Welcome to the Gethsemane Lutheran Church Newsletter. We welcome all who are members of Gethsemane, as well as those who are discovering us for the first time, to join us in our mission journey. We hope to keep you up-to-date in these times of amazing change for our church community. Feel free to forward the newsletter to others and give us the emails of those you think my wish to connect with us and see what great things God is doing with our church each week!

Upcoming Easter Service/Lunch:

As Easter approaches, we want to remind you of when we will be holding service here at Gethsemane. This coming Easter Sunday, March 31st, we will have service, with brunch afterwards. All are welcome to come and celebrate the life of our Savior. Our friend Drew is going to prepare a Delicious Easter lunch of fried fish with sides. Please, don’t forget to tell Pastor Jeff how many of your family are coming so that we have everything ready!

Easter Baskets and Egg Hunts:

This year, once again, we are hosting an Easter egg hunt, and distributing Easter baskets to our youth! After service on Easter, we will give out Easter baskets to all the youth who attend worship, and afterwards go out into the courtyard to watch kids collect Easter eggs! Afterwards, we will all gather together for a fried fish lunch thanks to Drew Hammond, our resident chef! All are welcome!

El dia de Pascua tendremos cestas de Pascua para todos los ninos ! No olvides de llevar todo tu familia a la misa y tambien para la busqueda de huevos de Pascua!!

Maundy Thursday Service and Communion:

The Maundy Thursday service this year will be held during the noon hour on Thursday in the fellowship hall. It will be a brief service, followed by communion for all those who wish to participate. Afterwards, you are welcome to the table to share a lunch with our gathered community.

Jueves Santo comunion 3/28 durante la hora del mediodia en la sala de companerismo

Weekly Sunday Lunches:

As you may have noticed, we have been eating together after worship. The food is prepared by our food service team during the week, but we are still in need of some volunteers to help warm it up, serve, and clean up afterwards. If you have an interest in volunteering on one Sunday one a month to help do this wonderful service work, please let Pastor Jeff know!

Prayers For God’s People/Oraciones para el Pueblo de Dios:

Please send your loving prayers and blessings to Linda Nehrbass as she recovers from surgery, to Randy and Dianne Schepker who have lost their sister in law/aunt, and to Earle Rydholm who is recovering from a fall.

Call for Volunteers:

Lastly, if anyone has an interest in volunteering at the Food Shelf, or in the clothes closet, please speak with Pastor Jeff, or with Randy. It is a very rewarding experience, and we could use the help!

Larry, the eldest of five children, was born in Kankakee Illinois, and was raised in Bradley, Illinois where he graduated from Bradley Bourbonnais High School. He was a gifted and intellectual scholar. Larry studied at Concordia College in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Fort Wayne, Indiana receiving his Bachelors in Theological Languages. He received his Masters of Divinity from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri and was ordained on August 11th, 1974. He went on to earn his Juris Doctor in 1988 from Hamline University School of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Larry married Janet Ann Austin on June 24, 1972. They traveled the world and ultimately settled down in Saint Paul. Together they celebrated 51 years of marriage, in which they raised 5 children and were blessed to enjoy 7 grandchildren. As a couple, Larry and Janet loved canoeing, camping and riding bikes, a love passed on down to their family.

Lawrence’s calling as a pastor led him to Montana; Shishmaref, Alaska; East Rochester, New York; and Dakar, Senegal in West Africa, where he served as a missionary. He found a new passion, upon his return to the US, in Agricultural Law, Appellate Law and Immigration Law. He practiced law in Saint Paul until his death this past February. He loved helping people, giving everyone a fair shake, providing justice and safety. His clients also became his family.

Larry is well known for his stories and his love for sharing them (occasionally in a language you didn’t know). He was a kind, gentle and patient man who provided caring hospitality, and welcomed all with a kind word and a gentle tease. He will be dearly missed.



We are forever thankful for Pastor Crosby’s presence as part of our Gethsemane church and community, leading worship and preaching—and for his many decades-long friendship and support to Pastor Jeff and his family.

The Camden Shop is now open! After a short prayer of blessing, we opened the doors and shoppers found clothing and housewares that they needed. We are so excited about how this place will help our friends in the Camden neighborhood! Spread the word, and come say hello!



