Luther on Prayer

July 2017

Special points of interest:

WELS News

The Galloping Mustang

Inside this issue:

1

This We Believe/

Through My Bible in 3

years

2

This Month in God’s

Word/ Birthdays &

Anniversaries

3

WELS News 4

The Galloping Mus-

tang

5-6

NELHS News 7

July Calendar 2017

July Duties

9-10

St. Mark Church and

School Newsletter

Luther on Prayer

To say that Luther was an expert in prayer would be a vast understate-

ment. His years spent in a monastery trained him to be regular in his prayer life.

His years spent studying the Scriptures gave him a wealth of understanding of

what to pray about and for. With all of his trials and travails he relied heavily on

this gift of being able to talk with his Lord from the heart. Enjoy his commentary

below on prayer and also a general prayer he wrote for Christians to use.

“Let this be said as an exhortation to pray that we may form the habit of

praying with all diligence ad earnestness. For next to the preaching of the Gospel

(whereby God speaks with us and offers to give us all His grace and blessings)

the highest and foremost work is indeed that we, in turn, speak with Him through

prayer and receive from Him. Moreover, prayer is in truth highly necessary for us;

for we must, after all, achieve everything through prayer: to be able to keep what

we have and to defend it against our enemies, the devil and the world. And what-

ever we are to obtain, we must seek here in prayer. Therefore prayer is comfort,

strength, and salvation for us, our protection against all enemies, and our victory

over them.”

“O my dear Lord Jesus Christ, You know my poor soul ad my great fail-

ings, which I confess and deplore before you alone with an open heart. Alas, I

find that I do not have the kind of will and resolution I certainly ought to have and

that I am dialing falling as a failing, sinful human being. And you know that I de-

sire to have such will and resolution, but my enemy leads me bound and captive.

Redeem me, a poor sinner, according to Your divine will, from every evil and

temptation. Strengthen and increase in me the true Christian faith; grant me

grace to love my neighbor with all my heart, honestly and as I do myself, as my

brother. Grant me patience in persecution and in every adver-

sity. You did say to Saint Peter that he should forgive not only

seven times and has bidden us ask of You with confidence. So

I come in reliance on this command and promise of Yours and

confess and deplore before You all my trouble, for You are my

true Pastor and the Bishop of my soul. Your will be done and

be blessed forever. Amen.”

Page 2

The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 14:13 why we should be “careful” about using our freedom:

“Making up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.” For example, I may

be able to make use of alcohol without stumbling to the abuse of drunkenness. But there may be a fellow

Christian for whom taking even one alcoholic beverage would mean not stopping until he or she was drunk,

plunging his or her life back into alcoholism. When I am with that fellow Christian, it would be an unloving

abuse of my freedom to exercise my ability to use alcohol when that may be an overwhelming temptation to

my brother or sister to abuse it. His or her well-being is far more important at that moment than having an

alcoholic beverage. My freedom to drink may encourage the downward spiral of alcoholism. My abuse of my

freedom may send my brother or sister in faith on a course that jeopardizes his or her faith.

A:

What does it mean to be “careful” about using our Christian freedom? Q:

This We Believe

We believe that individuals are free to make their own decisions concerning matters that are neither

forbidden nor commanded by God’s Word (adiaphora). People must be careful, however, that their

use of this freedom does not cause others to sin.

Through my Bible in 3 years

This Bible reading series is designed to

take only a few minutes each day. If you

haven’t started in January, that’s okay. Feel

free to jump in and start in the middle of a

year. This same Bible reading structure is

found in the Forward in Christ.

To help you through your Bible study,

consider this anecdote: Peter the Barber

once asked Martin Luther how he, an

ordinary kind of guy, could read the Bible

with profit. Luther answered:

1.What does God tell me here?

2.What makes me glad?

3.What makes me sad?

4.What do I want to pray for:

Try it in your Bible reading!

****************************************************************************************************************************************

July

1. 1 Samuel 4:1b-22

2. 1 Samuel 5:1-7:2

3. 1 Samuel 7:3-8:22

4. 1 Samuel 9:10-16

5. 1 Samuel 10:11:15

6. 1 Samuel 12

7. 1 Samuel 13

8. 1 Samuel 14

9. 1 Samuel 15

10. 1 Samuel 16

11. 1 Samuel 17:1-54

12. 1 Samuel 17:55-19:24

13. 1 Samuel 20:1-21:9

14. 1 Samuel 21:10-22:23

15. 1 Samuel 23, 24

16. 1 Samuel 25, 26

17. 1 Samuel 27, 28

18. 1 Samuel 29, 30

19. 1 Samuel 31

20. Ephesians 1:1-14

21. Ephesians 1:15-23

22. Ephesians 2

23. Ephesians 3

24. Ephesians 4:1—5:2

25. Ephesians 5:3-6:9

26. Ephesians 6:10-24

27. Job 1-3

28. Job 4, 5

29. Job 6, 7

30. Job 8:1-9:24

31. Job 9:25-10:22

This Month in God’s Word

Page 3

Summer Services are at 9:00 am

July 2 - Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings: Numbers 27:15-23; 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5;

