Bulletin Announcements
March 5, 2017
THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP: Matthew 4:7: Jesus said to him, “Again it is written. . .” Jesus defeats Satan in our place – not by using His power as God, but by His perfect obedience in His perfect humanity. Jesus defeats Satan not by miracles, but by quoting the Scriptures and living according to it. This should cause us great joy for two reasons. First, because we see Jesus win the victory for us. Second, because here Jesus shows us how to stand in that victory: on the Word of God alone.
THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS meets in the basement at 9:15 a.m. In conjunction with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we are studying about that time period with “The Word Endures: Lessons From the Lives of Powerful Politicians”.
OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Choir Room which is located on the 2nd level (the west side).
LENTEN DEVOTIONAL BOOKLETS AVAILABLE: “From The Cradle To The Empty Grave” is the title of the Lenten Devotional Booklets from Lutheran Hour Ministries is now available on the table in the narthex. Pick up your copy today!
LENT CONTINUES THIS WEEK with worship on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. “The Ironies of the Passion” message this week is: “It Is Better That One Man Die for the People”. The restaurant style cuisine will be served by your Board of Elders beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the intimate surroundings of the church basement. The free-will Offering will be sent to “Lutherans For Life”.
LWML LADIES: Our next LWML Meeting is this coming Tuesday, March 7th at 9:00 a.m.
DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BEGINS: Next Saturday before those pleasant dreams begin, be dreaming that you have to get up an hour earlier. That’s right, it is time to “spring forward” with your clocks so that your on-time performance on Sunday mornings continues.
OUR MARCH DOOR OFFERING for Seminarian Jacob Hercamp will be pushed back a week. He will be here with his family on Sunday, March 19th.
GOOD SHEPHERD’S ANNUAL TRIP TO FORT WAYNE, IN will be Saturday, April 1st –Sunday, April 2nd. Please have all donated items to church by Sunday, March 26th an place the donated items in the hall closet area on the 2nd floor. We will need to do the packing that week. Acceptable items are clothing for all sizes, ages and genders; kitchen items of all kinds; some household items would be acceptable. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Paula Hardy at (309) 829-8432. Thank you!
CAMP CILCA SUMMER CAMP: It is time to register for Camp CILCA Outdoor Ministries Summer Camp. On the table in the narthex are brochures that detail the schedule; the ages for the different camps and the fee for that camp. There is a discount if Registration is done by Friday, March 31st. (The discount is $25.00 for a full week camp and $10.00 for a partial week.) Some of you may want to consider sending a granddaughter or grandson to this week of fun, fellowship and worship! Volunteers are needed. The brochure details the needs and requirements. Camp CILCA is near Springfield IL, northwest of the city, west of Sherman, IL, about 5 to 6 miles. Camps start Sunday, June 4th.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Please get these dates on your calendar: Tuesday, May 23rd, 2-9:00 p.m. and Wednesday, May 24th, 2-9:00 p.m. This is when we will be doing our Picture Directory through Lifetouch.
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: “The Power of a New Beginning” is the topic for next Sunday. The sermon text will be from John 3:1-17. Real help comes to us from the outside. In Christ, new beginnings and greater endings are still possible 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 March 2017
Elder and Usher Schedule
| Mar 1 Ash Wednesday | 7pm | Mike Field | Craig Culp, Daryle Schempp, Jeff Piper |
| Mar 5 | Ben Holland, Gene Fuller, Richard Ross | Nathan Kluender | Holden Lueck, Theron Noth |
| Mar 8 Lenten Service | 7pm | Nathan Kluender | |
| Mar 12 | Joshua Parry, Steve Parry | Barry Hamlin | Bud Kessler, Curt Kessler |
| Mar 15 Lenten Service | 7pm | Barry Hamlin | |
| Mar 19 | Jeff Piper, Mike Field, Nathan Kluender, Paul Gerike | Curt Kessler | Bryan Reichert, Greg McNeely |
| Mar 22 Lenten Service | 7pm | Curt Kessler | |
| Mar 26 | Ben Holland, Daryle Schempp | Craig Culp | Brian Dirks, Holden Lueck, Mike Huth |
| Mar 29 Lenten Service | 7pm | Craig Culp |
Acolyte Schedule
| Mar 1 Ash Wednesday | 7pm | Chloe Hitch |
| Mar 5 | Summer Sheley | Pastor/Elder |
| Mar 12 | Pastor/Elder | William McNeely |
| Mar 19 | Tanner Hitch | Pastor/Elder |
| Mar 26 | Pastor/Elder | Jessica Isaac |
Celebrating March 2017
Birthdays
3/1 Michael Anderson
3/1 John Isaac
3/2 Kyryth Kessler
3/3 Anita Contois
3/3 Halle Sheley
3/4 Vanessa Biddle
3/4 Steve Parry
3/6 Greg Sheley
3/18 Ruth Alvis
3/25 Jennifer Cloyd
3/29 Mary Anne Kirchner
3/31 Robert Bier
Baptismal Birthdays
3/1 Lucas Schempp
3/3 Jennifer Parry
3/4 Betty Bier
3/8 Matthew Holland
3/11 Linda Dirks
3/11 Pat Orr
3/13 Mollie Hitch
3/13 Ryan Hitch
3/16 Johana Kirchner
3/18 Ruth Alvis
3/20 Luanne Huth
3/24 Carol Schroeder
3/29 Vanessa Biddle
3/31 Carin Henson
Stewardship Corner March 2017
Lent is a season of repentant joy. There is joy in repentance because in repentance, God, through His Word, turns us away from our sins — our failures of thought, word, and deed — to believe in the forgiveness and new life He has accomplished for us in the death and resurrection of His Son. For our God is our Father, and fathers discipline their children. He loves us enough to point out when and where we have erred, so that we are not weighed down by false belief, despair, and other great shame or vice.
