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 EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

September 26, 2021

 

Everlasting Father, source of every blessing, mercifully direct and govern us by Your Holy Spirit that we may complete the works You have prepared for us to do; 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 26, 2021    8:30 a.m.   SS School/Adult Class                       9:30 a.m.   Divine Service    Tuesday, September 28, 2021   10:00 a.m.  Morning Prayer    Wednesday, September 29, 2021   6:00 p.m.   Christian Catechesis   Thursday, September 30, 2021    9-11:30 a.m.  Algona Care Center Services

Sunday, October 3, 2021      8:30 a.m.    SS School/Adult Class       9:30 a.m.    Divine Service            THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR       September 29, 2021     Feast of St. Michael and All Angels      September 30, 2021     Commemoration of Jerome, Translator of         Holy Scripture

 

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today:  Marcia Hanna       

Elder for September:  Tony Hatten    

Acolytes:  Kenna Hatten and Taylor Parsons       

Greeters: Al and Peggy Schadendorf

 

Portals of Prayer for October-December are now available along the east wall in the back.

 

Worship by Phone - Beginning October 24th, if you would like to receive the audio of the worship service on Sunday through your phone, you will need to dial area code 515 along with the worship-by-phone number of 924-4444, even if you are calling locally. This change is due to a new rule requiring all numbers in the 515 area code to add the area code to all local calls. 

 

Service Livestream Operator Informational Meeting - If you have any interest in assisting with the weekly setup of our service livestreams at St. John’s, or would simply like to learn how to set up a video livestream, please plan to attend a short meeting Sunday, October 24 after church in the church basement. 

 

Flocknote Prayer Chain Coordinator Wanted - St. John’s is looking for a volunteer to be our Flocknote Prayer Chain coordinator.  This volunteer would be responsible for scheduling (in advance) our daily prayer text messages, including creating prayers submitted by members and prayers in light of various contemporary events.  While the volunteer should be comfortable operating the basic functions of a computer, the Flocknote program is very easy to work with and Pastor Cowell will give you a step-by-step training for how to schedule the prayers.  You can expect the time commitment for this position to be around 1-2 hours a month.  Please speak with Pastor Cowell if you are interested in helping in this way. 

 

Quarterly Council Meeting will be held Sunday, October 10, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. The Voter’s Meeting will be held Sunday, October 17, 2021.

 

Hymn of the Month devotions for September are available on the side table in the 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 - There are several new booklets in the pamphlet rack in the back of church.  Feel free to take as many 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.

Greeter and Usher Sign-up - There are still plenty of open spots for greeters and ushers! The sign-up sheet is on the back table. 

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.  

 

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. 

 

SYNOD, DISTRICT & PARTNERSHIP NEWS

 

Highway Clean-Up - Our fall Partnership highway clean-up day is scheduled for Sunday, October 10 at 1:00 p.m.  This event is open to all ages as long as children have an adult with them (this would make a great Catechesis mercy project!).  When you sign up in the back of church, please indicate if you’ll be meeting in the Trinity or St. John’s parking lot. 

 

LWML Fall Rally for the Northeast Zone will be held at Trinity in Algona today at 2 p.m. Monetary in-gathering offering will go to Lotus Community project, a women’s and children’s shelter at Vincent, Iowa. Speaker will begin right after the opening devotions and before the meeting. This is to accommodate any additional congregational members who may wish to come hear about the work at Lotus.

 

Haiti and Ida Relief - If you would like to donate toward the clean-up efforts of the Haiti earthquake or Hurricane Ida, please ask the church office or Pastor Cowell how to do so. 

 

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

 

Omelet Brunch - Camp Okoboji’s final Omelet Bruch of 2020 will be held on Sunday, October 3 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a free will offering held in the Ginny DeWall Dining Hall. Join us and enjoy good food and good fellowship!

 

Building Healthy Families - “Be careful little ears what you hear, Be careful little mouth what you say, Be careful little hands what you touch, Be careful little feet where you go...” These words are lyrics to a Sunday School song that reminded us as children to make wise decisions. As adults, it’s still important (perhaps more so) to “be careful” about what we hear, say, touch and where we go. Choose wisely this week! Lutheran Family Service - www.LutheranFamilyService.org.

 

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Proper 21)

Old Testament: Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

The Lord appointed seventy elders to lead Israel under Moses, and put some of the Spirit that was on Moses onto the seventy elders. 

 

Epistle: James 5:1-20

Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

 

Gospel: Mark 9:38-50

Jesus teaches: “The one who is not against us is for us. For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.”

 

FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

“God never asks his servants to do what is impossible. The love and goodness of his Godhead is revealed as richly available. It is poured out like water upon all. God furnishes to each person according to his will the ability to do something good. None of those seeking to be saved will be lacking in this ability, given by the one who said: ‘whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose his reward.’” - Gregory of Nyssa, On the Christian Mode of Life, qtd. in ACCS: Mark, 130. 

 

LESSONS ON THE LITURGY 

The Stole

Like many of the vestments of the church, the origins and original purpose of the stole is complicated.  However there is much that we can learn from its use among pastors today.  The stole distinguishes its wearer as one called to the office of the holy ministry.  When a pastor wears a stole he gives you confidence that he is the man who has been called by God to deliver God’s gifts to you.  Also, the stole happens to look like a yoke.  Your pastor has been yoked by Christ for service to his people.  Therefore the words and actions of the pastor are never his own, but Christ’s words and deeds which the pastor delivers to you. 

 

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

Large Catechism, Ten Commandments, paragraphs 324-326

"You shall have no other gods before Me" [Ex. 20:3], in its simplest meaning states nothing other than this demand: You shall fear, love, and trust in Me as your only true God. All Scriptures have everywhere preached and taught the First Commandment, aiming always at these two things: fear of God and trust in Him. The prophet David especially does this throughout the Psalms, as when he says "the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love" [Ps. 147:11]. He writes as if the entire commandment were explained by one verse, as if to say, "The Lord takes pleasure in those who have no other gods."

    So the First Commandment is to shine and give its splendor to all the others. Therefore, you must let this declaration run through all the commandments. It is like a hoop in a wreath, joining the end to the beginning and holding them all together. Let it be continually repeated and not forgotten, as the Second Commandment says, so that we fear God and do not take His name in vain for cursing, lying, deceiving, and other ways of leading men astray, or trickery. But we make proper and good use of His name by calling upon Him in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, derived from love and trust according to the First Commandment. In the same way such fear, love, and trust is to drive and force us not to despise His Word, but gladly to learn it, hear it, value it holy, and honor it.