Photo courtesy of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
ST JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
Arlington, Minnesota
Pastor Gary Ruckman
Church: 507-964-2400
stjohnsarlingtonmn.org/
facebook.com/stjohnsarlingtonmn
Last Sunday of the Church Year
November 22, 2020
View/Download (pdf)
Welcome to St. John’s!
We are glad that you are worshiping with us today.
Let us rejoice in the Lord’s Day.
Order of Service:
Divine Service I, page 151
Hymn of Praise “This is the Feast”
Hymns:
353, 532, 621, 525, 643, 687
Readings (Series A)
OLD TESTAMENT – Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
“The Lord God Will Seek Them Out”
EPISTLE – 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
“The Resurrection of the Dead“
HOLY GOSPEL – Matthew 25:31-46
“The Final Judgement”
Life Thoughts in the Church Year:
“As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). Jesus has consecrated your life in His incarnation and crucifixion. And in the same way He has sanctified every human life, no matter what age, appearance, or ability. When we behold our unborn neighbors, when we care for incapacitated ones, when we advocate for embryos or elderly, we encounter God. https://lutheransforlife.org/
Sermon:
“His Cross has Brought Forgiveness”
Matthew 35:31-46
Gradual:
These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.
They have washed their robes and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb. Blessed are those whose strength
is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Prayer of the Church:
Prayer
This week’s radio and television programs
Serving the Lord with Gladness Today:
Organist:
Barb Hardel
Altar Guild:
Elizabeth Wilhelmi, Kris Willmsen
Elder:
Dean Hardel
Ushers/Greeters:
Carl Belz (head usher),
Gaylan Hardel, Glen Deno
Warren Hardel, Wade Schneider
Upcoming Events at St. John’s:
Today:
9:00 am Adult Bible Class
9:00 am Sunday School
10:00 am Worship w/ Holy Communion
Thursday:
9:00 am Thanksgiving Worship
5:30 pm Bulletin Deadline
Sunday:
9:00 am Adult Bible Class
9:00 am Sunday School
10:00 am Worship
11:00 am Church Decorating
Full Calendar
Snow Shoveling this week:
(see sign-up sheet)
Last Week at St. John’s:
At Worship: 20, Offering: $862
Announcements:
Decorating: Next Sunday begins the new church year with the first Sunday in Advent. The church will be decorated for the Advent/Christmas season after the worship service on November 29th. The more that stay to help, the faster the decorating will get done!
Christmas Sharing Tree: Santa’s Helpers will collect gifts until November 29th this year. The list is on the bulletin board.
Silent Auction (Update): There’s still room for more items for the Silent Auction for Mites! Bring your items to be bid on. All funds collected will be donated to the LWML Minnesota South District for the mission grants projects. This will go until December 13th. See a gallery of items (as of Nov. 21) here.
Attendance Sheet: Please be sure to sign the attendance sheet on the table by the west door when you are here
Tuition Reimbursement: St. John’s has an education fund for our children to attend Christian schools. The congregation will pay $500.00 per school year for each child attending a Christian school. If you have a child attending a Christian school, please fill out a form and put in the box marked Treasurer so that those schools can be paid. If you want to contribute to this fund, please designate your gift that way when you place it in the offering plate.
Mite Boxes: We miss being able to raise money for mites through our plant sale and no-bake bake sale so we are going to put our mite box out. If you would like to help us raise money for mites, please contribute to the mite box. The mite goal for the 2018-2020 biennium of $265,000.00 was met in April, 2020. Mites collected now will be used for the 2020 – 2022 biennium mission grants.
Church Cleaning: The sign-up is also on the bulletin board. Have you picked a month help?
Many of our homes feature a cornucopia as part of our traditional Thanksgiving decorations. The curved goat’s horn overflowing with fruit and ears of grain serves as both a celebration of our abundance and an encouragement to thank God for it. Likewise, as the Scriptures speak of thanksgiving they overflow with both celebration of God’s gifts and encouragement to thank Him for them. The cornucopia invites: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good” (Psalm 136:1 ESV).
One accent that flows out of the horn of God’s plentiful words about thanksgiving is just how important it is. It is so crucial that in Israel’s calendar for worship God prescribed two festivals connect explicitly with harvest for His people to give thanks annually. What are they? How were they to be celebrated? The answers can be found in Exodus 23:16 and Deuteronomy 16:9-17. Not only the times for these thanksgiving celebrations were specified by God, so were the gifts God’s grateful people were to offer to Him as expressions of their gratitude. They can be found in Leviticus 23:16-18 and Numbers 29:12-16.
Taken from a Lutheran Witness Bible Study in November, 2008.
