Celebrating May 2017

Birthdays

5/3 Anna Holland
5/5 Lorene Backsmeier
5/5 Cory Fortney
5/8 Lucas Piper
5/11 Lindsay Orr
5/12 Kerry Warren
5/16 Benjamin Holland
5/19 Nicki Cloyd
5/19 Terry Trost
5/21 Pat McQuown
5/24 Jack Gooding
5/25 Doris Hoffman
5/26 Joyce Schneider
5/27 Keyyon Pleasant

Baptismal Birthdays

5/1 Catherine Cloyd
5/1 Carly Benjamin
5/1 Marvin Lester
5/3 Cooper Mosier
5/5 Marlene Hitch
5/6 Halie Sheley
5/15 Daryle Schempp
5/18 Drew Kemp
5/22 Lorene Backsmeier
5/22 Marvin Huth
5/26 Stephen Parry
5/29 Lucas Piper

Stewardship Corner May 2017

“It is more blessed to give than to receive,” said St. Paul, quoting our Lord (Acts 20:35).  How can this be?

Jesus and His disciples withdrew to a mountain by the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  The crowds followed them, for the Lord had just showered upon them the gift of His teaching, the gift of His Word.  But the day was waning; the sun was setting, and it was getting late.  Looking upon the crowds, Jesus had compassion on them and asked, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat” (John 6:5)?  Philip said that two hundred denarii (a day’s wages for two hundred men) could not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.

But Andrew, Peter’s brother, brought a young boy forward, who had five barley loaves and two small fish. “But,” Andrew asked, “what are they for so many” (John 6:9).  Jesus replied, “Have the people sit down” (John 6:10).

Then Jesus, the Son of God, gave them a second gift, a gift from what only He could give—a gift from above.  He took the bread and the fish, gave thanks, blessed them, and distributed them to the crowd.  Then came the miracle.  As these five loaves and two fish were given out, they multiplied.  He fed the hungry crowd until they were all full.  And twelve baskets full were left over.

But Jesus was not the only one who gave that day.  There is one person who also gave from what he had.  It was the boy with the five loaves and the two fish.  All the others, including the boy, received the gift of a miraculous feast.  And they would look back on it with wonder.  But the boy, when he would look back on it, would look back and remember not just what he received.  He would look back with wonder and delight when the Son of God made his gift into something miraculous.  For it is more blessed to give than to receive.

This our Lord does for each of us.  He presses our gifts, no matter how big or how small, into His service and works wonders with them.  He provides through what we give: water for baptism, bread and wine for the Lord’s Supper, a man called and sent for the preaching of the Gospel and Absolution.  He provides a building in which we can gather as His children, lights so that we might not gather in darkness.  He provides funds for the care of the poor and struggling, for missionaries who preach and teach beyond our borders. He makes Christians, disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ in our midst by bringing them to faith and nurturing them in that faith.  He takes our gifts and turns them into something miraculous.

Indeed, it is more blessed to give than to receive.  Thus we give.  We give of what we have. And the Lord works His wonders.

Pastor’s Notes May 2017

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We were blessed once again to have worshipped in the Lent/Easter season.  To see the dichotomy between those who wanted Jesus killed and those who believed in Him as the Messiah.  Think what it must have been like for the people of that time.  Who could they trust?  Could they share the faith with a neighbor or a friend?  The disciples didn’t even know who they could trust as they denied and hid.

The news of our world has been filled with the death of Christians practicing their faith.  In many parts of the world – whom do you trust?  I read of a missionary on the border of China who also did mission work in North Korea.  Pastor Han ended up being murdered and the crime has not been solved or probably not even looked in to.

Mrs. Han was also part of her husband’s ministry.  She had visited North Korea in 1998 and had brought people rice that they had shared the Gospel with.  But in a culture where people generally don’t help each other without personal incentive, her act of good will was viewed with suspicion.  And in North Korea, suspicion leads to arrest.  She was arrested.  Held in solitary confinement for 60 days and continually interrogated.  After 72 days she was finally released to Chinese authorities.

The Han’s continued their mission work with Pastor Han at the front line of their North Korean mission work.  Some North Koreans that had been led to the faith were executed, arrested and never heard from again, or are still in prison.

On April 16, 2016 Pastor Han received a phone call and left around 1:30 p.m.  By 7:00 p.m. that evening they had found his body.  He was found in his car in a remote area near the North Korean border.  He had been stabbed in the heart and an artery in his neck had been slashed – a method commonly used by North Korean assassins.

Our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world need our prayers.  Where atheistic communism exists, where the Muslim faith dominates, where apathy and selfish motives enslave, and where people turn from the Bible to their humanistic philosophies.  Then let us not forget what a blessing and privilege we have to worship in freedom.  Will it always be this way?  Signs point to the fact that it won’t.  Who will we trust?  Our trust is in the Lord.  The Lord who rose again so we might live.  The Lord who overcame suffering and death with His suffering and death.  The Lord who loves us into eternity.

