Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

1300 Belt Line Road Collinsville Illinois 62234

618-344-3151 (Church) 618-344-3153 (School) 618-344-3378 (Fax)
Pastors M. Walther & P. Hoft Vol. 26 No. 9 September 2003

What are we to think of this? Why are God-pleasing marriages so hard to come by these days? Our culture is moving farther and farther away from God’s Word, which says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate. (Mt. 19:5-6)" This is evident in the content of many popular movies, music, magazines, books, television, and web-sites that we are exposed to everyday. Therefore, we need to defend our family life from all of the fiery arrows of the evil one. The world needs to see that the kind of family that God designed from the beginning can indeed flourish and grow. Of course, no family is perfect. Everyone is affected by sin, but God forgives sin and families can forgive one another and move on.

With the completion of the new school addition we will be able to expand our Adult Bible Study program. Beginning Sunday, September 7^th, you will be able to attend Bible Study in the Lower Level or in the School Cafeteria (part of the old Sanctuary). In both locations we will be able to sit at tables to lay out our Bibles, study materials, coffee, etc. Pastor Walther will continue the study of Psalms in the School Cafeteria. Pastor Hoft will begin a new study entitled "Armed and Dangerous." This study on the subject of Christian prayer is based on the book by the same title.

Adult Inquiry Classes Begin

This Wednesday session will meet from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. beginning September 17^th. The class presents the basic teachings of the Christian Church in a lively manner. Opportunity for questions is provided in class as well as outside of class. No one is called upon to read or respond. Members are also invited to attend in order to review foundational doctrines. Please consider inviting a friend or neighbor to attend. Babysitting is provided.

Evening Bible Study

Beginning September 17, at 7:00 p.m. Pastor Hoft will be leading a Bible class on St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. In this letter St. Paul shows the preeminence of Christ when compared to the philosophies of this world.

2.   Accept that things won't always run smoothly and that potholes are a fact of life.

3.   Communicate. Truly communicate every day. Talk about events, ideas, reactions, whatever comes to mind.

dcs.lcms.org LCMS Family Ministry Website

Bible Readings for October

1.   Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs?

2.   To you, who is Jesus Christ?

3.   Do you think there is a heaven or hell?

4.   If you died, where would you go? If heaven, why?

Good Shepherd Athletic Department

The Booster Basketball Booklet, an annual fund raiser for the Athletic Department, has room for ads until October 1. The rates are full page $80, half page $40, fourth page $25. Businesses, individuals or families may participate. Call Mr. Bob Mayhew at 345-1405 or at school 344-3153.

Lutheran Women’s Missionary League

Sept 4^th - "New Member Night" – Monthly meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Although new members are welcomed any time during the year, this is an opportunity for everyone to get better acquainted. Our special speaker for the evening is Mrs. Renee Gibbs, last year’s recipient of the Dr. Paul Spitz Life Award, for her untiring leadership role in the "Pro-Life Movement" through the South County Lutherans for Life organization in St. Louis. She will provide us with abortion facts and figures, information on post abortion syndrome, as well as some of the important issues facing the movement today.

At this meeting there will be an ingathering of baby items for the Crisis Pregnancy Center. Bring anything appropriate for an infant, such as pacifiers, diapers (any size), bottles, baby wipes, crib sheets, blankets, bibs, socks, sleepers, lotions, etc. If you wish you might also want to include something for the mother (lotion, nursing pads, bath gel, etc.)

Sept 19-20-District Fall Retreat, at Camp Wartburg. The theme of the retreat is "Climb Every Mountain" (based on Psalm 121:1-2). Registration is due to Pat Hoffmeier (288-3264) by September 1^st.

Oct 2- Bible Study – Monthly meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. The bible study will be from the Lutheran Women’s Quarterly. Attendees will be divided into four separate groups, with Pastor Hoft acting as Moderator. At this meeting we will assemble layettes for Lutheran World Mission. Soap, wash cloths and baby sweaters or sweatshirts are needed to complete the layettes.

Oct 5- LWML Sunday – This will also be known as Outreach Sunday, when a special effort will be made to invite persons in our community to attend Good Shepherd. If you know of someone you would like to have included, please send the person(s) name and address to Pastor Walther, or call him at 344-3151. Volunteers are needed to help with the invitations and planning for this special Sunday. Please call Terri Blasingame (344-0831) if you wish to help.

Oct 18 - Zone Prayer Breakfast – More information on this special event in the next Newsletter.

God’s Stewards

"God's stewards are loved and loving" is the sixth of eight Biblical Stewardship Principles being used in The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. This principle proclaims the Gospel truth that God's stewards recognize that their stewardship flows out of God's act of love for them in Christ which empowers them, in turn, to love others in acts of Christ-like love.

St. John said it so simply and clearly when he wrote: "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19) St. Paul added more emphasis on our response to God's love when he wrote: "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all have died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Cor. 5:14-15)

What a challenge for us as God's stewards to respond to his love in such a way that we consider the best interest and welfare of others more highly than our own! Our proper response to Christ's love is to love God above all else and then love our neighbor as we already love ourselves. All our activities motivated by faith and this kind of love are properly Christian stewardship. Such activities include participating in worship and Christian education, giving of time, skills and financial resources for the extension of Christ's kingdom, and giving of ourselves in acts of service to the church, community, workplace and wherever we have the opportunity to "express our faith through love." (Gal. 5:6b)

Baptisms (Adult): Fredrick Donald Edmonds, Catherine Lynn Lange, 7/30

Profession of Faith: Thomas Paul & Mary Jo Fenoglio

Funeral: Ruth Jane Halbe, 7/23

Souls: 1,665 Comm: 1,302

Please Consider Adoption

Periodically we receive letters from people in and outside of Illinois with the following request…

These heart-rending letters are becoming all too common. If you know of anyone who is facing a crisis pregnancy, and would consider the possibility of adoption, please call one of the pastors.