St. Peter Press February-April 2026

Suffering Produces Endurance

From the May 2025 Edition of The Lutheran Witness

By LCMS President Matthew Harrison

 

“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame” (Rom. 5:3–5).

 

Do you ever feel like quitting? Quitting friends? Quitting family? Quitting a class? Quitting sports? Quitting school? Quitting church? Quitting life? Of course you have. We all have, and the reasons vary. Life is painful and complicated. It’s a good thing to get out of toxic situations or at least take steps to right them.

 

And yet, Christians have a unique view on “quitting.” We know that suffering is good — and not just in the sense of “no pain, no gain.” We believe that God works profound blessings through suffering, even when those blessings may not be at all evident to us.

 

On the road to Emmaus, a couple of Jesus’ disciples spoke the greatest words of irony ever recorded. They said to Jesus (whom they did not recognize), “Jesus of Nazareth … was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. … [Our] rulers delivered Him up to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:19–21). The irony is this: It was precisely by being put to death that Jesus did “redeem Israel.” He “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). Jesus’ suffering on the cross was the greatest good in history, and yet to His followers who saw it happening, it was scandalous and devastating. It appeared to them that God hated Him and them. But the opposite was true: On the cross, suffering worked the ultimate good. My sins and yours are paid for.

 

Jesus taught, “Take up [your] cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24). In this life, we suffer. We suffer sins against us. We suffer illness. We suffer family problems. We suffer our own failings and weaknesses and those of others. St. Paul — who himself suffered terribly — wrote these comforting words:

 

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Rom. 5:1–5)”

 

We have peace with God in Jesus. Our sins are forgiven, all of them.

 

In Jesus, we have access to the Father by faith because of His love and grace.

 

We can rejoice even when we suffer, because suffering helps us tremendously. We learn to endure. And enduring, our character grows strong. And as our character is forged, we learn to hope, to look beyond the present, knowing that in Jesus the future belongs to us. We bend, we even break sometimes. We doubt. We fear. We fail. We cling to Jesus; but more importantly, when we have nothing left, Jesus clings to us. What Jesus said to His apostles, He says to you: “I chose you. You did not choose Me” (see John 15:16).

 

Love is forged through these trials. Paul says it’s poured into our hearts. God loves me, and ironically, its precisely in trials that I learn that. God loves those around me, and by my suffering I learn to be compassionate and love those suffering around me. And that includes just about everybody I know. “Suffering produces endurance.”

 

 

 

 

LITTLE LAMB PRESCHOOL

By Martha Short

We have entered a new year! After a successful Christmas program, we enjoyed a couple of weeks off for Christmas and are now back in action. At Little Lamb Preschool, we have been learning about all things winter and snow (which is somewhat of a challenge when there is no actual snow on the ground outside). We only have about two and a half months of school left, so we are busy creating, learning, and playing. 

Registration for the 2026-2027 school year opened up at the end of January. We are continuing to offer two morning classes for three-year-olds. So far 15 of the 20 open spots have been claimed. If you know of anyone looking for a preschool, please send them our way. 

Preschool graduation will be on Wednesday, May 6 at 6pm.

KIDS FOLLOWING CHRIST

Snacks, Singing, and Scripture!  With a new year here, we have been back together thanking, praising, and learning about Jesus.  This year, the kids are learning about the life of Jesus as we work through the New Testament.  In fact, our 5th-6th graders have been learning all the books of the New Testament, and we will have a competion soon to see who can say them the fastest!  The last KFC of the school year is April 30th.

CONFIRMATION CLASS

What is prayer? What is a sacrament?  What does my baptism mean for me today?  That’s the kind of stuff we are talking about now in confirmation, as we look at both the Lord’s Prayer and Baptism.

We have only 2 more questioning Sundays coming up. February 15th and March 29th. We are looking forward to the confirmation of Knox Baehr, Ava Halladay, Tatum Hanis, Collins Hild, Brooklyn Kaiser, Macey Mueller, and Megan Williams on  April 19th.

Above, before we took a break for Christmas, the kids had some fun putting together some ginger bread houses during our last class of the calendar year.

