Thursday, July 30, 2020

Announcements

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 NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

August 2, 2020

 

Heavenly Father, though we do not deserve Your goodness, still You provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may acknowledge Your gifts, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 

 

THIS WEEK AT ST. JOHN’S

Today, August 2, 2020

   9:00 a.m.    Divine Service (Pentecost 9) (C)  

 

Sunday, August 9

   9:00 a.m.    Divine Service (Pentecost 10) (C) 

  THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR

   August 3

    Commemoration of Joanna, Mary, and  

       Salome--Myrrhbearers

 

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today:  Kitty Bierstedt

Elder for August: Boyd Shipler

 

Welcome New Members Alfred and Peggy Schadendorf who have transferred their membership from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Mesquite, NV.  Alfred and Peggy  have been worshipping with us for a while now but be sure to take some time and welcome them to St. John’s.

 

Portals of Prayer Booklets for July-September are in a basket in the back of the church instead of each mailbox.  Feel free to pick one up or deliver one to a friend!

 

Holy Communion available - If you are not comfortable coming to the Sunday service but would still like to receive Holy Communion, you are welcome to participate in a Divine Service in the sanctuary at St. John’s during the week by appointment.  Bread and wine will be laid out before your arrival and Pastor can maintain plenty of distance during the service.  If you are not able to come to the sanctuary, we can arrange a safe way for you to receive the Lord’s Supper at home.  Feel free to call Pastor Cowell on his cell phone at 319-464-5548 to set up a time to meet.  

 

St. John’s Live-streamed Service - St. John’s is now live-streaming our Sunday Divine Service on our YouTube channel: “St. John’s Burt.” These services will be archived for you to view on YouTube later as well. 

 

New Weekly Announcements Email - St. John’s has started emailing our weekly announcements through Flocknote.  If you would like to receive these weekly announcements in a computer or smartphone-friendly format, contact the church office and we can add you to the list.  You can also contact the church office to update any of your Flocknote preferences. 

 

St. John’s Kids - St. John’s Kids is a collection of short videos on the liturgy, Small Catechism, and other topics of the Christian faith.  These videos can benefit “kids” of all ages! View them by clicking on the “St. John’s Kids YouTube Channel” icon on the homepage of stjohnsburt.org.  

 

Pastor’s Corner - There is a new tab at stjohnsburt.org called the “Pastor’s Corner.”  Here you’ll find a collection of resources we’ve been using to learn at St. John’s during the past three years.  Check back often as new content is added to this page each week.  If you have any recommendations for content for either the Youtube channel or Pastor’s Corner, feel free to let Pastor Cowell know! 

 

Offerings and alms during our time away – We thank God for blessing us with the tools and resources to continue the distribution of His grace at St. John’s, and we thank God for blessing us with faithful Christians to fund our ministry and operational expenses.  Keep up the good work! Also note that if you or your family has encountered any financial hardship during this time, don’t hesitate to contact Pastor Cowell to see if our congregation can help in any way. 

 

St. John’s Vacation Bible School - This year St. John’s is hosting a "family VBS."  This means that we are encouraging all our members and friends of all ages to join the kids as we learn what it means to be a Christian family as well as a Christian church family.  The VBS will be on four Wednesday evenings from 5:30-7:30, with supper being at 5:30.  Our big uncertainty right now is when we will be able to have our first VBS Wednesday!  We will let you know as soon as we have the dates set.  If you would like to volunteer at the VBS in any capacity, please let Pastor or a member of the Board of Education know and we’ll find you a spot to serve. 

 

SYNOD, DISTRICT, & PARTNERSHIP NEWS

 

Trinity, Algona Schedule - As Trinity, Algona opens their worship in their church building today, note that they will continue their livestreamed service and other online resources in the coming months. You can find all these resources from Trinity at: trinityalgona.org/corona.  

 

Camp Okoboji has cancelled summer programs, but is still renting out the Family Ministry Cabins. See campokoboji.org for more information. 

Building Healthy Families: For possibly the first time in history, on every hour of any given day we hear bad news and we know we can do nothing about most of it. It’s overwhelming. As a result, a lot more people are experiencing anxiety. This week, would you give someone the gift of your time? Visit someone who is lonely or afraid. Listen to their concerns. Share encouraging words and remind them (and yourself) that God is still on His throne. “Then He placed His right hand on me and said: Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.”  Revelation 1:17 (Also, consider taking a “news” vacation for a few days by turning off the TV – try it, you’ll feel better!)  Lutheran Family Service - www.LutheranFamilyService.org

 

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Proper 13)

Old Testament: Isaiah 55:1-5 

Isaiah prophecies of the day in which the Lord will provide for us the priceless food of His eternal covenant with us.  

 

Epistle: Romans 9:1-13

We are made children of God not by human ancestry, but by faith in the promises of God.

 

Gospel: Matthew 14:1-21

Jesus feeds 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two fish. 

 

LCMS MEMORY VERSE CHALLENGE

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

 

LESSONS ON THE LITURGY 

Our Daily Bread from God

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we pray: “Give us this day our daily bread.”  However, language scholars are not certain of the precise meaning of the Greek word which has been commonly translated as daily.  The word itself is extremely rare, almost always referring to this petition of the Lord’s Prayer.  Possible meanings of the word are the bread of tomorrow, the super-abounding bread, the supernatural bread, or the necessary bread.  We should also consider the context of this word in the Lord’s Prayer, taking note that all seven petitions set our eyes toward eternal life.  This is all to say that when Jesus instructs us to pray “give us this day our daily/future/super-abounding/supernatural/ necessary bread,” our desire should not stop for the bread on our kitchen table, but should include also the bread of the Table of our Lord which satisfies for all eternity.   

 

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article III: Righteousness before God, paragraphs 4-7

We believe, teach, and confess what our righteousness before God is this: God forgives our sins out of pure grace, without any work, merit, or worthiness of ours. He presents and credits to us the righteousness of Christ's obedience [Ro. 5:17-19]. Because of this righteousness, we are received into grace by God and regarded as righteous.

We believe that faith alone is the means through which we lay hold of Christ. So in Christ we lay hold of that righteousness that benefits us before God for whose sake this faith is credited to us for righteousness (Ro. 4:5).

We believe, teach, and confess that this faith is not a bare knowledge of Christ's history, but it is God's gift [Ep. 2:8]. By this gift we come to the right knowledge of Christ as our Redeemer in the Word of the Gospel. And we trust in Him that for the sake of His obedience alone we have-by grace-the forgiveness of sins and are regarded as holy and righteous before God the Father and are eternally saved.

We believe and teach, that according to the usage of Holy Scripture the word justify means, in this article, "to absolve, that is, to declare free from sins." Proverbs 17:15 says, "He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord." Also Romans 8:33 says, "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies."