Stewardship Corner January 2016

“In all things I have shown you that . . . we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).  And indeed it is.  Does this not strike a chord that resonates in us all?  Which of us can’t recall the look of surprise and thanks for the Christmas gifts that we labored to give to those whom we love?  And the joy written on their face when that gift is received with thanksgiving means more than all the gifts we have received.  It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Our Lord knew this because He practiced it.  He gave of Himself, sparing not even His life in death, in order to give us back to our Father in heaven.  He knew that in giving, you get more because in giving joy is multiplied: the one who receives and the one who gives both rejoice in what is given and received.  What is more the one who receives is thankful and only wants to give back to the one who gave so generously.

So also with our tithes and offerings in church.  We want to give because we have received from God all that we are and all that we have.  Our giving does not originate in what we must do to earn God’s favor.  We have God’s favor because of the gift of His Son which we receive through Word and Sacrament.  Thus, we are made free from the compulsion of giving.  Now our tithes and offering are freely given in thanksgiving for what God has so generously given to us.

Why then does the church struggle to make budgets?  Why does the church always seem stretched so thin?  After all the Church is the place where God not only gives to us once, but continually again and again.  And what gifts He gives!  He gives us the forgiveness of sins, generously pouring out His grace and mercy because He loves us. So why does the church struggle?

It is because sin still clings to us.  Our fallen nature makes us selfish and miserly.  It leads us to believe that we can have our cake and eat it too.  Because of sin we want to receive, but not give. We want God’s blessings, but we don’t want to share them with those around us.  We want to remain comfortable in our own self-contained, neat, and tidy lives, without the headaches of loving those around us by helping them in their time of need.

“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  Remember that God has placed you in a church, not only to receive His grace and mercy, but also to use you to bless others.  Your tithes and offerings ensure that those around you have a pastor to preach the life-saving and life-giving Word of God.  They ensure that the lights and heat and air-conditioning are working.  They ensure there is water for Holy Baptism and bread and wine for the Holy Communion.  Everything the Church does, she is able to do by and through the generosity of the members of the Church.  So remember the words of the Lord Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive”.  And remember the joy that attended the gifts you gave at Christmas.  This same joy attends your gifts to the church.

Bulletin Announcements – January 3, 2016

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January 3, 2016

WINTER WEATHER PLAN: If bad weather is likely, the Elders will send an email reminder to the Newsletter email list the night before services reminding you to check WJBC or email to see if church is cancelled. If you do not receive the Newsletter email and want to receive cancellation emails, subscribe to the Newsletter email at: http://www.goodshepherdblm.org/about-us/contact-us/

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”.

TODAY IN SUNDAY SCHOOL we study “An Angel Visits Joseph”. Just as the angel proclaimed to Joseph that Mary would bear an infant who is the Son of God, the Savior, so God proclaimed to us in His Word that this same Jesus is our Savior from sin and death. Parents could ask, “What important message did the angel give Joseph? What important message do we hear in God’s Word?”

PORTALS OF PRAYER: The January – March 2016 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.

YOU ARE INVITED to the Installation Service as Senior Pastor for Reverend Jonathan P. Huehn at Christ Lutheran Church, 311 N Hershey Rd. Normal, NEXT SUNDAY, January 10th at 3:00 p.m. A light supper will be served immediately following the service in the Parish Hall. An RSVP is requested for the meal by tomorrow, January 4th. Please call the church office at (309 452-5609, Extension 2.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR: “What’s Running Your Life?” is the topic for next Sunday. The sermon text will be from Romans 6:1-11. When Christ runs your life, beauty and blessing flow to you and through you to others. The speaker will be 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.

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Sermon: 12-27-2015

December 27, 2015                                                               Text:  Matthew 2:13-18

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

Christmas in the U.S. wears two faces.  How many Christmas letters that you received talked about the family’s sin or heartache that was experienced.  We sing “Joy to the World” yet read of murder, violence and rape online or in the paper.  We proclaim peace on earth while world leaders try to implement it in hot spots around the world.  Merchants are figuring out how “good” a Christmas it was as they figure out their sales.

Perhaps those of us who know the “Reason for the Season” are partly guilty for the fake Christmas around us.  We present neighbors and friends with holiday joy on our faces without first proclaiming why baby Jesus was born.  We know the good news sung by the angels, but how many sermons have you heard on weeping Rachel?  Rachel is an important person in Matthew’s Christmas story.  Listen to this – it is the rest of the Christmas story.

“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’  And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod.  This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”

“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:  ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.’”

Who is Rachel?  Why is she weeping?  And why do we usually ignore her?

“WHY ARE YOU WEEPING, RACHEL?”

