"Blessed Are the Forgiven" A Maskil[a] of David.
32 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up[b] as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,"
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
7 You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
First of all, the word "maskil" refers to the type of Psalm it was A maskil was a penitential Psalm of confession and absolution. Secondly, the word "Selah" doesn't really have a translation, but was probably referring to the accompaniment of the Psalm by harps, as Psalms were most often sung in those days.
I love this Psalm especially for its clear presentation of the Gospel! When David says, "Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity" you can almost hear the relief and peace in David's voice as he would sing this out loud.
After David's adultery with Bathsheba and his murder to cover it up, David was doomed to die. He pronounced it himself. Yet, when Nathan told David that he was not going to die, either for these sins or eternally in hell, David was given complete and total grace. There was no reason for God to keep from punishing David with death. The boy that was born to Bathsheba died, and so I'm sure that was heartbreaking to David just to know that he had caused this death, but neither the boy or David would be punished eternally.
There are going to be things in your life that are worthy of eternal death. ALL SIN is worthy of eternal death. But God, who is never ending in His mercy and grace, forgives all that sin and cleanses you from all unrighteousness. He doesn't count any of it against you! Shwew! What a relief! Praise the Lord!
Now, this news doesn't give you a license to sin. Jesus' forgiveness doesn't give you that right! It gives you the right and some would even say, the obligation, to live in that grace by living to serve and love God!! So do it! Live in the love of Jesus and use your money, your time, and your abilities to further God's kingdom of grace and give the same relief you have to someone else!
Let us pray: Lord, thank you for not counting my sin against me. Help me to live in your grace by serving you with all my gifts! Amen.
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CALENDAR:
Thurs- L 101 @ 7
Sat- Worship 5pm
Sun- worship 8:30; Sunday school 9:45; Worship 11; Elder's meeting noon; Holy Yoga noon
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- Gus Klaustermeier 11- Kalene Masters
Ushers- Dave Winter, Gary Scott, Larry Schulze, Scott Schulze
Altar- Set up- Ruth Walters; Clean Up- Joanne Hachtel
Elders- Sat- Jim Rahn; 8:30- Roy Bohning; 11- Stephanie Owenby
Greeters- 8:30- John and Joanne Hachtel; 11- Marv and Molly Hendershot????
Lay Readers- Sat- Jennifer Figura???? 8:30- Roy Bohning; 11- Stephanie Owenby
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Piano- Kathy Barrow
Projectionists: Sat- Kathy Fischer; 8:30- Schaumberg 11- Gus Klaustermeier
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YESTERDAY'S QUIZ: How long did Solomon reign in Jerusalem and who succeeded him as king?
(Answer from Pat King)
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As many of you know, through the wonderful avenue of Facebook, I have become friends over the past several years with Simon Peter Waako, He is a pastor and mission planter in Uganda and has been working hard for the last several years. Unfortunately, he is quite poor and the people he serves are even poorer. He could really use our help to be able to survive as a pastor in that quickly growing mission field. Please consider giving to him and his family. Below is a brief autobiography from him:
I am Pastor Simon Peter Waako. I was born on 7th-09-1980. Iam 35 years old. I am the Pastor of Nakabango Lutheran congregation, but I also help several small congregations that are under Nakabango since in Uganda we still have scarcity of Pastors. I graduated from Matongo Lutheran Seminary in western Kenya in 2014 and I got ordained into Holy ministry on 14-02-2015.
I am married to Alice Waako. Alice is 30 years old and God has blessed us with four children. Three are our biological children but the fourth one is a child who was homeless and we picked him from the street of Jinja. He has started living with us. Our children are Joseph Iran, our first born child, who is 10 years old; Precious Doreen is 8 years old; Christina Praise is 3 years old, and Moses, the boy we got from the street is 12 years old.
Our youngest daughter Christina has some complications .She was born with four holes in her heart, and she underwent heart surgery in 2014 from the Uganda Hearts Institute Mulago. Since then Christina's life is just not improving as well as we would have hoped. .We have to take her to the Uganda Hearts Institute, Mulago Kampala every month and every month we need to have $150 to cater for transport,, medication, and accommodation. Christina need to be under treatment still for a period of two years but it's a real challenge to our family.
On top of that, we need to get food, clothing, house rent and other family necessities. I can't afford this because even the church doesn't afford to pay the Pastor due to the situations in the Lutheran congregations in Uganda are in. They are poor village congregations that can't afford paying the Pastor and instead they feel that the pastor should be the one to support them.
The doctors have also instructed us not to be moving with Christina in dusty places but we can't avoid this since we don't have our own car, because we can't afford it. .All these challenges have made the ministry work harder. I have a proposal for rearing poultry birds. I have a proposal of setting up a poultry farm, and if I could get the capital of $6,000 to start up the poultry farm business, i will be able to pay my rent and clothing for ourselves, medication bill for Christina, and also to provide for all other necessities of the ministry. If we could get someone to help us with this it would be wonderful. May God bless you all!
