698 N. Locust – P.O. Box 698, Manteno, IL 60950-0698 Phone: (815) 468-8946 – Fax: (815) 468-9420
E-Mail Address – Published Monthly – Volume Eighteen – Issue Number 4 – April 1, 2012
From the Pastor’s Keyboard
I want to share one of the unique sights I was privileged to see while on sabbatical in the southwest portion of the United States. The city of Sante Fe New Mexico is home to many beautiful churches and chapels. One of them is surrounded by legend…explained this way.
When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.
Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.
The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today.
The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction. Over the years many have flocked to the Loretto Chapel to see the Miraculous Staircase.
The staircase is a sight to behold to anyone who has ever tried to build anything out of wood. I don’t know how much of the story to believe but there are some lessons to be learned at Loretto chapel. The chapel was built to be a place of worship. Not much worshipping is being done there today. Instead of using the stairway to access the choir loft, it is used to attract tourists and instead of offerings, a $3.00 fee is assessed the visitors.
The website for Loretto Chapel doesn’t mention worship or service times but is focused on brides and grooms looking for a beautiful place to have a wedding. There is no mention of premarital counseling but much information concerning flowers and pricing. I think it would be a beautiful place for a wedding…but shouldn’t a chapel (church, sanctuary) be focused on Christ?
The need for the stairway in the first place was so the sisters had a way to get to the balcony and sing praises to God from the choir loft. The function of the stairway has been lost. In fact, you can take pictures of the stairway but you cannot climb the stairs.
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From the Pastor’s Keyboard Continued.
If you read the history of the church you will see that it did serve people in the name of the Lord as a Catholic church for generations. The Loretto Academy was closed in 1968, and the property was put up for sale. At the time of sale in 1971, Our Lady of Light Chapel was informally deconsecrated as a Catholic Chapel. Loretto Chapel is now a private museum operated and maintained, in part, for the preservation of the Miraculous Staircase and the Chapel itself.
In Matthew 21: 13“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[e] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’[f]” 14The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.
We have no stairway legends. Our décor is simple and lacks the ornate frills of many of the majestic cathedrals of older churches. But our call is not to a building but to make our building a house of prayer, a sanctuary where God is exaltedand worshipped. When you pass through Sante Fe, don’t miss Loretto Chapel. When you enter our sanctuary, make it a place of prayer and worship.
The Pastor
Monday – Sunday, April 2 – 8
ROARING Easter Movie Wednesday, 6:30-8:00 p.m., “Lion of Judah”
This laugh-filled, heartwarming, animated tale is an Easter classic for the whole family. Join Judah &The Stable-Mates as they embark on a ROARING adventure towards freedom! For Judah, a lamb with the heart of a lion, it is a story of courage that will lead you to the pivotal voyage of hope, and will leave you in awe of the power that one lamb can command. The “Lion of Judah” is rated PG and is 5-Star Dove Approved for the whole family! All ages are welcome.
Manteno Community Cross Walk Friday, 6, 10:00 a.m.
On Good Friday, the Manteno churches will participate in this annual event where a cross is carried through our community. At each of the five stops, a portion of the Easter story is read. If you are unable to walk you may drive to each of the locations. The walk will begin at Manteno Church of the Nazarene and end at Presbyterian Church, where a light lunch of soup and bread will be served.If driving, we ask that you go ahead to each of the stops, do not drive slow and follow the procession.
Living Last Supper Thursday and Friday, 7:30 p.m.
The cast will re-create a life-sized version of da Vinci's painting of The Last Supper. Each disciple in turn will "come to life" and tell about his experiences with Jesus. Our choir, soloists, and small groups will perform special songs between the disciples' monologues. The evening will conclude with the disciples receiving the bread and wine from Jesus; then the disciples will come down from the table and serve Communion to the audience.
Easter Sunrise Service / Breakfast Sunday, 6:27 a.m.
We will gather outside at the east side of our building (outside the Children’s Center) as we celebrate the risen Savior. Immediately following this service a breakfast will be served in the Family Life Center. There will be a sign-up sheet on the FLC bulletin board for food donations and to volunteer to work. We especially need volunteers to help with the clean up.
