DEVOTION: Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus Walks on the Water
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
28 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
29 "Come," he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
This is one of those great Sunday school stories that if you went to Sunday school, or Lutheran grade school, for any length of time you probably read it and learned it. It's a great story for so many reasons.
The biggest one for me is that it shows the ultimate power of God (Jesus) over the most basic of elements as well as His control over the whole universe, versus our lack of power and control over anything.
How many times in your life have you questioned God, whether he was real or not, what he was doing, how he was doing it, when he was doing it, why he wasn't doing more, etc.? There is so much that scientists can't even begin to understand about this world, and yet we would trust them blindly just because they're scientists and they know more than we do about some things. All of them are mere humans who just went to school a bit longer than us for something different than we did.
God, on the other hand, created the universe, and he created those scientists, even the ones that disagree with him or don't believe in him. The same Jesus who walked on the water, told the waves to be still, and fed 5,000 men besides women and children, created the universe. He created the wheat from which the bread came, he created the fish the water it swims in.
Maybe it's time that you gave God a bit more credit over your life. Maybe it's time that you surrendered your will to God's will and left your mind and heart up to him. Maybe it's time that you rested in God's grace and let him work out your life instead of trying to manipulate everything and work it all out for your good.
Have peace today that the story of Jesus walking on water is a real and true story, and that the same God who can do that is Lord of your life and your Savior and Redeemer!
Prayer: Lord thank you for showing me your power, mercy, and grace through pages and stories of Scripture. Help me to surrender to you and rest in your arms today. Amen.
____________________________________________________________
CALENDAR:
Thurs- Karate 6:15-7:45; Lutheranism 101 6:30
Sat- Worship 5pm
Sun Worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school and Bible Class 9:45; Elder's meeting Noon; Little Lambs Open House 5pm
Sat-
WORSHIP WORKERS FOR THIS WEEK:
Acolyte- 8:30- Dulci Rahn; 11- Luke Rausch
Ushers- Charlie Figura, Jason Figura, Brett Nordwald, Erv Yoder
Altar- Set up- Marilyn Foster; Clean Up- Wanda Turnure
Elders- Sat- Roy Bohning; Sun 8:30- Don Turnure; 11- Al Benton
Greeters- 8:30- Dave and Hope Tinnin; 11- dan and Lisa Rausch
Lay Reader- Sat- Roy Bohning; Sun, 8:30- Steve Robine 11- Karen Benton
Organist- Pat Golden
Pianists- Sat- Kathy Barrow Sun
Projectionist: Sat- Mauch 8:30- McKenzie 11- Klaustermeier
TELLERS: Team #2
________________________________________________________________
YESTERDAY'S QUIZ :
Who was Baruch?
He was Jeremiah's scribe, or secretary, and BFF. He was from an aristocratic family, and his brother was the chamberlain of the king of Judah. He also wrote a book – named after himself – which is included in some bibles.
__________________________________________________________
TODAY'S QUIZ: Who was Belteshazzar?
_______________________________________________________________
NEWS!!!!
MY PHONE IS GETTING REPAIRED
Don't try to call or text me today. You can email or Facebook message me, but just know that I will not be able to get it till this afternoon. You can call the church office to get a hold of me and I will get the message when I get back to the office. I should be getting my phone back this afternoon.
______________________________________________________________________
BACKPACK BLESSING THIS COMING WEEKEND!!
Bring your kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, neighbor's kids, and every kid you can think of, to church this weekend to get your kids and their backpacks blessed and filled with the Holy Spirit so they can start school in a good way!
_______________________________________________________________________
OUR NEXT FIFTH SUNDAY CELEBRATION WILL BE ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29… REFORMATION SUNDAY!! TO CELEBRATE THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BEGINNING OF THE REFORMATION AND THE POSTING OF THE 95 THESES BY MARTIN LUTHER ON THE CASTLE CHURCH DOOR IN WITTENBERG, GERMANY!!
It is going to be a blowout celebration! Mark your calendars today to make sure you are there to enjoy the celebration!
____________________________________________________________________________
TRAVELING FELLOWSHIP GROUP TRIP COMING UP!!! GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!
The next trip will be to Westport Playhouse on Sunday, Sept 17 for "Church Basement Ladies" a comedy take off on the Lutheran ladies in the kitchen. Men would enjoy also. We would leave at 12:30 p.m. from church and return apx 6:45 p.m. Getting tickets at 1/2 price each ticket $25 plus bus cost & dinner. They are holding 47 tickets for me this week. Call MARILYN FOSTER AT 636-359-0535 or email her at mkfoster@centurytel.net to reserve your tickets!
OPERATION BACKPACK ITEMS COLLECTED FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST IS SOUP AND RAMEN NOODLES. Please bring items up to church and put them in the tub marked "Backpack Blessings".
GENERAL PRAYERS:
For GEORGE HOELSCHER as he found out that he has a very rare form of lymphoma. The doctors are having a hard time finding the right concoction of chemo, but should have it ready to go to start him on it on Friday.
For CAL TAMELER as he is recovering from surgery and Mercy hospital in Crever Couer.
For LOIS FRICK as she has been moved to St. Joseph Hospital in Lake St. Louis for rehab.
For LIL WINTER as she deals with diverticulitis, and awaits surgery at the end of this month.
_________________________________________________________________________
PRAYERS FOR OUR MILITARY PERSONNEL:
For SAM HARGROVE deployed in Amman, Jordan and DAN DREYER deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, that the Lord would keep them safe from harm during their service and bring them home safely.
For DAVID TATE stationed in Japan, COLTON FIGURA stationed in California, and ALEX WALTERS, stationed in Tennessee. That God would bless their service to our country and keep them safe as they all await possible deployment.
For CALEB FIGURA AND VINCE MASTERS who are both serving our country in the National Guard and take time out of their lives, jobs, and families to go on duty several times a year.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "St. John's Group Email" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to stjohnswarrenton+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
