Lent with the Lord s Commands

Transcription

1 THE CHURCH MOUSE TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 1002 E 13TH ST., VINTON, IA March 2019 WORSHIP SCHEDULE Wednesday Vesper Worship 6:30 PM Sunday Worship 9:00 AM PASTOR Rev. Stephen Preus Home Phone: OUR STAFF Nancy Hughes Office Secretary THE CHURCH MOUSE Published Monthly by Trinity Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) 1002 E 13th St. Vinton, IA Phone: trinityvinton@gmail.com Website: trinitylcmsvinton.org Like us on Facebook To get updates on Trinity s activities! Trinity Lutheran Church - Vinton Lent with the Lord s Commands The Law of God is good and wise and sets His will before our eyes, shows us the way of righteousness, and dooms to death when we transgress (LSB 579:1). This Lent we will be studying God s law as revealed in the Ten Commandments. In this first chief part of the Christian faith, God will show us our sin and teach what our lives are to look like as we live as Christians in this life and the life to come. In the gospel we will see our forgiveness found only in Christ who obediently fulfilled the Ten Commandments for us and gives us new life in him. Join us as we hear these words of God every Wednesday this Lent and prepare ourselves for our observance of our Lord s passion and resurrection during Holy Week. Pastor Preus (Trinity, Vinton) and Pastor Wright (St. John, Keystone) and Pastor Lingard (St. Andrew, Van Horne) will do a round-robin and take turns at all three churches. Wednesday Worship services here at Trinity begin at 6:30 p.m. Ash Wednesday: March 6 Maundy Thursday: April 18 Good Friday: April 19 Easter Vigil: Saturday, April 20 Easter: April 21 Come to worship a little early on Wednesday evenings during Lent and share a meal beginning at 5 p.m. in the Parish Hall. Watch your Sunday bulletin each week for the menu. Free-will donation. This year s sponsors are TLC Preschool, The Stewardship and Evangelism / Human Care Boards, Sr Youth Group, and Altar Guild. Thank you! 2019 Lenten Daily Devotions If you would like to study Lent with the Lord s Commands on a daily basis, you can request a copy, either printed or by , by contacting Nancy Hughes or calling the church office. It begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter Sunday.

2 The People Page 1. Kacie Campbell, Mikel-jon Elwick, Lorraine Fix, Brock Schmelzer, Becky Shaw 2. Gail Gerber 3. Don (Tiger) Campbell, Kraig DeVries, Ruth Wieditz 5. Arlene Andrew, Dorothy Selken 6. Orv Schrage 9. Judy Burkey, Clara Klinge 13. Maury Flickinger 14. Delores Sellers 15. Braden Womochil 16. Wade Henkel 17. Barbara Klinge 19. Michael Happel 20. Brynn Staab 21. Gavin Salger 23. Sara Wayson 24. Margaret Preus 25. Amanda Wilkin 26. Danielle Salzmann 27. Payton Gill 28. Drew Elwick, Wayne Rhinehart 2. Jim and Sharon Stueck 3. George and Terri Vopelak 4. Kevin and Shirley Schwartz 11. Bill and Mary Jo Guider 18. Don (Tiger) and Barb Campbell, Norman and Zelda Sackett 24. Rick and Nancy Hughes 31. Dennis and Wendy Haefner CONGREGATION POTLUCK Sunday, March 3rd This month s theme = Breakfast Please join us in the Parish Hall after Sunday School and Bible Class! Membership Changes Baptisms: Scarlett Jean Rollins Parents Valerie and Joshua Rollins Joye Elizabeth Zahorik Parents Valecia and Mike Zahorik Transfer in: Martha E Edwards from Christ Lutheran Church Lakeland, Florida Death: Nadine Hanneman February 11 Funeral at Trinity on February 19 MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Vacation Bible School July 14-17, 2019 A sincere Thank You to those who sent cards, prayers, and gave comfort and support after the death of my mom, Lois Stolte. I rest assured that she is at peace in the arms of our Lord and I look forward to being reunited with her one day. Nancy Hughes

