Volume 27 September 2015 No. 9
The
Death of Death
W
|
hen a loved one dies, we suddenly look at things from a new
perspective, as anyone who has been through the experience knows. Even when it
is someone who has lived a long and blessed life, such as my mother had lived,
who died and was given Christian burial this summer, even when, on hearing that
the person who died was over ninety years old, and we instinctively think,
“well, it isn’t so bad, because, after all, . . .” still, there is an absence
that presents itself. Something is not right. Something is missing, because
someone is missing. Someone is gone
who was there before. There is a hole, a dark hole, a black hole. There is
death.
And no matter what anyone might say
to lighten the reality, death is not a good thing. It is not, as some New-age
thinkers might try to tell us, a beautiful sunset stage of a beautiful life.
Death is ugly, and it is unwanted. It is the enemy.
To face this reality squarely is to
be in a better position to understand just what the gift of Christ’s victory
is. His is a victory over insurmountable evils. It is not simply an opiate, a
way to make us feel better about ourselves or our lives. If, as the Apostle
Paul puts it, in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable.
The victory that Christ has wrought
for us is a much more tangible kind than what the preachers of Christian
prosperity would have us believe, who promise a life of undefined victory, and
is a much more enduring kind than the abundance they preach.
The victory is over sin, Satan, and
death.
And this is not just sweet-talking.
Certainly not for people who have had to deal with death, and who are aware
that there is something wrong with life that we cannot reverse.
Christ Jesus rose from the dead,
quite visibly and tangibly: “Handle me,” he said to his disciples, “and see.” This
is our hope and confidence in life, that he who gave himself into death did so
for us, and for our salvation; so that we who are undeserving of good things
might receive eternally good things, life, and salvation.
This is the reality that causes St.
Paul to mock the grave: Where is thy sting? he jabs. He knows the sting of
death, but for him the greater reality is that Christ is risen from the dead,
and has demonstrated in no uncertain terms that even death shall be undone: the
last enemy to be destroyed is death, as he said to the Corinthians.
This is our
hope and confidence, and the basis upon which we live.
+ Pastor Eckardt
At the first session of
our new class on Tuesdays there were fourteen of us, a great start to a new
idea for St. Paul’s.
At the previous session
the time of the class was moved to 5:00 pm, running for about an hour: take note, class is at 5:00 pm from now
on.
Our class will be
divided by topic, with each topic taking anywhere from one week to three or
four.
Our first unit has to do
with the question, “How do we know the Bible is God’s Word?”
The outline for Chapter
one looks like this:
The Bible’s self-testimony.
a.
Old
Testament examples
b.
Jesus’
testimony
c.
Eyewitnesses
d.
Exhortation
to believe
II.
External
testimony Comparison to other religions, on the question of epistemology:
a.
How do you
know that what you believe is correct?
b.
How do we
know Christianity is the only way?
c.
How does
Christianity compare with other religions, like Islam?
II.
Apologetics:
a.
Can we
reconcile science with Scripture?
b.
What stands
in the way of believing?
III.
What is
truth?
These
sessions are recorded and are available on the internet. See the Facebook page:
Q & A on the Bible and Jesus.
Join in!
September
Council: Wednesday, September 16th, at 5:30 pm
Choir Rehearsals
Regular choir
rehearsals resumed Wednesday evening, August 19th, as we prepare for
Oktoberfest. This gives us a mere month
and a half to get ready. We’ll have some new music, and, as always, have lots
of fun.
September
Birthdays
9/1 John Ricknell
9/10 Jan Schoen
9/15 Chuck Russell
9/17 Mary Beth Jones
9/18
DeAnne Anderson
9/19
Jaclyn Kraklow
9/19
Jamie Kraklow
9/28
Allan Kraklow
September
Anniversaries
9/18/1976
Tom and Sue Ann Wells
9/24/1977
Dennis and Janice Schoen
Shut
ins
Mary Hamilton at home; Anna Baker at home; Emmy Wear at Williamsfield
Home in Williamsfield.
