Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Daily Readings for June 17-23, 2012


Today’s Theme: The Gospel Call Goes Out to All
Wisdom has issued an invitation to the divine feast: “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Proverbs 9:5–6). This is the call of the Spirit of Christ to believe the Gospel and to receive His saving gifts in the Holy Supper. Many make excuses and reject this invitation, even as the Jews did in the days of Jesus, yet the Master’s house will be filled. The Gospel call therefore goes out to the lowly and despised, into the highways, even to all the Gentiles (Luke 14:15–24). For you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13–22). In Christ, believing Jews and Gentiles are no longer strangers but fellow members of the household of God. The enmity of class and race is put to death through the cross. Having been reconciled in the one Body of Christ, we are enabled to love one another (1 John 3:13–18) as we await the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which will have no end.

Please Pray For: Emily Rodenbeck, Phyllis McElroy, Ada Dambacher, Dan Worth, Dorothy Robison, Juanita Rankin, George Van Huss, Crystal Ray, Ruth Hedrick, Walt Hedrick, Erna Van Winkle, Mary Kay Schmidt, Kathy Schmidt, John Haynes, Katie Ketchum, Colin Starks, George Shepherd, Donna Smith, and Bill Hoff.
Military: Please keep in your prayers all Military persons, especially Brittany Worth who is deployed to Afghanistan.
Hospitalizations: Please notify Pastor GeRue about any sickness or hospitalizations.
Happy Birthday This Week:  Larry Maddox, Veronica Jones
Happy Anniversary:  Pastor and Valerie GeRue

LUTHERAN HOUR June 17  “Bridging the Gap” Lutheran Hour Speaker: Rev. Gregory Seltz God bridges the gap between His holiness and our sinfulness, because only He can, through the person and work of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)
WLUJ               Springfield, IL      89.7 FM                      Sunday 3:00 pm
WLLM              Lincoln, IL           1370 AM    Sunday 7:00 am & 7:00 pm
WSMI               Litchfield             1540 AM                    Sunday 9:30 pm

Next Weeks Lessons: The Third sunday after trinity
Lessons: Micah 7:18–20, 1 Timothy 1:12–17, Luke 15:1–10
 “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:1–10). This statement of judgment against Jesus by the Pharisees is in fact a proclamation of Gospel truth. For our God is one who delights in mercy, who casts all our sins into the depths of the sea through the cross (Micah 7:18–20). “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:12–17). Those who refuse to be counted as sinners also refuse Jesus who came only for sinners. Those like the older son (Luke 15:11–32) who think they are righteous of themselves will not join in the heavenly celebration over the sinner who repents and so remain outside of the Father’s house. Let us therefore be on guard against self–righteously trusting in our own merits. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6–11). Rejoice that Jesus receives sinners like us and that He still sits at table with us in the Holy Supper, bestowing His forgiveness and life.

Collect: O God, the Protector of all that trust in You, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, increase and multiply upon us Your mercy that, You being our Ruler and Guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we finally lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord . Amen.

Daily Lectionary For June 17–June 23
June 17                         The Parable of the Great Feast—Luke 14:15-24
                                                           Proverbs 17:1-28, John 16:17-33
June 18                           The Seventy Return with Joy—Luke 10:17-24
                                                             Proverbs 20:5-25, John 17:1-26
June 19                 The Parable of the Good Samaritan—Luke 10:25-37
                                                             Proverbs 22:1-21, John 18:1-14
June 20                                             Mary and Martha—Luke 10:38-42
                                                    Proverbs 22:22–23:12, John 18:15-40
June 21             Lord’s Prayer & the Friend at Midnight—Luke 11:1-13
                                                             Proverbs 24:1-22, John 19:1-22
June 22                       A House Divided Cannot Stand—Luke 11:14-36
                                                           Proverbs 25:1-22, John 19:23-42
June 23                        Looking Forward to the 3rd Sunday After Trinity
                               Micah 7:18–20, 1 Timothy 1:12–17, Luke 15:1–10

