Trinity Lutheran Church

March 29^th, 2026

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Maundy Thursday Worship, April 2^nd, 6:30 pm

Good Friday Worship, April 3^rd, Noon & 6:30 pm

Easter Sunday Worship, April 5^th, 6:30 am and 9:00 am

Easter Breakfast, April 5^th, 7:30 am Biscuits and Gravy, Scrambled Eggs, Fruit, Beverage.  Served by Confirmation Youth.  Free-will offering taken to benefit youth going to Luther Park this summer.

No Wednesday worship this week.

Cleaning the Brass, Wednesday, April 1^st, 9 am

The Crew is Wednesday, April 8^th, ^th  3:30 pm till 5 pm for all 3^rd-6^th graders. 

Raise the Roof Fundraiser Saturday, April 11^th, 11 am till 4pm, Boyceville Fire Hall.  This fundraiser for our new parsonage will feature a silent auction, raffles, games, “flip-flop” chicken, and more.  If you would like to donate items, you can drop them off at the church.  Contact the church office for more information. 

Youth Service Sunday, April 12^th, 9 am

Lagers with the Lord, Monday, April 13^th , 6 pm at Buckshot’s

Have you made your Foundation gift yet?  Help start our Parsonage project with a strong foundation with an initial gift.  Letters have been mailed out and you should receive one in the mail.  You can give through check, online, or using Venmo.  Put “Foundation” or “Parsonage” on your gift and help us to start to build our parsonage project to a great start.

You can use Venmo to make your gift to Trinity!  You can find us using: @TrinityLutheranBoyceville. If it asks you for a phone number, use 1349

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  Have you ever been watching a movie at home and fallen asleep?  I’m sure we have all done it and I bet a few of you have done it in the movie theater itself.  You wake up and realize that you have missed some important plot detail and have no idea what is going on or why someone is doing something in the movie.  You might catch up and figure it out or have to ask a loved one what is going on, you might never figure out what is going on.  But you are missing a good part of the story.  You get the end but not the whole story, thus cheapening the end of the movie.

  I mention this because we often jump from this Sunday, Palm Sunday, right to Easter, skipping over Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.  It is why on this Sunday we will hear a bit of Jesus’ death on the cross because if we don’t get all of the story, it cheapens the story of the resurrection.  But to truly appreciate the resurrection, we have to have the whole story.  We have to hear the whole story of Holy Week, of Jesus gathering with this disciples for the institution of the Lord’s Supper, to his betrayal, arrest, trial, death, and then his resurrection.  Only having part of the story diminishes it, lessens its powers and significance.  That is why I hope you will join us for worship on Thursday night at 6:30 pm (online or in person) or Friday at Noon or 6:30 pm (both online or in person).  If not, my Facebook devotions from Thursday through Sunday bring about as much of the story as I can so that you can get a full picture of the story.  Or, if you want, start reading from Matthew 26:1 on, with Matthew 28:1-11 being the story of Jesus resurrection on Easter Sunday.  For having the full story is important and helps us to appreciate all that Jesus Christ has done for us.

  As many of you know, over Spring Break Amy and I headed to Disney World and it was a great time as always.  I got to golf (and even played by myself, which was wonderful).  We got to experience the joys of the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT (my favorite foods were the Miso Glazed Ribs, the Onion Tart with Bacon, Shrimp & Grits, and the Nigerian Beef Pie), enjoyed seeing the Dapper Dan’s singing on Main Street, USA; got to talk with Mandalorian (we are friends now), and had the coldest roller coaster ride of my life on Expedition Everest (which made sense for a ride set in the Himalayan Mountains). But of course, you know I was going to have at least one pet peeve, and this time it happened because of a massive rainstorm.  It rains in Florida on the regular, and many people, including us, use poncho’s to combat said rain.  I always carry at least two with me at all times.  But here is the thing: when you get on a bus from the rain TAKE YOUR PONCHO OFF.  Sitting on the bus in your wet poncho is rude and discourteous. It means the person getting on the bus after you gets to sit in your leftover wetness.  Take your wet poncho off, hold it in your hand or put it in a bag (Amy and I carry plastic bags with us for the purpose of putting our wet poncho’s in).  Also, if you are standing and wearing your wet poncho, when the bus jostles, I now get to get wet from your wet poncho on to my dry clothes because I have taken off my poncho. Ugh.  Seriously. 

  Lastly, as Lent has concluded here at Trinity, I want to thank all of our organizations that hosted Lent meals and all the people that put in the time to cook them, serve them, and clean up after them.  Big thanks to our Lent worship leaders (Ginny, Lee, Bob, Scott, Beth, Teana, Marik, Karen, Isabelle, Brooke) for putting on wonderful services.  Thank you for making it a wonderful season of Lent here at Trinity!

  May God bless you this week and always!

