carry out the responsibilities assigned to us.

Several members, both men and women, have agreed to serve on this committee, and we are recruiting several more. Currently we are working with many of our other committees to determine our ministry plan and budget for our next budget year which begins on July 1st. We hope to be able to adopt this at the April Voters Meeting April 24th.

Our ministry plan will include the need for both money and volunteers. Once the plan is adopted, the Stewardship

Committee will put together presentations for every member so you can evaluate how you can help build the Lord’s kingdom here at Centennial. We are all part of “One Holy, Christian, and Apostolic Church.” Each of us has been blessed with gifts from the Lord who bought us so that we could live for him.

EVANGELISM As Missionaries of Christ, we bring everyone we come in contact with closer to the Savior!

Easter for Kids Movie Day Update: God blessed us with a sunny day with the temperature around 50 degrees (and no snow on the ground!). 31 children attended along with about 10 of their parents. 4 families came from our current prospect list and also 1 new prospect.

Registration began at 9:15am with a sing-a-long led

by Jenny Pufahl. A 30-minute animated video was shown with popcorn, juice, and water given to all.

After the movie there was a 15-minute discussion/ questions time lead by our EFT (Early Field Training) student, Craig Wilke. The children did a great job in answering the questions. We had about 12 volunteers from our congregation who helped out with registration, crafts, and egg hiding. 450 eggs were stuffed with candy and scripture passages coordinated by Jeff Prothero. After the egg hunt, children were brought inside and told to open their eggs to find the scripture passage that read: “Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Alleluia”. 10 McDonald’s $5.00 gift cards were purchased and given to 10 children who had the “special” Bible passage. For publicity we sent out 4,500 postcards (designed by Lin Kanitz), put up yard signs, placed a 2-week ad in the Post Newspaper, and publicized the event in our Word of Life School newsletter. A HUGE thank you to our volunteers who helped out and to those who gave monetary donations.

Share Your Faith Evangelism Day: The congregation is invited to attend a half-day seminar to encourage and equip you for personal evangelism. The date is Saturday, April 30, 8:30am to 1:00pm at Wisconsin Lutheran High School.

Watch for a bulletin insert describing the various workshops available. Please take this opportunity to learn more about your gifts of sharing the message of Jesus with others! (Information is included in this newsletter.)

Community Carnival: Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 25th, 10:00am – 2:00pm. Plans are under way for this great event. We have already hired the balloon tying clown, a caricaturist (new this year), and His Way Band as well. We will again be having hot dogs, nachos, snow cones, and popcorn for refreshments.

We will also offer raffle prizes as a means to get visitor’s contact information. If you are able to donate a gift or make a monetary donation for this, please let me know.

Bob Garbe - Minister of Evangelism & Outreach

New Study Starting soon!

GODS WAYS is a study developed by Pastor Ron Heins ~ St. Johns, Wauwatosa GODS WAYS is the title of a Bible study developed by Pastor Ron Heins at St. John’s, Wauwatosa more than 30 years ago. The purpose of the course is to help God’s people read through the whole Bible together over a period of two years. Many of us have started to read the whole Bible, and often we cannot make it through on our own. When 30 or 40 or more get together on a weekly basis 30 weeks out of the year, the mutual encouragement and guided discussions make it much easier to benefit from the book Jesus calls “the one thing needful.” Hundreds and hundreds of our fellow believers have participated in this course. Most recently, Pastor Gary Pufahl, the brother of our pastor and the son-in-law of Pastor Heins, has taught the course at Christ Lutheran in Big Bend. One of our members, John Nolte, has participated in the course for the last two years to prepare to offer it here at Centennial next fall. Look for more information in the coming months.

