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 SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
September 27, 2020
Almighty God, You exalted Your Son to the place of all honor and authority. Enlighten our minds by Your Holy Spirit that, confessing Jesus as Lord, we may be led into all truth; through the same Jesus Christ, 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, September 27, 2020 8:00 a.m. Sunday School/Adult Class 9:00 a.m. Divine Service (Pentecost 17) (C) Wednesday, September 30, 2020 6:00 p.m. Christian Catechesis Sunday, October 4, 2020 8:00 a.m. Sunday School/Adult Class 9:00 a.m. Divine Service (Pentecost 18) (C) | THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR September 29 Feast of St. Michael and All Angels September 30 Commemoration of Jerome, Translator of Holy Scripture |
ST. JOHN’S NEWS
Organist Today: Marcia Hanna Elder for September: Tony Hatten
October-December Portal of Prayers are now available in the basket along the east wall. Be sure to pick one up.
The Flowers on the Altar have been given by Eunice Meyer in memory of Eugene Meyer and in celebration of Eunice’s birthday.
Cookie Thank You Cards have been received from Pam and Don Madsen and Barb Meyer. The cards and messages they wrote are posted on the ramp bulletin board. Janice Schealler and Sheryl Weaklend also send their thanks for thinking of them. Sheryl brought joy to many residents of Titonka Care Center with whom she shared the cookies!
New “Socially Distant” Divine Service Available - Beginning October 7th, St. John’s is offering a spoken Divine Service every Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. This Service is intended to serve those who are not yet comfortable coming to the more heavily attended Sunday Divine Service. We encourage you to wear a mask in and out of this service if you’d like. Bulletins will be spaced every four pews and you will receive the Lord’s Supper right at your pew. We hope that this regularly scheduled weekday Divine Service will help more of our members receive the gifts of God more regularly and without burden to their health or conscience. If you need to receive the Lord’s Supper at home or on a different day, Pastor Cowell is always happy to schedule a visit. You can call Pastor Cowell on his cell phone at 319-464-5548.
New Booklets in Back of Church - St. John’s has recently purchased several new booklets from the A Simple Explanation series. These small booklets condense major topics of the faith to a few easy-to-understand sections. The booklets are great for your own knowledge and can also serve as a conversation starter with your friends and family. Here are the titles available in the back of church that you are free to take and keep: A Simple Explanation of . . . Christianity; Lutheranism; Heaven and Hell; The Church Service; The Church Year; Holy Communion; and Fellowship in the Lord’s Supper.
TLC Quilts Available - The TLC Quilters quilts are back on the “giving pew”! Feel free to deliver a quilt to a friend in need any time you like. This is a great way to show that you, the Church, and God care for those who receive the quilt. Great people to give a quilt to include those: suffering major health problems, grieving the loss of a loved one, going through difficult financial times, newly living alone or in a care center, or celebrating a major milestone in life. The recipients don’t have to be members of our or any church and we don’t need to know who receives them. Don’t be shy about delivering them because the quilters make literally hundreds of quilts per year for this good purpose!
Adult Bible Study on the Book of Matthew - Beginning September 13th the adult Bible study will begin a verse-by-verse study of the Gospel of Matthew. You are welcome to join us at any time!
Midweek Christian Instruction for All Ages - All members of the congregation are invited to join us Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. for our Midweek Christian Catechesis. Your presence will be an encouragement to our children as you share your wisdom and experience with them as fellow Christians. A class schedule along with an explanation of all of the changes to our midweek program has been published in the September Parish Messenger so that you can take note of any lessons you would be especially interested in attending.
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.
SYNOD, DISTRICT, & PARTNERSHIP NEWS
Trinity, Algona Schedule - Here is the weekly line-up of online resources from Trinity, Algona, which you can access at trinityalgona.org/corona or the Trinity YouTube and Facebook pages:
Sunday - Worship Livestream at 8:00 a.m., Bible Study at 9:15 a.m.
Monday - Evening Prayer at 8:00 p.m.
Wednesday - “Ask the Pastors” at 10:00 a.m.
Thursday - Morning Prayer at 9:00 a.m.
Every Weekday - Psalm Devotion (not live)
You can also access all of the live content as a recording any time in the future.
Camp Okoboji Volunteer Day is being held on Saturday, October 10 from 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Meals and Lodging provided. Come for an hour or come for the day! Call: 712-337-3325.
Will you be a Voice for Life? In 2019 the Iowa Supreme court ruled that the Iowa Constitution guarantees a woman’s right to have her baby killed before he or she is born. Now it will be very difficult to put any restrictions on this terrible act. Iowa may very well become a “Mecca” for killing little children created by God and for whom Jesus died. The only way to reverse this deadly course is to have a legislature that will boldly take a stand and take action to protect innocent life. Please vote to affirm life. Lutheran Family Service – Rev. Dr. Jim Lamb, Life Advocate
COMMUNITY NEWS
Fall Decorating - The Burt Women’s Club is sponsoring the decorating of the flower pots on main street. They are asking for help with this project. If you would like to decorate a flower pot for fall, contact Burt City Hall.
LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Proper 21)
Old Testament: Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32
The Lord announces His coming judgement of Israel and urges them to repent of their sins.
Epistle: Philippians 2:1–4, 14–18
St. Paul encourages Christians toward a love and obedience which has been perfectly exemplified and delivered to us in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Gospel: Matthew 21:23–27
The chief priests and elders question Jesus as to by what authority He teaches. Jesus in turn reveals their faithlessness by asking by what authority the baptism of John was delivered.
LCMS MEMORY VERSE CHALLENGE
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. -Isaiah 26:3
LESSONS ON THE LITURGY
Inspired and Inerrant Word of God
When Christians of the LCMS talk about the Bible we use words like inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility. We believe that the words of Scripture are inspired by the Holy Spirit. This means that God the Holy Spirit worked through the biblical authors to write the exact words He intended to deliver us. We believe that these words of God are inerrant and infallible, meaning they contain no errors or contradictions. Even when we consider the weaknesses of translating the Bible into different languages, we still believe the words of our English Bibles, if translated in an accurate and faithful way, are indeed the Word of God being spoken to us.
Perhaps most important of all we believe, as the Epitome of the Formula of Concord states, that “the only rule and norm according to which all teachings, together with all teachers, should be evaluated and judged (2 Timothy 3:15-17) are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testament alone.” In other words, the Word of God is the highest authority in our lives to which all other earthly wisdom and power ought to bow.
FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article XI: Eternal Election, paragraphs 36-38, 40
We are daily reminded and encouraged that we are to learn and conclude what His will toward us is only from God's Word, through which He works with us and calls us. We should believe and not doubt what it promises to us.
For this reason Christ causes the promise of the Gospel not only to be offered in general, but He also seals it through the Sacraments. He attaches them like seals of the promise, and by them He confirms the Gospel to every believer in particular.
On this account, as the Augsburg Confession in Article XI says, we also keep private Absolution. We teach that it is God's command that we believe such Absolution. We should regard it as sure that, when we believe the word of Absolution, we are as truly reconciled to God as though we had heard a voice from heaven [John 12:28-30], as the Apology also explains this article. This consolation would be entirely taken from us if we did not understand God's will toward us from the call that is made through the Word and through the Sacraments.
Furthermore, God has ordained in His counsel that the Holy Spirit should call, enlighten, and convert the elect through the Word [Ro. 10:17]. He will justify and save all those who by true faith receive Christ.
