God is with us in Word and Sacrament

Immanuel News & Notes (Lent 3)

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THIS WEEK AT IMMANUEL

Sunday (3/7)

  • 7:30 am—Divine Service of the Word (On-Line Video)
  • 9:00 am—Divine Service with Holy Communion
  • 10:30 am—Bible Class and Sunday School

Monday

  • 5:00 pm—Board of Mission & Evangelism
  • 6:00 pm—Board of Christian Education
  • 6:30 pm—Board of Trustees
  • 7:00 pm—Board of Elders

Wednesday

  • 12:30 pm—Catechism Class
  • 5:30 pm—Lenten Soup & Sandwich Supper
  • 7:00 pm—Lent Midweek (Evening Prayer)

Saturday

  • 3:30 pm—Individual Confession and Absolution
  • 5:30 pm—Divine Service with Holy Communion

Sunday (3/14)

  • 7:30 am—Divine Service of the Word (On-Line Video)
  • 9:00 am—Divine Service with Holy Communion
  • 10:30 am—Bible Class and Sunday School

IN OUR PRAYERS

HEALTH CONCERNS: Bernita Ashwill; Connie Bruns (cousin of Mary Appleby); Lynn Corrie (friend of Arleigh Jones); Ellie Crawford (daughter of Laran Crawford); Leona Czerwonka; Lynn Davis (cousin of Mark Whitson); Cindy Ekstrom; Lisa Hall (sister of Holly Wikoff); Rick Hardesty (family of the Hoels); Forrest Harvey (son of John Harvey); Kim Hausman (friend of Ann Carroll); Deanna Henningsen (sister-in-law of Jerry & Joyce Alexander); Mary Miller (friend of David Holzrichter); Kimberly Mulvany (daughter of Pastor Doug Meyer); Mary Negangard (grandmother of Bryce Reifsteck); Dennis Pickett (friend of Ann Carroll); Misti Post (niece of Sue Rothe); Cary & Beth Rahn; Joan Rahn; Jody Reifsteck (mother of Bryce Reifsteck); Tammy Shrader and Kalvin Crawford (granddaughter and great-grandson of Sharon Allen); Emma Silver; Dave Slaughter; Ocil Slone (grandfather of Josh & Jake Dyer); Joy Stenger; Carolyn Stremming (sister-in-law of Arleigh Jones); Doris Threet (sister of Wanda Long); Debbie Tiffan (friend of Deborah Reifsteck); Aurelia Tuegal (grandmother of Bethany Campbell; Brian Walker (uncle of Bryce Reifsteck); Lynn & Jane Whitson (parents of Mark Whitson).

SEMINARY STUDENT: Gunnar Campbell; Logan Smith.

DEACONESS STUDENT: Emily McLean.

MISSIONARIES The Naumann Family; The McDermott Family, Julie Lutz

HOMEBOUND: Bernita Ashwill; Leonard Boerngen; Jim Harbaugh; Janet Pollock; Ruth Rentschler; Ruth Sims; Irene Wattjes.

MILITARY: Carl Crawford; Josh Dyer; Jeremy Gordon; Jack Leonard; Jake Lindgren; Raymond Longtin; Joey Pollock; Blake Stokes; Scott Walter; Ruben Wilson.

THE ANNOUNCEMENTS

NEXT WEEK’S READINGS . . . Exodus 16:2–21; Galatians 4:21–31; John 6:1–15.

ABOUT THIS WEEK’S READINGS . . . Jeremiah was charged with speaking evil when he spoke the Word of the Lord (Jer. 26:1–15). So also, Jesus is accused of doing evil when in fact He is doing good. He casts out a demon from a mute man so that he is able to speak (Luke 11:14–28). But some said Jesus did this by the power of Beelzebul, Satan. Like Pharaoh of old, their hearts were hard (Ex. 8:16–24). They did not recognize the finger of God, the power of the Holy Spirit at work in and through Jesus. Jesus is the Stronger Man who overcomes the strong man. He takes the devil’s armor of sin and death and destroys it from the inside out by the holy cross. He exorcizes and frees us by water and the Word. We were once darkness, but now we are light in Christ the Lord (Eph. 5:1–9). As children of light, our tongues are loosed to give thanks to Him who saved us.

