Worship Notes for the First Sunday in Lent, 2015

Friday after Ash Wednesday

February 20, 2015

Blessed Lententide

As most everyone knows, we lost power at church, probably during all that wind we had Saturday. I hoped it was a blown transformer because all the homes in our area were dark. It turned out to be a bit more and we didn’t get power back until Sunday afternoon. The church building was in the 40’s and, without lights, quite dark. So we canceled the service. Sunday afternoon I listened to an excellent sermon from the Lutheran Hour, thanks to the link on our blog. I hope you were able to do the same.

The lost service does pose a problem. Often people forget that the bills don’t stop just because we have to close our doors due to conditions out of our control. Yes, this is a pitch asking you to not forget your offerings for last Sunday as well as for this Sunday when you come to church this coming Sunday. Some families live pay check to pay check. Well, we live Sunday to Sunday; not only from the point-of-view of Word and Sacrament ministry, but also from the perspective of paying our bills. Your offerings are important to the work we all do at Lamb of God.

This coming Sunday will be the First Sunday in Lent. It will also be a communion Sunday. At our last Communion service (February 8), we used the second setting of the Divine Service (page 167). This service was introduced in the hymnal Lutheran Worship. I was under the impression that, while it had been quite awhile since the service was used, the congregation knew it. In fact, most do not and the few that do know it do not know it well. So, while the singing of the hymns was excellent, the singing of the liturgy was quite weak.

As it is a beautiful service (when sung well) and, as members are likely to find other congregations using it when on vacation, it seems a shame to abandon the service. On the other hand, no on wants to struggle through Sunday morning worship. So, simply struggling through setting two for however long until we get it is out. Instead, we will go back to Divine one and three and simply substitute a single piece from setting two until we learn that. We will start with the Offertory (page 176).

This Sunday, then, we will use Divine Service, setting three. Because it is Lent the Gloria in Excelsis will be omitted. The appointed lessons are Genesis 22:1-18, James 1:12-18 and Mark 1:9-15. Both this coming Sunday’s Old Testament lessons and the following Sunday’s Old Testament lesson tell stories about Abraham. So we will have a mini-series focused on Abraham. This Sunday’s sermon is titled “Tested” and the text is Genesis 22:2. 

Our opening hymn will be “Christ, the Life of All the Living” (LSB 420). Our sermon hymn will be “Christ Be My Leader” (LSB 861). Our closing hymn will be “Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing” (LSB 924). Our distribution hymns will be “Jesus, Grant That Balm and Healing” (LSB 421) and “Jesus Comes Today with Healing” (LSB 620). These hymns have five and six verses respectively, which is why we do not have three distribution hymns.

Below is a video from the Lutheran Warbler singing our opening hymn, “Christ, the Life of All the Living.” This is off the CD she released last year and so is a bit fancier than her normal offerings.  

Be sure to read the additional notes at the end of this post as there have been some changes because of the weather.

What follows is a synopsis of the OT, Epistle and Gospel lessons, provided by the synod. After that, are the readings themselves.

Christ Jesus Defeats Our Temptation and Saves Us by His Faithfulness

In faith and the fear of God, Abraham prepared to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. At the Word of the Lord, he “took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son.” And “when they came to the place of which God had told him,” Abraham bound Isaac “and laid him on the altar” (Gen. 22:6, 9). Then God stayed Abraham’s hand and provided “for himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:8). That Lamb is God’s own beloved Son, Jesus, in whom “all the nations of the earth” are blessed (Gen. 22:18). As the Substitute for all the sons of men, Jesus is driven by the Spirit “into the wilderness” to be “tempted by Satan” (Mark 1:12–13), in order to endure and defeat all temptation. We are tempted by our own desire, which conceives and “gives birth to sin” (James 1:14–15). But this blessed Man, Christ Jesus, remained “steadfast under trial,” and He has received “the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). His faithfulness, His victory and His life are now given to us by His grace in the Gospel.

