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 SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

Sunday, April 11, 2021

 

Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 

THIS WEEK AT ST. JOHN’S Today, April 11, 2021   8:00 a.m.  Sunday School    9:00 a.m.  Divine Service   10:00 a.m.  Quarterly Council Meeting   Tuesday, April 13, 2021   8:30 a.m.   Pastor Circuit Meeting                      NO Morning Prayer

Wednesday, April 14, 2021      6:00 p.m.     Christian Catechesis       Sunday, April 18, 2021       8:00 a.m.     Sunday School/Adult Class        9:00 a.m.     Divine Service     10:00 a.m.     Voter’s Meeting      THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR    None this week

 

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today: Marcia Hanna

Elder for April:  Boyd Shipler

Acolytes:  Caelum Blocker

                  Zack Steven

 

Quarterly Council Meeting will be held today following the service. Voter’s Meeting will be Sunday, April 18.

 

Thank You!  A special thank you to all those who attended the Easter egg hunt and Easter breakfast. Both of these events were great successes. We also give a huge thanks to  Karla Schutter, the Board of Education, the Wednesday Catechesis class for hosting these events, and the congregation for furnishing food for both of these events.  

 

Stain Glass Window Booklets which we used throughout Lent are available on the back table.  Feel free to take one home to keep.

 

Thank You to those members who purchased an Easter Lily to make our Easter morning worship beautiful and inspirational.  Cheryl Batt

 

Birthday Card Volunteer - We’d love to have a few volunteers to help write birthday cards and put them in the church boxes of our members. The church provides the cards and names for you to write. Please sign the sheet on the back table if you are interested.  We thank the LWML, especially Caradene Parsons, for their many months of contributing to this project.   

 

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. 

 

Stained Glass Window Project - We’ve met our financial goal for our new windows and are on track to possibly have them installed soon! There’s more information on the windows on the back table. Thanks for your generous contributions to this project.  

 

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. 

 

Parish Messenger Articles for the May/June edition are due to Linda Kerkove by April 25.

 

Lent Midweek Offering Thank-You - Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Wednesday Catechesis charity project by giving offerings during our Lenten midweek services.  We collected $1485.  The charities these offerings go toward are: Lakota Ambulance, Kossuth County Cancer Support Foundation, Lutherans in Africa, Moving Veterans Forward, Camp Okoboji, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and Winding Roads Foster Care Transitional Home.  Our catechesis students will be writing letters to these charities explaining to them who they are and why they chose to give money toward their cause along with the donation check. 

SYNOD, DISTRICT & PARTNERSHIP NEWS

 

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.

 

Camp News:

·         Quilt Auction at Camp Okoboji has been set for Saturday, June 19. The project and description sheet must be in by May 21.  If you would like to donate a quilt for the auction you may pick up an information sheet in the church office.

·         Volunteer Weekend is a great time to enjoy Camp Okoboji and share your time and talents. Come and help prepare Camp Okoboji for the upcoming summer season the weekend of April 30-May 2. Room and board will be provided for volunteers.  Our first omelet brunch of 2021 will be Sunday morning, May 2.  For more information, please call the office  at 712-337-3325.

 

Partnership Highway Clean-up - St. John’s and Trinity will be cleaning our partnership Adopt-a-Highway ditch on Saturday, May 15th, at 10:00 a.m.  If you are interested in volunteering at this event, please sign the sheet on the back table and we will get you more information. 

 

COMMUNITY NEWS

City of Burt Clean-up Day - Burt’s free trash pick-up day is scheduled for Saturday, May 1st from 8:00-11:30 a.m.  This year the city is requesting residents to drop their items at the Community Center rather than placing them on the curb.  The city has asked the Churches of Burt volunteer group to help deliver items to the Community Center for residents who are not physically able to deliver themselves.  Volunteers will meet at the Community Center at 8:00 (or whenever you can), receive addresses for a pick-up, and drop off the items back at the Community Center.  Please sign the sheet in the back of church if you are able to help with this project so we can give the city an idea of how many volunteers we have lined up. 

 

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Easter 2)

Old Testament:  Acts 4:32-35

The full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

 

Epistle: 1 John 1:1-2:2

If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

 

Gospel: John 20:19-31

Jesus appears to the disciples, and then to Thomas, and gives them authority to forgive and retain sins. 

 

FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

“’And when He had so said [Peace be with you], He showed unto them His hands and His side.’  For nails had pierced his hands, a spear had laid open his side: and there the marks of the wounds are preserved for healing the hearts of the doubting.” - St. Augustine, On the Gospel of St. John, Tractate 121.4, quoted from: newadvent.org/fathers/1701121.htm. 

 

LESSONS ON THE LITURGY 

The Office of the Keys

What is the Office of the Keys?  The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent.  Where is this written?  This is what St. John the Evangelist writes in chapter twenty: The Lord Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:22-23) [Luther’s Small Catechism, Confession]

 

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article VIII: The Person of Christ, para. 33-37

Next to the article of the Holy Trinity this is the greatest mystery in heaven and on earth. Paul says, "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). Therefore, what kind of communion of the divine nature must that be of which the apostle says, "in [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" so that God and man are one person? It is highly important that this doctrine about the communion of the properties of both natures be treated and explained with proper discrimination. There are many ways and modes of speaking about the person of Christ and of its natures and properties. When these are used without proper distinction, the doctrine becomes confused and the simple reader is easily led astray.

     In Christ two distinct natures exist and remain unchanged and unconfused in their natural essence and properties. Yet there is only one person consisting of both natures. Therefore, that which is an attribute of only one nature is attributed not to that nature alone, as separate. It is attributed to the entire person, who is at the same time God and man (whether the person is called God or man).

     In this way of speaking, it does not make sense that what is attributed to the person is at the same time a property of both natures.