Concordia Ev. Lutheran Church

Welcome to

Concordia Ev. Lutheran Church

Machesney Park, IL 61115

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

September 19-20, 2009

1

8:00 am – Traditional

Order of Worship – page 158

“I Know My Faith is Founded” # 351

“Christ Be My Leader” # 365

“Just As I Am” # 359

“God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage” # 333

5:00 pm & 10:30 am

“We Fall Down”

“In His Time”

“Christ Be My Leader” LW # 365

“’Tis So Sweet to Trust”

“Shine, Jesus, Shine”

Choir Anthem

“You Shall Have A Song”

Introit – Psalm # 54[1]

P: Behold, God is my helper;

C: the Lord is the upholder of my life.

P: O God, save me, by your name,

C: and vindicate me by your might.

P: O God, hear my prayer;

C: give ear to the words of my mouth.

P: For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life;

C: they do not set God before themselves.

P: He will return the evil to my enemies;

C: in your faithfulness put an end to them.

P: With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

C: I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.

All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Prayer of the Day[2]

P: Grant, merciful Lord, to Your faithful people pardon and peace that they may be cleansed of all their sins and serve You with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C: Amen

First Lesson

Jeremiah 11:18-20

TheLord made it known

to me and I knew;

then you showed me their deeds.

19But I was like a gentle lamb

led to the slaughter.

I did not know it was against me

they devised schemes, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

let us cut him off

from the land of the living,

that his name be remembered no more.”

20But, OLord of hosts,

who judges righteously,

who tests the heart and the mind,

let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.

Second Lesson

James 3:13-4:10

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.15This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.4You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?6But he gives more grace. Therefore it says,“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.9Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Holy Gospel

Mark 9:30-37

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them,“The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”32But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

33And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them,“What were you discussing on the way?”34But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.35And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them,“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”36And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them,37“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Sermon Thoughts

“Divine Vindication”

O God, save me, by your name,

and vindicate me by your might.

2O God, hear my prayer;

give ear to the words of my mouth.

Psalm 54:1-2

1.  Divine vindication is seen in the way God responds to the believer;

a.  He deals with the “unholy triple alliance.”

b.  He comes to us, not the other way around.

c.  He provides true security for our hearts and lives.

2.  Divine vindication is seen in the judgment of God against the unrepentant sinner.

a.  Many today will not hear the Word of the Lord.

b.  Many will not listen until the Lord acts in judgment.

3.  Divine vindication is known through the Father’s heart, in the Son’s action, and the Spirit’s work.

a.  He is our Helper,

b.  He is our Example.

c.  He is our Strength.

Prayers

These petitions are provided in the hope that they will assist you as you pray for each other this week. Please take the bulletin with you.

Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, and for all people according to their needs.

Lord, our Strength, our Hope, our Example, our Savior, bless us as we begin another week of service in Your kingdom. Guide and direct our thoughts, words and actions, that all we do may give honor and glory to you.

Lord, in Your mercy: Hear our prayer.

O Father, sustainer of all life, watch over those who are dealing with illnesses today, especially Glen Burdick, Irene Daer, Phyllis Daucher, Carol Jensen, Ron Jensen III, Lucille Korleski, Fred Miessler, Wayne Molitor, Bob Schuepbach, Brad Slocum, Carol Stenzel, and Don Webb. If You so desire, grant healing. Above all, increase the faith of these Your servants in this time of adversity.

Lord, in Your mercy: Hear our prayer.

O merciful Father, watch over our shut-in members, especially Dean Vargason, Tony Campisi and Dorthea Corey, keep them close to You that in all things they may place their trust in You.

Lord, in Your mercy: Hear our prayer.

Bless, o gracious Lord, all the families which make up our Concordia community, especially Robert, Linda Jared Schuepbach, Tad & Casandra Schuepbach, Ron & Pam Schultz, and Laura Schwanke. Let this be a time in which their faith is renewed and strengthened for greater service to You.

Lord, in Your mercy: Hear our prayer.

Holy Spirit, You move the Church forward as You strengthen and keep us in the true faith. Watch over the leadership of this congregation, guide our thoughts, words, work, and vision, that it may be in keeping with Your will for this congregation.

