Ladies with Typewriters

The Lord be with you

You've probably seen these before. Anyone who types can appreciate this. For those who don't, don't judge.

Thank God for church ladies with typewriters. These sentences (with all the BLOOPERS) actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
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The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.'
The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'
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Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale.
It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house.
Bring your husbands.
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Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you.
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Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
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Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
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For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
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Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
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Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
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A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
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At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.
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Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
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Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
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Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
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The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
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Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.
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The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
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This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
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Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM . All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B. S. Is done.
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The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
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Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM . Please use the back door.
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The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM . The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
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Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church.. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
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The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.

Worship for Palm Sunday - 2011

Thursday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent

April 14, 2011

The Lord be with you

A “Lectionary” is nothing more than a series of readings from the Bible assigned to be read on specific days. In general there are two broad groups of lectionaries. One is a continuous lectionary which seeks to move through a book (or most of a book), or the entire Bible (or most of the Bible), by assigning specific readings for each day. Such lectionaries typically do not take into account the seasons of the Church Year. You might be reading about the birth of Jesus in the middle of August and about the first Pentecost at the end of December. The other type of lectionary you might call seasonal. It seeks to pay close attention to the Church Year. So you will always be reading about the birth of Jesus at the end of December and about Pentecost fifty days after Easter.

For history buffs, the continuous lectionaries were first developed in the monasteries. At least in the Benedictine Monasteries, the brothers would spend six hours of the day in “prayer.” “Prayer” here is more comprehensive than simply pouring out whatever is on your heart to the Lord. It includes singing, reading, and so forth. The Prayer Services in our hymnal, like Matins and Vespers, come from this tradition. The seasonal lectionaries were developed in the cathedrals and were designed with non-ordained people in mind. The main service of the day, with the Lord’s Supper, follows this tradition.

Today most liturgical churches typically use a seasonal lectionary which has assigned readings for each Sunday plus other important days like Christmas, Good Friday, and the like. At Lamb of God we use a Three-Year Lectionary which was developed by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Most of our churches use it. However there is a sizeable minority that uses the One-Year Lectionary that was developed by our denomination. This lectionary is basically the same one found in The Lutheran Hymnal, but has Old Testament lessons added. There are really quite a few differences between the Three-Year and the One-Year lectionaries. For example the One-Year Lectionary retains the old Introits, so the old names for the Sundays still make sense. The One-Year Lectionary also maintains things like the Pre-Lenten Sundays (Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima) and the season of Trinity. These elements are missing from the Three-Year Lectionary. Finally, a smaller percentage of our churches use the Revised Common Lectionary. This is also a Three-Year Lectionary which is very similar to the one developed by the LC-MS. The main attraction to this lectionary series is that there is a great wealth of sermonic aids available. This is true because it is used across denominational lines.

One of the advantages of a Three-Year Lectionary is that it can incorporate features of a continuous lectionary. So, in ours, most of the Gospel lessons in Series A come from Matthew, most of the Gospel lessons in Series B come from Mark, and most of the Gospel lessons in Series C come from Luke. John is use in all three series to supplement with material not found in the first three Gospels (which have many similarities). You will also find continuous readings in the Epistle lessons, and sometime the Old Testament lesson.

One of the disadvantages, in my opinion, is that is has in places caved-in to the secularization of our society. It is generally true that fewer people attend mid-week services. This means that services held on days like Maundy Thursday and Good Friday have fewer worshipers. The compilers of the Three-Year Lectionary rightly understood that Easter is rather meaningless without Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. In stead of hoping and praying that people would attend such services, they simply put it all on the Sunday before Easter. This Sunday used to be called Palm Sunday. Now it is called Sunday of the Passion. The assigned readings cover everything from Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday (Easter Eve).

I have, long ago, discovered that this is just far too much material to cover adequately in one Sunday service (not to mention that the readings are so long that the time for the sermon is severely restricted). So, for this one Sunday in the Church Year, I revert to the old One-Year lectionary, using the Old Testament lesson found in the new One-Year lectionary. All this is to say, while most of the churches in the LC-MS will be celebrating the Sunday of the Passion this coming Sunday, at Lamb of God we will be celebrating Palm Sunday.

What about the concern of skipping over Maundy Thursday and Good Friday? Well we will have these services on their regular days according to the Church Year. Our members are STRONGLY encouraged to attend them. The issue that drove the adoption of the Sunday of the Passion still exists. Without the events of Holy Week Easter almost becomes just an excuse to buy new clothing and have breakfast at church. Easter is soooo much more that that! So I encourage all who read this blog, whether they live in Spartanburg or across the ocean, to attend the mid-week services in their area as they prepare of Easter.

