Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod)

Transcription

1 3 rd Last Sunday of the Church Year Order of Worship November 12, :00 am Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) McKinley St NE, Minneapolis, MN website: 1

2 Welcome to God s House today!!! A special welcome to visitors and guests; we are pleased that you have joined us today! If you have no church family, and if we can be of any help to you, please speak with the pastor after the service. We invite all guests to sign the Guest Register. We pray you will feel God s love for you and be empowered to live as God s child this week. Today s Focus The Cry at Midnight The lessons today look forward to the end of time and the day of judgement, and encourage the faithful to be prepared. In the prayer of the day we ask that we may be prepared for the last days. Amos warnings that God s people should make sure their outwardly actions are in line with the true worship of the heart. In the second lesson Paul encourages the believers to know that both those are still alive and who have already died will be a part of the resurrection. The Gospel is "A parable that underscores the theme of readiness as one awaits the soon and sudden coming of the Messiah... Children are welcome in worship! If childcare is needed, an unattended nursery is open during worship services. It is located across from the restrooms next to the Church Offices. Is there something you d like us to pray for today? Prayer Request cards are in each pew. Please hand your request to an usher before the service or during the offering. They will give them to the pastor to include in the prayers for today. The Lord s Supper is celebrated on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month. We joyfully share our conviction that this is The Lord's Table. We receive the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, together with the bread and wine in a manner our human reason cannot understand. (Real Presence) By communing together with our Lord: - we express the belief that Jesus is the Son of God and Son of Man; - that Jesus is our Savior and only way for salvation; - that Jesus offers us His Body and Blood in a mysterious yet real way; - that Christ's sacrificial death grants the forgiveness of our sins; - and that God is strengthening us in this Sacrament to live a more godly; life and to amend with the help of the Holy Spirit, those areas not in conformity with God s will. We declare these statements because it is our concern for people to not be hypocritical between their faith and celebrate the blessings of God's Table at the Altar. Persons unable to approach the Altar may be communed in the pew, please notify the Pastor or Elder if you wish this service. The white wine is denatured (alcohol removed) 2

3 3 rd Last SUNDAY of the Church Year AS WE GATHER The Day of the Lord Jesus spoke of His return from heaven, implying that it would happen within the lifetimes of some of His listeners. Paul preached this and stirred audiences with the notion of a forthcoming cataclysm. The congregation at Thessalonica, certainly took him literally. Many quit their jobs, anticipating the end of the world. Paul realized the error and wrote his first letter to warn his followers against panic. Even if the world should end suddenly, Christians must not worry. Still, we must be vigilant and secure in our faith-relationship with Jesus. WE ENTER TO WORSHIP AND BE BLESSED PRESERVICE MUSIC/WELCOME CALL TO WORSHIP As The Deer Panteth... Psalm 42 INVOCATION OUR CONFESSION OF OUR SINS OUR FORGIVENESS IS ANNOUNCED HYMN OF PRAISE I m Forever Grateful Mark Altrogge PRAYER OF THE DAY THE LORD COMES TO US IN HIS WORD OLD TESTAMENT LESSON Amos 5:18-24 ESV THE EPISTLE LESSON 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ESV GOSPEL ANTHEM Knowing You Graham Kendrick GOSPEL READING Matthew 24:3a 25:1-13 ESV OUR CONFESSION OF FAITH - THE APOSTLES CREED SERMON HYMN Hear The Call Of The Kingdom Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend SERMON Worth Waiting For Amos 5:18-24 OUR RESPONSE TO THE WORD HYMN OF RESPONSE Create in Me MM 39 THE THANKSGIVING OFFERINGS OF GOD S PEOPLE OFFERING PRAYER PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH BENEDICTION CLOSING HYMN ANNOUNCEMENTS/POSTLUDE Grace Alone + Silent Prayer + WE DEPART TO SERVE 3

