Bulletin Announcements

October 21, 2018

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP Mark 10.•29-30 – “Jesus said, ‘Truly, 1 say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for My sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.’ ” This is Jesus’ encouragement for every faithful disciple. Let it encourage you today.

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 2 level (the west side).

THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS meets in the basement at 9:15 a.m.

TODAY is the deadline for items to be submitted for the NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER. Any announcements you want to be published in the Newsletter should be submitted via email to goodshepherdblm@frontier.com, via mail, handdelivered, or you may call (309) 662-8905 or (309) 838-1552. Thank you!

FOOD COLLECTION FOR HOME SWEET HOME MISSION: Beginning today and running through Sunday, November 11 , we have our Food Collection Box out for Home Sweet Home Mission. On Saturday, November 17th, from 2-6:00 p.m., we will prepare and serve a meal there and deliver the food. If you are interested in helping, please speak with Pastor or Becky Love. Thank you!

NEXT SUNDAY. October 28th, we will have a Special Order of Worship as we celebrate Reformation/All Saints’ Sunday together. Holy Communion will be celebrated in both worship Services.

LWML LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF: It’s that time again to think about purchasing items for Health Kits. Items needed for each kit: 1) One Bath Towel (dark color); 2) Two Bath Size Bars of Soap; 3) One Comb (Sturdy; No fine tooth comb); 4) One Metal Nail Clipper; 5) One Toothbrush. There also is a list of items needed on the table in the narthex for you to take with you if you need. If you have any questions please see or call Joann Hart (309) 310-9205. Thank you!

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 MUSICAL “Martin Luther A Beggar Before God” will be performed the weekend of  at the Apollo Theater in Peoria. For more information call (309) 3690844 or by email: LutherplaysinPeoria@gmail.com.

YOU ARE INVITED: Christ Lutheran Church of Normal invites you to join them on Sunday, November 4, 2018 at 3:00 p.m. for a “Hymn Festival” as we sing hymns of the Church Year from our Lutheran Service Book Hymnal. Fellowship and dessert will follow in the Parish Hall.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR: “Stranger Than Fiction” is the topic for next Sunday. The sermon text will be from Romans 3:19-28. God is the Author Who becomes part of the story—our story. The Reverend Dr. Michael Zeigler presents his first message as Lutheran Hour 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. 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 October 7, 2018

October 7, 2018                                                                          Text:  Genesis 2:18-25

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

We are living in a time of crisis.  At the core our present difficulty is a radically new understanding of sexuality, marriage, and humanity, with profound implications for our society, as well as our church.  Many of our young people have been led astray.  Sheep and shepherds are confused and afraid.  To those who are still apathetic, Erick Erickson and Bill Blankschaen have famously warned, “You will be made to care.”

It is the Gnostic view that human beings – living members of the human species – are not necessarily persons.  Having a human body does not define you as human.  This makes it easier to justify abortion, euthanasia and the use of human embryos.  If we are not fully human beings we can then define our own existence.  We must play along or get punished.  Sherif Girgis writes, “For the New Gnostic, then, a just society cannot live and let live, when it comes to sex.  Sooner or later, the common good – respect for people as self-defining subjects – will require social approval of their self-definition and approval.”  Whether the emperor is wearing no clothes or a dress, we must nod and smile – or else.

Make no mistake about it – the Holy Scriptures reveal God’s plan for the human family.  Marriage and family are not a social construct, something we dreamed up.  We don’t get to define them as we choose.  In our text for today marriage wasn’t Adam’s idea it was God’s.  He created the woman to be the helper for the man, so he would not be alone.  God brought Eve to Adam and he received her as a gift.  As people mess with this gift and screw it all up, it’s good to ask . . .

“WHAT IS THE PRICE OF A RIB?”

For God, the price of a rib is the start of the human family.  “Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” says Adam.  This is the Lord’s plan.  Male and female, man and woman, given to each other.  When the two become one the Lord blesses the union with more gifts – children.  We heard it in our Introit:  “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing.”

The Lord reminds us today of this crown of His creation.  Listen to these words from our Epistle lesson:  “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?  You made him a little lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.”  Crowned with glory and honor.  If sinful man can get us to deny God’s wonderful creation and where man should be then the next step is to kill a child or old person while saving an owl or salamander.  If we mess with God’s creation, that beating heart in the womb is not a person.  Young and old forgo commitment and live together.  Divorce escalates because “happiness” is more important than God’s Word.  And the most dangerous of all – when we – in our own churches give tacit approval to some or all of this under a satanic twisting of our Lord’s words, “Judge not”?  What is going on?

