All Saints Lutheran Church of Bloomington Normal

An Exciting Sunday — and You’re Invited!

Holly Schurter — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:11:52 +0000

It’s going to be an exciting Sunday at All Saints Lutheran Church this week! Pastor John will preach about the interplay between trusting and obeying God, and we will celebrate Holy Communion. Immediately after worship, we will begin regular Sunday School classes for children and adults — you won’t want to miss them! We will also be taking a practical worship offering of baby diapers, wipes, and formula for the Home Sweet Home Mission. We hope you will join us for worship, study, fellowship and friendship in Christ.

Trust and Obey

Pr. John — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:07:22 +0000

“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed, and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith, to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen” Romans 16:25 (ESV)

St. Paul speaks of “the obedience of faith” in Romans. It seems we don’t speak much of obedience; although the famous hymn, “Trust and Obey” does. It turns out that trust, faith and obedience or (hearing/keeping His word) are referenced over 120 times in the New Testament. Like word studies? Try www.biblestudytools.com

Hupakouo Verb (derived from akouo – hear)

1. to listen, to harken

of one who on the knock at the door comes to listen who it is

to harken to a command

to obey, be obedient to, submit to

Hupakoe Noun

1. obedience, compliance, submission

2. obedience rendered to anyone’s counsel

Apeitheo Verb (predecessor of apathy)

1. not to allow one’s self to be persuaded

to refuse or withhold belief

to refuse belief and obedience

2. not to comply with

Tereo Verb (to keep)

1. to attend to carefully, take care of

2. to guard

metaph. to keep, one in the state in which he is

to observe

to reserve something

Practical Worship Offering — September

Holly Schurter — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:15:31 +0000

On Sunday, September 5 we will take a practical worship offering for the Home Sweet Home Mission in Bloomington. We are focusing on items for infants and toddlers, which include things like

Size 4,5 and 6 diapers

Diaper wipes

Baby Formula

You can learn more about the Home Sweet Home Mission ministry at http://www.hshministries.org/.

A Reason to Rejoice

Holly Schurter — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:51:38 +0000

All Saints Lutheran Church will offer Sunday School classes for children and adults beginning Sunday September 5, 2010, from 5:15 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. We are excited to begin regular Sunday School classes, and invite you to join us!

Blueberry Picking

Holly Schurter — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:18:51 +0000

You wouldn’t think a blueberry patch would be a spiritual classroom, but God isn’t limited by His surroundings.
I’d never picked blueberries til last week. A blueberry patch is a good place for peace and privacy, if not for quiet. The bushes were so tall I couldn’t see anyone in any other rows, although I could hear people in the rows next to me talking quietly, and occasionally slapping at mosquitoes.
So there I was, enjoying the peace and privacy, admiring the lovely colors of blueberries in varied stages of ripeness. Occasionally a breeze freshened the air, and for the most part, the mosquitoes stayed in neighboring rows. I tried to pick only the bluest berries, leaving the others behind to ripen.
I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular except what a pleasant day it was, when I reached for a berry and came up with a branch — a whole branch of the bush fell into my hand. It was so dry that the leaves had begun to shrivel, and so had almost all of the berries hanging in a cluster; it seemed clear that something had broken this particular branch completely off the bush some time earlier.
Almost without thinking, Jesus’s words about vines and branches came to mind.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener,” Jesus said in John 15. “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful . . . Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
This branch had been bearing fruit; something had severed it from the bush, and now the fruit was withering. It was no longer good for eating.
Jesus went on to tell his disciples, ”I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.“
I couldn’t be sure what would happen to the branch I pulled from the bush, except that it wouldn’t bear any more fruit. Without the nourishment it received from the bush, it wasn’t good for much of anything.
Talk about an object lesson — how graphically that dried up branch with its withering berries illustrated Jesus’s vine-and-branches lesson for me. It’s not difficult to figure out that I would rather have the fruit than the branch.
Believers are known by their fruit — that is, by the spiritual fruit their lives bear: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, these qualities are the “fruit” we bear.
Blueberries are better than dried-up branches and withering fruit any day, and I would rather bear fruit for God’s kingdom than become a dried up branch, fit only for the fire.

Practical Worship Offering

Holly Schurter — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:01:35 +0000

All Saints Lutheran Church is collecting school supplies for the LSSI (Lutheran Social Services of Illinois) Single Parent Program. Single Parent families can really use our help in sending their kids off to school this fall with supplies and support. Imagine what it would feel like to show up at school w/o a backpack or paper or pencils…we can make sure some central Illinois kids don’t experience that. If you would like to donate supplies, bring them to All Saints Lutheran Church at the Sunday Service, 4:15 p.m., 8/1 & 8/8.

