PRAYERS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Family and Friends of Don Jaworski
PRAYERS: Jon Cook; Millie Mutka; Barb Zima and her friends Alan Foster, Dave Butschli, Mick, Steven and Marilyn Hummel; Gregory Bowens; Laurie Nelson; Amber Ross’s daughter Linda; Randy & Diane Niemczyk’s daughter Julia VanAvery, niece Sarah Joda, and their dear friend Denise Hazel; Dick Volland; Don Schiesl; Valeria Hesselberg; Chris Markussen; Anne Verona’s sister/brother-in-law Pat & Woody Woodworth and friends Dennis Peterson and Natalie Madine; Ann Currie; Strong’s friend Erin Molle; Debbie Cyrtmus’ mother, Rose Wicker and sister, Corrie Trittin; Dawn Gonitzke’s brother Scott Premo; the Ebert’s friends William Charaf, Patricia Kulzick and John Oliver and Gary’s son Matthew; Joyce Leander’s cousin Laurie Nelson; Ashley Clark’s friends Michael Loomis, Keith & Becky Hernandez; the Waggoner’s sister-in-law Cheryl Busse; Karen Engels and her niece Lisa and friends Bob and Dawn; Ann Carlson’s people Enid, Curt, Stacy*, Richard and Troy; and peace for all nations and comfort for those in distress.
PRAYER LIST PROCEDURE – Submit your prayer requests to the office in writing, by phone, by email or in person. If requesting prayers for someone other than yourself or an immediate family member, please obtain permission – unless the circumstances are public in nature.
WORSHIP ON FACEBOOK – Live on Facebook on Sundays at 9:00 & posted later for viewing.
SPECIAL THANKS – to Carolyn VanDonsel for assisting us with worship today.
YOUTUBE – we now have an active channel on YouTube. In order to get the Mevo system to stream live for our worship services – we need 50 followers on the YouTube channel. We need your help to make this happen. You never have to look at it again if you don’t want to. Please go to YouTube – search for Prince of Peace Eagle River. You will see our logo. Click on it to go to the POP page. Please ‘like’ and subscribe’. [Happy 20th Birthday to YouTube! (4/23/2025)]
GUESTS – if you are visiting us today, please sign our book at the entrance to the sanctuary.
QUILTERS –Tie one on with the quilting group as they assemble quilts. Meet every first and third Wed of the month 9:30 to 11:30 am.
GOD’s WORK-OUR HANDS – Mountain of Love – not sure if everyone got the final count. 291 pounds of food was given to the Vilas Food Pantry and an equal amount was given to Caritas! That does not include the paper products. Wow! Prince of Peace kicked some serious food drive booty!
UPCOMING BLOOD PRESSURE CHECK – Mark Zima and Catherine O’Hagan will be out of the area the first weekend in May. Blood pressure checks will occur May 11th instead.
HAPPY TEN-YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO THE WEEKEND BACKPACK PROGRAM! – This program started with one student and a volunteer in March of 2015. And now look at it – serving 110 children every weekend! A huge shoutout to Bev Epping for kicking things off here at Prince of Peace and Sandy Bishop for continuing the ministry.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION BOOK DISCUSSION – Chris Ebert will be leading the discussion. It will be three sessions after worship on April 27, May 4 and May 18. The book is “Ashes to Ashes” by Shari Seifert. It is about the initial response and journey of Calvary Lutheran Church in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd. She will have books on hand for people to read.
CHRISTIAN WOMENS LUNCHEON – Jerrie Van Haverbeke and Mary Kunau are the hosts for the May luncheon. The lunch will be at the Pine Cone Restaurant on May 15 at 11:30 am – located in St Germain on Hwy 70. Please RSVP to Jerrie at vanbeke@frontier.com or Mary Kunau at mlkunau3@frontier.com. This is a new option for lunch and reviews so far have been good!
COMMUNITY PRAYER SERVICE – May 1st at 6:00 pm for the National Day of Prayer in Three Lakes at the Union Congregational Church – corner of 4th and Superior.
PRAISE IN THE PINES – On Saturday, July 19th, 2025, Eagle River, WI, will host the second annual Praise in the Pines Music Festival. This is a powerful opportunity to share the Gospel and strengthen our Northwoods community. This full-day event features a free Worship Experience, food trucks, a Christian ministry faire, and a headline concert by the Newsboys. A portion of the money raised will be poured back into local nonprofits, extending God’s love where it’s needed most. This evangelistic mission to reach hearts for Christ can’t happen without your support. We need our church family to rally behind this vision with prayers, donations, and hands-on help. Will you step up? Visit www.praiseinthepines.org today to donate or volunteer, and let’s make Praise in the Pines a bold witness for Jesus together!
FUN FACTS – I thought I would find out some fun facts about confirmation. However, when I went to research it, I found several white papers and nothing succinct. So – whatever Pastor says about it today will be enough.
Instead I decided to share some not completely verified ‘facts’ about the late great Pope Francis.
Pope Francis is perhaps one of the most well-known figures in the world, and as the leader of the Catholic Church, he was the epitome of goodness and holiness.
Pope Francis was born on December 17, 1936, he died at age 88 on Easter Monday, on April 21, 2025. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
He first became a priest in 1969 but did not become Pope until 2013.
No other Pope in Catholic history had taken the name Francis, and he was also the first Jesuit to be elected as Pope.
The world knew him as Francis, but his real name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He chose the name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.
