Thesis and bring attention to some abuses of Holy Scripture

OCTOBER 2014
VOLUME 19
ISSUE 10
THE ENLIGHTENER
Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church
629 9th Ave. Brookings, SD 57006
6 05-692-2678
www.mountcalvary1.org
Pastor Matt Wurm: 605-692-4810 (H)
E-mail: pastormc@swiftel.net
Vicar Zach Voss: 920-878-0493 (C)
E-mail: vicarmc@swiftel.net
Church office: mountcalvary@swiftel.net
31
What then shall we say to
these things? If God is for us,
who can be against us? 32He
who did not spare his own Son
but gave him up for us all, how
will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who
shall bring any charge against
God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than
that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed is interceding for us. 35Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither
death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:31-39)
October is here and at the end of the month we will be
celebrating the Lutheran Reformation where the Gospel,
in many ways, returned to the church. Personally, I love
Reformation Day because of the great hymns we have the
opportunity to sing, most of all, “A Mighty Fortress is Our
God.” It is such a great hymn that it can even be found in
the Roman Catholic hymnals of our day. That is a true
testament to the power of the Word of God.
At the heart of Luther’s motivation to pen the 95
Thesis and bring attention to some abuses of Holy Scripture
with the Roman Catholic church, was the salvation of souls.
After all, the salvation of souls is why Christ condescended
and took on human flesh to pay with His life’s blood the
requirement for our sin. The salvation of souls is why we
gather week in and week out to receive God’s good gifts
and Spirit in His Divine Service to us. The salvation of souls
is why we teach our children the Word of God, memorize
the catechism, memorize Bible verses and learn the hymns
of the church. The salvation of souls, is why Mt. Calvary
exists.
Sadly though, we forget the purpose for which we
gather and sometimes think that it’s more about me than He
who lives within me by faith and the promises of Holy Baptism. Our focus drifts from the cross and the Christ to the
distractions that have little or nothing to do with the salvations of souls. Yet our Lord does not forget us nor neglect
us, even in the times when it seems He hasn’t heard our
prayers, or has hidden His face from us – even when a loved
one dies, despite all our faithful prayers and the tireless
work of doctors, Christ, our mighty fortress, is still for us.
To remind us of God’s work in Christ to save our
souls, every funeral service in our church concludes with
this prayer based off of the passage from Romans 8.
O God of all grace, You sent Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to
bring life and immortality to light. We give You thanks that by His
death He destroyed the power of death and by His resurrection He
opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Strengthen us in the
confidence that because He lives we shall live also, and that neither
death nor life nor things present nor things to come will be able to
separate us from Your love, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, who
lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Matt Wurm
By Vicar Zachary Voss
“If we say we have fellowship with him
while we walk in darkness, we lie and do
not practice the truth. But if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of
Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:6-7
As fall approaches the days begin to get shorter
and darker. Darkness carries with it a feel, a
wave of different emotions. There is a fear that
darkness brings upon us. Why do we fear the
dark? Many terrible and frightening things take
place in darkness. We fear that the darkness
may overcome us and we lose our way. How
true this is in our Christian Life!
How often do you find yourself trying to go back
into the darkness to hide your sin? We make
excuses or try to hide our sin from others. Even
if no one else knows, God who is the true light,
searches hearts and knows all things. This
frightens us the most. We know from Scripture
that in a very real sense our sins have put us in
the danger of eternal darkness. The question of
what will happen to me when I die is one that is
met with fear and trembling by many. Yet, God
does not leave us in this darkness and despair.
He instead brings us back into the light.
We Walk In
Light Not
Darkness
God sent His Son Jesus to pay the punishment
for our sins. As we confess in the creed, Jesus
descended into hell to proclaim victory over all
the powers of darkness. In our baptism we were
brought out of the darkness and into the light of
Christ. Thanks be to God who has overcome all
the powers of darkness for us!
In Christ,
Vicar Voss
Date
First Reading
Second Reading
October 1
Deuteronomy 2:16-37
Matthew 6:16-34
October 2
Deuteronomy 3:1-29
Matthew 7:1-12
October 3
Deuteronomy 4:1-20
Matthew 7:13-29
October 4
Deuteronomy 4:21-40
Matthew 8:1-17
October 5
Deuteronomy 5:1-21
Matthew 8:18-34
October 6
Deuteronomy 5:22-6:9
Matthew 9:1-17
October 7
Deuteronomy 6:10-25
Matthew 9:18-38
October 8
Deuteronomy 7:1-19
Matthew 10:1-23
October 9
Deuteronomy 8:1-20
Matthew 10:24-42
October 10
Deuteronomy 9:1-22
Matthew 11:1-19
October 11
Deuteronomy 9:23-10:22
Matthew 11:20-30
October 12
Deuteronomy 11:1-25
Matthew 12:1-21
October 13
Deuteronomy 11:26-12:12
Matthew 12:22-37
October 14
Deuteronomy 12:13-32
Matthew 12:38-50
October 15
Deuteronomy 13:1-18
Matthew 13:1-23
October 16
Deuteronomy 14:1-2, 22-23, 14:28-15:15
Matthew 13:24-43
October 17
Deuteronomy 15:19-16:22
Matthew 13:44-58
October 18
Deuteronomy 17:1-20
Matthew 14:1-21
October 19
Deuteronomy 18:1-22
Matthew 14:22-36
October 20
Deuteronomy 19:1-20
Matthew 15:1-20
October 21
Deuteronomy 20:1-20
Matthew 15:21-39
October 22
Deuteronomy 21:1-23
Matthew 16:1-12
October 23
Deuteronomy 24:10-25:10
Matthew 16:13-28
October 24
Deuteronomy 25:17-26:19
Matthew 17:1-13
October 25
Deuteronomy 27:1-26
Matthew 17:14-27
October 26
Deuteronomy 28:1-22
Matthew 18:1-20
October 27
Deuteronomy 29:1-29
Matthew 18:21-35
October 28
Deuteronomy 30:1-20
October 29
Deuteronomy 31:1-29
Matthew 19:1-15
Matthew 19:16-30
October 30
Deuteronomy 31:30-32:27
Matthew 20:1-16
October 31
Deuteronomy 32:28-52
Matthew 20:17-34
By following this daily lectionary, you will read nearly all of the New Testament and about one-third
of the Old Testament in one year. This lectionary, from Lutheran Service Book,
Book offers readings
throughout the Bible commonly associating seasons of the Church Year with certain books of the Bible. This lectionary can also be found in your LSB beginning on page 299.
