ANNOUNCEMENTS 

New Member Class, November 13^th, 6:30 pm.  If you are someone you know is interested in joining Trinity, please join this class or call PB if you cannot make it.

Deer Hunter’s Worship, Wednesday, November 16^th, 6:30 pm All are welcome!  Wear your blaze orange and camo!

Crew is on November 16th for all 3^rd-6^th graders  Crew is 3:30 pm till 5:00 pm and this year we will be taking a Journey Through the Bible.

Crew Snack Sign-Up.  Please sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for the Crew.  Please prepare to serve 60 kids and you can bring anything you want.

Community Thanksgiving Worship, Sunday, November 20^th, at 6:30 pm at Trinity.  Please bring a non-perishable food item for Stepping Stones.  All monetary gifts will be given to WestCAP. 

Bring your deer hides to Trinity!  Place them in the deer shack and we exchange them for gloves which we give to the needy. 

Decorate Trinity for Christmas!  Sunday, November 27^th, right after worship.  We appreciate your help!

Mission Trip Youth in need of items for the Silent Auction!  With a record 27 youth going on this summer’s mission trip, our Silent Auction is more important than ever!  We appreciate any donations of new items or crafts!  Please have them to the church by December 7^th. 

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

    I think this time of year is a season of preparation.  Everyone is preparing for something.  Maybe you are preparing for hunting, getting the cabin ready, getting the hunting rifle sighted, making sure your deer stand is in good condition.  Maybe you are also preparing to be hunter’s widow, checking out where the best craft fairs are, preparing for outings with others.  You could be preparing for Thanksgiving, going to the store to get the turkey, all the ingredients for pumpkin pie, the necessary items to make the best part of Thanksgiving, which is the stuffing.  You might also be preparing for Christmas as well.  Doing some of the early shopping.  Getting the outside decorations up before it becomes bitterly cold.

  To be honest, I feel like I’m in the middle of all of those preparations.  The Deer Hunter’s service is this Wednesday, so I have been getting ready for that (and for the annual tradition of the venison jerky I receive from Marlin Bird.  Right Marlin?).  I’m prepping for Thanksgiving, as we did our shopping this week as we are having our Thanksgiving on Saturday since we will be gone for Thanksgiving, plus the Community Thanksgiving service which we are hosting on the 20^th.  And, if you have driven by my house, you know I have been preparing for Christmas, getting all my stuff up outside while it was 70 degrees (glorious).  Even with that, I even wrote my Christmas Eve sermon already and the Men’s Band has been practicing for our three Christmas concerts in December.  It is a time of preparing. 

   I’ve always like being prepared, and not because I was a Boy Scout (I didn’t make it that far).  I like the feeling of knowing that everything is ready to go, of having the security (and frankly, the control) of it being in order so I can handle whatever may come.  But of course, you can’t prepare for everything.  There is always going something that comes out of the blue, or something that doesn’t work or falls over, or something that just won’t go the way you hope it does.  Those moments can cause me some anxiety, but because of my preparation, I feel I can handle whatever may come.

  In the same way, my faith in Jesus Christ prepares for anything that life throws at me.  For I know that Christ has taken care of all things.  I know that Jesus has freed from all bondage.  I know I have a place prepared for me in heaven, not due to anything that I have done but solely on what Christ has done for me.  I know Jesus is there to carry my burdens, bless my blessings, guide my life, and strengthen me when I am weak. When we place our faith and trust in Jesus, we are prepared for anything and everything. 

  May the Lord be with you as you prepare for all the things coming up in these next weeks.  And may you know that, through your faith in Jesus Christ, you are prepared for everything and you don’t prepare alone.  Your Savior is with you.  For that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Men’s Band Worship on Sunday, November 6^th, at 9 am.

Potato Pancake Meal, Sunday, November 6^th, 10 am till 11:30 am. Potato Pancakes, Kielbasa Sausage, Apple Sauce, Dessert, Beverage.  Free-will offering taken to support Trinity Youth Ministries.

Workers needed for the Potato Pancake Meal  See the sign-up on the table in the Narthex.

Crew is on November 2^nd for all 3^rd-6^th graders  Crew is 3:30 pm till 5:00 pm and this year we will be taking a Journey Through the Bible.

Crew Snack Sign-Up.  Please sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for the Crew.  Please prepare to serve 60 kids and you can bring anything you want.

New Member Class, November 13^th, 6:30 pm.  If you are someone you know is interested in joining Trinity, please join this class or call PB if you cannot make it.

Deer Hunter’s Worship, Wednesday, November 16^th, 6:30 pm All are welcome!  Wear your blaze orange and camo!

Community Thanksgiving Worship, Sunday, November 20^th, at 6:30 pm at Trinity.  Please bring a non-perishable food item for Stepping Stones.  All monetary gifts will be given to WestCAP. 

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  Recently, our puppy Baxter started to play with a racquetball.  Our old dog Henry loved to play with them, but Kapono never got into playing with a ball.  But Baxter loves it.  It is so cute to see him batting it with his paw, following it around, carrying it in his mouth, and learning which parts of the floor aren’t quite level and so he can push the ball out and watch it roll.  It is pretty entertaining to watch.  But, there are times when the ball rolls under a table or a shelf and suddenly Baxter can’t get it.  He sticks his whole arm under there trying to get the ball and will even try to crawl under.  Sometimes, he can get it.  But other times he can’t.  What is a dog to do?

  Like a super hero swooping out of the sky to save the day comes Mom or Dad.  We get on our hands and knees and get the ball out for Baxter.  We reach under to get this thing that he wants and he is so happy when he gets it back.  And why do we do this?  We do this because we love him.  We do this because we want him to be happy.  Even if it means getting up from our comfortable space on the couch or the chair.  Even if it is an inconvenience of the highest order.  We do it because we love him.

   For you, on your own, salvation is out of reach.  It is like that ball stuck under that shelf.  You try and try to get it but it is elusive.  It is just out of reach.  No matter how much you do, you will not and cannot attain that salvation.  And so here comes Jesus, getting that ball of salvation for you, sacrificing his life to give you eternal life.  And why?  Because Jesus loves you.  Because you are loved.

   You cannot attain salvation on your own.  As it says in Ephesians 2, “For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the free gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”  You are saved not by what you do, for you cannot do enough, but by what Jesus Christ has done for you.  You could not reach the ball of salvation, but Christ has sacrificed so that it can be given to you.

  And so, like Baxter getting that ball we have retrieved for him, rejoice!  Be glad!  You are free from sin and death.  You are saved and redeemed.  You have been given grace and love in Jesus Christ.  Remember this gift you have been given and who has given it to you.  It has come from Jesus, because Jesus loves you.  For that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”  Amen

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Confirmation Stole Making and Rehearsal  October 26, 7 pm.

Confirmation Sunday, October 30^th, 9 am.  We hope that you will come to support our 15 youth who are affirming their faith.  Wear red in honor of Reformation Sunday!

Men’s Band Worship on Sunday, November 6^th, at 9 am.

Potato Pancake Meal, Sunday, November 6^th, 10 am till 11:30 am. Potato Pancakes, Kielbasa Sausage, Apple Sauce, Dessert, Beverage.  Free-will offering taken to support Trinity Youth Ministries.

Workers needed for the Potato Pancake Meal  See the sign-up on the table in the Narthex.

Crew is on November 2^nd for all 3^rd-6^th graders  Crew is 3:30 pm till 5:00 pm and this year we will be taking a Journey Through the Bible.

Crew Snack Sign-Up.  Please sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for the Crew.  Please prepare to serve 60 kids and you can bring anything you want.

New Member Class, November 13^th, 6:30 pm.  If you are someone you know is interested in joining Trinity, please join this class or call PB if you cannot make it.

Deer Hunter’s Worship, Wednesday, November 16^th, 6:30 pm All are welcome!  Wear your blaze orange and camo!

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  I have to admit, I was pretty impressed, friends of Trinity Lutheran, last Sunday.  Last Sunday was our Cross Generational Worship service, a service in which we try to have our various generations interact with each other.  This year, I did something a little different.  I made you sit at tables based on something that was on top of your bulletin, forcing some families and couples to sit at tables apart from each other.  I know that some of you, who knew you would have to participate with each other, already weren’t the biggest fans.  I believe a few phrases I heard was, “I hate this service” and “I think I’m going to go home.”  Then, adding in how I was seating you, made many of you nervous and even upset. 

  BUT you stuck it out.  You stayed.  You gave it a shot.  And then some of you who said the phrases above said, “I really enjoyed it” and “That was a lot of fun.”  The Cross Generational Worship service is meant to stretch us, to challenge us, to get us out of our comfort zones a bit, not only in a bid to get to know each other better but to also to connect on a faith level.  To risk a little bit.  Risk putting ourselves out there.  Risk looking at the world in a different way.  Risk letting something new happen, something that challenges us. 

  I want to thank you Trinity for being willing to risk.  My prayer is that you might continue to risk.  Maybe putting your name on that sign up sheet for that event that you are hesitant about.  Maybe showing up for something that might seem difficult.  Maybe going out into the community to risk connecting with others different than yourself.  For in risking, we are putting our faith in Jesus Christ to care for us and be with us.  In risking, we are letting the Holy Spirit work in, through, and amongst us.  I hope that you will continue to be a risk taker and place your trust and faith in Jesus Christ.

  It reminded me of a poem that I got in college.  I am not sure who the author is, but I share it with you now:

                                                “Risks”

    To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

          To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

          To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.

          To love is to risk not being loved in return.    

          To live is to risk dying.

          To hope is to risk despair.

          To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing.

They may avoid suffering and sorrow but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.

Chained by their certitudes they are a slave, they have forfeited their freedoms.

Only a person who risks is free.

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Cross Generational Worship service is on Sunday, October 16^th, at 9 am in the Fellowship Hall.

