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
FESTIVAL OF THE REFORMATION
October 25, 2020
Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people. Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times of temptation, defend us against all enemies, and grant to Your Church Your saving peace; 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, October 25, 2020 8:00 a.m. Sunday School/Adult Class 9:00 a.m. Divine Service - (Reformation Day) (C) Wednesday, October 28, 2020 3:00 p.m. Spoken Divine Service (C) 6:00 p.m. Christian Catechesis Sunday, November 1, 2020 8:00 a.m. Sunday School/Adult Class 9:00 a.m. Divine Service (All Saints Day) (C) | THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR October 25 Commemoration of Dorcas, Lydia, and Phoebe, Faithful Women October 26 Commemoration of Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heermann, and Paul Gerhardt, Hymnwriters October 28 Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles October 31 Festival of the Reformation Day |
ST. JOHN’S NEWS
Organist Today: Marcia Hanna Elder for October: Jerry Koestler
Acolytes: Caelum Blocker and Zack Steven
“SHARE THE BLESSING” letter and giving envelope are in your bulletin boxes. Be sure and pick those up!
Parish Messenger Articles for the November/December edition is due to Linda Kerkove today.
Pastoral Call Received and Declined - On Tuesday, October 13th, I (Pastor Cowell) received a call to serve as pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sumner and St. John Lutheran Church in Spring Fountain, IA. On Friday, October 16th, I declined that call, electing to remain serving as pastor of St. John’s and Trinity. The next couple weeks in church we will be praying for our friends in Christ at St. Paul and St. John that God bless them with a pastor to serve Him among them.
Halloween Handouts - There are several Halloween handouts on the back table. Take as many as you’d like for yourself or to hand out at trick-or-treating!
New “Socially Distant” Divine Service Available - Our midweek spoken Divine Service continues every Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. at St. John’s. Feel free to attend any Wednesday, there will be plenty of room for you to sit at a distance from others. 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.
Adult Bible Study on the Book of Matthew - Adult Bible Class is studying 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. Next Wednesday’s lesson will be a lesson on saints and the example of faith they have left for us.
TLC Quilts Available - The TLC Quilters quilts are back on the “giving pew”! These quilts are always available for you to deliver to a friend who is sick, lonely, in financial need, celebrating a milestone in life, or simply needs to know you and the Church care.
New Booklets in Back of Church - Be sure to pick up our newest editions of the “Simple Explanation” series booklets in the back of church. Here are the titles we have available in back: A Simple Explanation of . . . Christianity; Lutheranism; Heaven and Hell; The Church Service; The Church Year; Holy Communion; and Fellowship in the Lord’s Supper.
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.
Daylight Savings Time begins next weekend: Turn back your clocks!
Shopping through Amazon Smile - Did you know that Amazon will donate a portion of all of your online purchases to St. John’s if you shop through Amazon Smile? All you have to do is choose St. John’s as your charitable organization by clicking this link: smile.amazon.com/ch/42-0950037 or by clicking on the Amazon Smile button on the stjohnsburt.org homepage. Then, every time you shop on Amazon do not go to amazon.com; instead go to smile.amazon.com to do your online shopping. Everything at smile.amazon.com is exactly the same, except that you will now be donating 0.5% of eligible purchases to St. John’s! 0.5% doesn’t sound like a lot, but in four years Amazon Smile has donated $957 to St. John’s, so your donations do add up to a significant amount! Now would be a great time to get started with Amazon Smile as the Christmas shopping season begins. If you need any help getting started feel free to contact Pam Reimers or Pastor Cowell and they can help you through the process.
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 either live or any time after as a recording:
Sun. 8:00am/9:15am: Worship/Bible Study | Every Weekday: Psalm Devotion (recorded) |
Mon. 8:00pm: Evening Prayer | Wed. 10:00am: “Ask the Pastors” | Thurs. 9:00am: Morning Prayer |
COMMUNITY NEWS
Trunk or Treat - The Churches of Burt are hosting Trunk or Treat again this year! The event is on October 31 from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Burt Presbyterian Church parking lot. If anyone would like to host a trunk, you can contact Hannah Cowell at 712-294-4962!
Burt Lion’s Club Omelet Breakfast is being held today (October 25) from 8:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Burt Community Center. There will be both a carry-out option as well as socially distant seating available. The cost for the meal is a free-will donation.
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.
Breakfast - The Burt City will be hosting a Sausage and Gravy Meal on Saturday, October 31 from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the Burt Activity Complex. This will be a free will donation with a drive up only pick-up.
Turkey Dinner - The Lakota Ambulance will be hosting a Drive-by Dinner on Sunday, November 1, 2020 from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Menu: Turkey with Gravy over Mashed Potato, Dinner Roll and Applesauce. For more information refer to the flyer by the east door.
LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Reformation Day)
Old Testament: Revelation 14:6-7
John sees an angel who says: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Epistle: Romans 3:19-28
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Gospel: Matthew 11:12-19
Jesus laments that the world has rejected His prophets and even Himself, and treated the kingdom of heaven with violence.
FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS
“Whoever has faith in God and Christ is righteous.” - Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Paul’s Epistles, qtd in ACCS, Romans, 103.
LESSONS ON THE LITURGY
Article IV of the Augsburg Confession
Article IV of the Augsburg Confession has been called the chief doctrine of the Lutheran Church and the doctrine on which the Church either stands or falls. This article of faith confesses that our righteousness before God is won for us by Christ alone and is obtained by us through faith alone. Here is Ac IV:
[Our Churches, with common consent,] also teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.
FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV: Justification, paragraphs 31-34
John 8:36 says, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Therefore, by reason we cannot be freed from sins and merit forgiveness of sins. In John 3:5, it is written, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." But if it is necessary to be born again of the Holy Spirit, the righteousness of reason does not justify us before God and does not fulfill the Law. Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." They totally lack the wisdom and righteousness of God, which acknowledges and glorifies God. Romans 8:7-8 says, "The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." These testimonies are so clear that, they do not need a keen understanding, but only an attentive hearer. If the carnal mind is hostile against God, the flesh certainly does not love God. If it cannot be subject to God's Law, it cannot love God. If the carnal mind is hostile against God, the flesh sins, even when we do outward civil works. If it cannot be subject to God's Law, it certainly sins even when it has deeds that are excellent and praiseworthy according to human judgment. But the human heart without the Holy Spirit either feels secure and despises God's judgment, or in punishment flees from God and hates Him when He judges.
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