Announceents
St. John’s Lutheran Church
109 Maple St. Burt, Iowa|Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Pastor: Rev. Thomas Cowell
Secretary: Rosann Shipler
Pastor’s Cell: 319-464-5548
Church Office: 515-924-3344 stjohnsburt.org
Pastor’s Email: pastor@stjohnsburt.org
Church Email: churchoffice@stjohnsburt.org
THE FEAST OF SAINT TIMOTHY
January 24, 2021
Lord Jesus Christ, You have always given to Your Church on earth faithful shepherds such as Timothy to guide and feed Your flock. Make all pastors diligent to preach Your holy Word and administer Your means of grace, and grant Your people wisdom to follow in the way that leads to life eternal; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
THIS WEEK AT ST. JOHN’S Today, January 24, 2021 8:00 a.m. Sunday School/Adult Class 9:00 a.m. Divine Service - (St. Timothy Day) (C) Tuesday, January 26, 2021 10:00 a.m. Morning Prayer 6:00 p.m. Evening Prayer Wednesday, January 27, 2021 6:00 p.m. Christian Catechesis Sunday, January 31, 2021 8:00 a.m. Sunday School/Adult Class > | 9:00 a.m. Divine Service - (Epiphany 4) (C) THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR January 24, 2021 Feast of St. Timothy, Pastor and Confessor January 25, 2021 Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul January 26, 2021 Feast of St. Titus, Pastor and Confessor January 27, 2021 Commemoration of John Chrysostom, Preacher |
ST. JOHN’S NEWS
Organist Today: Marcia Hanna
Elder for January: Tony Hatten
Tuesday Morning/Evening Prayer - This week we will have Tuesday morning prayer at 10:00 a.m. and Tuesday evening prayer at 6:00 p.m.
Personal Contact Information - If you did not do so at the voter’s meeting, please fill out the contact information form in the pew before you leave worship. This will help us make sure we have your most up to date information in the church office. Please indicate if you would like this information in the church directory, or kept for office use only. Place your completed form in the offering plate in back or return it to the church office.
Stained Glass Window Project - Information on our new stained glass window project at St. John’s is on the back table. You can view an enlarged image of the windows on the ramp bulletin board or on the door going to the balcony.
Thank You cards and notes have been received by our members for the goodies/books etc. that were delivered at Christmas by the Mission Board. Those thank you notes are posted on the ramp bulletin board.
Pastoral Care On Demand - Pastor Cowell would love to serve you Communion at church or at home, pray, read Scripture, offer Christian counsel, and/or just visit any time that works for you! Call or text him any time at 319-464-5548.
District Convention Lay Delegate - If you are interested in serving as the lay delegate representing St. John’s at the Iowa District West Convention on June 27-29, 2021, please contact the church office or Pastor Cowell. We will need to select a lay delegate by the end of January.
Annual Report Articles - I have been working on the 2020 Annual Report. You can email any articles/information to me (Rosann) at churchoffice@stjohnsburt.org.
Lutheran Witness Yearly Subscriptions are due in February If you wish to keep receiving the Witness, the cost is $22.70 for the year. You may pay for this in the church office or mark an envelope and place it in the offering plate. If you receive the Witness and wish to cancel or would like to receive it, please also let the church office know.
Flocknote - Did you know that in addition to receiving cancellation announcements on Flocknote, you can also receive a daily prayer and Scripture verse via text message or email? See the Flocknote information sheet in the back for a description of all of your messaging options, and let Pastor Cowell know if you’d like to make any changes to which messages you receive.
Evangelism and Charity Information Booklets can be picked up from the back table. These are a summary of Mission and Charity support of our congregation for the 2021 year.
Shopping through Amazon Smile - Sign up at Amazon Smile to have 0.5% of your eligible purchases donated to St. John’s! Click this link to sign up: smile.amazon.com/ch/42-0950037, click on the Amazon Smile button on the stjohnsburt.org homepage, or pick up an instructions packet on the back table to get signed up.
St. John’s Live-streamed Service - The easiest way to access our service livestreams and recordings is to click on the links posted on the homepage of stjohnsburt.org.
TLC Quilts Available - Don’t forget that quilts made by the Trinity Lutheran Church Quilters are always available on the “giving pew” by the east door!
SYNOD, DISTRICT, & PARTNERSHIP NEWS
Trinity, Algona Schedule - Trinity, Algona continues to stream their worship services, daily devotions, and other videos online. You can access these resources at trinityalgona.org/corona or the Trinity YouTube and Facebook pages either live or any time after as a recording.
Sunday Preview Lectionary Videos - The Partnership Pastors have begun a new video series taking a look at the Scripture readings and themes of the upcoming Sunday. These videos will be published on Trinity’s YouTube channel every Thursday.
Family Fishing Weekend at Camp Okoboji - January 29-31 - Come enjoy a family friendly weekend of ice fishing, faith and fellowship! This is the 11th year that Pastor Ben Dose and Pastor Jim Stogdill will be the leaders and educators of this Ice Fishing Retreat for all ages!
Okoboji Winter Games - January 28-31 - Planning to attend the Okoboji Winter Games and need a safe and refreshing place to stay? Check with us because we still have Family Ministry Cabins available. (712-337-3325 or campokoboji.org)
LECTIONARY SUMMARY (St. Timothy Day)
First Reading: Acts 16:1-5
Timothy begins to follow Paul in his ministry.
Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:11-16
Paul urges Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith.
Gospel: Matthew 24:42-47
Who is the faithful servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS
“Faith and godliness are allied to each other, and sisters; and he who believes in Him is godly, and he also who is godly, believes the more.” - Athanasius, Letter 11.9 (who makes reference to 1 Timothy 6:11-12 later in this paragraph), accessed from: newadvent.org/fathers/2806011.
LESSONS ON THE LITURGY
Heterodoxy and Orthodoxy
Heterodox means “other/different-belief.” Orthodox means “straight/correct-belief.” Christians who believe the Bible as it is confessed in the Ecumenical Creeds (Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds) and more recently in the Lutheran Book of Concord we say to have an orthodox faith (not to be confused with the Eastern Orthodox Church). It was the task of the Apostles, pastors, and lay people in the early church to learn and defend the orthodox faith so that all people might believe and pass down the truth about Jesus to the Church of future generations. This is also an important task of Christians today. The great danger of heterodox beliefs is that they can lead us toward having heretical beliefs. While heterodox Christians are those who have certain wrong beliefs about God, those with heretical beliefs are not Christian at all and will not join us in eternal life.
FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD
Epitome of the Formula of Concord, Summary, Content, Rule, and Norm, paragraphs 1-3
1. We believe, teach, and confess that the sole rule and standard according to which all dogmas together with [all] teachers should be estimated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and of the New Testament alone, as it is written Ps. 119:105: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And St. Paul: Though an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you, let him be accursed, Gal. 1:8.
Other writings, however, of ancient or modern teachers, whatever name they bear, must not be regarded as equal to the Holy Scriptures, but all of them together be subjected to them, and should not be received otherwise or further than as witnesses, [which are to show] in what manner after the time of the apostles, and at what places, this [pure] doctrine of the prophets and apostles was preserved.
2. And because directly after the times of the apostles, and even while they were still living, false teachers and heretics arose, and symbols, i. e., brief, succinct [categorical] confessions, were composed against them in the early Church, which were regarded as the unanimous, universal Christian faith and confession of the orthodox and true Church, namely, the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, we pledge ourselves to them, and hereby reject all heresies and dogmas which, contrary to them, have been introduced into the Church of God.