4 TODAY S LUTHERAN HOUR November 12 "More Than a Wish" (1 Thess. 4:13-14) Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour: Rev. Dr. Ken Klaus Not so long ago over 370 million tickets were sold for a Powerball drawing. Each person who made a purchase had hope that they might become rich. Most were disappointed. In 1 Thessalonians 4, St. Paul explains how the resurrection hope of Christians is better than the hopelessness of the world and far more solid than groundless wishful thinking. NEXT WEEK ON THE LUTHERAN HOUR November 19 "The Reckoning" (Matthew 25:14-30) Guest Speaker: Dr. Dale A. Meyer You hear little talk about the 'Fear of God" anymore, but if you don't in some way fear your Creator who judges you down to your inmost being, why would you love your only Savior whom He sends you? A message about fearing and loving God. Listen on WCCO AM at 6:05 am, Sunday mornings, or listen anytime at or on XM Satellite Radio you can also hear The Lutheran Hour on XM 170 Sundays at noon STEWARDSHIP: Nov. 12: Proper 27 Matthew 25:4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. Why did they take flasks of oil with them? Because they listened to the Bridegroom s words and believed them. Our actions always start with and flow from our beliefs. What do your actions in the realm of stewardship say about what you believe? LUTHERANS FOR LIFE November 12 We live in H.O.P.E. Having Optimism Pending Eternity. Because no matter what happens, we know that He loves us and our future is secure. Diane Schroeder, former president of Lutherans For Life A Life Quote from Lutherans For Life FELLOWSHIP & ANNUAL VOTERS MEETING TODAY AFTER the WORSHIP SERVICE 4

5 It s Time to Pack Shoeboxes It's time to fill shoeboxes full of gifts to bless boys and girls in need around the world while introducing them to Jesus Christ! National Collection Week is until Nov 19). Please note the following updates as you get your shoebox gifts ready. Toothpaste and candy are no longer allowed in shoebox gifts due to customs regulations. Don't forget a $9 donation per shoebox gift is critical to cover shipping and other ministry expenses. Boxes and information are on the table behind the pews. Circuit Forum/District Convention Delegates Are Needed It is time for each congregation to designate its representatives to attend its circuit forum. The Circuit Forum will be on Nov 19 th at 12:30 pm at Mt. Zion Lutheran Church in South Mpls. The forum will handle matters related to the 2018 district and 2019 Synod conventions. Your Congregation s Two Representatives The circuit forum consists of a pastor of each congregation and one lay member of each congregation designated by the congregation (Synod Bylaw 5.3.2). Each congregation is entitled to a lay member of the congregation as the other voting representative. The selection of the Lay delegate for the Circuit Forum and the Lay Delegate for the District Convention will be done at the Annual Voter s Meeting on November 12 th. 6/21-23/2018 (Thurs -Sat) MN South District Convention Mark your Calendars! GDLC CHRISTMAS DECORATING Thursday, November 30 th at 9 am. Please come and help decorate our Church for Christmas. "It is not your job to convince people that the gospel is true. It is your job to live convinced that it is." Unknown The first time I heard this, I almost argued with it. It sounds as if we don t have to share the gospel. But, if we are living as if the gospel is true, then we are stirred by its urgency, moved by its power, and long to love people as Christ did. The gospel becomes the cadence by which we live our lives, and our words sound more like a love-conversation and less like a sales-pitch. 5

