Month: February 2018
Bulletin Announcements
February 18, 2018
THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP: Mark 9:6 – “For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.” Soon enough, the disciples’ terror turned into joy for when Jesus is with us, there is no need to fear. He loves us and cares for us and will never abandon us. That assurance is the basis of all generosity – for only those who are set free from worry can learn the joy of giving.
NEED A RIDE? If you are unable to drive to church, we have an option that is available. Please speak with Pastor who has the details. Thank you.
OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Choir Room which is located on the 2nd level (the west side).
THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS meets in the basement at 9:15 a.m. As we celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we continue studies on that time period. We are studying “A Man Named Martin”, a video-based study on the reformer Martin Luther.
TODAY is the deadline for items to be submitted for the MARCH NEWSLETTER. Janet Evans is our Editor for the church newsletter and any announcements you want to be published in the Newsletter should be submitted to her at goodshepherdblm@frontier.com or you may call her at (309) 838-1552.
LENTEN WORSHIP continues this week on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Our theme for Lent 2018 is “The Gospel In Seven Words”. This week’s message is “Preparing To Confess”. Join us at 5:30 p.m. in the basement and be dazzled by the culinary creations from the men who make up your Board of Elders. The freewill Offering will go to the Hilbert Family who do mission work for Lutheran Bible Translators.
LENTEN DEVOTIONS: The Lenten Devotional, “Silent Witness”, is available on the table in the narthex.
THE BOARD OF ELDERS would like to remind the congregation of our winter weather protocol if worship needs to be cancelled. We will send an e-mail to members and let WJBC Radio and TV Stations WEEK and WMBD know. If we do not have your e-mail and you would like to be included please call the church office (309) 662-8905 or sign-up at: http://www.goodshepherdblm.org/about-us/contact-us/.
FELLOWSHIP HOSTS: In order to get more people involved in our Coffee/Donut Fellowship for 2018 we have two separate sign-ups: Donut Pick-up and Coffee Set-up. We would like to encourage you to sign-up for one or the other. You may also sign-up for both if you wish. The sign-up is by the door by the north stairwell.
THE LUTHERAN HOUR: “Living and Dying” is the topic for next Sunday. The sermon text will be from Romans 5:1-11. Looking at sinful mankind, Jesus found what He was willing to die, and live for. Are we willing to do the same? Reverend Dr. Ken Klaus is the speaker. Hear his 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.
FROM THE CHURCH OFFICE: If you miss church, please be reminded that copies of the previous week’s sermon are available on the table in the narthex. Also, the sermon will be available on our web site at www.goodshepherdblm.org. Thank you.
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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Bulletin Announcements
February 11, 2018
THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP: Mark 9:6 – “For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.” Soon enough, the disciples’ terror turned into joy for when Jesus is with us, there is no need to fear. He loves us and cares for us and will never abandon us. That assurance is the basis of all generosity – for only those who are set free from worry can learn the joy of giving.
NEED A RIDE? If you are unable to drive to church, we have an option that is available. Please speak with Pastor who has the details. Thank you.
OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Choir Room which is located on the 2nd level (the west side).
THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS meets in the basement at 9:15 a.m. As we celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we continue studies on that time period. We are studying “A Man Named Martin”, a video-based study on the reformer Martin Luther.
TODAY is our door Offering for our Seminary student.
TODAY: Stop by the display table in the narthex and choose a handful of Booklets to take with you. Booklet Titles include: “Prayer/Contentment; “Grief”; “Depression”; “Stress”; “Hope and Healing” and many others. Help support Lutheran Hour Ministries.
LENT BEGINS on February 14th with our Ash Wednesday Worship with Holy Communion at 7:00 p.m. There is no meal that evening. The meals will be on the following five Wednesdays: February 21st and 28th; March 7th, 14th and 21st. We will once again do the Imposition of Ashes in our Ash Wednesday Service. If you have any questions about this practice, please speak with Pastor.
LENTEN DEVOTIONS: The Lenten Devotional, “Silent Witness”, will be available to pick up on Ash Wednesday.
THIS TUESDAY, February 13th, Good Shepherd and Pastor Lueck will be hosting the Bloomington North Circuit Pastor’s Meeting. It will run fro 8:30 a.m. to noon. We use the Sanctuary, narthex, and Conference Room. Thank you.
NEXT SUNDAY is the deadline for items to be submitted for the MARCH NEWSLETTER. Janet Evans is our Editor for the church newsletter and any announcements you want to be published in the Newsletter should be submitted to her at goodshepherdblm@frontier.com or you may call her at (309) 838-1552.
WE NEED YOUR IDEAS for our new church sign. Sheets are available on the table in the narthex. We will take submissions until TODAY,, February 11, 2018. You may drop them in the box in the narthex. Thank you!
THE BOARD OF ELDERS would like to remind the congregation of our winter weather protocol if worship needs to be cancelled. We will send an e-mail to members and let WJBC Radio and TV Stations WEEK and WMBD know. If we do not have your e-mail and you would like to be included please call the church office (309) 662-8905 or sign-up at: http://www.goodshepherd blm. org/about-us/contact-us/.
