24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
28 "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
32 "But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake."
It's hard to stay awake when you're really tired isn't it? Even when you're driving, and you know that you have to stay away to stay on the road, you can feel yourself dozing off. It's pretty dangerous isn't it? It is almost inevitable that we will all fall asleep.
That's what makes this message from Jesus so hard to hear today. We all fall prey to sin and our own human nature. We fall asleep from time to time. We get weak in faith, and sometimes, unfortunately, people fall from faith.
This is what keeps most pastors up at night. We are called to be in charge of people's souls. If you've ever wondered why I keep bugging people about worship attendance and being active in the fellowship of the church, it is this. I don't want people to lose their faith.
The less a person is in worship and the less he or she is around other Christians, the more space there is left for the devil to slip in and change ways of thinking. The more a person is away from the Lord, the better chance there is that they fall too far away and never come back. I've seen it happen way too much, and there's nothing that gives me more heartburn and heartache than that.
I pray that all of you reading this today take it to heart, and know exactly how important worship, Bible Study, Christian fellowship, prayer, and the Sacraments are for you. It is, quite literally, a matter of eternal life or death.
As you read this passage, you should also be so very thankful that, by faith, you are part of the elect that will be gathered from the four winds. You are a chosen one! You are a child of God by virtue off the faith that was given you in your baptism and strengthened daily through the Word, the Lord's Supper, and the mutual encouragement of the brothers and sisters in Christ! You are saved if you remain in faith!
Don't take it for granted! Don't take your faith for granted. Nurture it! Grow in it! Live in it! Love Him! Follow Him!
Prayer: Lord, keep me awake until you return that my faith may not fall asleep and that I may be prepared for your arrival. Amen.
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Sat- Men's Breakfast 8am; Ladies Aid Retreat at Holy Cross, Ofallon 9-3; Worship 5
Sun- Worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school 9:45
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- Sarah Cluver ; 11- Alaina Heitgerd
Ushers- Figura family
Altar- Set up- Linda Callies; Clean up- Lois Boeger
Communion Assistants- Sat- Don Turnure; 8:30- John Hachtel; 11- Steve Robine
Greeters- 8:30- Paul and Cindy Klover; 11- ????
Lay readers- Sat- Marcia Sevier 8:30- Jennifer Figura 11- Steve Robine
Sat. Pianist- Tim Sherman
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Projectionists: Sat. ?????? 8:30-?????? , 11- Kalene Masters
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NEWS!!!! PLEASE READ IT ALL!!!!
At our meeting last night we went through quite a few concerns and how to proceed to the next step.
Before the next meeting Elmer Wind is going to put together a few different master plans for us to review and discuss. Once we get a master plan decided on by the majority of the people in attendance at the next meeting we will then bring it to a special voter's meeting and have the voters approve it. After the master plan has been approved we will move on to developing a finance committee that will research and plan exactly how much of the master plan we can afford to build at the current time. Once that is accomplished we will go to the voters assembly again to approve the building of what we can afford. After that we will make plans to begin the building process.
I'm getting excited as I continue to see progress. I see the wheels turning slowly and the rudder is moving this whole big ship!
St. John's is growing rapidly and is in need of upgrades to the current structure as well as more space! That' is what we are working on accomplishing in the very near future! Thanks be to God!
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LADIES AID IS SELLING CHRISTMAS CARDS FOR $5 a BOX!!
Every month throughout the school year, each church participating will take one food item and collect just that food item. At the end of the month the food will be delivered to school. The school officials along with volunteers will distribute the food to kids backpacks to take home.
UNMARKED BLUE ENVELOPE CONTRIBUTIONS ARE GOING TO THE BUILDING EXPANSION PROGRAM
If you'd like it to go to the DCE fund you need to mark it for that! Please make sure you mark the ENVELOPE clearly for the DCE PROGRAM!
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DO YOU HAVE A KROGER CARD? ENROLL IT IN THE COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM!!!
Register it online www.krogercommunityrewards.com and have it swiped each time you shop to earn money for Little Lambs.
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