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 SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

July 11, 2021

 

O Lord, You granted Your prophets strength to resist the temptations of the devil and courage to proclaim repentance. Give us pure hearts and minds to follow Your Son faithfully even into suffering and death; through the same Jesus Christ, 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 11, 2021   8:00 a.m.      Adult Class    9:00 a.m.      Divine Service  10:00 a.m.      Council Meeting   Tuesday, July 13, 2021  10:00 a.m.    Morning Prayer    Sunday, July 18, 2021   8:00 a.m.       Adult Class    9:00 a.m.       Divine Service   10:00 a.m.      Voter’s Meeting

THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR      July 16, 2021     Commemoration of Ruth

 

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today:  Marcia Hanna 

Elder for July:  Jeff Schutjer 

Greeter:  Mary Gifford

 

Portals of Prayer - The July-September Portals of Prayer are available in the back of church. 

 

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

 

Thank You! - Thank you to our guest musician, Jerry Johnson, for sharing his talents in praise of God today. Jerry is a life-long member and an elder of Bethany E&R Church in Ledyard, where he also leads the music for their worship services.  In addition to playing at church, Jerry also shares his music with the residents of several area care centers.  Jerry lives and farms in the Ledyard area and also works for the Kossuth County Road Dept.

 

Thank You! - Thank you to the parents, children, volunteers, and our Board of Education: Karla Schutter, Brenda Schutjer, Stefanie Hatten, Shirlee Alt, and Barb Thilges for making our Family of God VBS a success. 

 

VBS Offering - This year during our Family of God VBS, kids and volunteers gave an offering to Lutheran Family Service.  We set a goal to raise $300 and ended up collecting $439.75!  Thank you to all who gave to this worthy organization.  You can learn more about the good work that LFS does at lutheranfamilyservice.org or by picking up a pamphlet from the rack in back of church. 

 

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. 

 

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.   

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. 

 

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!

 

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. 

 

Up-Date on Stained Glass Window Project - The company who is installing the new windows came Saturday to   measure them.

 

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. 

 

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: When is the last time you memorized a Bible verse? Think you still can? Consider sticking a post-it note with a Bible verse on your fridge, bathroom mirror, or near the coffee pot. The more often you see it, the more likely you are to remember it! “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 Lutheran Family Service - www.LutheranFamilyService.org

 

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Proper 10)

Old Testament:  Amos 7:7-15

Amos is rebuked by Amaziah the priest of Bethel and Jeroboam the king of Israel for prophesying the destruction of Israel. 

 

Epistle: Ephesians 1:3-14

We have obtained adoption as sons of God in Christ, and an eternal inheritance.

 

Gospel: Mark 6:14-29

King Herod beheads John the Baptist at the request of the daughter of his wife Herodias. 

 

FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

“Not long after this John the Baptist was beheaded by the younger Herod, as stated in the Gospels. Josephus also records the same fact, mentioning Herodias by name, and stating that, although she was the wife of his brother, Herod made her his own wife after divorcing his former lawful wife, the daughter of Aretas, king of Petra, and separating Herodias from her husband while he was still alive. It was on her account also that he killed John and waged war with Aretas, because of the disgrace inflicted on the daughter of the latter. Josephus wrote that in this war, when they came to battle, Herod’s entire army was destroyed and that he suffered this calamity on account of his crime against John.” - Eusebius, Church History 1.11, qtd. in ACCS: Mark, 84. 

 

LESSONS ON THE LITURGY 

IXTHUS

Ever wonder why some Christians have a bumper sticker of a fish on the back of their car?  In the early days of the Church many Christians were martyred for their faith.  In order to continue to spread the Gospel Christians began identifying themselves by a code word: ixthus (ΙΧΘΥΣ) which is Greek for “fish.”  These letters created an acronym for “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Savior.” Thus the sign of the fish (ΙΧΘΥΣ) became a symbol for the Christian faith. 

– The content of this lesson comes from Pamela Nielsen, Behold the Lamb: An Introduction to the Signs and Symbols of the Church, 16-17.

 

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article XI: God’s Election, para. 75-77

Our election to eternal life is founded not on our godliness or virtue, but on Christ's merit alone and His Father's gracious will. He cannot deny Himself because He is unchangeable in will and essence. When His children depart from obedience and stumble, He has called them to repentance again through the Word. When they turn to Him again in true repentance by a right faith, He will always show His old paternal heart to all who tremble at His Word and from their heart turn again to Him.

     Furthermore, the declaration in John 6:44 is right and true, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him." However, the Father will not do this without means, but has ordained His Word and Sacraments for this purpose as ordinary means and instruments. It is not the will of the Father or of the Son that a person should not hear or should despise the preaching of His Word and wait for the drawing of the Father without the Word and Sacraments. For the Father draws indeed by the power of His Holy Spirit. However, He works according to His usual way. He works by the hearing of His holy, divine Word. Every poor sinner should therefore attend to the Word, hear it attentively, and not doubt the Father's drawing. For the Holy Spirit will be with His Word in His power, and will work by it. That is the Father's drawing.