You might include:
Crayons (24 ct)
Markers (all size boxes – thin and regular)
Colored Pencils
Wide ruled notebook paper
Spiral notebooks (70 pg)
Mechanical pencils
Black OR Red pens
Glue Sticks
Blunt end scissors
Backpacks

On Endurance

Holly Schurter — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:18:59 +0000

Summer is a season for “keeping on.”
You could say that about winter, too, but right now we’re trying to cope with heat and humidity, and “keeping on” is a matter of enduring long, soggy days that never seem to cool off or dry out, and longing for the crisp, clear days of autumn.
Enduring is the word I’m looking for, and the quality of character I’m trying to cultivate.
It’s not easy.
But then, keeping on is never easy, is it?
It’s difficult to keep on doing what is right when hardly anyone seems to notice. It’s difficult to keep on doing what is just when it puts me at some kind of disadvantage. It’s difficult to keep on doing what I know I should do when I’m tired and there’s no end in sight.
Endurance is difficult.
It’s difficult because endurance is often a long stretch of self-denial. One definition of “endurance” is “the ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions.”
It’s those “adverse conditions” that make endurance difficult.
In his book Plan B, Pete Wilson writes, “I’ve found it’s much easier to fall into temptation when our needs are not being met. When we feel as if God has abandoned us, why not just go ahead and abandon him?”
And often, the temptation is to just quit trying and “go with the flow.”
But Scripture tells us “ . . . God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
(Hebrews 13:5b).
Our feelings might deceive us into believing that God has abandoned us, but the truth is He has not.
The truth is that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1).
Not only is God ever-present, He is also our refuge. He is our strength. And refuge and strength come in pretty handy when we are trying to endure.
Turning to God in a tedious, trying season sounds like the best way to keep on keeping on.
Especially in the heat and humidity of a long, hot summer.

Collection Sundays

Holly Schurter — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:27:09 +0000

We’ve begun something new at All Saints Lutheran Church.
The first Sunday of each month is now “Collection Sunday.” Each month we will take a practical offering for a local ministry.
This month we’ve collected groceries for Clare House, a food pantry distributing food to community families who need a bit of help, and we offer them with our prayers that God will meet the needs of these families, and that they will experience the comfort and joy of His presence.
Our next Collection Sunday will be August 1. We will be collecting baby food, disposable diapers and wipes for the Home Sweet Home mission.

a practical offering . . .

Be not foolish…

Pr. John — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 01:17:20 +0000

A few comments regarding all manner of congregational deliberations:

From Luther’s Small Catechism – 8^th Commandment – Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.

From Luther’s Large Catechism

…observe the order according to the Gospel, Matt. 18:15, where Christ says: “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.” Here you have a precious and excellent teaching for governing well the tongue, which is to be carefully observed against this detestable misuse. Let this, then, be your rule, that you do not too readily spread evil concerning your neighbor and slander him to others, but admonish him privately that he may amend [his life]. Likewise, also, if some one report to you what this or that one has done, teach him, too, to go and admonish him personally, if he have seen it himself; but if not, that he hold his tongue.

From Proverbs -

10:18 He who conceals hatred has lying lips, And he who spreads slander is a fool.

10:23 Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool, And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.

12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

14:7 Leave the presence of a fool, Or you will not discern words of knowledge.

18:2 A fool does not delight in understanding, But only in revealing his own mind.

18:6 A fool’s lips bring strife, And his mouth calls for blows.

19:1 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity Than a fool who is perverse in speech.

20:10 A double standard of weights and measures– both are disgusting to the LORD.

23:9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

26:10 Like an archer who wounds everyone, So is he who hires a fool…

From James 1:19 This you know, my beloved… everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

Every Day Stewardship

Holly Schurter — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:18:05 +0000

Some words make me think, and stewardship is one of them.
Maybe it’s the result of “Stewardship Sunday”s — those Sundays each year when a nervous pastor reminds everyone about the virtue of giving, usually just before the annual stewardship drive designed to help the church council plan the church budget for the next year.
I’m not fond of Stewardship Sundays because I think they encourage us to put all our stewardship emphasis on financial stewardship, and I think stewardship is about much more than money.
When we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord, we submit ourselves to Him. Everything we have, everything we are — His. That casts stewardship in a different light.
Traditionally, a steward is someone who oversees assets — someone who cultivates, nurtures, and, when necessary, spends an asset in ways that are most advantageous to the owner of the asset.
As Christians, we are stewards of the gifts — the assets — God has trusted us with. When you consider that life itself is a gift, that makes stewardship a significant issue for us to consider; God trusts us to manage our lives in a way that reflects His goodness, demonstrates His salvation, and builds His kingdom.
A tithe of our earnings is only one small part of that kind of stewardship.
Here are four “Cs” to reflect on as you think about stewardship:
Confession: When we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives, we are confessing that He is entitled to some kind of good return from us. Are we investing ourselves in ways that yield a good return for Him?
Cultivation: In order to invest ourselves in ways that yield a good return for God, we need to cultivate the things that honor Him in our lives. What gifts and talents do you have? What are you able to do? What do you cultivate in your life?
Conservation: How do you spend yourself? Are you poured out in ways that serve and honor God, or do you pour yourself out in service to your own self? Do you spend your life pleasing yourself, or do you conserve your gifts and talents for the things that honor God?
Confirmation: Does the fruit of your life confirm your stewardship? Is your life bearing good fruit for God’s kingdom?
God is gracious to each of us, giving us gifts to manage and use as we live our lives. What we do with those gifts is an expression of our everyday stewardship — not just on Stewardship Sunday.