DEVOTION: Psalm 25:1-10 English Standard Version (ESV)
Teach Me Your Paths
[a] Of David.
25 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
I really like the last three verses of this text for today. To explain, let me ask you a question. Is it easier to teach a teenager who thinks he knows everything, or is it easier to teach a 25 year old who has been humbled and knows failure? The answer is easy. It's the person who has failed and been humbled who is the most teachable.
In a different Psalm the Lord tells us that he doesn't really care for our arrogant and self righteous sacrifices. They are nothing but empty gestures. What he really wants is a broken and contrite heart that is ready to receive his love and his grace. The hymn writer put it best when he said, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling."
This Wednesday begins the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. It is the perfect time to dig deep into our hearts, not so that we can boast before God that we, ourselves, have gotten rid of our sins, but so that we may truly see how every fiber of our being is tainted with sin, and how we truly go to the feet of Jesus as beggars who, without his mercy, would die forever.
What have you been like lately towards God? Have you been like the obstinate teenager who thinks he knows everything and doesn't need to learn from the Lord anymore? You go to church. You pray. You give your offering. Isn't that enough? For the answer to that question refer back to the Psalm I just mentioned.
Or have you been humbled? Have you been knocked down a few notches and realized that God is speaking to you in your humility? This Wednesday is a great time to go to the Lord in that humility so that he may teach you some things and so that you may grow in his grace. Then you will grow to truly appreciate what it really means to be saved by grace through faith on account of Christ. Have a great day y'all!! Jesus loves you and so do I!
Prayer: Lord God, make me humble and each me your ways in my humility so that I may grow in your grace more and more each day. Amen.
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CALENDAR:
Mon- Confirmation canceled; Stephen Ministry 6pm
Tues- Quilting 9-2; Trustees 7; (Outreach meeting was last Wednesday)
Wed- ASH WEDNESDAY supper 5:30; worship 6:30; Choir 7:30
Thurs- Karate 6:15-7:30
Fri- Bible study at Hendershot's 7pm
Sat- Men's breakfast 8am; worship 5pm
Sun- worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school 9:45; VOTER'S MEETING AT 9:45
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Acolyte- Wed- Jared Cluver 8:30- Jared Cluver; 11- Loren Howard
Ushers- Wed- Alan Hofeldt, Tim Linke, Gary Hoelscher, Ben Hoelscher Sat- Charlie Figura; Sun- Lew Feldkamp, Rich boeger, Brett Nordwald, Scott Schulze; 11- Erv Yoder
Altar- Wednesday is already set up/ Clean up Joanne Hachtel Sun- set up- Jodi Baldwin ; Clean Up- Terry McKenzie
Communion assistant- Wed- Randy Fischer; Sat- Steve Robine; 8:30- John Hachtel, 11- Dave Winter
Greeters- 8:30- Don Nolte????; 11- Doug and Ruth Walters
Projectionists- Sat- Gus Klaustermeier; 8:30- Schaumberg; 11- Luebke
Lay Readers- Sat- Sandra Perricone; 8:30- Jacob Nagel 11- Karen Benton
8:30 Organist- Barb Dreyer
Pianists- Sat- Kathy Barrow; 11am- Molly Hendershot
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YESTERDAY'S QUIZ: What were the names of the twelve spies who went from the wilderness to spy on the promised land before they entered it?
Answer From Pat King-
So, spies. Spies who made sure that generations of Bible readers would know their names. Not exactly CIA quality, for sure. But their names were: (from Numbers 13)
Shammua, son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben;
Shaphat, son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon;
Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah;
Igal, son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar;
Hoshea, son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim;
Palti, son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin;
Gaddiel, son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun;
Gaddi, son of Susi, from the tribe of Joseph (that is, the tribe of Manasseh);
Ammiel, son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan;
Sethur, son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher;
Nahbi, son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali;
Geuel, son of Machi, from the tribe of Gad.
Hoshea was renamed Josuha by Moses. Which I'm sure really, really pleased his parents, who had named him in the first place. But people back then, were weird.
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TODAY'S QUIZ: What happened to Israel when the Israelite men indulged in sexual immorality with the Moabite women and sacrificed to their gods?
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NEWS:
LENTEN MIDWEEK SUPPER AND WORSHIP BEGINS THIS WEEK!!
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".
Is 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!
Supper is at 5:30
Worship is at 6:30
This Wednesday we will have the imposition of ashes and the Lord's Supper. The place better be packed with all those folks who missed worship yesterday!!!
