Mystery of the Father's Love!

Transcription

1 I am excited to share with you that we will be holding joint Lenten services with St. Paul s in Aleman this year again. Ash Wednesday is February 10 th and that service will be at St. John. We will then alternate for St. John to St. Paul s for the remaining five Wednesday services. We will then have our own Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. As always, the meals will be provided, but we ask that if you are able to bring a dessert, please do so. This year we will be exploring in more depth the mystery of the Father s love. If we really stop and think, it is hard for us to fathom the kind of love that would move God to send His Son to die for every single person when there is absolutely nothing to love about us. Martin Luther said, We see deepest into God s love for us when we see Jesus on the cross. When we Mystery of the Father's Love! see Jesus on the cross, we see the punishment that was placed on Jesus instead of us. The apostle Paul says it this way in Romans 5:8, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. As we explore this mystery of God s love for us, we will be using the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was sent to a very stubborn group of people the Israelites. They had turned their back on God and turned the temple into a place of idolatry. Jeremiah was sent with Good News even though no one wanted to hear what he had to say. It sounds kind of familiar doesn t it. We live in a time where so many people have turned from God. We have a tendency to worship everything but God. There are times when we may not want to hear God s word, but it is really Good News. Even though God s love for us is a mystery, we need to know in our hearts the depth of this love. In this love Jesus exchanges His perfect wonderful life for our far from perfect and hideous life. He exchanges His compassionate loving heart for our hardened evil heart. He stepped in our place to take the punishment that we deserve for our sins so that we would not have to experience that punishment for eternity. We have a God that truly loves us and I pray that we experience that love each day and especially this Lenten season as we specifically focus on this love. May we continue to be used by God with A Heart for Hamilton County and the World!

2 2 Sunday Morning 8:30 Breakfast/Opening 9:00 Sunday School 10:00 Worship Tuesday 9:00 Quilting EVERY MONTH 1st Sunday Nursing Home Devotions 2nd Week Board Meetings 3rd Saturday--Men s Club See Calendar for more Information!! 1:30pm 7:15am Shawna McKandless as the St. John Lutheran Youth Coordinator!!!!! Shawna will be help with all ages of youth. She will be help in fostering their relationship with God and with each other along with different activities during the year. 2

3 3 Big Game Family Gathering Sunday February 7th, 2016 St. John Family Life Center 5:00p.m. Potluck Style Sign up sheet in the Family Life Center Come enjoy fun with fellowship, with dominoes, games & laughter. Your invited to Jr. High Valentine Dance Friday February 12th, :00-9:00p.m. In the St. John Lutheran Family Life Center $5.00 There will be a photo booth, music, dancing, and a Nacho Bar with dessert. Remember: Parents must sign you in & out! YouthQuake February 26-28, 2016 Lodging: San Antonio Marriott Northwest 3233 NW Loop 410 San Antonio, TX Pre-YouthQuake Gathering for parents and students immediately following church on February 21, Lunch will be served. 3

4 4 4th 5th 6th 7th 9th 10th Birthdays Sharron Krueger Josh Bauman Steven Schneider Howard Cox Wyvonne Wenzel John Schoedel Laurel Friedrich Eugene Jeschke Diane Graham Betty Hardin Fabiola Olalde Betty Senger 11th 12th 15th 16th Bret Brauman Grant Bauman Alex Odom Jared Massingill Maranda Weiser Elisha Squyres Mona Smith Landry Yates Kerry Kensing Raymond Krueger Jennifer Niemann Kim Robertson Brenden Tomlinson 18th 19th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 27th Cade Robertson Neede Anders Derrel Hungerford Jonahon Reich Cecelia Jenson Morgan Nolen Cortney Wenzel Johanna Jeschke Kyle Krueger Brenna Payne Pat Crouch 2nd 4th 7th 8th Baptisms Jane Wagner Trey Geter III Charles Jahns Lindsey Hanson Alicia Hall 11th 12th 14th Casey Yates Lawson Yates Vicki Colbert Ida Sommerfeld Raymond Wenzel Kansas Pierce Phillip Pierce 22nd 24th 25th 28th Angie Tawater Cody Tawater Kayla Tawater Lorin Lange Charlie Bottlinger Dorothy Schoedel Wyvonne Wenzel 10th Bill Knoll 17th 19th Henlee Wagner John Isensee Anniversaries 8th Doug & Kathleen Payne 24yrs Joel & Shirley Sellers 52yrs 13th Eddie & Sharron Krueger 26yrs 17th Scott & Bonnie Williams 15th 19th Don & Brenda Arnett 44yrs 21st Slim & Jenny Witzsche 40yrs 4

