The Key to St. Peter

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1 The Key to St. Peter MARCH 2018 St. P et er L u ther an C hu rc h - LCM S, 906 Hwy 59 N P O Box 133, Bowie, TX p et er tex.co m s tpet er tex@att. ne t The Parson s Pen By Pastor Larry Knobloch I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E 1 Parson s Pen 2 Parson s Pen cont/tues Night Bible Class 3 LWML/Cong. News- 4 Hurricane Harvey Relief 5 Sunday School Outing 6 Serving in God s House 7 Calendar Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! What a week we have had! Such a mild and dry winter thus far and just when we east expected it, we had a gully washer of over four inches of rain! It was very welcome and it was a nice sight. Here in town it was a nice rain, hardly any wind or lightening. The water soaked in nicely and began to run off but then the temperature began to drop. The rain changed over to freezing rain and ice began to form. What had been a blessing soon turned into something dangerous! The streets began to ice over and the trees and power lines began to ice up. Numerous auto accidents began to be reported, people began to slip and fall and power outages began to occur. People were cold and miserable. But you know, although it is inconvenient, it s not really all that bad. God hasn t abandoned us. The power companies immediately began working on getting electricity restored and eventually it will be done. There were emergency crews for those that fell or were in auto accidents. Most that lost power had a place to go. Not everyone chose to take advantage of the help but it was there. What if we really had problems? Like the Israelites in slavery problems? God did not abandon them, even though it seemed like He did. When it was time and within His plan God delivered them through Moses and Aaron. During the Exodus, God gave them His Commands, His Ten Commandments, as recorded in Deuteronomy Chapter Five. He then summarized those commandments in Chapter 6:5. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (ESV) And in Leviticus 19:18. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (ESV) Jesus Himself echoed these words in Mark 30:30-31: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. (ESV) Continued on page 2

2 The Key to St. Peter Page 2 The Parsons Pen from page 1 But back to Deuteronomy. Although the Israelites were not having the best of times, God still provided for them. They had spent 40 years wandering in the desert for turning away from God to worship an idol of their own making. Shortly before the death of Moses, and before the Hebrew people cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Their 40 years of wandering is over; the 40 years of wandering in the desert that was all this generation had known. Moses has just finished recounting the law to the people, and tells them this: I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV) He then told them to choose life. Through trials, through troubles, through anything else, life in Christ is always an option. It is easy to choose death. This does not mean that you are going to instantly die if you choose not to follow God. Moses is referring to a richer, fuller life. The Israelites didn t follow God because they knew things were going to get easier. They followed God because He had already been keeping His promises. It wasn t about what God would do for them. It was about what God had already done for them. Once you choose to follow Christ it doesn t mean that life is going to get simpler. Life does not get easier and sometimes life may even get harder. The difference is that you have a Savior to hold on to, to give you hope, and to give you meaning. This is a choice; that we may freely choose to turn away from God. He has done an incredible thing through Christ for each and every one of us. We can throw all that away when things are bad, or we can look to our Risen Savior and know that God has already kept His promise in Christ! With that knowledge of promises kept, we can lead our lives in confidence in God s grace and mercy and we can have peace. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV) - Women s Tuesday Night Bible Study He Chose the Nails What God did to win your heart The Women s Tuesday night Bible study will begin a new Lenten study on March 6 based on Max Lucado s book, He Chose the Nails. Every gift from God reveals his love, but no gift reveals his love more than the gifts of the cross. These gifts came not wrapped in paper but in passion. They were not placed around a tree but around a cross. They were not covered with ribbons but sprinkled with the blood that Christ shed on our behalf. In this five-session video Bible study, Max Lucado explores the many gifts that Christ provided to us at his crucifixion. These include not only the gift of the cross, but also the gift of the thorns that pierced his brow. The nails that tore his flesh. The seamless robe that he removed for us. The empty tomb where he forever defeated sin and death. The hill of the cross is rich with the gifts of God s grace. These were gifts he didn t have to give. The only required act for our salvation was the shedding of blood, yet God did so much more. So, as we unwrap these gifts, we need to pause and listen for his voice. As we do, perhaps we will hear him whisper, I did it just for you.

