Bulletin Announcements

December 2, 2018

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:   Luke 19:31 –  “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this:  ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ” Consider the faithfulness of that man who owned the donkey and colt. All he needed to hear was, “The Lord has need of it,” and he willingly gave. The Lord has given each of us various callings in life – in our homes, in the Church, and in our communities.  In each calling we have good work to do, and that comes from the Lord’s hand.  The Lord has need of us in each calling. How is He calling you to generous giving in each of your vocations?

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.

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.

FAITH IN ACTION OF BLOOMINGTON/NORMAL:   One ride, one visit, one Senior at a time.  Need a ride?  Want to volunteer?  Need more information?  Call (309) 827-7780; or email: office@bnfia.org or contact Barry Hamlin at (309) 750-9424.

TODAY:  The Evangelism/Stewardship Board is sponsoring a “Decorate the Church for Advent/Christmas” gathering after the 10:30 Worship Service TODAY.  The Board will provide lunch, you provide muscle and jolliness!

OUR ADVENT SERVICES begin this week under the simple theme: “Who Is Jesus?”  The message: “Jesus Is The Son of David”.  Worship begins at 7:00 p.m.  Preceding our time in the Lord’s House we gather for food and fellowship in the church basement from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.  The food sign-up is in the narthex and this week’s free-will Offering will go to Wittenberg Lutheran Student Center.

THE ADVENT DEVOTIONAL BOOKLETS,  “The Coming King”, is available on the table in the narthex.  Pick up your free copy today!

THE BABY FOLD SHARING TREE is up in the narthex.  Please have your un-wrapped items to church by TODAY!  If you wish to give a monetary donation please make your check payable to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and indicate on the memo line “Baby Fold”.  If you have any questions please see Paula Hardy or Toni Lueck.  Thank you!

IT’S TIME TO ORDER POINSETTIAS:  There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the narthex to order your “Poinsettia” to be placed on the altar for Advent/Christmas.  The cost is $8.00 each.  You will need to sign-up by Wednesday, December 19th.  You may take your poinsettia home following the 10:30 a.m. worship service on Sunday, January 6, 2019.  There will be an envelope  available with the sign-up sheet for you to place your check or money order in.  Please make your check payable to: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and indicate “Poinsettia” on the memo line.  If you have any questions, please contact Jackie Kwasny at (309) 662-4995 or Luanne Huth (309) 829-6897.  Thank you!

YOU ARE INVITED to Christ Lutheran Church, 311 N. Hershey Road in Normal, NEXT SUNDAY, December 9th, from 5-7:00 p.m. for “Journey to the Manger”.  Free Tours include: Live drama and animals; singing and music; indoor and outdoor scenes, and hot chocolate and cookies.  A meal will also be available for purchase from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.  If you have any questions please call the church at (309) 452-5609.

EARN A RETURN AND HELP OUR LCMS CHURCHES:  The Central Illinois District Church Extension Fund (CID-CEF) provides resources to churches in our Central Illinois District that wish to grow God’s ministry through building or expansion.  We are able to do this because of conscientious LCMS members like you who support our churches by investing in the CID-CEF – we need your continued support and investments!  As an added blessing for your investment, we are now offering a 24-Month SPECIAL RATE of 2.35% (minimum investment $500) to you as well as our church organizations to support the LCMS ministry.  Please contact Chris Anderson or Susan Short at the CID-CEF: phone: (217)793-1802, e-mail cef@cidlcms or visit our website www.cidlcms.org, (see link in lower left corner) for this special interest rate and other recent rate increases for our investment options.  Thank you for investing in the future of our LC-MS!

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “Redeemer With a Capital ‘R’” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from Ruth 3-4.  When people use the word “redeem” outside of religious context, they tend to use it in a commercial sense-redeeming points from purchases or casino tokens for cash.  In the Bible, the word “redeem” is used in a family setting.  In the story of Ruth, Boaz is a “kinsman redeemer”, who points to Jesus, our capital-Redeemer.  Jesus has done more than pay our points.  He redeems by bringing us into His clan, His people, His household, that we might be with Him forever.  The speaker will be Reverend Dr. Michael Ziegler.  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.

†  †  †  †  †  †

Sermon Text for Sunday, November 18, 2018

November 18, 2018 – Stewardship Sunday                                   Text:  Luke 12:41-48

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

Being a sociological person one of the shows I enjoy watching is the “Newlywed Game.”  From the 1960’s through the last few years it is a great study in human behavior.  I was recently watching a show from about five years ago when the question was posed:  “When was the last time you compromised with your wife?”  The husband’s answer:  “When she bought a car.”  When the wife heard that she tore into him with these words:  “I don’t need your permission to buy anything!”  I wonder, are these two still together?

What the wife said is not all that unusual in our me-centric society.  The most common word in our vocabulary is the personal pronoun “I.”  I am the master of everything.  I own everything I have.  I will not listen to you.  It is an epidemic and it is sad.

Prayerfully as people of Christ we see things differently.  Our life is not in our hands but it is in God’s hands.  He gives the blessings.  He gives the ownership rights.  He allows us the privilege to manage the resources He has so bountifully bestowed on each one of us.  How are you doing with that?

“CAN YOU MANAGE?”

St. Francis of Assisi astutely said, “Stewardship is everything I do after I say, ’I believe.’”  We are God’s stewards.  We have been made His through our Baptism and the Word of God.  We have been entrusted by our Creator with life’s resources and we joyfully manage them for him.

