Plymouth Lutheran Church Pastor Joel Baker April 2019 11015 County Road 15, Plymouth, MN 55441 Telephones: 763-544-7248 & 763-544-9170

Today’s word from Lois Tverberg’s book Listening to the Language of the

Bible is Navi (Nahvee) א.יבנ , which means Prophet.

Deuteronomy 18:18-19: 18 I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen

like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I

command him. 19 It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words

which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.

John 6:14-15: 14 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet

who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Water

15 So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the

mountain by Himself alone.

Acts 3:22-26: 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you A prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you

shall give heed to everything He says to you. 23 And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be

utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his

successors onward, also announced these days. 25 It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which

God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 For

you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

God raised up prophets to be watchmen over Israel, to sound the alarm that the enemy was in their midst, and to be

prepared as Ezekiel 33:7-20 tells us. 7 “Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of

Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O

wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his

iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. 9 But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way

and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.

10 “Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and

our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares

the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn

back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ 12 And you, son of man, say to your

fellow citizens, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the

wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a

righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ 13 When I say to the

righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds

will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. 14 But when I say to the wicked,

‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, 15 if a wicked man restores a

pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he

shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has

practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.

17 “Yet your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. 18 When

the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it. 19 But when the wicked turns from

his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not

right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.” (Continued on Page 4) Pastor Baker’s e-mail: shalom2u2@usfamily.net Church website: www.plymouthapostolic.org Church e-mail: secretary@plymouthapostolic.org Prayer Chain: 612-554-6823 or pep59@aol.com If you would like to receive this by email please send a message to secretary@plymouthapostolic.org

April at PLC

Sundays: 7, 14, 28 9:00am Bible Study classes for everyone

10:30am Worship Service

11:30am Coffee Fellowship

14 Palm Sunday

21 Easter

10:00am Worship Service with Easter Choir Cantata

11:00am Easter Brunch

28 11:30am Abbreviated Communion

Tuesdays:

9 5:45pm Mission Committee Meeting

6:30pm Board of Trustees meeting

Wednesdays:

3 9:00am Men’s Breakfast @ Perkins Hwy 494 & 55

9:15am Ladies Bible Study

6:00pm Light Supper

7:00pm Ash Wednesday Service

8:00pm Choir Practice

10 9:15am Ladies Bible Study

9:30am Men’s Bible Study

6:00pm Light Supper

7:00pm Lent Service

8:00pm Choir Practice

17 9:30am Men’s Bible study

8:00pm Choir Practice

24 9:15am Ladies Bible Study

9:30am Men’s Bible Study

THURSDAYS:

18 6:30pm Seder Service

FRIDAYS:

19 7:00pm Good Friday Service

Saturdays:

27 9:00am Ladies Saturday Bible Study

Celebrate Our Congregation April Birthdays:

Erik Lunn 4/2

Don Bielinski 4/3

Elise O'Neill 4/6

James O'Neill 4/6

Janis Saari 4/7

Don Besonen 4/9

Phyllis Krumholz 4/10

Brigette Olson 4/11

Lorraine Besonen 4/13

Peter Maikkula 4/22

April Anniversaries:

Jan & John Pelto 4/10

Earl & Karen Christopherson 4/15

Reuben & Anita Aho 4/19

Noel & Kris Walters 4/20

Pr Joel & Susan Baker 4/27

Save The Date

YOU ARE INVITED TO A PASSOVER SEDER SERVICE

HERE AT PLYMOUTH LUTHERAN CHURCH

THURSDAY, April 18th @ 6:00 – 8:30 P.M.

Invitations for your friends and neighbors are on the narthex desk.

Sign-up sheets are also on the Narthex Desk for attending and for serving.

If you would like an invitation emailed to you, please call the church and request it. We hope to see you

there! All are welcome.

April is Volunteer Month

According to the article you are not too old. Youth can also be involved in

April Volunteer Month

How Much Time Do You Have?

If you have an hour or two: Sort clothes at your local thrift shop or give out supplies at a food bank.

