DEVOTION: Matthew 25:31-46English Standard Version (ESV)
The Final Judgment
31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.'
41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' 45 Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
I've always had trouble explaining this passage, because at first glance it looks like Jesus is telling us that we have to do good works to get into heaven. This isn't true, but that's the way it looks. One important thing to remember here is good works always follow faith. The other important thing to remember is that the Christian who does them, doesn't even realize he is doing them. He does them automatically without ever even thinking about how he will gain points with God. He also does them out of love for God and not obligation. He does them out of response for what Christ has already done for him on the cross. That's the difference. Works follow faith.
No faith, no works. That's what Jesus is getting at here. The goats are the one who may have works that the world sees as good, but since they are done without a heart of faith, God doesn't see them as good. All our own righteousness, our own good deeds, done apart from faith are nothing but filthy rags in God's sight. He doesn't even acknowledge them or the people who do them.
At the same time, we must always remember that it isn't our deeds that will get us past the gates and into heaven. It is trust in Christ and in the work of the Holy Spirit in us that brings us to and keeps us in the faith! It is all God's work! We must always remember that, and thank the Lord for working in us the good works that we will do.
Thank the Lord for all his blessings today and tomorrow! Thank him that he has given you this land in which to live. Thank him that he provides for your daily bread. Thank him that he provides daily works for you to do. Most importantly, thank him for the gift of his Son, our Savior Jesus!
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for everything. Amen.
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CALENDAR:
Wed- Assemble newsletter 9am; (Oak Pointe Worship moved to Nov. 29), Thanksgiving Worship 7pm
Thurs- Thanksgiving Day- Church office closed
Fri- Church office closed
Sat- Worship- 5pm
Sun- Worship 8:30 and 11; Adult Bible class and Sunday school 9:45
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RSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- Nick Schulze; 11- Abby Vossen
Ushers- Charlie Figura, Jason Figura, Brett Nordwald, Erv Yoder
Altar- Set up- Don Hance; Clean Up- Cheryl Bettlach
Elder- Sat- Dave Winter; 8:30- Don Turnure; 11- ???
Greeters- 8:30- Don and Donna Sherman; 11- Al and Karen Benton
Lay Reader- Sat- Don Nolte; 8:30- Erv Yoder; 11- Ben Hoelscher
Pianist Sat- Molly Hendershot; Sun 11- Doug Walters
Organist- Ned Quest
Projectionist- Sat- Kathy Fischer; 8:30- McKenzie; 11- Dulci Rahn
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YESTERDAY'S QUIZ:
What happened to Ananias and Sapphira when they tried to lie to the Lord. They were put to death by the Lord in an instant. (Thanks Don!)
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TODAY'S QUIZ: Who was Stephen?
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NEWS:
WORSHIP TONIGHT AT 7PM!! Be there to thank the Lord for everything!
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CHILDREN'S BOOKS FOR SALE AFTER WORSHIP TONIGHT!!
Usbourne books has been having a sale the pat few days with Little Lambs, and the sale has been extended through this evening! Come downstairs and buy some books for Christmas presents!!!
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VOTER'S MEETING RESULTS FROM SUNDAY
- The voters nominated President Lee Hagan for district president and VP Ron Rall for another term.
- The voters voted to keep the same mission project, Rev.. Micah and Dorothy Glenn in North County, for 2018.
- Larry Schulze, Jim McRae, and Teresa Brockfeld all volunteered to be on the board of trustees! Thank you to these three volunteers!
- We are still in need of two board members for the board of education, and four members for the board of elders.
- The voters approved the budget for 2018. Thanks to Alan Hofeldt for putting it together.
- Since we continuously have trouble filling our boards and committees and since things could be done a whole lot better and more efficiently with a different structure, the voters approved the appointing of a task force to study changes to our governance structure so that we can tap into all the unused potential, so that people who want to do good in the congregation don't have to commit to boards and committees for 9 years, and so that the work of the church can be disbursed among those who actually want to do it! PRAISE THE LORD!!
- The voters approved changing the overflow accordion door to a permanent wall with doors and windows in it to convert the overflow to a cry room.
- The voter's also approved a budget of $450,000 for our building project so that we can move forward with hiring an architect.
As you can see, a lot is getting done in and around St. John's. It may be slow going at times, but God is definitely moving! I'm excited to see what God has in store for 2018!! It's gonna be a great year watching A LOT of people come to Christ and become members of St. John's! If you'd like to volunteer for our task force to look into structure changes, please reply to this email. Please look for lots of wonderful stuff to be happening in the near future, and PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for St. John's that we can grow in making disciples in, out and together!!
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SUNDAY SCHOOL MEMORY VERSE IS: "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11
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DO YOU HAVE A THRIVENT FINANCIAL ACCOUNT OR POLICY?
You may be eligible to receive money for Little Lambs or Good Shepherd!! Go to www.thrivent.com/choicedollars to check it out!
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OPERATION BACKPACK DONATIONS FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER IS CANNED VEGETABLES. PLEASE BRING YOUR DONATIONS TO CHURCH AND PUT THEM IN THE TUB MARKED "BACKPACK BLESSINGS"!
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PRAYERS:
For our CHURCH, as we begin to make some big changes to both our governance structure and our building, and as we move forward to make disciples of all nations.
For JIM HUSTER, who is hospitalized with internal bleeding in his leg.
For JENNIFER RAHN, who is recovering from heart valve replacement surgery.
For LINDA CALLIES, who is hospitalized with a UTI and trouble breathing.
For GEORGE HOELSCHER and BUCK HAMPTON as they both continue to deal with cancer.
For JENNIFER RAHN as she recovers from valve replacement surgery at Missouri Baptist.
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PRAYERS FOR OUR MILITARY PERSONNEL:
For COLTON FIGURA deployed to Turkey, SAM HARGROVE deployed in Kuwait 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, 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.