All God-given relationships have been ripped apart by sin.  Satan’s angle has always been to have us fight, argue, disagree to those in whom we are the closest.  Adam and Eve against God.  Adam and Eve against each other.  Cain and his brother Abel.  Just in Genesis alone we have Noah and Ham, Abram and Lot, Sarai and Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers.

The most intimate relationship is that of husband and wife.  The only human relationship described as “one flesh.”  The price of a rib today is the sucker punch of Satan and his minions who want us all to turn on our back on this “one flesh union.”

The Lord saw this coming.  From that first rib came all of humanity until a Savior came in human flesh.  As God put Adam to sleep and took from his side that which he made the woman, so our Lord Jesus sleeps in death on his cross and his tender heart is pierced.  Then from that heart flows a fountain of blood and water.  In the church that is a picture of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, by which the Holy Spirit creates the Bride of Christ, the Church, and brings her to the Bridegroom.

And that Bridegroom, Jesus is faithful to you.  Jesus is faithful even when you have been faithless to Him.  He is not giving up on us but His patience goes only so far.  We need the Spirit’s help to turn from life choices outside the bounds of His creation.  We need the Spirit’s help to turn from rib-rocking cohabitation to the sociological bedrock of society – marriage between a man and a woman.  It was important to the Lord in our Gospel.  It is so needed now.  We need the Spirit’s guidance when we want to throw our hands up with “what else can I do?”

This is where our faith in the Lord of creation is such a blessing.  All of this, you see, is pictured in the way God – not we, not Adam, not society – long ago designed the institution of marriage and family.  God established marriage and family to be an image of His own unfailing commitment to you, his people.

Therefore, if there is anything in this sad world that can bring hope and a future to counter the mess we’ve made of trying to do marriage and family on our own terms, thinking we know better than God, it is the open heart of Jesus.  His patience and kindness is upon us.  He sends you forth forgiven and renewed to mirror in your families and neighborhoods the divine love of the Bridegroom, Jesus.  The price of a rib was His life.  Let us live for Him who has become one with you forever.

Amen.

Bulletin Announcements

October 14, 2018

TODAY, in our 10:30 worship, we welcome three new members.  Renee Pinson is transferring from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bloomington.  Renee enjoys reading and scrapbooking.  Renee has three daughters.  She lives at 907 Vale St. in Bloomington.  Her cell# is (309) 846-8112 and her email is renee.pinson@gmail.com.  Brian & Yvonne Hoop make their home at 3205 Suffolk Way in Bloomington.  Their phone# is (309) 663-8042 and their email is brian.hoop035@gmail.com.  They have one daughter.  They are retired and have lived all around the world.  Yvonne enjoys cooking, baking, gardening, reading and genealogy.  Brian’s interests are singing, golf, and handyman work.  They are transferring from Trinity Lutheran Church in Bloomington.  Please take a moment to welcome all of them to Good Shepherd.

TODAY is our 2nd Sunday door Offering for our Seminary Student.

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.

TIMES AND MITE BOXES CHANGE:  Mite Boxes have changed in color and design over the years, but what has never changed is the dedication of freely given Offerings for the purpose of reaching out to others with the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Districts still retain 75% of Mite Offerings for the work of the LWML at that level.  Based on the Biblical account of the widow’s mite, the Mite Box is intended for regular contributions of “mites” – Offerings above and beyond the support given to the congregation and the Synod.  Mite Box contributions amount to millions of dollars that fund district and national mission grants.  In fact, the LWML has collected over $100 million dollars since 1942.  Yes . . .these coins have and will continue to make a difference.  Thank you for contributing to the Mite Box and providing the opportunity for us to spread the Gospel to the world.

NEXT SUNDAY is the deadline for items to be submitted for the NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER.   Any announcements you want to be published in the Newsletter should be submitted via email to goodshepherdblm@frontier.com, via mail, hand-delivered, or you may call (309) 662-8905 or (309) 838-1552.  Thank you!

OCTOBER’S FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES will be held this coming Friday, October 19th at 6:30 p.m.  The movie is: “I BELIEVE WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE”.  Nine year old Brian (Rowan Smyth) has a supernatural encounter with God, an experience that sends him on an adventurous quest to “find out more about what Christians believe.”  He faces heavy opposition from the world around him, especially from his own father Simon (Matt Lindquist), an atheist TV newscaster.  Brian finds allies in the pastor of a local church (Wilford Brimley) and a wounded U.S. Marine (Jeremy London).  Brian’s pure and innocent faith brings about manifestations of God’s extraordinary power that quickly becomes Breaking News.  Don’t miss out on this miracle packed adventure!  Join us Friday night, October 19th at 6:30 p.m. for another great movie, good food and wonderful fellowship!

