DEVOTION: John 2:13-25 English Standard Version (ESV)
13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade." 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."
18 So the Jews said to him, "What sign do you show us for doing these things?" 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,[a] and will you raise it up in three days?"21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
Jesus doesn't mess around. He isn't going to allow sin to continue, especially in his own house. They were using his house as a marketplace, a store. They were selling things to make money for themselves. It had nothing to do with the temple or with sacrifices. Not only that, they were doing it in the sanctuary. Jesus wasn't going to stand for it. He was furious.
So the Pharisees asked Jesus what right he had to do this. He answered them by pointing them to who he was. They didn't get it at first. They wouldn't have no matter what he said. His authority is, was, and always will be supreme and absolute, and he is not going to just stand by and watch while people are messing things up.
Not only does Jesus have authority in the temple, now known as the church, but he has authority in you. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. How are you treating his temple? What are you putting into it? How are you using it? Don't worry, Jesus isn't going to come back, make a whip, and beat you with it. He will use the consequences of your sins to drive sin out of you though. He will allow bad things to happen to you so that the ultimate "bad thing", hell doesn't happen to you. Even in his discipline his goal is your salvation.
In our reading for today we are reminded of who's in charge. We aren't. I most certainly am not. God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is. Realize your absolute truth today. Surrender to the will of Almighty God. Quit trying to do things your own way or the world's way. Do things God's way! Repent and believe the good news. You'll never regret it!
Prayer: Lord, keep driving sin out of me. Discipline me according to your will, but make me to do your will ahead of time so I don't need your harsh discipline. Amen.
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CALENDAR:
Wed- Oak Pointe Worship 10am; Supper 5:30; Worship 6:30; Choir 7:15
Thurs- Alzheimer's support group 1pm; Stephen Ministry 6; Confirmation make up 6-7; Karate 6:15-7:45
Sat- worship 5pm
Sun- worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school 9:45; USHER'S MEETING AT 9:45!!; Basement reserved 2pm
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- Wed- Cierra Figura; 8:30- Nova Luebke ; 11- Luke Rausch
Ushers- Wed- Lew Feldkamp, Rich Boeger, Brett Nordwald, Scott Schulze; Sat- Bob Linke Sun- Alan Hoffeldt, Tim Linke, Gary Hoelscher, Ben Hoelscher ; 11- Dave Winter
Altar- Wednesday candles- Don Hance; Sun- set up- Lucille Luebke; Clean Up- Pam Linke
Communion assistant- Sat- Roy Bohning; 8:30- Jason Cluver, 11- Dave Winter
Greeters- 8:30- Dave and Hope Tinnin; 11- Joan Sexton
Projectionists- Sat- Perricone; 8:30- Yoder 11- Abby Vossen
Lay Readers- Sat- Marcia Sevier; 8:30- Jennifer Figura 11- Dulci Rahn
Organist- Wed- Barb Dreyer; Sun- Patti Golden
Pianists- Sat- Kathy Barrow
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YESTERDAY'S QUIZ: What were children who were born of a forbidden union not allowed to do?
(For two days in a row we haven't had an answer. I'll leave it up one more day.)
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NEWS:
LENTEN MIDWEEK SUPPER TONIGHT at 5:30 AND WORSHIP AT 6:30
Supper- Turkey, Dressing (Stuffing), green beans, applesauce, dessert.
Worship--This year during our Lenten worship we're going to do something different. We will be doing an interactive message time in which we will all formulate our own versions of the "Gospel in seven words".
If someone were to come to you and ask you to tell them what you believe in seven words or less, what would you say? In this fast paced, information age, you may not have much more than that to get the Gospel out to someone. How would you respond to that request?
I am very excited to see how we come up with our conclusions and what our extremely concise profession and confessions of faith will look like! You'll have to join us on Wednesday to find out what it's all about!!
SPRING SOFTBALL: There's interest in starting an adult St. John's softball team. Games are on Sunday nights starting April 8 at Khoury field. Deadline for sign ups is Monday, March 5. Let me know if you wanna join the team. Friends of St. John's are welcome too. $30 per person. We need 10-12 people to make a go of it.
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WE ARE CHANGING THE WAY WE EDUCATE OUR KIDS AND GROW THEM IN THE FAITH AT ST.JOHN'S!!
THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS TO GROW CHILDREN IN THE FAITH
- Parents must be involved and take ownership of the faith formation of their children. Gone are the days of just dropping your kids off at Sunday school so that "the church" can teach them the faith. I don't know about you, but I learned how to live the faith from my parents the most.
- The church must be a supplement, help, and encouragement to the parents (not the primary source of faith formation).
To help parents in their duties as the primary growers of the faith of their children we are going to start two new programs at St. John's.
