March 26, 2023
Fifth Sunday in Lent (Judica)
Sermon Notes for Sunday
- Sermon Notes
Sermon based on Matthew 16:13-20
Today we hear about Peter’s confession of faith and how, like Peter, we are given the Spirit of Christ to confess the one true Christian faith boldly and confidently, and that even when we do not confess as we ought, our God and Savior continues to forgive, strengthen, and renew us so that we learn to confess His name before others.
Serving Schedule
This Week’s Servants
- ELDER: Derek Marxhausen
- Usher: Jay Nelson
- Reader: Alan Marxhausen
- Organist: Sue Drury
- Acolytes: Waylon/Lily Dreyer
- Sound Booth:
- Altar Guild: Sue Drury
- Fellowship: Nelsons & Dreyers
Next Week’s Servants
- Elder: Steve Calander
- Usher: Derek Marxhausen
- Reader: Sarah Marxhausen
- Organist: Special/Palm Sunday
- Acolytes: Landon/Lane Marxhausen
- Sound Booth: Chase VanDonsel
- Altar Guild: Joyce Mueller
- Fellowship: Jen VanDonsel/Sue Drury
If you are unable to keep your scheduled serving day, please contact the church at least a few days before the service so there is time to find a replacement. Thank you!
Statistics for Last Week
Financials
- Regular Offering: $1,564.00
- Online Giving: $25.00
- Non-Budget: $0.00
- Midweek: $271.00
- Other: $0.00
Attendance
- Worship Attendance: 60
- Sunday School: 4
- Youth Group: 3
- Mid-Week: 16
Please make every attempt to have your kids in Sunday School each week, and your teens in Youth Group.
Important News & Announcements
Lent Midweek Service This Wednesday
Try to join us for our last midweek Lenten service where we are going through the sixth part of the Small Catechism – The Sacrament of the Altar. The service is at 5:00 PM.
DCE INTERN UPDATE
News about the current status of a DCE Intern will be coming at the next Voters Meeting in April.
Maundy Thursday Seder Needs Your Help!
We will hold the Maundy Thursday Seder on April 6th at 6:00 PM. We’ve invited Rum River Circuit churches to join us, so we will certainly have a full house once again. To make the night a success, we are looking for volunteers to provide food, to help prepare, and to take part in the Seder liturgy with speaking parts. A sign-up table is now available in the Narthex. Please prayerfully consider volunteering. If you’ve not done a lot of volunteering, make the Seder Meal a great way to start. Also, be sure to sign up ASAP if you plan on attending to Seder! THIS IS THE LAST SUNDAY TO SIGN UP!
NEED PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS?
A limited number of printed announcements are available each Sunday and left on the table under the mailboxes. You may also have a PDF copy of the announcements emailed to you if you prefer it that way. Just ask.
TIME TO ORDER LILIES FOR EASTER!
Make our sanctuary Easter-ready by ordering one or more Easter Lilies! You may order your lilies from Milaca Floral for $19.99/plant or from Coburns for $12.99/plant. Milaca Floral will deliver on Saturday the 8th. You will have to visit your local Coburns to pick up your lilies. You may order them in memory of a loved one through Milaca Floral. THANK YOU!
Subscribe to the official newspaper of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod! Visit reporter.lcms.org to get regular updates, notices, synodical news, and more!
Pastor Carlson has been publishing a daily devotion online and emailing it to subscribers. That’s right! This is a great way to start of your day in the Word and prayer. Simply go to stpaulsmilaca.org/subscribe or speak to Pastor, and you’ll start to receive a devotion every weekday in your email inbox.
Prayer Requests
| Tom Litfin | Glen Hamann |
| Harry Totzke | Family of Lois Gustafson |
Weekend Devotion
Prayer: Lord of the universe, teach me Your ways that I may walk in Your truth, and keep me from the deceitful snares of the evil one, that my whole mind, body, soul, and spirit be attuned to Your good and gracious will and not follow the way of foolishness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
SCRIPTURE: Consider carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise people, but as wise people.  Make the most of your time, because the days are evil. For this reason, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. – Ephesians 5:15-17
It is not becoming of a believer to question God regarding His unchangeable wisdom or how He works nonstop to take care of us and give us what we need. Instead, we should boldly and confidently confess, “I know that God will always take care of me, though I do not know His plan. I do not know exactly how He will fulfill His promises, but I know and believe that He will.”
In this life, take advantage of the opportunities the Lord provides you to live your Christian life in service to others and submission to God. Work hard to earn money and use that money to support your family and help your neighbor. For providing for you and yours is a God-given task and good. Do not consider God’s promise to provide for you as an excuse to laziness or a refusal to work hard and be useful. For as Genesis 3 says, “by the sweat of your brow you will eat food…” (Genesis 3:19).
Even so, we must acknowledge and believe that the Lord will take care of us and provide for us. But use the opportunities He also provides. God is a teacher, and He gives us this brief time on earth to teach us how to be His people. So, He gives opportunities to serve, grow, work, and be faithful. But when we’re in need and there is no work, God will provide even then.
No, do not forsake His Word and Sacraments, for it is here where God provides more than anything else. In fact, the greatest wisdom there is is the wisdom that seeks God’s Word and cross before anything else, and then with the rest of the time seeks the opportunities He provides to serve. For Paul and the other Apostles, regular worship and weekly reception of the Lord’s Supper was a given and most all Christians met regularly (weekly and even daily) for worship. Today there are so many distractions keeping us from the Word and the Sacrament, it’s a wonder that anyone goes to church at all! But church, fellowship, learning at Jesus’ feet, and partaking of the bread of life — this is the GREATEST wisdom and keeps the first table of the Law, and next to it is wisely using our time and the opportunities given to serve one another, which keeps the second table of the Law.
This Week’s Activities
- Lent Midweek VI, Wednesday @ 5:00pm
- Confirmation, Wednesday @ 6:30 PM
- Book of Concord Study Thursday 9:00am
- Next Sunday is Palm Sunday!
Coming Events
- Lenten Midweek Services conclude this Wednesday. Our theme this Lententide will be the Sixth Chief Part of the Catechism: The Sacrament of the Altar
- Seder Meal, April 6th, 6:00 PM
- Good Friday, April 7th
- NO EASTER VIGIL THIS YEAR
- Easter Sunday Services, April 9th
“Let us, therefore, forsake the vanity of the crowd and their false teachings, and turn back to the word delivered to us from the beginning.”
— St. Polycarp (AD 69-155)