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VOTER'S MEETING THIS SUNDAY AT 9:45
Agenda— Along with our usual reports there are a few things n Old Business and New Business
Old Business
- Report from restructuring task force
- Report from security team
- Discussion on consolidating three services into one
New Business- Report on possible new children's and youth program from faith Inkubators
Please come and join us and give your opinions and ideas.
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MEN'S BREAKFAST THIS SATURDAY MORNING AT 8AM!!
Invite someone! Bring a son or grandson! RSVP to let me know you're coming!!
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BABY BOTTLE FUNDRAISER UPDATE FOR THE PREGNANCY OPTIONS CENTER!
So far we've raised $727.36 through our baby bottle campaign with quite a few bottles still out there. If you took a bottle home with you, make sure you bring it back this week or weekend full of cash, coins, or checks!! Let's support keeping babies alive in Warren County!!
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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 here, please put a note on it to tell us that it is from you.
CHILI COOK-OFF AND BOARD GAMES ON SATURDAY, FEB. 17 @ 6PM!!
Do you think you have THE BEST chili recipe known to man? Do you like to compete? Then sign up for our chili cook-off and come and join us for a fun evening with your friends at St. John's!! Invite your friends! We'll start right after our Saturday worship!!
ALL PARENTS WILL BE RECEIVING A LETTER IN THE MAIL THIS WEEK!!
If you have any kids between the ages of 0-18 who are members of St. John's, I want you at a luncheon and meeting on Sunday, Feb 25 at noon to discuss the future of your kid's faith life and your involvement in it. The meeting will not take more than an hour, but will hopefully make a lasting impact on how you see your role in your child's faith life, what you can do to help it, and how the church and pastor can help you help your child. Let's grow our youth into the great Christian adults god intended them to be!
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NEWSLETTERS WILL NO LONGER BE MAILED!!!
This past week was the last week you'll receive your newsletter in the mail unless you are shut-in, in the military or live far away from home for some reason. You'll have to come to church to get it!
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RETIREMENT SEMINARS AVAILABLE. WHO IS INTERESTED?
Denny Hagan from eldercare associates would like to know how many people would be interested in attending one or more of the following seminars if he were to come out to St. John's to do them.
- Identity theft. With tax season coming, this is a serious concern to not only seniors, but to everybody that has a Social Security Number. As a matter of fact, the most profitable Information on the net, is for children. It takes much longer to catch the issue, due to lack of use of the children's numbers.
- Changes in how Medicare Part B, is billed to Seniors, It is more important than ever that one takes the time to plan their retirement. Medicare part B is billed based on one's income, and to make it even more confusing, it is based on your income of 2 years ago. Now, before we start scaring anybody, If they are already receiving benefits, this new rule, will not apply. All of these rules, are changes in Social Security.
- Understanding Social Security: how to get all that is coming to you and making the most of it.
If anyone is interested in any of these, please let me know, and if we get enough people interested, we will get Denny to come out and do a presentation.
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A NEW SUPPORT GROUP FOR SOLDIERS HAS FORMED CALLED "WARRIORS' JOURNEY HOME"
It is a nonsectarian, nonpolitical group that will be meeting the second Sunday of the month at 2pm at Bridgeway Behavioral Health 1206 E. Veteran's memorial Parkway in Warrenton. Rev. Dr. Gary Ellul (retired from the Army, a licensed counselor, and pastor at St. Paul's In Jonesburg) will be leading the group. You can call his office if you are interested or know someone who is. Phone number is 636-224-1411. Pamphlets are on the counter in the narthex if you would like more information.
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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?
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OPERATION BACKPACK DONATIONS FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY IS CANNED VEGETABLES.
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PRAYERS:
For DON NOLTE who will be having carpel tunnel surgery on Thursday.
For JOANNA HOELSCHER who is recovering from surgery at home.
For PAT JAEGER as she recovers from carpel tunnel surgery at home.
For HAROLD TEMME as he is hospitalized recovering from a broken nose and as concussion after a bad fall.
For RAYMOND SLAYDEN, son of Lil Winter, as he is having the same trouble as she is with a-fib and congestive heart troubles
For LIL WINTER as she deals with heart troubles.
For PAUL TOEDEBUSCH as he continues to recover from a broken leg and severely sprained ankle. He has to wear a boot for 4 more weeks, but can walk on it and use a cane to get around.
For GEORGE HOESCHER, GINA BOHNING (Roy Bohning's wife), BUCK HAMPTON, and DENISE HOOKER (Betty Tameler's daughter) 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.
