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 FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD
December 25, 2022
Almighty God, grant that the birth of Your only-begotten Son in the flesh may set us free from the bondage of sin; 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, December 25, 2022 9:30 am Christmas Divine Service Tuesday, December 27, 2022 No Morning Prayer Wednesday, December 28, 2022 1:00 pm Fishing Day Sunday, January 1, 2023 9:30 am New Year’s Day Divine Service | THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR December 25, 2022 Feast of the Nativity of our Lord December 26, 2022 Feast of St. Stephen, Martyr December 27, 2022 Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist December 28, 2022 Feast of The Holy Innocents, Martyrs December 29. 2022 Commemoration of David |
ST. JOHN’S NEWS
Organist Today: Marcia Haana
Elder: Boyd Shipler
Greeters Today: Hannah & girls
Greeters Next Sunday: Jerry and Betty Koestler
ST. JOHN’S NEWS
Organist Today: Marcia Hanna ~ Elder: Boyd Shipler
Greeters Today: Hannah & girls ~ Greeters Next Sunday: Jerry and Betty Koestler
Call Extended - On Sunday, December 11th our Partnership congregations voted to extend a call to Pastor Adam Barkley of Luther Memorial and Grace Lutheran Churches, Sheboygan, Wisconsin to be our Partnership Associate Pastor. We also voted at this meeting that if Pastor Barkley were to decline our call, we would be submitting our application for a seminary graduate to serve us. Please pray for Pastor Barkley that God give him wisdom to discern where he might best serve the Kingdom.
Job Opening - January 1, 2023 - We are looking for someone who would like to clean the church. This is an approximate 3-4 hours a week, sometimes less in the summer months. If this is something you would like to do please talk to trustee, Randy Reimers.
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, please contact Hannah Cowell by Monday, December 26th. Cost is $25 per adult, kids free. If you have fishing questions, be sure to ask Lucas!
Sunday School and Adult Bible Class will not meet on Christmas Day and New Years Day. We will continue our class on January 8 at 8:30 a.m.
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.
Year-End Reports - The end of the year is upon us! If you’re responsible for a report for the annual yearbook, please be working on them and email them to the church office at churchoffice@stjohnsburt.org.
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 - Our “help wanted” volunteer lists have moved to the bulletin board by the ramp. Check them out to see if you’re able to help, and look out for new tasks to be added periodically. Talk to Pastor Cowell if you have a help-wanted suggestion of your own!
For Your Reflection:
THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD
LECTIONARY SUMMARY
The Living and Life-Giving Word of God Dwells Among Us in the Flesh
The Lord sends out His ministers of the Gospel to make disciples “of all the nations,” so that “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” The Lord has “bared his holy arm” in the incarnate Christ (Is. 52:7, 10). The child in the manger, born of the Virgin Mary, is the very Word of God, the only begotten Son of the Father, “whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Heb. 1:2). As “all things were made through him” (John 1:3), so are all things redeemed and made new in Him. In His body of flesh and blood, we behold “the radiance of the glory of God” (Heb. 1:3), “glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). He dwells among us in peace, that we might have life and light and salvation in Him. For by His Word of the Gospel, we are born again as the children of God, bearing His name and sharing His eternal life.
SERMON SENTENCE
This Christmas we celebrate that the Great One became small, so that the small might become great in Him.
LESSON ON THE LITURGY
Homo Factus Est
Homo Factus Est is Latin for the three words of the Nicene Creed: “was made man.” These three words communicate the biblical truth of John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The Church has for well over five centuries practiced the custom of genuflecting (kneeling) or bowing as these words are being confessed. This is itself a bodily confession of our great awe and reverence that God our Father loves His children so much that He sent His only-begotten Son into our flesh to die for our sins. As you see Pastor bowing during the words “and was made man,” feel free to join him in this small act of reverence to our incarnate Lord.
CHAT WITH THE CHURCH FATHERS
“On this day on which the Lord of all came among servants, let the lords also bow down to their servants lovingly. On this day when the rich One was made poor for our sake, let the rich man also make the poor man a sharer at his table. On this day a gift came out to us without our asking for it; let us then give alms to those who cry out and beg from us. [...] This Lord of natures today was transformed contrary to his nature; it is not too difficult for us also to overthrow our evil will. Bound is the body by its nature for it cannot grow larger or smaller; but powerful is the will for it may grow to all sizes. Today the Deity imprinted itself on humanity, so that humanity might also be cut into the seal of Deity.” - Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on the Nativity 1.93-99, qtd. in ACCS, John 1-10, p. 44.
St. John’s Lutheran Church – Burt, IA.
Phone: 515-924-3344
Email: churchoffice@stjohnsburt.org
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