July 8, 2012 – Church Picnic/Potluck
Fun, Food, Swimming, and Fellowship. The Fun begins at 3:00 pm. We will begin eating around 5:00 pm. Please bring a dish to share and your chair!  Meat and drinks will be provided.  David Ray farm, 12958 Lead Line Rd., Auburn – 438-4202
Lutherans for Life – www.lutheransforlife.org
Life Thought: Psalm 1 describes a noble man who “walks not in the counsel of the wicked” but “his delight is in the law of the Lord” (1:1, 2). Such nobility flows not from himself but from the “streams of water” by which he has been planted (1:3). Such nobility could only be surpassed by the father who brings his children to be planted by these streams in baptism and instructs them to delight in the Lord.
Life Quote:  “Just as our children are part of us, and we are part of them, so our heavenly Father is part of us, and we are part of Him. As we celebrate Father’s Day this year, we can spare a thought for our Heavenly Father. Better still, spare Him a prayer. Say thank you for all the blessings we have, and ask Him for whatever you need. He will only give you the very best.” Rev. John Henderson, Face to Face radio program (Australia)

CALENDAR
Saturday         June 16           5:30 pm                         Worship Service
Sunday            June 17                                            Happy Fathers Day
                                                9:00am                                Bible Study
                                             10:00 am                         Worship Service
Tuesday          June 19           8:00 am                North Mac Ministerial
                                               5:00 pm                                Unity BOD
Wednesday     June 20           7:30 pm                                             AA
Thursday         June 21           7:30 am                         Virden Chamber
Friday             June 22                                           Pastor’s Family Day
Saturday         June 23           5:30 pm                         Worship Service

Sermon for Trinity 2 June 17, 2012


Maintenance Pastor
(Maintaining the Gospel and the Sacraments)
Luke 14:15-24
Trinity Evangelical-Lutheran Church Girard, IL
June 16-17, 2012
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In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The parable of the Great Banquet is a summary of Jesus Christ’s mission and ministry in the flesh. Three different groups of people will hear our Lord’s message. The differing reactions remain unchanged through time.

What great mercy our heavenly Father has for His children! He prepares a great banquet and invites many to dine with Him. When all things were ready, He sends His servant to call those invited to the banquet.

When the Father calls His invited guests to the banquet, they all begin to beg off. One says he bought land and needs to see it. Consider the foolishness of someone buying land sight unseen. It’s mind-boggling that someone would place viewing newly bought land over a great banquet, especially a banquet that he was specifically invited to attend.

Another bought five yoke of oxen and needs to examine them. Consider the foolishness of someone spending perhaps $10,000 on ten oxen sight unseen. One would want to make sure the oxen would do the work expected of them before one buys them. Yet he needs an excuse to get out of a banquet he was invited to attend.

The other is a newlywed and needs to spend some quality time with his wife. He was given an invitation to attend but doesn’t want to go without his wife. This is in accord with Deuteronomy 24:5, allowing a man recently married to be free of business for one year. However this is a political law, not a moral one. This is no excuse for not attending the banquet.

Aren’t you glad you don’t have a foolish excuse to attend this Great Banquet? Or do you? The world’s foolishness is creeping into Sunday morning more and more. There once was a time when it was wise planning not to schedule anything on Sunday morning. That way, no one would have an excuse not to go to church. Times change and so do schedules. The five-day workweek is now a six-day workweek, or even seven days. Come Sunday morning, you have to go to work, make time for family, make time for self, or make time for anything and anyone except God. Church no longer fits into the tight schedules of the 21st century.

What about you? How often have you placed what you see as important things over the food and drink of the Word and Sacraments in this Great Banquet hall? What was once a good habit of attending the Great Banquet frequently quickly becomes an afterthought when the world barges into Sunday morning. All that the Church gives you, the fullness of salvation, the Means of Grace, the Holy Sacraments, the whole kingdom of God, is a Great Banquet? What is your response? What will happen to you if you think it’s okay to skip the Great Banquet this week because it will be there when you need it and the Lord Christ returns before that next time?

Repent. Stop the bad habit of neglecting the Means of Grace before it turns into a cancer that spreads beyond your house into the houses of your family, your friends, and your neighbor. Stop placing God behind self, work, play, or anything else. It’s not too late. Even now He calls you from your hiding place in the world.

You are the one found in the highways and in the hedges. Out of darkness you are called into the marvelous light of Christ to commune at the banquet table of the Church. Never consider it a matter of course that you have been baptized a Christian. The kingdom of God welcomes strangers like you and me to dine with the Father through His Son’s saving death upon the cross. Jesus Christ’s cross and passion wasn’t for the Jewish people alone. Jesus died for all mankind to pay for all sin.

The Lord found you hiding with Adam, Moses, David, Elijah, Jonah, Jeremiah, Peter, and Paul. The smart money was not on these guys. All of them ran from their place at the Great Banquet. Still they forsake foolishness and lived, going in the way of understanding.

Lame excuses are buried in water. Sin is drowned that God’s grace may cover you. Holy Baptism cleanses your soul and prepares you for more of the Great Banquet that is Jesus Christ. The washing of regeneration and renewal prepares you for receiving the true Body and Blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper.

But the Great Banquet isn’t just the Lord’s Supper. The Great Banquet is that call and response dance we call the Divine Service. God speaks to you. You listen to God speaking to you and respond back to Him. Even then He gives you the words to talk back to Him. He brings you in front of His holy altar to confess your sin and receive His forgiveness through His called and ordained servant. He teaches you to praise Him for all His goodness in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. He opens your ears and mind and heart to hear and meditate on His Word proclaimed in both the Old and New Testament. He hears you confess the faith into which you were baptized. He applies His timeless Word to timely application through preaching. He receives our sacrifice of time, treasure, and talent. He feeds us with His Body and gives us to drink of His Blood. He pronounces His blessing over you through His name.

This time together every Weekend is the Great Banquet. Still there is room. Still His house is not yet filled. Still He sends men to forgive sins. Still the Great Banquet is served even when men try to distort, change, and defy His Word of forgiveness. Still He goes into the highways and hedges. Still He invites the poor, maimed, lame, and blind. Still He waits for His beloved Jewish children to repent of their foolish idolatry and return to Him through His Son, Jesus the promised Messiah. Still He keeps you under His umbrella of grace that the rain of curses may never soak you to the bone.

Blessed indeed are you who eat bread, the Bread of Life, in the kingdom of God at His Great Banquet in this place called Trinity.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Daily Readings for June 10-16, 2012


Next Weeks Lessons: The second sunday after trinity
Lessons: Proverbs 9:1–10; 1 John 3:13–18; Luke 14:15–24

Wisdom has issued an invitation to the divine feast: “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake foolishness and live” (Proverbs 9:1–10). This is the call of the Spirit of Christ to believe the Gospel and to receive His saving gifts in the Holy Supper. Many make excuses and reject this invitation, even as the Jews did in the days of Jesus, yet the Master’s house will be filled. The Gospel call therefore goes out to the lowly and despised, into the highways, even to all the Gentiles (Luke 14:15–24). For “you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13–22). In Christ, believing Jews and Gentiles are no longer strangers but fellow members of the household of God. The enmity of class and race is put to death through the cross. Having been reconciled in the one body of Christ, we are enabled to love one another (1 John 3:13–18) as we await the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which will have no end.

Collect: O Lord, who never fails to help and govern those whom You bring up in Your steadfast fear and love, make us to have a perpetual fear and love of Your holy name; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord . Amen.

Daily Lectionary For June 10 – June 16
June 10                                                        Joshua 1:1-18; Acts 8:1-25
June 11                                                      Joshua 2:1-24; Acts 8:26-40
June 12                                                        Joshua 3:1-17; Acts 9:1-22
June 13                                                      Joshua 4:1-24; Acts 9:23-43
June 14                                                     Joshua 5:1-6:5; Acts 10:1-17
June 15                                                    Joshua 6:6-27; Acts 10:18-33
June 16                                                      Looking ahead to next week
                                 Proverbs 9:1–10, 1 John 3:13–18, Luke 14:15–24

Lutherans for Life – www.lutheransforlife.org
Life Thought: What a message we have for those facing the end of life and may be “wasting away” (2 Corinthians 4:16). Such “momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (4:17). Therefore, “do not lose heart”! (4:16a)
Life Quote:  “[W]hen a man remembers God’s call to headship, he is able to make a positive difference. A man makes a difference when he guards the virtue of his girlfriend, remains true to his wife, or engages faithfully as a father.” Linda D. Bartlett, www.titus2-4life.org


Today’s Theme: Seek First The Kingdom Of God And His Righteousness
As Christians, we quite properly speak of the ongoing battle between the Old Adam of unbelief and the New man of faith that is being waged in the heart of every Christian. Yet this battle between the Spirit and the flesh does not mean that the Christian has no peace or that the Christian is locked up in a state of perpetual despair. Quite to the contrary, this is why Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Finally, in the day to day battle with the flesh, our faith must come to rest not at all in ourselves or the things of this world but in Christ and in the promises of the Gospel. As long as we attempt to serve both masters, the spirit and the flesh, we will have no peace in the battle. Faith in Jesus and in His free gift of righteousness that covers our sin is where our faith rests and where we are given freedom from anxiety over food, drink, and clothing. Since the Lord has given us the greater gifts of His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper through which we have eternal communion with God in the forgiveness of sins and, since He has clothed us with His own righteousness in Holy Baptism so that we, declared completely righteous and lack nothing, how will He not also give us the lesser things that sustain body and life in this world. “Will He not clothe and feed you of little faith?” Of course He will. Therefore, in our ongoing struggle with the Old Adam within we continue to pursue or “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” and God’s peace will teach us to be content with whatever we have.

Please Pray For: Emily Rodenbeck, Phyllis McElroy, Ada Dambacher, Dan Worth, Dorothy Robison, Juanita Rankin, George Van Huss, Crystal Ray, Ruth Hedrick, Walt Hedrick, Erna Van Winkle, Mary Kay Schmidt, Kathy Schmidt, John Haynes, Katie Ketchum, Colin Starks, George Shepherd, Donna Smith and Bill Hoff.
Military: Please keep in your prayers all Military persons, especially Brittany Worth who is deployed to Afghanistan.

Happy Birthday This Week:  Vanessa Ketchum, Joyce Birk
Happy Anniversary:  None

Vacation Bible School
We appreciate your prayers and volunteers for our Vacation Bible School. Ask God to bring children and adults to our program so they can know and grow in Jesus, our Savior! And ask God to provide leaders and helpers for this important mission. If you know someone who may be interested, please let us know.

LUTHERAN HOUR June 10     "We Do Not Lose Heart"
Lutheran Hour Speaker: Rev. Gregory Seltz  The secret to not losing heart is knowing that God raised Jesus from the dead and He will also raise you. Because God is at work in the world, the troubles of today will not have the last word in your life. (2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1)
WLUJ              Springfield, IL    89.7 FM                  Sunday 3:00 pm
WLLM             Lincoln, IL          1370 AM               Sunday 7:00 am & 7:00 pm
WSMI              Litchfield            1540 AM                Sunday 9:30 pm
  
CALENDAR
Saturday           June 9           5:30 pm                         Worship Service
Sunday            June 10            9:00am                                Bible Study
                                             10:00 am                         Worship Service
Monday          June 11           6:30 pm                                        Elder’s
Tuesday          June 12           4:00 pm                            Unity Finance
Wednesday     June 13           7:30 pm                                             AA
Friday             June 15                                           Pastor’s Family Day
Saturday         June 16           5:30 pm                         Worship Service

Sermon for Trinity 1 June 10, 2012


Trinity 1
June 9-10, 2012
Luke 16:19-31

In the Name of the Father and of the X Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Did he get depressed, lying in the dirt? As people passed him by on the road, hurrying to meetings, walking or running for exercise, heading for the store to purchase a present, carrying a bag or basket to market to pick up food for the evening meal, did he get depressed? Perhaps a few people tossed a small coin to Lazarus, but doubtless more passed by with nothing. With guilt some would look away from him; but children drew a little closer to their mother’s skirts when they saw his hideous body, covered with sores, and the more callous adults would stare with revulsion and condescension. Did this make Lazarus sad?

Did he snarl with anger at the passers-by, so cold to his need? Was his heart filled with contempt for the Rich Man, whose table was loaded with a Thanksgiving Feast every day? Did he struggle with hatred towards the man who had so much yet gave him nothing? Or was he mostly just beaten down by despair, as year after year passed and his life grew more pathetic?