3 So, this is the first part of Jesus lesson on how to hear and receive His Word. Watch out for the devil. He is trying to steal the seed of God s Word from your heart. HOW TO RECEIVE THE WORD Luke 8:4-15 By Pastor Preus Jesus is not a bad farmer. Yes, His seed falls everywhere. On the path. On the rock. Among thorns. And only ¼ into good soil. But this parable isn t about farming. It s about how Jesus casts His Word into people s ears. The seed is God s Word. The assorted types of soil correspond to different ways of hearing God s Word. So, Jesus isn t a bad farmer at all. He s a tremendous teacher, giving us a lesson on how to hear and receive His Word. First, He says to hear and receive His Word by watching out for the devil. The devil is like birds eating seed off a path. The seed is trampled and eaten and does not grow. That s the way it is when certain folks hear God s Word. They hear it but not really. It s in one ear and out the other. They ll sit in a church pew on Sunday, but once they leave church it s as if they never heard the Word at all. That s the devil working like the birds. He steals the Word from the hearts of many who hear so that they do not believe and are not saved. Jesus says to watch out for the devil. You want to believe and to be saved. So, see that the devil is after you, trying to steal God s Word from you. See how he does so by many means. Distraction. Distraction is not funny; it s devilish. The devil is getting you to focus on other things when God s Word is proclaimed. He s stealing God s Word from you. That s nothing to laugh at. Look at the state of Christianity today. This is serious. Laziness. Laziness is not just lack of motivation; it s devilish. The devil is getting you to make no effort to open the hymnal or pay attention. The devil is getting you not to follow a sermon or apply God s Word to your life or have devotions at home. Boredom. Boredom is not enlightened people tired of hearing the same old thing; again, it s devilish. The devil is getting you to think that you can watch the same movie more than once or eat the same food on a regular basis and yet cannot hear the same Word of God repeatedly. Boredom is the devil s tool against know-it-alls. Secondly, Jesus says to hear and receive His Word by watching out for your sinful flesh. Your sinful flesh can make you like a plant lacking moisture. The sun will in a short time scorch a plant that does not have enough water. So too the sinful flesh will kill the faith of one who initially hears God s Word with joy but does not continue to hear it. Jesus says that the nourishment God s Word gives is like what water gives to plants. That s also the image the Lord gives to us in Isaiah 55. He says: 10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. If you continue to hear God s Word and receive it in faith, there will be success. But if you do not, then Jesus warning is clear. Your sinful flesh will forsake the Word of God when things get heated. Even if you once believed, you will in time of testing fall away. And this time of testing includes things like: Tribulations. Hard times weigh heavy upon us. In relationships, health, finances, etc. And these tribulations can weigh so heavily that people stop hearing God s Word. Persecutions. This is hatred from the world toward Christians. We are facing this in spades. The world tells us it s 2019 and to get with the times, to abandon God s Word in favor of the fads of today, the spirit of our times. This test is real for us all. Temptations. This is the struggle within against the devil, the world, and our flesh. They test us with deception, false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. So, Jesus says to receive His Word by watching out for your sinful flesh. Your sinful flesh too will make it so that you do not hear and receive God s Word, as you should. This can lead you to lose the faith entirely. The Greek word for fall away, which Jesus uses, is where we get the term apostasy, to abandon the faith. So, the scorching heat against the sinful flesh is real and serious. You need nourishment from God s Word like plants need water. This is the second part of Jesus lesson on how to hear and receive His Word. The third way Jesus says to hear and receive His Word is by watching out for the world. The world is like thorns choking a plant so that it does not produce fruit. That s the way it is when many hear the Word. They listen and then go on their way and instead of living in faith toward God and love toward their neighbor, their faith and love are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life. Continued next page

4 A Word From The Pastor continued: They have competition for their hearts. And the Word of God ends up losing to the world. Jesus says, then, to watch out for this world. You do not want to be like a plant that gets suffocated. You do not want your faith to die. But the world is tempting you toward that. With cares. What today people call being busy. We are tempted with the cares of this life: sports, work, home improvements, education, hobbies, you name it. Gradually like a weed on a plant, they suffocate God s Word out of the lives of so many unawares. With riches. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. The depth of deception and walking over people and thievery people will go to in order to get money is astounding. Money is their security in life instead of God. With pleasures of life. We could call this the ease of life, too. Whatever gives pleasure harmful things like sexual sins or harmless things like sleeping in on Sunday morning can take people away from listening to God s Word and strangle faith right out of a person. So, Jesus says to receive His Word by watching out for the world. It will wrap around your soul if you let it, choking God s Word out like a weed on a plant. Gradually, with God s Word ignored, faith in Jesus eventually departs, replaced with the cares, riches, and pleasures of life. This is the third part of Jesus lesson on how to hear and receive His Word. The final way Jesus says to hear and receive His Word is by holding it fast in an honest and good heart, bearing fruit with patience. This is the only way to hear His Word properly. Seed that falls into good soil and receives proper protection, nourishment, and tending grows into a plant that yields a hundredfold. This is what Jesus wants for you. Holding fast to this Word of Jesus, planted in your honest heart you have a good heart. A heart that retains God s Word in your life because it is your eternal life. A heart that bears fruit by doing good to others as God has in Jesus done good to you. So, Jesus tells you how to hear and receive His Word. To watch out for those things that would keep God s Word from taking root and bearing fruit: the devil, the world, and your sinful flesh. And He does so in order that you would hold fast to Jesus, who holds fast to you, who is always present with His Word to keep you in the faith unto life everlasting. Preach you the Word and plant it home To men who like or like it not, The Word that shall endure and stand When flow rs and men shall be forgot. The sower sows; his reckless love Scatters abroad the goodly seed, Intent alone that all may have The whole-some loaves that all men need. Preach you the Word and plant it home And never faint; the Harvest Lord Who gave the sower seed to sow Will watch and tend His planted Word. And this is what you have when you hear God s Word with an honest heart. An honest heart that admits that the devil s distractions influence you. An honest heart that does not deceive itself by saying it has no sin to confess. An honest heart that can see the riches, cares, and pleasures of life trying to choke away its faith in God s Word. With such an honest heart you then desire to hold fast to God s Word. Because you hear in God s Word of your salvation from the devil, the world, and your sinful flesh. In God s Word you hear of the Word made flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Seed of the woman promised to Adam and Eve. He is the Seed of the Virgin Mary planted by the Holy Spirit into her womb. He is the Seed who was buried in the tomb after dying on the cross to crush the devil s head. The Seed who took the heat for your sin as He thirst for your salvation. The Seed who overcame the world as He was crowned with thorns, died, and rose from the earth the firstfruits of our resurrection. Preach You the Word LSB 586:1,3,6

