Bulletin Announcements – November 15, 2015

†  Bulletin Announcements  †

November 15, 2015

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Hebrews 10:14: “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Our Lord Jesus has provided the one offering for sin. What we offer to the Lord is not a sacrifice for sin; we cannot buy our way into heaven with our money, works, or effort. Rather, what we give to the Lord’s work in the Church is a thank offering, a sign of our dependency on God and all He has given us.

THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS, led by Pastor Lueck and meeting in the church basement at 9:15 a.m. is studying “Lutheran Doctrine and Practice Today”.

TODAY IN SUNDAY SCHOOL: The account of God giving “The Ten Commandments” to Moses is today’s Sunday School lesson. The children will learn that the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Talk about God’s laws and how they guide us and show us our sin when we cannot keep them. Ask your children, “Who kept the Law perfectly for us?” Though we sin much, daily we have God’s forgiveness because of Christ, His Son.

TODAY is Good Shepherd’s Annual Voter’s Meeting. It will be held after the 10:30 worship service. Good Shepherd will provide the meat and drink and members will bring other food items which excite their taste buds. Copies of the 2016 Proposed Budget and the 2016 Slate of Candidates are in the narthex.

NEXT SUNDAY is the deadline for items to be submitted for the DECEMBER NEWSLETTER. Mandy Kluender is our Editor for the church newsletter and any announcements you want to be published in the Newsletter should be submitted to her at mgkluender@hotmail.com or you may call her at (309) 838-9868.

OUR THANKSGIVING EVE WORSHIP SERVICE with Holy Communion will be held on Wednesday, November 25th at 7:00 p.m. The message that evening: “Appreciate Your Blessings”.

“DECK THE HALLS”: Two weeks from today (November 29th), the Evangelism/Stewardship Board will be hosting a church decorating gathering. As we prepare the church for Advent/Christmas we will meet after the 10:30 worship service for this Fellowship Event. A lunch of pizza and drink will be provided.

LUTHERAN ANNUAL: It’s time again to order copies of “The Lutheran Annual”. The cost is $28.00. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, please contact Janet or Sandy in the church office by phone (309) 662-8905 or by email: goodshepherdblm@frontier.com, or even in person!

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: If you would like a copy of your 2015 Financial Statement please see or call Joyce Schneider at (309) 454-7865.

DEAR CHURCH FAMILY: As everyone is aware, Laura Kessler’s health issues continue with mounting medical costs. The Kessler family is requesting your help as you are able. A Go-Fund-Me Site has been setup for those who wish to assist and this can be done anonymously. The site is: www.gofundme.com/laurasjourney with the goals and specifics detailed. Thank you.        The Kessler Family

CHOIR PRACTICE: Choir is meeting every Wednesday from 7-8:00 p.m. and we always need more voices. If you would like to learn more about choir, contact Steve Parry at drparry68@outlook.com or (309) 533-5200. Come make a joyful noise until the Lord!

POSITION AVAILABLE: Christ Lutheran Church at 311 N. Hershey Road in Normal is seeking to hire an Office Manager. The list of Qualifications is posted on the bulletin board. You may submit a letter of interest and resume to Christ Lutheran Church, Attention: Employment Committee; or email to: clcms@frontier.com. For additional details see http://christlutherannormal.org.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR: “Our Heart-Song of Thanks” is the topic for next Sunday. The sermon text will be from Ephesians 5:18b-21. Heart-songs of praise are sung by those who realize the Lord loves the unlovable and saves those who thought they were beyond saving. The speaker will be Reverend Gregory Seltz. Hear this Sunday’s message on the Lutheran Hour on WGN (720) at 6:00 a.m.; WJWR (104.7 FM) and WJWR (90.3 FM) both on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Also, if you can receive Lincoln, IL radio station WLLM (1370 AM) the program is broadcast two times on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Tune in! You can also listen to The Lutheran Hour on your personal computer at RealAudio, www.lhm.org.

PRAYER CHAIN: If you have a prayer request please submit them by email to Mary Anne Kirchner at makirchner@yahoo.com or you may phone a Prayer Request to Mary Anne; her home # is (309) 661-6522; her cell phone# is (309) 532-2582. The Prayer Request box is on the table in the narthex for any written requests.

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Bulletin Announcements – November 8, 2015

Bulletin Announcements †

November 8, 2015

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Mark 12:44: “For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”   From Old Testament times right through to today the Lord has urged us to give to His work in the Church in proportion to how He has blessed us. He has also called us to sacrificial giving, that is, giving that actually costs us something. That’s the shape of true Christian generosity.

THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS, led by Pastor Lueck and meeting in the church basement at 9:15 a.m. is studying “Lutheran Doctrine and Practice Today”.

TODAY IN SUNDAY SCHOOL: “God Provides Manna, Water, and Quail” is the Sunday School lesson for today. Just as God provided manna, water, and quail for the hungry and complaining Israelites to preserve them, in Christ, God feeds us with the manna of His Word and the water of forgiveness, satisfying our eternal hunger and quenching our eternal thirst. Consider discussing, “How does sin cause us to be lost and hungry and thirsty for what we cannot have?” Talk about Jesus, the bread of life and the living water, and how He satisfies our spiritual hunger and thirst.

TODAY: Following worship today members of the Evangelism/Stewardship Committee will be handing out to each member a Commitment Card and envelope. Please fill them out and bring them back on Stewardship Sunday, November 15th. If you have not done so, last year’s envelopes are on the table in the narthex for your pick-up.

TODAY is our monthly Offering for our seminary student Bradley Ferch. Bradley is a student at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Bradley sent Good Shepherd a letter which is posted on the bulletin board.

FOOD COLLECTION: Our Food Collection for the Home Sweet Home Mission will continue through TODAY. Members of our congregation will deliver the food and serve a meal at the Mission on Saturday, November 14th.

VOTER’S MEETING: Next Sunday, November 15th, will be Good Shepherd’s Annual Voter’s Meeting. It will be held after the 10:30 worship service. Good Shepherd will provide the meat and drink and members will bring other food items which excite their taste buds. Copies of the 2016 Proposed Budget and the 2016 Slate of Candidates are in the narthex.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: If you would like a copy of your 2015 Financial Statement please see or call Joyce Schneider at (309) 454-7865.

DEAR CHURCH FAMILY: As everyone is aware, Laura Kessler’s health issues continue with mounting medical costs. The Kessler family is requesting your help as you are able. A Go-Fund-Me Site has been setup for those who wish to assist and this can be done anonymously. The site is: www.gofundme.com/laurasjourney with the goals and specifics detailed. Thank you.          The Kessler Family

CHOIR PRACTICE: Choir is meeting every Wednesday from 7-8:00 p.m. and we always need more voices. If you would like to learn more about choir, contact Steve Parry at drparry68@outlook.com or (309) 533-5200. Come make a joyful noise until the Lord!

FELLOWSHIP HOSTS: The sign-up for help with coffee/doughnuts is posted on the wall by the north stairwell. We need an individual/family to sign-up each week to pick up the donuts and make the coffee. If no one is signed up by Friday of each week, the order will be cancelled. We thank everybody who continues to help with this part of our church fellowship.

POSITION AVAILABLE: Christ Lutheran Church at 311 N. Hershey Road in Normal is seeking to hire an Office Manager. The list of Qualifications is posted on the bulletin board. You may submit a letter of interest and resume to Christ Lutheran Church, Attention: Employment Committee; or email to: clcms@frontier.com. For additional details see http://christlutherannormal.org.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR: “Readied For That Time” is the topic for next Sunday. The sermon text will be from Mark 13:1-13. Our most advanced technology soon becomes worthless and obsolete, but God has a life for you in Jesus that lasts forever. The speaker will be Reverend Gregory Seltz. Hear this Sunday’s message on the Lutheran Hour on WGN (720) at 6:00 a.m.; WJWR (104.7 FM) and WJWR (90.3 FM) both on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Also, if you can receive Lincoln, IL radio station WLLM (1370 AM) the program is broadcast two times on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Tune in! You can also listen to The Lutheran Hour on your personal computer at RealAudio, www.lhm.org.

PRAYER CHAIN: If you have a prayer request please submit them by email to Mary Anne Kirchner at makirchner@yahoo.com or you may phone a Prayer Request to Mary Anne; her home # is (309) 661-6522; her cell phone# is (309) 532-2582. The Prayer Request box is on the table in the narthex for any written requests.