THOUGHTS ABOUT STEWARDSHIP . . . Ephesians 5:1–2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” Our sanctification flows from the justification which we have received in Christ. His love for us transforms us into His image. This why the Bible talks so much about giving—because we are to imitate God in His generosity.

THE MARCH CALENDAR . . . with birthdays and anniversaries is available on the table across from the members’ mailboxes.

MONTHLY BIBLE CHALLENGE . . . Beginning February 1, join the Board of Christian Education as we begin to read the entire Bible over the next 12 months. Recognizing that God chose each Book of the Bible to be included, this is an opportunity to read portions of the Bible we may not often read and learn things we may not have known before. This is also a great way to get the full picture of our rich history and events that have taken place, increasing our faith, knowledge and wisdom. Each month a daily reading map will be available at the church and online at Immanuel’s website under the News tab (immanueltuscola.org). The March reading list is now available! We look forward to learning with you!

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BEGINS . . . next Sunday, March 14. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward one hour.

EASTER LILY ORDER FORMS . . . Please return them to the office by Sunday, March 28. Lilies are $13.00 each. These forms were in last week’s bulletin.

LENTEN MIDWEEK SUPPERS . . . will be served this year before the Midweek services beginning on Ash Wednesday. Serving time will be 5:30 pm–6:45 pm. Since we are not just physical beings, but also spiritual and emotional, the time we spend together is important. We didn’t want to take this time of gathering away from anyone who felt comfortable doing so. In order to do this, we will not be assigning boards to provide meals this year so that we can make them Covid compliant. A couple of ladies have volunteered to make the meals in order to follow guidelines for indoor dining. Tables will be spread out to allow for comfortable distancing.

LENTEN MIDWEEK SERMON SERIES . . . is “The Salutary Gift.” The chief blessing of the Lord’s Supper is made clear by the words of Christ’s institution: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” The forgiveness of sins, won for us on Calvary and offered in the Sacrament of our Lord’s body and blood truly makes this blessed Supper a “salutary gift” (Post-Communion Collect). While the chief blessing and benefit of the Lord’s Supper is the forgiveness of sins, there are several different images and metaphors used by Holy Scripture to highlight the blessings of the Lord’s Supper, many of which are reflected in our hymns. They draw upon the themes of Holy Scripture and teach us to appreciate the full range of blessings that are present when the faithful are gathered around the life-giving, nourishing, and salutary gift of our Lord’s holy body and precious blood.

HOLY COMMUNION . . . The offer still stands, during the pandemic, that if you desire the Holy Communion, you can make an appointment with Pastor to receive the Lord’s Supper either at church or in your home until services resume.

SERVICES ONLINE . . . A copy of the service bulletin, which includes all the responses and the hymns, is available at Immanuel’s website under the Sermons tab by clicking on the button labeled PDF. This video option will continue to be made available until our usual service times resume. You can access these online services in three places:

  1. On Immanuel’s Facebook page
  2. On Immanuel’s Website under the Sermons tab
  3. On Immanuel’s YouTube channel

CHANGES IN MANDATED REPORTER LAW . . . The state of Illinois recently made significant changes to the mandated reporter law. By law, any person affiliated with the church who, in their role, comes into contact with children, either in a paid position or as a volunteer, is now a mandated reporter. Mandated reporters are required to call the DCFS Hotline when they have reasonable cause to believe that a child known to them in their professional or official capacity may be an abused or neglected child. As such, s/he must undergo training within three months of first serving. This is only a training session not a background check. This new law would include the following at Immanuel: all Sunday School teachers, VBS volunteers, youth group chaperones, and those on Altar Guild who work with the Jr. Altar Guild. To that end, we ask that those individuals in the groups listed, follow THIS LINK to take the online training. This training takes roughly 60 minutes to complete. Upon completion of the training, a certificate is awarded which will need to be printed off and a copy be given to Pastor to keep on file. For those who are unable to access this online training at home, time will be available for you to complete this in the church office. Please find time to complete the online training as soon as possible. While we understand that this may be a burden for some, please know that we are willing to help you get the necessary training so that we as a church are compliant with this new law. If you have any questions or concerns, please talk with one of the members of the Board of Christian Education or Pastor. Thank you!


PRAYER REQUESTS

 


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