St. John's Group Email Thursday, July 14, 2011

DEVOTION:  
Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work." John 4:34


Did you ever get a letter asking you to report for jury duty? If so, what was your reaction?

From what I've been able to find out, most (but certainly not all) folks immediately begin thinking of an excuse that will allow them to be released from serving.

For example, one lady told a Chicago judge she had four tickets to one of Oprah's last tapings before the program went off the air. (The judge excused her from serving.)

Now there are good excuses for not being on a jury. Michael Wylie had such an excuse. It was a number of years ago that he was sent the letter to report. Wylie ignored the letter. A few more letters went out, but still he didn't respond. Since ignoring a jury duty letter is a criminal act in Massachusetts, officials filed documents against Mr. Wylie.

But, as I say, Mr. Wylie had a good excuse. That excuse was Mr. Wylie was dead. In fact he died shortly after the first letter had been sent out. Unfortunately nobody bothered to check. According to the state's deputy jury commissioner, the criminal complaint against Mr. Wylie will be removed.

Obviously most folks don't have as ironclad an excuse from jury duty as did Mr. Wylie. Most of us just find serving on jury duty to be an inconvenience. We feel that serving on jury duty gets in the way of our plans and upsets our routine.

"So what's the point?" you ask.

The point is this: yesterday I thumbed my way through Scripture looking for the excuse Jesus gave when He was asked to go to earth to redeem lost humankind.

You know what? I didn't find one.

This surprised me. After all, Jesus was being asked to give His life, and not just a few hours or weeks. More than that, Jesus wasn't being asked to judge our innocence or guilt; He was being asked to take our place on death row. And as far as being inconvenient ...

nothing can be more inconvenient than dying on a cross for someone else.

Look as long as you want. You will never find Jesus making up an excuse to get out of being our Savior.

On the contrary, what you will hear Him say is this: "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work."

Thank God for such loving grace.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, I give thanks You are the Savior and I am the redeemed. You gave when I would not; You sacrificed when I would not; You lived and died for someone else, which I would not. Grant me the grace to acknowledge Your sacrifice that You have shared with me. In Your Name. Amen.


 
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CATECHISM: You shall have no other gods.
Question:  When do people have other gods?
Answer: They have other gods when
a. they regard and worship any creature or thing as God;
b. they believe in a god who is not the triune God;
c. they fear, love, and trust in any person or thing as they should fear, love, and trust in God alone;
d. they join in worship of one who is not the triune God.  
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YESTERDAY'S QUIZ:   In what year did Isaiah recieve his message (prophecy) from God?  In the year that King Uzziah died, which was 714BC.
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TODAY'S QUIZ:  How many chapters are in the book of Isaiah?  (Can you answer without looking?)
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CHURCH CALENDAR:
M-F VBS, "Welcome to Holywood"  Supper: 5:30; Festivities 6-8pm
Sat- worship 5pm
Sun- Bible study 8am; worship 9am; Bible study 10:30
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NEWS:

It's Time to start thinking about our MEN'S RETREAT!!

The ninth annual T-3 Men's Retreat is set for Friday-Sunday, September 23-25, 2011.  This promises to be another great experience for the men of St John's and other Lutheran congregations in the St. Charles area.  In fact, men from all over the metro area have joined this special time in the past.  Men 18 years of age or older are eligible and they need not be Lutheran to attend.  The retreat will be held at Mark Twain State Park at the Si Coburn Group Camp.  This is a beautiful setting  for a weekend of adventure and growth.  The theme of this year's retreat is "Respectable Sins" and the study times during the retreat will be spent exploring the areas of our lives where we have come to accept less than God might want from us. 

The retreat will feature great food and a lot of activities  A scramble golf tournament, fishing tournament, trap and skeet shooting competition, and euchre tournament all take place on Saturday morning.   If none of these interest you, you may choose to spend time reading, hiking , biking, site seeing, or napping.  Prizes are awarded to tournament winners at dinner on Saturday evening. Campfires on Friday and Saturday nights provide the opportunity to get to know others better under the stars.   Music is a big part of the camp experience and you will enjoy hearing and singing familiar songs with the 100+ men who typically attend.  The culminating worship service on Sunday morning is a special time of praising God for all His gifts to us and a great way to prepare us to return to our homes and lives.