6 BIRTHDAYS: 14 th Betty Hietala, 17 th Chris Hadrath ANNIVERSARIES: None ETERNAL CANDLE: Sandy Westling, in memory of son, Steve (17 years) FLOWERS: None IN OUR PRAYERS: Karmon Christopherson, Millie Eckhardt, Harriet Harris, Gwen Johnson, Ada Samson, Dorothy Woll, Verlayne Sather REQUESTED PRAYERS: Larry Derksen (Shirley s brother) recovery from surgery Dr. Lori Ongeri (Debra Forsberg s niece) for a baby boy Jeffrey Lucero (Debra Fosberg s nephew) Ulcer Vera Gade (Pastor s mother) recovering at home John Gillund (Patty & Meridel s brother) heart surgery recovery Dick Gillund (Patty & Meridel s brother) Elaine Gillund surgery and radiation Brandon Johnson (son of Lori Sharbono) continued good results Roxie Johnson (Morelli s niece) heart issues & upcoming surgery Steve Kaiser (friend of Patty Lyrenmann s brother) COPD Beverly Papcek (Grunnes cousin) numb leg, but not cancer Amy Price (Morelli s niece) treatments for stage 4 cancer Jimmy Royal & Dave (friends of Dick Gillund) Marvin & Norma Thor poor health/stomach cancer Mary Phillips and Dan Crocker Chronic Illness Seth Ayala (Verlayne nephew) continuing problems Evelyn Hormann (Sandy Westling s sister) Heart issues IN OUR PRAYERS AND REQUESTED PRAYERS If you have family members or friends who require our prayers, please use the prayer request cards found in the pews or at the Ushers counter and give to the office. They will be added to the Prayer list. Any updates to the current list? Let the office know Kids Our Age/50+ - November 16 th at 12 noon Theme is Holiday Plans. We will talk about all we will be doing between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the preparation that go into that planning. Questions, connect with Verlayne. Menu: Salisbury Steak, Baked Potatoes, Broccoli, tossed Salad (Pastor s Beet pickles and Apple Crisp Sign-up sheet is in the lobby of the Church. Cost of $7. 6

7 OUR WEEKLY CALENDAR 11/12 Sun Pentecost 23 8:45 am Education Hour 10:00 am Worship 11:00 am FELLOWSHIP & ANNUAL VOTERS MEETING 6:00 pm NA 11/13 Mon 6:30 pm AlAnon 1 8:00 pm AA/AlAnon 2 11/14 Tues 7:00 pm All Boards Meeting 11/15 Wed 10:00 am BIBLE STUDY 6:30 pm TLWCC Bible Study 11/16 Thurs 12:00 pm KOA/50+ 11/17 Fri 5:00 pm TLWCC Music Practice 8:00 pm AA/AlAnon 11/18 Sat 10:00 am TLWCC Worship 6:00 pm TLWCC Worship & Fellowship 11/19 Sun Pentecost 24 8:45 am Education Hour 10:00 am Worship w/hc 12:30 pm CIRCUIT FORUM MT. ZION 6:00 pm NA SERVING TODAY Elder: Karmon Christopherson Ushers: Al, Pam, Aaron Morelli Counters: Al, Pam, Aaron Morelli Altar Care: Shirley Holzinger Attendance 11/05/17: 34 Offerings -- Regular $2,545; Loose: $15; Rent $150 Total: $2,710 Needed each week for 2017: $3, WEDNESDAY BIBLE STUDY All About Angels SUNDAY BIBLE STUDY The Hard Sayings of Paul 2017 Calendars The 2017 Wall Calendars from Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapels are now available on the table (back of Church). Help yourself! 7

8 If you have Thrivent Insurance, don t forget Thrivent Choice Dollars! Call every month! Call Thrivent ( ). When asked for subject, say Choice Dollars. When asked for a choice, press 1. Then answer the next question with your birth date. Then a Thrivent person will answer. Tell the person you want to direct your choice dollars to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 3014 NE McKinley St, Minneapolis. $30 was donated for the month of October Thank you so much for your generous giving! Fare For All November Holiday Package of 8-10# turkey, sage pork sausage, pork tenderloin, chicken wings, 2 green beans and a pumpkin pie (items subject to change) for $30 on Friday, Nov 17 between 11 am-1 pm at the NE Minneapolis - Sprinkler Fitters Union Hall, 1404 Central Avenue NE. Available to everyone. For more information call or Use back door by parking lot. POINSETTIA S Help to beautify our Sanctuary for Christmas by donating a poinsettia or two! The cost is $13.50 for an 8 inch double plant. Colors are red, white or pink. The order must be placed no later than Sunday, December 3. You will be billed directly from the church. You may also bring your own poinsettias, but we would still like you to sign up. A sign-up sheet is posted on the entryway bulletin board, or call the church office to place your order. The New St. Anthony Parkway Bridge in Northeast Minneapolis has opened to traffic after two years of construction and a $31.6 million project budget. Taste of Columbia Heights Holiday Kick Off Friday, Nov 17 from 6 9:30 pm at Murzyn Hall, 530 Mill Street, NW, sample food from local restaurants. There will be a free wine and beer tasting, local music from New Dawn, Scott Skaja and the Murzyn Hall Singers, the 2017 Heights Idol winners and the CA Student Band, a raffle, a silent auction, the Lion s Club Bar, and free face painting for kids. Admission is free. Tickets for each food sample are $2 and will be sold at the door. Info: Liz Bray at

