Sai nt John s L ut heran Church

Calendar Wednesday 4/13 Saturday 4/16 Next Sunday 4/17 Table Talk 12:00pm Mid Week Bible School 5:00pm Mid Week Lent Supper 6:00pm Evening Prayer 7:00pm Council 8:00pm LWML Spring Rally 9:00am MT @ St. Paul s Lutheran, Wauneta 9:00am Divine Service Sunday School following worship Sai nt John s L ut heran Church The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Serving us in our Worship Today Ruth Guild: Carla Meyers Organist: Susan Nutt Greeter: Ivan & Monine Mortensen Stewardship Attendance Last Sunday: 53 Communion Attendance: 45 Weekly Financial Needs: $ Offerings Collected Last Sunday: $ 1,825.96 1,514.00 Year to Date Needs: $ 25,563.47 Offerings Collected Year to Date: $ 22,005.57 Memorial Fund: $ Mid week Attendance: 29 Offerings Collected: $ 215.00 62.00 The Illustration: Jesus converses with the doctors of the law by Alexandre Bidá is taken from The Gospel Life of Jesus, with the Bidá Illustrations, by Edward Eggleston (1874). This bulletin cover provided by www.scholia.net and without cost. Saint John s Lutheran Church lcms 504 Wallace Avenue (PO Box 64), Curtis, NE 69025 Reverend Derrick C. Brown Mobile: 367 6625 Office: 367 4238 pastor.dcbrown@gmail.com Facebook: Search for St. John s Lutheran Church, Curtis, NE Sermon Podcast: www.stjohncurtis.podbean.com Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM. John 8:58 NKJV

Fifth Sunday in Lent (Judica) April 10, 2011 As we enter into God s House, please use the time prior to Worship for quiet meditation and prayerful preparation. Order of Worship Pre-Service Music and Pastoral Greetings The Order of Matins (page 219 ff.) Venite O Come, Let us Sing The Psalmody: Psalm 43 (Spoken Responsively) (The Congregation may be seated) Office Hymn: # 563 Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness Readings from Scripture: Old Testament Lesson: Genesis 22:1 14 Epistle Lesson: Hebrews 9:11 15 Holy Gospel: John 8:42 59 Lent Responsory (page 222) Sermon Hymn: # 430 My Song Is Love Unknown Sermon The Canticle: Te Deum (page 223 ff.) (The Congregation may be seated) The Offerings Offerings of Prayer: (page 227 ff.) Kyrie The Lord s Prayer Collects Benedicamus and Benediction Closing Hymn: # 429 We Sing the Praise of Him Who Died Go in the Peace of the Lord, serving Him in the Mission Field.

Announcements Council will meet this Wednesday, April 13th, following Worship. The LWML is collecting wrapped bars of soap for the Orphan Grain Train. These bars may be of any size and must be collected by this Friday, April 15th for the LWML Spring Rally. Please put your wrapped bars of soap in the collection basket located on the table near the cry room. SHARE A THON! Games, Prizes, Interviews, Auctions and More! Listen in to KNGN (1360AM, www.kngn.org) on April 28th, 29th, & 30th for the most enjoyable pledge drive you ll ever experience. Wanted: Greeters. Please sign up on the bulletin board. LCMS Relief Effort News: As relief efforts continue in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami, the LCMS continues to share reports of LCMS personnel and relief efforts on the ground in Japan. For a full list of resources, visit http://www.ndlcms.org/news/disasters/japan.html or http://www.lcms.org/help/ Therefore Christ proceeds farther and gives the ground and reason why it is just his Word and not the word of anyone else, that giveth life, and says it is because he was before Abraham, or in other words, because he was the one true God. For if the person who offered himself as a sacrifice for us were not God, it would not help or avail anything, even if he were born of the Virgin Mary and suffered a thousand deaths. But the fact that the Seed of Abraham, who gave himself for us, is also true God, secures blessing and victory for all sinners. Therefore Christ speaks not of his human nature that they saw and experienced; for they could easily see he was not yet fifty years of age, and did not live before Abraham. But with that nature by which he existed long before the time of Abraham, by which he existed also before all creatures and before the whole world. Just as he was man according to his spiritual nature before Abraham, that is, in his Word and in the knowledge of faith was he in the saints; for they all knew and believed that Christ, as God and man, should suffer for us, as is written in Heb 13,8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yea and for ever; and in the Revelation of John, 13,8: The Lamb of God that hath been slain from the foundation of the world. Yet now he is speaking here especially of his divine nature. Sermons of Martin Luther The Church Postils Volume 1.2: Judica, par. 14 pgs. 180 181.

