Jesus is the Key 12 th Sunday after Pentecost August 26 & 27, 2017
Ebenezer Lutheran Church Port Hudson The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod 9100 Highway YY Leslie, Missouri Parsonage 573-459-6432 Church 573-459-6431 Rev. William F. Zastrow, Pastor Mary Sprick, Secretary ebenezerlutheran@hotmail.com ebenezerlutheranchurch.wordpress.com AS WE GATHER: There are many different opinions in our world about who the Lord is, and many of those opinions are based on who people want the Lord to be. What a privilege and joy it is that as we gather we don t need to try to seek and find the Lord and His attributes on our own. Instead, He reveals Himself as who He was, is, and ever shall be, in and throughout Scripture. We hear this today in our Old Testament Reading as God, through Isaiah, calls His people to look and listen to Him as He seeks and makes us His redeemed children (Isaiah 51:1 6). As His children, we are part of His Body and blessed to complement one other in faith and fellowship (Romans 11:33 12:8) and in the confession of who our Savior Jesus Christ truly is (Matthew 16:13 20). As He continues to seek and to find, and by the calling, gathering, and enlightening by His Holy Spirit through His Word, we worship in that promised grace giving certain hope now and in the future. PRAYER BEFORE WORSHIP: O God the Father, the fountain and source of all goodness, who in loving kindness sent Your only-begotten Son into the flesh, we thank You that for His sake You have given us pardon and peace in Your holy Word, and we ask You not to forsake Your children but always to rule our hearts and minds by Your Holy Spirit that we may be enabled constantly to serve You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 2
THE ORDER OF WORSHIP Divine Service II, page 158 Hymn of Praise: Glory to God in the Highest HYMNS 289, 291, 220 OUR MISSION AND MINISTRY We welcome our members and guests who are here with us today. May the Lord refresh you with peace and love during our worship service on this Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. Please join us here at Ebenezer again soon! Please sign the guest register near the front entrance with your name, address and Church affiliation. Thank you! In our Prayers: We continue to pray for Wilma Helling and Chris Anderson who are still receiving Hospice Care. We also include in our Prayers Gail Meyer who has some health issues and Barb Gilbert who has had knee replacement surgery this past week. We also remember in our prayers Samantha Brune who was also hospitalized this week. Homemade Cookie Sale on September 17th after the Sunday church service. Proceeds will benefit the Christian Friends of New Americans, St. Louis. This LCMS recognized service organization holds citizenship classes, English as a second language classes, after school tutoring and homework help, and employment training for refugees who have settled in St. Louis. All classes are accompanied by devotions led by pastors, vicars, seminary students, and deaconesses. They also provide scholarship assistance, qualified counseling, and medical screenings. Currently, two women's Bible study groups from this ministry are meeting in homes. You can read more at cfna-stl.org. Rev. Stanish 3
Stanley who recently led our Sunday worship service is working with this organization. Cookies will be $4.00 per dozen. Pastor s Note: I am so pleased that the Ebenezer Mission Society is supporting Christian Friends of New Americans, St. Louis. On October 7 th and 9 th Rev. Dr. Stanish Stanley will be at Ebenezer to lead services for Pastor Zastrow who will be gone that weekend. I visited with Pastor Stanley and was very impressed with his mission dedication to Christian Friends of New Americans. I also visited this past week with Rev. Dr. Allan Buckmann the Chairperson of Christian Friends of New Americans. They were very thankful for the support of our Ebenezer Mission Society and the support of our congregation and the work of Pastor Stanley. This is a very worthwhile mission project. It s Thrivent Fish Fry, BBQ & Food Drive Time Again!!! When: Friday, September 8 th, 2017 Where: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 3825 Boeuf Lutheran Rd., New Haven, MO Time: 5:00 PM -??? Hosted By: Your Thrivent Representatives, Kurt and Mark Koch Fish, BBQ pulled pork, hot dogs, tableware and drinks will be provided. Please bring a dish to share and donations for the New Haven Food Pantry. Items they are low on include: Coffee, laundry detergent, paper towels, shampoo, canned meats, canned chili with beans, gravy mixes/broth, mayonnaise, syrup, jelly, and sugar. but any nonperishable items will be very much appreciated. Please RSVP to kurt.koch@thrivent.com mark.koch@thrivent.com or by calling 573-237-2686 by Tuesday, September 5 th. Feel free to bring friends and 4
