Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church Dispelling the Darkness August 31

Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church
Dispelling the Darkness
August 31, 2008

Prelude Elaine Anderson

Welcome

Opening Hymns O, Come Let Us Adore Him (see bulletin)
He That Believes and Is Baptized #270

Baptism

Apostle’s Creed Hymnal front p. 4

Hymn I am Trusting You, Lord Jesus #376

Scripture Readings:
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 OT p.138
New Testament: Titus 3:1-8 NT p. 171

Confession of Sin: Hymnal front p. 50 #13

Pastoral Prayer

Children’s Object Lesson

Offering We Give Thee but Thine Own #391

Hymn God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage #258

Sermon                                                        "Gift of Grace"
                                                                                   Matthew 28:16-20
                                                                             Pastor David Skordahl

Hymn Faith Is a Living Power From Heaven #406

Lord’s Prayer

The Benediction

The Doxology Hymnal (front) p. 24

A pastor and deacons will be in the front of the sanctuary following the service to meet with those who desire to receive Christ as Savior and Lord, those who wish to renew their relationship with Him, and those who need prayer for specific needs. Anointing with oil, according to James 5:14, is available upon request.

Stand (optional)

We are thankful to have you join us for today’s service. It is our desire that you experience the presence of the Lord and the love of God’s people. If you are a first-time guest, please sign a registration card located in your pew and place it in the offering plate.

Deacons at the Altar: Doug Gipes and Len Terry

Greeters today: Len and Dianne Terry

Today’s radio broadcast is sponsored by Milt and June Thompson in honor of their 58th wedding anniversary on September 2. Congratulations, Milt and June!

Today we welcome Caroline Elizabeth Schulz into the family of God by baptism. Caroline is the daughter of Bradley and Julie Schulz. Sponsors are Elizabeth Jackson and Jeffrey Schulz.

Would you like to be involved in a ministry of serving the Lord in praise and song? Then join us for our first choir practice of the fall on Wednesday, September 3, from 6:30 until 7:30 pm. We will begin singing on Sunday, September 14th.

Thank you to everyone who donated money for the music fund. We have received almost $400 so far. Your donations are very much appreciated!

Last Sunday’s attendance: 154

Last Sunday’s offering: Current $3,201 Missions $294

Needed to meet budget: Current $4,250 Missions $306

Weekly offering average $3,664 (June 1 to present)

The Ladies’ Tuesday morning Bible Study will resume this Tuesday morning at 9:30 am. We will meet in the Fireside Room. All ladies are welcome.

The Sunday School is sponsoring a Pancake Breakfast on Rally Day, September 7th. Everyone is welcome! Please join us in Fellowship Hall right after the Worship Service.

Thank you to everyone who delivered Mobile Meals. There were such nice comments about your kindness, promptness, and friendliness.

Please pray for the persecuted Church in Equatorial Guinea. Open witnessing is banned and no new denominations are approved. 93% of the people say they are Christians, but only 25 trained pastors remain in the whole nation. Pray that God will raise up spiritual leaders founded in the TRUTH.

Thanks to everyone who sent me flowers and cards, and for your prayers while I was in the hospital and at home. Arlene Johnson

Roy Hope will be here for a special concert on Sunday evening, Sept. 7th, at 6:30 pm. Roy Hope presents a concert of Gospel music for both young and old. Please plan to attend. You will be blessed by Roy’s music. There will be refreshments served after the concert.

Ardelle Egeland recently talked with former Parish Worker, Amanda Walck. Amanda sends greetings and her love to all the members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church. She is currently living in New York and is 90 years old.

If you are interested in playing Flag Football in a Church League, please call the church office. The games are played in Channahon on Saturday mornings.

"Campus Days" at the Association Free Lutheran Bible School -

Last spring, there were 150 students who attended Spring Campus Days. This fall, the event is scheduled for October 17-19. This is a wonderful opportunity to experience dorm life, sit in on classes, meet future classmates, and have fun during fellowship times.

The AFLBS mission is:

to bring students into and establish them in the assurance of personal salvation in Christ Jesus through the study of God’s Word

prepare students to face a secular society by grounding them in the Word of God

help students embrace the truth as found in the Bible and help them to reject the theological errors so prevalent today

challenge students to seek God’s will in all personal and vocational choices, and equip students to serve in free and living Lutheran congregations

Registrations are due Monday, October 10th. The cost is only $25 for the entire weekend. ($40 after Oct. 10th) There are brochures at the east door.

Sunday School begins on September 7th for all ages, 3 years (as of September 1) through High School. We also have an adult class taught by Pastor Skordahl. We are looking forward to a year of fellowshipping with friends and growing closer to the Lord. God has blessed us with many returning teachers, but we still need substitutes who would be willing to fill in. Or maybe you have a heart for leading children’s choir. Are you that person God is nudging to help Him in His work here at Bethlehem? Talk to Kathy Hoge or Ann Higgins if you would like to help.

Are you a junior high or high school student looking to hang out, do cool activities, and have a Bible study that is relevant to where you are in your walk with God? Become part of the newly formed youth group as we initiate the school year with a "Progressive Fast Food Restaurant Dinner". Each Sunday we will meet at the church for games, snacks and Bible study. The fun will start at the church Sunday Sept. 7th at 6:00. Bring your appetite, $10, and your Bible.

