Lake of the Isles Lutheran has been a partner with Our Saviour’s Housing for several decades.  On the first Friday of every month we provide a hot meal for the approximately 40 people who are staying at the shelter.  There are several options for your involvement.  (1) You can be responsible for cooking the meal and serving it at the shelter.  (2) Team up with another family or some friends to make and serve a meal one of the months.  (3) If cooking for a crowd seems intimidating, Cheri Moe will be willing to help prepare the meal at the church.  You can then take it to the shelter to serve.  Or Cheri will go with you to help out.  (4)  Some people don’t have the time to cook the meal, but would be willing to help serve.  We can use you too.  (5) You can donate funds designated for the Our Saviour’s meal.  Recipes for cooking for a crowd are available.  Contact Cheri Moe (952-431-5226 or moeclana@aol.com) to volunteer or for more information.  At this time the months we need volunteers are April 3, July 3, August 7, September 4, October 2 and November 6..

If you wish to purchase Easter flowers for display around the altar (which you can then take home with you after Easter services), order blanks are available at the church so please put your order form and money in a pew envelope and drop it in the collection plate. Checks should be made out to LOTI.  You may also call the the church office at 612 377-5095 or send an e-mail to Linda atchurchoffice@loti.org.  Our estimated order is due March 10 and final orders due March 24th.

• Easter Lilies (5 or more flowers)         7.75
• Tulips                                                  7.25
• Mums                                                  8.75
• Hydrangea (pink)                               14.00

Summer opportunities!

Luther Park:  In case you missed the Sunday that Joel was here, there is information in Fellowship Hall about Luther Park Bible Camp.Luther Park is an opportunity for kids grades 1-12. You can also go to their website atwww.lutherpark.com.  We hope that you consider for your child, grandchild, niece or nephew the opportunity to spend a week at Luther Park this summer.  It is a week of fun, faith, games, singing, outdoor worship, and relationship building 24/7.  We are hoping to connect families together to help find weeks in common for signing up.  We already have a family registered for Tree Houses the week ofJune 22.  Please contact Diane LaMere if you to would like to share the week you are thinking of signing up so she can share with others too!  Great opportunity to figure out car pooling!

Day Camp (4 yr olds – Grade 6):  A local opportunity for our younger kids this summer is a day camp offered by a collaboration of several South Minneapolis churches, including LOTI.  Several of our LOTI kids attended this camp last year and had a great time!  The day camp will be hosted this year at Bethel Lutheran at 4120 17th Ave South in Minneapolis.  The dates are June 22-26 from 9am – 4pm and is offered to children 4 years old through 6th grade.  The theme this year is Creation.  We will have more details for you in the coming weeks as plans unfold for this camp.

Calendar notes:

March 29:  Palm Sunday – Children will remain in worship and participate in the search for the donkey. Have some pancakes after worship and then head over to the parsonage for the annual egg hunt!

April 5:  Easter Sunday – Children will remain in worship with their families for this special day of worship

• Location:  Feed My Starving Children, Chanhassen.
• Date:  A 2-hour shift on a Saturday between mid-March and mid-May, followed by an optional Social Hour at Jill and Charlie’s home in Minnetonka.
• Details:  If people are interested in volunteering, please e-mail Jill atJill.Gruys@target.com for more information and to let her know your availability.  She will then determine 2 dates that work for the majority of people and we will go from there!

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.       Philippians 4:5

Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, engraver, printmaker, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. When he was still in his twenties, his high-quality woodcuts established his reputation and influence across Europe, and he has since been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of

 the Northern Renaissance. Two of his works can be seen today in the Albertina Museum in Vienna. The first is the woodcut of the Praying Hands of the Apostle, and the second is a water color of the Young Hare.

Of course, both works are worthy Easter images- and I am not referring simply to the hare as the Easter Bunny. Surprisingly, Dürer once used three rabbits in a woodcut of the Holy Family to represent the Holy Trinity. The more important image for the season of Lent, however, is the praying hands. Today Dürer’s woodcut can be seen around the world. It has been recreated in countless forms including plaster sculptures. The original drawing was created in 1508 as a study for an altar piece featuring a variety of apostles and saints gathered around the Virgin Mary, hence the name- “The Study of the Praying Hands of the Apostle.”  The sketch depicted both the hands and the face of an apostle. Art historians believe that the hands may have been Dürer’s own hands. Sadly, the altar painting was lost, burned in a fire in 1729.

