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 NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

July 25, 2021

 

Almighty and most merciful God, the protector of all who trust in You, strengthen our faith and give us courage to believe that in Your love You will rescue us from all adversities; 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, July 25, 2021   8:00 a.m.      Adult Class    9:00 a.m.      Divine Service    Tuesday, July 27, 2021   10:00 a.m.    Morning Prayer    Sunday, July 25, 2021   8:00 a.m.       Adult Class    9:00 a.m.       Divine Service

THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR    July 25, 2021    Feast of St. James the Elder, Apostle      July 28, 2021    Commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach, Kantor     July 29, 2021    Commemoration of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany     July 30, 2021    Commemoration of Robert Barnes, Confessor and Martyr     July 31, 2021    Commemoration of Joseph of Arimathea

 

 

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today:  Marcia Hanna 

Elder for July:  Jeff Schutjer  

Greeters:  Lynn and Kitty Bierstedt

 

Evening Prayer Discontinued - We will no longer be having evening prayer the last Tuesday of the month. We will continue to have morning prayer every Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m.

 

New Schedule - Beginning Sunday, September 12, Sunday School and adult class will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the Divine Service will begin at 9:30 a.m. 

 

Partnership Rally Day at Smith Lake - The entire congregation is invited to our Partnership Rally Day at the east shelter at Smith Lake Sunday, August 29, at 10:30 a.m.  We will begin with a brief prayer service including the installation of Sunday School teachers and presentation of Bibles and Catechism, followed by lunch and games. Bring a lawn chair or blanket!

• Note that we will have our regularly scheduled Divine Service at St. John’s at 9:00 a.m. on this Sunday as well. 

 

Partnership Potluck and Hymn Sing - Join us Wednesday, September 8 at St. John’s for our Partnership Potluck and Hymn Sing!  The potluck begins at 5:30 in the church basement. Bring a main dish, side, or desert if you’re able.  (Feel free to come later if work prevents you from arriving at 5:30.)  Then, join us at the outdoor altar at 6:30 for a hymn sing; we'll be taking requests!  Please label your serving dishes if you’d like them back. 

 

Sign-Making Day at St. John’s - If you are interested in making a Joshua 24:15 sign for your house like the VBS families did, please sign up on the back table.  We need at least five participants to be able to host this project at St. John’s.  When we have at least five participants we will pick a date that works for everyone to make the signs.  There is an example of the sign in the back of the church for you to see. 

 

St. John’s T-Shirt Sales - If you missed your opportunity to purchase a St. John’s T-shirt a year ago (or you would like a second one!), we will have more T-shirts available within the next couple weeks. If you’d like to purchase one, give your shirt size and $6.00 per shirt to the church office and we will get your shirt to you as soon as they arrive. 

 

St. John’s Prayer Chain - You are always welcome to submit a prayer to our St. John’s Flocknote Prayer Chain.  Simply share your prayer with Pastor Cowell or the church office and we will send it to our Flocknote Prayer Chain group. If you would like to receive Prayer Chain text messages or emails, or any other St. John’s communications via Flocknote, please contact Pastor Cowell or the church office. 

 

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. 

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. 

 

Update on Stained Glass Window Project - The company who is installing the new windows have taken measurements and will be installing the windows soon!

 

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 Resources - You can find a variety of digital media for your faith, including service livestreams, at trinityalgona.org or by searching Trinity, Algona on YouTube and Facebook. 

 

Kossuth County Fair Volunteers Needed - The Partnership congregations will be helping serve the free BBQ at the fair the evening of Wednesday, August 4. Please let Pastor Cowell or the church office know if you are able to help at this event.  We’d love to know if you can help by July 25 so we can make sure we have enough volunteers. 

 

Traveling to Camp Okoboji - For those coming to Camp Okoboji, a gravel access road has been put into place.  The normal turn off Highway 86 will take you to Camp’s entry via the access road.  There is no longer a need to go around the Wahpeton Loop.  However, the access road only comes to Camp’s entry.  If you want to go beyond Camp’s entry, you would still need to go around the Wahpeton Loop.

 

Building Healthy Families: “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” What a thought-provoking quote from Corrie Ten Boom! I Thessalonians 5:17 reminds us to, “pray without ceasing.”  So, which is it for you…steering wheel or spare? Think about it and adjust accordingly! Lutheran Family Service - www.LutheranFamilyService.org

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Proper 12)

Old Testament: Genesis 9:8-17

The Lord sets the bow in the clouds as a sign of His covenant with Noah that never again would He send a flood to destroy all flesh. 

 

Epistle: Ephesians 3:14-21

St. Paul prays for the Ephesian Christians that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith and they be filled with the fullness of God. 

 

Gospel: Mark 6:45-56

Jesus walks out on the water to the disciples’ boat during a storm. 

 

FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

“But why was He crucified? Because the wood of His lowliness was necessary for you. For you had swollen with pride and had been cast forth from your homeland. The way has been washed out by the waves of this world, and there is no way to cross over to the homeland unless you are carried by the wood. Ungrateful man, do you ridicule Him who has come to you that you may return? He Himself became the way, and this through the sea. For this reason He walked on the sea: that He might show you that there is a way upon the sea. But you, who cannot in any way yourself walk on the sea, let yourselves be carried by the ship, be carried by the wood! - Augustine, Tractate 2.4.3 on John, qtd. in ACCS: Mark, 95. 

 

LESSONS ON THE LITURGY 

The New Testament Ark

From the start the boat has been a symbol of the Christian Church.  Part of the reason for this is that boats make a number of appearances in the New Testament. Jesus made a habit of teaching from a boat.  Jesus called several of the disciples out of fishing boats to be “fishers of men.”  Jesus revealed His divinity to His disciples by walking on water to their boat on one occasion and rebuking the wind and waves from a boat on another occasion. Another reason that the boat is a symbol of the Church is the Church’s similarity to Noah’s ark.  Just as God kept Noah and His family safe in the ark from the Flood as evildoers drowned in judgement all around them, so now God washes sin from us in Baptism and places us safe in the ark of the Church.  If you look up in many sanctuaries such as ours you will see that they have been designed to look like the hull of a ship flipped upside down.  By this we are reminded that when we are hearing the Word and receiving the Sacrament as God’s Holy Church, we are safe and secure with Christ from any danger or threat to our eternal life. 

 

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

Large Catechism, The Lord’s Prayer, paragraphs 53-56

We pray that [God's] kingdom may come to those who are not yet in it, and, by daily growth that it may come to us who have received it. [...]

     From this you see that we do not pray here for a crust of bread or a temporal, perishable good. Instead, we pray for an eternal inestimable treasure and everything that God Himself possesses. This is far too great for any human heart to think about desiring, if God had not Himself commanded us to pray for the same. But because He is God, He also claims the honor of giving much more and more abundantly than anyone can understand [Ephesians 3:20].