Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
  God bless and keep you!
  Things seem to be moving like a whirlwind, and it is an exciting time to be a Christian and to be at ALC.  The journey of Lent has begun.  This is a great opportunity to open the door of our hearts a little wider to the grace of God.  Are you reading Scripture, praying, doing acts of kindness at home and in your ministry wherever that is?  Are you attending Lent Worship?
  We continue our confirmation classes and this group keeps me on my toes.  Sometimes it seems like chaos, but there is much joy in leading such lively people to our Lord's fountain of grace. 
  By the time you read this we will have completed our First Communion classes with 7 students, several parents, and myself.  We are studying Luther's Small Catechism on Holy Communion, relating it to Passover, emphasizing that it is a gift from God to the communing person.  To use the ordinary material of life, just like Jesus did, to teach, we are making communion bread with a recipe from the SD Synod Assembly.  There is something about hands on experience to deepen learning.  Sunday, March 3 will be their first communion.
  And of course we are worshipping and hearing God's word every Sunday.  What a joy to gather in the Lord's house with our burdens, pains, blessings, angers, fears, delights, and from it all to praise God and know  that God knows the depths and heights of our lives, and loves us in it all! 
  Remember your baptismal call; you are a new creation in Christ on track to heaven and shaped in servant form.  Believe it, do it, suffer it, love it.     

Lent and Holy Week/Easter Schedule
 

  Lenten Suppers - Wednesdays - 5:45 p.m.
  Wednesday Lenten Services - 7:00 p.m.
      "Prayers of the Passion"
  March 6   "Jesus, Remember Me" 
  March 13  "Into Your Hands I Commend My
       Spirit" 
   March 20  "Simon, I Have Prayed  for You"
   Maundy  Thursday - 7:00 p.m., Mar. 28
   Holy Communion, Footwashing, Stripping
       the Altar
   Good Friday - 7:00 p.m., March 29
   Holy Saturday - no service, keep the vigil of 
        Easter at home.
   Easter Sunrise Worship - 6:30 a.m., 3/31
   Easter Breakfast - 7:30 a.m., March 31
   Resurrection Eucharist Festival - 9 a.m.
    March 31 

   Come worship with us.  Accompany your brothers and sisters on the journey to the cross and the open tomb to hear the cornerstone event of the Christian faith, the death and resurrection of Jesus. Be renewed within. Invite your family and friends.

MISCELLANEOUS MINISTRIES AND OPPORTUNITIES - You are invited!
    Mission Builders, a program of the ELCA that helps congregations build and assists in projects after natural disasters, needs volunteers. Call 773-380-2958.

   ELCA International Disaster Response for relief in Afghanistan and the Congo.  Offerings through ALC or P.O.Box 71764, Chicago, IL 60694-1764.

Faith Builders, Lay Education on Worship, Sioux Falls, Mar.16/17.  See Pastor.

   Lutheran College Fair, Tue., April 9 in Sioux Falls.  It makes a difference.