Mission Trip registration deadline is October 16^th.   We will be meeting after church on the 16^th as well. 

Crew is on October 19^th for all 3^rd-6^th graders  Crew is 3:30 pm till 5:00 pm and this year we will be taking a Journey Through the Bible.

Crew Snack Sign-Up.  Please sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for the Crew.  Please prepare to serve 60 kids and you can bring anything you want.

Confirmation Sunday, October 30^th, 9 am.

Men’s Band Worship on Sunday, November 6^th, at 9 am.

Potato Pancake Meal, Sunday, November 6^th, 10 am till 11:30 am. Potato Pancakes, Kielbasa Sausage, Apple Sauce, Dessert, Beverage.  Free-will offering taken to support Trinity Youth Ministries.

Workers needed for the Potato Pancake Meal  See the sign-up on the table in the Narthex.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  Late Thursday night, I was despondent.  Despondent.  My Chicago Bears football team was going to lose to the Washington Commanders, a terrible football team, which made my team even more terrible.  Also, that same night, my Minnesota Wild got run off the ice in the opening night game against the New York Rangers.  I was not in a good place and ended up staying up way to late, brooding and complaining and being depressed.  Even worse, I knew in my brain that this was all happening over a game/games.  Just a sport.  In the end, nothing significant in the grand scheme of life.  I had been through a lot worse than a couple of losses by my favorite teams.  Why was I feeling like this?  This seems pretty stupid.

   But in thinking that way means that I wasn’t taking what I was feeling seriously.  We can be tempted to dismiss how people are feeling because of the circumstances those feelings came into being.  But in doing so, we end up dismissing who they are and what they are feeling.  Have you ever wondered why someone was so upset that a relationship ended?  Did you think, “They should just get over it.  Plenty of fish in the sea.”  But we don’t really know what things mean to others.  Instead of putting our own values and judgements into what they are feeling and experiencing, we should be people with compassion and empathy towards them because they are actually hurting.  What may be minor to us is everything to someone else.  Being there for people isn’t judging why they are feeling the way they are feeling, it is about just being there, being present for them, in that moment.

  I think back to the night the Cubs won the World Series in 2016.  Amy went to bed right before extra innings with the score tied.  Because she didn’t hear me cheering, she woke up in the middle of the night and thought the Cubs had lost, and then preceded to think about what she could do to help me feel better.  She even said sorry when I woke her up the next morning, only for me to tell her that we had won.  Amy cares not about baseball.  But she does care about me, and so thinking I would be upset, even over a game, made her want to make me feel better and to be there for me.  That is how we should be for each other.  To not judge why they feel what they feel, but to be a place of comfort and refuge for them. 

   After all, we are called as followers of Jesus Christ to be there for each other.  To help each other in the hardships of life, no matter what they are.  To be there in the midst of suffering, no matter how or why it had come about.  To not judge lest we be judged.  May the Lord be with you as you are there for others, and may the Lord bring people into your life to be there for you. 

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

October 9, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Crew is on October 16^th for all 3^rd-6^th graders  Crew is 3:30 pm till 5:00 pm and this year we will be taking a Journey Through the Bible.

Fall Family Fest, October 9^th, 2:30 pm till 5:00 pm  Inflatables, Gaga, Games, Activities, Food and more. For all ages.  No cost!  Join us for some fun!

Crew Snack Sign-Up.  Please sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for the Crew.  Please prepare to serve 60 kids and you can bring anything you want.

Cross Generational Worship service is on Sunday, October 16^th, at 9 am in the Fellowship Hall.

Mission Trip registration deadline is October 16^th.   We will be meeting after church on the 16^th as well. 

Confirmation Sunday, October 30^th, 9 am.

Men’s Band Worship on Sunday, November 6^th, at 9 am.

Potato Pancake Meal, Sunday, November 6^th, 10 am till 11:30 am. Potato Pancakes, Kielbasa Sausage, Apple Sauce, Dessert, Beverage.  Free-will offering taken to support Trinity Youth Ministries.

Workers needed for the Potato Pancake Meal  See the sign-up on the table in the Narthex.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  On Friday, as I was presiding over a funeral, we ended the service with the song “How Great Thou Art.”  This beloved hymn is most associated with funerals and is a staple of funeral services like hearing Psalm 23 being read.  Sometimes when you have something as ubiquitous as this hymn, it can become kind of rote.  Almost cliché.  But as we sang the hymn, giving glory to God for God’s greatness and for the love of the faithful disciple of Jesus Christ we were remembering and giving over to God, I had this thought: there is a reason this hymn is sung during these times.  Sometimes that things that are traditional, even cliché, work and work well.  They have become traditions for a reason. 

   The music moves you and soars, especially when you have a congregation singing it at full throat, even in the midst of sorrow and grief.  It brings hope and comfort in the midst of pain.  The words inspire and comfort, talking about all that God has done, from creation, to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins, and then salvation and going to heaven because of what Christ has done for us.  It just works.

  Sometimes we look down or dismiss the things that have become tradition for us or seem like a cliché.  I know I do (so many wedding sermons on 1 Corinthians 13.  So many).  Yet, we never tire singing “Silent Night” on Christmas Eve or “Amazing Grace” at any time.  I think about it with the Men’s Band.  We end every concert with “This Little Light of Mine” and the guys always joke about cutting it and not doing it.  Heck, there are times we skip it in practice.  Yet, every time we play, the energy that comes when we sing that song and invite you to sing with us works.  It just works. 

   As we finished up “How Great Thou Art,” I gave thanks for the amazing hymn and the wonderful man that we said goodbye to.  I gave thanks for those things that I sometimes take for granted or dismiss because we have done them/heard them/said them a hundred thousand times.  If there are things in our life that seem cliché, or rote, or so familiar that you overlook them, take a closer look.  Remember why they work and why they inspire.  And remember again that they are all gifts from our loving Savior, whose Holy Spirit works in and through and amongst us in all things.  Have a great week!

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Crew is on October 5^th for all 3^rd-6^th graders  Crew is 3:30 pm till 5:00 pm and this year we will be taking a Journey Through the Bible.

Oktoberfest Craft & Vendor Show, Saturday, October 8^th, from 9 am to 2 pm at Tiffany Creek Elementary.  Lots of great vendors, food served, all benefit the Woman of Trinity and their ministry and mission. 

Fall Family Fest, October 9^th, 2:30 pm till 5:00 pm  Inflatables, Gaga, Games, Activities, Food and more. For all ages.  No cost!  Join us for some fun!

Crew Snack Sign-Up.  Please sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for the Crew.  Please prepare to serve 60 kids and you can bring anything you want.

Cross Generational Worship service is on Sunday, October 16^th, at 9 am in the Fellowship Hall.

Mission Trip registration deadline is October 16^th.   We will be meeting after church on the 16^th as well. 

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

 I woke up late this morning.  Now, I don’t mean I woke up 5 minutes late.  I mean I woke up an hour late.  I thought I had an alarm set for 4:30 am and instead I woke up at 5:30 am.  When I realized what time it was, I shot up out of bed and got ready at the speed of light, rushing around the house getting stuff together so I could get here to the office.  My heart was racing and I was freaking out a little bit.  Would I be able to get everything done in time?  How could I have been so stupid to as not double checked my alarm?  Even worse, did I hear the alarm and turn it off in my sleep?  Even an hour later as I write this, I think my heartbeat is still going a little quicker than normal.  I hate being late more than almost anything in the world and even thinking about being late puts me into a tizzy. 

   But here is the thing: I didn’t have anything to worry about.  Other than not having this musing written yet, everything was well in hand.  The baptism stuff is set up.  Sermon has been written for awhile and just needs to be practiced.   The lights have been turned on, the sound system is going, and the doors are unlocked.  Children’s Sermon is prepared.  What was I worried about?  Why was I freaking out when I could have slept in till now (which is about 7 am as write this) and still be fully prepared for everything today?

  I have no idea.  Sometimes we freak out about things that we don’t need to freak out about.  I have seen brides freak out about the smallest things before a wedding.  I have seen kids lose it because they couldn’t buy a foam Prince Phillip sword at Disney World.  I have seen grown man freak out and call that a game was over when their team didn’t convert a third down in the second quarter while said team was currently leading in the game (that one was me.).  Of course, the thing that we think is minor to freak out over is really big to someone else.  My guess is that I freak out over being late because my parents drilled into us that being late was incredibly rude and also a desire to make sure everything is ready and perfect for the job I have to do.  I think it is a desire to be prepared in case something crazy happens.  It probably is about trying to be in control of an uncontrollable life. 

   And maybe that is the thing.  We freak out over things because we are trying to control our lives when so we can’t control everything.  Life is crazy, unpredictable, and surprising.  It takes twists and turns, has ups and downs, and almost nothing ever goes exactly according to the plans we have.  Sometimes we don’t set an alarm.  Sometimes it rains when the forecast says it is supposed to be clear and sunny.  Sometimes your favorite football team runs a fourth and goal play from the one yard line from a shotgun formation (sorry.  That still stings.  Stupid Bears).  Life is uncontrollable and we can’t control it, no matter how hard we try. 

  And that’s ok.  Because God is in control.  This God who has created us, sent his Son Jesus to die for us, and the Holy Spirit to create faith in our hearts, is in control.  And this God has promised to save us.  To be there for us.  To walk with us, even in the shadow of death.  To give us refuge even in the biggest storms of life.  God is in control and God has got us.  God has got you.  Even when you aren’t sure God has you, God does.  Even when we are freaking out, God is there.  Always.

  I don’t think I will ever stop freaking out over being late.  It is just who I am.  But maybe, just maybe, by the grace of God I won’t freak out too much.  My prayer is that in those moments of panic and freaking out, that I will remember that God has me, that everything will be ok and everything will work out.  And I have the same prayer for you.  Remember that your Lord is with you every day, no matter what, and that you are loved, saved, and redeemed by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.  Even when you are running late! 

