Lent is a time of reflection and sacrifice as we prepare for Easter and the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Here are some ideas for sacrificial giving. Together we can help eliminate the education debt of our pastors and sons of our congregation who are pastors serving our LCMS.

• Do you buy a coffee, pop, or beverage on your way to or from work, school?  How much does that add up to over the 6 weeks of lent? Could you go without during lent and donate those funds?
• Do you have a savings account, CD or Money market account?  Could you donate the interest and dividends that you earn during lent?
• Do you cash in your bottles and cans?  Donate the deposit money.
• Do you work overtime? Can you tithe your overtime pay to the seminary debt retirement?
• Do you have an IRA or 401 K that you are required to take minimum distributions from? Can you donate a tithe of your distribution?
• Did you receive a Christmas bonus?  Can you give a tithe of that?
• Are you trying to lighten up at home? Can you sell items online or have a garage sale and donate some or all of what you make?  This will lighten your load and surely lighten the debt load of these pastors.
• Do you have scrap metal you could cash in to help this cause?
• Could you do odd jobs for your neighbors to earn money to donate?
• Can you offer to do matching funds for whatever the rest of the congregation donates in a given week?
• Have you inherited money? Could you tithe your inheritance?
• Do you gamble?  How much do you donate to the casinos in a six-week period?  Could you donate your play money during lent and not gamble?
• Do you smoke or drink alcohol?  Could you give them up for lent and donate what you would have spent on them to the seminary debt relief?
• How often do you eat out?  How about donating what you spend on meals away from home and eating at home more often?
• Do you love to shop? Do you really need all that stuff? Could you buy only needs during lent, and donate what you would have liked to spend on all those extras?
• What is your cable or dish bill?  Could you go with a lesser package through lent and donate the difference?

Here are a few new ideas for giving:

• Check the board in Gathering Room, pick an envelope $1 - $200, then fill it.
• Tithe your tax return.
• Check the pockets in your closets for money left behind weeks ago.

Please share ideas you think of so we can all do our part.
Together we can eliminate this debt, please pray for God to show you how you can do your part, and then chip in.

Lenten Sacrificial Giving for Seminarian Fund
Our congregation has been blessed with several young men attending seminary and becoming pastors to serve our LCMS.  
One year at seminary is $44,000.00+.  So over 4 years the cost is $132,000.00+, (vicarage year they earn a stipend and don’t pay tuition.)  The seminaries are doing a wonderful job finding partial sponsors for students from all over the country and they give each student as much as they possibly can. I want to thank you all for the support afforded Tim Kern. He is currently debt free, and will be ordained in 2021.
However, Pastor Jason Peterson was ordained in 2006.  13 years later he still shoulders $45,754.52 in student loan debt.  
Pastor Peter Ill was ordained in 2010.  9 years later he is still carrying $44,646.68 of student loan debt.
Pastor Tim Martinal was ordained in 2014.  5 years later he is carrying $44,139.08 in seminary education debt.
We can rejoice with: Pastor Michael Roth was ordained in 1986. He is debt free. Pastor Bruner was ordained in 1991. He is debt free. Pastor Nathan Higgins was ordained in 2002. He is debt free.
The combined student loan debt from these men’s seminary studies is $134,540.28.
My appeal to you is one of moral and fiscal responsibility; I believe we have a responsibility to our pastors & sons of our congregation who serve our LCMS churches as pastors, to assist them in paying down some of this debt.  So, I have come up with a list of ideas for ways we can each do some sacrificial giving during lent. Take a look at the list on the back of this page. Please pray that God will help you and each of us to do our part. Together we can eliminate this debt so these pastors who serve our Lutheran Church Missouri Synod can be relieved of this burden freeing up their energies to serve the Lord with gladness. Again, thank you for the generous support St. Paul has given Tim Kern these past three years. Let’s all be generous and do what we can to help, Pastor Jason Peterson, Pastor Peter Ill and Pastor Tim Martinal.

May God Bless each of you as you ponder your part. Give until it feels good.

March 21st
GOD’S WILL AND MY RESPONSE
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
 
Talk about one or more of the following with a friend or family member.
 
-Talk about a few of your favorite things—foods, or colors or music. Do you associate a memory, place or activity with any of those?
 
-Have you ever gotten side-tracked on a trip or in life, and ended up someplace you didn’t intend to go—and it was better that way? Share your story.
 
