Acolyte Schedule February 2015
Feb 1 | Kate Parry | Pastor/Elder |
Feb 8 | Pastor/Elder | Jessica Isaac |
Feb 15 | J.T. Piper | Pastor/Elder |
Feb 18 Ash Wednesday | 7PM | Christian Dowell |
Feb 22 | Pastor/Elder | William McNeely |
Feb 1 | Kate Parry | Pastor/Elder |
Feb 8 | Pastor/Elder | Jessica Isaac |
Feb 15 | J.T. Piper | Pastor/Elder |
Feb 18 Ash Wednesday | 7PM | Christian Dowell |
Feb 22 | Pastor/Elder | William McNeely |
Feb 1 | Charles Nottingham, Craig Culp, Joshua Parry, Paul Gerike | Mike Field | Ryan Kleiboeker, Travis Henson |
Feb 8 | Gerald Semelka, John Hardy | Nathan Kluender | Greg McNeely, Holden Lueck, Theron Noth |
Feb 15 | Matthew Holland, Mike Field, Nathan Kluender, Steve Davis | John Hardy | Bud Kessler, Curt Kessler |
Feb 18 Ash Wednesday | 7PM | John Hardy | Bryan Reichert, Gene Fuller, Jeff Piper, Richard Ross |
Feb 22 | Daryle Schempp, Steve Parry | Barry Hamlin | Brian Dirks, Karson Lueck, Mike Huth |
Feb 25 Lenten Mid Week | 7PM | Barry Hamlin | No Ushers |
THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS, led by Pastor Lueck, is studying “Luther’s Small Catechism”. The class meets in the basement at 9:15 a.m.
TODAY IN SUNDAY SCHOOL students will learn the story “Jesus Calls Matthew.” We sinners rejoice, for we, too, have been called from our own pigsty of sin to dine with Jesus around His table, and to be a friend of the friend of sinners. Consider discussing, “How did Jesus call Matthew to be one of His followers? How and why does Jesus call us to follow Him?”
THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP: Mark 1:14-15: Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.” To repent means to turn away from sins and our former way of thinking and turn toward belief in God and His Gospel of grace and mercy. The whole Christian life is one of repentance and faith – where is God calling you to repent today? How is He calling you to deeper faith?
“HERE AM I, SEND ME!” Next Sunday we celebrate Lutheran Hour Ministries Sunday. Come see what it is all about.
20th CHURCH ANNIVERSARY CONTAINERS: If you have not yet picked up your 20th Church Anniversary Container, please do so following the worship services today. They are located in the narthex. As you know, the money is going for updates and repairs of the church organ. We are collecting these funds until July, 2015. Any questions please feel free to see or call Marvin Huth (309) 829-6897.
ANNUAL TRIP TO FORT WAYNE, IN: John & Paula Hardy will be making their annual trip to Fort Wayne, IN. Please bring to the church any slightly used adult and/or children’s clothing and any household items such as small appliances, kitchen items, etc. and place in the box located in the narthex. We will be loading the items on Friday, January 30th and will be leaving for Fort Wayne on Saturday, January 31st. Please see or call (309) 310-7917 John or Paula if you have any questions. Thank you.
OFFERING ENVELOPES: If you have not done so, please pick up your 2015 Offering Envelopes located on the table in the narthex. Thank you.
THANK YOU: The Kessler family would like to THANK EVERYONE who has come forward to bring us meals, prayers, visits, special gifts, and all the blessings that come with this. We are all overwhelmed by the love shown to us by everyone in our church family. The Sunday School ornament hangs right where Laura can see it and she cherishes the cards and other good wishes. Laura remains under ‘house arrest’ as her white blood cell counts are very low, however, visitors are welcome! She has begun perhaps her hardest chemo challenge which will last for 12 weeks before her surgery can be scheduled. Please continue to keep her in your prayers as she continues to fight back against cancer. God’s blessings to all of you. Laura, Curt, Bud and Isa Kessler, Bud Barnett
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: “Boring? Not Likely!” is the topic for next Sunday. The sermon text will be from Mark 1:21-28. Jesus’ enemies considered Him too dangerous to let live, but we have wrapped the Savior in a cloak of dullness. The speaker will be Reverend Ken Klaus. 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.
