Elder, Usher, Acolyte schedules for May 2016

Elder and Usher schedule

Date
8:00
Elder
10:30
May 1Gerald Semelka, Joshua Parry, Nathan Kluender, Steve ParryPaul GerikeMarvin Huth, Will Dowell
May 5/Ascension7PMNathan KluenderGene Fuller, Richard Ross, Mike Field
May 8Daryle Schempp, Paul GerikeBarry HamlinBud Kessler, Curt Kessler, Mike Huth
May 15Ben Holland, Jeff Piper, Charles Nottingham, Joshua ParryCurt KesslerHolden Lueck, Karson Lueck
May 22Gerald Semelka, Steve ParryRandy ReinhardtGreg McNeely, Brian Dirks, Ryan Kleiboeker
May 29Daryle Schempp, Gene Fuller, Richard Ross, Mike FieldPaul GerikeMarvin Huth, Mike Huth, Theron Noth

Acolyte Schedule

Date
8:00 AM
10:30 AM
May 1J.T. PiperWilliam McNeely
May 8Pastor/ElderJessica Isaac
May 15Summer SheleyJustin McNeely
May 22Pastor/ElderChristian Dowell
May 29Lucas PiperWilliam McNeely

Celebrating May 2016

Birthdays

5/3 Anna Holland
5/5 Lorene Backsmeier
5/5 Cory Fortney
5/6 Mike Brewer
5/8 Christian Dowell
5/8 Lucas Piper
5/10 William Dowell
5/11 Lindsay Orr
5/12 Kerry Warren
5/16 Benjamin Holland
5/19 Nicki Cloyd
5/19 Terry Trost
5/21 Pat McQuown
5/26 Joyce Schneider

Baptismal Birthdays

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

Pastor’s Notes May 2016

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It should be a celebration.  The house is full of kids – school friends, neighborhood friends.  You are the guest of honor, and you have five candles on your birthday cake to blow out.  So what could be wrong?  Maybe a brother or sister is messing with one of your gifts.  Maybe Trevor swiped a finger across the frosting of your cake before you blow out the candles.  Whatever it is, it is all coming apart in tears.  The bigger picture – a bright picture of fun and games and friends and presents and cake – has been lost.

Because Jesus ascended into heaven, He is now exalted over all things.  He rules all things on behalf of His Church.  This should bring us great hope and joy.  Yet what happens to us?  We become discouraged by our worldly cares.  We become disgruntled like the birthday child.  Our sin clouds our eyes to see what God has done and is doing through our risen and ascended Lord.  We see with just our physical eyes and because of this we focus on the discouragements of the world.  In our church we may fret about troubles members are having or the number of members who are inactive.  We become discouraged as we fail to accomplish those things that we want to get done.  We find ourselves in a state of despair as we see our own shortcomings or the shortcomings in others.  We then wallow in our self-pity.  But our Lord has ascended on high and rules over all things on our behalf.  He has ascended to fill and be filled by His Church.  Let’s not lose sight of this wonderful truth and all that means for us.

Ascension Day is still important for us as Christians.  Historically, the Ascension has been a big day in the life of the Church.  Many Lutheran churches have Ascension as part of their name.  I wonder how many still have worship on that day?  We still do here at Good Shepherd.  This year it will be Thursday, May 5th at 7:00 p.m..  Christ is in control.  He has been given all rule, authority, power, and dominion.  That is why He ascended on high.  He has prepared a place for us and is waiting.  To God on High Be Glory!

In Christ,

Pastor

Bulletin Announcements

May 1, 2016

THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS, led by Pastor Lueck and meeting in the church basement at 9:15 a.m. is studying “Lutheran Doctrine and Practice Today”.

IN TODAY’S SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON, “Jesus Teaches Us to Pray.”  The children learned that our heavenly Father invites us to pray and promises to hear our prayer for the sake of His Son, Jesus. Ask your children, “What things have you prayed for?  How has God answered your prayers?”

GOOD SHEPHERD BLOOD DRIVE:  The day has finally arrived.  Tomorrow, (May 2nd), is our Blood Drive for the American Red Cross.  It will run from 2-6:00 p.m. in the basement of the church.  There are still available slots for walk-ins so if you have never given and would like to see the process which is quite simple, please stop in and give the gift of life.  Thank you to everybody who is part of this outreach to the community.

OUR ASCENSION DAY WORSHIP SERVICE is this coming Thursday, May 5th at 7:00 p.m.  We will celebrate Holy Communion with the message: “Christ Is Lord Over Your Frustrations”.

PASTOR’S SCHEDULE:  Pastor will be out of the office this coming Thursday, May 5th, as Pastor and Toni pickup Karson from college.  Pastor will be back in time to conduct the Ascension Day Worship Service that evening.

NEXT SUNDAY, May 8th, will be our monthly door Offering for Seminarian Brad Ferch.  This will be our last door Offering for the Ferch family.  We will be assigned a new student for next year.  A thank you note from the Ferch’s is on the bulletin board outside the church office.

