News

Announcements — May 14, 2017

† IN OUR PRAYERS  Ruth B., recovering from a procedure after severe stomach pain; Megan M., at Freeman Hospital, experiencing some complications with her pregnancy; Jan G., recovering from knee surgery; Jody G., placed on hospice; Jack H., undergoing rehab at St Luke’s Nursing Center; Stella Q., struggling with her loss of memory; Kathy P., suffering health issues; Sara P., under-going treatment for cancer; Stephen Ministry and their care  receivers.

† MEALS FOR PASTOR’S FAMILY  While Megan is staying in the hospital, meals for Pastor and his family are being organized by Brenda K. and Rosann C.  If you would like to help with this in any way, please contact them to get involved.

† TUESDAY BIBLE CLASS will take a break for awhile while Pastor’s wife, Megan, is in the hospital.

† OVER 70’s DINNER  The Groovy Over 70’s Dinner is set for Wednesday, May 31, at 5:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall!  Break out your best disco moves and join the youth group for a trip back in time to the 1970’s for dinner, dessert and entertainment.  Be on the lookout for an invitation in the mail & RSVP to Libby S. by Sunday, May 21 (Contact church office for contact information).

† LWML SPRING RALLY  The LWML Rally of the Southwest Zone, which was postponed due to flooding in Neosho, will be held Sunday, May 21, at 3:00 pm at First Lutheran in Neosho.  All other plans for the Rally are the same with the ingathering going to Teen Challenge.

† TUESDAY MORNING MEN’S BIBLE STUDY  A new Tuesday morning men’s Bible study has started.  The group will be studying  “God’s Word for Today: 2 Peter & Jude”.  They will meet on Tuesdays at 6:30 am, at Panera in Joplin.  If you have any questions you can contact Greg G., or the church office, (417)358-1325.

† SINGLE SENIOR LADIES  A group of single, senior ladies has formed at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.  They are meeting the last Sunday of each month.  Come join them for some fellowship, fun and snacks on Sunday, May 28, from 1:00 – 5:00 pm in the church fellowship hall.   Bring a snack to share with about 15 people.  For questions or more   information, please contact Ann L.

† VBS HELPERS  Are you interested in helping with this year’s Vacation Bible School?  The theme this year is “A Mighty Fortress – In Jesus, the Victory is won!”  The dates will be July 23 – July 27.  We are in need of group leaders, group helpers, station assistants, etc.  If you would like to help out this year, please let Nicole B. or Cindy E. know or you can contact the church office, 358-1325.  Please consider helping out with this worthwhile event that helps our children learn about Jesus’ love for us.

† SUNDAY SCHOOL OFFERINGS  The Sunday School & Adult Bible Class offerings for the Spring quarter are going to LCMS World Relief & Human Care to help with the relief efforts after the recent tornados in New Orleans.

† NURSERY/CRY ROOM  Should your child become distressed or distract others during the service, a furnished nursery/cry room is located in the narthex for your use.  Please ask one of the ushers if you need directions.

† BLOOD PRESSURE CHECKS are available in the nurse’s office after the service.  You will be given a small form that can be carried in your wallet which will include medical information and a log of your blood pressure readings.

† PRAYER BEARS are in the sanctuary pews and available to be signed out (notebook in narthex by nursery) and given to anyone that needs God’s love, comfort, and peace.

† ASSISTIVE LISTENING  If you are having difficulty hearing the service, assistive listening devices are available from the ushers.  They work like a transistor radio and you can control the volume.

 

 

† IN OUR PRAYERS  Megan M., experiencing some complications with her pregnancy; Jan G., recovering from knee surgery; Jody G., placed on hospice; Andrew S., continuing to struggle with weakness from his previous illness; Jack H., undergoing rehab at St Luke’s Nursing Center; Stella Q., struggling with her loss of memory; Kathy P., suffering health issues; Sara P., undergoing treatment for cancer; Stephen Ministry and their care receivers.

† JR CONFIRMATION CLASS will not meet today.

† SCRIPTURE STUDY  The Wednesday morning Scripture Study Group  will meet this Wednesday, May 10.

† TUESDAY BIBLE CLASS will not meet this Tuesday morning.  The class will resume on Tuesday, May 16.

† OVER 70’s DINNER  The Groovy Over 70’s Dinner is set for Wednesday, May 31, at 5:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall!  Break out your best disco moves and join the youth group for a trip back in time to the 1970’s for dinner, dessert and entertainment.  Be on the lookout for an invitation in the mail & RSVP to Libby S. by Sunday, May 21. (Contact the church office for contact information)

† LWML SPRING RALLY  The LWML Rally of the Southwest Zone, which was postponed due to flooding in Neosho, will be held Sunday, May 21, at 3:00 pm at First Lutheran in Neosho.  All other plans for the Rally are the same with the ingathering going to Teen Challenge.

