Mt. Olive Ev. Lutheran Church

A Praying Church

 

1460 Almond Avenue

St. Paul, Minnesota  55108

 

651.645.2575

 

www.mtolive-wels.net

 

Carl R. Henkel, pastor

651.631.8625

carl.henkel@juno.com

 

 

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

 

March 25, 2007    9:00am

 

 

Thank You for sharing this time of worship with us.  We're glad you're here!  Please sign the Friendship Register. Do come again!  If you do not have a local church home, we invite you to make your home with us.  Here you will find Christian love, opportunities for spiritual growth, warm friendships, and a feeling of being part of the family of God.

 

 

 

Assisting Us In Worship This Morning

 

Amy, Sydney, & Emma Marshall, greeters

Kevin Marschel, head usher

Linda Henkel, organist

 

 

We Gather To Worship The Lord

 

Order of Service:        Service of the Word, page 38 in the front of the hymnal

Hymns:                     385        468        422        462

Message:                  Philippians 3:14

                                “No One Ever Won A Race By Sitting On The Sidelines!”

 

 

OLD TESTAMENT LESSON                                                                                Isaiah 43:16-21

 

This is what the Lord says-- He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor Me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to My people, My chosen, the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim My praise.”

 

 

EPISTLE LESSON                                                                                           Philippians 3:8-14

 

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

 

 

GOSPEL LESSON                                                                                                   John 12:1-8

 

Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him.

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of My burial.  You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me."

 

 

 

This Week At Mt. Olive

Today:                   8:45am        Prayer Time (Fireside Room)

                               9:00am        Family Worship

                             10:30am        Education Hour

Monday:           11:30am        Mt. Olive Worship Service on Cable Channel 14

                               5:30pm        Confirmation Class

                               6:30pm        Mt. Olive Worship Service on Cable Channel 14

                               7:00pm        “Beautiful Feet” Bible Study

Tuesday:                               Newsletter Articles are Due!

Wednesday:          5:30pm        Lenten Supper

                         6:30pm        Lenten Worship Service

                               7:30pm        Car Building Assistance

Thursday:            10:00am        “Explorers of the Word” Bible Class

Saturday:              9:00am        Spring Church Cleaning

Next Sunday:       9:00am        “Time of Grace” on WUCW, Channel 23

                               9:00am        Christian Education Sunday (Croixaliers here)

                             10:30am        Education Hour (Jim Pasbrig, presenter)

                             11:45am        Potluck Dinner

                             12:45pm        7th Annual Pinewood Derby Race

                             2 - 4pm          Open House in Honor of Ann Zibell’s 100th Birthday

                             2:30pm          Open House at SCLHS

                             3 & 7pm        Lenten/Easter Concert at SCLHS

                             5-6:30pm       Spaghetti Supper at SCLHS

 

 

Lenten Worship This Wednesday:  Our final Wednesday evening Lenter service begins at 5:30pm with a delicious Lenten supper served by the Pine Limb.  Everyone is invited!  Our worship service, lead by Pastor Norb Meier, starts at 6:30pm.  Plan to attend!  Sincere thanks to our Limbs for serving such delicious suppers again this Lenten season.  Each one was much appreciated!  THANK YOU!

 

 

We Are Having Spring Cleaning at church this Saturday morning starting at 9:00am.  Please give a couple hours of your time to help clean the winter crud from God’s House and get all things clean and sparkling for Holy Week.  Your help will be so much appreciated.  Thank you!

 

 

Christian Education Sunday is only one week away!  Next Sunday, February 25th, Pastor Aaron Robinson from St. Croix Lutheran High School will be our guest speaker, and the Croixaliers will offer to the Lord their special service titled “God Is – I Am.”  Our Mt. Olive children will also join the Croixaliers in a beautiful song.  (There will be a door offering next Sunday to help fund the ministry of the Croixaliers.)  Following the worship service, Mr. Jim Pasbrig will lead the Adult Education Hour, sharing with us the challenges and blessings of Christian education in the home and throughout life.  Then comes a delicious, tasty, mouth-watering potluck dinner!  Bring a dish or two to share, and enjoy Christian fellowship and a wonderful meal!  After the meal, you’ll hear “Start your engines,” signaling the beginning of our 7th annual Mt. Olive Minute Pinewood Derby Race. See you all next Sunday!  (A final Car Assistance Night is planned for this Wednesday, March 28th, at 7:30pm.  You may also have your car weighed at that time.)

 

 

The Lord’s Supper will not be celebrated next Sunday because of the Croixaliers’ service but the Lord’s Supper will be celebrated on Maundy Thursday, April 5th, in our 7:00pm service.

 

 

Ann Zibell Will Be 100 years old on April 3rd.  Her family will host an open house for her next Sunday, April 1st, from 2:00 to 4:00pm at Lyngblomsten Care Center, 3rd floor north dining room.  Members of Mt. Olive and friends are invited to greet her or send a card.  Ann is Mt. Olive’s oldest living member.

 

Also Next Sunday, St. Croix Lutheran High School will be having their annual Lenten Easter Concert at 3:00pm and again at 7:00pm.  From 5:00 to 6:30pm, you are invited at a spaghetti supper at the school.  An open house is also being held from 2:30 to 4:30pm and you may tour the facilities and meet the teachers.  All welcome!

 

 

“Time Of Grace” is moving!  Beginning next Sunday, April 1st, “Time of Grace” will move from 6:30am on channel 9 to 9:00am on channel 23.  This is a much better time slot to reach those folks who may not have a church home or who may be searching for a more meaningful relationship with the Lord but are not yet ready to step into a church building.  Continue to pray for this wonderful ministry!

 

 

Camp Croix Registration Forms are now available in the church office.  We have camper registration forms and staff registration forms.  Summer camp is only four months away!

 

 

Two Of Our Members have recently had an unusual milestone in their lives that deserves recognition.  On March 14th, Mathew and Rekha Puliyelil became US citizens. This is the culmination of a long process taking many years.  Ask them about the citizenship test questions they had to answer.  See if you could get them right!  Congratulations Mathew and Rekha!