Thus we do well to listen to God’s Word, His own teaching, about giving. St. Paul exhorts: “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor” (Gal 6:6). This means that the local congregation is primary. In other words, everything else that we might give to during the year — laudable and worthy charities —are to be on top of what we give to our local congregation. For the local congregation is the place that serves us with the gifts of Christ’s death and resurrection. The local congregation is where our spiritual needs are met when Christ’s atonement is preached, when the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed, when we were baptized into the name of the Triune God, and when we partake of the body and blood of the risen and living Lamb of God.
But how much are we to give to this local congregation? His instructions are these: to give regularly (1 Cor 6:1–2), proportionally (1 Cor 16:1–2; 2 Cor 8:12), and generously (2 Cor 8:20) of our first fruits (Gen 4:4; Prov 3:9; Lev 27:30) with a spirit of eagerness (2 Cor 9:2), earnestness (2 Cor 8:7), cheerfulness (2 Cor 9:7), and love (2 Cor 8:23).
Thus, giving to the church is not to be an afterthought, given after everything else is spent. In this way, it is deliberate. We give it regularly, whenever we have income. We set it aside beforehand, before anything else is spent. From those first fruits, we set aside a proportionate and generous amount. Ten percent was the standard for the Israelites. Tithing was a command for them. St. Paul never mentions a tithe. Since a tithe was the bare minimum for the people of Israel in the Old Testament, perhaps St. Paul had more in mind. That aside, however, ten percent is an easy way to figure out an amount. You simply move your weekly, bi-weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, or yearly income one decimal point to the left. And that’s it. That’s what you put in the Offering plate to support your local congregation so that you may continue to be a hearer of God’s Word by sharing all good things with those who teach it to you.
And how are we to give it? We give it with eagerness and earnestness. We give it cheerfully and with love, not out of compulsion. For through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments, God has made us His children, forgiven us all our sins, given us grace upon grace, promised us life everlasting with Him in His kingdom, and filled us with His own Spirit, the Holy Spirit. This makes giving a joy. For it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
In repentant joy, then, do we hear God’s Word on giving, and we let that Word dwell in us richly. We let that word wash over our ears and seep into our hearts, to turn us away from our own selfish desires and turned toward Him in faith and love. We love the Lord and His Word. And we desire to do it. And when we have failed, that Word reproves and corrects, forgives and consoles. It calls us back to Him who is our God, our Savior, our Father.
Pastor’s Notes March 2017
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
When Manhattan criminal defense attorney John Jacobs died, his wife, Marion Seltzer buried him with his cell phone fully charged. It has been a few years now but she still pays the monthly phone bill and she still leaves him frequent voice mails. Marion actually went so far as to have John’s cell phone number engraved on his headstone, so that people stopping to visit the grave site can ring him up and leave a message. He, of course, never gets the messages. The phone’s battery – not to mention operator – stopped working years ago. But Marion is hardly alone in this. Being buried with one’s cell phone has become commonplace in our tech-savvy culture. It is just one more way that society tries to cope with death.
Jesus offers a better way, a way that works. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (Jn. 11:25-26). Can we hear Jesus now? Yes! And forever!
In Christ,
Pastor
LENTEN SCHEDULE IN MARCH
Mar. 1, 7:00 pm – Ash Wednesday worship with Holy Communion and Imposition of Ashes
Mar. 8, 5:30 pm – Lenten Meal
Mar. 8, 7:00 pm – Lenten Worship
Mar. 15, 5:30 pm – Lenten Meal
Mar. 15, 7:00 pm – Lenten Worship
Mar. 22, 5:30 pm – Lenten Meal
Mar. 22, 7:00 pm – Lenten Worship
Mar. 29, 5:30 pm – Lenten Meal
Mar. 29, 7:00 pm – Lenten Worship
The theme for our messages during Lent is “The Ironies of the Passion.” See you in church during this penitential and humbling season of the church year.