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 FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
November 28, 2021
Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
THIS WEEK AT ST. JOHN’S Today, November 28, 2021 8:15/8:30 a.m. Adult Class/SS School 9:30 a.m. Divine Service Tuesday, November 30, 2021 10:00 a.m. Morning Prayer Wednesday, December 1 2021 6:00 p.m. Advent Midweek Service 6:30 p.m. Christian Catechesis | Sunday, December 5, 2021 8:15/8:30 a.m. Adult Class/SS School 9:30 a.m. Divine Service 10:30 a.m. Voter’s Meeting THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR November 29, 2021 Commemoration of Noah November 30, 2021 Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle December 4, 2021 Commemoration of John of Damascus, Theologian and Hymnwriter |
ST. JOHN’S NEWS
Organist Today: Marcia Hanna
Elder: Boyd Shipler
Acolytes: Taylor Parsons
Kenna Hatten
Sunday Bible Study - Join us Sunday mornings at 8:15 in the church basement for adult Bible Study. We're studying a series on the End Times.
Voter’s Meeting - We will have a voter’s meeting after church on December 5th to approve the budget proposal and slate of officers.
Vacancy Updates - There is a handout on the back table sharing some updates about our Partnership vacancy.
Poinsettias - There is a sign-up sheet in the back of church to purchase poinsettias for the Advent and Christmas season. The poinsettias will decorate the sanctuary until the Christmas Day Divine Service, after which you can take yours to enjoy at home. Please pay Cheryl Batt by Sunday, December 5th. Thank you!
Adopt-a-Family - Information on our Christmas adopt-a-family for St. John’s is on the back table. All items are due December 12 for delivery. Checks/cash or gift cards can be left in the church office. Contact Doris Blocker or Deb Steven for more information.
Advent/Christmas Schedule - Please take an Advent/Christmas postcard on the back table and deliver one to a friend. Check off the names of people you deliver a card to and let’s try to get a card delivered to every member!
Christmas Cards are available in the back of the church for you to purchase. There are boxes of cards or individual cards available. Put your money in one of the designated envelopes and give it to the church office.
Christmas and Greeting Card Resources - Ad Crucem and Emmanuel Press are two companies that produce beautiful and faithful Christian gifts, including Christmas cards! The following two links will take you specifically to the greeting card section of each website:
- Ad Crucem: adcrucem.com/collections/greeting-cards-1
- Emmanuel Press: emmanuelpress.us/christmas-cards/
David’s Harp Center for Musical Development is an outgrowth of St. Paul’s Music Conservatory which distributes and promotes Christian music and instruction across the country and world. Learn more at: davidsharpmusic.org.
Flocknote Prayer Chain Coordinator Wanted - Want to help send out prayer requests to our congregation on Flocknote? Talk to Pastor Cowell; it’s a lot easier than you might think!
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 T-Shirts are available in the church office for $6.00.
Pastoral Care On Demand - Need prayer, Scripture, Communion, Absolution, or a listening ear? Feel free to call or text Pastor Cowell anytime for a visit at 319-464-5548.
Hymn of the Month devotions for December (a couple days early!) are available on the lectern in the back of church.
SYNOD, DISTRICT & PARTNERSHIP NEWS
TLC Quilts Available - As the weather turns cold, don’t forget about the TLC Quilter’s “giving pew” by the east doors of St. John’s. You are welcome to take and give these quilts, bears, etc. to anyone who might need them. You could give them to someone in financial hardship, someone in need of sympathy or friendship, or simply someone who needs to know that the Church loves them and God loves them!
Pastors' Advent Open House - Pastors Lund and Cowell and their families invite you to a Partnership Pastors' Advent Open House on Sunday, December 12th from 2:00-5:00 p.m. in the Trinity Life Center. This afternoon will be an opportunity to enjoy snacks, socialize, relax, and reflect on the joy of the Advent and Christmas season with your pastors and your church family.
Camp Okoboji Matching Gift - This Sunday and next Sunday we’ll be collecting monetary donations for Camp Okoboji as a part of their Giving Tuesday promotion. For every $2 donated to Camp on November 29 & 30, there will be a $1 matching donation by an anonymous friend of Camp up to $12,000! We’ll send our donations in after church on Nov. 28th.
COMMUNITY NEWS
Burt Christmas Activities:
Lions Club Santa Day is Saturday, December 4 from 1-3 p.m. at the Burt Activity Complex. Cookies, candy and coffee will be served and the Burt Fire Dept. will give fire truck rides.
Spaghetti Dinner - Following Santa Day the City Council of Burt will be hosting a spaghetti dinner from 4-7 p.m. as well as a pie auction. All proceeds to the Burt Swimming Pool.
Vendor Show is Sunday, December 5 at the Burt Activity Complex from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.. Food will be served during the event along with a bake sale. All proceeds will go to the Burt Swimming Pool.
LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Advent 1)
Old Testament: Jeremiah 33:14-16
The Lord will cause a righteous Branch to spring up in Israel.
Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Paul asks God’s blessing upon the Thessalonian Christians, especially that God establish their hearts blameless in holiness before God at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
Gospel: Luke 19:28-40
Jesus enters into Jerusalem as the crowd shouts: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS
“‘Untie the donkey and bring it to me.’ [Jesus] began with a manger and finished with a donkey, in Bethlehem with a manger, in Jerusalem with a donkey.” - Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron, qtd. in ACCS: Luke, p. 297.
LESSONS ON THE LITURGY
The First Sunday in Advent
The traditional Gospel lesson for the First Sunday in Advent is always the account of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on the week of His crucifixion. Does that choice of Scripture seem strange to you? Remember that Advent is Latin for coming. In the season of Advent we prepare to celebrate and receive Jesus coming to us in three ways: in the manger, on the altar, and in the clouds on the Last Day. The account of Jesus coming to Jerusalem and then to the cross is the event that gives these three advents their purpose and power, making this text a fitting start to the Advent season!
FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD
Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article VII: The Holy Supper, paragraphs 28-31
[Dr. Luther] foresaw in the Spirit that after his death some would try to make it seem that he had backed away from the doctrine [of the true presence of Christ's body and blood in the Holy Supper] and other Christian articles. Therefore, he has added the following protest to his Confession concerning Christ's Supper:
I desire with this treatise to confess my faith before God and all the world, point by point. I am determined to abide by it until my death and (so help me God!) in this faith to depart from this world and to appear before the judgment seat of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence if any one shall say after my death, "If Luther were living now, he would teach and hold this or that article differently, let me say once and for all that by the grace of God I have most diligently traced all these articles through the Scriptures, have examined them again and again in the light thereof, and have wanted to defend all of them as certainly as I have now defended the sacrament of the altar. I am not drunk or irresponsible. I know what I am saying, and I well realize what this will mean for me before the Last Judgment at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am in dead earnest, since by the grace of God I have learned to know a great deal about Satan. If he can twist and pervert the Word of God and the Scriptures, what will he not be able to do with my or someone else's words?
