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attendance & offerings includes December 26th, January 2nd, 9th, and 16th |
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average attendance 122 communion attendance 181 private communion 12
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offerings for home use… $ 11973.40 12% missions…………… 934.73 MMA insurance………… 1200.00 St. John’s Scholarship ……… 500.00 Lutheran Witness…….. 30.00 Memorial-banner stand……….. 200.00 Missions - Disaster Releif……… 20.00 Advent …………….. 137.00 Christmas Eve…………….. 1037.00 Christmas Gift Envelopes……… 2260.00 |
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Dear Members of St. John’s: On February 9th, we will begin another Lenten season with Ash Wednesday. Lent is an important spiritual observance. It is a time to attend the special Wednesday evening services in our church, to read helpful devotions, and to think about all that Jesus did for us so that we might belong to God in life and death, for time and through all eternity. It is a time to renew our faith and to determine to live more carefully and faithfully, following Him who loved us and died in our place. Each year we go with Jesus in the spiritual journey of the season as He walks the way of the cross. And we see in the light of the cross just how serious our sins are. And each Lenten season we learn from His Word how great the love is that God has for each one of us. He loves us so much that He is willing to have His only beloved Son endure that agony so we might be saved. One of the Lenten hymns that we use is #109 "Jesus, I Will Ponder Now." It was written in 1653 by Sigismund von Birken. The hymn is based on Luke 18:31-34 in which Jesus tells His disciples that it is time for Him to go up to Jerusalem, where He will be mocked, insulted, spit upon and killed. Luke records, "The disciples did not understand any of this." Von Birken's hymn, then, is prayer that, unlike the disciples, we might through the guidance of the Holy Spirit understand the events of Christ's passion. The first stanza is a general request for God's blessing on our meditations during the Lenten season. The words remind us that Lent is a time when we should give serious thought to the significance of Christ's death for us. In the succeeding verses, the author helps us see what type of things we should be pondering. In the second stanza, he calls to mind some of the specific ways in which Christ suffered for us. But, in the third stanza, he reminds us that Lent is more than just numbering the ways in which Christ suffered. In stanzas four through six, von Birken directs the thoughts of those singing to the results that pondering Christ's Passion should bring about in their lives. Then he calls all to a sincere repentance, a renewed commitment to living godly lives, and a willingness to bear our own crosses as followers of Christ. The church year is not directly prescribed in the Bible, but arose as a help and reminder to focus believer's attention on what is central to the Christian. And of course the most important event is that of Christ's resurrection on Easter. Every Sunday in effect has reference to that. Christmas and Pentecost are of importance insofar as they point to the main themes of victory and life. Let this upcoming season of Lent be our time of spiritual preparation and renewal.
Pastor Broecker |