5 TLC Preschool We were fortunate to come back to school in time for Valentine s Day! As you know, the weather has caused missed days at TLC. So far, the three year old classes have missed seven days of preschool and the four year old class has missed five. In addition, there have been some delayed starts at school. Although DHS does not require make up school days, TLC has decided to make up these missed days. We will be extending our year, take away any spring break days, conference days, and add Wednesdays for the three year old classes in April and May. Every day that the children attended was busy with valentine crafts, learning new songs, and best of all learning more about Jesus and His love for us. Valentines were exchanged and all classes discussed how to love one another. The three year old class shared their baby pictures showing that they were a baby once, just like Jesus! Jesus and His disciples, Mary and Martha, and the ten men with leprosy were Bible characters the 4 year old class met. The children are learning to become helpers for Jesus, by treating others with respect and kindness. God s Blessings, Gail Gerber WEEKLY CHURCH CLEANING SIGN UP Thank you for volunteering your time to keep our church clean. You can find the sign-up sheet and instructions posted on the bulletin board in the Narthex. January Budget Needs: $14,445 January Offering Income: $10,634 January Expenses Paid: $26,641* *$10,000 was paid in January for missions, 2018 DIAPER DRIVE The Evangelism and Human Care Board is collecting donations for Bridgehaven Pregnancy Support Center in Cedar Rapids. See the posters to find out what they need and learn more about Bridgehaven. Please leave donations in the overflow room by March 31st. Thank you! NOTICE: Because of some suspicious activity in the parking lot, please be advised to always lock your car when you visit church. Experience the Passion Play 10-Day Austria, Germany & Venice, Italy Tour Featuring the Oberammergau Passion Play Hosted by: Rev. Michael Wolfram & Rev. Dr. James Lamb Travel Dates: September 5-14, 2020 For a brochure with all of the information, contact the church office at Early Bird savings!

6 Trinity Lutheran Church March 2019 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Acolyte Schedule 1 Pastor's 2 Sunday March 3 - Brody Berninghaus Wednesday March 6 - Cade Oldfather Sunday March 10 - Jack Geiger Wednesday March 13 - Ryan DeVries Sunday March 17 - Gavin Salger Wednesday March 20 - Landon Bierschenk Sunday March 24 - Blake Berninghaus Wednesday March 27 - Kelcie Appleby Sunday March 31- Sophia Kreutner 3 11:30 am Congregation Potluck -Breakfast 10 Daylight Saving Time Begins 4 7:00 pm Men's Study/Social Night 5 1:00 pm Stewardship Board 7:00 pm Elders Board meeting 7:30 pm Evang/Human Care Board Meeting :00 pm Preschool Board Meeting 7:00 pm Exec. Board of Directors Meeting 6 Ash Wednesday 6:30 pm Divine Worship with Communion 13 6:30 pm Lenten Worship Service Pastor Wright Pastor's 15 Pastor's :00 pm Men's Study/Social Night 25 Preschool Conferences :00 pm Education Board Mtg 6:30 pm Lenten Worship Service Pastor Lingard 26 Preschool Conferences 27 6:30 pm Lenten Worship Service Pastor's 29 Pastor's Altar Guild Offering Counters Video Nancy Good Dave and Brenda Inman Barbara Klinge George and Pauline Grovert Eileen Kreutner