  May God bless you this day and always!

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

TRINITY TIDINGS

September 25, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

2023 Mission Trip Informational Meeting on September 25^th at 10:15 am.  Trip is open to all current High School youth.  Come get information and help choose where we will be going in the summer of 2023.  If you can’t make it, please contact PB

We are packing Lutheran World Relief Kits on Wednesday, September 28^th at 9 am.  All are welcome to help!  Lots of hands make light work!

Oktoberfest Craft & Vendor Show, Saturday, October 8^th, from 9 am to 2 pm at Tiffany Creek Elementary.  Lots of great vendors, food served, all benefit the Woman of Trinity and their ministry and mission. 

Bibles will be given out to Pre-K and 3^rd graders on Sunday, October 2^nd, at 9 am.

Fall Family Fest, October 9^th, 2:30 pm till 5:00 pm  Inflatables, Gaga, Games, Activities, Food and more. For all ages.  No cost!  Join us for some fun!

Crew Snack Sign-Up.  Please sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for the Crew.  Please prepare to serve 60 kids and you can bring anything you want.

Crew is on October 5^th for all 3^rd-6^th graders  Crew is 3:30 pm till 5:00 pm and this year we will be taking a Journey Through the Bible.

Cross Generational Worship service is on Sunday, October 16^th, at 9 am in the Fellowship Hall.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

 “He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

The week of September 12^th was a tough week for yours truly. Now, it wasn’t tough because anything bad happened to me, per se.  Rather, it was like I was the Hulk, just breaking things.  It started on a walk with Amy, Kapono, and Baxter on Tuesday when Baxter stopped suddenly and I ended up stepping on his back right foot.  He squealed very loudly and then wouldn’t put his foot down at all, even after a few minutes.  We realized something bad had happened and we called our vet and some others but none could get us in, so I took off for Eau Claire and the Emergency Animal Hospital.  A few hours later we got the diagnosis: two broken toes.  We were given strict instructions to try to keep him from moving around as much as possible, no more walks, no more rough play, for at least a month, maybe more.  Plus, for his sake, some pain meds!  It meant buying a pen to set up in the living room so he could be with us but be separated from Kapono and have limited movement so that he could heal.  Poor guy.

  Then, on Thursday, I was golfing with two friends.  One of them is a pastor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and this was our first chance to see each other in two years.  We met halfway and had a wonderful day of conversation, golf, and fun.  EXCEPT one thing.  I broke a window in the clubhouse with a very, very, very offline drive.  Drove the ball right through the screen and the window.  The worker came out, threw my ball toward where it was supposed to be, and went back inside.  Here I was again, breaking stuff.  Hulk smash!

  So not only did I break two things, I had also a broken spirit.  The guilt in both instances were palatable and still with me.  Both were accidents.  Both were unintentional.  Both made me miserable.  Seeing Baxter in pain just ate me up as I sat in the waiting room to see what had happened.  Feeling terrible about breaking that window, even though the people at the course were really great, made me miserable.  I had broken things and in turn was broken a bit myself. 

   But the thing is, we are all broken people, even when we aren’t breaking stuff.  We are broken due to sin, broken as we deal with pain and suffering, broken by grief and sorrow, anxiety and worry, broken often both physically and mentally.  But we are not destroyed.  We may be broken, but we are made whole by the love and grace of Jesus Christ.  We are put back together by the love of a God who gives everything to us so that we might live.  We are healed by the Lord who carries our burdens, takes our sin, and walks with us every day.  Our brokenness does not separate us from God’s love for us in Jesus Christ.  Rather, our Lord looks upon us with compassion because we are broken. Because we need a Savior.

  Baxter is doing really well.  He had a follow up appointment this past week and things look really good and if you watched him walk or run, you wouldn’t even know that he had some broken toes.  The people at the golf course were so gracious and nice to me when I apologized about the window.  They understood.  Broken things can be mended, healed, put back whole.  We are mended, healed, and put back whole by the love and grace of God in Jesus Christ.  You may be broken today my friends.  I may be broken.  But in the midst of our brokenness comes a Savior to heal us, to make us whole, to remind us that though we are broken, we are loved, we are saved, and we are not alone.  For that we can say, “Thanks be to God!” 

   “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Here is Baxter in his living room pen. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Sunday School begins TODAY, September 11^th, at 9:45 am.  You can register your child in advance with the form located in the Narthex.

Outdoor Worship Service and Blessing of the Animals on September 18^th at 9 am. Join us in the Parking Lot for an outdoor worship.  Feel free to sit in your vehicle or bring a chair to sit and bring your animals for a blessing.

Turn in your Time & Talent Sheets!  One is attached to this email.  Please turn it in to the office.

Crew Snack Sign-Up.  Please sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for the Crew.  Please prepare to serve 60 kids and you can bring anything you want.

Crew begins on September 21^st for all 3^rd-6^th graders  Crew is 3:30 pm till 5:00 pm and this year we will be taking a Journey Through the Bible.

Mission Trip Presentation on September 25^th at 9 am.

2023 Mission Trip Informational Meeting on September 25^th at 10:15 am.  Trip is open to all current High School youth.  Come get information and help choose where we will be going in the summer of 2023. 

Oktoberfest Craft & Vendor Show, Saturday, October 8^th, from 9 am to 2 pm at Tiffany Creek Elementary.  Lots of great vendors, food served, all benefit the Woman of Trinity and their ministry and mission. 

School Bags  Pick up a school bag from a pew in the sanctuary and fill out the list that is included in the bag, then return to the church.  You can also donate loose school supplies as well and place in the bin in the Narthex.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

 As I walked out of my house this morning at about 5:20 am, I did something I don’t do that often, especially on a Sunday morning.  I looked up.  I took a moment with completely clear skies to look at the stars.  Normally, as I exit the house, I do so with a to do list in my head, things I want to get to done and have to do when I get to church.  But despite having such a list this morning, I stood there for a few moments to appreciate the stars, to marvel at the beauty of those lights in the sky, especially since it was a clear moon as well.  I’m not sure what prompted it.  Maybe it was the fact that I had taught the creation story to my 7^th grade confirmation story early in the week. Maybe it was the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  I don’t know.  But I stopped, and I looked, and I wondered and awed and appreciated. 

  I had the same feeling of appreciation after I got to church as I started to work through my to do list (of which this musings was one) as I set up for the baptism this morning.  We have a lot of baptisms at Trinity and we have a bunch more coming up, but as I moved the font and put the baptismal blanket in place, I thought about how cool it is that we get to do so many baptisms at Trinity.  We have double digit baptisms every year and it could be easy to take them for granted as just something that always happens.  But it is a great gift to have a baptism, to hear those baptismal promises given to a new child of God, to celebrate with a family this joyous occasion of God’s love and hope. 

  I guess what I’m getting at this morning is that it can be easy to be overwhelmed by the tasks of life.  I know that sometimes I get so focused on all the things that need to be done that I can forget to appreciate the things that are in front of me.  I forget to take a moment and to look around, to see the beauty and majesty and awesomeness of life and of God’s gifts to me in life. I hope that you will take a moment today, or tomorrow, or the next day, and appreciate what is around you.  To give thanks for the little things of life.  To remember the love of God in Jesus Christ that is for you.  That you might wonder at the stars or marvel at the joy of a newborn baby or appreciate the hug of a loved one or the snuggle of a pet.  For God is good and God loves you so much that God sent his only Son to die and rise so that you would be saved. 

  May the Lord bless you today and always!

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Office closed on September 5^th for Labor Day.

Sunday School begins on Sunday, September 11^th, at 9:45 am.  You can register your child in advance with the form located in the Narthex.

Outdoor Worship Service and Blessing of the Animals on September 18^th at 9 am. Join us in the Parking Lot for an outdoor worship.  Feel free to sit in your vehicle or bring a chair to sit and bring your animals for a blessing.

Turn in your Time & Talent Sheets!  One is attached to this email.  Please turn it in to the office.

Crew Snack Sign-Up.  Please sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for the Crew.  Please prepare to serve 60 kids and you can bring anything you want.

Crew begins on September 21^st for all 3^rd-6^th graders  Crew is 3:30 pm till 5:00 pm and this year we will be taking a Journey Through the Bible.

Mission Trip Presentation on September 25^th at 9 am.

2023 Mission Trip Informational Meeting on September 25^th at 10:15 am.  Trip is open to all current High School youth.  Come get information and help choose where we will be going in the summer of 2023. 

Oktoberfest Craft & Vendor Show, Saturday, October 8^th, from 9 am to 2 pm at Tiffany Creek Elementary.  Lots of great vendors, food served, all benefit the Woman of Trinity and their ministry and mission. 

School Bags  Pick up a school bag from a pew in the sanctuary and fill out the list that is included in the bag, then return to the church.  You can also donate loose school supplies as well and place in the bin in the Narthex.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

 A little story for you.  Have a great Labor Day!

Table for Two by Kristen Burgess

He sits by himself at a table for two.

The uniformed waiter returns to his side and asks, “Would you like to go ahead and order, sir?” The man has, after all, been waiting since seven o’clock–almost two hours.

“No, thank you,” the man smiles. “I’ll wait for her a while longer. How about some more coffee?”

“Certainly, sir.”

The man sits, his clear blue eyes gazing straight through the flowered centerpiece. He fingers his napkin, allowing the sounds of light chatter, tinkling silverware, and mellow music to fill his mind. He is dressed in a sport coat and tie. His dark brown hair is neatly combed, but one stray lock insists on dropping to his forehead. The scent of his cologne adds to his clean-cut image. He is dressed up enough to make a companion feel important, respected, loved. Yet he is not so formal as to make one uncomfortable. It seems that he has taken every precaution to make others feel at ease with him.