relatives! There is a flyer on the bulletin board at the back of Church. Kurt and Mark hope to see you there!! Ebenezer Lutheran Ladies Aid would like you to join us for lunch on September 8 th, 2017 at Ponderosa in Washington, MO. The meeting will start at 11:30 AM. Our special guests will be Rev. Rudy and Dorothy Schaser. Please feel free to pick up a flyer from the back table or view the one on the bulletin board at the back of Church. Announcement from Concordia Seminary Have you ever considered becoming a Pastor or Deaconess? If so, Rev. Scott Holder from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis would like to meet with you. Rev. Holder is interested in meeting with prospective students of all ages elementary school age through adults. Appointments are individual, informal and family and friends are welcome to come with you. Please see Pastor Zastrow for more information. EQUIPPING THE PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS...Issues, Etc. is a radio talk show produced by Lutheran Public Radio in Collinsville, IL and hosted by LCMS Pastor Todd Wilken. This week's subjects include: International Religious Freedom, Is the Reformation to Blame for Secularism?, The Lord's Prayer, Taking Up Your Cross & Following Jesus, Responding to Teenagers' Questions about Christianity, The Wisdom of Solomon and more. You can tune in live weekdays from 3-5 p.m. on KFUO, 850 AM in St. Louis. You can also listen on-demand at www.issuesetc.org and on the Lutheran Public Radio mobile app. LUTHER QUOTE - TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Matt. 16:13 20 (Aug. 27) You are Peter, that is, a man of rock. For you have recognized and named the right Man, who is the true rock, as Scripture names him, 5
Christ. On this rock, that is on me, Christ, I will build all of my Christendom, just as you and the other disciples are built on it through my Father in heaven, who revealed it to you. LW 41:314 Stewardship Thoughts - Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. St Paul talks about rewards on the Last Day in I Cor. 3, and Jesus says more about this repaying in Matt 19:27-30. Bottom line: your good works can t buy you heaven, but in Christ your good works do matter, they re pleasing your Heavenly Father, and they will be rewarded. In other words: your sacrifices for the Lord s Kingdom are not in vain, they are not unnoticed by your Father. This should encourage you in your faithfulness. We will be doing the September Newsletter next week. Please let Mary know if you have something that should be in the Newsletter. Thank you! Looking back on the Eclipse Many visitors came to watch the eclipse last Monday. We had a husband and wife come from as far away as Madison, Wisconsin. They had wonderful equipment to see the eclipse and took photos of our church. They will send them to us and we can put them on our website. Pastor also took some pictures looking at the church at the time of totality. Pastor s pictures will be in the back of the church. Other families were from the Joplin, Missouri area, Warrenton, St. Louis, and Illinois. 6
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Those Serving Today Organist Saturday Organist Sunday Head Usher Saturday Head Usher Sunday Altar Guild Bell Ringer Laura Nichols Ruth Marschel Tracey Bade Lee Kassebaum Joan Menke and Margaret Zastrow Trent Huellinghoff Offerings and Attendance August 19 & 20, 2017 Weekly Contributions $1,569.00 Plate 274.63 Sunday School 44.75 Vacation Bible School 5.00 $1,893.38 Church Attendance: Saturday Worship 21 Sunday Worship 66 Sunday School Attendance: Children 8 Adults 19 This Week at Ebenezer Thursday Saturday Bible Study 10:00 AM Worship 5:00 PM 8