DEVOTION: And he said, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, 'Please let down your jar that I may drink,' and who shall say, 'Drink, and I will water your camels'—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master."
How specific are you with your prayers? Do you tell God exactly what you want or are you more general about things?
Would you say something like "Lord God give me a good day." Or would you say something more like "Lord God, please make my breakfast taste very good. Help me to get up and get dressed. When I brush my teeth, make them extra clean. Give me a good hair day...... etc."?
Our Lord Jesus promises that whatever we ask for, in His name, that he will give it to us. But does that mean that everything we want we get? Sometimes but not always.
In the passage above Abraham's servant was looking for a wife for his son Isaac. (That's just how they did it back in those days.) The servant didn't want to mess up and disappoint his boss so he asked God for specific things as a sign to him that he was picking the right one. God saw that it was a good request and gave him exactly what he asked for.
If you really want to do God's will and your eyes, ears, and heart are open to doing God's will in a specific situation you can do just like the servant did, and if God thinks it is a good idea, He will do it for you.
That's what it means to "ask in my name". When you ask in Jesus name you are attaching His authority and His will to whatever you want. So if His name is on it, He is going to make sure it is good! he is going to make sure it is worthy of His name.
I want to ask you a big favor today. I want you to ask God for His will to be done in our church. We are getting closer to making a decision about calling a DCE for our congregation. This person would be in charge of ministry to children and youth as well as be in charge of music ministry. Pray that He will provide the funds necessary to be able to pay the salary for this person. Pray that the congregation will see the benefit of such a person and support it with their prayers, time, talents, and treasures. Pray that we will find the right person to fit our needs. Most importantly pray that His will be done.
Prayer: Lord God, we want what you want in our lives, in our church, and in our world. Help us to use the gifts you have given us to do Your will. In our church especially at this time help us to do your will as it concerns a DCE so that your kingdom may grow and our own church may flourish in its proclamation of the Gospel. Amen.
____________________________________________________________________
MONDAY'S QUIZ: Why did God send the flood? God spared Noah as his family tree was Godly. He prevented the plague from continuing through human procreation by eliminating all those who either carried it or had the potential to do so, by means of the Flood. And by doing so continued the line God intended to use in bringing His Son into the world to be our Savior.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
WEDNESDAY'S QUIZ: What was Isaac's wife's name?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
CATECHISM:
Question: To whom does God give eternal life?
Answer: God gives eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.
a. Eternal life is a present possession.
b. At the time of death, the soul of a believer is immediately with Christ in heaven.
c. A the last day, the believers, in both and soul, will begin the full enjoyment of being with Christ forever.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CALENDAR
Fri- Bible study at Hendershots 7pm
Sat- worship 5pm
Sun- worship 8:30; Sunday school 9:45; worship 11am; Elders meeting noon
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NEWS
AVENUE OF THE SAINTS IS HERE THIS SUNDAY AT 11am!!!
If you haven't been here for worship when they are here, you are truly missing out! Come and hear them sing and sing along in praise!!
______________________________________________
FOUR POINSETTIAS LEFT
If you want one, you need to come to church TODAY!!! They are up in the sacristy begging to be taken home. They will go in the trash after this weekend!!
___________________________________________________________________________________
THRIVENT DAY ON SUNDAY,JANUARY 20!!
Jason Schoppenhorst, the Thrivent rep for this area will be here on Sunday, January 20 to talk about Thrivent after church at both services and to give a presentation of Thrivent Choice (a way to make your investment and insurance dollars work for the church) and other programs that Thrivent provides during Bible class time.
___________________________________________________________
LIFE SUNDAY IS SUNDAY, JANUARY 27!!!
Delores Desemone, president of the Lutheran for Life Chapter of St. Charles County Area, will be here to make a presentation about Lutherans for Life and how we as individuals and as a congregation can be involved in honoring the sanctity of human life at all ages and stages. She will be providing us with baby bottle banks, that we can fill with money to support LIFE in our own community and throughout the world.
_____________________________________________________________
WIDOW'S GROUP MEETING THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 13
at Evelyn Sherman's house for lunch at 12:30 and an afternoon of games.
All widows are welcome to attend!!
______________________________________________________________
YOUTH GROUP STEAK DINNER AND AUCTION IS ONLY A MONTH AWAY!!
Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 9 at 6:30 pm, with doors opening at 6pm.
Everyone is welcome to attend!
The youth will be selling tickets after church after church the rest of this month so get yours as soon as you can. Every year is more exciting than the last, so don't miss out on a good time while helping the youth in their ministry!! If you have any questions about ticket, please call Barb Hargrove at 456-2235, or Christy Winn at 314-479-5543!!
___________________________________________________________
COMPUTERS AVAILABLE
The trustees will be removing old computers from the old computer room soon. If you want one, come to church and get it!
____________________________________________________
TRAVEL FELLOWSHIP GROUP MEETING THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 13 at 9:30am. This is the first meeting to decide what trips to take in 2013! Everyone is invited!
_____________________________________________________
TWO USHERS ARE NEEDED!!!
We need two ushers to complete our teams of four. If you can help with this, please call Bob Linke 456-2332 or Walt Schirr 456-1526
____________________________________________________
HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF
The LCMS is asking for donations to help with relief efforts. If you care to give, you may use a designated envelope, or you can go to LCMS.org and donate directly online.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRAYERS:
How specific are you with your prayers? Do you tell God exactly what you want or are you more general about things?
Would you say something like "Lord God give me a good day." Or would you say something more like "Lord God, please make my breakfast taste very good. Help me to get up and get dressed. When I brush my teeth, make them extra clean. Give me a good hair day...... etc."?