Thrivent Choice Dollars
Any congregational member who has
Thrivent Insurance can check to see if he is eligible to direct Thrivent
donations to St. Paul’s. According to the Thrivent web site, to be eligible to
participate in Choice Dollars, you must be a benefit member; individual
eligibility is also based on: • Holding a qualifying Thrivent Financial
volunteer leadership position; or • Having $750 or more in annual premiums of
qualifying insurance products; or • Having $20,000 or more in contract value of
qualifying products. If you think you might qualify, contact Thrivent at www.thrivent.com, or call your local
representative at 309-852-0708.
Oktoberfest!
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
October 4-6, 2015 (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) Notice: this is one
week earlier than usual!
The Twentieth—Twentieth!—Annual Oktoberfest! and Gottesdienst Central will be hosting the Rev. Richard
Stuckwisch, PhD, Pastor at Emmaus Lutheran Church in South Bend, Indiana
The question of the eucharistic sacrifice is a
critical ingredient in the Lutheran understanding of worship. Pastor Stuckwisch
happens to be an expert among us on the matter. He became
interested in the Lutheran confession of eucharistic sacrifice in the course of
his STM studies at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. He explored
this futher in his doctoral work at the University of Notre Dame, where he investigated
the Inter Lutheran Commission on Worship, focusing especially on the
development and discussion of the eucharistic rites of the Lutheran Book of
Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)." His PhD research was published in
2011 under the title, Philip Melanchthon
and the Lutheran Confession of Eucharistic Sacrifice. His topic for this conference is
“Eucharistic Sacrifice and Eucharistic Prayer in Theology and
Practice”
The event begins Sunday the 4th with
choral vespers at 5 pm. Following the service is our annual bratwurst
banquet. When everyone has had their fill of brats and beer, Dr. Stuckwisch
will give a synopsis of his Monday seminar. Following the banquet is the
after-the-party party, at Pastor Eckardt’s home, where, as always, a gaggle of
the editors of Gottesdienst will be milling about.
On Monday October 5th, the
day begins with mass at 9:00 a.m., with Rev. Fr. Michael Frese from Redeemer in
Fort Wayne, Indiana, as our special guest preacher. Following mass and a continental breakfast, Fr.
Stuckwisch will hold forth for the rest of the day, in two sessions running
until about 2:45, followed by vespers.
On Tuesday October 6th,
the conference will continue in the same format, with Fr. Eckardt, pastor at
St. Paul’s, holding forth. The Tuesday sessions, will be framed by
morning low mass (spoken Divine Service) and Vespers.
Please let us know!
Are you coming?
REGISTRATION: $40 per person (students $20) $60 per couple —
includes Sunday banquet and Monday continental; no charge for children with
parents. Register by email (b.f.eckardt@gmail.com)
or call 309-852-2461 and leave your name, address, and which
days you plan to attend. You may pay the
registration fee when you arrive. Lodging:
AmericInn. 309-856-7200.
Special rate $97.66 (mention Oktoberfest when you register, by September 14th);
Aunt Daisy’s B & B, 888-422-4148;
Quality Inn, 309-853-8800; Days Inn (Sheffield), 815-454-2361; Best Western
(Annawan), 309-935-6565; Kewanee Motor Lodge, 309-853-4000.
TAKE NOTE: Members of St. Paul’s go free! FREE! You
can make a donation if you want, but don’t let finances keep you from
attending. Register ahead, so we have a
better idea who’s coming.
LCMS National Mission
leaders call for action on abortion
on August
20, 2015 in LCMS Reporter Online
By Adriane Heins
Seventeen
LCMS officials — the entire leadership of the Office of National Mission as
well as the Synod’s chief mission officer — issued a statement Aug. 20
denouncing Planned Parenthood’s actions, recently showcased in another Center for Medical
Progress video.
The
video, which features an ex-procurement technician who worked in a Planned
Parenthood clinic, tells the story of a Planned Parenthood doctor who dissects
a baby boy born alive. “She has one of her instruments and she just taps the
heart and it starts beating. I’m sitting here and I’m looking at this fetus,
and its heart is beating,” the technician recounts.
In response,
the 14 men and three women from the LCMS issued a statement that reads in part, “The infanticide
that is occurring at Planned Parenthood must end. It is not simply time to
defund that organization; it is time to end abortion in the United States
altogether.”