GOOD SHEPHERD’S ANNUAL VOTER’S MEETING is scheduled for Sunday, November 11, 2018, following the 10:30 worship service.  Preceding the meeting will be a potluck dinner.

LWML LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF:  It’s that time again to think about purchasing items for Health Kits.  Items needed for each kit: 1) One Bath Towel (dark color); 2) Two Bath Size Bars of Soap; 3) One Comb (Sturdy; No fine tooth comb); 4) One Metal Nail Clipper; 5) One Toothbrush.  There also is a list of items needed on the table in the narthex for you to take with you if you need.  If you have any questions please see or call Joann Hart (309) 310-9205.  Thank you!

PORTALS OF PRAYER:  The October—December 2018 Portals of Prayer are available on the book rack in the narthex.  Pick up your free copy today.

THE MUSICAL “Martin Luther A Beggar Before God” will be performed the weekend of October 26th – 28th at the Apollo Theater in Peoria.  For more information call (309) 369-0844 or by email: LutherplaysinPeoria@gmail.com.

YOU ARE INVITED:  Christ Lutheran Church of Normal invites you to join them on Sunday, November 4, 2018 at 3:00 p.m. for a “Hymn Festival” as we sing hymns of the Church Year from our Lutheran Service Book Hymnal.  Fellowship and dessert will follow in the Parish Hall.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “We Preach Christ Crucified” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from 1 Corinthians 1:23-24.  In a classic message from 1955, Dr. Oswald Hoffmann talks about all the things that change–and the God Who Doesn’t.  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

October 7, 2018

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Mark 10:6 – “But from the beginning of creation …” In recent years, our country, along with most all the (formerly) Christian nations of Europe, has lost its way when it comes to marriage.  We have ignored the fact that it is God who created us.  We always go off the tracks when we forget that He made us and that everything good in this world comes from His hand.  In big things and in small things, in the life of a nation or the life of an individual, things go dreadfully wrong when we ignore the Creator’s instructions for life.

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.

NEXT SUNDAY, October 14th, will be our 2nd Sunday door Offering for our Seminary Student.

LWML LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF:  It’s that time again to think about purchasing items for Health Kits.  Items needed for each kit: 1) One Bath Towel (dark color); 2) Two Bath Size Bars of Soap; 3) One Comb (Sturdy; No fine tooth comb); 4) One Metal Nail Clipper; 5) One Toothbrush.  There also is a list of items needed on the table in the narthex for you to take with you if you need.  If you have any questions please see or call Joann Hart (309) 310-9205.  Thank you!

OCTOBER’S FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES will be held Friday, October 19th at 6:30 p.m.  The movie is: “I BELIEVE WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE”.  Nine year old Brian (Rowan Smyth) has a supernatural encounter with God, an experience that sends him on an adventurous quest to “find out more about what Christians believe.”  He faces heavy opposition from the world around him, especially from his own father Simon (Matt Lindquist), an atheist TV newscaster.  Brian finds allies in the pastor of a local church (Wilford Brimley) and a wounded U.S. Marine (Jeremy London).  Brian’s pure and innocent faith brings about manifestations of God’s extraordinary power that quickly becomes Breaking News.  Don’t miss out on this miracle packed adventure!  Join us Friday night, October 19th at 6:30 p.m. for another great movie, good food and wonderful fellowship!

GOOD SHEPHERD’S ANNUAL VOTER’S MEETING is scheduled for Sunday, November 11, 2018, following the 10:30 worship service.  Preceding the meeting will be a potluck dinner.

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.

PORTALS OF PRAYER:  The October—December 2018 Portals of Prayer are available on the book rack in the narthex.  Pick up your free copy today.

YOU ARE INVITED:  Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Eureka is having a Hog Roast TODAY from 4-7:00 p.m.  Pastor has two tickets for anyone interested in going.

YOU ARE INVITED:  Reverend William Weedon who served as Director of Worship for the LCMS is doing a workshop on “Thank, Praise, Serve, and Obey – Recover the Joys of Piety”.  It will be held at Christ Lutheran in Normal from 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. this coming Saturday, October 13th.  The cost is $10.00 and reservations can be made by calling the church at (309) 452-5609 or by email at: clcms@frontier.com.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “We Will Not Fear” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from Psalm 46.  Dr. Oswald Hoffmann says, “Fear is a fact of life  . . . but faith in God harnesses fear and point it in the right direction.  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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