Matthew 9:35-10:8

Bible Class: Moments with the Messiah

July 9 - Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings: Jeremiah 19:14 - 20:6; Acts 23:1-11; Matthew

10:24-33

Bible Class: Moments with the Messiah

July 16 - Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings: Exodus 32:15-29; 1 John 2:15-17; Matthew

10:34-42

Bible Class: Moments with the Messiah

July 23 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Readings: Exodus 33:12-23; Hebrews 4:1-11; Matthew

11:25-30

Bible Class: Moments with the Messiah

July 30 - Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings: Isaiah 55:10-13; Acts 18:1-11; Matthew 13:1-

9,18-23

Bible Class: Moments with the Messiah

********************************************

Wedding Anniversary

Josh & Eva Van Egmond

5th Anniversary—July 1

May God Continue to Bless you in Your Marriage!

July Birthdays! A Happy and Blessed

Birthday to you All!

1– Scott Meyer

4– Bev Randazzo

5– Julie Humphrey

9– DeAnna Fanning

13– Alyce Kramer

13– Jaxon Stamps

14– Rainer Gartzke

15– David Dahlke

18-Madalyn Meyer

19– Maci Flood

21– Stan Stamps

22-Paul Fanning

23– David Medley

23– Travis Lindblad

23– Amber Kramer

24– Randy Rankin

25—Paula Gottier

25– Carol Hans

28– Bryan Hodges

28- Levi Vogel

30– Karen Dinges

30– Julie Zielinski

30– David Humphrey

A Happy and Blessed

Birthday to you All!

Showing Christ’s Love to Spread the Gospel

Page 4

The WELS Hymnal Project wants your feedback as it works on finalizing which of the more than 700 hymns from Christian Worship (CW) and Christian Worship: Supplement (CWS) will be included in the new hymnal.

Every month the WELS Hymnal Project will post a se-lection of hymns online, indicating which hymns are slated to be kept and which are slated to be cut. You can view the monthly list at welshymnal.com and, if you want, choose up to 10 hymns from the cut list that you would like to see kept in the new hymnal.

Currently, the Hymnody Committee has slated 470 hymns from CW and CWS to be included in the next hymnal. These selections will account for about two-thirds of the approximately 650 total hymns, with the remaining one-third consisting of hymns or hymn set-tings new to WELS.

According to Rev. Michael Schultz, director of the WELS Hymnal Project, one of the most important crite-ria used for selecting hymns to be included in the next hymnal is the text. “There is one changeless truth that drives everything about our hymnal project, including the selection of hymns: letting God’s forgiving love in Christ be proclaimed, heard, and sung,” he says.

Since the Hymnody Committee first started meeting four years ago, committee members have reviewed words and music from all existing CW and CWS hymns, are going through hymns from dozens of other hymnals and online resources, and have received hun-dreds of submissions for new hymns. The 12-member committee also has reviewed usage statistics, conduct-ed a “favorite hymns” survey, and worked with more than 125 congregations to field test an array of musical resources for six current Christian Worship hymns as well as six new hymns not currently found in WELS’ published resources.

Schultz says the targeted release date for the pew edi-tion of the new hymnal is Advent 2021.

A new nine-part series about hymns and their use in our congregations is starting with the July issue of Forward in Christ. Read the first article.

Learn more about the WELS Hymnal Project and review this month’s list of hymns at welshymnal.com.

At its June 14, 2017, meeting, WELS Christian Aid and Relief approved humanitarian aid grants totaling $327,475 for fiscal year 2017-18. These projects help WELS home and world missionaries reflect Christ’s love to the people of their community and open doors to share the gospel. Major items include support for health clinics, borehole drilling to provide clean water, support for a women’s skill center, home-based care for the chronical-ly ill and dying, food assistance to the needy, adult litera-cy classes, food and nutrition for orphans and refugees, midwife training classes, and medical equipment.

Rev. Bob Hein, chairman of WELS Christian Aid and Re-lief, says, “What a blessing to use the gifts of God’s peo-ple to help our missionaries build bridges for the gospel. Offering humanitarian aid is a great way to put Christ’s love in action and create opportunities to tell precious souls about Jesus.”

In Africa, Christian Aid and Relief will continue to assist various medical clinics and missions like the Central Afri-ca Medical Mission (CAMM) in Malawi. CAMM operates four clinics that serve the Lutheran Church of Central Africa. In Zambia, funding will assist a home-based care program for the physical and spiritual care of the chroni-cally ill and dying, as people there struggle with AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other terminal illnesses.