Lord, in Your mercy: Hear our prayer.

Be with all who serve us on a national level. Guide the thoughts, words, and actions of the Congress. Prevent that which would harm the proclamation of Your Word, and bless that which would benefit Your Church on earth.

Watch over all who serve for our protection, all who face harm in the line of duty, and grant them safety, faithfulness, and wisdom as they serve.

Lord, in Your mercy: Hear our prayer.

Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Next Weekend In Our Worship

“Faith’s Secret Enterprise” is the title of our Sermon, based on the words of James 5:11-20. The other lessons for the day are: Number 11:4-6,10-16,24-29 and Mark 9:38-50.

A Thought For Stewards

God expects Christians to pay their taxes,

since the government is ordained and authorized by God.

"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's,

and to God what is God's" (Matt. 22:21)

Statistical Information

General Information:

Attendance:

Last Week: 20 + 56 + 75 = 151

Sunday School: 32 + 16 = 48

Offerings:

Received Last Week: $4,920

Sunday School Offering: $38

Door Offering: $215

Reclaim the Future (Capital Campaign)

Commitment Pledges: $531,839

Year One – Receipts: $217,982

Year Two –Receipts: $126,107

Year Three – To Date: $25,127

This Week – Receipts: $425

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Serving in the Lord’s House

This Weekend

The Calendar Sep. 20-26

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday @ 9 am, Make Cookies

Serving – Next Weekend

September 26-27

September Altar Guild is

Team #5 Grace Koeser

Notes and Information

1.  Voters Meeting: NEXT SUNDAY, September 27th @ 11:30 we will have a voter’s meeting to vote on the budget.

2.  Important Member Information: There are still many of our members that have not completed the member information sheets and have not included in birthday/anniversary announcements due to that information not being received. PLEASE, contact the church office to obtain the paperwork required to correct this.

3.  PTL Sponsored Cookbook Fundraiser: Concordia will be putting together a recipe book as a fundraiser this year. We’d like to have them available for the cookie walk. What we need from you is your recipes!! Please get them to Tressie as soon as possible!

4.  Cookie Walk: We will be making cookie dough each Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday through the month of September starting at 9 AM. Come for an hour or all day, everyday or only one of the days - whatever fits your schedule. Look forward to seeing you there. We will do the actual baking in late October and November. The cookie walk is always the first Saturday of December.

5.  LWML Eye Glass Collection: Just a reminder that the Eye Glass Collection is on going. We are asking you to bring in your old glasses and place them in the container marked for them in the Narthex. An average eyeglass team takes with them about 3,000 pairs ofglasses. To yield 3,000 "good" glasses they will need to process about 10,000 pairs. They will need to process glasses long before a team goes out onto the field in order to have the correct prescription strengths. We will be taking the glasses to our convention in October, so please get them in soon! Thank you!

6.  Hospice Care of America: Hospice Care of America is looking for Volunteers to help with a variety of things from helping with patients to helping in the office. If you are interested in helping, please contact Becky @ 815-316-2700.

7.  LFL Quote: "Telling men and women to keep sex sacred—to save sex for marriage and then remain faithful—is telling them to love one another deeply with their whole hearts. Most HIV infections in Africa are spread by sex outside of marriage: casual sex and infidelity. The solution is faithful love." The Rev. Sam L. Ruteikara, co-chair of Uganda’s National AIDS-Prevention Committee. This "Life Quote" is from Lutherans For Life – www.lutheransforlife.org.
Concordia’s Mission

“Serving Christ from Cradle to Crown” faithfully communicating the saving Word of God, and providing excellence in ministry for the benefit of all people of all ages, is the mission of Concordia.

Communion

(If you are not a member and wish to receive Communion, please read the following)

We welcome all members of Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod congregations who are baptized and who have confirmed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Those who desire forgiveness for all their sins, and strengthening of their faith in the hope of everlasting life in heaven; and who believe that with the bread and wine of Holy Communion they are receiving the very body and blood of Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and strengthening of their faith are welcome to partake. Others are asked to please refrain from partaking until they have had opportunity to discuss Communion participation with the pastor.