Still, he sits alone.

The waiter returns to fill the man’s coffee cup. “Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?”

“No, thank you.”

The waiter remains standing at the table. Something tugs at his curiosity.

“I don’t mean to pry, but…” His voice trails off. This line of conversation could jeopardize his tip.

“Go ahead,” the man encourages. He is strong, yet sensitive, inviting conversation.

“Why do you bother waiting for her?” the waiter finally blurts out. This man has been at the restaurant many other evenings, always patiently alone.

Says the man quietly, “Because she needs me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oh Yes. I’m very positive of that.”

“Well, sir, no offense, but assuming that she needs you, she sure isn’t acting much like it. She’s stood you up three times just this week alone.”

The man winces, and looks down at the table. “Yes, I know.”

“Then why do you still come here and wait?”

“Cassie said that she would be here.”

“She’s said that before,” the waiter protests. “I wouldn’t put up with it. Why do you?”

Now the man looks up, smiles at the waiter, and says simply, “Because I love her.”

The waiter walks away, wondering how one could love a girl who stands him up three times in one week alone. The man must be crazy, he decides. Either that or he must really love that girl. Across the room, he turns to look at the man again. The man slowly pours cream into his coffee. He twirls his spoon between his fingers a few times before stirring sweetener into his cup. After staring for a moment into the liquid, the man brings the cup to his mouth and sips, silently watching those around him. He doesn’t look crazy, the waiter admits. Maybe the girl has qualities that I don’t know about. Or maybe the man’s love is stronger than most. That’s probably it. This guy must be so much in love with her he can’t even see straight. The waiter shakes himself out of his musings to take an order from a party of five.

The man watches the waiter, and wonders if he’s ever been stood up. The man has. Many, many times. But he still can’t get used to it. Each time, it hurts. He’s looked forward to this evening all day. He has many things, exciting things, to tell Cassie. He loves her so much and so deeply. But, more importantly, he wants to hear Cassie’s voice. He wants her to tell him all about her day, her triumphs, her defeats….anything, really. He has tried so many times to show Cassie how much he loves her. He’d just like to know that she cares for him, too. He sips sporadically at the coffee, and loses himself in thought, knowing that Cassie is late, but still hoping that she will arrive.

The clock says nine-thirty when the waiter returns to the man’s table. “Is there anything I can get for you?”

The still empty chair stabs at the man. “No, I think that will be all for the night. May I have the check please?”

“Yes, sir.”

When the waiter leaves, the man picks up the check. He pulls out his wallet and sighs. He has enough to have given Cassie a feast. He takes out enough money to pay for his five cups of coffee and the tip. Why do you do this, Cassie?” His mind cries as he gets up from the table.

“Good-bye,” the waiter says, as the man walks towards the door.

“Good night. Thank you for your service.”

You’re welcome, sir,” says the waiter softly, for he sees the hurt in the man’s eyes that his smile doesn’t even begin to hide.

The man passes a laughing young couple on his way out and his eyes glisten as he thinks of the good time he and Cassie could have had. He stops at the front and makes reservations for tomorrow. Maybe Cassie will be able to make it, he thinks. Oh, I do hope so.

“Seven o’clock tomorrow for party of two?” the hostess confirms.

“That’s right,” the man replies.

“Do you think she’ll come?” asks the hostess. She doesn’t mean to be rude, but she has watched the man many times alone at his table for two.

“Someday, yes. And I will be waiting for her.”

The man buttons his overcoat and walks out of the restaurant, alone. His shoulders are hunched, but through the windows the hostess can only guess whether they are hunched against the wind or against the man’s hurt.

As the man turns toward home, Cassie turns in bed. She is tired after an evening out with friends. As she reaches toward her night stand to set the alarm, she sees the note that she scribbled to herself last night.

“7:00,” it says. “Spend some time in prayer.”

Darn, she thinks. She forgot again. She feels a twinge of guilt, but quickly pushes it aside. She needed that time with her friends. And now she needs her sleep. She can pray tomorrow night.

Jesus will forgive her. And she’s sure he doesn’t mind.

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Women of Trinity Fall Gathering, Thursday, September 1^st, 6 pm.  It is a potluck so bring a dish to pass.  All women are invited!

Confirmation Parent Meeting, Wednesday, August 31^st, 7 pm.

Sunday School begins on Sunday, September 11^th, at 9:45 am.  You can register your child in advance with the form located in the Narthex.

Outdoor Worship Service and Blessing of the Animals on September 18^th at 9 am. Join us in the Parking Lot for an outdoor worship.  Feel free to sit in your vehicle or bring a chair to sit and bring your animals for a blessing.

Crew Snack Sign-Up.  Please sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for the Crew.  Please prepare to serve 60 kids and you can bring anything you want.

Crew begins on September 21^st for all 3^rd-6^th graders  Crew is 3:30 pm till 5:00 pm and this year we will be taking a Journey Through the Bible.

Mission Trip Presentation on September 25^th at 9 am.

2023 Mission Trip Informational Meeting on September 25^th at 10:15 am.  Trip is open to all current High School youth.  Come get information and help choose where we will be going in the summer of 2023. 

Office closed on September 5^th for Labor Day.

School Bags  Pick up a school bag from a pew in the sanctuary and fill out the list that is included in the bag, then return to the church.  You can also donate loose school supplies as well and place in the bin in the Narthex.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands— O prosper the work of our hands!” Psalm 90:17

   On Monday, September 5th, we will have the last hurrah of summer with Labor Day. Labor Day is a federal holiday that celebrates the labor movement in the United States and lifts up workers and their achievements. It is a day of rest and fun for many of us and we often don’t think of all the hard work and sacrifices made by the workers of this country over its history to get us to this point. Work is a gift from God and our work is part of who we are as followers of Jesus Christ. Not just the work that we do in our jobs, but our work on behalf of our community, our families, and most especially for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

    We are the hands and feet of God, after all, laboring in the world to not only provide for our families, but to care for the neighbor and lift up the kingdom of God. Each of us has been given gifts and talents that we use in all areas of life and we ask, as it says in the Psalm above, that the Lord would be upon and us prosper for us the work of our hands, wherever that work may be.

   On this month of Labor Day, as we enjoy the last moments of summer and take a moment to give thanks for work and what it means in our life, I want you to take a moment to think about how you can work for the Lord and for the ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church. Included in this Trinity Tidings is a Time and Talent sheet that I hope you will fill out and turn back in. It gives just a few of the ways you can work for the Lord to continue to make Trinity a strong and vibrant ministry. I encourage you to think outside of the box as well.

   Parents don’t always have to teach Sunday School or help with Crew. We could use the wisdom and faith of all ages to help guide our youth. Are you willing to get up once every other month to read scripture? Can you help with something that is often goes unseen, like shoveling snow, taking the garbage to the dump, or filling up communion cups? Men don’t always have to be ushers, by the way, and women don’t always have to serve on Altar Guild. Maybe you can help take items to the food pantry once a month or be willing to serve on a committee that talks about important issues of ministry. Where are you willing to serve? Where can the Lord prosper the work of your hands?

    Because without your labor, the church is just a lifeless building doing nothing to proclaim the Gospel, serve our neighbor, and bring glory to God. Without your labor, without you answering God’s call to serve in ways both seen and unseen, we are nothing but a country club who eats cheese and crackers and drinks coffee and slowly dies. But with your labor, with your service, we are a dynamic vessel that changes lives and brings glory to God. I will pray for you and with you as you discern how you can serve the Lord. And I pray that God will prosper the work of your hands in every aspect of your life and strengthening you in faith, hope, and love.

  Your fellow worker,

     PB

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Lunch & Pie Social, August 21^st, 10 am till 4 pm.  Lots of great food and homemade pie!  Benefits the Women of Trinity.

Workers & items needed for the Lunch & Pie Social  Please see the sign-ups on the table in the Narthex

Float Riders needed for the church float at Picklefest! All kids get a free bag of candy!  Meet at the church at Noon on Sunday, August 21^st. 

Campfire Worship, Wednesday, August 17^th, 6:30 pm.  Bring a chair to sit on. 

Pick up your church directories!  They are on the Cake Table in the Narthex

Trinity Men’s Band will be at First Lutheran Church in Cumberland at 6pm on August 24th and at the Downsville Rec Park on August 28th at 11 am.

School Bags  Pick up a school bag from a pew in the sanctuary and fill out the list that is included in the bag, then return to the church.  You can also donate loose school supplies as well and place in the bin in the Narthex.

Confirmation Parent Meeting, Wednesday, August 31^st, 7 pm.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  On Friday, late morning, I was pretty wiped.  It had been a good week but a long one and draining.  Between saying goodbye to Katie on Sunday, to having some appointments during the week, running up to camp to preach on Tuesday night, to playing in a golf outing all day Wednesday then sprinting to get back to lead worship to running a golf outing on Thursday and all the work that took to coming in Friday morning to get a sermon written, some office stuff done, and to polish off the wedding I was doing on Saturday, I needed a recharge and a rest. There had been too much running, too much stuff.  

  You might find this hard to believe, but I’m not the best at recharging and resting.  Sure, I enjoy a short afternoon nap when I can get it, but it tends to be buttressed by running around like a crazy man.  I often find that I need rest long after I should have taken one.  But Friday was a perfect scenario.  Amy made an awesome lunch, it was raining outside, and Star Wars happened to be on the TV.  Perfect time to take a rest.  The puppy needed some Dad time and after a little playing, we settled into the Lazy Boy chair in the living room with the familiar sounds of Star Wars on the TV and we took a nap of naps.  We slept so hard it took me awhile to get fully awake and functional.  It was a nap I needed, to rest and recharge before heading to the wedding rehearsal I was doing.