If you have one day a week: Read with residents at a nursing facility or volunteer at a local school.

If you have one day a month: Help prepare and serve a meal at a homeless shelter or collect trash along your local street or highway.

Taken from the 3/2019 Thrivent Magazine

******************************************************************* NEW BIBLE STUDY ON "GRIEF", STARTING APRIL 24

The Wednesday morning women's Bible Study Group is starting a new study on the topic of Grief. This will be a 9-session, scriptural-based look at many aspects of grief. It applies not only to loss of family members

or friends, but loss of health, resources, relationships or positions. All women are invited to join Wednesday April 24, starting at 9:15 am. The group takes a summer break,

but will continue the grief study in September. Interested? Contact Janis Saari at 763-639-5934, or janissaari@yahoo.com

"First we have coffee", then we look into God's Word. You are warmly welcomed into our group. *******************************************************************

Our Vacation Bible School's theme

for the week of 6/17-21/2019 will be

“Giddyup Junction:

Taking God’s Love to New Frontiers”

John 15:13 is the theme verse: “Greater love has no one than this, that

someone lay down his life for his friends” (ESV). Students will find out from God's Word- about God’s love - that it has saving and life-changing power.

Please pray about helping with this outreach program. There is a volunteer signup sheet onthe narthex table with

many ways to help. Contact Susan Baker with questions or comments (952-884-9848). Thank you! *******************************************************************

A Brief Story of Sidney Cox

Born in England in 1887. Sidney Cox was

nineteen when he emigrated from England to

Canada. It was 1907, and he never saw his

parents again. But the next year he found

Christ as Savior and soon began serving the

Lord. In 1915, he married a Salvation Army

coworker, Violet Henderson, and for the rest of

their lives Sidney and Violet served the Lord in

Canada and the United States. Sidney passed

away in 1975 in Birmingham, Alabama, and

perhaps you’ve never known of his name. But

it’s possible you grew up singing his Sunday

school songs like “Deep and Wide” and “I Love

Him Better Every Day.” “Victory in Jesus”

“Jesus loves the little ones like me, me, me..”

Sidney E Cox is attributed to writing more than

400 songs!

Or this one: “My Lord knows the way through

the wilderness. All I have to do is follow….

Strength for today is mine all the way, and all

that I need for tomorrow…. My Lord knows the

way through the wilderness. All I have to do is

follow.”

Even if you don’t know the song, perhaps you

know the experience. If you’re in the

wilderness today, remember your Guide and

follow Him all the way.

Pray Without Ceasing

How can you know what God is saying to you if you only take time to listen every once in a while? Or if your prayers are mechanical and rushed? Or if the motivations behind your prayers are entirely self-serving?

Pray and listen. Daily, hourly. Pray and listen for His voice every morning when you wake up, throughout the day as you fulfill your daily tasks, and when you turn off the light at night.

First Thessalonians 5:17 instructs you to “pray continually.” What does that mean to you? The task may seem frustratingly impossible, but, praise God, it doesn’t have to be so.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26).

God’s Spirit lives within those who know Jesus as Lord and Savior. He knows your struggles, and He also knows the sincere desires of your heart. Praying continually in the Spirit is as easy as breathing. When you breathe in, whisper a prayer—a praise, a thank-you, an endearment, a cry, a question, or a fear.

Take a deep, relaxing breath right now and pray:

Holy Spirit, fill me; move through me; intercede with the Father for me; open my ears and quiet my heart to hear You today. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

*******************************************************************(Continued from Page 1)

We want to argue with the Lord that His way isn’t right, that we know better than the watchmen He has appointed. But

God loves us enough to correct us, to warn us to repent of our sin, and to turn our hearts to Him so that we can live forever

in His presence. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires that all will live.

Have you been thankful for God wanting you to live forever with Him? That He sent His son to die in our place on a

tree/cross to reconcile our selves to Him? Let Him and others know of your thankfulness today!