Our Lord Jesus promises that whatever we ask for, in His name, that he will give it to us. But does that mean that everything we want we get? Sometimes but not always.
In the passage above Abraham's servant was looking for a wife for his son Isaac. (That's just how they did it back in those days.) The servant didn't want to mess up and disappoint his boss so he asked God for specific things as a sign to him that he was picking the right one. God saw that it was a good request and gave him exactly what he asked for.
If you really want to do God's will and your eyes, ears, and heart are open to doing God's will in a specific situation you can do just like the servant did, and if God thinks it is a good idea, He will do it for you.
That's what it means to "ask in my name". When you ask in Jesus name you are attaching His authority and His will to whatever you want. So if His name is on it, He is going to make sure it is good! he is going to make sure it is worthy of His name.
I want to ask you a big favor today. I want you to ask God for His will to be done in our church. We are getting closer to making a decision about calling a DCE for our congregation. This person would be in charge of ministry to children and youth as well as be in charge of music ministry. Pray that He will provide the funds necessary to be able to pay the salary for this person. Pray that the congregation will see the benefit of such a person and support it with their prayers, time, talents, and treasures. Pray that we will find the right person to fit our needs. Most importantly pray that His will be done.
Prayer: Lord God, we want what you want in our lives, in our church, and in our world. Help us to use the gifts you have given us to do Your will. In our church especially at this time help us to do your will as it concerns a DCE so that your kingdom may grow and our own church may flourish in its proclamation of the Gospel. Amen.
____________________________________________________________________
MONDAY'S QUIZ: Why did God send the flood? God spared Noah as his family tree was Godly. He prevented the plague from continuing through human procreation by eliminating all those who either carried it or had the potential to do so, by means of the Flood. And by doing so continued the line God intended to use in bringing His Son into the world to be our Savior.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
WEDNESDAY'S QUIZ: What was Isaac's wife's name?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
CATECHISM:
Question: To whom does God give eternal life?
Answer: God gives eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.
a. Eternal life is a present possession.
b. At the time of death, the soul of a believer is immediately with Christ in heaven.
c. A the last day, the believers, in both and soul, will begin the full enjoyment of being with Christ forever.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CALENDAR
Fri- Bible study at Hendershots 7pm
Sat- worship 5pm
Sun- worship 8:30; Sunday school 9:45; worship 11am; Elders meeting noon
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NEWS
AVENUE OF THE SAINTS IS HERE THIS SUNDAY AT 11am!!!
If you haven't been here for worship when they are here, you are truly missing out! Come and hear them sing and sing along in praise!!
______________________________________________
FOUR POINSETTIAS LEFT
If you want one, you need to come to church TODAY!!! They are up in the sacristy begging to be taken home. They will go in the trash after this weekend!!
___________________________________________________________________________________
THRIVENT DAY ON SUNDAY,JANUARY 20!!
Jason Schoppenhorst, the Thrivent rep for this area will be here on Sunday, January 20 to talk about Thrivent after church at both services and to give a presentation of Thrivent Choice (a way to make your investment and insurance dollars work for the church) and other programs that Thrivent provides during Bible class time.
___________________________________________________________
LIFE SUNDAY IS SUNDAY, JANUARY 27!!!
Delores Desemone, president of the Lutheran for Life Chapter of St. Charles County Area, will be here to make a presentation about Lutherans for Life and how we as individuals and as a congregation can be involved in honoring the sanctity of human life at all ages and stages. She will be providing us with baby bottle banks, that we can fill with money to support LIFE in our own community and throughout the world.
_____________________________________________________________
WIDOW'S GROUP MEETING THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 13
at Evelyn Sherman's house for lunch at 12:30 and an afternoon of games.
All widows are welcome to attend!!
______________________________________________________________
YOUTH GROUP STEAK DINNER AND AUCTION IS ONLY A MONTH AWAY!!
Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 9 at 6:30 pm, with doors opening at 6pm.
Everyone is welcome to attend!
The youth will be selling tickets after church after church the rest of this month so get yours as soon as you can. Every year is more exciting than the last, so don't miss out on a good time while helping the youth in their ministry!! If you have any questions about ticket, please call Barb Hargrove at 456-2235, or Christy Winn at 314-479-5543!!
___________________________________________________________
COMPUTERS AVAILABLE
The trustees will be removing old computers from the old computer room soon. If you want one, come to church and get it!
____________________________________________________
TRAVEL FELLOWSHIP GROUP MEETING THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 13 at 9:30am. This is the first meeting to decide what trips to take in 2013! Everyone is invited!
_____________________________________________________
TWO USHERS ARE NEEDED!!!
We need two ushers to complete our teams of four. If you can help with this, please call Bob Linke 456-2332 or Walt Schirr 456-1526
____________________________________________________
HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF
The LCMS is asking for donations to help with relief efforts. If you care to give, you may use a designated envelope, or you can go to LCMS.org and donate directly online.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRAYERS:
For the SCHIEN FAMILY, as both Ken and Joyce have moved to Jonesburg nursing home, Jennfier Berryman has moved ot Elsberry, and Joy and Brian will soon move to Pendleton.
For TINA RUTH'S SISTER, who is dealing with cancer.
THANKSGIVING For MARILYN FOSTER'S NIECE, HEATHER. who is regaining her strength and will finally be able to go back home this week.
For CHRISTIAN WENZEL, art teacher at Blackhawk Middle School, who continues to recover from a fall from his deer stand that left him paralyzed from the waist down. .
