January 11, 2026
ANNOUNCEMENTS
First Communion Class Sunday, January 11, 6 pm. Class is open to all youth 3rd grade and above. Parents should attend with their you and bring a Bible. If you can’t make it, there is a make up class on Sunday, January 18th at 10:30 am.
Sunday School returns this week, January 11th, at 9:45 am!
Lagers with the Lord Monday, January 12th, 6 pm at Buckshot’s
Crew returns this Wednesday, January 14th, at 3:30 pm till 5 pm for all 3rd-6th grade youth!
Annual Meeting is Sunday, February 1st at 10 am Annual Reports should be out on Sunday, January 18th.
There is a new way to give at Trinity: Venmo! You can find us using: @TrinityLutheranBoyceville. If it asks you for a phone number, use 1349
MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD
My Dad taught me many things. But one of the things that has endured is how to appreciate someone who cheers for a team that is different than your own. I’m writing this a few hours after my beloved Chicago Bears shockingly defeated the Green Bay Packers 31-27 in the NFL playoffs, coming back from 18 points down in the second half to win. I am not ashamed to say the following two things. 1. I predicted the Bears would lose 30-17, I would make that prediction again. 2. I almost wept when the game ended. I did. I was smart enough to not scream like when the Bears beat the Packers in overtime in the regular season, a move that almost cost me my voice for Christmas Eve services. It was a thrilling and exciting game and one that will live in the lore of this storied rivalry forever.
But, as I sit here, still happy in my team’s victory, I can’t help but feel empathy for those I care about who are hurting. I know that pain. I still remember when the Packers beat the Bears in the NFC Championship Game. I’m still haunted by the Randall Cobb touchdown that kept the Bears out of the playoffs in 2013. These losses hurt and they hurt bad. When you love a team, like Packers fans and Bears fans do, these kinds of games bring great joy and great sorrow.
I am not one of these people who take great delight in the misery of others, even when it is your rival that loses. I learned that from my Dad. Some of his closest friends were Packer fans. They had a lot of fun going back and forth about that, just as I do. And even though, in my 24 years of living in a Packer community I have experienced my fair share of abuse and a lot of inappropriate and over the line, that doesn’t mean it is right to revel in others pain. We have enough hate in the world to shower hate on others. After all, it is only a game. I try to put myself in their shoes. And so, though I am so very happy, I also feel a touch of sadness for my friends who hurt.
That might be the lesson for all of us. To put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. Before we vilify or hate on someone that is on the other side of anything, whether it be sports or politics or anything else, to put ourselves in their shoes. To remember that they are human beings too with feelings and emotions. To not be gleeful about their pain and suffering, because it is still pain and suffering. We can dislike without hate, root against without demonizing, and root for our side without making the other side out to be the Antichrist.
Now, I hope soon I can fall asleep, because I have to preach in a few hours and minister to a church full of Packer fans, and a few Bears fans and some Vikings fans, and a smattering of fans of other teams as well. But no matter what sports team we cheer on, we are all part of the same team of humanity who need love, compassion, and empathy every single day. My Dad taught me that. And I’m glad for it.
May God bless you today and always.