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 FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
December 27, 2020
O God, our Maker and Redeemer, You wonderfully created us and in the incarnation of Your Son yet more wondrously restored our human nature. Grant that we may ever be alive in Him who made Himself to be like us; through 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, December 27, 2020 8:00 a.m. NO Sunday School/Adult Class 9:00 a.m. Divine Service - (Christmas 1) (C) Sunday, January 3, 2021 8:00 a.m. Sunday School/Adult Class 9:00 a.m. Divine Service - (Christmas 2) (C) | THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR January 1 Feast of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus January 2 Commemoration of J. K. Wilhelm Loehe, Pastor |
ST. JOHN’S NEWS
Organist Today: Marcia Hanna
Elder for December: Boyd Shipler
Pastor on Vacation - Pastor Cowell will be on “vacation” (taking time off at home) from December 28-January 2. Feel free, though, to call him on his cell phone if you have any pastoral care needs next week.
Morning/Evening Prayer Coming to St. John’s! - Beginning in January, we will be offering an opportunity for morning prayer every Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. and evening prayer every last Tuesday of the month at 6:00 p.m. These will be excellent, socially distant opportunities to gather with a few other Christians for spoken prayer. Also, if at one of these services you would like to receive the Lord’s Supper, Pastor Cowell will prepare bread and wine for a Divine Service at your request.
Altar Guild Change - We would like to thank Donna Haase for her many, many years of service on the Altar Guild as Donna has decided to retire at the end of this year. We would also like to welcome Betty Koestler and Shirlee Alt to the Altar Guild starting January 2021. Anyone wishing to volunteer, please contact the church office. We don't turn anyone away!!
Portals of Prayer for January-March are now available on the east table in the back.
Devotion Books Available - On the guestbook stand in back are devotional booklets written to guide our faith during the continuance of the pandemic. Feel free to take as many copies for yourself and others as you’d like!
Parish Messenger Articles for the January/February edition are due to Linda Kerkove today.
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.
St. John’s Member Check-in Calls - Beginning in early January, we are going to begin a project at St. John’s of calling all our members to see if there is any way our congregation can be of any help to each other’s faith or life as the pandemic drags on into another year. If you are interested in making some of these phone calls please let Pastor Cowell know.
Epiphany Day Service - St. John’s is having a spoken service of Scripture and prayer on Epiphany Day: Wednesday January 6th at 6:00 p.m. Come enjoy hearing the account of the Magi worshipping our incarnate Lord!
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.
Addresses: If you have a new address/phone number or your college students have a new address, will you please get that information into the church office so we can update our church roster. We would also love to have your cell number and email address if you have one.
Annual Report Articles - After the first of the year I (Rosann) will be working on the 2020 Annual Report. You can email any articles/information to me at churchofficest.johnsburt.org.
Flocknote - The beginning of the new year is a great time to review your Flocknote messaging preferences. See the Flocknote information sheet in the back for a description of your messaging options, and let Pastor Cowell know if you’d like to make any changes to which messages you receive.
Wednesday Catechesis - Wednesday Catechesis is off this Wednesday. We will resume class on January 6.
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.
LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Christmas 1)
Old Testament: Isaiah 61:10-62:3
The Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.
Epistle: Galatians 4:4-7
When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Gospel: Luke 2:22-40
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus visit the temple and Simeon and Anna sing praise to God.
FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS
“It seems wonderful that the sacrifice of Mary was not the first offering, that is, ‘a lamb a year old,’ but the second, since ‘she could not afford’ the first (see Lev. 5:7). For as it was written about her, Jesus’ parents came ‘to offer a sacrifice’ for him, ‘according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’ But this also shows the truth of what was written, that Jesus Christ ‘although he was rich, became a poor man (2 Cor. 8:9).’ Therefore, for this reason, he chose both a poor mother, from whom he was born, and a poor homeland, about which it is said, ‘But you, O Bethlehem Ephratha, who are little to be among the clans of Judah (Mic. 5:2),’ and the rest.” - Origen, Homilies on Leviticus 8.4.3, quoted in ACCS: Luke, 48.
LESSONS ON THE LITURGY
Gloria in Excelsis
Gloria in Excelsis is Latin for “Glory [to God] in the highest.” These are the first words of the traditional hymn of praise sung near the beginning of the Divine Service. These words are taken from the angelic hymn of Christ’s birth in Luke 2:14. In the Gloria, the Church celebrates Christmas all year long, and we, along with the shepherds, are invited to go and see Jesus in the Scripture readings and Holy Supper that follow. – The content of this lesson comes from Scott Kinnaman, Worshiping with Angels and Archangels: An Introduction to the Divine Service, 16.
FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD
Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article VII: The Holy Supper, para. 35-37, 39
In addition to Christ's and St. Paul's expressions (the bread in the Supper is the body of Christ or the communion of the body of Christ), the following forms are also used: under the bread, with the bread, in the bread. With these words the papistic transubstantiation may be rejected and the sacramental union of the bread's unchanged essence and Christ's body may be shown. In the same way, the expression "the Word became flesh" [John 1:14] is repeated and explained by the equivalent expressions "the Word . dwelt among us" [John 1:14]. The divine essence is not changed into the human nature. But the two natures, unchanged, are personally united. Just as in Christ two distinct, unchanged natures are inseparably united, so in the Holy Supper the two substances-the natural bread and Christ's true natural body-are present together here on earth in the appointed administration of the Sacrament. [...] The words of Christ's testament ("This is My body") are not a figurative, allegorical comment, but are a unique expression. Justin says: "This we receive not as common bread and common drink. We receive them as Jesus Christ, our Savior, who through the Word of God became flesh. For the sake of our salvation He also had flesh and blood. So we believe that the food blessed by Him through the Word is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ."
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