Author: TechCommittee

Sermon for Sunday, October 1, 2017: “Be Ready to Confess.”

Oct. 1, 2017 – LWML Sunday                                               Text:  2 Timothy 4:1-4

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

Man, do my ears itch?  How about you?  Just saying the word “itch” gets us to thinking.  You want to scratch somewhere, right now, don’t you?  It is like two weekends ago both at Holden’s high school football game and Karson’s college football game where they made an announcement that someone had lost their keys.  What did everyone do?  Start patting their pockets, checking their purse.  I resisted, at least, until a few minutes later.

On this LWML Sunday, to say we have “itching ear” disease is a little like saying President Trump likes to Twitter.  Unless you are in a coma, I have just stated the obvious.  Let’s hit the disease head on this morning and  . . .

“BE READY TO CONFESS”

Brother Timothy and Brother Paul worked as Pastors in a time when this disease was spreading.  People were finding church leaders who spoke their language, didn’t call them to account for their sins and changed the truth of the gospel.  They needed each other and the early church leaders so that they would be ready to confess.

It is within the framework of the sermon text of today where I could go off on those removing Christ from the public square, those denying God as Creator and the worldly decimators who think they know what a Christian is all about.

But to me that is not the root of the disease.  People who say they are Christian cause this cancerous growth.  Sure the charlatans of media, academia and Hollywood have their spin, but are they the most dangerous?

As a Pastor of some experience now, people get led away from worship and the church because they start to believe in a different gospel.  A gospel that says believe in a higher being and all your problems will be solved – scratch.  A teacher that says let me entertain you into believing – scratch.  A fellow Christian who stands idly by as you live together before marriage – scratch, scratch.  So-called Biblical colleges who teach that yea you were a monkey before becoming a human being – scratch.  Worldwide white smoke pontificators who care more about global warming than what Christ did on the cross – scratch, scratch, scratch.  Man, do I itch.

Doctrine, the teachings of Scripture, is the only tool for reproving, rebuking, and exhorting.  Yet, doctrine must be taught with long-suffering, knowing that people will not always accept what is taught or that acceptance might take a long time.

That last part – it might take along time – is hard for us impatient people.  But I encourage.  Confess Jesus.  Confess the Gospel.  Confess the truth.  Confess Word and Sacraments.  Confess faithfulness in worship.  Confess marriage.  Confess God as Creator.  Sometimes in our pity, we wonder does it make a difference?  Recently you know that Toni, Holden, and I went back to the first church I served in Texas.  What God allowed me to see in that 30-hour period is that confessing Christ makes a difference even though we may not see it until years later.  Confirmands you thought weren’t paying attention, now confessing Jesus in their lives.  Little shavers when you left now being leaders in their churches.  A young woman with two out of wedlock births now married, husband as elder and involved in their LCMS Church.  It does matter what you confess.  Stop the itching.  God’s Word puts the disease, the devil and the world in remission.  It’s His timing, not ours.

The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League knows a little about timing.  They decided to form at an odd time in history – 1942.  Men were fighting overseas, women were joining the workforce, the challenges were daunting.  Yet on July 7 & 8 of that year over 100 women met in Chicago and established the LWML.  They probably had the “itching ear” crowd wondering why establish a mission society during a war.  They pressed on with their confession of Jesus and the mission of the church.  The League has blessed the mission efforts of congregations, districts, and synod in powerful ways.  They listened to the truth and have encouraged each other.

Our Lutheran confession has always struggled against the intrusion of false teaching.  You can’t have the Law hammer people into the free gift of salvation.  From a purely theological insight we have seen that this week.  The more you tell someone what to do, the less likely they are to it.  You remember childhood, don’t you?  We preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for our sins and raised for our justification.  Induced by this Gospel, the Spirit of the Lord leads men and women and children to this healing balm that takes away the itch of the world.  I don’t feel the need to scratch, how about you?

In simple words, our faithful God keeps His promises and we pray this Sunday and always that He will enable us to BE READY TO CONFESS.

Amen.

Elder, Usher, and Acolyte Schedules October 2017

Elder and Usher Schedule

Date
8:30
Elder
10:30
Oct 1Gene Fuller, Jeff Piper, Lucas Piper, Richard RossCraig CulpGreg McNeely, Theron Noth
Oct 8Gerald Semelka, Nathan KluenderRandy ReinhardtBrian Dirks, Bud Kessler, Curt Kessler
Oct 15Craig Culp, Joshua Parry, Mike FieldNathan KluenderGreg McNeely, Mike Huth
Oct 22Daryle Schempp, Steve ParryMike FieldBrian Dirks, Bud Kessler, Theron Noth
Oct 29Gene Fuller, Jeff Piper, Lucas Piper, Richard RossPaul GerikeBrian Dirks, Greg McNeely, Mike Huth