Our lessons for Sunday will be Zechariah 9:9-12, Philippians 2:5-11, and John 12:12-19. We will be using Psalm 92 for our Introit. The sermon, titled “Welcome Your King,” will have John 12:13 as its text. We will be using a specially designed liturgy and the regular liturgical songs will be replaced with hymns. We also will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

Our opening hymn will be “All Glory Laud and Honor” (LSB 442). Our hymn of praise will be “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna” (LSB 443). In stead of the normal verse between the Epistle Lesson and the Gospel Lesson, we will sing verse one of “Life Up Your Heads, O Gates” (LSB 341). The sermon hymn will be “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty” (LSB 441). The offertory hymn will be “Let the Vineyards be Fruitful, Lord” (LSB 955). The confirmation hymn will be “Thine Forever, God of Love” (LSB 687). For our Sanctus we will use “Holy, Holy, Holy” (LSB 507). Our distribution hymns will be the rest of “Lift Up You Heads, O Gates,” and “Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord” (LSB 637). Our closing hymn will be a look forward to Holy Week, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” (LSB 425).

Another special feature for this coming Sunday will be the reception of Christina Mullinax into communicant membership. This will be the culmination of a two-year study for her. In her confirmation Christina will be affirming the faith the Lord gave her in her baptism and pledging to remain faithful to her Lord. This will happen after the offering is received and before the general prayers. It is a big day for her and Lamb of God. Part of the celebration will include a covered-dish lunch after the service, to which everyone is invited.

Below is a video of our sermon hymn, “Ride on, Ride on, in Majesty” being sung by the members of Messiah Lutheran, a Wisconsin church that is a member congregation of the Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC). The CLC was founded in 1960 by member congregations of the former Synodical Conference. It has about 75 congregations.

Our Sunday morning adult Bible study is continuing its study of the Gospel of Matthew. This week we should finish chapter three (the baptism of Jesus) and maybe get into chapter four (Jesus tempted in the wilderness). Our Education Hour begins at 9:00 AM and everyone is invited to come.

Preview of the Lessons

Zechariah 9:9-12: Zechariah was active from 520 to 480 BC. This puts him after the return of the exiles from the Babylonian Captivity. In this prophecy he foresees our Lord’s Palm Sunday arrival into Jerusalem, and describes his reign in terms of righteousness and salvation. This reign is established by the “blood of my covenant,” which points towards the cross of Christ.

Philippians 2:5-11: Paul urges us to have the mind of Christ. He explains exactly what he means by this by summarizing the life work of Jesus, who willingly and purposefully gave up everything for us. Because Jesus was obedient unto death the Father highly exalted him. All too often we want the exaltation without the obedience. We want to be served, not to serve others. But that is not the way of the Kingdom of our Lord. Christ entered his glory after his death. Paul says, have this mind among yourselves.

John 2:12-19: This is the traditional Palm Sunday Gospel lesson. Jesus enters Jerusalem and a great buzz is in the air. This is true, in part, because Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the grave. John is the only Gospel that mentions “palm branches.” The other Gospel writers, while telling us of branches, do not tell us what trees the branches were taken from. The Pharisees continue to fear Jesus and his great popularity. They serve as a reminder that miracles do not create faith. Faith is a gift of God, a gift these men refused.

Tidbits

• There will be a pot-luck luncheon after church Sunday as we celebrate the confirmation of Christian Mullinax.
• May newsletter information is due Sunday.
• We have several special worship services this week:

• On Wednesday we conclude our trip through holy week, hearing about the rest of Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Services are again at 12:15 & 7:00 PM.
• On Thursday we will have two Maundy Thursday Communion services, one at 12:15 and the second at 7:00 PM. The evening service will conclude with the traditional stripping of the altar.
• On Good Friday the sanctuary will be open from noon to 3:00 PM. These are the hours of darkness while Jesus was on the cross. Material is provided for prayer and meditation. At 7:00 PM we will have our traditional Tenebrae service (service of darkness).
• On Saturday we will join with other area LC-MS congregations for the Easter Vigil service. The service begins at 8:00 PM, and will be at Good Shepherd Lutheran in Greenville.
• Next Sunday is Easter. We will not have the adult Bible study. Instead we will have breakfast, prepared by our men. The worship service will be at our regular time, 10:30 AM. This will be a Communion service.

• On Saturday, April 23, our cubs will be going to Walnut Grove Plantation and participating in “Militia Days.” This is a focus on the roll the plantation played in the Revolutionary War and what life was like back them.

Well, I pray I will see you Sunday.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert

Worship for Lent 5 - 2011

Thursday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent
April 7, 2011

The Lord be with you

This coming Sunday is the Fifth Sunday in Lent. The Latin name is Judica, which means “judge” and comes from the first word in the old Latin Introit (Psalm 43:1-2a, 3). The Introit used in the three-year Series A is Psalm 116:1-4, antiphon Psalm 116:15. It does not use the word “judge,” and, in general, does not match the theme of the old Introit so the old name not longer fits this Sunday.

We will be using the third setting of the morning service (page 184) and be celebrating the Lord’s Supper. One of the features of liturgical services is the omission of certain features of the liturgy during Lent. We’ve kind of dropped the ball on that this year, but we will start this Sunday. That means we will not be singing the Alleluia Verse or the Gloria in Excelsis.