   We all need rest.  We need time to stop.  Now, rest doesn’t always mean a drool inducing two hour nap.  Sometimes it can just be slowing down, enjoying your surroundings or the people you are with.  Sometimes it is taking a moment for prayer or to read scripture. It might be a conversation with a friend or an outing that gets you out of town for a bit. It is about letting your body, soul, and mind reset and recharge.  As I have gotten older, I have seen the need for this more and more as I can’t just power through a crazy schedule without consequences to my physical and mental health.  And with Katie gone, I am being extra mindful of making sure that I stay healthy for the sake of our ministry here at Trinity.

  Soon school is going to start, schedules are going to get crazy, and the joys of summer and vacation will be in the rearview mirror.  But that doesn’t mean that you can’t take a timeout from time to time.  A chance to rest, to relax, to recharge in a way that works for you.  I have no doubt that there will be times this fall when I’ll grab Baxter, turn on some Star Wars, and rest.  Remember that you are human and not a machine.  Get some rest, recharge the body, the mind, and the spirit, and remember that from the very beginning God knew our need for rest.  After all, that is why God rested on the Sabbath and gave it to us as a gift, as a reminder that we need to recharge so that we can be fully who God has created us to be.  For that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”  Amen

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

August 8, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Lunch & Pie Social, August 21^st, 10 am till 4 pm.  Lots of great food and homemade pie!  Benefits the Women of Trinity.

Workers & items needed for the Lunch & Pie Social  Please see the sign-ups on the table in the Narthex

Float Riders needed for the church float at Picklefest! All kids get a free bag of candy!  Meet at the church at Noon on Sunday, August 21^st. 

Campfire Worship, Wednesday, August 17^th, 6:30 pm.  Bring a chair to sit on. 

Pick up your church directories!  They are on the Cake Table in the Narthex

Trinity Men’s Band will be at First Lutheran Church in Cumberland at 6pm on August 24th and at the Downsville Rec Park on August 28th at 11 am.

Confirmation Parent Meeting, Wednesday, August 31^st, 7 pm.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

 On Thursday, I surprised Amy with a puppy, a male toy Schnauzer that she named Baxter.  Amy was completely surprised and of course fell in love with the dog immediately (he is pretty cute).  But you know who didn’t fall in love with Baxter?  Our current dog, Kapono.  Let’s just say that she is not a fan.  And I can see why.  She has been our only dog for many years and she likes things the way she likes them.  Plus, she likes all the attention from Mom, and now that attention is split.

  But you know who wants to be friends?  Baxter.  Baxter tries to engage Kapono, tries to get her to play with him, and she is having none of it.  But he doesn’t give up.  He keeps going to her, all excited. And she keeps going the other way, trying to escape this hyper puppy.  But Baxter doesn’t give up.  No matter where Kapono tries to flee, Baxter follows.  And doesn’t give up.  I have no doubt that eventually they will get along.

   Watching Baxter chase after Kapono, I thought about our relationship with God.  Sometimes we run away from God.  We run away because of shame, of guilt, of feeling unworthy.  Maybe we aren’t ready for the radical love of God in Jesus Christ, a radical love that makes us see the world in a different way.  Maybe we are afraid, for we know that in Jesus Christ we are changed.  And we don’t like change.  Like Kapono. 

  But God is like Baxter.  God does not give up on us and keeps coming after us.  We might run away, but God keeps after us.  You can run away all you want, but God will keep on coming.  Why?  Because God loves you.  Because wants to show you the grace and mercy you need in life, show you that you are matter and that you are loved. No matter what.  We might get lost from time to time, but the Lord brings us back.  Searches for us so that we might know the grace and mercy given to us in eternal life.  As Jesus says in the Parable of the Lost Sheep,  “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?”

  I’m thankful that God never gives us up on us.  We may try to run away, but God keeps coming.  I know that without God searching for me, I would be truly lost.  But because God has found me, I know the love of God in Jesus Christ.  I know that I am saved and redeemed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I know that I have a place prepared for me in glory and a promise that I can live by.

   Remember that God never gives up on you.  Ever.  For that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Meet Baxter:

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

TRINITY TIDINGS

July 31 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Celebrating and Saying Farewell to Katie Wagner  Sunday, August 7^th.  August 7^th is Katie’s last day with us and we invite you to join us for worship and fellowship as we give thanks for her time with us as Youth Coordinator and Pastoral Intern. 

Lunch & Pie Social, August 21^st, 10 am till 4 pm.  Lots of great food and homemade pie!  Benefits the Women of Trinity.

Workers & items needed for the Lunch & Pie Social  Please see the sign-ups on the table in the Narthex

Campfire Worship, Wednesday, August 17^th, 6:30 pm.  Bring a chair to sit on. 

Pick up your church directories!  They are on the Cake Table in the Narthex

Summer Fellowship  We need fellowship servers starting on June 12^th.  Please see the sign-up sheet in the Narthex to serve!

Summer Cake Walk  The Women of Trinity take over the Cake Walk in the summer to help fund their ministries!  See the sign-up on the table in the Narthex!

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

 We got back from our Mission Trip late Friday night from a week in Nashville.  We did and saw much.  Toured the Grand Ole Opry, visited the Nashville Zoo, Centennial Park and the Parthenon, went to Opryland, and they even indulged me in going to get some BBQ (and I indulged them with ice cream!).  We worked at homeless shelters, community centers, nursing home, with organizations as varied as Habitat for Humanity, Community Resource Center of Middle Tennessee, and Shower Up, which provides shower services to the homeless.  We sweated in the crazy heat, endured taking five minute showers in a building with no AC and sleeping on air mattresses where the AC was so high you had to wear all your clothes. We served alongside people from Michigan and Minnesota, did the Church Clap dance, laughed, cried, and everything in between.  It was a good trip and I know the kids can’t wait to share it all with you in the future and to thank you for helping to make it happen.

  But this little post here is about two people who, without them, we couldn’t have gone on this trip.  This is about our two volunteer chaperones, Melissa Holden and Lori Jensen.  Katie and I get to go on this trip but that is also part of our job.  Melissa and Lori had to leave their jobs for a week to go on this trip, and without them, we wouldn’t have been able to go.  They drove a van, headed up work crews, and provided much needed guidance and support to our youth throughout the week.  They had to sleep on air mattresses and endure all the same things that the kids had to endure. They might have even had to battle a cockroach in their bed!  Through it all, they were a great example to our youth and participated fully in everything the Mission Trip offered. 

  We have been blessed through the years with adults willing to give up so much to come with our kids on our trip and all of them, including Melissa and Lori, have been awesome.  So if you see these two, please thank them for making this trip a reality, for sacrificing so much to be a part of it, and for the awesome servants, parents, and leaders that they are.  Thank you Melissa and Lori!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

The group in front of the Parthenon in Nashville.

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

TRINITY TIDINGS

July 18, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Christmas in July Worship Sunday, July 24^th, 9 am.  Wear your Christmas stuff to church!

Celebrating and Saying Farewell to Katie Wagner  Sunday, August 7^th.  August 7^th is Katie’s last day with us and we invite you to join us for worship and fellowship as we give thanks for her time with us as Youth Coordinator and Pastoral Intern. 

Pick up your church directories!  They are on the Cake Table in the Narthex

Summer Fellowship  We need fellowship servers starting on June 12^th.  Please see the sign-up sheet in the Narthex to serve!

Summer Cake Walk  The Women of Trinity take over the Cake Walk in the summer to help fund their ministries!  See the sign-up on the table in the Narthex!

We are on summer office hours now, so the office is closed on Fridays.

No Wednesday Worship on July 27^th. 

Personal Care Kit Donations are being collected by the youth for their mission trip to Nashville. Items to include are: men’s/women’s socks, travel size toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, travel size hand sanitizer, travel size shampoo, and soap. Please bring items to the church by July 21st.

Thank you Trinity for the amazing surprise 20^th Ordination Anniversary and being at Trinity party!  It was an amazing day on Sunday and special thanks to all who worked so hard to make it happen (and to hide it from me!).  I am eternally grateful.  PB

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7

  When I was in Middle School, I was in track, because everyone was in track.  And our coach made every person do a running event.  So, because I was not fast in any way beyond ten feet, I had to run the mile.  I hated every second of it.  Plus, I was not very good at it, often coming in last or close to last.  Frankly, I am surprised I finished every race.  But I knew why I finished: my friend Aaron.

  Aaron was a runner and loved to run long distances, and he also ran the mile.  The different between him and me is he would finish while I would still be on my second lap of four.  I would be wheezing, struggling to breath, just wanting it to end, but then Aaron would come over.  He would run next to me, even though he had already run the mile, and encourage me to finish.  He would keep me going, even in the midst of my torture, so I would finish.  I have no doubt I wouldn’t have made it without his encouragement.

  In life, we so often find ourselves running the race of life and it feels like we have no breath, that we are wheezing, that it is torture, that we want to quit.  But our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ runs with us.  After all, it is God who has given us breath.  Without that breath, we are just flesh and bone.  But we are alive and in life, our Savior doesn’t leave us to run it alone.  Christ runs with us, helps us when we want to give up, guides us in all that we do.  You are never alone.

   May you know every day that the Lord is with you, renewing you, strengthening you, running besides you in this grace race we call life.  Never give up, because your are loved and saved by your Savior Jesus Christ.  May God bless you every day and always!

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Pick up your church directories!  They are on the Cake Table in the Narthex

Baby Care Kits so if you are going to any thrift sales we can use sleepers or gowns, hooded sweatshirts, sweaters, jackets, baby socks, t-shirts, all size 6 months to 24 months.

Summer Fellowship  We need fellowship servers starting on June 12^th.  Please see the sign-up sheet in the Narthex to serve!

Summer Cake Walk  The Women of Trinity take over the Cake Walk in the summer to help fund their ministries!  See the sign-up on the table in the Narthex!

