Worship Team Meeting

Sunday, April 10th in the lounge

All worship team members, musicians, and other interested persons are encouraged

to attend. Fellowship dinner will be served that day, please plan to bring your meal into the

lounge. Expect the meeting to last 1 to 2 hours.

This year’s Easter offering will be given to IDES to help with the disaster relief in Japan. Donations may be given any time

this month. Be sure to mark “Easter offering” in the memo line of your check.

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Services Schedule Good Friday, April 22nd, 7:00 p.m.

Easter Sunday, April 24th 7:45 a.m. Sunrise Service 8:45 a.m. Breakfast by the deacons 9:15 a.m. Easter Egg Hunt for the youth

(held outside weather permitting, a video will be shown in case of bad weather)

10:00 a.m. Regular morning worship

Saturday, April 16th Beginning at

8:00 am Breakfast at

Burger King at 7:30 am

VBS Sunday-Thursday

July 17-21 Featuring the Go Fish Guys

“Kickin It Old School”

Organizational meeting: Sunday, April 17th

in the lounge following worship service

Congratulations to Ken Fiscus on winning the National Space Educa-tor of the Year award. Ken, along with Kelli, will fly to Washington DC to accept the award given by the National

Space Club. The ceremony is a black-tie banquet held at the DC Hilton on April 1st. About 2,000 of the nation’s leaders attend this event each year. Way to go Ken!!

Christian Workers ladies group will meet Tuesday, April 5th at 6:00 pm. Devotion: Kathy. No hostesses this month. Please bring your favorite food item to share. Communion preparation for April: Cindy A. and Sue F. The April potluck fellowship dinner will be held on the 10th - Lori and Pam’s circle will be serving.

A thank you was received from Derek & Amanda Olsen for the warm welcome they received as they presented their church plant work in Bismarck, ND. They have a potential buyer for their home, please be in prayer for the outcome.

The Aim-Hi group will meet Tuesday, April 19th at noon. All are welcome! Please speak with Bob Newton if you plan to attend.

Vern’s current sermons and ones from the Revelation series are now available on CD through the church office.

The church youth are hard at work on their camp scholarship packets. Sundae Sunday is set for May 1st. At that time the packets will be turned in, camp registration forms filled out, then ice cream served up!

Crossroads College Events... • Spring College Days April 14-15. A free visit event for high school juniors and seniors. • Dream Banquet Friday, May 6th at 7:00 pm at the Rochester International Event Center. There will be a silent auction from 5:30-6:45 p.m. with dinner and program at 7:00 p.m. President Mike Kilgallin is the guest speaker. • Prime Timers on Campus, May 16-19. Guest speaker, Claudio Divino. For more information regarding these events please call 507-288-4563 or check the col-lege website at www.crossroadscollege.edu.

April 2011 Serving Schedule 3 10 17 24-Easter

Communion Dave A. Justin Bob S. Kendall Offering prayer Justin Bob S. Kendall Jerry Outside Usher Wayne/Nathan LeRoy/Ben Scott/Vern S. Troy/Bob N. Smalls Bob/Diane Rebecca/Rigel Sheila/Tyler Grace/Marissa Communion prep Instruments Marsha/Sandy Video Projection Debra Sound System Ken Worship Team Kelli, Rick, Steve Greeter/welcome Rose & Kim Welcome person: Ben & Kathy

Cindy A./Sue F.

STATISTICS FOR FEBRUARY

General fund balance 2-1-11............. 6,919.02 Receipts............................................ 9,634.15 Disbursements ............................... 10,786.81 General fund balance 2-28-11........... 5,766.36 Total all funds................................. 39,774.34 Average attendance: Sunday school ............57 Average attendance: Morning worship .........92

SUMMARY OF THE MARCH COUNCIL MINUTES Meeting called to order by Dave at 7:45 pm. Ben opened the meeting with a devotion & prayer. Minutes of the February meeting were read and approved. Minister's Report: 1) Revelation series is done and was well received. 2) Officiated 2 funerals. 3) Planning meetings are progressing. 4) The Christian Convention planning is going well. MCEA church plant progress is significant. The Haitian Ministries transition is well under way. 5) Easter services are as follows: Sunrise - 7:45 am; Breakfast - 8:45 am; Easter Egg Hunt - 9:15 am (held outside weather permitting/a video will be shown in case of rain); Worship - 10:00 am. Elders' Report: 1) Haitian Ministries transition planning. 2) Summer youth activity possibilities. 3) Encouraged Vern to take one day a week off. He’s been very busy. 4) Missions meeting prepa-ration. 5) Switching to Our Daily Bread devotion. 6) Sound system discussed. Treasurer's Report: 1) Offerings are a little lower due to two bad weather weeks. 2) Ken made a motion, Bob H seconded, to have HOAP pay for its annual Florida state filing fee. Carried. 3) Aim Hi and Christian Workers contributed to the purchase of the window treatments for the lounge. Trustees' Report: 1) The exterior cross doors need to be looked at for possible replacement. Steve will get some contractor input. Deacons' Report: 41 attended the February Banquet at the Moose Club. Old Business: The youth swim party is planned for Wednesday, March 30th. New Business: 1) Vern showed the new Mid-Week Messenger that was created as part of our efforts to streamline announcements on Sunday morning. We also want to utilize the email as a communication tool. 2) Discussed June Mille Lacs fishing trip. 3) Discussed cabinet doors for lounge. Steve motioned to adjourn, Ken seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned w/prayer at 8:42. Ken Fiscus, Board secretary