As you worship never take it for granted.  The Lord gives us these opportunities in freedom.  What are you doing with them?

In Christ,

Pastor

Elder, Usher and Acolyte Schedules for May 2017

Elder and Usher Schedule

Date
8:00
Elder
10:30
May 7Gene Fuller,
Mike Field, Richard Ross
Craig CulpBrian Dirks, Mike Huth
May 14Jeff Piper, Lucas PiperRandy ReinhardtGreg McNeely, Holden Lueck, Theron Noth
May 21Daryle Schempp, Gerald Semelka, Joshua Parry, Steve ParryNathan KluenderBrian Dirks, Karson Lueck
May 25
Ascension Service
7pmNathan KluenderCraig Culp, Mike Field, Paul Gerike
May 28Ben Holland, Nathan KluenderMike FieldBud Kessler, Greg McNeely, Mike Huth

Acolyte Schedule

Date
8:00 AM
10:30 AM
May 7Summer SheleyPastor/Elder
May 14Pastor/ElderJessica Isaac
May 21Tanner HitchPastor/Elder
May 25
Ascension Service
7PMPastor/Elder
May 28
Pastor/ElderJustin McNeely

Sermon April 30, 2017: “The Abiding Guest.”

April 30, 2017                                                                        Text:  Luke 24:13-35

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

What kind of a guest are you?  If you stay a day or two or more with family or friends are you the kind of guest they want to invite back?  Or are you like me who needs my space and after about 24-36 hours I just want to be home?  There is an expression that says, “After three days, company is like an old, dirty shirt.”  Houseguests can easily wear out their welcome.  Nice to have company but also nice when they leave.

The disciples entertained an unusual guest in today’s Gospel, one whose presence may not wear out as quickly as an old, dirty shirt.

“THE ABIDING GUEST”

In the beginning of our text the disciples mistake Jesus for a guest and visitor to Jerusalem.  “Their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” (v. 16)  They even treat him as an ignorant guest.  “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”  Even in the day of no cable news or instant messaging to not know what happened in Jerusalem would be like not knowing about 9/11 or the explosion of the space shuttle.  Some news is universal and a guy rising from the dead after crucifixion would certainly cause a Fox News Alert.

Jesus is getting a little irritating to these men.  He pulled their chain with, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” (v. 17)  “They stood still, looking sad.” (v. 17)  They had placed their whole hope in this “Jesus of Nazareth” as “the one to redeem Israel” (v. 21), but now that hope seemed dashed to pieces.

We all know about displaced aggression.  We get mad about something and take it out on a person that had nothing to do with what made us angry.  Jesus’ question didn’t warrant the strong reaction it received, but it had hit a sore spot, and it showed in their reaction.

Jesus was truly a guest of the disciples, but not as they perceived him.  He was hardly ignorant.  Although they do not know it yet, he is the very one who endured these things that have them so glum.  He knew the purpose of these things.  He was about to take them through a Bible study that would have their empty hearts bursting with hope.  Nor is He ignorant of the promise of God standing behind these things:  “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (v. 27)  And the risen Christ is hardly ignorant of the things that weigh us down, the idols that have failed us, the behaviors we are ashamed of and the irritants that we can be to others.

Jesus was only briefly irritating.  He hit a sore spot but it gave him opportunity to dress and heal it, as they would come to realize:  “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (v. 32)  Our sore spots burst open with his Law but it gives the Savior opportunity to heal it with the Gospel.

Christ is the guest from heaven.  “He acted as if he were going farther.” (v. 28)  With his redemptive work complete, he would be returning to the right hand of the Father.

Jesus is our abiding guest.  ”They urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is no far spent.’ So he went in to stay with them.” (v. 29)  They yearned for him to stay and it took no arm-twisting for him to abide with them.  Christ yearns for fellowship with those whom he in love has redeemed.

He abides with us, filling the Scriptures with himself.  “All the promises of God find their Yes in him.” (2 Cor. 1:20)  Without him, Scripture is a lifeless book of standards we can never attain.  Filled with him, the Scriptures contain eternal life.

He abides with us, making himself known to us “in the breaking of the bread” (v. 35), giving us his body and blood, the forgiveness of sins, fellowship with the Father, and a foretaste of the feast to come.  A host of hymns echo this theme of faith’s yearning for fellowship with our abiding guest, including our closing hymn.

Earthly house guests can quickly wear out their welcome, believe me I know, “when is that guy going to leave!”  But not this abiding guest.  Though heaven was his home, the risen Lord abides with us as our earthly guest through his Living Word and Holy Supper.

He fills our empty hearts with himself, and we are glad to make him our abiding guest.

Amen.