We are open every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month at Gethsemane 

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 

21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 

22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 

24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 

25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 

26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 

28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 

29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 

31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 

33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 

36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

Why does Jesus Die? That is the question during this holy week. Why did He have to suffer? Why did Jesus have to die like He did; so weak, fragile, so small, without power and influence. Without the capacity to change the powers that be in the world? Why did Jesus have to die? 

There are many that say He had to die due to punishment for our sins. Even though we who are sinners deserve the punishment for our sins, Jesus took the punishment for us. In this way, we paint God as someone who required payment in the form of death for our sins in this world. Many people have heard this through the years, and that this is the reason Jesus had to die. But today, in the book of John, Jesus tells us to look, listen, and hear differently. Jesus says that His life here is like a sea, and that the suffering that He will experience will come and go, and the moment He is tossed to the earth in death, something very special and real is going to happen. This special moment is not a symbol of recompense, but a transformation in Jesus that will transform the whole world. 

But how will this world become transformed from from such an awful event? By the fruit that comes into this world from Jesus’ death. See when He dies, you and I will live. When Jesus must suffer, you will be healed. When Jesus must die, you will have eternal life, and just like the sea, all will be washed away, and the fruit, blessings, and gifts that come from this will be from God Himself. See, Jesus was not a lamb to slaughter as punishment for our sins, but a vessel of transformation and healing, meant for all people in every time. A great blessing be the death of Jesus and how he has saved us. Now that He has saved us in the resurrection, we may now remember this sacrifice and find comfort in knowing Jesus is always with us, now and forever and ever. 

Amen. 

“…neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39) 

Nothing can separate us from the love of God…no moment spent in silence in a dark room of sadness, or alone in the wilderness of this world. No late night working in your office or struggling to sleep at four in the morning. God is with us in all our living and in our dying, in all circumstances, no matter what. 

This verse from Romans is a comfort, but it is also another stark reality. God does not promise that we will be saved from the difficult, lonely, or suffering times. God does not promise that we won’t experience the transition from this world to the next, the dying of our earthly body. But, we are promised that, through it all, we will not be alone.

This was part of the sermon at the recent funeral of Pastor Lawrence Crosby, a gentle man and great theologian who graced our church many times over the years, preaching of God’s faithfulness through Christ. Pastor Crosby passed away suddenly while alone in his law office, working at his desk. It was a sudden loss for his family and those who loved him. It was difficult to think that loved ones were not by his side.

Years ago, I remember sitting with Larry in his office, among its stacks of books and papers, discussing our families (after getting his legal advice on wills and county waivers), and laughing at his subtle sense of humor. And, I remember that our conversation (like so many we had together) eventually turned to God, to Jesus, to some theological thoughts he was mulling over. His knowledge was vast; his voice, thoughtful; his faith like a rock. Of course he would have been the first to admit he wasn’t perfect, a sinner like the next person, and he would be the first to remind you that your sins were not what define you. His confidence stood firmly in the knowledge that God was always there, knew everything, knew our hearts—Jesus with us, even when we were not at our best…no matter what. 

This is good news to remember, but sometimes hard to fathom in difficult times, lonely times, or times we are not our best selves and making questionable life choices. It is the good news we hold onto as we walk through this coming Holy Week, remembering Christ up on the cross facing death for us, so that we might live —Jesus being resurrected to show God’s victory over death. 

And, Christ was not alone, while dying on the cross, either. Not because His disciples, friends, and mother were near, witnessing his agony, praying by his feet. Not because of the multitudes that gathered, gawked or sat in awe, reverence or fear. Not because of the other men to his sides who were hanging on their own crosses. Jesus was not alone because God was with Him. Even when Jesus questioned where God was, Father, why hast thou forsaken me? Even in that moment, the moment of true human fear and suffering…God was near. God did not save His son from human suffering or experience of death, but from the forever-ness of its outcome.

Yes, it gives me comfort to know that God was with Larry at his desk, with my dad as he lay dying in my home, my mother passing alone in the middle of the night, and a friend who struggled long hours in the hospital. It gives me comfort to know that when it is my time, that God will be with me, too. God does not abandon us in our time of need. Trust in this. Look to Christ on the cross, and then the risen Christ, and trust. Trust in God with all your heart. Let us be forever grateful that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen

Gethsemane Lutheran Church

4656 Colfax Avenue North

Minneapolis, MN 55412

612-521-3575