This year our Corn Festival Lawn Service will feature the Wissmann Family. Loren, Gloria, and their 13 children will be singing and playing a variety of musical instruments as they share the timeless message of Jesus Christ. Why not invite family and friends who don’t attend church? They will hear beautiful music along with the promise of salvation in Jesus.

The Sacrament of Baptism

From Luther’s Small Catechism and Explanation

What is Baptism?
Baptism is not simply water, but it is the water used according to God’s command and connected with God’s Word.
What is God’s command concerning Baptism?
It is the word of our Lord Jesus Christ, as recorded in the last chapter of Matthew: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
In whose name then are you baptized?
I am baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19
Explain this further.
In Baptism I have entered into fellowship with the Triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; I have become His own and have been made heir of all His gracious gifts.
Is the Baptism of little children in agreement with Christ’s command?
Yes; Christ Himself has said, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these" (Mark 10:14).
What benefit do we have from Baptism?
Baptism works the forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives everlasting salvation to all who believe, as the word and promise of God declare.

Prayer Connection — August 31, 2008

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35) A most significant display of love is prayer. Praying for someone in a specific cause helps relieve the pressure and weight of his or her troubles. Paul said in Galatians 6:2, "Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ." P. T. Forsythe wrote, "If intercessory prayer is caring for another or for a human situation in the presence of God, and if it is our communion with God and others, then the divine presence may be trusted to lift it from our well intentioned initial outbursts into a critically important thrust of love that may change the situation, even though the change may be widely different from the cry we entered with or from any of our expectations. There is no form of prayer that is more obviously an act of real love than the act of intercessory prayer. Let us not hold back. Let us join and meet one another in the being of God in Jesus Christ as we pray for one another, for others, and for our world. Amen."

Our Heavenly Father,
Thank You for loving us first. You have taught us so much about the way You want us to love one another. Help us to be devoted to one another in brotherly love and to honor one another above ourselves. You have told us that whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. Place a desire on our hearts to pray for each other in Your love and truth. Help us to pray for others that they may grow in love, have a holy character, and do what is right. And as Paul prayed, that we, being rooted and established in love, may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge. We pray for ourselves and for all others in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ." (Philippians 1:9-10) "Prayer should be the breath of our breathing, the thought of our thinking, the soul of our feeling, and the life of our living, the sound of our hearing, the growth of our growing. Prayer in its magnitude is length without end, width without bounds, height without top, and depth without bottom. Illimitable in its breadth, exhaustless in height, fathomless in depths and infinite in extension." Homer Hodge Call on me anytime at schwiesowfam@sbcglobal.net or 941-4645. I wish for you a prayer-filled week.

Ann Schwiesow

This Week at Bethlehem

Today: 8:00 am Men’s prayer in Pastor’s study

9:00 am Worship Service-Radio 95.7 F

Tuesday: 9:30 am Ladies’ Bible Study

Thursday: 6:00 am Men’s Bible Study (IHOP)

6:30 pm Deacons Meet

Saturday: 7:30 am Men’s breakfast (RPlace)

Sunday: 8:00 am Prayer in Pastor’s Study

9:00 am Worship Service-Radio 95.7 FM

Please remember the following people in your prayers this week:

Missionaries: Wayside Cross

Special Needs:
George Kresse                                Tom Bishop                                 Roy Egeland
Mickey McComas                          Tom Mickelson                            Tom Ricket
Milo Peterson                                 Vivian Walker                              Jim Koedding
Bonnie Carlson                                Beverly Pierce

(Special Needs requests will be in the bulletin for two consecutive Sundays.

Please call the office to be included for a longer period of time.)

Praise: for God’s adoption of Caroline into the family of believers

Pastor Dave and Cheryl Skordahl
38 Lynwood Drive Morris, IL 60450
815 942-3670 (Home) 815 735-7329(Cell)

Patrick Lohse, Intern Pastor
Patrick and Jennifer Lohse

510 Narvick Ave. Apt. 6 Morris, IL 60450
815 941-2407 (Home) 815-584-7122 (Cell)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Matthew 28: 19-20

Thrivent will match up to $1600 for any fundraisers that we complete by the end of the year. We are in the early stages of planning a Potato Bake and Silent Auction for October or November. Keep watching the bulletin for details.

What we need now:

Volunteers to help organize the event

Thrivent members to participate

Members who would be willing to make, bake or purchase items that could be sold at a silent auction (crafts, gift cards, gift certificates (from restaurants, gas stations, local stores), toys, Christmas presents, etc. Items do not need to be expensive, but must be new.

Volunteers who would be willing to work at the event (baking, serving, cleaning up)

Why have a fundraiser?

The money has been set aside for our congregation

Whatever we don’t use (of the $1600) goes to the government

We spent $20,000 to fix broken pipes this year

There are other projects that need attention (Internet cables, bell tower roof, etc.)

It will be fun and is something we have never done!

Please call the office and let us know where you would be willing to do to raise the money and get matching funds. Monetary donations will also be accepted.