Focus on Our Families

• Joyce, back pain, possible surgery • Bobby, Richard, Janice & others seeking the Lord’s strength for personal victories • Dolores, at Thorne Crest, Room 19 • Vern’s dad, eyesight going • Haitian Ministries leader-ship meeting April 9th • Derek & Amada Olsen, for their house to sell & their move to ND • Vern & Pam’s home to sell PRAYER OF PRAISE • Jeanne, doing well after knee surgery

The Shea family is made up of Ryan and Jolean and their two children Brianna (11) and Isaac (6). Jolean has been a member of Albert Lea Church of Christ since childhood and Ryan joined the church family when they got married. Brianna was recently baptized into Christ in August 2010 and we hope Isaac will make the same choice in the future.

Jolean has been working for Albert Lea Medical Center since 2003. She is a nurse for the Family Practice Clinic. She enjoys working with Dr. Don Kammerer along with taking on the extra responsibilities of training other nurses, par-ticipating on committees, and transitioning the department over to the new computer system. Ryan has been working for the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office as a patrol deputy since 2000. He likes his work in Law enforcement and enjoys training in the new officers. Ryan and Jolean enjoy spending their summers on the golf course or on the ball field when Brianna and Isaac are playing.

Brianna is a 6th grader at Sibley Elementary. She is a wonderful student and a social “pre-teen”. Brianna enjoys playing softball, playing the flute, acting in plays, and dancing in Just For Kix. Brianna has a strong passion for dance and has even choreographed and performed her own dances for things such as 4H.

Isaac is a kindergartener at Sibley Elementary. Just like his sister, Isaac is a very social person. He has made lots of friends and has also begun to excel at his school work. Isaac likes everything “Star Wars” and has a large collection of light sabers. In the summer it is tough to slow Isaac down as he is constantly on the move. Much to both of his grandfathers’ enjoyment, Isaac likes to play T-ball.

We went on a vacation to Disney World in February 2011. We were happy to leave the cold MN winter behind us and enjoy the sunshine of Florida. Ryan’s parents were able to join us on the vacation. We had a wonderful but busy time at Disney World. On the last day we found out that a large snow storm was moving through the Midwest and shut down airports for two days, so we were stranded in Orlando. Our weather in Florida was still very sunny so we made the most of it and drove to Cocoa Beach for a day. Eventually we flew back, dug our car out of a snow bank and made it home to a large drift in the driveway.

We are thankful for our church family at Albert Lea Church of Christ and appreciate all they have done for us over the years.

The Shea Family: Ryan, Jolean, Brianna & Isaac

VERN’S VIEW: Functional Faith Recently, Pam and I have been blessed with the birth of our 2nd grandchild. This has caused me to remember a

documentary program that followed the fetal development of a little boy week by week from week two of his life on. The little one's growth was revealed in clear television images for the first several months of his existence. How they do this is a mystery to me but it was interesting to witness. Even as the boy's development revealed more and more of his individuality and physical character it was always clear that his life was completely dependent on his lifeline, the umbilical chord connecting him to his mother. From this source he received all of his oxygen and nourishment.

There is a striking parallel between this dependent relationship and our relationship with Christ. For him "to live is Mom" and in the same way through our lifeline of the Holy Spirit we can say as Paul did in Philippians 1:21 "to live is Christ". By the miraculous intervention of God we, in Christ, are growing into the "new creatures" God has willed for us to be.

The question I often hear on this subject is "If I'm a new creature in Christ, why don't I feel new?" Also, we fre-quently question "Why do I continue to fail, often in the same way I did before I knew Him?". The answer is that even though we are absolutely "new creatures in Christ", born of the Holy Spirit by way of a blessed rebirth, we still live in the same old body. The Bible uses the Greek word "sarchis" which literally translated is "flesh" although the NIV's translation of the word is "sinful nature." I find that somewhat doctrinal in intent and I think its use is unfortunate, but the idea is that we are, deep within, prone to sin. This word "flesh" describes sin addicted bodies in which our spirits cleansed by rebirth are forced to dwell. That is until the Lord's return when his promise is to outfit us with our "new and glorious bodies" to match the reborn spirit he has blessed us with. In the mean time we are assured by such certainties as are recorded for us in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loves me and gave Himself for me.”

It is this "living by faith in the Son of God" that becomes our "spiritual umbilical". This is a central truth of incredible importance for the Christian life and I believe can be expressed for our understanding by considering three qualities which will help us get a handle on living out our faith. These three are dependency, objectivity, and availability and I ask you to consider, and to lift up in prayer, what it means for you to be dependent in your faith, what and who are the object(s) of your faith, and how your living faith is revealed in your availability to God.

Faithfully Yours, Vern

CHURCH OF CHRIST 1705 SE Marshall Albert Lea, MN 56007

Stamp

MINISTER: Vern Harris

Office 507-373-0814 Cell 320-248-1842 vern.alcc@q.com

ELDERS: Dave Anderson 402-6000

Steve Borge 391-4333 Bob Snow 684-2010

HAITIAN MISSIONARY: Jean Paulite

809-861-7069 jeanpaulite@hotmail.com

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR: Kim Storvick 507-373-1533

kim.alcc@q.com WEBSITE:

www.albertleachurch.com