DEVOTION: Psalm 66:8-20 English Standard Version (ESV)
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip.
10 For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
12 you let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will perform my vows to you,
14 that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!
In the section on the Lord's Prayer in our catechism, one of the questions is "Whose prayers are acceptable to God?" Answer: "Only those who believe in Jesus Christ may pray to God and expect to be heard."
If you truly believe in God, believe in Jesus, and pray in His name; you can expect to be heard. He hears you!
But just because He hears you doesn't mean he is going to do exactly what you want. Your will isn't always his will. And that's a good thing. Can you imagine what your life would be like if God gave you everything you want. You'd be ruined. You'd be dead.
What true, real, and right prayer does is that it aligns your will with God's will. The more you pray in the name of Jesus, the more God aligns your will with his own. Then, when you have his will in mind, you are less likely to ask for foolish or wrong things. You are more likely to ask and seek his will. Then God will have no problem doing what you ask.
Most of us, including myself, could do so much better with our prayer lives. We fail to pray when we ought. We don't pray God's will. We don't spend nearly enough time with the Lord in prayer.
I encourage you to change that for yourself. Find a time and place when and where you can devote your undivided attention to prayer. Remember that it is a two way street. Make sure you are listening to God as much as you are talking. Make sure you are surrendering yourself to his will in prayer. Then expect to be heard and to be blessed in ways that you may never understand or imagine.
Prayer: Lord, bless my prayer life. Make me come to you more in prayer and to surrender my will to yours. Amen.
CALENDAR:
Mon- nothing scheduled
Tues- Board of outreach meeting 8am; Quilting 9-2
Wed- Sewing dresses for Africa 9:30-noon; Ladies Aid noon; Last Day of School Celebration 5:30-7; Choir 7
Thurs- Newsletter deadline; Karate 6:15-7:45; Lutheranism 101 6:30
Fri- Bible Study at Hendershot's house 7pm
Sat- Men's Breakfast 8am; Worship 5pm
Sun- Worship 8:30; Sunday school 9:45; VOTER'S MEETING 9:45; Worship 11am; Marilyn's retirement Luncheon NOON
______________________________________________________________________WORSHIP WORKERS FOR THIS WEEK:
Acolyte- 8:30- Sarah Cluver; 11- Cameron Faerber
Ushers- Larry Schulze, Scott Schulze, Gary Scott, Dave Winter
Altar- Set up- Lucille Luebke; Clean Up- Pam Linke
Elders- Sat- Charlie Figura; 8:30- Al Benton, 11- Randy Fischer
Greeters- 8:30- Al and Karen Benton; 11- Marv and Molly Hendershot
Lay Readers- Sat- Sandra Perricone; 8:30- Karen Benton; 11- Lisa Lacy
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Sat Pianist- Molly Hendershot
Projectionists: Sat- Perricone, 8:30- Yoder; 11- Masters
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YESTERDAY'S QUIZ : Who was Adonijah?
He was the fourth son of David by Haggith and rival to the throne with Solomon. He even declared himself king ,but David had Solomon anointed king and Solomon later had him put to death.
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TODAY'S QUIZ: How many chariots and horses did Solomon have?
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NEWS!!!!
MEN'S BREAKFAST IS THIS SATURDAY AT 8AM!!!!
Come for the food! Stay for the Bible Study!
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VOTER'S MEETING THIS SUNDAY AT 9:45
All confirmed members of St. John's 18 years old and up are voting members of St. John's! Be there!!
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QUILT DRAWING IS THIS SUNDAY DURING THE VOTER'S MEETING!
There's still time to get your tickets! Call 456-2888 to get them today!
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MARILYN FOSTER'S RETIREMENT LUNCHEON IS THIS SUNDAY, MAY 21 AT NOON!
Let's shower her with gift cards and money to show our appreciation and send her into retirement with our love!
We will have fried chicken and cake, and we are asking each family to bring either a side dish or salad. Cake will be provided as well.
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ARMED FORCES SUNDAY DOOR OFFERING WILL BE ON MAY 20 and 21!!
We will be a collecting a door offering to provide for Bible sticks for our soldiers. Most armed forces personnel can't take their phone or computers with them when they are deployed and paper Bibles are too inconvenient. Bible sticks are just the right size and can fit easily into a pocket and carried wherever they go. Each Bible stick cost $25 to make and to ship. There have been over 800,000 of these Bible sticks given to soldiers since it began and thousands of more ready to ship. They just need the funds to get them out the door.
Here's one testimony from a soldier. "I am coming back into the arms of the Father who has never forsaken me. This mp3 Bible came right on time, because I have been contemplating suicide."
Please make a note for yourself to bring some money for this very worthy ministry next weekend!!!
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LITTLE LAMBS ENROLLMENT FOR THE 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR IS OPEN!!!!
Student must be 3 for younger class or 4 for older class by August 1.
$45 nonrefundable registration fee required.
Registration packets can be picked up at Little Lambs during school hours and in the church office during non-school hours.
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OPERATION BACKPACK ITEMS COLLECTED FOR THE MONTH OF MAY IS CANNED FRUIT!!
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AGAPE DONATIONS ALWAYS ACCEPTED!!
Any nonperishable food items, diapers, toiletries, etc.!!
Perishable food items can be taken directly to Agape at 713 Powell St. in Warrenton. Call 456-4645 to find out when they're open or for more info.
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YOUR KROGER CARD CAN EARN MONEY FOR LITTLE LAMBS
Go to www.kroger.com/communityawards and register your card today!!
PRAYERS:
For PAT MANNESS as she will be undergoing extensive surgery and rehab on her hand in the near future.
For the SWEET FAMILY as they mourn the loss of Patty's mom.
For a FRIEND OF AL AND KAREN BENTON who is dealing with brain cancer.
For HUNDREDS OF OUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS WHO ARE DEALING WITH THE EFFECTS OF THE FLOOD.
For THE PEOPLE IN UGANDA who are beginning to die from starvation due to drought and famine.
For CAROL BRAZEE recovering from sinus surgery at home.
For KEN FOSTER recovering from back surgery at home.
For PAT KING, as she is recovering from knee replacement surgery at home.
For MARILYN FOSTER as she prepares for her retirement.
For PATTY SWEET'S MOTHER, Virginia, who is on hospice care and is nearing the end of her life.
For DANIELLE MEINE KRAMER, whose leukemia is back after a brief respite from it. She had it for several years while in high school. (She grew up riding Karin's school bus to school.)
For Mim Dunn's nephew DAVID HAHN who is dealing with severe throat cancer.
For LOIS BOEGER'S MOM, EVELYN TOEDEBUSCH, who has been on hospice care for the last few months and slows down a little more every day, but is doing well.
Now is the time to register for the upcoming Missouri District Mission Summit. Our first district wide witness and outreach equipping event will be held June 3 at Concordia Seminary. Lutheran Hour speaker, Rev. Greg Seltz, will be the keynote speaker. The schedule includes twenty-six different sectionals for church leaders from all congregational settings. There is no cost to the attendees for the event, but we are asking that you register online for the event. For more information or the registration link, go to
