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 FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT

March 27, 2022

 

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; 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, March 27, 2022   8:30 a.m.     Adult Class/Sunday School   9:30 a.m.     Divine Service    Tuesday, March 29, 2022   10:00 a.m.    Morning Prayer   Wednesday, March 30, 2022    5:00 p.m.     Midweek Lenten Service    6:30 p.m.     Christian Catechesis                            (at Trinity)

Sunday, April 3, 2022      8:30 a.m.     Adult Class/Sunday School      9:30 a.m.     Divine Service       THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR        March 31, 2022     Commemoration of Joseph, Patriarch

 

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today: Marcia Hanna 

Elder:  Jeff Schutjer  

Asst. Usher:  Ben Borchardt 

Greeters:   Gordon and Mary Oleson

 

Tuesday Morning Prayer will be held on Tuesday, March 29th at 10:00 a.m.

 

Midweek Lenten Service will be held at St. John’s Wednesday, March 30th at 5:00 p.m.  

 

Quarterly Council Meeting will be held Monday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the church basement The Voter’s Meeting will be held Sunday, April 24 following the service.

 

Lent Schedule - Feel free to take and share as many Lent schedules, invitations, magnet clips, and devotion books as you would like on the back table. 

 

Ukraine Refugee Support - We will be collecting a special offering in the back of church for the next three Sundays which will go to support the needs of refugees displaced by the war in Ukraine.

 

Easter Flowers - We would like to thank Vickie Madsen for volunteering to be our new person in charge of flowers.  With Easter around the corner there is a sheet on the back table if you wish to purchase a Lily or Hydrangea plant to adorn the church proper on Easter Sunday.   The order needs to be in by April 1, 2022, to assure we get the best selection, so this gives you a couple of weeks to decide.   An 8” pot lily is $30 and an 8” pot Hydrangea is $37.   If you wish to purchase the Hydrangea, please specify which color you want – pink, white, or blue.   You can give your payment to Vickie or Pam Reimers.

 

Easter Egg Hunt Donations - If you would like to donate bars or drinks for the Easter egg hunt you can sign up on the back table.

 

Portals of Prayer for the April-June edition are available in the back along the east wall. 

 

Lenten Charity Project - During the season of Lent St. John’s will be raising money to purchase a book for every seminary student who is receiving a pastoral call this spring.  You can read more about this project and see the book we will be purchasing on the back table.  You can give to this mission during our Wednesday Lenten services or by designating a gift to “Lent Charity Project” on your envelope. 

 

Parish Messengers are now on the back table instead of in your boxes. Please, pick one up!

 

Birthday Celebration - Ruth Nerem will be celebrating her 100th Birthday on April 1st, 2022.  Her family will be hosting a 100th Birthday Party for her on Saturday, April 2nd at the Lone Rock Legion Hall from 1:30-4:00 p.m.  Everyone is invited!  If you cannot attend and want to send a card, Ruth’s address is:  546 Ramsey St. E., Accura Nursing Home, Bancroft, Iowa 50517.

 

Easter Egg Hunt - St. John’s Board of Education invites your children, grandchildren, and neighbors to an Easter Egg Hunt!  The event will be Saturday, April 16th at 10:00 a.m. near the St. John’s garage.  After the egg hunt we will enjoy refreshments!  

 

Easter Breakfast - You are all invited to breakfast on Easter morning from 8-9:15 a.m. before the Divine Service on Easter Sunday, April 17.  We will be serving:  eggs, smokies, muffins, juice and coffee.  Come and have breakfast with us!  This year’s breakfast is hosted by The Board of Education and students.

 

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.

 

2021 Thrivent Choice Dollars must be directed by March 31. Consider joining others who have directed their Dollars toward St. John’s ministry.

 

SYNOD, DISTRICT & PARTNERSHIP NEWS

 

Trinity Bible Study - Join Pastor Cowell Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. for Bible study at Trinity’s Life Center conference room.

 

TLC Quilts Available - Don’t forget about the TLC Quilter’s “giving pew” by the east doors of St. John’s.  Feel free to take and give away as many quilts and bears as you’d like!    