3 The Key to St. Peter Page 3 LWML The Lutheran Women s Missionary League had their annual fundraiser on February 11 th. Thanks to your generous donations we raised over $700 for our mission projects! We are collecting items for Personal Care Kits to go to Lutheran World Relief. If you would like to make a donation, the midweek children will be putting kits together the last Wednesday in March. Items to go in the kits include: One lightweight bath towel (between 20 x 40 and 52 x 27 ) dark color recommended Two or three bath-size bars of soap (any brand) in original wrapping One adult size toothbrush in original packaging One sturdy comb (remove packaging) One metal nail clippers (remove packaging) Our next meeting will be held March 12 at 6:30 p.m. All ladies of the congregation are invited to join us! ONCE AGAIN CONGRATULATIONS TO WILL JONES He and Mercury, a new Mama to boot, have climbed further up the ladder of heifer showing success. WAY TO GO!!!!! San Angelo - Grand Champion Santa Gertrudis Heifer Sr Heifer Division Champion San Antonio Class 10 Champion Jr Heifer Division Reserve

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5 The Key to St. Peter Page 5 Harvey Relief Update When Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast last August, it left nearly $180 billion worth of damage in its wake. But the costliest effects of this devastating storm are not measured in dollars and cents, but in its effects on human lives: 88 people died from the storm; 39,000 people were forced into shelters; 203,000 homes were damaged of which 12,700 were irreparably destroyed. The damage Harvey did was immense. As disaster response director for the Texas District of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, I have been able to see first-hand much of this damage. I have seen people living in tents, homes stripped of an entire story, mobile homes flipped on their side, and people sleeping on water-logged, moldy mattresses. I have seen our relief site coordinators work with families living in horse trailers or houses without electricity and running water, as well as with people living out of their vans. Our first responders, the very people who ran in to rescue those trapped in flooded homes, are now reaching out to us for help, as they are unable to rebuild their own homes. I have met countless people who have nowhere to turn and no one to help as our government's response has been overwhelmed by immediate and massive needs. This is where, together, we can make a difference. The Texas District's Disaster Relief initiative has been working to help as many of the victims of Hurricane Harvey as we can. Our focus has been on many of the forgotten areas, most especially the Coastal Bend and Golden Triangle areas. So far, our volunteers have put in some 27,503 hours of work serving 168 families. These families' homes are in all different stages of repair, from still needing a complete muck out to already having insulation and sheetrock installed. In Rockport alone, there are 300 families still waiting for help. In the Golden Triangle, we are pleased to announce that we are partnering with Experience Mission and Next Step Ministries to help rebuild this area. These ministries will assist us in facilitating service teams to help rebuild affected residential homes. These ministries are long-standing and Christ-centered, with a strong reputation for excellent, faithful and loving service. We can't wait to see how many families we will be able to help through this partnership! Much has been done. But there is still much more to do. You can be a part of our continuing efforts to help our fellow Texans in need either by making a donation to the Texas District Disaster Relief Fund or by signing up to serve on one of our relief teams, where we not only provide for people's physical needs, but also witness to the good news we have in Jesus Christ! Remember, the assistance you offer today can bless a life for years to come and can turn painful memories into a brighter future. Until they all know Him, Julie Tucker Director of Disaster Response

6 The Key to St. Peter Page 6 Serving in God s House in March Acolytes Mar 4 Sarah Horton/Cooper Hammer Mar 11 Brody Childs/Austin Dirickson Mar 18 Will Jones/Monte Mayfield Mar 25 Reegen Ferguson/Sarah Horton Elder Billy Lee Counters Darren Gill Gary Rainwater Lay Readers Mar 3 - Arn Anderson Mar 11 William Pickett Mar 18 Bryan Roth Mar 25 Gaylon Rice Altar Guild Rebecca Horton Monica Mayfield LENT 2018 Altar Care Ashley Keyes Dawn Keyes Debra Keyes Lenten Worship WED. EVENINGS 7:00 p.m.

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