April 16, 2023
Second Sunday of Easter
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: Steve Calander
- Usher: Travis Bemboom
- Reader: Brock/Brayden Theisen
- Organist: Jane Marquardsen
- Acolytes: Preston Kuseske
- Sound Booth: Chase/Lizzy Calander
- Altar Guild: Joyce Mueller
- Fellowship: Bembooms
Next Week’s Servants
- Elder: Steve Calander
- Usher: Mike Maurer
- Reader: Carin Calander
- Organist: Sue Drury
- Acolytes: Brock/Brayden Theisen
- Sound Booth: OPEN
- Altar Guild: Joyce Mueller
- Fellowship: Beth Totzke/Tracy Vanderpoel
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: $3,016.00
- Online Giving: $125.00
- Non-Budget: $1,000.00
- Memorial: $500.00
- Other: $531.00
Attendance
- Worship Attendance: 59(e)/59(l)
- Sunday School: n/a
- Youth Group: n/a
- Midweek Bible Study: n/a
Please make every attempt to have your kids in Sunday School each week, and your teens in Youth Group.
Important News & Announcements
APRIL NEWSLETTER?
If you didn’t receive the April Newsletter, click HERE to download a copy. There was a glitch with the email sending service and not everyone received it.
DCE INTERN UPDATE
News about the current status of a DCE Intern will be coming at the next Voters Meeting in April.
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.
VOTERS MEETING
The 1st Quarter Voters Meeting is April 23rd after Fellowship. Voting members, please make every effort to attend and participate.
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: Almighty God and Father of all, give me a faith like Jacob that, even in the midst of horrible struggle and death, I may stand firm in Your promises. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
SCRIPTURE: Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. – Genesis 48:21
Israel’s (Jacob’s) words give us a wonderful testimony of true faith. As he died, he didn’t have any doubts. Instead, because of his strong and unwavering faith, he proclaimed, “God be with you.” This is the sort of faith that shows us that even though we die, yet we live. Israel went to his tomb trusting God. Such faith devours death! And this faith isn’t simply knowledge OF God or what He has done, for knowledge could never be enough to stand against death and hell in times of trial. Knowledge that’s not seated in faith will flee from God and His Word whenever the slightest uncomfortable notions threaten it. Even the devil possesses such knowledge, along with his demons, and they flee from God!
True faith which holds fast to God’s Word, trusts His Word, relies on His Word, and believes His Word will come true no matter what, glorifies God and proclaims that He is trustworthy. It’s a faith that stands up to the enemies of the Gospel at any cost, snubs evil, and bites back at the devil when he is out to devour us with fears of death. As Paul writes, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting” (1 Corinthians 15:55). Death may very well swallow us up, but because of faith in God, it spits us back out to eternal life!
Faith isn’t merely acknowledging something is true. Such faith doesn’t place any confidence in what God says. It says, “Yes, Christ died on the cross, true enough,” but only as a historical fact. Genuine faith that saves and emboldens goes further and confesses, “YES! Christ died on the cross and rose again for me! I have no doubts about this, I rest in this, and I depend on God’s Word fully to help me fight against sin and death.” Genuine faith is never static or simply a back-burner thought, but genuine faith makes us who we are – true believers, true children of God, a true army fighting against evil and sin and triumphant in Christ our redeemer. True faith leads always to good works, to a love of the commandments and to love of the neighbor, to forsaking all for the Gospel of salvation because true faith seeks life eternal over this life and has no doubt it will come.
Examples, such as the example of Israel (Jacob), a true believer and faithful to the last, remind us what this faith looks like. We should learn to follow and imitate their faith so that, as we take our last breath, we too may proclaim, “I am baptized and saved, I die in faith, and I will rise again, and any troubles that come my way won’t change this! Amen.”
This Week’s Activities
- Vision Team, Wednesday at 5:30 PM
- Confirmation, Wednesday at 6:30 PM
- Pastor on vacation from April 21st to the 4th of May.
Coming Events
- Council Meeting, this Sunday
- Voters Meeting, Sunday, April 23rd at 10:30 am
“I own myself wretched—aye thrice wretched. I am guilty of many errors. [But] through faith alone I look for finding some mercy in the day of the Lord’s appearing.”
— St. Theodoret (AD 393 – 458)