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 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

June 13, 2021

 

Blessed Lord, since You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; 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, June 13, 2021   8:00 a.m.      Adult Class    9:00 a.m.      Divine Service    Tuesday, June 15, 2021   10:00 a.m.  Morning Prayer    Wednesday, June 16, 2021 5:30-7:30 p.m.  Vacation Bible School

Sunday, June 20 2021     8:00 a.m.     Adult Class      9:00 a.m.     Divine Service     THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR   June 14     Commemoration of Elisha

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today: Kitty Bierstedt 

Elder for June:  Jerry Koestler

 

St. John’s VBS - Families and friends are welcome to join us for the remaining three VBS Wednesdays: June 16, 23, and 30 from 5:30-7:30.  We’d love volunteers for these three Wednesdays as well. 

 

Greeter and Usher Sign-up - We're excited to reintroduce greeters to our Sunday mornings at St. John's!  Your family or you and a friend are welcome to sign up for a Sunday to greet on the back table.  Of course, hand shaking will be optional.  Also, we'd love to have at least one usher per month to help Jeff with duties as needed.  You can sign up for this on the back table as well. 

 

Float Driver Needed - We’re looking for a volunteer to drive the church float in the Burt Summer Celebration Parade on July 10, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. Please let the church office know if you would be willing to drive.

An adorable baby is on the way…. Let’s shower the parents with gifts before the big day!!  Baby Girl Cowell will be here in about a month.   Join us June 27^th after church to help celebrate the pending birth by bringing a copy of your favorite children’s book. 

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!

Parish Messenger Articles for the July/August Edition is due to Linda Kerkove by Sunday, June 27.

 

Sunday School/Service Time Change Discussion - Members of the Board of Education, Sunday school parents, and other members have been discussing over the past couple years the potential benefits of moving our Sunday school and adult Bible study to 8:30 a.m. and our service to 9:30 a.m.  The benefits that have been discussed for moving our Sunday schedule back 30 minutes include: 

• a little more time to get young children ready for Sunday school
• more time to evaluate road conditions in the winter
• more sunlight for driving to church in the winter
• more possibilities for after-church fundraising/mission lunches (with church ending a 

   little closer to lunch time).  

Because we would love for the entire congregation to be involved in this discussion, please think about what Sunday schedule you prefer so that you can be prepared to share your thoughts at the July 18th voter's meeting.  If possible, we would love to make a "yes" or "no" decision on this change before Sunday school begins in the fall.   

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 waiting for them to be 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 at 12:30 p.m. For decades, the Auxiliary has hosted a Quilt Auction and Craft Sale, which they have used to fund multiple projects at Camp. 

·         Be a Volunteer Counselor! We are still seeking high school youth and college-aged young adults to serve as counselors for our camp weeks.

·         For anyone coming to Camp Okoboji, please be aware that construction is blocking the normal access from Highway 86 to the camp entrance.  Access to camp must go the long way completely around the Wahpeton loop.  That would mean exiting off Highway 86 at the first road north of the normal camp turn, going past Kazarelli’s restaurant, taking the right hand curve before Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp, past Gull Point State Park, past Crescent Beach Resort and arriving at our entrance.  

 

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Proper 6)

• Old Testament: Ezekiel 17:22-24
• The Lord will take a twig and plant it on the mountain height of Israel, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar.
•  
• Epistle: 2 Corthians 5:1-17
• Whether we are in the body or in heaven with Jesus we aim to please the Lord wherever we are.
•  
• Gospel: Mark 4:26-34
• Jesus teaches that the kingdom of God is like a seed scattered on the ground, and like a mustard seed.

FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

• “Christ is the kingdom of heaven. Sown like a mustard seed in the garden of the virgin’s womb, he grew up into the tree of the cross whose branches stretch across the world. Crushed in the mortar of the passion, its fruit has produced seasoning enough for the flavoring and preservation of every living creature with which it comes in contact.” - Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 17, qtd. in ACCS: Mark, p. 62. 
•  

LESSONS ON THE LITURGY

• What is the Bible?
• The Bible gathers together the writings of God’s chosen prophets and apostles over a period of more than a thousand years.  Through the Holy Spirit, God Himself gave these writers the thoughts and words they recorded (verbal inspiration), such that the Bible is God’s Word.  For this reason, the Scriptures are both infallible (incapable of error) and inerrant (containing no mistakes).  Holy Scripture is therefore entirely reliable and gives us everything we need to know and believe for Christian faith and life.  See Hebrews 1:1-2; Ephesians 2:19-20; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21. - An Explanation of the Small Catechism (CPH: 2017), p. 46-47
•  

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

• Large Catechism, Part II: Apostles’ Creed, paragraphs 53-55
• Until the Last Day, the Holy Spirit abides with the holy congregation or Christendom. Through this congregation He brings us to Christ and He teaches and preaches to us the Word. By the Word He works and promotes sanctification, causing this congregation daily to grow and to become strong in the faith and its fruit, which He produces.
•    We believe that in this Christian Church we have forgive-ness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments and Absolution and through all kinds of comforting promises from the entire Gospel. Therefore, whatever ought to be preached about the Sacraments belongs here. In short, the whole Gospel and all the offices of Christianity belong here, which also must be preached and taught without ceasing. God's grace is secured through Christ, and sanctification is wrought by the Holy Spirit through God's Word in the unity of the Christian Church. Yet because of our flesh, which we bear about with us, we are never without sin.
•    In the Christian Church we shall daily receive the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here. So even though we have sins, the Holy Spirit does not allow them to harm us. For in the Church there is nothing but forgiveness of sin. This is because God forgives us and because we forgive, bear with, and help one another.