9 Medicare open enrollment for 2018 Medicare open enrollment for 2018 starts on October 15 and closes on December 7, During this time you can review, compare, and select your health care plan choices, including your Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. Prescription drug plans change and new plans become available each year that could offer better coverage and/or save you money. Check out the Medicare Plan Finder which provides details on the prescription drug plans available in your area. Call Medicare with questions at MEDICARE ( ) and/or contact the Senior LinkAge Line at and on the web at Watch out for Medicare Scams During Open Enrollment Watch out for the following scams. You might be the target of a Medicare scam if a stranger contacts you saying they work for Medicare and informs you that they need your personal information in order to supply you with a new Medicare card.... notifies you that you are entitled to a refund from last year s premiums on your drug plan cost.... calls you offering free medical supplies or a health checkup.... contacts you promising you a monetary reward or gift in exchange for your Medicare number.... tells you they need you to confirm your Medicare card number in order to send you your refund check. Senior Community Services warns, never give out your Medicare card number to anyone you are unfamiliar with and always trust your gut. If something feels off, it probably is. Have someone you trust give you a second opinion anytime you are felling uneasy about a decision that will affect your Medicare. The Senior LinkAge Line, is a statewide resource during open enrollment. In Hennepin County, Senior Community Services has 14 in-person counseling sites that offer unbiased guidance in navigating your Medicare choices. If the cost of a Medicare supplement is too high for you, the Senior Partners Care program may be the answer. Senior Community Services has partnered with most major metropolitan area hospitals and hundreds of clinics and providers statewide. These healthcare providers have agreed to consider a waiver of Medicare deductibles, coinsurance and co-payments. Call or visit seniorcommunity.org. 9

10 Medicare Health Insurance Counseling, provided by state certified health insurance counselors, is available at The Legacy of St. Anthony OR Bottineau Park Recreation Center appointments call NE Seniors at Health insurance counseling services are also available by calling the Senior Linkage Line at Collection of leaves and bundled brush ends the week of Nov. 13 Your garbage day in the week of Nov. 13 is the last 2017 collection for leaves, brush and other yard trimmings. Yard waste must be in compostable bags paper or compostable plastic or un-bagged in a reusable container at least 26 inches high with sturdy handles. Yard waste is not allowed in City-provided containers. Set all yard waste next to your garbage cart by 6 AM. Leaves: Less than 40 pounds. Brush: Less than 40 pounds, less than 3 feet long, branch size less than 3 inches in diameter, all must be bundles with string (no tape). Remember, it is against the law and bad for our lakes to rake leaves into the street. If you have questions about leaf and brush pickup, call between 8 AM and 4:30 PM. Adult Literacy Tutors Needed Open Door Learning Center Northeast, 724 Lowry Ave NE, a program of the Minnesota Literacy Council, is seeking volunteers to serve as Adult Literacy Tutors to help adults gain essential literacy skills. Reading prescription labels, helping a child with homework and filling out job applications are just a few of the goals immigrants, refugees and native-born Minnesotans work toward as they brush up on their reading and writing skills. Volunteers can choose to work one-to-one, in small groups, or as a classroom assistant. The time commitment ranges from 2 3 hours per week. Daytime and evening hours are available. Info: Wendy Vang Roberts at or wroberts@mnliteracy.org. Celebrate Thanksgiving with a free community meal. Join St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 4101 Washington Street NE, Minneapolis on Thursday, November 23rd for a FREE Thanksgiving Meal, with all the trimmings! Meal service from 11:00 am 2:00 pm. Local delivery is also available. 10