† TUESDAY MORNING MEN’S BIBLE STUDY  A new Tuesday morning men’s Bible study is beginning in May.  The group will be studying  “God’s Word for Today: 2 Peter & Jude”.  They will meet for the first time on Tuesday, May 9, at 6:30 am, at Panera in Joplin.  If you have any questions you can contact Greg G. or the church office, (417)358-1325.

† DEAR CHURCH FAMILY  A heart-felt thank you for all the thoughts and prayers of each of you for my recovery following knee surgery. My healing is progressing well.  I am so grateful for your support. ~ Jan G.

† NURSERY/CRY ROOM  Should your child become distressed or distract  others during the service, a furnished nursery/cry room is located in the narthex for your use.  Please ask one of the ushers if you need directions.

† VBS HELPERS  Are you interested in helping with this year’s vacation bible school?  The theme this year is “A Mighty Fortress – In Jesus, the Victory is won!”  The dates will be July 23 – July 27.  We are in need of group leaders, group helpers, station assistants, etc.  If you would like to help out this year, please let Nicole B. or Cindy E. know or you can contact the church office, 358-1325.  Please consider helping out with this worthwhile event that helps our children learn about Jesus’ love for us.

† SUNDAY SCHOOL OFFERINGS  The Sunday School & Adult Bible Class offerings for the Spring quarter are going to LCMS World Relief & Human Care to help with the relief efforts after the recent tornados in New Orleans.

† BLOOD PRESSURE CHECKS are available in the nurse’s office after the service.  You will be given a small form that can be carried in your wallet which will include medical information and a log of your blood pressure readings.

† PRAYER BEARS are in the sanctuary pews and available to be signed out (notebook in narthex by nursery) and given to anyone that needs God’s love, comfort, and peace.

† ASSISTIVE LISTENING  If you are having a hard time hearing the service, assistive listening devices are available from the ushers.  They work like a transistor radio and you can control the volume.

 

He is Risen

These days (the last couple hundred years or so) you find a lot of different kinds of Christians.  There are Lutherans and Roman Catholics, Methodists and Baptists and so forth. Depending on where you are you may be more likely to find one kind of Christian more than the other.  In South Dakota you ran into a lot of Lutherans.  In Arkansas (and southwest Missouri to a certain extent) you run into a lot of Baptists.  However, unless you are in Russia or Greece you typically don’t run into a lot of Eastern Orthodox Christians.  I was surprised a little when I met an individual in South Dakota who said that he was part of the Orthodox Church. He did not look particularly Russian or Greek (both countries are predominantly full of Orthodox Christians). He looked kind of Middle Eastern.  He was, in fact, Egyptian. He was part of the Egyptian Orthodox Church.  He was an American citizen and all but his faith was Orthodox.  We had some interesting conversations.

One time when I met him it was shortly after Easter and he asked me a question.  He said, “Do you think that most Christians really believe in the resurrection?”  I knew what he was getting at.  It really isn’t an easy position to hold when one comes under a certain kind of scrutiny.  Still on the other hand, it is easy to say that you believe in the resurrection.  It is easy to recite the Nicene Creed along with everyone else in the sanctuary and come to the part where it says “and I look for the resurrection of the dead” without giving it much thought.  This same creed would have been said in the Orthodox Church as well (with the caveat of “and the Son” being left out in the third article {old disagreement they have}). Believing that statement about the resurrection requires faith, quite a bit of faith.  It means believing that something that seems to be physically impossible can and will happen.

He correctly followed this question with the statement, “The resurrection is the foundation of the Christian faith.” To which I smiled and said, “Yes, it is.”  As I thought about it some more I figured that if any Christian I know were asked about the resurrection they would say they believed it.  If asked about how they thought it was physically possible or what not, then they would probably be at a loss for words.  Yet, I am not too disheartened by this.  Belief is not the same as scientific explanation.  God does   not ask us to understand how.  He just asks us to believe.  Yes, the Christian faith does stand or fall on the resurrection of Christ.  And for the entire history of the Church no one has ever had Jesus repeat the process of dying and rising so that they can run an experiment to figure out how it is done.  That misses the point.  If God is God, it really doesn’t matter.  If you believe that Jesus rose from the dead then it means that you believe that He is much more than a guy who figured out how to come back to life after being crucified.  He is God’s own Son.  He is God himself.  He is the resurrection and the life.  Believing this takes faith in God to be God.  I think my Orthodox friend really knew this and I trust you do, too.  He is risen, He is risen indeed, alleluia.

~ Pastor Mehl

New Mics

We appreciate everyone’s patience as we have worked through sound issues in the sanctuary recently that seems to have been caused by our mics failing.  We have purchased new mics.  We believe the new mics have improved the sound, but we will continue to monitor this going forward.  If you have difficulties hearing in the future, let us know so we can make necessary adjustments.

– Thank you
The Board of Elders