Genesis 22:1-18

^22:1        After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ²He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. ⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” ⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

⁹           When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹²He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

¹⁵          And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, ¹⁸and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

James 1:12-18

¹²          Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

¹⁶          Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Mark 1:9-15

⁹           In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

¹²          The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

¹⁴          Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Some Additional Notes

• We will have a Voters’ Meeting following the worship service. Aside from reports, the voters will consider establishing a policy concerning marriage practices at Lamb of God. Copies of the proposal have been placed in your boxes in the narthex. It would be very helpful if you have any suggested modifications to e-mail it to our elders (Jim Kimsey and Wayne Mabb) and Pastor.

• LitWits meets Sunday at 6:30 pm. The book under discussion will be “The Book Theif.”

• Our Stations of the Cross have been posted in our yard.

• The March newsletter is due to be out Sunday.

• The Ash Wednesday homily can be found on the sermon page. All the homilies will be found there.

• Our Lenten worship services are each Wednesday, 7:00 pm, preceded by a community supper, which begins at 6:15 pm. When you arrive at church Sunday, you will notice a beautiful new banner in the front of the church inviting the community. We Still Need People to Sing Up to Bring Soup. The theme for the homilies this Lent is “The Hymns of Lent.” We are looking at the teaching in some well-known Lenten hymns. This Wednesday’s homily will look at the theology behind “Jesus, Refuge of the Weary” (LSB 423).

• Our seasonal Choir has its practices following our Wednesday worship services. New singers are always welcome.

• If you missed Pastor Rickert on KFUO’s HIS Time program, you can hear it by following the link on this page and go to KUFO, click on the archives, and listen.

• Remember, we have pledged to pray for our neighbors. You can get a list of your 100 your closest neighbors from pray4everyhome.com. If you have no internet access, speak with Rachel Swain or Kitty Rickert and they will sign you up and get you a list.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Rickert

Worship Notes for Transfiguration Sunday, 2015

Thursday after Epiphany 5

February 12, 2015

Blessed Epiphany season

Once again we will have one of those Sundays with multiple names. On our calendars February 15 is the Commemoration of Philemon and Onesimus. Paul wrote a letter to Philemon concerning his runaway slave, Onesimus, advocating on his behalf. The letter apparently achieved its purpose as the first century saint, Ignatius of Antioch, tells us that Onesimus became the bishop of Ephesus. We will remember these saints in our prayers, in part by remembering in our prayers those who continue in slavery to this very day. This coming Sunday will be celebrated as the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany in Roman Catholic churches and a few liturgical protestant churches. For us, and for the majority of liturgical protestant churches, we celebrate the Last Sunday after the Epiphany as Transfiguration Sunday. (Roman Catholics recognize August 6 as the Feast of the Transfiguration. The date was chosen in celebration of a military victory over the Ottoman Turks. Others transfer it to the some Sunday in August.) It was actually Lutherans who first celebrated this feast on the Last Sunday of Epiphany.

For our liturgy this coming Sunday we will use the Service of Prayer and Preaching (page 260). We use the appointed Psalm for this service, which will be Psalm 50:1-6. The antiphon will be verse 2. The appointed lessons are: 2 Kings 2:1-12, 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6 and Mark 9:2-9. The text for the sermon will be Mark 9:7 and the sermon will be titled “Son of God, Always.”

Our opening hymn will be “The People That in Darkness Sat” (LSB 412). Our sermon hymn will be “Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory” (LSB 416). Our closing hymn will be “‘Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here” (LSB 414).

Below is a video from the Lutheran Warbler singing our sermon hymn, “Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory.” I think the tune is quite catchy.

Be sure to read the additional notes at the end of this post as there are some important ones.

What follows is a synopsis of the OT, Epistle and Gospel lessons, provided by the synod. What then follows are the readings themselves, including the Psalm. By the way, the Psalm is not included in the synopsis, I assume, because many of our congregations always use the Introit instead of the Psalm.

