Article from the Fargo Forum on Vandalism at St. John's

From the Fargo Forum - By Wendy Reuer

HANKINSON, N.D. – St. John’s Lutheran Church of Belford Township parishioners were preparing to host sunrise Easter service. But instead of enjoying breakfast at the church, they were speedily cleaning up broken glass and debris in the chapel, basement and storage room.

Vandals are suspected of using a bat to break six windows in the church overnight Saturday.

The incident was reported to the Richland County Sheriff’s Office at 5:47 a.m. Sunday. The more than 100-year-old church is located about four miles north of Hankinson.

The Rev. Adam Moline said the bottoms of four large stained-glass windows in the chapel were destroyed, as well as a basement window and sacristy window. A sacristy is a room for keeping church vestments and furnishings.

The stained glass was not ruined, but due to the age of the church and window size, the bottom windows must be custom-ordered, Moline said. The windows were updated in 2006.

Sheriff Larry Leshovsky estimated the damages to be about $12,000.

Despite finding the damage just before Easter services, worship continued for the congregation of about 60.

“Easter, for us, is our most important holiday. It’s our victory over sin, death and the grave, and a little bit of broken glass wasn’t going to stop us,” Moline said.

In a news release, Leshovsky said it appears vandals used a bat. The sheriff’s office also received several complaints of mailbox vandalism in the same area.

Moline said there is no history of vandalism at the church.

“We don’t know who would do this. We’ve had no threats. We haven’t had anybody we know of that is mad at us for anything,” he said.

Anyone with information about any of the incidents is asked to call the Richland County Sheriff’s Office at (701) 642-7711.

This article can be found at:  http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/317372/

Also see the News Reports below (not the one that appeared on TV, but still helpful.)

LWML Rally Opening Devotion

IN the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

Let us pray, Dear Lord, heavenly Father.  Today we gather in your name to serve you.  We pray that you would bless our time here at the LWML rally as you promise to do.  Bless our study of the word, and keep our faiths strong and trusting in you, as you tell us, wherever two or more are gathered in your name, you are with us, so be with us today.  Through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.  Amen. 

Our reading is from Matthew Chapter 11.  "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Weariness.  How many of you have felt weary the last few weeks?  It is something that I think all of us deal with at one time or another isn't it?  We all have times where things just seem to wear you down, making life exhausting and difficult.  Sometimes, it seems like there is more to do than there are hours in the day to accomplish, and it really makes us tired.  Job after job after job.  We have to get up, make the bed, do the laundry, cook to meals, clean the house and more.  This is just the start of the list.  We have much to do, and sometimes the burden of it weighs us down. 

And on top of that, we have sin.  Sin, by which our thoughts words and deeds go against God's will in what we say and do.  Sin that overwhelms us with the knowledge we deserve eternal death and punishment.  Even our sin makes us weary.  Even our sin makes us tired.  The psalmist says in psalm 130, Out of the depths have I called unto you O Lord.  And that is where we are, in the depth of our sin, and in our sin we are weary of trudging through and dealing with it.

But our text today tells us that there is rest.  Our text tells us there will be a time when we need not be weary any more.  Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden… and I will give you REST!"  Jesus tells us there is rest for our souls.  Rest from our sin, rest from our tiredness.  Rest and comfort for eternity.

Jesus Christ can give us that rest because he has taken our tiredness and weariness upon himself.  Wearily he bore the cross up the hill of Golgatha, bloodied and bruised.  He was heavy laden with the weight of the cross, and the weight of your sin upon his own shoulders, bearing it for you.  He was exhausted as he hung upon the cross, barely able to speak the words, "It is finished."  In these words, you have rest.  Rest in the knowledge that your sin is atoned for.  Rest knowing that in the death and resurrection of Jesus you have eternal life.  Rest and Peace in Jesus.

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you," Jesus says.  No, not as the world gives, but as Jesus gives peace to you.  You have rest and peace with your heavenly father in Jesus. 

"Come to me all that are weary and heavy laden," Jesus tells us.  And the miracle is even though we are unable to come to him, that rather Jesus comes for us.  Jesus comes for you.  Jesus comes and brings you rest.  Amen. 

Dear Lord, heavenly father, We ask that you would give us rest in your son Jesus Christ, and in His death and resurrection.  Grant that those times here and now in our lives where we feel weary, that we might have that rest in Jesus.  Be with us today as we gather as an LWML zone, and give us a rest and respite from the world here as we gather in the holy, powerful and precious name of Jesus, that same name in which we pray.  Amen.