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 FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT

March 14, 2021

 

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, 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, March 14, 2021     8:00 a.m.    Sunday School/Adult Class     9:00 a.m.    Divine Service - (Lent 4)      Tuesday, March 16, 2021   10:00 a.m.    Morning Prayer   Wednesday, March 17, 2021    6:00 p.m.     Lenten Service                             6:30 p.m.     Christian Catechesis

Sunday, March 21, 2021        8:00 a.m.     Sunday School/Adult Class          9:00 a.m.     Divine Service - (Lent 5)     THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR     March 17, 2021     Commemoration of Patrick, Missionary to         Ireland     March 19, 2021     Feast of St. Joseph, Guardian of Jesus

 

 

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today: Marcia Hanna

Elder for March:  Jeff Schutjer

 

Tuesday Morning Prayer Service will be held this March 16 at 10:00 a.m. 

 

Lenten Services will be held this week Wednesday, March 17 at 6:00 p.m.  Feel free to pick up a full worship schedule for the Lenten season on the back table, and to deliver one to a friend! 

 

Easter Breakfast - You are all invited to breakfast following our Easter Day Divine Service Sunday, April 4 at 8:00 a.m.  Those who are not staying for breakfast are welcome to grab a “to-go” roll in the church basement following the service.  Those who would like to stay to eat will have plenty of seating options available in the church basement.  This year’s breakfast is hosted by our Board of Education and LYF students (grades 5-12). 

 

St. John’s Easter Egg Hunt - The St. John’s Board of Education and LYF invites your children, grandchildren, and neighbors to the St. John’s Easter egg hunt!  The event will be Saturday, April 3 at 10:00 a.m. near the St. John’s garages.  We’ll hear the Easter gospel, have the egg hunt, and enjoy refreshments following the hunt.    

 

Skills and Interests Form - Each member (and non-member spouse) has received a Skills and Interests form in your church box.  As we slowly begin to get into the full swing of mission, mercy, and social activities at St. John’s in a more “normal” way, we would like to know what skills you have for serving your church and what interests you might have in growing in faith and fellowship with your fellow members.  This will help us better connect each of our members with opportunities to serve and grow in the best way for you and your life situation.   

 

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. 

 

Midweek Lent Booklets - If you plan to watch our midweek Lent services from home, feel free to take a stained glass window booklet home with you. They are located by the mailboxes. 

Stained Glass Window Project - Information on our new stained glass window project at St. John’s is on the back table. We now have met our financial goal for the stained glass windows. We are on track to possibly have them installed by April 1st. We wish to thank all those who so generously gave to this project and helped to meet this goal. You can view an enlarged image of the windows on the ramp bulletin board or on the door going to the balcony. 

 

Midweek Service Offering - Offering given at any of our Lent midweek services will go toward the Wednesday Catechesis students’ charity projects. You can find out more about these projects from the yellow handout on the back table. 

 

Easter Baked Goods Needed - If you would like to donate a pan of bars/cookies for the St. John’s Easter egg hunt Holy Saturday, or a pan of rolls/muffins/coffee cake, etc. for Easter breakfast, please sign the sign-up sheet on the back table. Thanks! 

 

2020 Thrivent Choice Dollars must be directed by March 31. Consider joining others who have directed their Choice Dollars towards St. John’s ministry.

 

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. 

 

To Our Church Family: Thank you to everyone for your prayers, cards, memorials and expressions of sympathy. A special thank you to Pastor Cowell for his wonderful service for Melvin and to the ladies that provided and served the lunch. God bless all of you! - The Family of Melvin Haase

 

Thank You! A letter from Aly Bierstedt was received thanking the congregation for the Christmas package and all the prayers and support for her and Austin.  If you would like to read the letter, it  has been posted on the ramp bulletin.

 

SYNOD, DISTRICT & PARTNERSHIP NEWS

 

Midweek Lenten Services at Trinity - Trinity, Algona is offering a Wednesday Lenten service at 11:00 a.m. This is a great option for any who prefer not to drive in the dark or are otherwise busy Wednesday evenings.  No registration is required for this service, and you can plan to wear a mask throughout the service. 

 

Trinity, Algona Schedule - Trinity, Algona continues to stream their worship services 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.

 

COMMUNITY NEWS

Burt Lions Club French Toast Breakfast will be held on Saturday, March 20 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Burt Community Center.  Free will offering. Masks recommended and take outs will be available. Bake Sale by the Burt Library.

 

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Lent 4)

Old Testament: Numbers 21:4-9

Moses set a bronze serpent on a pole, so that all who looked at it would be healed of their snake bites. 

 

Epistle: Ephesians 2:1-10

By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

 

Gospel: John 3:14-21

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

 

FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

“Whoever has been bitten by the snakes of sin need only gaze on Christ and will have healing for the forgiveness of sins.” - Augustine, Sermon 6.7, qtd. from ACCS: John 1-10, p. 124

 

LESSONS ON THE LITURGY 

The Crucifix

Christians love the image of the cross.  The cross is for us a sign of victory over sin, death, and the devil.  Christians also love the image of the crucifix: Jesus hanging on the cross.  When we see a crucifix we see Jesus who, like the man in the parable of the treasure hidden in a field, in His joy sold all that He had on the cross to redeem us for His Father’s Kingdom. We also see the crucifix as a sign of victory.  The crucifix displays for us Jesus glorified on His throne as the great conqueror over sin, death, and the devil. 

 

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article II: Free Will, paragraphs 60-63

God the Lord draws the person whom He wants to convert [John 6:44]. He draws him in such a way that his darkened understanding is turned into an enlightened one and his perverse will into an obedient one. This is what the Scriptures call creating a clean heart [Psalm 51:10].

     For this reason it is not correct to say that a person can do something good and helpful in divine things before his conversion. Because a person is "dead in [his] trespasses" (Ephesians 2:5) before his conversion, there can be no power to work anything good in divine things in him. Therefore, he has no way of doing something good and helpful in divine things. God has one way of working in a rational creature. He has another way of working in some other irrational creature, or in a stone or block. Yet, before a man's conversion, nothing at all can be credited to him for doing good in spiritual matters.

     When a person has been converted [made alive], and is thus enlightened, and his will is renewed, then a person wants to do what is good (so far as he is regenerate or a new man). Then that person will "delight in the law of God, in [his] inner being" (Romans 7:22) and from that time forward does good to such an extent and as long as he is moved by God's Spirit, as Paul says [in Romans 8:14], "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."