Before priesthood, Pope Francis used to enjoy dancing the tango with his then-girlfriend.
While some may have thought he studied Theology, Pope Francis actually earned a Master’s Degree in Chemistry and used to teach the subject in high schools.
Back in Buenos Aires, he even worked as a bouncer in a bar – a far cry from the Vatican!
His Holiness wasn’t one to sit back and get waited on hand and foot, choosing instead to cook his own meals. He had a passion for cooking, and rumor had it that one of his specialty dishes was paella.
Pope Francis certainly wasn’t new to the papal world. When Pope Benedict XVI won the election in 2005, Pope Francis had been a runner-up.
The papal leader spoke fluent Spanish, Italian, and Latin, and had some proficiency in English, German, Ukrainian, French, and Portuguese.
Pope Francis never said no to a game of football, being quite a fan of the sport. He supported the San Lorenzo football team from his hometown in Argentina and was gifted many football shirts over the years, building up quite the collection.
The Bible wasn’t the only book he enjoyed reading. In fact, he had read The Lord of the Rings and various other books by J. R. R. Tolkien.
He had been a citizen of three countries: Argentina, Italy, and the Vatican.
Rather than bask in his fame as the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis chose to live in a small guest house in the Vatican, rather than the traditional papal apartments used by previous leaders.
In 2013, the same year he was elected as Pope, he was named Time’s “Person of the Year.” He earned this title because of the profound influence he had in such a short time as a leader.
More on Easter – Hot cross buns and other breads marked with the symbol of a cross aren’t just Easter traditions; they’re often eaten on Good Friday too. Different sweet breads are eaten all over the world on Easter Day. These are conspicuously risen breads, which may also show a desire for Easter traditions to be different from Passover, which includes unleavened bread.
One of the most popular Easter traditions, filling a basket with eggs, comes from Germany and was inspired by the concepts of fertility and springtime. Children would make “nests” filled with grass in hopes that Peter Cottontail would fill the nest with eggs and other treats. The nests gradually evolved into baskets, which were less messy, easier to carry and, of course, bigger.
Jelly beans originally started as a Christmas candy and don’t have a specific Easter-themed meaning, but they’ve become a popular choice for filling plastic Easter eggs before the big hunt.
Of all the Easter traditions, nothing quite beats an Easter egg hunt. Grown-ups hide the eggs, and kids gleefully search for them. The tradition started with Martin Luther, the 15th-century theologian. The joy of the hunt was meant to symbolize the joy that Mary and Martha felt upon finding Christ’s tomb empty after he was resurrected.
[I ran this fact past Pastor Grant. He had never heard about it. However, it was from a Reader’s Digest article that stated the article had been fact checked. Pastor Grant looked into it some more – Martin Luther didn’t invent the egg hunt – but adapted it for religious purpose.]
Notes from Ann – I have a lot as I’ve had a couple of weeks off for Holy Week. The picture at the top is from Easter morning. Incredibly beautiful. And what makes it more neat (to me) is that I had been dreaming about the sunrise on Easter before I woke up to such a beautiful sight! Then we have a picture of Waylon Clark’s baptism. (And that Oliver – he makes me smile!). And a picture of our Easter Garden. Thank you Barb Zima for sending me these pictures. The last graphic is something that popped up today on my feed. It hit me in all of the right places. It is going to sound bad – comparing coming to church with a walk with my dog – however – the last line is how I feel when I leave church “a moment shared, a soul at ease”.
I’ve had the good fortune and sometimes the misfortune to be part of many different organizations. I have to make the comparison between Navy Nurse Corps Officers and our congregation. The men and women of the Nurse Corps always (mostly) impressed me whenever we were on a mission. 99% of them would roll up their sleeves and tackle whatever task the enlisted had in front of them. They didn’t say “that isn’t officer work”. They didn’t complain. They didn’t feel as though it was beneath them to assist and even take direction when needed. That ethos is exemplified here at Prince of Peace. When things need to get done – everyone pitches in. You all remind me of the Navy Nurse Corps. That is high praise indeed.
Easter Candy – I’m sure several of you still have Easter Candy hanging around your house. We do. My current downfall is jelly beans. By far – I love pectin jelly beans the best. Burt and I are also fans of the Starburst jelly beans. They used to make a jumbo version of the Starburst jelly bean and that was a very good bean indeed.
I was raised on Fannie May Easter Candy. The chocolate covered marshmallow eggs, the pectin jelly beans, the foiled chocolate eggs and the incredible cream eggs were the absolute best. I’ve strayed away from having Fannie May chocolate at Easter over the past few years. Mostly because if we have it in the house- I’m the one who ends up eating it all.
Robin’s Eggs – these ‘only at Easter time’ delights are an annual favorite for us. Wal-Mart was selling three pound bags this year!* They have to be the Whopper version. They have to be full-size – cannot be the mini-version of Robin’s eggs. You would think these would be easy to find. Nope. In previous years, I’ve had to go on re-con missions to find Robin’s Eggs. (*Not going to lie – I bought 2 of the three pound bags)
And – my ultimate favorite – Peeps. Has to be chicks. Has to be yellow or pink – none of the goofy flavors. AND they have to be perfectly stale. Burt and I went to Bethlehem, PA for the New Year’s Eve Peep Drop on 12/31/2019. So worth the trip.
Are you a Peep Lover or a Peep Hater? You’re either one or the other – there doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.