The Face of Jesus Christ Manifests the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God

It was “a hard thing” that Elisha asked, but by his persistence he was able to see the Prophet Elijah being taken “by a whirlwind into heaven.” Although “chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them,” Elisha received Elijah’s cloak and a “double portion” of his spirit for preaching the Lord’s Word (2 Kings 2:9–11). It was a hard thing, too, for Israel to see Moses and come near to him, when “the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Ex. 34:29–30). Therefore, after “he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai,” Moses “put a veil over his face” (Ex. 34:32–33). Only the Word of the Gospel lifts the veil, and “only through Christ is it taken away” (2 Cor. 3:14). Thus are we able to behold “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” who is “the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4–6). For the Law and the prophets are all fulfilled in Him. Therefore, “listen to him,” and fix your sights on “Jesus only” (Mark 9:7–8).

Psalm 50:1-6 (2)

^50:1        The Mighty One, God the Lord,

                        speaks and summons the earth

                        from the rising of the sun to its setting.

²           Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

                        God shines forth.

³           Our God comes; he does not keep silence;

                        before him is a devouring fire,

                        around him a mighty tempest.

⁴           He calls to the heavens above

                        and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵           “Gather to me my faithful ones,

                        who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”

⁶           The heavens declare his righteousness,

                        for God himself is judge! Selah

2 Kings 2:1-12

^2:1         Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. ²And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

⁴           Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

⁶           Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. ⁷Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. ⁸Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.

⁹           When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” ¹⁰And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” ¹¹And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ¹²And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.

            Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6

¹²          Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, ¹³not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. ¹⁴But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

^4:1         Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. ²But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. ³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. ⁶For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Mark 9:2-9

²           And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” ⁸And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

⁹           And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Some Additional Notes

• We will have a Voters’ Meeting following the worship service. Aside from reports, the voters will consider establishing a policy concerning marriage practices at Lamb of God. Copies of the proposal have been placed in your boxes in the narthex. It would be very helpful if you have any suggested modifications to e-mail it to our elders (Jim Kimsey and Wayne Mabb) and Pastor.

• LitWits meets Sunday at 6:30 pm. The book under discussion will be “The Book Theif.”

• Our Stations of the Cross will be posted in our yard this Saturday.

• Information for our March newsletter will be due Sunday.

• Ash Wednesday is this coming Wednesday. Our worship service will be preceded by a community supper, which begins at 6:15 pm. When you arrive at church Sunday, you will notice a beautiful new banner in the front of the church inviting the community. We Still Need People to Sing Up to Bring Soup. The theme for the homilies this “Lent is The Hymns of Lent.” We will be looking at the teaching in some well known Lenten hymns. The first one, which will probably be sung by over 90% of our LC-MS congregations on Ash Wednesday, is “O Lord, throughout These Forty Days” (LSB 418).

• Our seasonal Choir will have its first practice following our Ash Wednesday worship service. New singers are always welcome.

• Remember that Pastor Rickert will be the guest Bible study leader and preacher on the HIS Time program, aired on KFUO Ash Wednesday. KFUO is the Synod’s radio station and, even though they broadcast in St. Louis, MO, can be heard on the internet. Simply click on the link on the left hand side of this page. The program begins at 9:05 am.

• Remember, we have pledged to pray for our neighbors. You can get a list of your 100 your closest neighbors from pray4everyhome.com. If you have no internet access, speak with Rachel Swain or Kitty Rickert and they will sign you up and get you a list.

• You can read the February newsletter by clicking on the newsletter page on this blog. All print copies have already been scooped up.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Rickert

Worship Notes for Epiphany 5, 2015

Thursday after Epiphany 4

February 5, 2015

Blessed Epiphany season

This coming Sunday will be the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, or simply Epiphany 5. For our liturgy we will be using the second setting of the Divine Service (page 167). It has actually been some times since we have used this setting so we will probably be a bit rusty. I expect it will come back to us, though. This is a Communion service. To prepare you may wish to review what your Small Catechism has to say about the sacrament. Our lections are Isaiah 40:21-31, 1 Corinthians 9:16-27, and Mark 1:29-39. The sermon will be based on the Gospel lesson (Mark 1:34 is the text) and is titled “Not A Magic Show.”