Blood Mobile on Monday, June 27^th, from Noon till 6 pm.

We are on summer office hours now, so the office is closed on Fridays.

Personal Care Kit Donations are being collected by the youth for their mission trip to Nashville. Items to include are: men’s/women’s socks, travel size toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, travel size hand sanitizer, travel size shampoo, and soap. Please bring items to the church by July 21st.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  This past week, we held our first VBS in 17 years without Luther Park Bible Camp.  During this past week, I relearned three things.  They are:

1. Kids are pretty awesome.
2. Kids are pretty exhausting.
3. None of the awesomeness of the week happens without awesome volunteers.

Now look, I inherently knew those things prior to this week, but the week of VBS reinforced all of those things.  Kids are awesome.  They are goofy, strange, weird, and funny in all the best ways.  I appreciated their energy in singing songs, the thoughtfulness they put in when we made cards for the nursing home or rocks for the friendship garden.  I enjoyed their willingness to go with us during Bible Study and for the crazy abandon they had in trying to get me and others wet on water day.  Working with kids is pretty awesome because, for the most part, kids are awesome.

  But they are also incredibly exhausting.  You have to bring energy to match their energy, which is exhausting enough, because they have A LOT of energy!  At the same time, they don’t always listen, they are messy, and sometimes do things that defy all logical thought.  At the end of each day, Katie and I would look at each other like we had survived a battle, and we knew we had to do it again the next day. However, I’ll take the exhaustion every day.  It is worth it. 

  Finally, none of VBS happens without awesome volunteers.  They make it all happen.  From our great parents who helped to teach and supervise, to our awesome Queens of the Snack that served the kids every day (plus those who donated the snack items), to our cool youth of all ages that came and did everything from helping to lead worship to running crafts to filling up water containers for water day, volunteers make everything happen.  My biggest fear in doing VBS ourselves for the first time in 17 years was that we wouldn’t have the volunteers to make it happen.  But we did.  Thank you to our great volunteers!

   I encourage you to go to the Trinity Facebook page to see pictures from VBS and we look forward to doing it again next year!

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Vacation Bible School! Sign-up today for VBS on June 13-17th, 9 am till 12:00 pm every day for ages 4-6th grade.  Cost is $10 per student. 

VBS Help Needed:  Luther Park will not be running VBS for this year.  We need help with setting up crafts and helping to watch kids.  Please talk to PB or Katie if you can help. 

VBS Snacks Needed: Sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for Vacation Bible School in June.

Turn back the clock worship, Sunday, June 19^th.  Join us at 9 am as we bring back an old fashioned worship service, with the old chants and everything.  Hope to see you there!

Pick up your church directories!  They are on the Cake Table in the Narthex

Baby Care Kits so if you are going to any thrift sales we can use sleepers or gowns, hooded sweatshirts, sweaters, jackets, baby socks, t-shirts, all size 6 months to 24 months.

Summer Fellowship  We need fellowship servers starting on June 12^th.  Please see the sign-up sheet in the Narthex to serve!

Summer Cake Walk  The Women of Trinity take over the Cake Walk in the summer to help fund their ministries!  See the sign-up on the table in the Narthex!

Blood Mobile on Monday, June 27^th, from Noon till 6 pm.

We are on summer office hours now, so the office is closed on Fridays.

Congratulations to Brian & Katie Moll for winning Simply Giving Mania!

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Football is my favorite sport, and I love almost everything about it, outside of Aaron Rodgers always beating my Chicago Bears.  I love the athleticism, the hitting, the strategy.  I can watch football on every level, on any day, at any time.  But there is one thing I don’t love.  I don’t love the celebrating on the routine plays.  You sack the QB, making Aaron Rodgers cry? Celebrate.  Score a TD? Celebrate.  Get a big first down or make a big catch?  Celebrate fully.  Tackle someone after a four yard gain and celebrate like a crazy person?  Stupid.  That’s just me.  There is too much boasting going on for my like.  Call me a grouch, a grump, old school.  But I think there is a time to a boast and a time not to. It just seems like something dumb to boast about, doing what you are supposed to do. 

  Sometimes I have a hard time with a part of this reading from Romans for today. To boast in our sufferings?  Really?  To boast about grieving a death?  Boast about a physical ailment or a mental illness?  Boast about a natural disaster? Just seems stupid. 

  But that is not what Paul is actually saying here.  Paul isn’t saying that we boast because of our sufferings.  No.  Rather.  We boast in the midst of our suffering.  Why can we boast in the midst of our suffering?  Because we share in the glory of God.  Because we have been given peace.  Because we have been justified by faith and not by our works.  Because God is at work in the midst of our suffering, producing endurance, character, and hope.  And that hope sustains us, never disappoints us, because our hope rests on Jesus Christ, our Savior. 

   We can boast, even when we suffer, for we know that suffering is not the end.  Nothing is greater than God’s love in Jesus Christ for us and this Jesus died and rose to bring us to eternal life.  Suffering is not our final state.  We have been given things that are greater than our suffering: peace, love, justification, salvation, character, endurance, hope. 

  So today, my friends, boast.  Rejoice.  Give thanks!  Your salvation is here and nothing that happens in life can take aways the peace, hope, grace, and love you have been given in Jesus Christ.  For that we can say, “thanks be to God!”  Amen

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

TRINITY TIDINGS

May 30, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Simply Giving Mania!  From May 1^st till June 5^th, if you join our automated giving program Simply Giving or increase your current Simply Giving by $5 a month, you will get entered into a drawing to win four tickets.  What tickets?  YOUR CHOICE!  Choices are: Four tickets to the Wisconsin Football Game against Illinois State on Sept. 3; Brewers-Twins game at Target Field, an event at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire, or an event at the Mabel Tainter in Menomonie.  Pick up a form on the round table in the Narthex or included in this Good News  or attached to this email.  DEADLINE THIS SUNDAY!

Summer Office Hours begin this week.  Office will be closed on Fridays. 

Vacation Bible School! Sign-up today for VBS on June 13-17th, 9 am till 12:00 pm every day for ages 4-6th grade.  Cost is $10 per student. 

VBS Help Needed:  Luther Park will not be running VBS for this year.  We need help with setting up crafts and helping to watch kids.  Please talk to PB or Katie if you can help. 

VBS Snacks Needed:  Sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for Vacation Bible School in June.

Wednesday Worship moves to 6:30 pm on June 1^st.

Join us this Sunday, June 5^th, to help Bob & Lynda Bird celebrate their 60^th Wedding Anniversary!  Fellowship will be served in their honor by their family and you can stop till 1 pm. 

Funeral for Linda Nerison will be on Wednesday, June 8^th, at 11 am.

Turn back the clock worship, Sunday, June 19^th.  Join us at 9 am as we bring back an old fashioned worship service, with the old chants and everything.  Hope to see you there!

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.  Acts 16:25-26

  A few years ago, Amy and I visited San Francisco and we toured the famed prison Alcatraz.  To walk those infamous halls, to walk into the small cells and hear the stories of those that were in that prison, was truly eye opening.  Now, thankfully, I’ve only visited jail and have never actually had to be a resident of one.  To have the loss of freedom, to be trapped in a small cage, restricted in all that I do, seems to me to be one of the worst things I could endure.  But the fact of the matter is, we all are often imprisoned in our version of jail.  It might not be a physical structure, like Alcatraz, but it is one all the same.  We build ourselves jails of grief, of pain, self-doubt, of guilt and shame, of fear and greed.  We find ourselves in shackles and chains, some of our own making and some placed upon us by the sinfulness of the world and the work of the devil. No matter the kind of chains we have around us, they restrict us, suffocate us, trap us in a cycle of suffering, pain, and hardship.  They weigh  on our soul. Think of how the Marley is always depicted in the story “A Christmas Carol.”  Weighed down by heavy chains.  Our hearts and souls have those chains around us. 

  Today we have a story of Paul and Silas in prison. They are jailed because of the fear of others and the greed they inhabit.  Yet, in the midst of their imprisonment, they are freed by God, and they themselves free others, including the jailer who is ready to end his life over the guilt that the prisoners have escaped. 

  You, my friends, are free from the jails that you find yourself in, the chains shattered and broken, by your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  For Jesus died to free you from all things.  Jesus died and rose again, defeating sin and death, so that you would be free.  Jesus promises to carry your burdens, forgive you of your sins, and to be with you always.  This has been done not because you are perfect but because you are in chains.  Because you are imprisoned by fear, greed, grief, and suffering.  For your Savior loves you and so frees you so you can be who God created you to be.  Jesus frees you to give you hope. 

   Yes, we may find ourselves imprisoned by a variety of things.  But in Christ, there is always freedom.  In Christ, our chain breaker, all that enslaves us is destroyed and we are made new.  Today, your Savior has taken all that burdens you, all the enslaves you, the jail you find yourself in, and has destoreyd it.  Because he loves you.  And for that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”  Amen

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Simply Giving Mania!  From May 1^st till June 5^th, if you join our automated giving program Simply Giving or increase your current Simply Giving by $5 a month, you will get entered into a drawing to win four tickets.  What tickets?  YOUR CHOICE!  Choices are: Four tickets to the Wisconsin Football Game against Illinois State on Sept. 3; Brewers-Twins game at Target Field, an event at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire, or an event at the Mabel Tainter in Menomonie.  Pick up a form on the round table in the Narthex or included in this Good News. 

Office is closed on Monday, May 30^th, for Memorial Day.

Vacation Bible School! Sign-up today for VBS on June 13-17th, 9 am till 12:00 pm every day for ages 4-6th grade.  Cost is $10 per student. 

VBS Help Needed:  Luther Park will not be running VBS for this year.  We need help with setting up crafts and helping to watch kids.  Please talk to PB or Katie if you can help. 

VBS Snacks Needed:  Sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for Vacation Bible School in June.

