Good Shepherd Lutheran Church & School

Judges 6:1-24, 33-40    God called Gideon to deliver Israel from Midian. Gideon thought he was not strong enough or important enough. God gave Gideon miraculous signs and promised that he would be with him and help him. God also calls us to share his Word and gives us strength and encouragement to carry out his will.    Matthew 4:18-20 

Bible Readings Psalm 67 Available Here
If this is your first time here, we’re honored that you chose to stop by! If you have visited us before, welcome back! We’re glad you joined us here to praise our Good Shepherd, Jesus, and to hear His Word. And please come back soon! We value your friendship and the opportunity to share the love of Jesus together with you.
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Luke 24:13-32; Luke 4:16-21; Isaiah 61:1,2     In class today the Sunday School children took a walk with the two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus. Jesus joined these disciples and explained to them what all the Scriptures said concerning him. He renewed their hope in the Savior. From all that is written in God’s Word we, too, can walk confidently with Jesus!   John 10:35    

Bible Readings Psalm 101, John 20:18-31 Available Here
If this is your first time here, we’re honored that you chose to stop by! If you have visited us before, welcome back! We’re glad you joined us here to praise our Good Shepherd, Jesus, and to hear His Word. And please come back soon! We value your friendship and the opportunity to share the love of Jesus together with you.
Click here to view this week’s worship folder!

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 4-15-07 "Doubting Thomas": Play Now | Play in Popup

A friend sent this to me, and I thought I’d share. It’s really rather impressive!

If you think about it, prayer is a very unnatural activity. In fact, the whole concept of prayer flies in the face of the deep-seated value of self-reliance. Prayer is an assault on human autonomy, an indictment on a life whose aim is self-sufficiency. Prayer is an embarrassing nterruption to someone who is on the fast track, bound and determined to make it on their own.

Although prayer is alien to our independent tendencies, each of us has probably reached a point somewhere along the journey of life where we made a decision cry out to God. We might have looked both ways, blushed a bit, and finally fell to our knees, hoping no one else would wee, we fixed our attention on God, and actually prayed.

In the moment, we felt that a serious conversation with God might help out situation. We hoped an honest talk with Him might pay off somehow. And in that private conversation with God, we discovered that we were engaged in one of life’s greatest phenomena.

As we grow in prayer, we discover that God actually wants to be in relationship with us. He is not a reluctant listener, like an exhausted employee at a customer service counter saying, “Now what?� In prayer, God convinces us that He has been waiting for us all along. He will listen to us as long as we want to talk. We matter to Him, and He cares deeply about us. In times of prayer, God also assures us that His power is available to us. As we communicate with God, we hear Him say, “I can handle this situation, your needs, your hardships; I can
handle anything life throws your way.�

The phrase in Scripture that sums it up best for me is found in Philippians 4:6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace
of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.�

Maybe, over the years, you have become a person who prays often and freely. Or you may be someone who has prayed in desperation over a few occasions, but for whom prayer is not always a regular occurrence. Perhaps you are in a relationship to prayer, this series of interactions will help you deepen your understanding of prayer, your commitment to prayer, and the practice of prayer in your daily life.

True is an act of worship in which Christians may bring their requests to god anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

Submitted by Evelyn Garber
Based in part on “Interactions�

HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!

Bible Readings John 20:1-23, Mathew 27:65-66, Mathew 28:1-10, Luke 24:1-12 Available Here
John 20:1-23

The Empty Tomb

1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 45Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15“Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

17Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

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 4-8-07 Easter-Early Service: Play Now | Play in Popup

 

 4-8-07 Festival Worship: Play Now | Play in Popup

He Is Risen !    He  Is  Risen ! 

Bible Readings Here
Luke 23:44-56

Jesus’ Death

44It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Jesus’ Burial

50Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Today is one time every year that we leave the sanctuary in silence. When our children ask why, tell them, “Years ago, on this day, the God of Heanen and earth died to take away the sin of all people. We never want to forget what Jesus did for us!”

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Friday April 6, 2007 Sermon “Good Friday”

 

 4-6-07 Good Friday: Play Now | Play in Popup

Bible Readings
Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
1 Corinthians 10:16-17
Mathew 26:20-46

When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.�
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?�
Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son or Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.� Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?�
Jesus answered, “Yes it is you.�
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying “ Take and eat; this is my body.â€?…

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Thursday April 5, 2007 Sermon “Maundy Thursday”

 

 4-5-07 Maundy Thursday: Play Now | Play in Popup