Shalom2u! Pastor Joel

THE CRUISE

From the early days of Christianity, the Church has been pictured as a ship that carries believers in

Christ through the often treacherous oceans of this world to the safe harbor, heaven. Here we have

fellowship with our fellow travelers, other believers in Christ. Here we have an abundant table

offering spiritual nourishment through the reading and preaching of the Word of God.

Sailing on luxurious cruise ships has become a popular mode of vacation travel. Years ago I had

the opportunity of visiting the Queen Mary docked in Long Beach, California, where this former

Queen of the Seas had been turned into a hotel and tourist attraction. When I sailed on her in 1939,

she was the largest and fastest passenger ship on the seven seas. The wealthy and famous booked

first class accommodations on the Queen Mary. They dined sumptuously in the elegant first-class

dining room and shopped in the exclusive shopping arcade. A few of the more notable were accorded

the privilege of sitting with the Captain at dinner. Even those of us who traveled third class enjoyed

four-course dinners every day. There were foods that were never served in the small-town parsonage

in Finland where I spent my earliest years, things like eel, tongue, artichokes, Baked Alaska, and all

manner of fruits and vegetables,.

The story is told of a Welshman who had an overwhelming desire to sail to America on the

Queen Mary. He took his life’s savings and bought passage in the most expensive first-class suite on

the ship. The Captain of the ship, curious to meet the lone occupant of the ship’s finest suite, decided

to invite him to sit at his table. The Welshman looked at the engraved invitation reading “The Captain

of the Queen Mary requests the honour of your presence at his table today.” He angrily tore up the

invitation declaring, “I did not spend my life’s savings to eat my meals with the crew!”

On this voyage of life, Jesus is our Captain. It is He who is in charge of the ship. We need only

trust Him to guide us over the oceans of life through calm and storm. He is the supreme navigator

who knows where we are and where we are going. Our present and future are in His hands. He will

pilot us to the safe harbor, our heavenly home. Our ticket has been purchased by the Captain Himself

through His atoning sacrifice on the cross. He invites us to sit at His table to enjoy His company and

nourish ourselves with the special dishes offered there. Do we, like the Welshman, disdain this offer,

or do we accept with joy? Do we trust Him to be our Captain and Pilot, giving our lives into His

keeping?

When at last I near the shore,

And the fearful breakers roar

’Twixt me and the peaceful rest,

Then, while leaning on Thy breast,

May I hear Thee say to me,

“Fear not, I will pilot thee.”

(By Aila Foltz, published in The Lutheran Ambassador 2018)

Winter DTS 2019 by nikgwen

Nicole the Gringa

The past three months I have had to STUPENDOUS pleasure of staffing our Compassion in Action and

Surf and Skate DTS. My roles in the school were as follows:

Small group co-leader

One on one mentor for three amazing women

Compassion In Action track leader (coordinating outreaches, planning lectures and intercession

times)

Red Light Ministry staff

Friend

Wow wow wow.

This group of students in so genuine, kind, and wholehearted. They are honestly so fun to hang out

with and I so enjoy spending time with them, and being an introvert, I don't just throw comments like

that around!

These past months I have grown and wilted and flourished. I am busy with things I love and I love

being a part of the lives of these students, in the good moments and the not so good moments. I really

do. These guys love with big love.

They leave for outreach in a week and I am so sad to say goodbye! They will be gone for two months

and then I will only see them for a short week when they come back to graduate.

All I can really say is thank you:

Thank you Jesus. Thank you fellow staff- Pepo, Gel, Isra, Mikah, and Julian. And thank you thank you

thank you students- T.K., JoJo, Bailee, Howie, Kekai, Freddy, Patty, Bekah, Charlotte, Kelly, Savannah,

Julian, Christina, Ashley, Asia, McKenna and Paige. You stole my heart, you rascals.

Nicole & Charlotte

Last team worship before go out into the world.

Ministry in Red Light district

Friends- Evangelism

Nicole & Charlotte

My small group having fun and enjoying the sunset.

Game night is always a fun night!

My team as we enjoy the beautiful sunset.

Fun night is Game night. OR Game night is fun night.

Our beach here for us to take in its grand beauty.

YWAM – Youth With A Mission