MISSIONS “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation…” Mark 6: 15 The Lutheran Church of Cameroon is taking a big step toward becoming an independent church body by calling its first full-time Cameroonian teacher and dean of students for its worker training program in Kumba, Cameroon. Rev. Mesue Israel, the church’s only second-generation pastor, has accepted the call. Plans are to start the program in September. “[Having] a Cameroonian man on campus will help to make this a truly Cameroonian worker training program,” says Rev. Daniel Kroll, missionary in Cameroon. “That means that much application will be made to ministry in Cameroon that we from WELS might not be able to understand or explain.”

Israel has been a pastor in the Lutheran Church of Cameroon since his graduation in 1999. A bone disease he contracted in 2008 makes it difficult for him to move freely, which, Kroll says, allows him to study more. “He has been outspoken and is not afraid to tackle hard issues; he is straight-forward and fair,” says Kroll. “Pastor Israel gives credit to God for teaching him perseverance through the difficulties of his disease and his ministry.”

Israel will be responsible for teaching several of the courses as well as for enforcing rules for campus life.

The campus has modest dormitories where students will live from September through mid-May, with two weeks off at the end of each quarter to go home to see their families and tend their crops. After the two year Bible institute, students will immediately begin three years of seminary studies and then be eligible for a call..

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Making A Difference!

We wanted to share a letter received from Lighthouse Youth Center to thank our Centennial Volunteers.

Good Morning, I wanted to thank you and the ladies for being willing to serve at Lighthouse this past week. It is truly a special blessing to have women like you to give to back the community and serve dinner for our kids.

Thank you so much.

Could you please send me the names and addresses of the ladies that came with you? Thanks again.

Have a great day!

God Bless -Chuqee Fletcher Lighthouse Youth Center - Garden Homes Site Director

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Currently 10 pastors serve 32 congregations in Cameroon.

Thirteen men have been selected from among 31 certified assistants to start classes this fall. These certified assistants have had limited training but help their supervising pastor with keeping records, teaching Sunday school, and occasional preaching.

Having a Cameroonian man involved in the training of church workers is important for the future of the Lutheran Church of Cameroon. “Funding, health issues, government regulations, and a host of other matters can create problems for us keeping a missionary here,” says Kroll. This is actually the first active called worker training program in Cameroon since 1999 because of turnover in missionaries and other issues.

TECH TALK Martin Luther said, “Let everyone know therefore, that it is his duty … to bring up his children above all things in the fear and knowledge of God.” A wonderful tool to help parents with this is On My Heart, a Lutheran memory work program, and it’s free. On My Heart is an organized two year system that is broken into four 15-week semesters. Each week, children memorize content in four areas: the books of the Bible, Luther’s Small Catechism, Bible verses and the Old and New Testament timelines.

He continues, “But even if there is a lack of a missionary (or inconsistency thereof), we hope to create a program that will have some consistency for many years to come.”

(Excerpt from the WELS newsletter Together) I enjoy knowing what is going on in our synod in missions and wanted to share with you one article.

If you have a heart for missions come for a Morning of Missions on Sat April 23rd at Christ Big Bend. More information will come in the weekly bulletin.

The Catechism is the centerpiece to this program. The goal is to teach children the doctrines of their faith, even before they reach Catechism class age.

You can print, cut and assemble the files onto binder rings for easy teaching. The instructions are included to assist parents to utilize the full content of this program.

Danica Krueger - LWMS

This system is even good for adults that want to refresh their knowledge on the doctrines of our faith. Go to the website to download all the files for this program. www.on-my-heart.com

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES BIRTHDAYS ANNIVERSARIES Michael Dorn April 4th Rebecca Thorpe April 21st Phyllis Billodeau Trista Flores Phillip Krueger Josiah Pufahl Teri Berg June Trede Richard Hofmeister Elizabeth Chapman Stacy Martinez Jennifer Feagles

April 7th Angel Hofmeister April 9th Douglas Anderson April 9th Andrew Berg April 12th April 15th April 15th April 18th April 19th April 19th April 20th

April 22nd April 23rd April 24th

Curt & Nancy Fleischhacker April 20th, 1968

MAY GOD BLESS YOUR SPECIAL DAY!