Wednesday Worship moves to 6:30 pm on June 1^st.

Congrats to all our 2022 High School Graduates! Lexi Andrews, Madison Andrews, Brittany, Buhr, Libby Bygd, Preston Coombs, Myia Draeger, Jacob Granley, Ella Holden, Dawson McRoberts, Harper Olson!

Congrats to our 2022 Trinity Memorial Scholarship Winners! Libby Bygd, Ella Holden, Harper Olson

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” John 14:26

I’m not sure what I would do without two things in my life: Post-it notes and my phone alarm.  Other than the alarm that goes off at 4:05 am every day to wake me up (yep, that’s what time I wake up.  Every day.  Except Saturday.  Then I sleep in till 5:30 am). 

  Anyways, without Post-It Notes and my phone alarm, I might be lost in life.  Because they remind me of all the things I have to do, get, and go to.  Yes, I have an electronic calendar that sends me a notice a half hour before something is going to begin, but in reality, it is the phone alarm and Post-It Notes that really do the trick.  I set the alarm to remind me to go do crossing guard, or go to a meeting, or to make sure I make a phone call or send an email that needs to be sent.  The Post-It Notes remind me of things I need to get at the store (those go on my wallet) or something that needs to be done like write a Musings for Trinity Tidings (those go on my desk) or to grab something before I leave the house (those go on the door).  As you might have guessed, I need a lot of reminders of things.  When you are ADD like me and can get easily distracted, those reminders are godsends that help to keep my life in order.

   We are often busy people who need reminders, whether we have ADD or not.  We need reminders of all sorts of things and I bet you have your own system for how to remind yourself of the things you need reminding.  But we don’t just need reminding when we have an event to go to or to pick up milk from the store.  We also need to be reminded that Jesus Christ love us and has saved us.  Because we forget.  We forget that we are loved, that we are saved by grace through faith, that we have the promise of eternal life.  We forget that we are called as disciples who serve our neighbor and our Lord.  We forget.  We get distracted by life, by the sufferings we endure, by our sinfulness and shame. 

   But God has sent us something to remind us of all that has been done for us.  To remind us that we are loved, forgiven, and saved.  And that is the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit, I like to say, is God’s Post-It  Note.  God sticks that on our heart to remind us of all that God has done for us.  To remind us that Jesus is with us always.  To remind us of who we are and who God has made us to be.  Because we need constant reminding.  Every day.  I know I do.

   This very moment, the Lord is sending you the Holy Spirit to remind you of all Jesus Christ has done for you.  You are a loved child of God, freed from sin and death, called to love your neighbor.  This is who are.  This is what Jesus Christ has done for you through his death and resurrection.  May you be reminded every single day. 

   May the Lord bless you this day and always!

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Our 2022 Trinity Lutheran Memorial Youth Scholarship Recipients.  L-R: Harper Olson, Libby Bygd, Ella Holden

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Men’s Band Concert, Sunday, May 22^nd, 9 am.

Simply Giving Mania!  From May 1^st till June 5^th, if you join our automated giving program Simply Giving or increase your current Simply Giving by $5 a month, you will get entered into a drawing to win four tickets.  What tickets?  YOUR CHOICE!  Choices are: Brewers-Twins game at Target Field, an event at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire, or an event at the Mabel Tainter in Menomonie.  Pick up a form on the round table in the Narthex or included in this Good News. 

Vacation Bible School! Sign-up today for VBS on June 13-17th, 9 am till 12:00 pm every day for ages 4-6th grade.  Cost is $10 per student. 

VBS Help Needed:  Luther Park will not be running VBS for this year.  We need help with setting up crafts and helping to watch kids.  Please talk to PB or Katie if you can help. 

VBS Snacks Needed:  Sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for Vacation Bible School in June.

Graduate Recognition Sunday May 22nd at 9 am.

Women of Trinity Summer Gathering, June 2^nd, 6 pm.  All women are invited to attend this annual event!  Gather with other women for a meal, fellowship, and fun!  Sign-up in the Narthex so we can have a good count for food.

Summer Fellowship  We need fellowship servers starting on June 12^th.  Please see the sign-up sheet in the Narthex to serve!

Summer Cake Walk  The Women of Trinity take over the Cake Walk in the summer to help fund their ministries!  See the sign-up on the table in the Narthex!

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Colossians 3:12

  I don’t know what you all do, but I tend to take some time and set out the clothes I’m going to wear about three or four days in advance.  This is a big change, for when I was a kid through even seminary, I tended to just pick the cleanest thing I could find as my style could be described as “sports shirt with jeans or shorts and if it was cold I would grab a sweatshirt.”  I was super stylish.

  But now, there are a lot more things to consider.  What will be going on that day?  Do I have to umpire that night, so I need to have stuff ready for that?  Will I be golfing that day or doing a visit?  What if we are going to be moving stuff around the church?  Do I need an extra t-shirt for working out in that morning?  Do I need to have clerics ready for a funeral or other event?  This is one of the reasons why I set stuff out a few days in advance, mostly to make sure I have the actual clothes I need clean and ready for whatever is going to be happening on those days.

   Here in the reading from above from Colossians, Paul reminds us that we have some new clothes to put on.  Having been loved, saved, and renewed by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, we don’t put on the same clothes we did before.  We are now holy and beloved by God, made that way not by what we have done, but by what Jesus Christ has done for us.  And so we have new clothes to put on.  Clothes like kindness, compassion, humility, meekness, and patience.  These are the clothes we are given to wear out into the world, to show the world the power of God’s love in Jesus Christ.  These are the clothes you are given to effect change in the world.

   Have you ever thought about putting on these clothes?  About intentionally approaching your day with these attributes? Facing a day that you know might be challenging at work with patience?  Thinking about wearing kindness as you deal with a family situation?  Putting on compassion as you use your gifts for the sake of your neighbor?  God in Jesus Christ gives us new clothes to wear, clothes that prepare us for every situation, clothes that speak volumes to the world about what it means to follow Jesus Christ. 

  So as you plan your week and you pick out the clothes you will wear on your body, think about the clothes given to you in Jesus Christ. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  Live by the clothes you have been given, clothes given to you by a Savior who gave his life for yours, has forgiven your sin, make you new, and will one day bring you to eternal life.  May God be with you today and always!

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI Facebook: www.facebook.com/trinityboyceville

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Men’s Band Concert, Sunday, May 22^nd, 9 am.

Simply Giving Mania!  From May 1^st till June 5^th, if you join our automated giving program Simply Giving or increase your current Simply Giving by $5 a month, you will get entered into a drawing to win four tickets.  What tickets?  YOUR CHOICE!  Choices are: Brewers-Twins game at Target Field, an event at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire, or an event at the Mabel Tainter in Menomonie.  Pick up a form on the round table in the Narthex or included in this Good News. 

Vacation Bible School! Sign-up today for VBS on June 13-17th, 9 am till 12:00 pm every day for ages 4-6th grade.  Cost is $10 per student. 

VBS Help Needed:  Luther Park will not be running VBS for this year.  We need help with setting up crafts and helping to watch kids.  Please talk to PB or Katie if you can help. 

VBS Snacks Needed:  Sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for Vacation Bible School in June.

Graduate Recognition Sunday May 22nd at 9 am.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  “Surely goodness and mercy  . . .” Psalm 23:6

   If you talk to my friends, they might tell you that I can be pretty negative, especially when it comes to my sports teams.  I’m always complaining about them.  Of course, I usually have a good reason, but I’m also the guy that states a game is over when my team is down by one early in the game.  I’m also pretty negative about my own sporting output, especially on the golf course. 

   Frankly, I sometimes think we as a society are pretty negative about the world.  We look at life and only see . . .bad things.  I can’t blame us, with all that is going on.  But I also think it is a collective symptom of looking only for the negative.  We tend to downgrade the present and romanticize the past.  Lord knows I have been known to do it.  But then I think of these words almost at the end of Psalm 23: “Surely goodness and mercy.”  The key word for that is “surely.”  There is a confidence in that statement.  Surely there will be goodness and mercy, goodness and mercy provided by the Lord.  It is a statement of faith.  Surely.

   I’ve been trying to remind myself of this.  No matter what is going on the world, no matter how much the news I hear makes me fearful or sadness me, in the Lord there is always goodness.  There is always mercy. There is the smile of a child.  A sunny day.  A flower blooming from the ground.  The love of family.  The snuggle of a dog.  A good song, a funny TV show, the delicious bite of a good meal.  Surely.  We are surrounded not just with suffering, pain, and hardship.  I contend that we are surrounded by more blessing, more joy, more gifts then we often see for we take them for granted.  Surely.

   We need a reset of the way we look at our lives.  As I write this, the Wild just lost a playoff game that they really didn’t play well in.  I normally would be depressed and sad and ranting.  But I’m thankful for a great team to watch, a hope that they will win the next game, and trying to be positive.  Why?  Surely goodness and mercy.  I see the terrible headlines in the news but I also have been trying to find stories of hope, of achievement, of people doing amazing things for other people. Surely goodness and mercy.  I’m trying look to see how God is working in and through the people around me. 

   Take a moment to remind yourself of the blessing of life.  Try to see the world through the eyes of your great shepherd Jesus Christ.  Try to exist in the world with these words always on your lips and in your heart: “surely goodness and mercy.”  Surely.  May God bless you this week and always!

TRINITY TIDINGS

May 2, 2022

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

Men’s Band Concert, Sunday, May 22^nd, 9 am.

Adopt-A-Highway Saturday, May 7^th, 8 am.  All ages welcome!  Wear long pants and bring gloves.  Help us care for our stretch of highway and keep God’s creation clean! 