LUHI

The congregation is still invited to attend chapel held each Thursday at 10:30. Each week, a different minister leads. 

There is an open house to be held February 10th 6:30-8:30pm for enrollment for next fall. Reminder: the $2,000 Bob & Ruth Gnuse Tuition Scholarship is still available. 

The 2nd annual LuHi Chili Cookoff is set for March 8th 4-7 at LuHi. More information to come soon.

Graduation is set for May 10th at 1pm. All are welcome to join to celebrate Breck Reznicek.

YOUTH GROUP

By Amy Williams

 The Saint Peter Lutheran Youth meet every Wednesday night during the school year.  We share a time of fellowship and fun (usually with a lesson embedded in our “game time”), then adjourn to the youth group room as we are working our way through Season 1 of “The Chosen” TV series.  We’ve talked about the importance of being “salt & light”, but not being “salty” to others.  We’ve looked into the importance of filling our tank with God’s word, prayer, and fellowship with other believers instead of worldly pursuits.  And we’ve seen what it looks like when we don’t see all of the picture and need to trust that God does, He has all of the pieces to the puzzle, and He has a plan!  Each week, the youth fill out a personal journal where they write down an attribute of God that they were impressed with during the week, something they need His help with, and something they are especially thankful for. 

Our kids come to us hungry and tired…they are a very BUSY bunch both with school work and with all of their extra-curricular activities.  We have been richly blessed by all of the families who have provided meals for us and we extend a heartfelt “Thank You” for the great food.  The youth were encouraged to help out at the community’s “Blessings” event right before Thanksgiving as a way to give back to the community.  We are looking for other ways to be Jesus’ hands and feet as we look to serve others both within our church family and beyond.  We would also like to thank everyone who donated to the silent auction or purchased some yummy treats at our cookie walk at Christmas.  Your support of our youth is a great gift.  Thank you for investing in these young Christians! Plans are in place to fix a delicious breakfast between Easter Sunday services this coming April so we hope you can join us!

 

 

 

PIECEMAKERS QUILTERS

The Piecemakers Quilt Group continues to meet weekly and put the finishing touches on 3 to 4 quilts each time they meet. Members include Lenora Schuetz, Laurie Neemann, Karan Legler, Gloria Westerman, Lavonne Ladehoff, Jan Vopalensky, (and Megan Williams in the summer). Looking back at their donations, the amounts are amazing. (Note: these numbers were taken from previous Facebook posts and may not be all of the quilts donated.) 10/19/23-50, 7/17/24-77, 6/19/25-125. The ladies also provide quilts to those baptized in our church and recently donated a quilt to the youth group silent auction. More help is always welcome (and needed) and no sewing or quilting skills needed. Please join in helping in our mission by doing God’s work any Thursday afternoon, 1 pm, here at the church.

 

 

 

 

TREASURER’S REPORT

End of 2025

Income & Offerings:	$174,261.85
Expenses	$181,632.33

Difference of -$7,370.48

 

General fund balance as of 2/4/26: $19,844.70

 SISTERS IN FAITH & LWML

By Gloria Westerman

 

We had a great turn out this year at our annual Epiphany Gathering.  There were 24 ladies that attended the celebration. Donelle S. hosted at her house and a small meal was catered this year.   We collected donations for a mission rather than exchanging gifts, and we will be sending $301 to missions in Africa. 

We have new greeting cards available on the bookshelves. New sympathy and birthday cards have 12 cards per box and are $6. Please place your money in the wooden box next to the cards. 

St. Peter is in charge of the LWML Spring Rally on April 25th. We will provide brunch and activity. If you are able to help in any way, please reach out to me.

Please see the announcement regarding the change with church spring cleaning.

All ladies from the congregation are welcome to come to the quarterly meetings. The next is held on May 11th at 7pm. A huge thank you to all the ladies who have provided food for the recent funerals.

 

SPRING CHURCH CLEANING

Due to lack of volunteers in previous years, Sisters in Faith would appreciate donations to assist in the cost of having the church professionally cleaned. We would like to try it this year and if it goes well, we will look at continuing to do it in the future. There is a box in the Fellowship Hall labeled “church cleaning” to put donations. We would like to have the money collected by March 15th to have cleaning started and finished before Palm Sunday on the 29th of March.