“As for us, we can no longer claim that we didn’t know Planned
Parenthood doctors killed children so ruthlessly or that we weren’t aware human
bodies were cannibalized for their organs. We can’t just say it’s a woman’s
choice or shrug our shoulders and mumble, ‘Who are we to judge?’ ” the
statement notes. “We can’t hide behind the half-truths that women have no other
place to find health care or that Planned Parenthood provides millions of
mammograms per year. It doesn’t matter. None of it matters.”
The signers of the statement also urged LCMS members to action
in a variety of forms — participating in a nationwide Aug. 22 Planned
Parenthood protest, contacting elected officials, supporting LCMS Life
Ministries and taking to social media to defend life, amid other options —
noting, “The only option is for each one of us to act.”
Although the series of videos, and the most recent in
particular, “lay evil bare,” the statement offered hope and forgiveness as
well, noting, “Our heavenly Father, it turns out, knows a thing or two about
hearts. We are the reason He allowed His own Son’s heart to stop beating for a
time, so that ours may thrive for all eternity. In so doing, He shows us His
own heart, full of grace, mercy and compassion.”
Signers
of the statement include the following: LCMS Chief Mission Officer Rev.
Kevin Robson; Rev. Bart Day,
executive director, Office of National Mission; Rev.
Heath Curtis, coordinator, Stewardship Ministry; Rev.
Dr. Roosevelt Gray, director, Black Ministry; Rev.
Joel Hempel, interim director, Specialized Pastoral Ministry; Rev.
Dr. Carlos Hernandez, director, Church and Community
Engagement; Rev. Ross Johnson,
director, Disaster Response; Rev. Mark Kiessling,
interim director, Youth Ministry; Rev. Todd Kollbaum,
director, Rural & Small Town Mission; Deaconess Dorothy Krans,
director, Recognized Service Organizations; Tracy Quaethem,
project coordinator, Life and Health Ministries; Deaconess
Grace Rao, director, Deaconess Ministry; Rev.
Steve Schave, director, Urban & Inner-City Mission; Terry
Schmidt, director, School Ministry; Rev.
William Weedon, director, Worship; Rev.
Mark Wood, director, Witness & Outreach Ministry; Rev.
Marcus Zill, director, Campus Ministry and LCMS U
Adriane Heins (adriane.heins@lcms.org) is managing editor of The
Lutheran Witness and editor of Catechetical
Information for LCMS Communications.
Thanks to the Kraklows
Member of St. Paul’s experienced a happy, sunny summer day at the church
picnic held at the home of Allan and Barb Kraklow during August. Special thanks
to the Kraklows for hosting the picnic this year.
Altar Guild News
Sundays during September, the color is green.
Wednesdays are varied:
September 2nd is green.
September 9th is green.
September 16th is red (observance of Holy Cross Day)
September 23rd is red (observance of St. Matthew)
September 30th is white (observance of Michaelmas) Color
reverts to Green for the first Sunday in October
Pastor to Speak at St. Michael Conference in Detroit
Every year Zion Church in Detroit holds its St. Michael
conference on the last Monday of September, and virtually every year Pastor
Eckardt is asked to be one of the speakers at the conference. This year, the
Rev. Dr. Charles Evanson will give the keynote address, entitled, "Liturgical
Renewal in Missouri." Fr. Evanson, a renowned scholar who currently
teaches at the University of Klaipeda in Lithuania, was also keynote presenter at the first St. Michael Liturgical Conference
in 1997. For information on this
conference consult Pastor.
Jazz on the Side
As you probably
know by now, your pastor and subdeacon are members of the local jazz band that
plays here and there. Our next gig is to be on Sunday, September: The first Musical Hospitality coffeehouse will feature the music of Jazz
on the Side.
This jazz band has been performing for several years, and they've agreed to help kick off the coffeehouse series. The first Musical Hospitality coffeehouse will be on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 20, at the Boss Community Center in downtown Kewanee. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the music will start at 7
This jazz band has been performing for several years, and they've agreed to help kick off the coffeehouse series. The first Musical Hospitality coffeehouse will be on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 20, at the Boss Community Center in downtown Kewanee. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the music will start at 7
St.
Paul’s Ev. Lutheran
Church
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