Upcoming Activities at The Rock
April 2—Palm Sunday Service (with confirmation)
April 5—Stepping Stones Family Easter Devotional and Craft, 6:30-7:30
April 7—Good Friday Service with Holy Communion, 6:30 p.m.
April 9—Easter Service & Breakfast, breakfast starting at 9:00 and service at 10
April 16—Nico’s 7th birthday party & BBQ Cookoff fundraiser lunch after the service
Please pray for Pastor Mike and his family as they consider a Divine Call for him to serve Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Rogers, Arkansas, as their Associate Pastor for Family and Youth. They are visiting that congregation this weekend. Please pray for them as they contemplate this opportunity, and share any words of encouragement and support you might have for them. He anticipates announcing his decision by April 14.
All are invited to join the Stepping Stones kids and their families for an Easter devotional and craft time on Wednesday, April 5 at 6:30. The children have prepared some songs to share with you as well!
Let the Guatemala Mission Team egg your house! On the evening of April 8th, 2023, the Guatemala Missions Team will come to your home (or the home of a friend/family/neighbor) and hide 12 Easter eggs in the yard. There will be 11 candy-filled eggs and 1 empty egg as a reminder of the empty tomb! Cost is $15 per dozen eggs, $25 for 2 dozen, $35 for 3 dozen, $45 for 4 dozen, $55 for 5 dozen. Please contact Jennifer Janousek by text/phone (402-499-3512) or email rachel.ada@cune.org with questions. They accept payment by cash, check (make check out to The Rock), or Venmo (@jennifer-janousek) by April 4, 2023. You can fill out the form LINKED HERE with your order.
Tales of the Wag – Stories about the Comfort Dog Ministry
I had a very interesting question asked of me at church by a 5 year old. “Why do we have a dog in church?” Praise God who speaks to the basic question by way of a small faith filled child. The answer is the very basis of the LCC Comfort Dog Ministry. It is not about the dog, but the dog is a bridge to the Presence, Mercy, Compassion, and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who are in need or suffering. The dog—the very well trained dog—Nico is the bridge. This bridge happens when we get invited into places.
Do you know that the Nico Team is invited into places that Pastor Mike or the leaders of our church aren’t invited to visit? We of the Comfort Dog Ministry are some of the Kingdom of God builders who go out ever so gently and are non-intrusive. We take the Kingdom of God out to others by the very fact that the Handlers and the Ministry Helpers have the Spirit of God within them. We take the Presence of God to those who are in need and are suffering. As we go out, we focus on the people around Nico. We listen to them, as well as have an ear opened to the Spirit of God for direction. Nico relaxes our visitors and many times the visitors start talking. We pray either with or for them if appropriate (separation of church and state in our public schools) in person or after our visit. As we know, our God hears our prayers and acts on them in His way and time. It will be absolutely amazing to see in heaven all the connections to the Kingdom of God that Nico allowed us to make, connecting others to Jesus in His grace. So, I say “Why not a dog in church if this dog can bring eternal threads of hope into others’ lives by God’s direction and design.” Thoughts from Marcia Newsome
After thought: if you would like to go out with the Nico team to see for yourself the wonders of God though Nico, visit with one of his Handlers or come to the monthly Comfort Dog Meeting each 4th Sunday after worship in Room 217.
Blue Valley Community Action
Our March item for the Blue Valley food pantry is peanut butter, which we collect in a tub in the Rock cafe. We will start collecting paper towels in April. Thanks for being a blessing to the community in this way! You can see our Blue Valley Pantry item schedule on our website. Year-round they also collect the following: pasta, pasta meal mixes, instant potato side dishes, and mashed potatoes. They’ve had quite a few more families making use of the pantry this winter, so your help is greatly appreciated.
YogaFaith News
Join Erika Rolf (RYT-200) or Sara Moll (RYT-200) for Christian YogaFaith classes at The Rock!
April class offerings are as follows:
- Online Sonrise YogaFaith Class (online class – take anytime and as many times as you want – a new 30 Minute class is offered each month) – 4/3 (Erika)
- Restorative Wall YogaFaith – This special class focuses on the “Legs Up the Wall Pose” and the many variations available in this position. Monday, 4/24 7:00-7:45 pm (limited to 3 spots on the north wall) If you don’t mind doing wall yoga on the cupboard side (west) of the room, please let me know by replying to this email. The cupboard side works better for shorter people! 🙂
- Tune up Tuesday at CUNE (for Concordia University students) at 3:45-4:30 pm/Cattle Conference Center – 4/11 (Sara), 4/25 (Erika) FREE
- All Level Tuesdays at 5:30 pm CST at The Rock – 4/4 (Sara), 4/11 (Erika), 4/18 (Erika), 4/25 (Erika)
- All Level Thursdays at 5:30 pm CST at The Rock – 4/6 (Erika), 4/13 (Sara), 4/20 (Sara), 4/27 (Sara)
- Restorative YogaFaith from 7:00-8:00 pm CST at The Rock – 4/2 (Sara), 4/9 (NO CLASS), 4/16 (Erika), 4/23 – NO CLASS, 4/30 (Erika)* SIGN UP IN ADVANCE PLEASE.
*Restorative and Restorative Wall is also offered online – please message us if you want this class.
*Restorative YogaFaith classes are limited to 8 students per class because of the limited number of props we have available. Please secure your spot for Restorative YogaFaith by signing up on Sign Up Genius here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054baca729a1f94-restorative
If you want to take Sonrise or Restorative online, please message their Facebook page. Also visit their Facebook page for a full calendar and more information. https://www.facebook.com/YogaFaith-Seward-256010628294784/
Our Website | http://www.therockseward.org/
Giving while at home | http://www.therockseward.org/giving-at-the-rock/
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Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/therockseward
Contact Us | info@therockseward.org
Prayer Requests | prayers@therockseward.org
Mail | PO Box 199, Seward, NE 68434
Prayer requests are received by our prayer warriors, as well as Pastor Mike Meyer. If you would like them kept confidential and not included in public prayers on Sundays, just let us know in your email.
