Bulletin Announcements

October 8, 2017

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.

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Matthew 21:43: “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.”  The Pharisees were not bearing fruit. Though they were faithful to the letter of the Law in keeping the Sabbath, tithing, and all the rest: they neglected the heart of God’s will.  The grace of God belongs at the center.  Our giving and all our other good works flow forth from receiving God’s grace and living in that grace on a daily basis.

TODAY is our monthly door Offering for our adopted Seminary Student.  This year’s student is Mr. Brent Keller.  Me Keller is a fourth year student at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN.  He is married with one child.

CHURCH SIGN UPDATE:  After having our coins counted and other gifts we have $5,244.88 toward this Outreach endeavor.  The goal is $7,000.00  We have one more collection on Reformation Sunday, October 29th.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:  Please keep these important dates on your calendar.  On Sunday, October 22nd we will have Mission Festival Sunday.  Reverend Charles Olander who does prison ministry work in our district will preach and conduct Bible Class.  There will also be a meal after the late service.  On Sunday, October 29th we will celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in both worship services.  That afternoon at 3:00 p.m. will be a circuit-wide Reformation 500 Festival Service at Christ Lutheran in Normal.  Then on November 12th, we will conduct our Annual Voter’s Meeting and have a meal after our 10:30 worship service.

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT:  The October FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES will be held on OCTOBER 20th at 6:30 p.m.  The feature movie that will be shown is “HIDDEN FIGURES”.  This movie was inspired by a true story. “HIDDEN FIGURES” tells the incredible untold story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA who served as the brains behind the launch into orbit of astronaut John Glenn, a stunning achievement that turned around the Space Race.  The visionary trio crossed all gender and racial lines and inspired generations.  Join us for a great movie and good food and fine fellowship!  See you at the movies.

FROM THE OFFICE:  We received two thank-you letters from recent gifts we sent.  First, a note of thanks from President Harrison of our LCMS for our gift of $1,586.20 toward hurricane relief.  Second, a note of gratitude for our $100.00 donation to Wittenberg Lutheran Center following our reception of their old stove which now adorns our kitchen.  Both letters are on the bulletin board outside the church office.

FROM THE OFFICE:  If you do not currently receive “The Gatepost”, the Monthly Newsletter  from our Central Illinois District of the LCMS you can sign-up to receive it by e-mail or regular mail at cid@cidlcms.org.

PORTALS OF PRAYER:  The October—December 2017 Portals of Prayer are available on the book rack in the narthex.  Pick up your free copy today.

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:  “Luther the Man: Called by God to Boast in Him” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.  Although Martin Luther is widely regarded as one of the most influential people of the last 500 years, he knew he was no big deal, compared to Christ  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 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.

Bulletin Announcements

October 1, 2017

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.

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Matthew 21:26: “But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd. . .”  Foolish Pharisees!  They fear men more than they fear God, and so they miss out on the great blessing of knowing Jesus and His love.  All our sins are like this: we fear something more than we fear God.  And how foolish that is!.  Just think of the blessings we miss out on whenever we place our fear or trust in something other than God.

TODAY IS LWML SUNDAY (Lutheran Women’s Missionary League) and we thank the Lord for their 75 years as a Mission Society of the LCMS.  May He continue to bless their work into the future.

NEXT SUNDAY, (October 8th) will be our monthly door Offering for our adopted Seminary Student.  This year’s student is Mr. Brent Keller.  Mr. Keller is a fourth year student at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN.  He is married with one child.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:  Please keep these important dates on your calendar.  On Sunday, October 22nd we will have Mission Festival Sunday.  Reverend Charles Olander who does prison ministry work in our district will preach and conduct Bible Class.  There will also be a meal after the late service.  On Sunday, October 29th we will celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in both worship services.  That afternoon at 3:00 p.m. will be a circuit-wide Reformation 500 Festival Service at Christ Lutheran in Normal.  Then on November 12th, we will conduct our Annual Voter’s Meeting and have a meal after our 10:30 worship service.

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT:  The October FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES will be held on OCTOBER 20th at 6:30 p.m.  The feature movie that will be shown is “HIDDEN FIGURES”.  This movie was inspired by a true story. “HIDDEN FIGURES” tells the incredible untold story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA who served as the brains behind the launch into orbit of astronaut John Glenn, a stunning achievement that turned around the Space Race.  The visionary trio crossed all gender and racial lines and inspired generations.  Join us for a great movie and good food and fine fellowship!  See you at the movies.

FROM THE OFFICE:  If you do not currently receive “The Gatepost”, the Monthly Newsletter  from our Central Illinois District of the LCMS you can sign-up to receive it by e-mail or regular mail at cid@cidlcms.org.

PORTALS OF PRAYER:  The October—December 2017 Portals of Prayer are available on the book rack in the narthex.  Pick up your free copy today.

FROM THE OFFICE:  The AED (Automated External Defibrillator) has now been mounted on the south wall in the narthex.  Please take an opportunity to visually locate it.  Saying prayers that we never need to use it, but if we should: 1) Call 911; 2) Have someone grab the AED; 3) Turn the equipment on and the AED will walk you through what you need to do.  A CPR class will be scheduled at a later date.  Speak with Mary Anne Kirchner if you have any questions.

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.

YOU ARE INVITED:  Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Eureka has their 28th Annual Hog Roast thic coming Saturday, October 7th from 4-7:00 p.m.  Pastor Lueck has two complimentary tickets for you and a pig loving guest, please speak with him.  (Pastor, not the pig!)

FREE TICKETS:  The church office has free tickets for the ISU Women’s Volleyball Game against Valparaiso on Saturday, October 7th at 7:00 p.m. The tickets are available on the table in the narthex.  Enjoy!

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “No Selfies Needed” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from Philippians 4:4-14.  God isn’t afraid of messy people.  He loves the broken, embraces the outcast, and seeks the lost.  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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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