Pg. 203 of the LSBH, Divine Setting Four
January 25, 2015 Text: Mark 1:14-20
Dear Friends in Christ,
One of the helpful inventions of the 21st century has been “Caller ID.” It allows you to know who is calling. It has been especially helpful here in the church office as it cuts down on wasting time talking to companies who are selling or individuals who just want something. Who is calling makes a difference.
Today in our Gospel lesson the “who is calling” makes a difference as well. The voice of Jesus is the one identified. Will the men being called recognize it and how will they react? Come along as the call is made.
“CALLER ID”
Right away in our text the caller is identified. “After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.’” (vs. 14-15)
What is so important about “the kingdom of God is at hand?” What and where is this “kingdom of God?” All we can see is this lone new guy in town named Jesus who says to repent and believe the Gospel all because a kingdom is now at hand.
We don’t think much about kingdoms these days. But to the ears of first-century Palestine, “kingdoms” would have been a subject of great familiarity. Their minds may have focused on the oppressive, mighty rule of Rome – which they knew and experienced all too well. They may have thought of the Old Testament references to the “Sovereign Lord” – envisioning a master who sat high on a throne – personally ruling over his subjects. In either case, their minds would have been on a kingdom of power, a kingdom of might, not a kingdom like the one Jesus was bringing.
So this Jesus needs to build His kingdom. He begins along the Sea of Galilee with a couple of brothers named Andrew and Simon who were fishermen. The caller does not identify himself, we are told he says, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” If you are Andrew and Simon are you going to answer this call? Are you going to pick up?
There is always a response when Jesus calls. His presence – whether in the flesh in the first century, or by inspired Word in the twenty-first century – forces the issue. We may try to straddle the fence, but the edge is simply too narrow. Every encounter with Jesus is a force to be reckoned with. His Law crushes us – forcing us to admit we are sinners. His Gospel lifts us – freeing us to rejoice that we are forgiven sinners.
Jesus needed these men for the building of His kingdom – a future kingdom – a Kingdom called the Church. He would need foremen – pastors – to help build the Church. Jesus will train them for a far greater work than they have been doing, namely the work of winning men for the gospel and salvation.
“Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” They did not stand there and stew over the Caller ID. What should we do? Do we know this guy? They probably did as we can see from John chapter 1. But this call will affect the rest of their lives. Look at the trust as they follow Jesus for the schooling they were now to receive for a far greater calling. The key is the one making the call.
Look at this call and the one to James and John. Both came on a regular workday. Fishing, mending nets, going about their daily tasks. Your “ordinary” call to your daily tasks comes with the call to proclaim the Savior. Right now, right here, wherever Monday office or Tuesday lunch or Thursday errands find you. The caller has ID’d you. With the help of the Holy Spirit we say this in the meaning to the 3rd Article of the Apostle’s Creed, “He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.” The Callers ID was put on you at Baptism, marks you as you inwardly digest His Holy Scripture and lifts you up in the Lord’s sacred meal.
The Holy Spirit helps us to pick up when we are called. As with a phone call that identifies a person you have been waiting to hear from, we excitedly heed the call of our Savior. When He calls you to share the faith with a friend or family member. When He calls you to share the truth when someone you know struggles with sin. When He calls you to prepare and serve a meal to the destitute and homeless. When He calls you to serve your congregation as they have need of elders. When He calls you to shepherd your children in the ways of the Lord. This caller – the Savior Jesus Christ – wants you to answer. He doesn’t want you to check your phone and walk away.
The phone is ringing, will you pick up?
Amen.
Jan. 4, 2015 – Epiphany Text: Ephesians 3:1-12
Dear Friends in Christ,
One of our basic human instincts is to be included. To be in a group. God did not make Adam to remain alone. We even see fellowship within the Holy Trinity, as Moses reveals their conversation in Gen. 1:26: “Let us make man…” The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit speak, a holy conversation revealing unity and purpose by the three persons of the Godhead.