-Do you recharge socially or privately? Would you rather serve publicly or behind the scenes? How do you think the people around you would answer those questions?
 
Discuss with someone who can point you back to Jesus and His love for you.
 
-The Holy Spirit prepared Lydia’s heart to receive Paul’s message and shaped her response. How have you seen or experienced the Holy Spirit at work in similar ways?
 
-When have you felt most useful to other people? When have you felt most useless? What can you learn about yourself in the differences between those two settings?
 
-Where do you think the Holy Spirit is creating openness in you right now? What help from
others or promise from Jesus will shape your response?

March 14th
GOD’S WILL AND MY WORLDVIEW
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
 
Talk about one or more of the following with a friend or family member.
 
-Have you ever been afraid of the dark? Have you ever enjoyed the dark? Share a good and bad memory about the dark.
 
-Are you more open or more closed to new people or new perspectives? How quick are you to admit you are wrong? Is this a strength of yours, or a weakness, or both?
 
-What’s the most important thing you have ever changed your mind about? How did that
happen? What was the result?
 
Discuss with someone who can point you back to Jesus and his love for you.
 
-We often experience obedience as something we do. Obedience is also something that God shapes in us, or gives to us as a gift. How would your attitude or actions change if you thought of your obedience as dependent on Jesus and a gift from him?
 
-What do you see Jesus doing in you right now that you don’t quite understand?
 
-When you don’t understand or don’t know what to do next, which promises from Jesus are most helpful to you? Who speaks those promises into your life when you need to hear them?

​Talk about one or more of the following with a friend or family member.
 
- How did your family celebrate Christmas when you were growing up? How did they celebrate Good Friday and Easter? Share a special memory from your childhood.
 
- How many times have you moved houses or cities in your life? Which moves were the most difficult? Which were easiest? Why?
 
- Talk about one major life event that happened in the last five years, and one that is going to happen in the next five years. What thoughts or emotions are connected to those events?
 
Discuss with someone who can point you back to Jesus and His love for you.
 
- When Mary heard the promise that she would be the mother of Jesus, she responded, “Let it be to me according to Your word.” What would it mean to say that to God in your present life circumstance? What would you expect to happen next?
 
- Sometimes prayer seems easy and natural; sometimes prayer seems difficult and only gets harder. Have you experienced either or both of those? What was the situation? What was the outcome? Where or how did you see Jesus at work?
 
- From the cross, Jesus made sure His mother Mary was cared for by John. What relationships has Jesus put in your life to care for you and to point you to Him? How have you heard comfort or promise from someone in your life this week?

​GOD’S WILL AND MY DREAMS - DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
 
Talk about one or more of the following with a friend or family member.
 
- Tell a funny story about a time when things didn’t work out the way you thought they were going to. What were you expecting to happen? What happened instead? Why was that funny?
 
- Who is the best planner you know? What makes them good at getting things done?
 
- Would you rather be in charge of building a house, planning an international trip, or directing a play? Why did you choose the answer you did?
 
Discuss with someone who can point you back to Jesus and His love for you.
 
- Do you tend to be more open-handed or close-fisted? Does your answer change depending on the setting or topic (at home, at work, with your time, with your money, etc.)? Talk about why that is.
 
- Sometimes we have to let go of our expectations in order to receive what God wants to give us.  Share a time when that was true for you in the past, or an area of your life where that might be true now.
 
- Is there anything in your thinking, acting, feeling, or planning for the future that Jesus is asking you to set down? If Jesus is asking you to set that down, what promise does He want to give you
in its place?

Would you rather get 2 teeth pulled or speak in front of 2,000 people?
 
Would you rather join your favorite singer on stage for a song, or spend an hour with your favorite author in private conversation?
 
What do these preferences say about your personality or history?
 
Talk about a time when you felt really inadequate. What was the situation? How did you deal with it? How did it turn out?
 
Talk about the following with someone who can point you back to Jesus and his love for you.
 
-If you had a clear invitation to join Jesus in his kingdom work, would you more likely avoid the situation or try to take charge of the situation? Do you have a story from the last week that fits?
 
-What does dependence on Jesus look like in your daily life? What do you want it to look like?  What kind of support would you need to bridge that gap?
 
-The bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness is one image for the forgiveness we receive because of the cross of Jesus. What images of forgiveness are most powerful for you?

This is the first video in our series of videos for our Lenten series "Thy Will Be Done"