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 FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

September 5, 2021

 

O Lord, let Your merciful ears be open to the prayers of Your humble servants and grant that what they ask may be in accord with Your gracious will; 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, September 5, 2021   8:00 a.m.  Adult Class    9:00 a.m.  Divine Service     Tuesday, September 7, 2021   10:00 a.m. Morning Prayer     Wednesday, September 8, 2021    5:30 p.m.    Partnership Potluck                        Hymn Sing

Sunday, September 12, 2021       8:30 a.m.    SS School/Adult Class        9:30 a.m.    Divine Service        THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR        September 5, 2021     Commemoration of Zechariah and Elizabeth

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today:  Kitty Bierstedt          

Elder for August: Tony Hatten 

 

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.  Stop by your church mailbox to pick up a reminder postcard for this time change. 

 

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 p.m. 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 p.m. for a hymn sing; we'll be taking requests!  Please label your serving dishes if you’d like them back. 

 

Wednesday Catechesis Parent Meeting - Our start of the year parent/child meeting for Wednesday Christian Catechesis will be at the beginning of our first class on Wednesday, September 15th at 6:00 p.m.  We’d love for both parents to attend if possible.  

 

Hymn of the Month devotions for September are available on the lectern in back of church.  You can also view a digital version of the Hymn of the Month devotion at: trinityalgona.org/blog/2021/09/01/o-god-my-faithful-god

 

New Resources Available - Take a look at the several new booklets in the pamphlet rack in the back of church.  New titles include, from the A Simple Explanation series: Angels, the Bible, and Church Symbols, and from the A Biblical Response series: Suicide, Addiction, homosexuality, Transgenderism, Divorce, and Abortion. Feel free to take as many of these booklets as you’d like. 

 

St. John’s T-Shirts - If you missed your opportunity to purchase a St. John’s T-shirt a year ago (or you would like a second one!), we now have T-shirts available in the church office. The cost is $6.00 and can be picked up any time.

 

New Stained Glass Windows! - We will be blessing our new windows immediately following the Divine Service on Sunday, September 12. You can view pictures of the installation process of our new stained glass windows at: stjohnsburt.org/new-stain-glass-window-installation.html

 

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. 

 

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.  You can access a pdf of the service bulletin for the livestreams on YouTube by clicking on the link found under the title of each video.  Here is an example: 

 

SYNOD, DISTRICT & PARTNERSHIP NEWS

 

Haiti Relief 

To donate online (or to learn more about the situation), go to www.ministryinmission.org and click the donate button.   

·         If you wish to make a donation to help with disaster relief in Haiti, you may send a check to:  Iowa District West-Haiti Relief, 409 Kenyon Road Suite, B , Fort Dodge, Iowa 50502

·          Or to: Ministry in Mission, Jackie Rychel, 13442 Shady Lane, Chesterland OH 44026  

 

Trinity, Algona Resources - Visit trinitalgona.org or search “Trinity, Algona” on YouTube and Facebook to view Trinity’s several digital resources for your faith. 

 

Lutherans in Africa Updates - Great things continue to happen at the Lutheran School of Theology in Kenya and throughout the surrounding area for the good of Christ’s Church.  Lutherans in Africa publishes very informative monthly newsletters which you can find at lutheransinafrica.com/updates or by searching @LutheransInAfrica on Facebook.  The lutheransinafrica.com website is also updated regularly and is a great way to stay up to date on the work our mission dollars are supporting. 

 

Building Healthy Families: Have you ever been inside a cave? Besides the flashlight you hopefully brought in with you, it is complete darkness. The luxury of flipping on a switch to turn the electricity on just isn’t there. Many people right here in Iowa live every day in the darkness. We know that in a world of darkness, Jesus is our light! He invites us to share that Light. How can you do that this week? “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14 Lutheran Family Service - www.LutheranFamilyService.org.

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Proper 18)

Old Testament: Isaiah 35:4-7a

Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

 

Epistle: James 2:1-10, 14-18

James teaches that we should show no partiality as we hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and also that faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

 

Gospel: Mark 7:24-37

Jesus casts a demon out of the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman and heals a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. 

 

FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

“The very architect of the body itself and artificer of all flesh had come personally to [the deaf mute man], and with his gentle voice tenderly opened up his obstructed ears. Then his mouth which had been so closed up that it could not give birth to a word, gave birth to praise him who made its barrenness fruitful. The One who immediately had given to Adam speech without teaching, gave speech to him so that he could speak easily a language that is learned only with difficulty.” - Ephrem the Syrian, Homily on Our Lord, 10, qtd. in ACCS: Mark, 103. 

 

LESSONS ON THE LITURGY 

Stained-Glass Windows

Stained-glass windows serve three functions in the church.  First, they give us pictures of the Scripture lessons we are hearing from the lectern.  In this way the windows give us an opportunity to meditate on the Word which these images illustrate.  Second, stained-glass windows are beautiful.  Filling the eyes with beautiful things at worship reminds us that God himself is the author of beauty, seen foremost in the beauty of his incarnation in Jesus Christ.  Third, light filtered through stained-glass provides a “heavenly” effect.  Thus the windows show church to be the place where heaven and earth meet in Christ’s Word and Sacrament. 

 

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV: Justification, paragraphs 98-102

Christ's name is received only by faith. Therefore, we are saved by confidence in Christ's name, and not by confidence in our works. For "the name" here means the cause that is mentioned, because of which salvation is gained. To call upon Christ's name is to trust in His name as the cause, or price, because of which we are saved. Acts 15:9 says, "cleansed their hearts by faith." Therefore, the faith that the apostles speak about is not useless knowledge, but a reality. It receives the Holy Spirit and justifies us.

   Hab. 2:4 says, "The righteous shall live by his faith." People are just by faith. By faith they believe that God is favorable, and he adds that faith gives life because this faith produces peace and joy in the heart and eternal life.

   Is. 53:11 says, "By His knowledge shall the righteous one, My servant, make many to be accounted righteous." What is Christ's knowledge unless it means to know Christ's benefits, the promises He has scattered throughout the world by the Gospel? To know these benefits is properly and truly to believe in Christ, to believe that He will certainly fulfill what God has promised for Christ's sake.