5 5 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11 This great hymn emerged from a ragged and wearing controversy that threatened to tear asunder the Church of England. In the mid-1800s, the liberal views of German theologians drifted like a poisonous fog over Anglicans worldwide. In South Africa, Bishop John William Colenso, influenced by the German higher critics, questioned whether Moses had really written the first five books of the Bible. He also took liberal views toward Paul s Book of Romans, denying the doctrine of eternal punishment. Colenso had been a tireless missionary bishop, serving the Zulu people in northeastern South Africa with laudable passion, but his emerging liberalism sent shock waves among evangelical Anglican leaders. In 1853, Bishop Robert Gray of Capetown, defending the historic faith, removed Colenso from his post. Colenso fought the order and was reinstated by a London court of law. The resulting conflict shook the Anglican Church to its foundations. One man on the side of evangelical truth was Samuel Stone, The curate at Windsor in the shadow of Windsor Castle. In 1866, he wrote twelve hymns based on the twelve articles of the Apostles Creed. The Church s One Foundation was based on the ninth article of the creed, which says: I believe in the holy catholic (universal) church: the communion of saints. The next year Anglican bishops from around the world assembled for a theological enclave that became known as the first Lambeth Conference. The tone of the proceedings was set by stone s hymn, The Church s One Foundation, which had been set to music by Samuel Wesley, the grandson of Charles Wesley. It became the processional for that conference, and has been one of the church s best-loved hymns ever since. Not all the verses, however, are sung today. Here is a stanza you may never have sung, but which helps us understand the passion of Samuel Stone as he wrote in defense of the integrity of Christ s holy church: Though with a scornful wonder men see her sure oppressed, By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed: Yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, How long? And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song! The church s one foundation, Is Jesus Christ her Lord, She is His new creation By water and the word; From heaven he came and sought her To be His holy bride; With His own blood He bought her, And for her life He died. She is from every nation, Yet one o er all the earth, Her charter of salvation, One Lord, one faith, one birth; One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued. Mid toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war, She waits the consummation Of peace forever more; Till with the vision glorious Her longing eyes are blest, And the great Church victorious Shall be the Church at rest. Yet she on earth hath union With God the Three in One, And mystic sweet communion With those whose rest is won; With all her sons and daughters, who by the Master s hand Led through the deathly waters, Repose in Eden Land. 5

6 St. John Lutheran Preschool & Kinder Jesus said, Let the little children come to me. Matthew 19:14a A NOTE FROM THE PRESCHOOL What a wonderful month we have had at the preschool! Everyday I feel overwhelmingly blessed with the opportunity I have been given to love, teach, and care for the children. In our bible stories and during chapel we have read and learned about The baptism of Jesus, how Jesus leads us to worship, Jesus calling the Disciples, and how Jesus heals. This month our unit has been themed around Our Earth, and we have covered topics such as winter, sky, rocks and soil, and diversity. The children have enjoyed painting pet rocks, growing plants and flowers in our garden center, making homemade hot chocolate playdough, and acting out the bible stories with puppets. -Love, Tiffani Logan Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Psalms 127:3 KINDERGARTEN The Kinderoos had a month full of adventures. They traveled to the stock show, and also took a tour of hidden valley where they enjoyed cookies and taffy. During math they have been estimating, learning addition, and measuring. Their measuring skills came in handy when they made all of the classes chocolate pudding, crushed oreo, and gummy worm dirt snacks. They are continuing to learn new sight words and consonant-vowel consonant words in reading. 6

7 7 LITTLE LAMBS Mighty Lions had an eventful month! They learned the letters "I", "R" and S. During our "I" week they studied about igloos, Arctic animals like the polar bear, and winter. For "s" they melted big blocks of ice with salt in our science center. For "r " the classroom had a rock museum to study many different types of rocks, fossils and petrified wood. They panned for gold in our river sensory table area and learned that rojo means red in Spanish. They sang "Father I adore you" in a round. They also learned that Jesus was baptized, about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that Jesus calls us to be his disciples just like he called his twelve disciples. They learned and applied the golden rule from Luke 6:31. "Do to others as you would have them do to you. " LITTLE LAMBS AFTERNOON ZOO CREW The Little Lambs been have exploring and learning using all 5 of their senses this month. During our winter curriculum they created their own snow scene in the snowy (cornstarch) sensory bin. The little lambs also crafted their own dirt, mud and worm art with the use of yarn, paint and coffee grounds; the aroma was quite captivating. They utilized their hand eye coordination and fine motor skills by sorting rainbow colored fruit loops onto a stick. GoNoodle.com has been a fun new resource for us during cold days for music/movement and indoor recess. Our music and movement time encourages them to use their listening ears and watching eyes to follow along. On their nature walk, the Little Lambs explored and touched new materials that became their paintbrushes for a unique piece of artwork. The Afternoon Zoo Crew has been enjoying their new schedule. One of their favorite activities has been Wacky Science Wednesday. They had the opportunity to demonstrate how Jesus washes away our sins by cleaning pennies as a science experiment. They also experimented with the reaction dish soap has on milk and food coloring when mixed together. They made their own snowflake snacks from tortillas, butter, and cinnamon sugar. These fun activities can all be done with materials found in your pantry at home. The zoo crew has also really enjoyed reenacting bible stories, creating unique artwork, and learning about the Disciples being called to 7 be Fishers of Men.

8 8 Phone: (254) Fax: (254) Preschool: (254) Pastor Secretary Preschool Website: Cheyenne Mesa Hamilton, Texas St. John Lutheran Church & Preschool 122 Cheyenne Mesa Hamilton, TX Address Service Requested 8