Acolyte Schedule

Date
8:30 AM
10:30 AM
Oct 1Chloe HitchPastor/Elder
Oct 8Pastor/ElderWill McNeely
Oct 15Clayton PiperPastor/Elder
Oct 22Pastor/ElderMatt Williamson
Oct 29Lucas PiperJessica Isaac

Celebrating October 2017

Birthdays

10/1 Thomas Anderson
10/2 Bud Barnett
10/10 Fern Noth
10/11 Barry Hamlin
10/11 Jessica Isaac
10/12 Payton Biddle
10/12 John Hardy
10/15 Travis Henson
10/15 Maria Kirchner
10/17 Jackie Semelka
10/19 Cindy Sheley
10/21 Shane Miller
10/23 Audrey Gronert
10/23 Chloe Hitch
10/24 Teresa Casselman
10/24 Helen Jensen
10/25 Abby Biddle
10/28 Cheryl Reichert

Baptismal Birthdays

10/2 Eli McNeely
10/2 William McNeely
10/3 Pastor Lueck
10/4 Brian Dirks
10/5 David Marlow
10/9 Bill Huber
10/20 Cleo Korte
10/27 Steve Davis
10/30 Ben Holland

Pastor’s Notes October 2017

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

After many years hearing and talking about the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we have now arrived at the month.  Lutheran churches around the world and other Christian denominations will celebrate this turning point in the history of the Lord’s Church.

This month of October 2017 is a very busy one for Good Shepherd and I would like to let you know of the many happenings at our church and within the circuit.

Sunday, Oct. 1 – LWML Sunday.  We worship together and thank God for this mission society within our LCMS.

Sunday, Oct. 22 – Mission Festival Sunday.  Rev. Charles Olander who is involved in prison ministry in our district will be here to preach and conduct Bible Class.  We will also have a meal after late service and learn more about our Central Illinois District’s Mission.

Sunday. Oct. 29 – Reformation Sunday.  Special Worship Service and our last collection for the new church sign we have planned on the south end of our property.

Sunday, Oct. 29, 3:00 p.m.  – Circuit-Wide Reformation 500 Festival Worship Service at Christ Lutheran Church, 311 N. Hershey Road.

We thank the Lord for these opportunities to gather and worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We join in grace alone, faith alone, and scripture alone.  We are blessed to be part of this historic event and we look forward to your participation.

In Christ,

Pastor

Stewardship Corner October 2017

We are nearing the 500th Anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, All Saints’ Eve, 1517, when Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. So, let’s hear from Luther himself on the topic of giving and stewardship.

In the Small Catechism under the Table of Duties, Martin Luther gives specific Bible passages to help Christians know their duty in their various vocations as members of their family, society at large, and in God’s family, the Church. Under the heading “What Hearers Owe Their Pastors,” Luther lists five passages from the Bible, three of which have to do with giving to your local congregation. They are these:

“The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14).

“Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:6–7).

“The elders [presbyters, i.e., pastors] who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and ‘The worker deserves his wages’” (1 Timothy 5:17–18).

Luther comments on these passages in his 1535 Lectures on Galatians. He wrote:

When Paul says “all good things,” this is not to be taken to mean that everyone should share all his possessions with his preacher.  No, it means that he should provide for him liberally, giving him as much as is needed to support his life in comfort. . . . The apostle is so serious in advocating this topic of support for preachers that he adds a threat to his denunciation and exhortation, saying: “God is not mocked.”. . . All this pertains to the topic of support for ministers.  I do not like to interpret such passages; for they seem to commend us, as in fact they do.  In addition, it gives the appearance of greed if one emphasizes these things diligently to one’s hearers.  Nevertheless, people should be taught also about this matter, in order that they may know that they owe both respect and support to their preachers.  Christ teaches the same thing in Luke 10:7: “Eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages”; and Paul says elsewhere (1 Cor. 9:13–14): “Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings?  In the same way the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the Gospel should get their living by the Gospel.”  It is important for us who are in the ministry to know this, so that we do not have a bad conscience about accepting for our work wages . . . it happens when those who proclaim the glory of God and faithfully instruct the youth derive their livelihood from them.  It is impossible that one man should be devoted to household duties day and night for his support and at the same time pay attention to the study of Sacred Scripture, as the teaching ministry requires.  Since God has commanded and instituted this, we should know that we may with a good conscience enjoy what is provided for the comfortable support of our lives from church properties to enable us to devote ourselves to our office. (LW 27:125–126).

In other words, pastors are not to suffer from low wages just because they are servants of Christ and the Word. They are to share in the livelihoods of all to whom they preach the gospel and instruct in the faith, so that the Word can be proclaimed and the faith carried from one generation to the next.