CALLING ALL 18-40 YEAR OLDS!!
What? Barbecue Picnic
When? Saturday, June 18, at 6pm (after worship)
Where? Church Pavilion
Who? All 18-40 year olds and their friends
Why? 1. Fun and Fellowship (getting to know others)
2. Fact Finding and Future Planning (How can the congregation better serve this generation, and how can this generation be of service to, in and through the congregation?)
What will be provided? Hamburgers, hotdogs, pork steaks, buns, plates, napkins, cups, and plasticware, tea, and lemondade.
What should I bring? Bring your own adult beverages and a side dish or dessert to share.
Please RSVP by Sunday, June 12 if you can, but if you don't RSVP, please come! The Lord will provide.
WHAT IS STEPHEN MINISTRY?
Stephen Ministry is a lay ministry of caring for individuals on a one to one basis through listening and prayer.
WHO NEEDS A STEPHEN MINISTER
Basically anyone who has gone or is going through some type of struggle or loss could benefit from a visit from a Stephen Minister. People who are going through grief, divorce, loneliness, or a whole host of other circumstances are all good candidates for a Stephen Minister.
WHO LEADS AND DIRECTS IT?
It is led by lay people, under the supervision of Pastor, who have been trained to be Stephen Leaders at a special Stephen Leader training course. Molly Hendershot, Joanne Hachtel, and Chrissy Groeber are our current Stephen leaders.
HOW DOES ONE BECOME A STEPHEN MINISTER?
Stephen Ministers go through 50 hours of training to be the best active listeners and responsible caregivers that they can be.
WHAT DO STEPHEN MINISTERS DO ONCE THEY ARE TRAINED? Stephen Ministers are responsible to
Listen
Pray
Share Christ's love
Attend to the caregiver process and leave the results to God.
Maintain confidentiality
WHAT IS CONFIDENTIALITY
WHO CAN BE A STEPHEN MINISTER?
Anyone who has a heart for hurting souls can be a Stephen Minister. It does require a time commitment, so be sure that you have enough time to commit to the training and to being a Stephen Minister (About 1-2 hours a week.)
WHY DO WE NEED STEPHEN MINISTERS?
It's best to answer this one right from the Scriptures. In Acts 6 we see that the disciples were getting very busy as the church was growing exponentially. They needed some "helpers' to help take care of the needs of the people. So they chose seven people, one of whom was Stephen, to help take care of the physical and spiritual needs of the people.
To these seven, and then to billions after them in the millennia since, have been given the task of being the ears, hands, and hearts to care for the people.
St. John's is in need of such people! As our congregation grows and changes and as needs increase, the need for Stephen Ministers increases as well. We just need more people listening and praying and that's what Stephen Ministers do.
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO EB ASSIGNED TO A STEPHEN MINISTER AS A CARE RECEIVER?
Contact one of the Stephen Leaders, Marilyn, or Pastor and we will get you set up. Church phone is 636-456-2888 or Pastor's cell is 636-359-1061
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO BECOME A STEPHEN MINISTER?
1. Contact one of our Stephen Leaders, Pastor, or Marilyn to be put on a list of trainees. 636-456-2888 or Pastor's cell at 636-359-1061
2. Wait for enough people to fill out the list.
3. Attend and participate in training when it is scheduled. We have to wait till there are enough people willing to go through the Stephen Ministry training before we start.
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Here's how it works:
We have been blessed beyond measure in the United States haven't we? I want you to join me in making a global difference by releasing children from poverty through Christian education.
Instead of taking a week off and joining my fellow Lead a Child bikers who are riding the Fault Line across four states this year, I have decided to go solo and bike 1,000 miles locally and while on vacation by August 1 to raise funds for LeadaChild. Would you sponsor me so that I can raise funds to support this most worthy organization? In my opinion, there is no more worthy organization to support than LeadaChild!
LeadaChild provides educational assistance to over 26,000 children and shares the love of Jesus Christ with the students and their families! LeadaChild supports the poorest of the poor children through Christian education in the following countries:
Guatemala Chad Honduras Palestine Haiti Uganda
Gambia Ivory Coast El Salvador Nigeria Panama Nicaragua
Burma Ghana Chile Venezuela Bolivia Mexico
Liberia Uruguay Sri Lanka India Guinea Sierra Leone
Bangladesh Cambodia South Africa Togo Thailand
These students need your help to find a way out of poverty through Christian education and learn of the hope of Christ our Savior.
Please fill out your information below and send it with your check or donate online through the LeadaChild website: http://www.leadachild.org/bike
Every dollar makes a difference. Please give generously. Please remember all of the riders in your prayers! Thank you much for your support!
Biking For Kids Together,
Pastor Jeremy Klaustermeier
LeadaChild is a 501 C-3 non-profit organization and is a Recognized Service Organization of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
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