April 7, 2024
ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Lagers with the Lord, Monday, April 8th, 6 pm at Buckshot’s.
Youth Service, Sunday, April 14th, 9 am.
LAST CREW OF THE YEAR, APRIL 17TH 3:30 pm till 5pm for all 3rd-6th graders.
Bring your household items and clothes to Trinity in April! Every Saturday in April, from 9 am till noon, we are collecting items as a fundraiser for the Women of Trinity. All items should be clean and in good condition. Place clothes and shoes in trash bags and all other items in boxes.
Men’s Band Worship, Sunday, May 5th, 9 am
Smelt Feed, Sunday, May 5th, 10am till 11:30 am. Smelt, Meatballs, Chips, Baked Beans, Garlic Bread, Dessert. Free-will offering taken to benefit our Youth going to New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering.
Calling all Men! We are looking for help with the Smelt Feed on May 5th. See the sign-up in the Narthex. We are also looking for some turkey fryers and oil as well.
MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD
“But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2
With it being “spring,” the requests from our high school seniors for letters of recommendation have been coming fast and furious. A letter of recommendation is, of course, a way to advocate for someone, whether it so that they can receive a scholarship or get a job or even an award. I have had the pleasure and the honor to be someone that has had to advocate for someone else, to lift them up for something worthy, to be a champion if you will for them. One of the things I loved as part of the Candidacy Committee of our Synod was advocating for our candidates when they needed someone to be there for them.
Here in 1 John we hear that Jesus is an advocate for us. We need someone who will be there for us. for we sin and fall short of the glory of God. Sure, we try our best. We try to live according to God’s will, to love our neighbor as ourselves, to have no other Gods, to have faith in Jesus Christ. We try to follow the commandments and be the hands and feet of God in the world. But we so often fall short. We make mistakes. We put other things before God. We make other things God. We don’t always act with love and grace and compassion. We covet power and riches and exploit those different than us and whom we deem to be less than us. We sin. We are sinners.
And yet, we have Jesus, the Son of God, the one who we put on the cross for our sins, advocating for us. Sacrificing for us and for those sins. This Jesus, this Messiah, does this for you because he loves you. Despite your sin. Despite your mistakes. Despite all the times when you forget about him and put others before him. That is the depth of Christ’s love for you. He still dies for you. He still advocates for you. He still brings you to eternal life.
We are lucky to have an advocate for us like Jesus Christ. May we take a moment to be an advocate for him from time to time, to share his grace and love with others, to lift up the lowly and be a voice for the voiceless and the persecuted and the downtrodden. May we never take for granted the gracious gift of forgiveness we receive because the Son of God Jesus Christ advocates for us and becomes the atoning sacrifice for our sins. For that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”