FROM THE OFFICE:  There are more copies of the Church Directory on the table in the narthex.  Please help yourself to a copy.  If you picked up a copy previously, please note that there have been two changes that you should know about. 1) Lorene Backsmeier has a new Apartment #, it is: Apt. 1212.  2) Gerald Semelka has a new cell phone#, it is: (309) 825-6607; and email is: jerrysemelka@yahoo.com.

PORTALS OF PRAYER:  The April-June 2016 Portals of Prayer are available on the bookrack located 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.

2016 REGISTRATION INFORMATION:  Camp CILCA Outdoor Ministries 2016 Registration Information is available on the table in the narthex.  Camps are available for many different age groups.  The Camp is a CID LC-MS and LLL/LHM sponsored Camp.  It is located in Cantrall, IL which is northwest of Springfield, IL and west of Sherman, IL.  Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends are great for family camping.  Enjoy a Camp this summer.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “Jesus Prayed For You” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from John 17:20-26.  Prayer begins in the heart of Jesus Christ who intercedes for you, offering prayers on your behalf to God the Father.  The speaker is Reverend Gregory Seltz.  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 home # is (309) 661-6522; her cell phone# is (309) 532-2582.  The Prayer Request box is on the table in the narthex for any written requests.

†  †  †  †  †  †

April 24, 2016, Text: Revelation 21:1-7

April 24, 2016    Text: Revelation 21:1-7

Dear Friends in Christ,

David C. Steinmets, a noted American historian of late medieval and early modern Christianity said, “A church who has lost its memory of the past can only wander about aimlessly in the present and despair of its future. Having lost its identity, it will lose its mission and hope as well.”
That is why we value all of Scripture – both the Old and New Testaments. We learn from them and they guide us. They keep us focused on Jesus. Today it is the last book in the Bible and John helps us so that we are . . .
“SEEING WHAT WE NEED TO SEE”
The text begins, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared a bride adorned for her husband.”
Have you ever given that much thought? “Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” That is a description of how God sees His church – you and me. A beautiful bride loved and adored by Christ. So much so that He would suffer and die for her. And that’s hard to imagine, don’t you think? Christ sees us as a beautiful bride even though we are all self-centered and tend to put His love on the back burner of life.
David R. Schmitt of Concordia Seminary relates the following from a TV reality show called Bridezillas. Perhaps some of you have seen it. He writes:
“Among the shows is a bride named Courtney. Courtney and her soon-to-be husband Dan. Courtney wanted to have a murder-mystery themed wedding. They were going to have a murder at her wedding and then the guests would play a game of Clue. She sat there on the floor with a board and place cards in front of her, planning her wedding, when her future husband Dan foolishly critiqued her changing the rules of the game. She had a complete meltdown. She threw the place cards and board into the air. Her face became red. Her voice was raised. And she started shouting and began destroying her wedding. She launched into a full assault on Dan and his family. She screamed about how she hated him and his stupid family. The bride became Bridezilla, argumentative and ugly.”
And then Schmitt makes this observation: “Watching these shows, you realize that all of these brides have one thing in common. They have all forgotten one fundamental thing. You can’t make yourself a bride. They try to orchestrate their weddings and they forget that no amount of clothing or cake or flowers or fancy invitations is going to make you a bride. You can’t make yourself a bride. You are a bride because someone loves you…Unfortunately, no one ever says that on Bridezillas, which is why we need to turn off the TV and open up the Scriptures.”
This is what we are to see as we look to the past of John’s vision in Revelation, because that vision propels us right into the new heaven and the new earth to come.
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’” (vs. 3-4)
Got it? All the things of this world that we spend a lifetime trying to avoid will be taken away forever and ever. The tears and the death and the mourning and the pain of life! Oh, what we have to look forward to.
Then these words: “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down for these words are trustworthy and true.’ (v. 5) The assurance of that promise is placed before us in the next verse, “And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.’” (v. 6)
“I will give…without payment.” That’s the way it is with God’s love in Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ for every sin made the payment and that assures us a place in everlasting life.
The last promise is in verse 7. “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”
So here we are this morning. The church. The Bride of Christ. And what do we see? So often, little of what God wants us to see. And that is because we are distracted. The visuals thrown around us day and night remind us we need to focus on the latest cell phone, the best pizza for your money, the political future of our country, and the latest movie or TV offering of violence and vulgarity. As David Schmitt noted, there in the distance is Eternity . . . by Calvin Klein. Everything is earth bound.
Through the Spirit we say no to all of this. We are the bride of Christ. We should be willing to enter the lives of those filled with sorrow and conflict and extend the love of Christ. This earth is choking itself to death and not on pollution. But on lies and scandals, and people with agendas no one can read – and few want to study – until it’s too late.
Jesus said to His bride on earth, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of the wolves, so be as wise as servants and innocent as doves.” (Matt. 10:16) And Jesus said to His Bride on earth, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b)
This is where we are now. A bride seemingly unadorned, struggling and laboring in this world for Christ. But, we are also the company who sees the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. We are citizens of that new homeland. John writes, “…what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 2:2) Seeing what we need to see!
Amen.