March 8^th, 2026

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Lent Worship with Holden Evening Prayer this Wednesday 6:30 pm.  .  Meal prior at 5:30 pm till 6:30 pm.  Meal is Spaghetti & Garlic Bread served by the Trinity Men. Our Lent Theme this year is “Your Favorite Bible Verse.”

The Crew is Wednesday, March 11^th, ^th  3:30 pm till 5 pm for all 3^rd-6^th graders. 

Support our Youth going to Luther Park this summer by ordering a Butter Braid!  Deadline is March 29^th.  Use this link to order by picking any youth or see any Confirmation youth or the order form on the table in the Narthex. 

https://store.myfundraisingplace.com/96847e08-b3b0-4a14-842e-e40506620f84

Order your Easter Lillies today!  Order Deadline is Wednesday, March 18^th.  Form is attached.  Cost is $16 per plant. 

Lagers with the Lord, Monday, March 23^rd, 6 pm at Buckshot’s

As part of our Lent theme, PB is looking for your favorite scriptures to be part of our Facebook devotions!  Email him your favorite scripture readings to pastorbradtrinity@gmail.com 

Have you made your Foundation gift yet?  Help start our Parsonage project with a strong foundation with an initial gift.  Letters have been mailed out and you should receive one in the mail.  You can give through check, online, or using Venmo.  Put “Foundation” or “Parsonage” on your gift and help us to start to build our parsonage project to a great start.

Raise the Roof Fundraiser Saturday, April 11^th, 11 am till 4pm, Boyceville Fire Hall.  This fundraiser for our new parsonage will feature a silent auction, raffles, games, “flip-flop” chicken, and more.  If you would like to donate items, you can drop them off at the church.  Contact the church office for more information. 

You can use Venmo to make your gift to Trinity!  You can find us using: @TrinityLutheranBoyceville. If it asks you for a phone number, use 1349

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  I appreciate reminders.  After all, being a fellow with ADHD, I’m prone to forget things from time to time due to the nature of being easily distracted, so my wife will remind me often of things that I need to do or get.  I’ll write stuff down on post it notes that I’ll stick on my wallet or alarms I’ll set on my phone or alerts I’ll put on my electronic calendar that will pop up to remind me of things.  I’ll have Andrea send me emails or put notes on my desk to remind me to do stuff so they don’t slip past me.

  But sometimes God likes to send me reminders to.  In my life, as a general rule, I have tended to be a positive person.  A person that looks on the good side of life, who sees the glass half full instead of half empty.  But there are times when I can easily slip into despair, when the injustice of the world, when the violence and tragedy of the world can make that disposition crack.  With another needless war commencing overseas, with continued injustice at home, along with a countless string of people in the hospital, and just an overall malaise going on, I was feeling like I was slipping a little bit into that feeling of despair again.  And that was with some warmer weather coming and the prospect of golf around the corner and a vacation for me on the horizon.

  Then the Lord stepped in.  And as always, the Lord did it in whimsical and interesting ways.  A moth flying around my head in the middle of sermon.  Children running heedlessly at church and being kids.  Laughing with Amy on a Friday while we enjoy time with the dogs.  A well-placed song that popped up, that song being, “What a Wonderful World,” which has always been kind of a theme song for me.  Small things that reminded me of the gift and joy of life.

   Life is hard.  It is.  It can be cruel and tragic.  There are little things that can just make you want to scream (like having a car back into you when you stop to get your wife a latte at the coffee shop in the morning, which also happened to me this week).  But life is also full of so many gifts.  We sometimes don’t think of those gifts and the opportunity we get to experience and be a part of those gifts.  We forget and we need to be reminded.  God is pretty good at putting reminders in front of us if we are willing to see them.  And sometimes those reminders are in the small things, like someone smiling at you or a great song or a beautiful sunrise or a well-timed conversation with a friend or a moment of peace during a busy day or the snuggle of a pet.  Find the joy in each day and in that joy you will find the Lord reminding you that you are not alone, that you are loved, and that life is a gift.  Because we all need reminders, each and every one of us.  And our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is there to not only remind us that life is a gift, but that he is there to carry our burdens and bring us to eternal life. 

  May God bless you today and always!

March 1^st, 2026

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Lent Worship with Holden Evening Prayer this Wednesday 6:30 pm.  Our verse is John3:16.  Meal prior at 5:30 pm till 6:30 pm.  Meal is Homemade Soup and Garlic Bread served by Mission Trip Youth. Our Lent Theme this year is “Your Favorite Bible Verse.”

Blood Mobile this Tuesday from 12 pm till 6:00 pm in honor of Kasen Iverson.  Go to www.redcross.org to sign-up to donate.

The United Lutheran Church of Prairie Farm Youth in Christ will be here on Sunday, March 8^th to lead us in worship.