Simply Giving Mania!  From May 1^st till June 5^th, if you join our automated giving program Simply Giving or increase your current Simply Giving by $5 a month, you will get entered into a drawing to win four tickets.  What tickets?  YOUR CHOICE!  Choices are: Brewers-Twins game at Target Field, an event at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire, or an event at the Mabel Tainter in Menomonie.  Pick up a form on the round table in the Narthex or included in this Good News. 

Vacation Bible School! Sign-up today for VBS on June 13-17th, 9 am till 2:00 pm every day for ages 4-6th grade.  Cost is $10 per student. 

VBS Snacks Needed:  Sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for Vacation Bible School in June.

Graduate Recognition Sunday May 22nd at 9 am.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  This past Saturday, I had the privilege to be the MC for Boyceville’s Prom.  I always enjoy going and helping out, seeing the kids all dressed up, and talking with them.  It is always fun and special to be invited into these big moments and it also makes you reflect a bit.

  As I was driving home, I thought about the three proms I attended, my Junior prom in 1993, Senior prom in 1994, and then I attended prom at the end of my freshmen year of college in 1995.  In my school, only Juniors and Seniors could go to prom unless invited and I went to all three with the same girl, Deena, who was a year younger than me.  But as I reflected on those proms this past Saturday, I had a realization.  It may even sound cliché, but each of the proms I attended was at a major turning point in my life, where things would not be the same not too long after.  Let me explain.

Junior Prom, 1993

My Junior Prom was held on May 8^th, 1993, and it was in our high school gym (as all of our proms were).  My class actually tried to have it offsite as we had lots of money to spend on prom but the school said no.  Our theme was “A Whole New World,” an Aladdin inspired theme, and one of the things I remember was that we got to skip classes to decorate the gym on Thursday and Friday of that week.  Also, being who I am, I arrived with my date early and the DJ for our prom never showed, so we hired one quickly on the spot and I was asked to help carry in all his equipment, including trays and trays of CD’s (for our young people, this was how music was listened to back in the 90’s).  I remember having a great time with my date and my friends and was disappointed I couldn’t go to post prom, which was held in an “Action City” type of place the next town over because my date’s parents said she had to be home by midnight. 

   But that is not what made this prom important in my life.  I have the date burned into my brain because this was the day I knew that my Dad was going to die.  He had cancer, and though he had been diagnosed terminal, we were all hopeful that he was going to last a few more months, maybe even throughout the summer.  I went to visit my Dad in the hospital that morning, and when I walked in I found him all yellow with jaundice and barely able to talk.  And when he did talk, much of it made no sense.  I left after ten minutes as I couldn’t take it and didn’t want to break down in front of him.  As I rode down in the elevator, I knew my Dad was going to die sooner rather than later.  I knew that my life would never, ever, be the same.  On the way to eat with my date, I told her that my Dad was bad and that I was concerned.  But I downplayed it and I don’t know how, but for a few hours I tried to forget what was about to happen to enjoy the prom.  I put on a brave face and pretended everything was ok, when everything really wasn’t.

   He would die two days later, on May 10^th, 1993. 

Senior Prom, May 1994

   There is the cliché that your Senior prom is, outside of graduation, kind of a last hurrah.  To appreciate the people and things around you because everything is going to change.  At my Senior prom, I knew that to be true.  One of the reasons for that is that, in the year since my Dad had died, I had changed.  I had grown up.  I had to become independent.  I had to face some things and I had gotten through to the other side. 

  But I also knew this: I was scared.  I was scared to go to college.  I was one of those kids who loved high school.  I knew who I was, I enjoyed what I did, I had a great group of friends, and I was successful.  College?  No clue.  None of my friends were going to the school I was going.  I didn’t know anybody that went there either.  Who would my friends be? Would I meet people?  And also, what happens if I fail?  What if I don’t do well in school or meet the goals I had set for myself?  Being at that Senior Prom was like being in a comfortable position and situation.  But afterwards?  Fear and unknowns.  But mostly fear.

  My last Prom, May, 1995.

    I walked into prom in May of 1995, home from college from the summer for about a week, and I knew one big truth: I no longer belonged here.  Sure, I was with my same date from the previous two proms.  My best friend had walked in with his date right before me.  I knew almost everyone in the room, in a place I had called my home for most of my life.  But I knew I didn’t belong.  I didn’t fit.  It wasn’t me anymore.

  Of course, I loved my friends and my hometown.  But I had changed in my year at college.  The fear that I had felt during my Senior Prom about going to college had been replaced with confidence.  Living outside of my hometown for the first time ever, no longer the principal’s son, I had found myself.  I had a great group of friends, was doing well in my classes, and had found a community at the Campus Ministry at Immanuel Lutheran Church that became like a family.

   I could just tell that I didn’t quite fit the same way anymore in my hometown, like a puzzle piece that kind of fits but really doesn’t.  At first it made me sad, like something was lost.  But then it was more of gratitude.  My hometown and the people therein had shaped and molded me but had also given me the tools to find myself.  And I had.  Little did I know that God had already shoved me onto the path that would lead me to becoming a pastor.  A little bit after this prom, I agreed to be an interim youth director at my church, handling all the programming for the summer (my twin sister came on board to handle the money part).  That would lead me to an idea that would really catapult me: to work at Bible Camp the next summer.  And then the rest is history.

  Three proms that came each time at a moment when my life was about to change.  Junior prom, the loss of my Father, who would shape the rest of my life.  Senior prom, confronting the fear of being able to make it on my own, outside of my comfortable bubble.  And my last prom, where I left the past behind and where God was about to really show me a new path.  Today, I look back and see God’s hand in all of it, and when I go to prom now, I pray that the Lord will be there for our youth, in their joys and fears, sorrows and triumphs, and that one day they will see how God has been at work in their lives, whether through prom’s or not!

   May the Lord bless you today and always!

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Me, with my date Deena, my Junior Prom, May 8, 1993

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

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TRINITY TIDINGS

ANNOUNCEMENTS .

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 a trash bag and all other items in boxes. Thank you for supporting the Women of Trinity!

Men’s Band Concert, Sunday, May 1^st, 9 am.

Smelt Feed, Sunday, May 1^st, 10 am till 11:30 am.  Smelt, meatballs, tater tots, homemade chips, baked beans, dessert, beverage.  Free-will offering taken to support Trinity missions. 

Calling all men!  We are looking for workers for the Smelt Feed!  Sign-up on the table in the Narthex. 

Adopt-A-Highway Saturday, May 7^th, 8 am.  All ages welcome!  Wear long pants and bring gloves.  Help us care for our stretch of highway and keep God’s creation clean! 

Simply Giving Mania!  From May 1^st till June 5^th, if you join our automated giving program Simply Giving or increase your current Simply Giving by $5 a month, you will get entered into a drawing to win four tickets.  What tickets?  YOUR CHOICE!  Choices are: Brewers-Twins game at Target Field, an event at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire, or an event at the Mabel Tainter in Menomonie.  Pick up a form on the round table in the Narthex or included in this Good News. 

Vacation Bible School! Sign-up today for VBS on June 13-17th, 9 am till 2:00 pm every day for ages 4-6th grade.  Cost is $10 per student. 

VBS Snacks Needed:  Sign-up in the Narthex to provide snacks for Vacation Bible School in June.

Graduate Recognition Sunday May 22nd at 9 am.

Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website.  Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!

MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD

  Now that we are a week past Easter Sunday, a few reflections and some other observations . . .

• It was nice to have a “normal” Easter again, with the full processional, the confirmation youth making breakfast, seeing the light stream through the stained glass windows, all of the people.  It felt like Easter again after two years of modified or online only services. 
• A couple of highlights for me during the services:  Seeing the full processional at sunrise worship; during the second service having someone yell out, “Way to go PB” after I got done playing trumpet (first time in the over 30 years I’ve been playing it), seeing Katie get swallowed hole by all the kids at the children’s sermon; a little boy giving me a picture he colored during communion; watching the confirmation kids and parents work so well for the Easter breakfast; and playing uke with Bob at sunrise and Katie at both services. 
• Another highlight was the fun that was had by those that came out on Good Friday morning to clean the brass, what I dubbed the “Delores Brezina Memorial Brass Cleaning.”  Lots of great help, conversation, and I think Dee was looking down and proud of the fun that we were having (and the shiny look of the polished brass).
• I’m a strange person.  I have seen the same Liberty Mutual commercial, in which the young spokesperson can’t say the spiel right.  I laugh every time he says “liberty biberty.”  Every single time. 
• Special thanks to Stan Larson for the gifts of venison bacon and hunter sticks he gave me.  Allowed me to have two types of bacon on Easter!
• Sadly, due to snow, I did not get a chance to play my post Easter round of golf on Easter Monday.  But we did go out to the first tee and hit a shot in the snow.  I actually hit it down the middle (unlike this past Friday when I actually got to play a full round). 
• Katie is off this week and if you didn’t get a chance to listen to her podcast, “The Word Examined,” I highly recommend it.  I enjoyed the puns especially in the resurrection episode! 
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs will be, forever, the best holiday candy ever.  EVER. 
• Wednesday was our last Crew of the year.  68 kids.  Even though it can be exhausting, I will never take for granted that 68 kids want to hang out for an hour and a half at church, singing songs, eating food, listening to Bible stories.  It wouldn’t be possible without our great helpers (Lonna, Nichole, Trudie, Heather) and all our snack servers.  One kid asked me on Friday when the next Crew was and I reminded him that it was done for the year.  He said, “Aw.” 
• In this month of April, we have had three special services, with the Cross Generational Worship, Youth Palm Sunday Worship, and the Holy Week and Easter services.  These don’t happen without all those who give of their time and talent to make it happen and our incredible church staff.  Thank you to so many who made those services possible!
• Since Amy was gone for Easter, I got to eat fish in the house and I made lamb for Easter dinner.  It was delicious! 
• Some day spring will come . . .

May God bless you today and always!

Website: www.trinityboyceville.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TrinityBoycevilleWI

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