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 TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD
February 19, 2023
O God, in the glorious transfiguration of Your beloved Son You confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of Moses and Elijah. In the voice that came from the bright cloud You wonderfully foreshowed our adoption by grace. Mercifully make us co-heirs with the King in His glory and bring us to the fullness of our inheritance in heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
LET US PRAY FOR…
THIS WEEK AT ST. JOHN’S Today, February 19, 2023 8:30 am Sunday School/Adult Class 9:30 am Divine Service Tuesday, February 21, 2023 10:00 am Morning Prayer 6:00 pm Shrove Tuesday Supper-Trinity Wednesday, February 22, 2023 5:30 pm Ash Wednesday Service © Thursday, February 23, 2022 3:00 pm Titonka Nursing Home | Sunday, February 26, 2023 8:30 am Sunday School/Adult Class 9:30 am Divine Service THIS WEEK IN THE CHURCH YEAR February 23, 2023 Commemoration of Polycarp of Smyrna, Pastor and Martyr February 24, 2023 Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle |
ST. JOHN’S NEWS
Organist Today: Marcia Hanna
Elder: Jerry Koestler
Assistant Usher: Boyd Shipler
Greeters Next Sunday: Terry and Vicki Briggs
Pastoral Vacancy - Our Partnership has submitted our application to receive a seminary graduate to be our associate pastor. Our call committee has interviewed a few seminary students, and we will know if our request will be fulfilled by late April.
Shrove Tuesday Celebration is February 21 at 6 p.m. at Trinity. We’ll begin in the sanctuary with a brief time of confession & prayer followed by a pancake supper in the Life Center. Come and feast before the Lenten fast begins!
Join us for Ash Wednesday Service on February 22 at 5:30 p.m, which will include imposition of ashes as well as Holy Communion.
Midweek Lenten Services will be Wednesdays, March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 at 6 p.m. at Trinity. There will be a light meal in the Life Center beginning at 4:45 p.m. Our theme will be “Lent with the Lord’s Commands”. Lent is a great time to reflect upon the Commandments. Each week we will walk through one or more of the commandments, talking about what they mean as well as seeing from Scripture how our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled them.
During Lent, St. John’s Midweek Class will begin in the sanctuary at 6 p.m. at Trinity with the Lenten midweek service. (Enjoy a meal in the Life Center at 4:45 pm.) You can pick up your child in the Life Center after class at 7:30 p.m.
Lenten Devotional Booklets are now available on the back table.
Serving the Shrove Meal - Would anyone like to help serve the Shrove Tuesday pancake supper? We will be joining the Trinity group in the kitchen. Contact Lynn and Kitty Bierstedt if you could.
New Member Class - Our Partnership is offering a new member class for anyone interested in either becoming a member of St. John’s or Trinity, or wants to brush up on the basics of their faith! This Class will be Sunday evenings from Feb. 26 - April 2, 6:00-8:00 p.m. with the first three classes hosted at Trinity, and the final three at St. John’s.
Lenten Midweek Meal - St. John’s has volunteered to serve the midweek Lenten meal at Trinity on Wednesday, March 29th. Our freewill donation will go toward the seminaries in some way. Hannah Cowell has volunteered to coordinate this meal. If you would be willing to help by working or furnishing food, please call or text Hannah at 712-294-4962.
Large Print Service Book - We now have available a couple copies of Lutheran Service Book in large print for use during the services. They are available on the back table.
Adult Bible Class are studying Dr. Jeffrey Pulse’s book “The Children (Not the Adults!) of God”. Please join us anytime!
2022 Annual Report is now available on the table along the east wall. Please, take one copy per family!
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.
Birthday Cards! We need more volunteers to sign-up to send out birthday cards to members monthly. This is a very simple task. Sign-up sheet on back table. Contact the church office if you have any questions.
Parish Messenger articles are due to Linda Kerkove today for the March/April edition.
Bible Donations are Needed for a Midweek Service Wednesday evangelism project. All gently-used Bibles that are still in readable condition will be passed on through this project; and any severely worn or damaged Bibles will be properly and respectfully disposed of. Bibles can be brought to the church and placed in the designated box in the back of the sanctuary.