 

Silent Auction of Quilts/Crafts - Trinity Quilters are hosting a silent auction in Trinity’s office lobby. Proceeds will help support Trinity youth attending the Youth Gathering in Houston.  Winners will be announced on April 6 during Lenten Supper.

 

Prayers are needed for Pastor Andrew Johnson whose cancer has relapsed and will be receiving chemo treatments at Mayo.  He will be undergoing a tandem autologous stem cell transplant requiring him to be in Rochester for 10 weeks.

 

Building Healthy Families - “Don’t worry, be happy!” Do you recall that catchy little tune from the 80’s? Repeatedly, God tells us not to worry, but sometimes that’s easier said than done. When you’re feeling worried, go first to God’s Word. Consider writing out some of the verses that speak about worry and offer words of comfort. To get you started, check out Psalm 23:4; John 14:27; Matthew 6:25+; Romans 8:31; Isaiah 41:10. Lutheran Family Service also provides counseling services, consistent with our Christian faith, to assist people struggling with worry, trauma, and anxiety. Lutheran Family Service - www.LutheranFamilyService.org. 

 

COMMUNITY NEWS

Concert - The Burt Presbyterian Church will host a concert by the award winning Christian Vocal Duo of Blake & Jenna Bolerjack on Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 6:30 p.m.  

 

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Lent 4)

Old Testament: Isaiah 12:1-6

“The Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

 

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 

St. Paul urges the Corinthians to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. 

 

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son and the forgiving father. 

 

FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

“‘Father,’ it says, ‘I have sinned against heaven, and before you.’ This is the first confession before the Creator of nature, the Patron of mercy, and the Judge of guilt. Although God knows all things, he awaits the words of your confession. [...] Confess, so that Christ may rather intercede for you, he whom we have as an advocate with the Father. Confess, so that the church may pray for you and that the people may weep for you. Do not fear that perhaps you might not receive. The advocate promises pardon. The patron offers grace. The defender promises the reconciliation with the Father’s good will to you. Believe because it is the truth. Consent because it is a virtue. He has a reason to intercede for you, unless he died for you in vain. The Father also has a reason for forgiveness, because the Father wants what the Son wants.” - Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 7.224-25, qtd. in ACCS: Luke, 250. 

 

LESSONS ON THE LITURGY 

Mea Culpa 

The confession of sins in the order of Compline (LSB 253-259) uses a phrase that has been used in liturgies of confession for over 1,000 years: “I have sinned [...] by my fault, by my own fault, by my own most grievous fault (mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa).” In some traditions as Christians confess this three-fold apology they tap their chest three times with a closed fist to symbolize the “beating of the breast” that accompanies repentance in Scripture in places like Luke 18:13 when the tax collector beat his breast and prayed “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”  When you confess your sins, either to God in prayer or to your neighbor, consider using this sincere three-fold mea culpa confession.

 

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

Large Catechism, Second Commandment, paragraphs 69-72

I advise and exhort with warning and threatening, restraint and punishment, the children should be trained early to shun falsehood. They should especially avoid the use of God's name to support falsehood. For where children are allowed to do as they please, no good will result. The world is worse than it has ever been and there is no obedience, no loyalty, no faith, but only unbridled people. No teaching or reproof helps them. This is God's wrath and punishment for such lewd contempt of this commandment. On the other hand, children should be urged to honor God's name and to have it always upon their lips for everything that may happen to them or come to their notice. The true honor of His name is to look to it and call upon it for all consolation. Then the heart by faith gives God the honor due Him. Afterward, the lips give Him honor by confession. This is also a blessed habit and effective against the devil. He lies in wait to bring us into sin and shame, disaster and trouble. But he hates to hear God's name and cannot remain long where it is called upon from the heart. Many terrible disasters would fall upon us if God did not preserve us by our calling upon His name. I learned by experience that often great suffering was immediately averted by calling on God. To confuse the devil, I say, we should always have this holy name in our mouth, so that the devil may not be able to injure us as he wishes.