Where We S†and
Keep saving your Hy-Vee receipts. Once we have $150,000
in receipts, our church will receive $1,000 from Hy-Vee to
use as we would like to. Drop boxes may be found on the
small table by the member mailboxes in the narthex.
On September 24, we turned in $150,000 worth of
Hy-Vee receipts. We will receive $1,000 soon.
Reminder: we can only use
Brookings Hy-Vee receipts.
Grocery, Pharmacy and Gas receipts and accepted.
August 2014
Baptism: Anna Yoder & Reid Melius
Transfers In: Earl & Dawn Biggers,
Katharina Tinglund
Nevorah Adams
Our church family in- Alvira Anderson
Darlene Carpenter
cludes a few people who Joy French
are not able to attend Amy Heidemann
church and church ac- Marian Heidemann
tivities regularly. The Barb Hines
listing here is those con- Ramona Holzkamp
Bill Huyser
sidered home bound. Millie Kasson
We ask our active mem- Tyler Krump
bers to please remember Donna Lienemann
these folks with visits, Jane Livock
Chuck Weise
cards and/or prayers. Chris Wellnitz
Shirley Wiese
Park Place Assisted Living, 104 4th St. W.
692-4667
21081 1st Ave. S. Bushnell, SD 57276
693-4314
The Neighborhoods Ash #6
692-6969
The Neighborhoods Birch #9
696-7710
326 6th St.
696-5281
The Neighborhoods Oak #11
692-2694
ULC, 405 1st Ave.
692-4423
913 Onaka Tr. #105
692-5134
The Neighborhoods Oak #7
697-7197
ULC, 405 1st Ave.
696-0821
900 S. Blaine, Sioux Falls, SD 57103
605-271-6916
ULC 405 1st Ave. #307
651-3792
PO Box 81, Lake Norden, SD 57248
605-785-2165
519 Heritage Dr. #8
692-5131
701 1st Ave. NE #202, Watertown, SD 57201 605-886-6449
Park Place Assisted Living, 104 4th St. W. #212 692-2949
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Mount Calvary Lutheran Church
October Activities at Mt. Calvary
Our Youth (6th through 12th graders) will meet on Sunday, October 5th
at 1:30 for their monthly meeting. They will begin with a Bible Study
then continue with whatever activities they come up with. The LYF
tries to meet the 1st Sunday of most months for devotions, fun & fellowship. They begin at 1:30pm and usually finish by 3:00, unless traveling outside of the Brookings area.
How should we respond to the powers sustaining America’s Holocaust?
Among our many reliable resources, we believe and are confident that
prayer is an essential weapon; and we invite members of Mt. Calvary to
join us on October 5th from 2:00 – 3:30pm, when National Life Chain
Sunday calls our nation to 90 minutes of intercession and public witness
on local sidewalks. Please, if you will, mark that date on your calendar
and help us build a devout prayer vigil that God can use to change
hearts and save lives and families in our local area and world wide.
The deadline to sign-up for the Adopt-A-Student program is Sunday,
October 12th. It’s not too late to consider this opportunity to take a
college student in and treat them like your own for the school year.
The Campus Ministry Committee will meet on Tuesday, October 14th
to review the surveys and to pair these parents and students together.
On Sunday, October 19th, there will be a kick-off lunch at church for
the members and the students to find out their pairings and to meet
each other. Mark your calendar and come on October 19th to meet
your special student and for some good food as well.
All members of Mt. Calvary are invited to the Parsonage on Sunday,
October 12th for the 2nd Annual Oktoberfest. Pastor and Kyra will
offer a brat fry along with some other German favorites and the beverages. Come and see the Wurm’s idea of a Munich funfair! The event
goes from 5:00-8:00. If the weather is nice, bring you lawn chair.
The Lutheran Student Fellowship and Vicar Voss are going to offer a
warm cup of hot chocolate and baked goodies to passers-by during the
Hobo Day parade. They will have their stand ready to go by 9:30am.
Stop by the Varsonage and help support our college group during the
parade. Who doesn’t look forward to a warm drink on a brisk homecoming morning and a sweet to go with it?
Calvary Kids Corner