If Lazarus did despair, if he was depressed by his condition, is that wrong? Lazarus could not alter his condition. Today’s pop-sermons would tell Lazarus, “Have your best life now! Become a better you!” But I imagine those Christ-less sermons would only make him more despondent.

Lazarus is an extreme-but-accurate picture of man before God: a sick, dying, despised beggar. He owns nothing, he is going nowhere, he is in pain, and no one cares.

No one, that is, except the only One that matters. For God still cares. We could go further: God still loves. Even when a man is in the dirt. Especially when he is in the dark dungeon of despair, when he is suffering, hurting, sad, lonely, angry, confused. God loves that man. That man is us – collectively, as the human race, but also individually. You may be hurt by the sins you have committed, or the sins committed against you. Sometimes those two go together – we sin against those who have sinned against us, and the cycle continues, making enemies. Or you may be hurt by the burdens others place on you, the losses you have known leading to guilt, loneliness, and emptiness. Nameless fears trouble you, a dark road lies before you, and there seems no end in sight. In all of that, God is still love. God is love, meaning that will not change through good times and bad, through seasons of joy and depression, sickness and health; when your faith is strong, and when you are clinging to the last, nearly-broken thread, still God is love, still He loves you.

A seventeenth-century Christian named Georg Neumark was robbed of everything he had by highway bandits, making it impossible for him to enroll in the university to which he was traveling. He wandered from town to town, jobless, life becoming bleaker at each rejection. Later he wrote these words to people suffering:
God knows full well when times of gladness
Shall be the needful thing for thee.
When He has tried thy soul with sadness
And from all guile has found thee free,
He comes to thee all unaware
And makes thee own His loving care. (LSB 750)

God gives times of gladness when it is good for you; and the times of sadness are for your benefit, too. Why? How? Because in those times especially, the LORD is purifying you from everything that does not cling to Him alone. But He never stops loving you. His love in this life is not chiefly shown in giving you a table full of rich foods, a body free from disease, a mind free from troubles. His love is demonstrated in that while we were yet sinners, He gave His Son Jesus for us; His love for you is shown in giving His Son a body made weak like yours. Do you have enemies, people turned against you? So did our Lord – it was His own familiar friend who betrayed Him. Do you have fears and anxieties? Our Lord sweat drops of blood before His arrest. Have your hopes grown dim, and do you feel all alone? Our Lord was left alone, crying out to the Father, “Why have You forsaken Me?” Nothing has come upon you that He has not known; nothing has burdened you that He has not likewise borne.

Was Lazarus depressed? Probably. Was he angry, resentful, bitter, driven to sin in his condition? Doubtless any man in such a situation would struggle in these ways, as any one of us would, as we all do amidst our various burdens and crosses. But the name Lazarus means “God is my help,” and He is your help too. He helps you with the deep help you truly need: Beginning with your baptism, for in it you have received: the Holy Spirit, the candle that shines in the darkness, the one light that shines on this life’s dark road.

And in Baptism, God the Father becomes your Father, a true Rich Man quite different from the rich man in today’s Gospel reading: He gives us beggars bread of heaven and wine of gladness from His table, in the living body and cleansing blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the help we need, joy for the despairing, healing for the sick, communion for the lonely, love for those sinned against, forgiveness for sinners.

Now then: has God made you rich in this world’s things? Then do not withhold them from those in need. For “this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” Has God given you money? Give it to the poor. Has God given you time? Give it to those who need comfort, or a friend. Has God given you talents and skills? Give to those who need help. “He who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” None of this is done to be saved, for indeed, by no deeds of ours can we gain salvation. But by our deeds we can begin to show to others the love that God has for us all.

Weep today, and repent, you rich men: and make yourselves beggars before God. Listen to Moses and the Prophets, and look to Jesus alone as your treasure.

Rejoice today, and be glad, you Lazarus’: For God is your help, Jesus has gone into the gutter with you. With your hunger He was made hungry, because of your sorrow He wept, with your sins He was made to be sin – and now to you, poor man, blind woman, hungry man, hurting woman, sinful child, He has given you forgiveness, clothing, sight, a resurrected body, a clean conscience, love, a sun that never sets. God is love, in Jesus He has loved you completely; His love never fails, and He will not leave you in the gutter but will bring you to Himself for endless comfort.

In the Name of the Father and of the X Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.