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 FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

September 11, 2022

 

Lord Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd, without whom nothing is secure. Rescue and preserve us that we may not be lost forever but follow You, rejoicing in the way that leads to eternal life; 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,  September 11, 2022    8:30 am    Sunday School/Adult Class    9:30 am    Divine Service         Tuesday, September 13, 2022     10:00 am    Morning Prayer      Wednesday, September 14, 2022      6:00 pm    NO Wednesday Catechesis               Friday, September 16, 2022      3:00 pm      Highway Clean-Up

Sunday, September 18, 2022       8:30 am    Sunday School/Adult Class     9:30 am     Divine Service        1:00 pm     Highway Clean-up    THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR        September 14, 2022     Feast of the Holy Cross      September 16, 2022     Commemoration of Cyprian of          Carthage, Pastor and Martyr

 

ST. JOHN’S NEWS

 

Organist Today:  Marcia Hanna  ~  Elder:  Tony Hatten

Acolytes:  Taylor Parsons and Kenna Hatten

Greeters Today:  Kenna Hatten & Taylor Parsons

Greeters Next Week:  Jesse and Kelly Fitzgerald, Alex & Reyna

 

Adult Bible Study - During Bible study, we are asking volunteers to share one or several devotions from their favorite devotional resources.  Pastor Cowell will have several devotion books available as well if you would like to read from them.  Sign up for a Sunday in the back of church, and contact Pastor Cowell with questions. 

 

Parish Messenger for the September/October edition is on the table in the back of the church.

 

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.

 

A Sunday School teacher is needed beginning this fall for the 3-5th grade class.  If you are interested in serving on a regular or occasional basis, please talk with Karla Schutter. 

 

St. John’s Help Wanted List - Check the back table the next few weeks to see a number of one-time, short-term, and recurring tasks related to human care, evangelism, and mercy that Pastor Cowell needs your help with.  These are all tasks which would benefit our congregation and our community, and which our members are well equipped to lead on behalf of St. John’s. Take a look and see if you would be able to help out with any of these special projects, and talk to Pastor Cowell if you have any suggestions of your own!

SYNOD, DISTRICT & PARTNERSHIP NEWS

 

Trinity Bible Study - You are invited to Bible study every Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m. in the 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!  

 

TLC Quilters need flat sheets (any size and color). Thanks sew much for helping us help others in need!

 

Young Adult Bible Study - You are invited to attend a young adult (post-high school) Bible study opportunity hosted in our circuit.  The Bible study is every 2nd and 4th Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in the old parsonage next to Zion Lutheran Church in LuVerne.  Contact Pastor Steve Struecker at 515-320-2014 with questions. 

 

Highway Clean-Up of our Partnership’s adopted portion of highway 169 just south of Burt will take place on two dates: Friday, September 16 at 3 p.m. and Sunday, September 18 at 1 p.m.  For more details contact Lynn or Kitty Bierstedt.

 

Building Healthy Families - In our world of 24/7 news cycles, on every hour of any given day we hear bad news and know we can do nothing about most of it. It’s overwhelming. As a result, a lot more people are experiencing anxiety. Here are three things you can do this week that will make a difference: 1) give someone the gift of your time. Visit someone who is lonely or afraid. Listen to their concerns and share encouraging words; 2) remind them (and yourself) that God is still on His throne, and Jesus is still seated at His right-hand, aware of all that is happening and actively involved in daily events; and finally, 3) take a “news” vacation by turning off the TV for a week. The world will go on and you’ll feel much better! Lutheran Family Service - www.LutheranFamilyService.org.

 

COMMUNITY NEWS

 

Burt Woman’s Club Fall Decorating Contest!  Sign up now to decorate one of the flowerpots along Walnut Street. Judging will be the last week in October. Let Kelly at city hall know which pot you want to decorate. Join the fun and help decorate Burt for fall!

 

 

LECTIONARY SUMMARY (Proper 19)

Old Testament: Ezekiel 34:11-24

The Lord will search for His sheep and seek them out. 

 

Epistle: 1 Timothy 1:5-17

Paul proclaims, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

 

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10

Jesus tells the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. 

 

FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

“There is a breadth of patience in our Lord’s parables, the patience of the shepherd that makes him seek and find the straying sheep. Impatience would readily take no account of a single sheep, but patience undertakes the wearisome search. He carries it on his shoulders as a patient bearer of a forsaken sinner.” - Tertullian, On Patience, Qtd. in ACCS: Luke, p. 244.  

 

FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD

Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article V, The Law and the Gospel, para. 7-10

The term repentance is not used in the Holy Scriptures in one and the same sense. In some passages of Holy Scripture it is used and taken to mean a person's entire conversion. For example, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5). And, "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:7). But in Mark 1:15 and elsewhere, when repentance and faith in Christ (Acts 20:21), or repentance and forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:46-47), are mentioned as distinct, to repent means nothing other than to truly acknowledge sins, to be heartily sorry for them, and to stop doing them. This knowledge comes from the Law. It is not enough for saving conversion to God if faith in Christ is not added. The comforting preaching of the Holy Gospel offers His merits to all penitent sinners who are terrified by the preaching of the Law. The Gospel proclaims the forgiveness of sins, not to coarse and self-secure hearts, but to the bruised or penitent. The preaching of the Gospel must be added so that the repentance may lead to salvation and not to the Law's contrition or terrors.

     Merely preaching the Law, without Christ, either makes proud people, who imagine that they can fulfill the Law by outward works, or forces them utterly to despair. Therefore, Christ reveals His wrath from heaven on all sinners and shows how great it is. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. John’s Lutheran Church – Burt, IA.

Phone: 515-924-3344

Email:  churchoffice@stjohnsburt.org