Easter Sunday Worship Services –We will have our normal worship services: 8:30 a.m. – Traditional; 10 a.m. – Baptismal Service; 11 a.m. – Contemporary.
Sunday School Ministries
- Marian Pollard, S.S. Director
BECAUSE HE LIVES
God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus;He came to love, heal and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon;An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow;Because He lives,all fear is gone.
Because I knowHe holds the future and life is worth the livingjust because He lives.
HE LIVES
I serve a risen Savior; He's in the world today. I know that He is living whatever men may say.
I see His hand of mercy; I hear His voice of cheer; and just the time I need Him, He's always near.
He lives, He lives! Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!You ask me how I know He lives. HE LIVES WITHIN MY HEART!
Does Jesus live within your heart today? Do you have the peace that He holds you and your loved ones in His hands? Is all fear gone from you? Can you trust Him with every aspect of your life? Where can you and your family learn more about Jesus and His love? We have Sunday School classes each Sunday morning from 10 to 10:45 a.m., for all ages. Our dedicated teachers are prepared to share the love of Jesus with you. Please join us to learn how to Love God, Journey together and Serve others in His name.
Loving you through Jesus,
Marian
Sunday, April 22nd, 6 p.m.
When God wants to begin a new work in the world, He almost always starts by speaking into the heart of one person. Drawing up the courage to listen, obey, and share the vision with others, these are the people we call leaders. Everyone is welcome to join us for this DVD series on leadership.
DISTRICT NMI/NYI CONVENTION
April 14, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
College Church (ONU Campus)
Speakers: Missionaries Todd and Brittany Leslie
DISTRICT ASSEMBLY
April 15 – 16, Danville First Church, Danville, IL
Opening Service – Sunday, 6 p.m.
District Assembly – Monday, 9 a.m.
NAZARENEMISSIONS
INTERNATIONAL(NMI)
APRIL EMPHASIS – Mission Education
Each church is given a goal of Mission Education Credits. We gain credits when you read the Missionary books or attend a missions event.
NMI MEETING – April 11, 7:00 p.m. Missionaries, Todd and Brittany Leslie from Africa will be sharing about their work.
Nothstine Chapter - April 9, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. We will meet to roll bandages for the hospital in New Guinea. Please contact Ruth McCrary if you are able to help with food items for lunch. We need you to come for as much time as you can to help with this project.
DISTRICT NMI CONVENTION
Place:College Church (ONU Campus)
Date:April 14
Time:9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Speakers:Missionaries Todd and Brittany Leslie
NMI, NYI and Sunday School will all have their Convention at the same time at College Church. There are several changes this year. The NMI President has to pick up the packets for all of the NMI delegates. Delegates, please contact the church if you are not able to attend. We will be eating lunch in the University Dining Room.
Praise the Lord for the JESUS Film and that Ntakiyi from Burundi is a new man in Christ. He says, “My life was bad. I was a bad man but did not realize the wickedness of my situation. While watching the JESUS Film, I could see the problems in my life. I decided to follow Jesus and left behind my sins. Jesus saved me.”
With the many disasters all over the world we need to continue to send Crisis Care Kits to be available for the next time they are needed.
A group of men sentenced to do community service in New Zealand teamed up with the New Zealand District’s Work & Witness team to refurbish a recently purchased church. The shared work allowed the district to show love and acceptance to these men who felt cast out by society. Please pray that God would enable these new relationships to continue and that the Holy Spirit would keep working in these men’s hearts through their experience.
Janice Carlson – NMI President
Power House KidzElementary:
HOPE is the one thing the church has always had to offer the world.
So this month, we’re focused on how we can have hope because of all that God has done. We have a chance every day to respond with hope to show that we trust God and His plan for the world. And the people around us are watching to see where, and what, and whom we put our hope in.
Our theme this month is Puzzled: Believing There’s a Bigger Picture. In all of our lives, there are times when we can only see one piece of what’s going on, and it can be hard to picture something good coming out of it.
As we get ready to celebrate Easter, we’ll define HOPE asbelieving that something good can come out of something bad. We’ll look at five different Bible stories focusing on Jesus and some of the people who knew Him best.
