Welcome to Christ Lutheran Church Community of Faith location: 126 Front Street mailing address: P.O. Box 166 Cottonwood, Minnesota 56229 Church Office Phone and Voice Mail: 507-423-5100 PASTOR JIM DEMKE SEE OFFICE PHONE [ or, cell 605-370-2206] PASTORAL ASST. GWEN ARNESON SEE OFFICE PHONE [or, cell 612-280-5987] ADMIN. ASST. RHODA SCHMIDT SEE OFFICE PHONE [or, cell 507-829-1426] CUSTODIANS JON & JEANNETTE MYRVIK [cell 507-828-2401; 828-2407] www.christcottonwood.org e-mail: christlutheran@christcotton.com T h i s W e e k a t C h r i s t L u t h e r a n A u g u s t 3 0, 2 0 1 5 Today, August 30 9:00 a.m. Coffee and Fellowship 9:30 a.m. Worship 10:30 a.m. Refreshments and Fellowship 10:45 a.m. (approx.) Worship on Cable 180 Next Sunday, September 6 9:00 a.m. Coffee and Fellowship 9:30 a.m. Worship Holy Communion 10:30 a.m. Refreshments and Fellowship 10:45 a.m. (approx.) Worship on Cable 180 September 2 7 p.m. 10th Grade Youth, Parents, Mentors Rhoda will be out of the office Sept. 4-13 September 9 @ 7 p.m.: 6th - 9th Grade Students, Parents, Deacons Orientation September 10 @ 7 p.m.: Holy Land Program
Prayer Requests The Apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:6-7 to, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Your prayers are a gift to those requesting them, and encouragement for one another as we experience challenges, sorrows, or thanksgivings of any kind. We pray for those with Health Concerns, as well as Others In Our Hearts and On Our Minds: Shana Alm Diane Anderson Tom Bahn Jill Boehne Erin Eaton Sue Gropel Julie Jaeger Jan Johnson Steve Lee Julie Pederson Harlan Rasmussen (Brenda Hoehne s father) Cayson Rialson Mary Schwisow Gary Timmerman Ann-Marie Varpness All those dealing with illness, addictions, depression, unemployment, underemployment, and any challenges in their lives. Let us hold the family of Reed Lovsness in our prayers as they grieve, mourn, remember, and give thanks to God for the promises we know in Christ Jesus. Spouse Betty, Sons Lindon and Kirk, Grandfather of Josie and Jackson Lovsness, Brother-in- Law of Bonnie Knutson and Joyce/Doug Warnke, and Uncle of several CLC community of faith members. We Pray for Families of our Congregation. This week pray for: Chad and Tessa Johnson, Peyton Dave and Kathy Johnson Don Johnson We Pray for our Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Care Center Residents. This week pray for Janet Gniffke at Granite Manor in Granite Falls. We Pray for our Workers in Other Countries, Missionaries, and Local Congregation Missions. This week pray for our Christ Care ministry and the families we serve. Thank You For Serving Our Lord Today - August 30, 2015 Ushers *Mike Lee, Chuck Broberg, Trinity Broberg, Pat Hinz, Tom Hinz, Joe Hoff, Jeff Varpness Organist Gwen Arneson Greeter Barb Crouse Assisting Minister Kari Louwagie Acolytes Kaitlin Fischer Jacob Myers PA Operator Pete Lavin Video Operator Erik Lundberg Offering Counters Mary Schwisow Jessica Laleman Altar Care Nellie Bjornebo Tracy Sterner Page 2
A room at the rear of the Sanctuary is available for parents or others who wish for a comfortable place to comfort a young child during the worship service. With the large glass window into the sanctuary, it is possible to continue to see and hear what is happening in the service while enjoying the comfort of the separate room. A rocking chair is available for your convenience. If you need some activities for your children, there are bags hanging on the bag tree at the back of the Sanctuary with books, coloring pages, activities, and a snack. Feel free to take a bag...just please put it back when you leave church. Our Nursery is available for parents needing to comfort a young child. It is located in the lower level at the bottom of the stairs. For those needing a changing table, it is available in the rest room located on the main floor, down the hallway from the Global Café counter and past the offices. THANK YOU!... to Vicki Myers for using your talents to write the program that the 2nd-8th grade Sunday Morning Live group will be learning. from the Christian Education Committee September 2, 7 p.m.: 10th Grade Students, Parents, Deacons, Mentors Orientation September 9, 7 p.m.: 6th - 9th Grade Students, Parents, Deacons Orientation September 10, 7 p.m.: Holy Land Program for Men, Women, Families, Kids, presented by Greg and Anne Isaackson. They will share pictures and stories of their trip to Israel and Jordan, where scripture becomes alive! September 13: God s Work. Our Hands. Day September 20: Sunday Morning Live begins September 20: 3 Year Olds are welcomed during Worship (10:15) and presented with Prayer Pillows and Prayer Books. September 23: F.I.R.E. (each Wednesday) begins 5:45 p.m. September 27: Bibles are presented to 2 Year Olds, Second Graders, and Sixth Graders during Worship (10:15) October 11: Prayers Books are presented to 4 Year Olds and Kindergarteners during Worship (10:15) October 11: Fall Fellowship Fair dinner served 11:30 to 1:00 October 18: Catechisms are presented to Second Graders during Worship (10:15) October 25: Affirmation of Baptism (Rite of Confirmation) for High School Juniors during Worship (10:15) Page 3