You have been entrusted with life.  God is asking you to manage the life He has given you.  You take care of yourself.  You take of the things you have.  You do this until eternity when the life he gave you on the cross becomes a forever life in heaven.

When take account of your house, car, appliances, clothes, computers, phones, and even your money they aren’t really your own, they belong to God.  You hear me talk this way about our boys.  They aren’t really “our children” they belong to God.  The Lord has given Toni and I the privilege to be their parents and to raise them but ultimately their eternal future rests in God’s hands not ours.  We manage as you manage with His help.

That is a concept Mr. and Mrs. Joe America has no perception of.  This is why for the Christian it can be such a challenge to manage the resources that God sends our way.  We need to see things clearly and through the lens of Scripture.

I have used a couple of times already in this sermon the word “privilege.”  Let’s think about that word a little bit more in depth.  In our text, we hear Jesus saying, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” (v. 48)  We all have been privileged with a differing variety of tangible and intangible items in life.  We will each have to give an account to the Lord of how we managed the things He has entrusted to us.  Paul writes to the Romans:  “For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.  For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.  So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Rom. 14:7-8)  Then Paul adds a few verses later:  “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Rom. 14:12)

What have we done to be so blessed by our Lord?  Absolutely zero.  “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling.”  God privileges us with our intellect and education and talents and experiences and faith.  We manage these resources for the owner.  Our finances our the Lord’s, yet a portion is for us – our needs such as food, clothing, shelter etc.  The Lord even privileges us with luxuries – spa treatments and vacations and other things that bring joy to our lives.

The necessities and luxuries are part of our management.  Additionally we support our church and we help those in need.  We benefit our missionaries and our neighbor’s.  We have the privilege of taking care of the Lord’s church and we have seen this past week that He blesses as we do.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, because of our sinful nature, we can find ourselves thinking and living as the world does, as if we are the owners of all that we have.  We can accumulate to the point where the cars don’t all fit in the garage.

Here is what we want to remember:  you are the object and beneficiary of God’s love!  He will only ask, command, or encourage you to do and think in ways that will bless you and your neighbor and that will enhance both of your lives.  You know that with absolute certainty because on the cross Jesus has already graciously taken and suffered all of our punishment and in exchange has given us everlasting life and the promised hope of benefitting from his love forever.

You are privileged.  God Bless your management!

Amen.

Bulletin Announcements

November 25, 2018

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Isaiah 51:6 – “For the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment.”  The things of this earth that hold our attention, that cause us worry, that tempt us away from the Lord: they are all passing away.  They will vanish like a garment.  They are not for us to worry over, but rather to use for the Lord’s purposes.  The things of this world are not ends in and of themselves, but only means to be used wisely by the children of the Kingdom that has no end.

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.

THE EVANGELISM/STEWARDSHIP BOARD is sponsoring a “Decorate the Church for Advent/Christmas” gathering after the 10:30 Worship Service NEXT SUNDAY, December 2nd.  The Board will provide lunch, you provide muscle and jolliness!

GOOD SHEPHERD’S MIDWEEK ADVENT SERVICES will be on Wednesday’s at 7:00 p.m. on December 5th, 12th, and 19th.  We will serve a meal from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. each evening.  The sign-up for the meals is on the table in the narthex.  The free-will offering on December 5th will go to Wittenberg Lutheran Center.

FAITH IN ACTION OF BLOOMINGTON/NORMAL:   One ride, one visit, one Senior at a time.  Need a ride?  Want to volunteer?  Need more information?  Call (309) 827-7780; or email: office@bnfia.org or contact Barry Hamlin at (309) 750-9424.

THE BABY FOLD SHARING TREE is up in the narthex.  Please have your un-wrapped items to church by NEXT SUNDAY, December 2nd.  If you wish to give a monetary donation please make your check payable to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and indicate on the memo line “Baby Fold”.  If you have any questions please see Paula Hardy or Toni Lueck.  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.

YOU ARE INVITED to Christ Lutheran Church, 311 N. Hershey Road in Normal, on Sunday, December 9th from 5-7:00 p.m. for “Journey to the Manger”.  Free Tours include: live drama and animals; singing and music; indoor and outdoor scenes and hot chocolate and cookies.  A meal will also be available for purchase from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.  If you have any questions please call the church at (309) 452-5609.

EARN A RETURN AND HELP OUR LCMS CHURCHES:  The Central Illinois District Church Extension Fund (CID-CEF) provides resources to churches in our Central Illinois District that wish to grow God’s ministry through building or expansion.  We are able to do this because of conscientious LCMS members like you who support our churches by investing in the CID-CEF – we need your continued support and investments!  As an added blessing for your investment, we are now offering a 24-Month SPECIAL RATE of 2.35% (minimum investment $500) to you as well as our church organizations to support the LCMS ministry.  Please contact Chris Anderson or Susan Short at the CID-CEF: phone: (217)793-1802, e-mail cef@cidlcms or visit our website www.cidlcms.org, (see link in lower left corner) for this special interest rate and other recent rate increases for our investment options.  Thank you for investing in the future of our LC-MS!

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “Reality Therapy” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from Ruth 1-2.  The Book of Ruth deals with unimportant people and unimportant matters, but deals with them in such a way as to show that God is active in ordinary lives—like yours and mine.  Ruth’s story became an important part of the story of Jesus.  Listening to God’s work in her life can rescue us from dead-end delusions and bring us into what is most real—a Jesus-centered reality.  The speaker will be Reverend Dr. Michael Ziegler.  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.

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.

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.

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.

†  †  †  †  †  †