Perhaps you remember Rachel’s story from Sunday School.  She met Jacob who wanted to marry her, but first Laban, Rachel’s father, tricked him.  He was to work seven years to “earn” Rachel, but on the wedding day he found out he had married her sister, Leah.  He then had to work seven more years for Rachel.  Rachel must have wept over that.

Rachel must have wept when she could not have children and the she had to watch as Leah and Jacob’s “second wives” gave Jacob 10 sons and a daughter.  Finally Rachel’s womb opened and she gave birth to Joseph.  She then died weeping giving birth to Benjamin.  Jacob buried her near Bethlehem.

Matthew does a remarkable thing in our text, inspired by the Holy Spirit.  He takes a historical event from 600 years before Jesus’ birth and applies it to the children of Rachel who died soon after Jesus was born.  The Holy Innocents – the two year old boys and younger died.  Rachel wept.

This is the rest of the Christmas story.  Jesus came into a world of sin.  Satan tries to kill baby Jesus before he would grow up and defeat him at the cross.  The devil still seeks those he can devour.  Innocent babies still die at the hands of medical professionals.  Listen!  Do you hear Rachel weeping?  I do.

Matthew’s Gospel story is how God came to conquer sin – your sin and mine.  Jesus came into a world that threatened his life just as it threatens yours.  Matthew tells of Herod’s bloody swords so he can also tell us how God the Father sent an angel to protect, Jesus, Joseph, and Mary so that Jesus could carry out his mission of dying for the sins of the world.

The world does not want to hear about sin and maybe we don’t either on this Sunday after Christmas, but there is no Christmas without Good Friday.  We perpetuate people’s walk to hell when we permit them to have a pretend Christmas.  A Christmas without Rachel weeping may as well be built on rooty-toot toots and rummy-tum-tums.

Our world is one that needs Jesus in the manger and on the cross and at the empty tomb.  Our world needs Jesus raised from the dead.  Our world needs Jesus because Rachel still weeps.  Rachel weeps and so do you, don’t you?  I know I do and I just experienced it recently with an incident.   Spouse abuse is real.  Cancer is real.  Abuse of drugs and alcohol is real.  Adultery is real.  Lack of thankfulness to our Lord is real.  Slander and theft and greed are real.  Death is real.

Jesus was born to deal with our real world.  Jesus was born to dry Rachel’s tears.  Jesus lived and died and rose again to dry your tears.  On our Christmas tree we have a spike hanging on there.  It reminds us that Christmas is real at our house because Good Friday and Easter are real.

Christmas can be a sham to make people feel good without reminding them of their basic problem – sin.  This morning you and I are at Rachel’s tomb.  We hear her weeping.  We remember our weeping.  So today we ask the Lord to “wipe away every tear from eye.”  We rejoice with the hymn writer, “Then when You will come again As the glorious king to reign, I with joy will see your face, Freely ransomed by your grace.”  Amen.

Bulletin Announcements – December 27, 2015

†  Bulletin Announcements  †

December 27, 2015

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  “And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38 ESV) Notice here how giving thanks to God leads to good works (speaking about Jesus, in this case). Thankfulness toward God for all He has done for us is the foundation of a Christian life lived in godliness. For if we know all that the Lord has done for us, how can we not strive to honor Him with what we think, say, and do?

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”.

TODAY IN SUNDAY SCHOOL the children study “The Birth of John.” Zechariah spoke God’s Word announcing that this baby, John, would give people knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of sins. God speaks through His holy Word to give us knowledge of salvation and forgiveness through Jesus, His Son. In your family discuss, “How does Jesus remind us of the work He has done for us?”

NEW YEAR’S EVE WORSHIP: This Thursday, December 31st, will be our New Year’s Eve Worship with Holy Communion beginning at 7:00 p.m. The sermon is titled: “The Sure Thing of Jesus”. Following worship it has been tradition to have members join together in dinner at a local restaurant. This year that will take place at CJ’s at 8:00 p.m. If you would like to join, and all are welcome, please sign-up on the table in the narthex.

INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS: One week from today, January 3rd, when we celebrate Epiphany we will also install all those who were duly elected to serve Good Shepherd in the year of our Lord 2016. We will have Installation in both of our worship services that morning.

WINTER WEATHER PLAN: If bad weather is likely, the Elders will send an email reminder to the Newsletter email list the night before services reminding you to check WJBC or email to see if church is cancelled. If you do not receive the Newsletter email and want to receive cancellation emails, subscribe to the Newsletter email at: http://www.goodshepherdblm.org/about-us/contact-us/

PORTALS OF PRAYER: The January – March 2016 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: “Life In Context” is the topic for next Sunday. The sermon text will be from Ephesians 1:3-14. Life is not up for grabs or out of control. Find real life in the context of Christ’s cross and resurrection. The speaker will be 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.

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