Our opening hymn will be “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light” (LSB 411). Our sermon hymn will be “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” (LSB 790). Our closing hymn will be “Father, We Praise Thee” (LSB 875). Our distribution hymns will be “Thy Body, Given for Me, O Savior” (LSB 619), “Lord Jesus, Think on Me” (LSB 610) and “Crown Him with Many Crowns” (LSB 525).

Below is a video from the Lutheran Quartet singing our sermon hymn, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.” Lyrics are included.

What follows is a synopsis of the OT, Epistle and Gospel lessons, provided by the synod. What then follows are the readings themselves, including the Psalm.

The Son of God, Christ Jesus, Makes Us a New Creation

The Lord alone “is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth” (Is. 40:28). He “sits above the circle of the earth” and “stretches out the heavens like a curtain” (Is. 40:22). Yet His almighty power is demonstrated chiefly by His mercy and compassion. “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Is. 40:29). The only begotten Son of the Father, the very Word by whom all things were made, becomes flesh and takes all the poverty and weakness of our sin and death upon Himself, bearing it in His body to the cross. As He dies for us there, He also raises us up, a new creation, in His resurrection from the dead. Thus, by the preaching of this Word, He heals “many who were sick with various diseases,” and He casts out “many demons” (Mark 1:34, 39). And His preaching continues through those whom He has sent, who are “entrusted with a stewardship” to “preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16–17). Thus, we are set free by the Word of Christ, and we exercise our freedom in loving service to others.

Isaiah 40:21-31

²¹          Do you not know? Do you not hear?

                        Has it not been told you from the beginning?

                        Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

²²          It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

                        and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

            who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

                        and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

²³          who brings princes to nothing,

                        and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

²⁴          Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

                        scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

            when he blows on them, and they wither,

                        and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

²⁵          To whom then will you compare me,

                        that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

²⁶          Lift up your eyes on high and see:

                        who created these?

            He who brings out their host by number,

                        calling them all by name,

            by the greatness of his might,

                        and because he is strong in power

                        not one is missing.

²⁷          Why do you say, O Jacob,

                        and speak, O Israel,

            “My way is hidden from the Lord,

                        and my right is disregarded by my God”?

²⁸          Have you not known? Have you not heard?

            The Lord is the everlasting God,

                        the Creator of the ends of the earth.

            He does not faint or grow weary;

                        his understanding is unsearchable.

²⁹          He gives power to the faint,

                        and to him who has no might he increases strength.

³⁰          Even youths shall faint and be weary,

                        and young men shall fall exhausted;

³¹          but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

                        they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

            they shall run and not be weary;

                        they shall walk and not faint.

1 Corinthians 9:16-27

¹⁶          For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. ¹⁸What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹          For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. ²⁰To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. ²³I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

²⁴          Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. ²⁵Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. ²⁶So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. ²⁷But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Mark 1:29-39

²⁹          And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. ³¹And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³²          That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. ³³And the whole city was gathered together at the door. ³⁴And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

³⁵          And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. ³⁶And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, ³⁷and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” ³⁸And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” ³⁹And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Some Additional Notes

• The board of evangelism will meet for planning and lunch Sunday.

• Remember, we have pledged to pray for our neighbors. You can get a list of your 100 closest neighbors from pray4everyhome.com. Pastor has signed up the congregation and is waiting for confirmation, but you can sign-up as an individual.

• You can read the February newsletter by clicking on the newsletter page on this blog. All print copies have already been scooped up.

•  Women’s Bible Fellowship will meet Monday, 10:00 am.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Rickert