Outdoor cleanup is tentatively planned for April 11th. Rock will need to moved and young, strong bodies are appreciated!

FELLOWSHIP/EVANGELISM COMMITTEE

By Gloria Westerman

The Fellowship/Evangelism committee is currently working on putting together our “Share God’s Love” Valentine’s baskets that will be delivered to 15 members of our St. Peter’s Church family around the 12th of February. There will also be Valentine’s treats after service on the 15th for the congregation. 

The Committee is also looking forward to putting together and delivering Alleluia Baskets again this year. Last year we gave out 48 baskets. The number this year has not yet been determined. The baskets are filled with Easter eggs, baked goods, grocery items, and small gifts. They are given out to our St. Peter Seniors as well as those who regularly gather to share meals at the Gathering Place here in North Bend. 

If you are interested in helping out with these kinds of activities, I encourage you to reach out to Heidi Widick or myself for more information on how you can help us share God’s love.

 

 

VBS 2026

We are looking forward to another fun filled week of Vacation Bible School. This year it will be June 1-5. As we prepare, if you would be willing to offer any special skills you may have, please let Pastor or Melissa Harrell know. We need assistance in set up/decorating (led by Katie Tank), lining up outdoor tables, social media manager, “float” position to fill in wherever needed daily, final day clean up crew, just to name a few positions. If you are willing to lead any of the groups, we already have the tin in the office and you are welcome to look at it early. 

 

~CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS ~

Prayers for Healing & Comfort:

Our Church Family: Sue Dodge, Laurie Neeman, Anna Stuehmer, Ed Slavik, Bernard Larson, Bonnie Wennekamp, Kelly Spath, Terry Sorensen, Lenora Schuetz, Jan Schindler, Jean Sorensen, Sharon & Merlin Metschke, Marilyn Beck, Sharon Mueller

Friends, Family, and Loved Ones:  Renate’ Scheuermann (Carroll Wiebold’s niece), Holly Colburn (Karan Legler’s daughter), Liam Settles (Grandson of Martha & Gordan Settles), Eliese Espinosa (Terry Sorensen’s half-sister), Justin Hall (Seth Harrell’s brother-in-law), Mark Langmeyer (Friend of Dave Saalfeld), Wendy Curtis (Daughter of Dave & Bev Saalfeld), Kim Pearson (Family of Bernard & Diane Larson), Rachel Johnson (Angela Tauber’s Daughter), Barb Huber (Friend of Wambergs), Merrit Smeal (Youth Group member), Diana Kline (Cheyenne Chromy’s grandmother), Bruce Wilgers (Wendy Murphy’s brother), Ben Sasse (Kathy Mensik’s cousin)

Prayers for Members & Loved Ones Serving in the Military:  Justin Chadwick, Mike Elofson, Lauren Kohl, Seth Saalfeld, Matthew Schuetz, Chris Tank, Trevor Widick, Kobe Wilkins, Wyatt Olson, Owen Wynia, Kaylee Boyle, Joe Benes

CHURCH CALENDAR

(Sunday services will all be live-streamed.)

Sunday worship at 9am, Lenten Services at 7pm

Men’s Breakfast Bible Study: Men’s Breakfast Bible Study is on the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30am. 

Monday Night Bible Study: : Join us for a time for study and fellowship, as we look forward to the readings for Sunday Morning!  All are welcome to join us at 6:00PM on Monday night. 

Women’s Bible Study: Tuesday nights at 6:30pm. Reach out to Eileen Chvatal with any questions. The ladies are currently studying Romans 1-7 and will begin Journey Though Lent on February 24th. 

Wednesday Youth Events:

KFC 3:30-4:45pm

            Confirmation class 5:30-6:45pm

Youth Group 6:15-7:15pm

February

1- Mites, Worship with Holy Communion 

2-Sisters in Faith Quarterly Meeting 7pm

4- Council Meeting 7pm

8- Worship

9- Material Girls Quilting Guild 7pm

10- Men’s Breakfast Bible Study 6:30 am

11- Preschool Valentine’s Day Party (M/W)

12- Preschool Valentine’s Day Party (T/TH)

15- Worship with Holy Communion, Questioning

18- Ash Wednesday Service with Choir

22- Worship 

23- No Preschool (M/W)

25- Lenten Service 1

March

1- Mites, Worship with Holy Communion

4- Lenten Service 2

8- Worship, Voters Meeting

9- Material Girls Quilting Guild 7pm

10- Men’s Breakfast Bible Study 6:30am

11- NO YOUTH CLASSES- SPRING BREAK

      Lenten Service-3

15- Worship with Holy Communion

16- No Preschool (M/W)

17- No Preschool (T/TH)

18- Lenten Service 4

22- Worship

26- Lenten Service 5

29- Palm Sunday with Questioning

April

2- Maundy Thursday Service at 7pm

3- Good Friday Service at 7pm

5- Easter Sunrise Service at 7am

            Youth Group Breakfast

            Easter Late Service 9:30am

7- No Preschool

6- Mites, Worship with Holy Communion

12- Worship

13- Material Girls Quilting Guild 7pm 

13-14 Pastor to Spring Pastor’s Conference

19- Confirmation

21- Men’s Breakfast Bible Study 6:30am

25- LWML Spring Rally here 9am

26- Worship with guitars and piano

28- No Preschool (T/TH)

29- Last day for all Youth classes

 

Birthdays/Anniversaries

 

February Birthdays

2- Montana Mueller

3- Ryan Fittje

5- Breck Reznicek, Betty Stuehmer

6-Sara Jensen, Tristan Munderloh

7- Sam Post

9- Anthony Dodge, Jim Emmons

11- Leigh Feala

12- Jeffrey Kaiser, Heidi Widick, Blake Wilberding

13- Sherri Schuetz

14- Chasity Mueller, Elsie Taylor

15- Marilyn Beck

19- Ray Wesch

20- Kelly Liekhus

21- Knox Baehr

22- Brecken Frana, Hazen Olson, Jack Post

23- Diane Larson, D.J. Mottl

25- Samantha McDonald, Betty Mylander

26 Cristy Bloom, Lyn Elofson, Jace Hanis

27- Kaitlynn Bjorklund

28- Lisa Read

 

 

 

 

March Birthdays

1- Ryan Gaughen

4- Chris Dolezal, Holly Hild, Laurie Neemann

5- Dean Bloom, Warren Renner

6- Jim Dodge

9- Kiley Frana, Macey Mueller, Steven Nielsen

11- Amayus Elston

12- Terry Mylander, Todd Mylander, Kelly Spath

15- Everett Harrell

16- Bonnie Wennekamp

18- Mel Harrell, Eden Janousek, Kris Kavan

20- Violet Elofson, Dave Saalfeld

21- Marlyce Franzluebbers, Sam Settles

23- Bart Bosco, Angela Tauber

26- Miranda Dolezal

27- Deb Leftwich

30- Vicki Tank

March Anniversaries

1. Dean & Cristy Bloom-40

8- Jim & Kathy Lewis-40

21- Greg & Kris Kavan-39

24- Reed & Kiley Janousek-14

29- Tristan & Lexi Munderloh-1

 

 

 

April Birthdays

1-Donell Simanek

2-Dalton Kelberlau, Mary Spath

3- Mary Lewis

6- Justin Allen Jr, Ashley Classen, Braxton Kaiser, Leta Wiebold

7-Leonard Westerman

11- Gene Simanek

12- Revel Chapman, Kristan Harris

15- Darren Siebels

16- Madelyn Gaughen, Elliot Janousek, Brett Stuehmer

17- Anna Lewis

19- Lawson Short

20 Corbin Penlerick

23- Jason Robinson

24- Bev Grueber

25- Kevin Harris

27- James Short

April Anniversaries

3-Gordon & Martha Settles-55

5-Merlin & Sharon Metschke-62

10- Steve & Bev Grueber-55

21- Ken & Julie Kelberlau-53,  Lauren & Michael Martin-2

23- Eddie & Heidi Widick-21

26- Bernard & Diane Larson-57

      Gene & Donell Simanek-46

27- Tim & Revel Chapman-52

28- Randy & Wendy Dodge-25