God is with us in Word and Sacrament

Immanuel News & Notes (Quinquagesima)

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THIS WEEK AT IMMANUEL

Sunday (2/14)

  • 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

Wednesday

  • 12:30 pm—Catechism Class
  • 5:30 pm—Lenten Soup & Sandwich Supper
  • 7:00 pm—Ash Wednesday Divine Service

Saturday

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

Sunday (2/21)

  • 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;); 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

ASH WEDNESDAY’S READINGS . . . Joel 2:12–19; 2 Peter 1:2–11; Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21.

ABOUT THIS WEEK’S READINGS . . . The seeing are blind, while the one who is blind can see (Luke 18:31–43). Jesus tells the twelve that He is going up to Jerusalem to suffer and die and rise again, but they cannot understand or grasp what He is saying. The meaning of His words is hidden from their sight. However, as Jesus makes His way up to Jerusalem, a blind man calls out to Him for mercy. This blind man sees that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, for he calls Him “Son of David.” Indeed, Jesus is the Lord’s anointed, the keeper of sheep (1 Sam. 16:1–13) who goes to lay down His life for the sheep. He is the incarnate love of the Father who suffers long and is kind, who is not puffed up, who never fails us (1 Cor. 13:1–13). Jesus opens the eyes of the blind (Is. 35:3–7) to see Him not according to outward appearances of lowliness, but according to His heart of mercy and compassion. Those who behold Him thus by faith follow Him to the cross through death into life.

THOUGHTS ABOUT STEWARDSHIP . . . Luke 18:34 “This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” Even our understanding of the Word of God is a gift—the disciples here can’t understand Jesus because it is not given to them to understand him. By nature they are deaf to the Word. So everything we have is a gift of God. To realize this is the beginning of thankfulness, generosity, and kindness.

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

NEWS FROM THE CENTRAL ILLINOIS DISTRICT . . . check out the lastest issue of The GatePost!

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.

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 February reading list is now available! We look forward to learning with you!

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