In spite of the fire, the simple study of the praying hands which Dürer drew for one single detail, has remained a part of our cultural and spiritual heritage 500 years later. For me personally, that is a wonderful and powerful statement of faith. The face of the apostle has been lost to time, but the faith of the apostle in prayer has survived. Perhaps that is because of our life long journey in prayer. We never feel that we get it quite right, but we realize that it is our most important way of sharing our needs and cares with God. That is the primary purpose of our own Lenten journey at Lake of the Isles.

Through the season of Lent, we are focusing on the discipline of prayer. This is the theme for our Sunday morning worship services as we walk through the Lord’s Prayer, as well as our Wednesday evening Lenten Services using Holden Evening Prayer when we meditate on the words of Martin Luther’s explanation to the Lord’s Prayer. Once again, this year we are enjoying sketches by Neil and Ellen Johnson during worship, and a soup supper beginning at 5:45.

Come and let us enjoy this Lenten journey together.

Peace, Pastor Arden Haug

We begin February with the kids singing in worship for Candlemas (Feb 1)! The Sunday School children will sing during worship to celebrate this special day. Children will go to Sunday School after the Children’s Sermon and will return at the end of worship to sing.

Fastelavn will be celebrated on February 8. Kids are welcome to bring their own costumes or use the ones provided after worship for some fun festivities.   Bring your strong arms to try and break open the “Fastelavn barrel.” Candy is sure to follow!

It is never too late to start thinking about summer camps! We are delighted to welcome back Joel Legred, Executive Director at Luther Park Bible Camp in Danbury, WI. Joel is coming on February 15 to share the fun in store for your kids this summer at Luther Park.

Here is a summary of children and family events in February:

February 1: Sunday School children sing in worship

February 8: Fastelavn activities after worship

February 15: Summer camp Sunday

Warm Christmas greetings to everyone! We are looking forward to resuming Sunday School on January 4.  We’ll welcome everyone back with a PJ/Movie day! Children are welcome to come in their comfy PJs, bring pillows or favorite stuffed animals to snuggle with while we watch our movie.

We will be watching a beautifully animated movie called The Very First Noel.  It is narrated by Andy Griffith telling the story of the three wisemen following the magnificent star in search of the newborn King.

During the month of January, we will be preparing our songs to sing in worship on February 1 for Candlemas Day.   While learning about the season of Epiphany we’ll also learn about house blessings and remembering our baptisms this month.

January is a time for new beginnings! Consider being part of LOTI’s new Bible Study beginning the end of January.  To help us choose a day and time(evening), please contact Debra Gilroy: www.debragilroy@comcast.net regarding your interest and availability

We will be using Beth Moore’s Believing God: Experiencing a Fresh Explosion of Faith based on Isaiah 43:10.  Beth explores what it means not only “to believe in God” but “to believe Him.” She encourages women to deepen their own trust in God and receive a fresh word from Him.  Our first Bible study will last 10 weeks.  The cost for materials is $16.00.

Lake of the Isles Lutheran has been a partner with Our Saviour’s Housing for several decades.  On the first Friday of every month we provide a hot meal for the approximately 40 people who are staying at the shelter.

There are several options for your involvement:

1. You can be responsible for cooking the meal and serving it at the shelter.
2. Team up with another family or some friends to make and serve a meal one of the months.
3. If cooking for a crowd seems intimidating, Cheri Moe will be willing to help prepare the meal at the church.  You can then take it to the shelter to serve.  Or Cheri will go with you to help out.
4. Some people don’t have the time to cook the meal, but would be willing to help serve.  We can use you too.
5. You can donate funds designated for the Our Saviour’s meal.

At this time, all of the dates in 2015 are available.  It would be good to have someone commit to January 2 as soon as possible.  Recipes for cooking for a crowd are available.  Contact Cheri Moe (952-431-5226 ormoeclana@aol.com) to volunteer or for more information.

The children have been working hard preparing for their Christmas pageant which will be on Sunday, December 14 during worship. It will be sure to get all in the Christmas spirit as the story of Jesus’ birth is told through the eyes of our children with singing, reading and bell ringing – complete with costumes, of course!

Here is a look at the month ahead:

Saturday, December 13 (10:00-11:30): Final dress rehearsal for Christmas pageant

Sunday, December 14:  Christmas pageant; children arrive at 9:00 on this day

December 21 and 28:  No Sunday School

January 4:  Sunday School resumes with a PJ Movie Day!