FEBRUARY FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT is this coming Friday, February 16th, at 6:30 p.m. The movie is “MOUNTAIN TOP – A JOURNEY OF FAITH”. Sometimes, the best place to see the future is on a mountain top. That’s where lawyer turned preacher Mike Andrews life changed, and he has no intention of going back. The last thing he wants to do is return to the courtroom and represent an eccentric old man whose mind is filled with obscure visions and confusing dreams. But when Sam Miller’s visions get personal, Mike discovers there are paths that lead higher than earthly mountains. And roads, more dangerous than an icy hairpin turn on a moonless night. Join us for another great movie, wonderful fellowship and good food!
FELLOWSHIP HOSTS: In order to get more people involved in our Coffee/Donut Fellowship for 2018 we have two separate sign-ups: Donut Pick-up and Coffee Set-up. We would like to encourage you to sign-up for one or the other. You may also sign-up for both if you wish. The sign-up is by the door by the north stairwell.
THE LUTHERAN HOUR: “Pay Attention to What You Hear” is the topic for next Sunday. The sermon text will be from Mark 4:24. Lent calls us to look deep into our being the life-changing words of God. The result? Obedience, changes in desires, and blessings. Reverend Dr. Dale Meyer is the speaker. Hear his 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.
FROM THE CHURCH OFFICE: If you miss church, please be reminded that copies of the previous week’s sermon are available on the table in the narthex. Also, the sermon will be available on our web site at www.goodshepherdblm.org. Thank you.
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 Text for February 4, 2018.
February 4, 2018 Text: Job 7:1-7
Dear Friends in Christ,
Have you ever had the experience of the wind being knocked out of you? When I was a freshman running back a pass pattern was called one day in practice where I was to drag across the middle. I ran the route but before the pass could arrive I was lit up by a sophomore linebacker. The breath in my body was sent twenty yards down the field and that moment of panic set in where you can’t catch your breath. I still remember that hit.
Has something similar happened to you? Maybe not a hit in football or a hard fall to the ground but it is asthma you suffer from. The air is restricted from getting to your lungs and you need an inhaler or nebulizer or medication. If you have struggled to breathe or have watched someone with this condition it can cause you discomfort and an uneasy feeling.
In our text for this morning Job is literally knocked breathless. He speaks the words we can all speak . . .
“MY LIFE IS BUT A BREATH”
The life test that Job experiences has laid him flat. His children have all died, interestingly enough as we will see by wind that knocked down the house they were all in. His property has been destroyed and Job has been afflicted with sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Job is “short of breath” as he tries to deal with what is before him. In our text he uses words like “futility”, “night drags on”, “toss till dawn”, “clothed with worms and scabs”, “skin is broken and festering”, “an end without hope.”
What experiences in our lives may bring similar feelings? A loved one with a terminal disease. The loss of a job and income. We also share experiences as a congregation. A family that we see goes through one challenge after another. The sudden death of a member or the death of children. It’s a punch to the gut or running into a wall. Breath literally leaves our body.
Even deeper than the physical wounds and tragedies is the breathlessness of our spirit. These are the times when the people of God are gasping for breath in the temptations of this world, the hopelessness that surrounds us in our sin and guilt and the big squeeze of Satan, who is looking to knock both breath and life from our very soul.
God remembers our need while we may have our focus on our troubles. God is not aloof in heaven. He established a connection with us in Baptism. In these grace-giving waters He breathed into our body and soul the life breath of eternity. By His Spirit he enlivened our being and grew our faith. He allows us in this life to breathe in His life, to breathe in His forgiveness, and to breathe in His Gospel.
God also remembers our need. Look at how He interacted with Job. In our total breathlessness He speaks to us and breathes life into our whole being.
Christ is our life-breath. He took the breath of the air of this world into his holy and perfect lungs. It was a stagnant, sinful, and toxic air. The Lord of life went to the cross and exhaled life itself. Then in His resurrection He offered to us mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to breathe forgiveness and life into our soul.
We are privileged to reside in the iron lung of our Lord God – the church – receiving in His Word and Sacraments his very breath of life. Our Lord speaks clearly, “out with the bad and in with the good.”
Remember earlier when I mentioned Job’s children were destroyed by the wind? There are other instances in Scripture where air and wind caused problems but have you ever thought how many times breath-wind-spirit was used in a positive God-ordained way in the Holy Bible?
The breath of life into the lifeless clay of man at creation. The wind that brings salvation at the banks of the Red Sea. The wind and spirit that brings life to dead bones in the vision of Ezekiel. The Spirit breathing on the disciples as they are sent by Jesus. The breath of divine forgiveness in a world of sin. The Spirit-wind that rushed through the dwelling. The apostles themselves on the first Pentecost bursting forth from the exhalation.
Job thought he would never see happiness again but that is not the case. He was blessed with double property and joy returned as seven sons and three daughters were born. His life like ours is but a breath. Breathe deeply the life-breath of our Lord and Savior. Breathe deeply, for so many want to squeeze the life from you. Breathe deeply the breath of the almighty and life-giving God. A risen and breathing Savior Jesus Christ, who by his Spirit has breathed into our being the breath of life for all eternity.
Amen.