1. The first is called Faith5. This is a very simple yet profound thing that families will learn to do together in their own homes each night/day. The basics are very simple. It can be done whenever the family can all get together. The example I'm going to use is right before bed, so the first one to want to go to sleep calls the huddle. The family then gets together in the bedroom of the person who called the huddle, at the kitchen table, or wherever, and they do these five things
1. Share- Each person shares the highs and Lows of the day
2. Read- Bible reading or Story
3. Talk- Application of reading to the day
4. Pray- Pray about the day
5. Blessing- A kiss, a hug, a benediction
Although this sounds simple, we want to get the most out of the very short amount of time we have with our kids. We also always want to be better parents, especially when it comes to the faith upbringing of our kids, so we will have a Faith5 Training for parents beginning on Sunday, April 15 during Sunday school time at 9:45. PLEASE SIGN UP WITH PASTOR FOR THIS TRAINING!!!! It will be done on Sunday, May 27.
2.The second is called Bible Song Cross Gen. It is called this, because every lesson revolves around a Bible song that coincides with the lesson for the week. It will begin on WEDNESDAY, MAY 30 AND WILL BE EVERY WEDNESDAY FROM 6pm-7pm. Parents are strongly encouraged to stay with their children.
Here is the schedule:
6:00-6:20-- Bible Song, Skit, and Story
6:20-6:50—Family Group Time (Practicing Faith5 in a church family setting)
6:50-7- Closing
As with any good church program volunteers are key! We need people to step up and take ownership of this program to make it successful! Here are somethings we will need:
1. Parents stay with kids!!
2. Skit Group (3 or 4) (Sign Up to volunteer to help)
3. Art attack coordinators (2 or 3) (Sign Up with Pastor to volunteer to help)
4. Group Leaders (2 or 3) (Sign Up with Pastor to volunteer to help)
3.What are we gonna do with Sunday school?
For the most part, it is going to go away, but For parents who still want some adult Bible study time, or just want to get out and do grocery shopping without kids, we'll have a very unstructured and informal time on Sunday mornings. (Play time, videos, Bible story book.) Like all the rest of this stuff, it will only be as good as those who take ownership. Right now, Karin Klaustermeier and Naomi Johnson are the only ones who lead your kids on Sunday mornings. It would be good to get two or three more trusted adults to lead this, and then each person would only have to do it once a month. (A big shout out should also go to Torre Statler and Taryn Linke for doing a Bible study with the high school kids when they show up.)
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YOUTH GROUP STEAK DINNER AND AUCTION IS SATURDAY, MARCH 10!!
Tickets will go on sale at church this weekend after services.
AUCTION ITEMS ARE NEEEDED!!
If you have any good items that they youth could use for the auction, please bring them by church any time we're open! If you leave something when pastor isn't there just put a note on it saying it was from you! Thank you in advance!
RETIREMENT SEMINARS SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, APRIL 3 AND TUESDAY APRIL 24 AT 6PM!!
Denny Hagan from Eldercare Associates will be here on April 3 to talk about Identity protection and Asset preservation. And then again on April 24 to talk about Social Security. ICE CREAM WILL BE SERVED!!
Please sign up on the counter in the narthex or call the church office to let us know you will be there.
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OFFERING ENVELOPES ARE ON THE SHELVES UNDERNEATH THE CHURCH MAILBOXES IN THE NARTHEX IF YOU HAVEN'T PICKED THEM UP YET!
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OUR LAST DIRECTORY (Last updated in August of 2016) has a lot of outdated phone numbers. If your number has changed, please call the office 456-2888 and let Terry know!
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DUE TO SOME TROUBLES WITH OUR CHURCH EMAIL ADDRESS WE HAVE HAD TO GET A NEW ONE
Our new email address is sjwarrlutheran@gmail.com. Please change it in your address books!!
Pastor's email, revklaus@hotmail.com will remain the same.
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LITTLE LAMBS IS STILL SELLING CANDY BARS AND COULD USE YOUR HELP!
If you'd like to help sell a box or two of candy bars as a fundraiser for Little Lambs preschool. Let Terry or one of the preschool ladies know. They'll hook you up right quick!
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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 FEBRUARY IS CANNED VEGETABLES.
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PRAYERS:
For DENISE HOOKER (Betty Tameler's daughter) who is recovering from surgery to put a stent in her stomach so she can eat.
For BILL MCKENZIE, (Terry McKenzie's father in law), who is home from the hospital and has been placed on hospice.
For LIL WINTER as she deals with heart troubles.
For ASHTON, a 3 day old baby who is the grandson of a friend of the Nagels who is recovering from open heart surgery.
For GEORGE HOESCHER, GINA BOHNING (Roy Bohning's wife), and BUCK HAMPTON, as they continue to deal with cancer.
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.
