Month: March 2017

Bulletin Announcements

March 12, 2017

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  This is perhaps the most well-known and well-beloved verse in the New Testament – and for good reason.  This simple Gospel message is the foundation for our whole life – our new life in Christ.  This new life is characterized by thankfulness and devotion to our Father who has provided for us so lavishly in Christ.

THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS meets in the basement at 9:15 a.m.  In conjunction with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we are studying about that time period with “The Word Endures: Lessons From the Lives of Powerful Politicians”.

OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Choir Room which is located on the 2nd level (the west side).

MIDWEEK LENTEN WORSHIP:  Our Lenten Worship this week under the theme: “Ironies Of the Passion” begins at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday.  The sermon: “Not During The Feast”.  Your brothers and sisters on the Evangelism/Stewardship Boards will present a gourmet meal (soup, sandwich, sides, dessert and stimulating conversation!) beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the ambience of your church basement.  The free-will Offering will go towards a new sign we are planning for our lower parking lot.  This will be an outreach as the Lord blesses.  Watch for more details coming soon.

OUR MARCH DOOR OFFERING for Seminarian Jacob Hercamp will be pushed back a week.  He will be here with his family next Sunday, March 19th.

NEXT SUNDAY is the deadline for items to be submitted for the APRIL 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.

LENTEN DEVOTIONAL BOOKLETS AVAILABLE: “From The Cradle To The Empty Grave” is the title of the Lenten Devotional Booklets from Lutheran Hour Ministries is now available on the table in the narthex.  Pick up your copy today!

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT:  Join us for another great movie this coming Friday, March 17th at 6:30 p.m. in the church basement.  The movie is “MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN”; based on a true story.  “When Christy discovers her 10-year-old daughter Anna has a rare, incurable disease, she becomes a ferocious advocate for her daughter’s healing as she searches for a solution.  After Anna has a freak accident, an extraordinary miracle unfolds in the wake of her dramatic rescue that leaves medical specialists mystified, her family restored and their community inspired.”  There are plenty of comfortable seats and plenty of food.  See you Friday night!

GOOD SHEPHERD’S ANNUAL TRIP TO FORT WAYNE, IN will be Saturday, April 1st –Sunday, April 2nd.  Please have all donated items to church by Sunday, March 26th and place the donated items in the hall closet area on the 2nd floor.  We will need to do the packing that week.  Acceptable items are clothing for all sizes, ages and genders; kitchen items of all kinds; some household items would be acceptable.  If you have any questions, please feel free to call Paula Hardy at (309) 829-8432.  Thank you!

CAMP CILCA SUMMER CAMP:  It is time to register for Camp CILCA Outdoor Ministries Summer Camp.  On the table in the narthex are brochures that detail the schedule; the ages for the different camps and the fee for that camp.  There is a discount if Registration is done by Friday, March 31st.  (The discount is $25.00 for a full week camp and $10.00 for a partial week.)  Some of you may want to consider sending a granddaughter or grandson to this week of fun, fellowship and worship!  Volunteers are needed.  The brochure details the needs and requirements.  Camp CILCA is near Springfield IL, northwest of the city, west of Sherman, IL, about 5 to 6 miles.  Camps start Sunday, June 4th.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:  Please get these dates on your calendar: Tuesday, May 23rd, 2-9:00 p.m. and Wednesday, May 24th, 2-9:00 p.m.  This is when we will be doing our Picture Directory through Lifetouch.

YOU ARE INVTED:  Kammerchor, Concordia University Wisconsin’s select touring choir, will be singing during the worship services at Christ Lutheran Church of Normal, this coming Saturday, March 18th, at 5:30 p.m., and on Sunday, March 19th, at 8:00 and 10:45 a.m., as part of their 2017 spring tour.  Admission is free, but a freewill Offering will be collected.  The choir will be singing a program consisting of both accompanied and unaccompanied choral pieces in a variety of musical styles from the 1500s to the present.  For more information please call Patty Downey at (309) 452-5609.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “A Well That Runs Deep Because You Need It” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from John 4:5-26.  Jesus is determined to meet you today with the water of grace only He can give.  Reverend Dr. Gregory Seltz is the speaker.  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 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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Sermon 3-05-2017 “That Sneaky Old Snake.”