11 Catechesis Note for the Week What do Lutherans believe will happen when Christ returns? We believe exactly what the Holy Scriptures teaches. The following events will take place when Jesus returns: 1. Christ will come visibly and all people will see Him Acts 1:11; Matt. 24:27,30; Luke 17:22-24; 21:27,35 Mark 13:24-26; 14:62; Rev.1:7 2. Christ will come in glory surrounded by His angels Matt. 13:39-43, 49; 16:27; 24:30-31; 25:31; 2 Thess. 1:7 Rev. 19:11-14; Titus 2:13; Jude 14,21; 1 Pet. 4:13; Zech. 14:3 3. When Christ returns, a bodily resurrection of all the dead will take place. Believers will be raised to salvation and unbelievers to damnation Matt ,32; John 5:27-29; 6:39-40, 44, 54; Romans 8:11; Rev. 20:11-15; 1 Cor. 15:12-57; Dan. 12: All believers, both the dead and the living, will be caught up (a visible rapture) to meet the Lord in the air 1 Thess.4: Death will be destroyed 1 Cor. 15:26,54-57; Rev. 20:14 6. When Christ returns, He will judge all people, both the living and the dead Matt. 25:31-46; John 5:27; 6:40,54; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Rom. 2:16; 2 Tim. 4:1,8; Jude 14-15; Rev. 20: Believers will receive eternal salvation and unbelievers eternal damnation in hell Matt. 25:31-46; John 5:29; 1 Pet. 1:4-5, 7; 5:4; 1 John 3:2; Heb. 9:28; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:6-10; Dan. 12:2 8. Our earthly bodies will be changed, we will be given new bodies 1 Cor. 15:49-52; Phil. 3:21 9. When Christ returns, a new heavens and a new earth will be created for all eternity Rev. 21:1; 2 Pet. 3:10-13 Nowhere, however, do the Scriptures teach that at His return Christ will establish a this-worldly, political kingdom, millennium or literal 1000 year reign of Christ. 11

12 Today s Scripture Readings AMOS 5:18-24: Political peace had brought prosperity to Israel just at this time during the reign of King Jeroboam. Prosperity brought ease, affluence, arrogance and consequential greed to succeed at the expense of the poor and underprivileged. Amos speaks some extremely sharp words of denunciation against the peoples comfortable assumption that they enjoyed God s favor. The people also liked to believe that the day of the Lord would reveal the Lord s judgment against His enemies. They thought success indicated that God was on their side. Amos lists reasons here why the Lord God of Israel will certainly come at His own appointed time, but many who thought themselves friends would find out to their devastation they were actually His enemies. Herein is a great denunciation of hypocritical half-hearted forms of worship and service to the Lord. Right conduct is an act of true worship rather than simply the outward trappings. 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18: Paul here reassures new Christians who were worried that those who had died since he had first preached the gospel to them would not meet the Lord at his second coming. He states quite clearly that those who have died in faith will accompany Jesus when he comes to be joined by those who are still alive on the earth. Note that it is the word of the Lord which precipitates this great event. The sound of the trumpet of God could be describing the same exercise of power. MATTHEW 25:1-13: In this parable the bridegroom represents the Messiah and the maidens represent professing Christians. That they all slumbered indicates the unexpectedness of the Lord s coming. That the five who had no oil were shut out from the feast teaches that there is a proper time for spiritual preparedness which cannot be put off. The wise were unable to share their oil not because they were selfish, but because it is an unalterable reality that each believer can only believe and act for him- or herself. Lessons for the 2 nd Last Sunday of the Church Year Zephaniah 1:7-16; Psalm 90:1-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew25: