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 FEAST OF THE HOLY TRINITY

May 30, 2021

 

Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 

THIS WEEK AT ST. JOHN’S Today, May 30, 2021   8:00 a.m.      Adult Class    9:00 a.m.      Divine Service    Tuesday, June 1, 2021   No Morning Prayer

Sunday, June 6, 2021     8:00 a.m.     Adult Class      9:00 a.m.     Divine Service   THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR       June 1, 2021       Commemoration of Justin, Martyr

 

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today: Marcia Hanna

Elder for May:  Tony Hatten

 

Pastor Cowell on Vacation - Pastor Cowell will be on vacation beginning after church today through Tuesday, June 8th.  If you need to reach him during that time you can call or text him on his cell phone at: 319-464-5548.  If you are in immediate need of pastoral care, please call the Trinity pastoral care phone at 515-361-1269, which either Pastor Schlund or Lund will be carrying.  

 

St. John’s VBS is scheduled for June 9, 16, 23, and 30 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.  You can read more about this year’s VBS in your Parish Messenger.  There are also VBS fliers on the back table.  Feel free to take one for your own information or to hang up at an area business. Registration forms are on the table or you may email the church office for one to fill out.  

 

VBS Volunteers - If you would like to volunteer to help at VBS any of the four Wednesdays, or to make cookies/bars for any of the meals, please sign up on the sheets on the back table.

 

Vacation Prayer Cards - On the back table are prayer cards designed for you to put in your car or camper for when you travel. On the card is a prayer for before you travel along with other prayers and Psalms you can pray on the go. There is also information on how to find an LCMS congregation to worship with when you’re away from home on a Sunday. Feel free to take a card, laminated daily prayer folder, and Small Catechism for each of your vehicles!

 

Skills and Interests Form - If you have not yet completed your Skills and Interests form, you are still welcome to turn it in at the church office.  If you need an extra copy, they are available on the back table. 

 

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. 

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.

 

St. Lukes (Fairville) 125th Celebration - You are invited to join us as we celebrate one year later our 125th Anniversary! On Sunday, June 13, we will have a meal for everyone from noon-1:30 p.m., followed by our anniversary service at 2:00 p.m. After the service, we will have fellowship with cake and ice cream with our time capsule on display. Everyone is invited to join us at one or all events!

 

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.

·         Be a Volunteer Counselor! We are seeking high school youth and college-aged young adults to serve as counselors during Cub Weeks, Junior High Week, and Youth Wee. Apply at campokoboji.org

·         Omelet Brunches are back at Camp Okoboji! Join us the first Sunday every month for some good food and company.

·         Sunday Worship Services at camp are held every Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor  day at 9:45 a.m.

 

Building Healthy Families: This weekend we pause to remember those who have sacrificed their lives for our nation through military service. They have ensured the freedoms we enjoy as Americans and we are so grateful. Take a trip to a cemetery this week – maybe with your grandchildren in tow – and talk about the meaning of their sacrifice. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 Lutheran Family Service - www.LutheranFamilyService.org

 

COMMUNITY NEWS

 

Burt Memorial Day Services will be held on Monday, May 31st at the Burt Activity Complex at 10:00 a.m. We will then march to the Burt Township Cemetery for Military Honors. A light lunch will be served at the Complex following the Military Honors from 11 a.m.-1p.m.

Burt Fire Department Pancake Breakfast will be held on Sunday, June 6, 2021 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Burt Activity Complex. Menu: Pancakes, eggs, bacon and drinks. Free-will donation.

 

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Trinity Sunday)

Old Testament: Isaiah 6:1-8

Isaiah sees the Lord in His throne room, surrounded by the seraphim singing “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts.” 

 

Epistle: Acts 2:14a, 22-36

Jesus rules at the right hand of the Father forever, as had always been prophesied of Him. 

 

Gospel: John 3:1-17

Jesus says to Nicodemus: “Unless one is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

 

FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

“All those Catholic expounders of the divine Scriptures, both Old and New, whom I have been able to read, who have written before me concerning the Trinity, Who is God, have purposed to teach, according to the Scriptures, this doctrine, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit intimate a divine unity of one and the same substance in an indivisible equality; and therefore that they are not three Gods, but one God: although the Father has begotten the Son, and so He who is the Father is not the Son; and the Son is begotten by the Father, and so He who is the Son is not the Father; and the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son, but only the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, Himself also co-equal with the Father and the Son, and pertaining to the unity of the Trinity.” - Augustine, On the Trinity 1.4, retrieved from newadvent.org/fathers/130101.htm

 

LESSONS ON THE LITURGY 

The Name of our Triune God

There is a growing trend among radical leaders of less faithful Christian denominations, especially the ELCA, to refer to God the Father as “mother god” or refer to the Holy Trinity as our “goddess.”  These blasphemies against the name of our Triune God are not biblical and are not a true description of the God who we worship.  As a faithful Christian, you should not pray together with anyone who uses such language of God, and you should seek to teach in a loving way the true name and essence of our God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

 

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

Augsburg Confession, Article III: The Son of God, paragraphs 1-6

Our churches teach that the Word, that is, the Son of God assumed the human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So there are two natures-the divine and the human-inseparably joined in one person. There is one Christ, true God and true man, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried. He did this to reconcile the Father to us and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of mankind.

   He also descended into hell, and truly rose again on the third day. Afterward, He ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. There He forever reigns and has dominion over all creatures. He sanctifies those who believe in Him by sending the Holy Spirit into their hearts to rule, comfort, and make them alive. He defends them against the devil and the power of sin. The same Christ will openly come again to judge the living and the dead according to the Apostles' Creed.

     [The Creed of Athanasius states, "The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but one God. Just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so also are we prohibited by the catholic (universal) religion to say that there are three Gods or Lords."]