Week 1, in our Bible story (John 14:1-14, 18-19, 27-29),we’ll lean in to listen as Jesus talks to His closest friends with whom He’s done ministry for the last few years. These were some of the last words they’d hear Him say and they were about heaven and being together again someday. Bottom Line: Whatever happens, remember what Jesus promised.
In Week 2, we focus on the best story in all of history to show why we can have hope when Jesus, our Savior, comes back to life three days after dying on the cross and being buried in the tomb (John 20:1-18). Jesus is all the evidence that we need. Bottom Line: Whatever happens, God is stronger than anything.
In Week 3, we see that some of the disciples and other people that knew Jesus were still confused by all that had happened—by the way things turned out. We read about how Jesus joins two guys walking on the road to Emmaus. And later at dinner as Jesus breaks bread, they realize who He is and what’s really happening (Luke 24:13-35, Romans 15:4). Bottom Line: Whatever happens, remember God has a bigger story.
These men had a lot of their facts straight, but Jesus helps them to connect the dots. They’d lost hope. They were so focused on the fact that Jesus died, that they couldn’t see what God was doing through and because of it. We do this too in dark and confusing moments—we focus so much on the negative things that have happened, that we stop having hope.
But when we remember and believe that this month’s memory verse is true—“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world,” John 16:33b—we’re not so caught off guard when things go wrong. We’re more able to see what God might be up to and believe that He wants what’s best for us in the end.
In Week 4, we learn more about what Jesus said to His loyal disciples before He returns to His Father in heaven (Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:3, 8-11).It’s easy to imagine that the disciples felt a little desperate and were hanging on every word and second left, wondering what would happen to them after He leaves. Bottom Line: Whatever happens, remember Jesus is always with you.
We can relate to this when negative things happen in our lives and we feel alone or powerless. That’s when it’s most important to remember that Jesus promises that He’s leaving something better—the Holy Spirit—so we’re never really alone. God never promised that if we love Him that we won’t ever have any problems. But Jesus promises to be with us.
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Power House Kidz Continued.
In Week 5, we’ll see how after Jesus left (and sent the Holy Spirit), His closest friends, the disciples, continued the ministry He started while He was on earth. They were busy living like He taught them and sharing with others this big story—the gospel—that they had experienced for themselves, so the people of the world could know about God and be part of the story themselves.
So, we fast-forward to a Bible story of two of the better-known disciples, Peter and John. They were performing miracles and they got in trouble by people that were jealous and threatened. Things were changing and they didn’t like it. Some of the more powerful leaders of the day, called the Sanhedrin, really wanted to stop them (Acts 4:1-21, 1 Peter 3:15).
We’ll take time to talk about how, Bottom Line: Whatever happens, tell others what God has done. This is one of the five faith skills that we think is most important for children’s (and adults’) spiritual growth—being able to articulate their faith. But by the end of this month, after being reminded of all God has done and is doing in our lives, it will be natural for them to share the hope they have with others.By Cara Martens. ©2012 Orange. All rights reserved. * All rights reserved. Used by permission.
First Look Preschool article
Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Isn’t that AMAZING? He wants to be MY friend. He wants to be YOUR friend. Jesus wants to be my friend, forever. What a life-changing truth. What a foundational truth. What an awesome thing to put in the hearts of our preschoolers.
This month starts with excitement and fun as your preschoolers have an opportunity to wave palm branches and yell “Hosanna” during the Entry Celebration. What an amazing day that must have been. The following week we celebrate Easter, leading our little ones through the seriousness of the Last Supper and Crucifixion to the joy of Easter day itself. He is risen! He is alive!
We continue through the month of April learning that while He was on earth, Jesus was a good friend to those around Him. He taught us how to be a good friend too. Through the story of Mary and Martha, we learn that Jesus wants to spend time with us and that good friends spend time together without the “busy” taking over. That’s a lesson for today’s world, isn’t it? We learn that being friends with Jesus means giving Him everything, even our most prized possessions. And, finally we learn that our best friend ever is preparing a place for us, a place where we can be with Him forever. How amazing.