WELS EVENTS 

SAVE THE DATE! WELS Night at Miller Park—July 29th Join other WELS churches from around the area for a fun night out filled with fellowship and baseball at Miller Park! More information to come.

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53rd Annual Convention of Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society June 23rd - 26th The 53rd Annual Lutheran Women's Missionary Society Convention will be held at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Illinois, June 23-26, 2016. Hosted by the Chicago Area Circuit; this year's convention theme, Christ Alone, Our Cornerstone will focus attendees on the words of Ephesians 2:19-22. For more information visit www.lwms.org. Early registration deadline is April 1, 2016. Hotel bookings are available now.

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Wels International Youth Rally Fort Collins, Colorado June 28 - July 1 What to expect: Worship with 2,000 other WELS members; four days in our Almighty God’s creation; workshops on relationships, bullying, making the Bible practical and battling pornography; youth leader presentations; nightly music and laughs onstage; outdoor recreation options. For more information see www.wels.net/ events or email youthrally2016@wel.net

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Mentors Women’s Ministry Conference - Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Mequon, WI July 21-23 As a Christian woman, you mentor when you lovingly share your faith and life through relationships, building up fellow believers and showing Christ to unbelievers. But sharing our faith through our lives has become challenging in a culture that is increasingly hostile to biblical Christianity. To help you effectively mentor in today’s world, this conference will feature: Biblical presentations, practical applications, focused discussions, proven methods in mentorship, networking with other Christian women, sharing and brainstorming, useful information and personal coaching.

Join your Christian sisters involved in mentoring and women’s ministry to be nurtured, encouraged and equipped in Christ. More information can be found at online. http://wels.net/serving-you/christian-life/ womens-ministry/womens-ministry-conference/ Registration is open, you can register here.

May God bless your month! If you have any additions or corrections to the listed birthdays and anniversaries, please email the church secretary at churchsecretary@centennialwels.org so she can update your information in the church database.

GREG PUFAHL, PASTOR

YOUTH GROUP

ROBERT GARBE, STAFF MINISTER

MEN’S MINISTRIES

LIN KANITZ, CHURCH SECRETARY

WOMEN’S MINISTRIES

JENNY PUFAHL, SUNDAY SCHOOL

MINISTRIES FOR SENIORS

RICH KANITZ, PRESIDENT JOHN NOLTE, TREASURER DAVE ROCHESTER, PROPERTY MANAGER

Centennial

church

INTERNET MINISTRY GLOBAL OUTREACH MISSIONS MUSIC MINISTRIES

If you have a story to tell or information to share with our Church family, contact Lin Kanitz, at churchsecretary@centennialwels.org

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Mulligan’s Irish Pub 5:00pm (Meet & Eat) 3

8:15am Bible Study/ Sunday School 9:30 am Worship w/ Communion 10:45 am Trustees Meets

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4 7:00 pm Women’s Bible Study

10:30 am Circuit Meets

6 6:30 pm Large Catechism Class

7 6:30 pm Worship

7:00 pm Choir Practice

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12 7:00 pm Choir Practice

8:15 am Bible Study/ Sunday School 9:30 am Worship 10:45 am Council Meets

17 8:15 am Bible Study / Sunday School 9:30 am Worship w/ Communion 10:45 am Evangelism 4:00 pm WOL Voters

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8:15 am Bible Study/ Sunday School 9:30 am Worship 10:45 am Quarterly Voters Meeting

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6:30 pm Large Catechism Class

14 6:30 pm Worship w/ Communion

21 6:30 pm Worship

8:30 am LWMS 2016 Spring Rally

Conference of Staff Ministers 26 7:00 pm Choir Practice Centennial Softball Starts!!!

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28 6:30p m Worship w/ Communion

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30 Share Your Faith Evangelism Day!