Time after Pentecost August 30, 2015 Christ Lutheran Church Cottonwood, Minnesota Jesus protests against human customs being given the weight of divine law, while the essence of God s law is ignored. True uncleanness comes not from external things, but from the intentions of the human heart. Last week Jesus told us the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Now James says God has given us birth by the word of truth. We, having been washed in the word when we were born in the font, return to it every Sunday to ask God to create in us clean hearts. (Sundays and Seasons, Augsburg Fortress, 2014) GATHERING The page number notations in the worship bulletin refer to the pages in the front portion of the hymnal. The hymn numbers in brackets are found in the latter half of the hymnal. Prelude Call to Worship Welcome and Announcements Please stand as you are able. Confession and Forgiveness P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one god, the Creator of wind and rain, field and ocean; the Bread of Life coming down from above; and the Power at work within us and this world. C: Amen. P: Lord, we heed your word to come and worship; we follow your commandment to praise your name. C: But our praise and worship is in vain, Lord, when we honor you with our lips, but not with our hearts. P: Lord, we heed your word to study your scriptures; we follow your instructions to seek your word of truth. C: But we still aren t pure and undefiled, Lord, when we remain hearers of the word, rather than doers. P: Lord, we heed your word to be generous in our giving; we pledge and serve and lead when we re asked. C: But we still aren t acting on behalf of the innocent, when our human laws don t lift up the vulnerable. Silence is kept for reflection. Most Merciful God, C: Help us to make our life with you more than just traditions and a routine we follow, Sunday after Sunday. Sprinkle our unclean hearts again, forgive us, and fill us with your Spirit, empowering us to live out your life-changing love in this world. Amen. Page 4
P: Here is Good News: God constantly reaches out to draw us near when our hearts are distant. Welcome now God s forgiving word that frees us from evil within ourselves, and fills us with God s light to share with everyone we meet. Live as forgiven children of God. C: Amen. Gathering Hymn God, When Human Bonds Are Broken [603] Greeting P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. C: And also with you. Prayer of the Day P: Let us pray. C: O God our strength, without you we are weak and wayward creatures. Protect us from all dangers that attack us from the outside, and cleanse us from all evil that arises from within ourselves, that we may be preserved through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. Please be seated. WORD First Reading Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging you. 6 You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people! 7 For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today? 9 But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children s children L: Word of God, word of life. C: Thanks be to God. James 1:17-27 17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God s righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the Page 5
power to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act they will be blessed in their doing. 26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. L: Word of God, word of life. C: Thanks be to God. Please stand as you are able. Gospel Acclamation Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go? Alleluia. You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia, alleluia. (Music may be found on page 216 in the front of the hymnal.) Gospel Reading P: The Holy Gospel according to Mark, the seventh chapter. C: Glory to you, O Lord. 1 1Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands? 6 He said to them, Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines. 8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition. 14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. 21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. P: The Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to you, O Christ, Please be seated. Page 6
Sermon Pastor Jim Demke Hymn of the Day O God, My Faithful God [806] Please stand as you are able. Confession of Faith (The Apostles Creed is found inside the back cover of the hymnal.) Sharing of God s Peace P: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. C: And also with you. Please share a sign of God s peace with your neighbors. Please be seated. Offering Musical Offering THANKSGIVING Let us give thanks to God with our offerings. Marti Carlson/Eric Anderson Please stand as you are able. Offertory Prayer A: Let us pray. Gracious God, in faith and gratitude we return these gifts that they may proclaim the mystery of your love and give glory to you. May hearts and lives be drawn to you by the witness our offerings will make in this community of faith and among all the people you call us to serve. Show us how to make a difference in this world. In Jesus name. C: Amen. Prayers of God s People The congregation will respond to the prayer petitions with, hear our prayer. Lord s Prayer (Our Father, who art in heaven ) SENDING Blessing and Dismissal P: Almighty and merciful God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless, preserve, and keep you this day and forevermore. C: Amen. A: Go in peace. Live in love, as Christ loves us. C: Thanks be to God! Sending Hymn What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine [774] Postlude Prayer for the Journey Almighty God, help us to see your teachings as a call to bring people together and lift up those in need. Renew in us the spirit of your law to interpret your word with wisdom, and act in love and grace. Amen. Page 7
Hi Christ Lutheran Friends, It's less than a month until September 13 and our 3rd semi-annual "God's Work. Our Hands. Sunday!" Just one year ago we launched our first Sunday of Worship and Service which proved to be an awesome experience. Go to www.christcottonwood.org and click on Current Events to find a link to the sign-up, to see times and serving options. Sheets are also found in the Fireside Room. Get yourself and your family members signed up as soon as possible. You can always change it later, but we need to get an idea early of how many will be participating in each project. Let's Rise Up Together! Pastor Jim Food Items Being Collected for Backpacks at Lakeview School for God's Work. Our Hands. Day. We are again collecting food items to put in the backpacks that Lakeview School sends home weekly. Items to be included are: granola bars, microwave meals (not frozen), peanut butter, meat pouches, etc. If you would like to donate these items, please bring them to the church and leave them in the laundry basket marked Friday Food Bags. THANK YOU! Page 8