It’s Epiphany and it is God’s way that we are . . .
“INCLUDED”
As the biblical story of creation unfolds, the first two created let their ears hear the voice of a separatist god-wannabe, the devil. They remove themselves from God and the fellowship they had with one another. No longer a community, with God or the other, they followed only the selfish designs of the devil. Exclusion and division.
This is how it is when the rebellious ones try to make a community apart from God on their own terms. We curve in on ourselves. This churchless community is absolutely all about me, myself, and I.
You know what that’s like. You were there once, before Christ snatched you by His gracious grip and made you His own, a decisive one-sided divine work. Oh, you still tend to lean that way, away from concern for God and each other. The Lord, though, is rather persistent in his care for you. He won’t let you fade into self-exclusion and division, to be a community of one.
He sent the unifier, and his shed blood has brought the world back to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit’s preaching. It would have been easy for this ragtag group of Ephesus, mostly Gentiles, non-Jews, to believe they were outside the circle of inclusion, that they were not God’s Church. Why, nearly their whole city was involved in the worship of Artemis, the goddess of fertility. The prostitution house was within two hundred yards of their famous library and their amphitheater, which seated 25,000. Now, that was a holy fellowship, they thought – intellect, sexual enticement, and group entertainment. But, in reality, it was only a community of perversion.
This, Paul says, is why he is sent. Yes, the Jews are God’s chosen people if they believe in the Father’s provision for their sin. But so are the Gentiles. Unholiness, whether it comes from the Jews or the Gentiles, did not advance one into God’s circle of inclusion, His Church.
You Gentiles, you members of this Church in Ephesus, and you sitting here today, do not overlook this fact. God sent a special call to man named Paul. His call papers were not filled out by a call committee but by God himself in person.
He did this so that you would know that the mystery revealed fully in Christ is that all people, all are included, all are Church members by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Kingdom inclusion is by grace, not by any kind of merit. Your unholiness is on Jesus and The Father accepts the sacrifice.
You need not doubt or despair Ephesus Lutheran Church members. You are not any less than Paul, the chief of sinners. Since inclusion is on God’s terms, that is, his Son’s replacement punishment and sin-payment for you, there is no doubt.
Even more so, you have access to the Father through Christ and your Baptism. You think all these powerful buildings around you and the pomp and power displayed by the Roman hierarchy here in town are greater than you? Just the reverse! God has declared you His, included, the Church, glorious and holy, united, one Body, Jew and Greek, male and female, all one with Him.
Through Jesus, and alongside Jesus, you petition the Father as Jesus does. You talk to God about your neighbor, and then you talk to your neighbor about your God, joining Jesus, your great High Priest, in holy work.
And what does this holy work look like? Many of you have commented on my long hair – good and bad and in fun. I have explained the story to a few of you but not to the whole congregation. I have not had a haircut for over four months. My barber had some major surgery about a month after my last haircut. He is a widower and we had my mom’s death and his wife’s death to talk about during haircuts. Anyway, we invited him and his son to the boy’s football games this fall. Then through the work of the Spirit they came to worship with us for a few weeks leading up to his surgery. Since he has gotten home, I have called him every other week and have been praying for him. He has had a rough time recovering. At Christmas I sent him a card with a picture of my long hair and encouraged him with the words that I needed him behind his barber chair in 2015. That has been my witness. That is just a small example of God’s holy work. I know many of you have your own work that the Holy Spirit is blessing.
Fear not, O Church, for God still sends those to do His work. As the Word is taught and preached, the broken and despairing are brought into his Church, no matter the race, color, or size of sin. And the Church stands.
Let all hell break loose. But do not fear. You are so secure in his wounds, drenched by His blood in baptismal splashing and drinking of the river of life at the rail, that you do not run. Rather, you, His Church, face westward into the wind and storm…snuggled right behind Him, dragging others with you.
Amen