March 5, 2017                                                                       Text:  Genesis 3:1-21

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

The marquee of a theater showed a man dressed as the devil because the current movie was about Satan.  The man was dressed in red, had a long tail, pitchfork, and horns.  A little girl, walking by with her mother, looked at the figure and was frightened.  “What’s that?” she asked her mother.  “Oh,” mother replied, “don’t be afraid.  That’s only the devil.”

That is our world.  Make the devil a caricature and he becomes less real, less frightening, and does he really exist?  Hell and damnation are not on many people’s radar so they can easily live the life they want.

Adam and Eve know the devil is all too real.  He comes to them today in the form of a snake created by God.  Do you ever think to yourself, “How could they be so dumb?  They had perfection as husband and wife.  No arguing about finances or who takes out the garbage or where on earth will we vacation this year.”  Would you or I have given in?  10 chances out of 9, we would!  Satan’s temptations are hard to resist.  That sneaky old snake is a forceful factor in the world.  He can deceive and seduce the best the human race has to offer.  Until Christ comes again this is our predicament.  Let’s take him seriously . . .

“THAT SNEAKY OLD SNAKE”

Satan has several descriptions in Scripture:  accuser, slanderer, adversary, enemy, opponent.  Jesus calls him a murderer, a liar, and the father of lies.  The Catechism reminds us that the devil was once a holy angel but then fell away from God.  He and his cohorts were created holy, sinned and are forever rejected by God.  They are great in number.

“That sneaky old snake” still challenges and seduces. Talking snakes?  Are you serious?  Who would be dumb enough to believe that?  That’s just some writer’s way of explaining how this world ended up as it is now.  Besides, do you believe Adam and Eve were real people and the only people in the world?  That’s just a way of describing the origins of the human race.  Satan doesn’t seduce today?  Satan laughs and laughs and laughs if we think like that.

What he did in the garden was to get our first parents to doubt God’s Word.  He lies to them.  The lying continues in our day.  People brought up in the church and who know God’s Word still think living together before marriage is not a sin.  Wake up!  Satan is winning.  He lies and tells men and women that gay marriage is just about love, not unnatural relations as described in the Bible.  Wake up!  Satan is winning.  He slithers past us and mentions we can be like God, because what does He really know anyways.  Wake up!  Satan is winning.  He turned Cain against Abel and he did quite the number on David and Bathsheba.  No one is off limits.  He even tries his seduction with Jesus as we see in today’s Gospel.

Be on guard, because he attacks all Christians, including you and me.  The noose of sin strangles and suffocates.  Take the sneaky old snake seriously.  Adam and Eve didn’t and it cost them and us death.  I’m naked, where can I hide?!

When preaching on this text it always is a reminder that we want to make the message of how to overcome simplistic.  Things like, “resist Satan’s assaults. Don’t do what Adam and Eve did.  Be strong against the wily one.”  Does this ever work?

We need help.  We need powerful, perfect help.  We need the strongest of the strong.  We need someone who overcame the sneaky old snake.  What’s that, someone did triumph over the devil?  Someone did resist and watched the devil walk away with his head in shame.

Isn’t the symmetry of the Scripture lessons beautiful this day?  Christ met the foe and he slithered away.  In His human nature he resisted the taunts and the goading and the challenge.  In His human nature He took the verbal punches and the subversive tactics to a place called Golgotha.  There for all the world of sinners to see He gave His life so that the old evil foe would be defeated.  Before His glorious resurrection, He took a little trip to tell Satan that He had won.  Satan would still have power but it would be limited and it would not last forever.  Through the one man free grace and righteousness is ours.  Grace reigns eternal.  While Satan is winning small battles here, the Eternal One passes on the eternal victory to us.