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“THE REFORMATION MAY NOT BE THE TRUTH YOU THINK” John 8: 31-36, 10-25-2015, 1030am

 

October 25, 2015 – Reformation Text: John 8:31-36

Dear Friends in Christ,

It’s only about half a mile. The monk walked from his cell in the monastery, past the university where he was a teacher, to the church at the other end of town. He there affixed a poster on the doors of the Church of All Saints. If people had any interest they soon turned away when they saw it was written in Latin.
That’s the way it may have happened on Oct. 31, 1517, in the town of Wittenberg. The publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Martin Luther. Little did people know at the time that this would change Western Christianity and the course of history. The question: How could one man do it? The answer: he couldn’t and he didn’t. The Reformation is not about Luther or even the 95 Theses. Rather it is about the one truth in Christ not the many truths around us.
“THE REFORMATION MAY NOT BE THE TRUTH YOU THINK”
Why celebrate the Reformation at all? Is it not different from the other feast days of the church: Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost? The Reformation – Luther did this, his friends did that, the papal rules were thrown off and many a king, prince, duke, or earl was delighted. Is that something to celebrate?
When Luther issued this call to the church he was challenging Christians not just the mighty pope and bishops. He was challenging all Christians in the Western Church to come back to the source of faith and hope: The Word of God, the Bible.
To be honest the Church was doing fine from a worldly point of view at this time. In Wittenberg the seven priests were conducting 9,000 masses a year – 9,000! This made for a sizable income for the clergy. People were being reassured that their loved ones were being released from purgatory. A good deal for everyone, even economically for the city. And here comes this monk and…What did he say?
Father Martin did not say: Don’t listen to the Church. He would be horrified at today’s churches who say believe anything you want. He did say: “Let’s get back to the source.” The source of faith is the Word of God. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” (v. 31) How did the listeners respond: “We are offspring of Abraham.” (v. 33) We don’t need Jesus’ words we have this great prophet. In Luther’s time, the church leaders told him to keep out of this, they knew best. Today? “I’m an offspring of Walther.” “I’ve been a member of the LCMS my whole life.” Dare I ask your faith in Christ or faithfulness to God’s Word?
This is what the Reformation events were all about. Not a mythical German hero named Luther, but God’s grace that helped us recover the hidden, the falsified, the changed, and glossed-over Word of God. In the Holy Bible we have God’s mercy, packed in words, and the whole Christ, crucified and risen for you, speaking to you his full message of repentance and salvation.
Look around this day. There will be Reformation services elsewhere. There will be people who claim the name “Lutheran”, people who started with the same events of the Reformation, with the same translated Bible for daily use and preaching in the Church, and yet their proclamation differs so much from ours that you might begin to wonder what “Lutheran” means these days. There are so many different views and opinions in the Church that we begin to wonder: What does the Christian Church stand for?
Our text reminds us to “abide in my word.” If we do this we are truly Christ’s disciples. The doctor has prescribed the best medicine but it is of no use if we don’t take it. How many baptisms have we had over the years? And yet, do you see all those blessed “by water and the Word” sitting in the pew with you? How many confirmands have pledged fidelity and loyalty to Christ and the Church at this altar? Where are they now, and do you care? If they moved, that is one thing, but if they have left the faith, it is a tragedy for congregations everywhere.
How do we abide? Christian education, catechism instruction, and regular worship attendance. It is a threat to your spiritual survival to disregard the Word of God. Some churches are doing that with their modern views of Scripture. In the end, they will have to give account for every lost soul. The apostle encourages us: “Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3)
Perhaps what I have said is not happy enough for you. Perhaps you wanted more praises of Luther and the other Reformers. Well this is not a course on history and this service is not about the past. Our worship service, is always a message for the here and now – and its content – Christ’s Holy Word and the blessed Sacrament of the Altar – strengthens us for the road to the Christians final goal.
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (v. 32) That truth says: You cannot free yourself from what you are. The sinner – you and I – is a slave, bound, loaded down. But that truth says above all: Christ Jesus, God’s truth, is the truth that frees us. Jesus death on the cross for all your sins has freed you.
This day we don’t make a list needed to reach our Christian goal. This day’s worship bids us to praise and thank Christ our Redeemer for giving us all for nothing, for taking us from captivity to self into the glorious spiritual freedom of the children and heirs of God.
Without any merit on our part, we again hear Christ freeing us from sins in the words of the absolution; we listen to the Gospel of eternal liberty worked for each of us by the sacrificial death of Jesus. We witness the power of the Savior’s words, making ordinary bread and wine the bearers of nothing less than the body and blood of our holy Lord. Out of these simple earthly elements, the creative Word of God makes a “medicine of immortality” (St. Ignatius of Antioch) for our lifelong walk to the gates of paradise. Now why would anyone want to miss that?!
Amen.