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April 2019
Dear Friends,
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye
are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4-10 KJV)
The message that Paul delivers is at the heart of the beauty of Easter; when
Jesus rose from the dead He took us with Him. He made us who were dead in sins
alive with Him, saving us and seating us together with and in Him in the
heavenly places. Now He continues to show the riches of His grace to us by His
kindness through Jesus Christ. Paul’s ages to come aren’t simply future but
include the time we live in now. This is what God is doing now. So here then is
the truth of Easter; God is kind. He raised up the helpless and gave us new
life. God is kind, a message that bears repeating because so often He is
depicted by us as being anything but kind. God is kind. He has saved us by His
grace, gifted us with salvation and recreated us. We are the work of His hand
created in Christ to do as He wants us to. In His kindness God has given us the
works we are to do as gift that now we may walk in them. Paul makes this clear
in another of his epistles as well:
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died
for all, then were all dead: 15 And that he died for all, that they which live
should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them,
and rose again. 16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea,
though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no
more. 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:14-17 KJV)
The love of Christ now holds us fast because we understand that the death of
Christ is for all of humankind therefore at the end all will be resurrected
without exception even as the Scripture says some to eternal life and some to
death but all will be raised. So God in His kindness has stood in our stead to
deliver us, and we in His kindness no longer judge people in their oldness but
we know that through Christ they are new, no one is to be seen in the old but
spoken to according to the new. The new creation has come in Christ, old things
are gone and everything is new. This is now the way things are in the Spirit,
they aren’t discerned by the fleshly mind, only by the Spirit can we see and
understand God’s work rightly. With Easter through God’s kindness our world has
changed forever and is now simply awaiting the revelation of that truth in human
history though in the Spirit it’s already seen. So in the lyrics of Charles
Wesley:
Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia! Following our exalted Head,
Alleluia! Made like Him, like Him we rise; Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave,
the skies. Alleluia! - Christ the Lord is Risen Today (#126 Hymns and Songs of
Zion). A blessed Easter to all of you.
God’s Peace,
Jay Weidner
In memory of John Jukuri
from Bryan & Lori Ackerman
Pastor Jesse & Judy Aho
Reuben & Anita Aho
Curt & Trudy Anderson
Kevin & Julie Antilla
Bob & Gert Antioho
Dennis & Patricia Bastian
Bob & Marie Bingham
Steve & Marilyn Dahlmeier
Gladys Dupuis
Matthew Ekdahl
Harry & Caroline Erkkila
Nicole Follen
Dave Hand & Corrine Leppen
Neal & Cheryl Hendrickson
Robbie & Valerie Holzberger
Rodney & Maria Johnson
Dave & Barbara Jukuri
Tim & Sue Jukuri
Keweenaw County Road Commission Employees Club
Joe & Karen Kezele
Ray & Cherie Lasanen
Josh & Jennifer Loukus
John & Sandra Massoglia
Betty Mendoza
Bob & Norma Nominelli
Steve Palosaari
Lynn Radford
Faye Rautio
Bob & Nancy Raymond
Roger & Sandra Rintala
Bill & Any Roberts
Bob & Carla Rowe
Tim Ruonavaara
Tom & Judy Ruonavaara
John & Suzanne Sanregret
Ramon & Helen Simonson
Phillip & Mary Storm
Maria Sturos
Tom & Kathy Sykes
Emily Vajko
James Sr. & Susuan Vollmar
Toni Waara
Pastor Jay & Kristine Weidner
Nancy Wenberg
Roger & Sandy Wetelainer
Karen West
Jim & Debbie Wonquist
World of Wood
In memory of David Mickelsen
from Verna A. Hendrickson
Pastor Raymond & Marlene Hilman
Janis Saari
David Wiitanen
In memory of James Mickelsen
from Kenneth Heikka
Verna A. Hendrickson
Pastor Raymond & Marlene Hilman
Audrey Krutzig
David Wiitanen
In memory of John Besonen
from Pastor Raymond & Marlene Hilman
In memory of Ron Liimatainen
from Pastor Raymond & Marlene Hilman
In memory of Melissa Dahlmeier Roeser
from Steve & Marilyn Dahlmeier
In memory of Dr. Albert Saari
from Janis Saari
In memory of Ernest Bylkas Sr.
from Judith Bylkas
In memory of Martha Bylkas
from Judith Bylkas
MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED EASTER!!
ATTENTION: SUPPORTERS
THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT THE SEMINARY.
Have you ever have used Amazon.com to do your shopping? Now AmazonSmile offers
the same products, same prices and same service and will also donate 0.5% of the
price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Inter-Lutheran Theological
Seminary whenever you shop on AmazonSmile.
Simply log use in by using this link….
http://smile.amazon.com/ch/41-0918317
which will bring you directly to smile.amazon.com in support of our
organization.
THANK YOU - $253.70 was donated to the seminary during 2018 as a result of
your purchases!!
The Thrivent Choice® program offers a way members can recommend where Thrivent
Financial distributes some of its charitable outreach funds. As a benefit
member, your ownership of Thrivent Financial products and services help make
this support possible.
Remember….If you are an eligible member 16 and older you can recommend how to
distribute Thrivent Financial charitable grant funds thought Choice Dollars®.
Member eligibility and the Choice Dollars designated are based on:
• Holding a Thrivent Financial volunteer leadership position; or
• Having $750 or more in annual premiums of qualifying
insurance products; or
• Having $20,000 or more in contract value of qualifying products.
For more information about Choice Dollars, visit http://www.Thrivent.com/thriventchoice
or call 800-847-4836 or contact your local Thrivent Financial representative.
In 2018, the Inter-Lutheran Seminary received $2,470 in Choice Dollars and WE
THANK YOU FOR THAT!
INFAITH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION:
Several years ago, the Seminary board of directors established the
Inter-Lutheran Seminary Endowment Fund. Funds contributed to the endowment are
not used for current day to day operations. Only the annual earnings of the
endowment will be used for the seminary’s needs thereby ensuring the continued
existence of this funding source. This is the preferred method used by many
non-profit entities, especially ongoing religiously focused organizations such
as seminaries.
While this is an excellent strategy, it has proven a challenge for us to
actually meet the minimum funding requirements. Until now, the fund has existed
but remained unfunded. By the Lord’s grace we have been blessed with a large
contribution to fund the Inter-Lutheran Seminary Endowment Fund. We would love
to build on this generous contribution to grow our endowment into a major source
of ongoing seminary support.
Although the seminary still needs the financial ongoing regular contributions of
our supporters, please consider the endowment fund for your planned giving
needs. The seminary has chosen the InFaith Community Endowment Fund (the renamed
Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation) to administer our endowment fund. They will
provide experienced legal advice to help guide you with any contribution
questions done through estate planning in addition to lump sum contributions,
IRAs, property and securities. For more additional information, please contact
Kirk Otto, Jr. at (715) 294-4343 or Cheryl Hendrickson at (906)482-3337.
**PLEASE NOTE**
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the mailing list, please complete the form below and mail to: P.O. Box 449,
Hancock, MI 49930.
Or call 906-482-3337 or email: cilseminary@ilseminary.com. Thank you!
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Inter-Lutheran
Theological Seminary
James Weidner, President
P.O. Box 449
Hancock, MI 49930
administrator@ilseminary.org
Phone: 906-482-3337
FAX: 906-482-0694