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 27, 2022
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.
ST. JOHN’S NEWS
Organist Today: Marcia Hanna
Elder: Jeff Schutjer
Acolytes: Ryder and Taylor Parsons
Greeters Today: Ben and Beth Borchardt
Greeters Next Sunday: Jeff and Brenda Schutjer
Call Update - We are still waiting to hear of Pastor Meyer’s decision regarding his call to be our Partnership associate pastor. Please keep Pastor Meyer in your prayers as he deliberates.
A Voter’s Meeting will be held following the service on Sunday, December 4 to vote on approving the 2023 budget and slate of 2023 officers.
Poinsettias - There is a sign-up sheet in the back of the church to purchase poinsettias for Advent and Christmas. The poinsettias will decorate the sanctuary until the Christmas Day Divine Service, after which you can take yours to enjoy at home. Please order and pay Vickie Madsen by today!
Pastor May Visit - Pastor James May of Lutherans in Africa will be joining us for Bible class Sunday, December 4th at 8:00 (note the earlier time!) to give a presentation on LIA’s work at their new seminary and across the African continent.
Adopted Family - St. John’s has adopted a family again this year. This family is a father, mother and 6 children. A list of the needs/wants are on the table in the back. Sunday Dec 11th would be the last day gifts/money can be accepted for the family. Money and or gift cards can be left in the church office or given to Doris Blocker or Debra Steven. A box designated for the gifts is on display in the back.
“This Is My Son” Advent/Christmas Daily Devotional Booklets are now available on the back table. Feel free to take one with you!
Greeter and Usher sign-up lists are now available in the back for the 2023 year. Please, feel free to fill your name in more than once.
“Share the Blessing” letter and giving envelope is on the small table in the back. This is a special offering to the church during the harvest time, previously known as “Corn, Bean, Cash.”
Boxes of Christmas Cards are now available for you to purchase in the back on the east wall.
Money should be given to Rosann Shipler. Prices are marked on the boxes.
An Partnership Advent and Christmas service schedule is on the table in the back. Our three Advent midweek services will be hosted by Trinity this year.
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.
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.
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!
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 Ice Fishing Day - Join us on Wednesday, December 28th at 1:00 p.m. for a day of ice fishing! We’ll meet at St. John’s and then carpool to either Emmetsburg or Fairmont depending on ice conditions. Lucas Parsons will guide us to catch lots of fish in the comfort of heated tents! For more information and to sign up, contact Hannah Cowell. If you have fishing questions, be sure to ask Lucas!
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!
Young Adult Bible Study - A young adult (post-high school) Bible study meets 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.
Camp Okoboji Legacy Giving Tuesday - We are honored to announce Camp Okoboji 2022 Giving Tuesday Matching Fundraiser! Only on November 28 & 29 your donation cash, check, or credit - will be matched, $1 for every $2 raised for up to $15,000. Contact Camp Office at 712-337-3325 or visit campokoboji.org/giving-tuesday.php to learn more.
COMMUNITY NEWS
A Special Offering - This will be our last Sunday for the special monetary donation to go to the Kossuth Food Pantry. The designated plate for that donation is along the aisle in the back.
Santa Day in Burt will be held on Saturday, December 3 from 1-3 pm at the Activity Complex. Come visit Santa and enjoy cookies and hot chocolate. Fire Truck Rides will also be taking place.
Vendor Show - Burt Summer Celebration is hosting a Vendor Show in the Burt new gym on Santa Day - Saturday December 3 and will be serving walking tacos.
Santa Day is coming to Lone Rock on Sunday, December 4, at the Lone Rock Legion from 10:30-12:30 p.m. We will be serving Chili, Cinnamon Rolls, Hot Dogs, Chips.
THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
LECTIONARY SUMMARY
The Lord Comes in Meekness and Humility to Save Us Now
The Lord Jesus enters Jerusalem “humble, and mounted on a donkey,” riding on “a beast of burden” (Matt. 21:5), as He Himself bears the sins of the world in His body. Now He comes by the ministry of the Gospel to save us from sin, death, the devil and hell. Therefore, we sing, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matt. 21:9). For we are called “to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob,” His Holy Church, “that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths” (Is. 2:3). By His Word, we “walk in the light of the Lord” (Is. 2:5). That is to live in love, which “does no wrong to a neighbor” (Rom. 13:10). We “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light,” for “salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Rom. 13:11, 12). Hence, the entire Christian life is a time to wake and watch, “for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:42).
SERMON SENTENCE
Jesus traveled to Bethlehem so that He could travel to Jerusalem, so that He could travel to you as your incarnate, crucified, and risen King.
LESSON 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!
CHAT WITH THE CHURCH FATHERS
“For the Word perceived that death was the only way that the corruption of people could be undone. However, it was impossible for the Word to suffer death, being immortal and Son of the Father. Therefore, he takes to himself a body capable of death, so that such a body, by partaking of the Word who is above all, might be worthy to die in the stead of all, and might, because of the Word that had come to dwell in it, remain incorruptible. In this way, the corruption of all might be checked by the grace of the resurrection. By offering to death the body he himself had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from any stain, he got rid of death for all his peers by offering an equivalent. For the Word of God, which by his very nature is over everything, by offering his own temple and bodily vessel for the life of all, satisfied the debt by his death. And thus he, the incorruptible Son of God, joined with all by a similar nature, naturally clothed all with incorruption and the promise of the resurrection. For the actual corruption in death no longer has a hold on humanity because of the Word which, by his one body, has come to dwell among them.” - Athanasius, On the Incarnation 9.1-4, qtd. in ACCS: John 1-10, p. 41.
St. John’s Lutheran Church – Burt, IA.
Phone: 515-924-3344
Email: churchoffice@stjohnsburt.org
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