The appointed lessons for this coming Sunday are Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 8:1-11, and John 11:1-53. The sermon is titled “The Truth About Death.” The text for the sermon is John 11:32. Our opening hymn will be “Be Still, My Soul” (LSB 752). Our sermon hymn will be “Jesus, Grant That Balm and Healing” (LSB 421). Our closing hymn will be “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” (LSB 733). Our distribution hymns will be “Water, Blood, and Spirit Crying” (LSB 597), “Jesus, Greatest at the Table” (LSB 446), and “Jesus Sinners Doth Receive” (LSB 609).

The video below is of the hymn “Be Still My Soul.” It has three of the four verses in our hymnal. Better Noise has each of the hymns except “Water, Blood, and Spirit Crying” and “Jesus, Greatest at the Table.” These hymns are not included due to copyright restrictions. The link to Better Noise can be found on the right hand sidebar of this webpage.

Preview of the Lessons

Ezekiel 37:1-14: Ezekiel worked from 875 to 848 BC. This means he worked after the nation of Israel broke into two nations (Israel in the north and Judah in the south). This happened after the death of Solomon (930 BC). Ezekiel also worked well before the fall of the northern kingdom to the Assyrians in 722 BC. This is Ezekiel’s famous vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. In it Ezekiel is shown by the Lord a valley of dry bones. He is then told to prophesy to them, and they come back to life. Not just as walking skeletons, but as human beings. The immediate message was to Israel, who were despairing. God is giving them a message of hope. The word translated “wind” in verses 1-10 is translated “Spirit” in verses 11-14. In English we miss this play on words. Also, every time you see either the word Lord or the word God in all capital letters, it is the Hebrew proper name for God (Yahweh). It is usually translated “LORD,” however the Hebrew word “Adonai” is also typically translated as “Lord,” just not in all capital letters. Sometimes these two names for God occur together. An English translation that reads “Thus says the Lord LORD” would be clunky, and so when this happens (as it does in this reading) Yahweh is translated “GOD.” This vision also has a fuller understanding, pointing to the resurrection on the Last Day. The “graves” spoken of, then, are not metaphors, but our actual graves. On the Last Day all Christians will all be raised, more fully human than ever before, and live eternally in our new home.

Romans 8:1-11: This is a powerful lesson and well worth reading by all those who divorce human nature and being “spiritual.” This foolish idea, quite popular in some circles today, is basically Gnostic (an heresy popular in the second through fifth centuries). This impacts our understanding of eternity as well. Will we live as disembodied spirits, or have real physical bodies? The Bible teaches us that we will have real bodies. When Paul uses the words “spirit” and “flesh” they are not synonyms for non-corporal and physical. This is obvious in many ways in this reading. First Jesus is sent as a flesh and blood human being, yet he still walked according to the Spirit. Paul also addresses the Romans, who were normal physical human beings, and said that they were “in the Spirit.” Finally, while the “flesh” cannot please God nor inherit eternal life, Paul says that the Father will “give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Clearly, then, “mortal bodies” is not equivalent with “flesh” and “spirit” does not mean “without a physical body.” The body is important. Jesus died for the whole human being. “Flesh” is being used in a moral sense. It is all that is opposed to the will of God. Having the mind of the Spirit is having a mind that is in tune with the will of God. We attend worship services, study the Bible, give aid to those in need, and so on, in the body. We receive the Holy Spirit in our baptism, and He guides us through the Means of Grace.

John 11:1-53: Clearly, this is a long reading. It is the story of how Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, just before Palm Sunday. Any reading this long has way more content than I can comment on in these notes, or cover in a sermon. I will just say that the resurrection of Lazarus points to the resurrection of Jesus, and also to our resurrection on the Last Day. We again see that the disincarnate accent of some today is not in harmony with the Bible. If being physical was, by deffinition, bad, then Jesus did Lazarus a great disservice by raising him physically from the dead and Jesus perpetrated one of the greatest disservices of all time by being raised physically. The sermon will explore this topic more. I would also say that the April 2011 issue of The Lutheran Witness has several great articles about this general topic.

Tidbits

* LitWits, our book club, will be meeting Sunday at 6:30 PM. We will be discussing “The Book of Sorrows” by Walter Wangerin Jr.

* Our adult Bible study continues in Matthew, starting our look at chapter 3.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert

Wednesday Evening Lenten Service Canceled

Wednesday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent
April 6, 2011

The Lord be with you

The storm that passed through the Spartanburg area Monday night knocked out the power at Lamb of God Lutheran Church. It has not been restored yet. That means that we will have no lights or power to operate our organ for the Wednesday evening Lenten service. Therefore it has been canceled.

We were able to have the noon service. We held it outside.

We should be up and running no later than Friday, so everything is a go for Sunday.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert