July Newsletter

St. John’s Lutheran Church 1128 Poplar Buhl, Idaho 83316 (208) 543-4282

July 2009 Are You Studying Your Bible? My Fellow Redeemed in Christ, Well, are you? Ouch! That might be the response of those of you who are not reading your Bible, at least not very often, but you’d really like to start…it’s just you have not yet made that commitment yet. But I am pretty sure that some of you might be able to say a resounding “Yes!” without an air of superiority and self-righteousness. I suppose as your pastor the worst response I could think of would be “Well, no I don’t, and I don’t really care.” Ouch! I hope that no one who is a member of St. John’s would say that. I suppose there are many reasons why Christians don’t read their Bibles. Everyone is so busy it’s hard to find time for everything. But then, of course, we usually find time for those things that we really want to do including reading other things, perhaps watching a lot of TV and…well, just fill in the blank. Another reason Christians might not read their Bibles is that they think it’s too hard to understand. Of course, there is some truth to this, but, then, anything that we don’t do very often won’t be easy. The more we do it the better it gets….and so it is with the Bible. I did not get all my Bible knowledge in one session! No, I’ve been reading/studying the Bible for about 40 years (Yikes! Can I be that old?). I suppose that there are many reasons for not reading the Bible….including just plain laziness and indifference. But wait a minute. The Bible is God’s Word. Of course human beings wrote it…but God moved them, led them by His Spirit to write what they wrote. This means that the Being who created the vast, complex universe is talking to us in the Bible! But even more important the Bible is a love letter from God. When you understand the Bible properly it tells us what God has done in history to save undeserving mankind from sin, Satan, death and damnation as John 3:16 reminds us: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” When you understand the Bible properly you learn that it is ALL about Jesus Christ. (Yes, even the Old Testament). Jesus once told the Pharisees: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (5: 39, ESV). Jesus was telling the Pharisees that the Old Testament was about Him. And at the end of Luke’s Gospel Jesus told His disciples: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (24: 44, ESV). Of course, this is not surprising when we learn that God planned to send Jesus into the world even before He created the world as Peter says in his first letter: “He [Jesus] was foreknown before

the foundation of the world but manifest in the last times for your sake” (1:20, ESV). And it gets even better: God not only knew you before you were born, but even before He created the world He planned to bring you to saving faith in Jesus Christ just as Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians: “…even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world…he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will…” 1:4, 5,ESV). Interesting, very interesting. And there is so much more. There are several opportunities here at St. John’s to study the Bible. But our main study is on Sunday mornings at 9:30. For all those not attending this class, if you are physically able, I appeal to you as your pastor, your shepherd, in Christ, to join us. We are currently studying the Sunday morning Scripture lessons used in the Divine Service. Just come. Don’t wait until we start a new study. Just come. Try it. I think if you made the commitment to come you will stay. Why? Because you will see and experience what you have been missing for your faith, your walk with God. For Bible study is not just about facts and information. It is for our faith, hope, and love, and for our living. For God Himself works through His Word to strengthen our faith and to empower us to live for Him as Paul says in his first letter to the Thessalonians: “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God which is at work in you believers” (2: 13, ESV). So, what do you think? Would you give my invitation prayerful consideration? What a joy it would be for me (and your God and Savior) to see even more of you in our Sunday morning Bible study. And I don’t think you will be disappointed. But, of course, there is only one way to find out. In Christ,

Sunday Plans Keeping You From Worship? Take advantage of our weekly Saturday evening service at 6:00 p.m. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” Psalm 122:1

“Freed to Live” On July Fourth we pause as a nation to reflect on the meaning of “Independence Day.” The Declaration of Independence was written to begin the process of gaining freedom from being a colony of England and chart our own course as a nation. But freedom is not something that you simply declare and it happens. Our freedom is something that was purchased at a high price. From the time of the Revolutionary War after July 4, 1776 to our war today in the Middle East many brave men and women have laid their lives on the line to fight for and defend our freedom as citizens of the United States of America. Thousands upon thousands of those brave soldiers shed their blood and gave up their tomorrows so that we can be freed to live our todays and tomorrows in the greatest country in the world and enjoy freedoms that millions of people in the world can only dream about. As that old saying goes, ‘freedom is not free.” It is fitting and proper for us to remember and honor those who have given their all not just on July Fourth but throughout the year. They made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can be free! We also do well to remember and honor our brave men and women who continue to put their lives on the line so that we may be free to live. It is also fitting and proper for us to remember and appreciate our spiritual freedom from sin, death and eternal condemnation. That freedom is not something that the strongest army in the world could obtain. That freedom is not something that we can earn or even deserve. It is the free gift of God who loved the world so much that He gave up His one and only Son who shed His holy precious blood so that we might have a peace that passes all human understanding and freedom that will last for eternity. Our fitting and proper response for all that God has done for us in Christ is to live our lives in ways that honor Him and bless others. We call that proper response to God’s love Christian stewardship. As redeemed stewards we, in cooperation with and encouragement from fellow redeemed stewards, freely and joyfully manage all of life and life’s resources for God’s purposes. God delights in loving and giving and sends us His Holy Spirit to empower us to also grow in our loving of God and others and our giving of time, talent, treasure and any of the other blessings God has entrusted to us. “Lord of glory, You have bought us with Your life blood as the price, Never grudging for the lost ones that tremendous sacrifice. Give us faith to trust You boldly, hope to stay our souls on You; But, oh best of all Your graces, with Your love our love renew.” (LSB 851)

July Birthdays 2nd Cheryl Jarrell 4th Pamela Pehrson 11th Ed Anderson 12th John Campbell 13th Raymond Owen

14th Seth Huddleston

25th Micah Alexander

17th Larry Matthiesen

26th Virgil Adams

20th Earl Meier Del Wuebbenhorst

30th Marvin Armes Marlyce Owen

27th Lois Spreier

31st Christy Sailor Wes Veeder

rd

23 Neva Tucker 24th Ryder Graham

July Anniversaries 7th Melvin & Faye Scherbinske Matthiesen 25th Virgil & Helga Adams

12th Larry & Barbara 29th Doug & Tonya Owen

You can stay up-to-date online… Check out our Church Blog at http://revswim.wordpress.com. Weekly news updates, items of interest, download or listen to a past sermon… (these are now posted each week by Monday afternoon)

It is much more important that we pray [the Lord's Prayer] regularly than that we wait until we have enough time to pray it at length and in great detail with deep ardor and heartfelt devotion. Satan, quite commonly, uses our spiritual enthusiasm against us. He gets us to go on a prayer binge

because he knows we will not be able to sustain it. Then, when we fail, he uses our failure to argue that praying is not for us. -- John Kleinig, *Grace Upon Grace* p. 180