The Prayers and Petitions of St. John s For those Recovering from Surgery Milton Bek Helen Nelson Bonnie Sellers For Restoration to Health Harlan Grunden Gerry Magee David Prochaska Lillian Wellman Kassie Jorgensen Kim Mortensen Peggy Rosenblad APRIL 10, 2011 For our Homebound and those in Nursing Facilities Lisa Ehlers Helen Ewald Alfred Gosnell Harold Jorgensen Loraine Jorgensen Loren Jorgensen For those with Long Term Health Concerns Jana Karle Bonnie Larsen Judd Lenz Brianna Powell Praising God For Our Daily Bread Mission Opportunities and Needs For our congregation to see the lost in this community and fervently share Jesus with them. For our Sunday School program, in that we may share Jesus with young and old. That the Lutheran disaster response efforts, especially now in Japan, will touch many lives with God s hope and mercy. Special Prayers and Petitions For all mothers with young children and all expectant mothers. For those who have lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods due to the March 11th earthquake in Japan. For those in the Armed Forces deployed overseas, and for their families. If you wish to have a prayer concern added or wish to be removed from this list, please inform the church by mail (504 Wallace, Curtis, NE), phone (308 367 4238), or email (stjohn.curtis.ne@gmail.com). Weekly Reading in Scripture: Exodus 5 8; 1 Samuel 21 25; Psalms 42 44; Job 29 30; Jeremiah 12 16; Mark 9 10; 1 Corinthians 13 14 Weekly Reading from the Book of Concord: The Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration: [The Comprehensive Summary, Foundation Rule, and Norm]. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: pgs 506 511.

The Pharisees held themselves to be judges over the teaching of Jesus. Today many church leaders do the same. The Lutheran Confessions in The Book of Concord hold God s Word as judge over such false teachers. A READING FROM THE BOOK OF CONCORD: FORMULA OF CONCORD, EPITOME: SUMMARY CONTENT, RULE, AND NORM par. 1,3 7 1 1. We believe, teach, and confess that the only rule and norm according to which all teachings, together with all teachers, should be evaluated and judged [2 Timothy 3:15 17] are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testament alone. 3 2. Right after the time of the apostles, and even while they were still living, false teachers and heretics arose [Titus 3:9 10]. Therefore, symbols (i.e., brief, concise confessions) were written against the heretics in the Early Church. These symbols were regarded as the unanimous, universal Christian faith and confession of the orthodox and true Church. They are the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. We pledge ourselves to these symbols, and in this way we reject all heresies and teachings that have been introduced into God s Church against them. 4 3. However, schisms in matters of faith have also happened in our time. Therefore, we regard as the unanimous consensus and declaration of our Christian faith and confession especially against the papacy and its false worship, idolatry, superstition, and against other sects the first, unaltered Augsburg Confession. It is the symbol of our time, and it was delivered to the Emperor, Charles V, at Augsburg in the year 1530 in the great Diet. We hold to this confession along with its Apology and the Articles composed at Smalcald in the year 1537, which the chief theologians signed at that time. 5 Such matters also concern the laity and the salvation of their souls. Therefore, we also confess Dr. Luther s Small and Large Catechisms as they are included in Luther s works. They are the layman s Bible because everything necessary for a Christian to know for salvation is included in them, which is handled more extensively in the Holy Scriptures. 6 As announced above, all teachings are to be conformed in this way. What is contrary to these confessions is to be rejected and condemned, as opposed to the unanimous declaration of our faith. 7 In this way the distinction between the Holy Scriptures of the Old and of the New Testament and all other writings is preserved. The Holy Scriptures alone remain the judge, rule, and norm. According to them as the only touchstone all teachings shall and must be discerned and judged to see whether they are good or evil [1 Thessalonians 5:21 22], right or wrong. Condensed quotations from the Lutheran Confessions from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, copyright 2005, 2006 by Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission. All rights reserved.