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 Like us on Facebook 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
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