The cost of the retreat is only $42 and this includes meals and a commemorative tee-shirt.  Attendees have the option of staying in group cabins or tent camping on the grounds at no additional charge.  You can even arrange to stay in a local motel near the camp at reduced rates if you like.

A brochure with all information and a registration form will be available soon in the narthex.  You can also register online at www.t3mensretreat.org using PayPal.  It is really easy and you can see pictures of the camp and facilities there, too.

This is the year for you to go to the T-3 (trap-tackle-tees) Retreat.  Sign up, meet new friends, bring old friends, and join in the fun of growing your faith.  For more information, contact  Don Hugo at Zion –636 441-7425 ext 246 or home 636 441-9954.

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VBS "Welcome to Holywood" continues through Friday! 
 
"Kid friendly" meals will be provided from 5:30-6:00,festivities begin at 6pm, and end around 8:15pm. 
 
Kids will explore a few of the many miracles of Jesus by becoming "stars" in the stories.
 
Please call the church office to sign with an agent (register) today so that we have a decent idea of how many kids we will have. 
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SECOND ANNUAL CAMPING/FLOAT TRIP COMING UP July 22-24
Four full hook up campsites are reserved at Onandaga Cave State Park.  Cost is $54.50 for a site for the two days. 
 
Saturday will be on your own:  Please check your newsletter for all of the fun stuff there is to do. 
 
Sunday the floating group will leave from Ozark Outdoors at 10am to do a five mile float which should take 3-5 hours.  Cost to float in a canoe is $17.50 per person with two people per canoe.  Rafts are $22 a person and tubes are $20. 
 
Again, check the info in the newsletter for more info or call Teresa Scott at 359-0274 or email her at tscott@usmo.com
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OUR THIRD ANNUAL GOLF SOCIAL IS COMING UP SATURDAY, AUGUST 13!
Registration: 7am
Shotgun start: 8am
 
Details: 4 person scramble format, cash prizes per flight and special hole contest, Burgers and brats for lunch
 
Cost: $50 per person includes round of golf, cart, lunch, and attendance gift.  Hole sponsorship is $50 with proceeds going to Little Lambs.  There will be 50/50 tickets, mulligans and other incentives available for purchase as part of the fundraising portion of the event as well.
 
Registration forms and sign up sheet are on the table in the narthex.  You can call Alan Hofeldt at 456-3070 for more info or to sponsor a hole. 
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PRAYERS: (If I have missed anyone please let me know.)
For JONAS BORCHERT, Don Nolte's grandson, who has Ewing Sarcoma (A rare cancer) on his brain and is going through many tests and treatments.
 
For RUTH CANTRELL who was supposed to go home yesterday, but contracted a fever whose source is yet to be identified. 
For HOPE TINNIN  and the whole Tinnin family as her father passed from death to life yesterday, just a week after her mother died. 

For EMOGENE FRIANT, a good friend of Marv and Molly who is experiencing problems with peritoneal dialysis.
 
For MICHELLE WOOLF who is home and recovering well after havng her thyroid removed on Friday.
 
For the FAMILY OF TERESA TEUTENBERG, a friend and former classmate of Christy Winn, who was killed in a plane crash along with most of the rest of her family except for one daughter this past weekend.
    
For LIL WINTER who is struggling to regain strength in her knee. 
   
OUR CHURCH as we continue the CARE PROCESS. 
 





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St. John's Group Email update on Don Nolte's grandson

From Don:
 
My grandson, Jonas, had a full body scan on Tuesday and found no other tumors.  Wednesday he had a pet scan(vital organs),a spinal tap, and a bone marrow sample taken.  The results of these tests will not be know for at least 48 hours.  I am going to K.C. today or tomorrow with one of my daughters so will probably know more when I get back. Keep Jonas in your prayers.
Don