THE YOUTH SERVICE HAS MOVED FROM MARCH 8^TH TO APRIL 12^TH

Support our Youth going to Luther Park this summer by ordering a Butter Braid!  Deadline is March 29^th.  Use this link to order by picking any youth or see any Confirmation youth or the order form on the table in the Narthex. 

https://store.myfundraisingplace.com/96847e08-b3b0-4a14-842e-e40506620f84

Order your Easter Lillies today!  Order Deadline is Wednesday, March 18^th.  Form is available on main page or in Narthex.  Cost is $16 per plant. 

The Crew is Wednesday, March 11^th, ^th  3:30 pm till 5 pm for all 3^rd-6^th graders. 

As part of our Lent theme, PB is looking for your favorite scriptures to be part of our Facebook devotions!  Email him your favorite scripture readings to pastorbradtrinity@gmail.com 

Have you made your Foundation gift yet?  Help start our Parsonage project with a strong foundation with an initial gift.  Letters have been mailed out and you should receive one in the mail.  You can give through check, online, or using Venmo.  Put “Foundation” or “Parsonage” on your gift and help us to start to build our parsonage project to a great start.

Raise the Roof Fundraiser Saturday, April 11^th, 11 am till 4pm, Boyceville Fire Hall.  This fundraiser for our new parsonage will feature a silent auction, raffles, games, “flip-flop” chicken, and more.  If you would like to donate items, you can drop them off at the church.  Contact the church office for more information. 

You can use Venmo to make your gift to Trinity!  You can find us using: @TrinityLutheranBoyceville. If it asks you for a phone number, use 1349

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

 I sat down earlier this week and did something I do every year at the end of February and the beginning of March that I have done for over 20 years now: I took some tests.  Specifically, I took my baseball and softball umpiring tests.  I need to take these tests to keep my licenses to umpire these two fine sports at the high school level and I take them seriously.  I want to do well and I have to admit, they kind of suck.  What I mean by that is that most of the time when I read the question, I can envision the play out on the field and the call really isn’t that difficult.  I could make the call, know the rule, without really looking at the rule book that much unless it is a new rule.  BUT, these tests are meant to trick you.  They are meant to mess you up.  And so the answer, which would be pretty obvious in a real world situation, might not be correct on paper because a word could be different in the question or one thing could be slightly off that could cause you to get the question wrong. 

  It is maddening.  They love to hide answers in footnotes and in exceptions and those kind of things.  I want to do well and I have to do well to maintain my levels.  I’m a Master level official for softball and a L5 for baseball, the only reason I’m not Master level is I get dinged for not doing enough varsity games at times (I don’t have a regular partner and I take more JV games to stay closer to home and because I do both sports it can be hard to get all the required games, especially with rainouts, etc).  Also, I don’t care about my levels overall.  I do it for the fun of it mostly and to be involved in the sports. 

  This year I felt really confident when I got done with the baseball one and it was reflected in my score with only missing two questions total, and one of those was because I got a bit cocky and just didn’t read the question closely enough.  Knew the rule, assumed the answer, and didn’t take the moment to review the rule fully and got tripped up by the one-word thing.  But softball was a doozy.  There were a lot of questions that could have had, at least to me, 50-50 interpretations on paper (not really on the field), and I was not confident I was going to be above 90% on the test, which is always my goal. 

  And so, imagine my shock when I submitted my test and I again only missed two!  Even worse, one of them I missed I had changed my answer last minute from the correct one (always, always go with your first instinct!)  The other one I missed was one in which I misinterpreted the rule and after reviewing it I saw my mistake (we are sinners after all).  I was pretty pleased with myself in the end.

  The lesson I think is that we can surprise ourselves.  We often sell ourselves short, thinking we can’t do this and that.  And it stops us from trying new things, putting ourselves out there.  We just assume failure or that we will fall short.  God knows (and boy, does God KNOW) that I do that all the time.  But you have gifts and talents given to by the Lord and the Lord is with you.  Trust in yourself and trust that the Lord is with you.  You can do more than you know and that you think you can because Jesus Christ is with you.  You just have to take that step and do it.  Because when you do, you just might surprise yourself.  

  So take a risk, take a chance, put yourself out there.  Use your gifts in a way you haven’t before.  Do that thing you have always talked about but haven’t.  Say yes to that thing you often said no too.  Maybe take the extra step you have always stepped back from.  Trust that the Lord is with you and has given you the gifts you need.  For in the end, no matter what, you will still be loved and cared for and if nothing else, you will learn from the attempt. 

  Now, I got to go start looking for new umpiring pants.  Why?  Because starting in 2027, I can’t wear the color of pants I have for all of my pants for softball because they are banning them.  Why?  Who knows. I don’t make the rules. But I have to follow them.  May God bless you today and always!