To resist this sneaky old snake we daily need these reminders.  Where are those found?  In the Holy Book.  Jesus used it.  Each time Satan came to attack him he said, “It is written.”  It is not enough to know the Scriptures so well that you can quote them.  Anyone – including Satan – can do that.  We must know what the Scriptures say and mean for us.  We must believe their message.

Take the devil seriously.  He is not some goofball in a 10 cent costume straight from a Hollywood back lot.  He is a formidable foe and his crafty and cunning seem to be working the world over.  Remember Christ holds the power.  Christ lived the perfection.  Christ is the ultimate snake handler and this belly crawling despot has met his match.  Good riddance sneaky old snake – now crawl away from here – I’ve got a Savior watching over me!

Amen.

Bulletin Announcements

March 5, 2017

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Matthew 4:7:  Jesus said to him, “Again it is written. . .”  Jesus defeats Satan in our place – not by using His power as God, but by His perfect obedience in His perfect humanity.  Jesus defeats Satan not by miracles, but by quoting the Scriptures and living according to it.  This should cause us great joy for two reasons. First, because we see Jesus win the victory for us.  Second, because here Jesus shows us how to stand in that victory: on the Word of God alone.

THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS meets in the basement at 9:15 a.m.  In conjunction with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we are studying about that time period with “The Word Endures: Lessons From the Lives of Powerful Politicians”.

OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Choir Room which is located on the 2nd level (the west side).

LENTEN DEVOTIONAL BOOKLETS AVAILABLE: “From The Cradle To The Empty Grave” is the title of the Lenten Devotional Booklets from Lutheran Hour Ministries is now available on the table in the narthex.  Pick up your copy today!

LENT CONTINUES THIS WEEK with worship on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.  “The Ironies of the Passion” message this week is: “It Is Better That One Man Die for the People”.  The restaurant style cuisine will be served by your Board of Elders beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the intimate surroundings of the church basement.  The free-will Offering will be sent to “Lutherans For Life”.

LWML LADIES:  Our next LWML Meeting is this coming Tuesday, March 7th at 9:00 a.m.

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BEGINS:  Next Saturday before those pleasant dreams begin, be dreaming that you have to get up an hour earlier.  That’s right, it is time to “spring forward” with your clocks so that your on-time performance on Sunday mornings continues.

OUR MARCH DOOR OFFERING for Seminarian Jacob Hercamp will be pushed back a week.  He will be here with his family on Sunday, March 19th.

GOOD SHEPHERD’S ANNUAL TRIP TO FORT WAYNE, IN will be Saturday, April 1st –Sunday, April 2nd.  Please have all donated items to church by Sunday, March 26th an place the donated items in the hall closet area on the 2nd floor.  We will need to do the packing that week.  Acceptable items are clothing for all sizes, ages and genders; kitchen items of all kinds; some household items would be acceptable.  If you have any questions, please feel free to call Paula Hardy at (309) 829-8432.  Thank you!

CAMP CILCA SUMMER CAMP:  It is time to register for Camp CILCA Outdoor Ministries Summer Camp.  On the table in the narthex are brochures that detail the schedule; the ages for the different camps and the fee for that camp.  There is a discount if Registration is done by Friday, March 31st.  (The discount is $25.00 for a full week camp and $10.00 for a partial week.)  Some of you may want to consider sending a granddaughter or grandson to this week of fun, fellowship and worship!  Volunteers are needed.  The brochure details the needs and requirements.  Camp CILCA is near Springfield IL, northwest of the city, west of Sherman, IL, about 5 to 6 miles.  Camps start Sunday, June 4th.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:  Please get these dates on your calendar: Tuesday, May 23rd, 2-9:00 p.m. and Wednesday, May 24th, 2-9:00 p.m.  This is when we will be doing our Picture Directory through Lifetouch.

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.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “The Power of a New Beginning” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from John 3:1-17.  Real help comes to us from the outside.  In Christ, new beginnings and greater endings are still possible  Reverend Dr. Gregory Seltz is the speaker.  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 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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