SYNOD, DISTRICT & PARTNERSHIP NEWS
Trinity Bible Study meets Wednesday mornings at 9:30 am 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!
Old Denim Jeans? The TLC Quilters are in need of old denim jeans (any color & any condition) to make into quilts. Bring them to the church office or stop by the basement on Tuesdays or Thursdays to see them in action!
Little Lambs Christian Daycare in Swea City is looking for a full-time person for our baby room; preferably an adult. Must have experience with babies and be reliable. Must be able to get on the floor to interact with them and must be able to work 3-4 days a week. If interested, please stop in to the Daycare for an application in Swea City. Being a nonprofit, Christian daycare, the pay is $7.25 an hour with no benefits.
COMMUNITY NEWS
90th Birthday Celebration - Come join us in celebration of Rita Schroeder’s 90th Birthday at the Lone Rock Legion on Saturday, March 4 from 2-4pm. Cards can be sent to her at 3002 60th Ave Lone Rock, IA 50559
For Your Reflection:
THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD
LECTIONARY SUMMARY
God Manifests His Glory in the Body of Christ Jesus, Transfigured for Us by His Cross
The Transfiguration confirms “the prophetic word … to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19). The divine glory of Jesus is manifested in the word of His apostles, who were “eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). “He was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun” (Matt. 17:2). Moses and Elijah witnessed the fulfillment of the Old Testament in this Lord Jesus, and the Father testified concerning Him: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 17:5). By His own blood, shed on the cross, Jesus makes and seals the new covenant with us. Hence, “the appearance of the glory of the Lord” is no longer “like a devouring fire” (Ex. 24:17), but it is graciously revealed in His own body. As “Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel” went up the mountain with Moses and “beheld God, and ate and drank” (Ex. 24:9, 11), we also behold the Lord our God in Christ Jesus, and we abide with Him as we eat and drink His body and blood at the altar.
DOCTRINE OF THE DAY
The Reunion of the Faithful in Eternal Life
When we reach the New Creation, will we recognize each other by name? Yes! In fact, we will know all believers by name as our brothers and sisters in Christ. Lutheran theologian Francis Pieper writes: “Besides seeing God as He is, the blessed will also know one another, even though they did not meet in this life (Matt. 17:3-4). [...] At the transfiguration of Christ the disciples knew Moses and Elias, whom they had never seen before (Christian Dogmatics, III:551, fn. 79).”
LESSON ON THE LITURGY
Transfiguration Sunday
In our modern, three-year lectionary, Transfiguration Sunday is always the last Sunday of the Epiphany season and the Sunday directly preceding Ash Wednesday. We hear from St. Luke’s account that after Jesus was transfigured on the mount He descended and “set His face to go to Jerusalem (Lu. 9:53).” That is to say, after Jesus showed His glory on one mountain (the Mount of Transfiguration) He then set out to show His glory on an even greater mountain (the mount of the cross). So then, our Lenten journey will mirror the life of Christ as we descend with Christ into the penitential valley of Lent and finally arrive at the joyous mountain of the cross and empty tomb.
CHAT WITH THE CHURCH FATHERS
“Excited therefore by these revelations of secret realities, the apostle Peter, spurning the mundane and loathing earthly things, was seized by a certain excess of passion toward a yearning for eternal things. Filled up with the joy of the whole vision, he wished to dwell there with Jesus where he was delighting in Christ’s manifested glory. Thus Peter said, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ But the Lord did not reply to this suggestion, for it was not wicked but inappropriate, since the world could not be saved except by Christ’s death. And in the Lord’s warning the faith of those who believe is called to account. Among the temptations of this life we should understand that we are to ask for endurance before glory. Good fortune in ruling cannot come before a time of enduring.” - Leo the Great, Sermon 38.5, qtd. in ACCS: Matthew 14-28, p. 55.
St. John’s Lutheran Church – Burt, IA.
Phone: 515-924-3344
Email: churchoffice@stjohnsburt.org
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