In Europe, funding will assist ministry programs that as-sist the needy and orphanages with food, clothing, Chris-tian literature, clothing, and medicine in Russia, Albania, Ukraine, and Bulgaria. This type of assistance can open the door to sharing the good news of Jesus with the com-munities.

In total, aid will be reaching 16 different countries, provid-ing food, water, education, medical care, and more. By partnering with WELS World and Home Missions, WELS missionaries, and congregations of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, these projects reflect Christs’ love through acts of kindness to people in need and provides opportunities to share God’s Word.

To learn more about WELS Christian Aid and Relief, vis-

it wels.net/relief.

Choosing Hymns for the Next Hymnal

Page 5

Dear heavenly Father, our hearts are in distress when we think of the many young men and women of our land who are called into military service to de-fend their country at great per-sonal sacrifice, sometimes con-trary to their own convictions. Keep them from becoming bitter or discouraged. Help them real-ize that Your divine providence always controls their lives and that, come what may, all things will work

together for their ultimate good.

Grant them courage to perform their duties well. Keep their minds and bodies pure. Shield them from harm and temptation. In doubts and fears give them a conquering faith. Enable them ev-er so to live and to serve that they will be Your ef-

fectual witnesses.

Dear Lord, soon end all strife and establish peace among the people of the earth. Meanwhile we entrust our loved ones to your guidance and

care. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

“A Prayer for Those in Military Service”

July 2017

From the Principal’s Desk

St. Mark Lutheran School

The Galloping Mustang

www.stmarkles.org jeremiah.drews@stmarklincoln.org

“School Work Day 2017”

There will be a Work

Day on Saturday, July

15th. We are planning

to deep clean the school

hallway, lockers, and

classrooms, as well as to

wax the floors in the hallway and the

basement. The plan is to start at 8:00

am and go until 3:00 pm. Pizza will be

provided for all attendees. Please come

out and show your love for St. Mark Lu-

theran School!

“New Devotion Series”

For the 2017-2018 School Year, all

devotion for The Galloping Mustang

will be taken from the Lutheran Book

of Prayer. In honor of the 500th An-

niversary of the Reformation, I want

to take time each month to pray for

specific items. If you want more in-

formation on this prayer book, please

contact me!

Page 6

During the 2017-2018 school year, the 6th-8th

grades of St. Mark Lutheran School will be going on a four

-day field trip adventure to the beautiful state of Minne-

sota. From September 28th-October 1st, we will be visit-

ing treasures of both our synod and Minnesota including:

Martin Luther College, Bethany Lutheran College, historic

Schell’s Brewery, the Mall of America, Target Field, and

several other Minnesotan landmarks. Students will create “Adventure Scrapbooks” during

their trip, which will be available for members to look through after they are completed.

If you would be interested in giving a monetary donation toward the trip, please contact

Mr. Drews. Our students are very excited for this opportunity and we pray that is success-

ful! Trip fundraiser coming in August!

“This Is My Father’s World” Science Camp Review” God blessed St. Mark Lutheran School with another wonderful

year of discovery in science camp. “This Is My Father’s World”

Science Camp had 23 participants with 8 of these students from

other schools in Lincoln and its vicinity. The students had four

days of camp discovering the uniqueness of plants, the power of

severe weather, the movement of erosion, and how to identify

birds. Campers took home “souvenirs” including: a camp T-

shirt, binoculars, a Nebraska birds field guide, smiles, and a de-

sire to return to next year’s

science camp (May 29th-June 1st, 2018). A special

thanks to all those who assisted me as camp counse-

lors and for your willingness to serve our Lord and

these young scientists. May God bless us with another

successful science camp next year!

“6th-8th Grades Minnesota Trip”

Nebraska Lutheran News and Notes

School News:

Call News

Pastor Haakenson has accepted a Call to develop a Hispanic ministry in Waukegan, Illinois. We thank him for his four years of service to Nebraska Lutheran. We pray for him and Monica and the girls as they prepare to move this summer.

The NELHS Board of Control will be meeting on July 9 to issue a Call for a new campus pastor. We pray for them as they seek to fill this important position.

We welcomed 80 elementary students to our “Multi-Sports Camp” June 11-14. Stu- dents enjoyed three days of sports, fun, and dorm life. This is the second highest num- ber of students to ever attend this camp, and we pray that all of them will attend Nebraska Lutheran someday.

We still have 12 dorm rooms that need to be painted in our “adopt a room” program. The dorm rooms that have been painted look fantastic! Let’s get these last dorm rooms finished so our tutors can get the rooms prepared for the students who will start arriving August 6. Contact Mr. Otte at motte@nelhs.org if you need more information or want to volunteer.

“This is Our School” Campaign

As of June 22, we have 34 donors supporting our school monthly with $2,490 for a to-tal of $29,880 a year. Please pray about this and consider making Nebraska Lutheran your school by supporting it with a monthly donation. Our goal is to get over 100 do-nors giving $100,000 annually to the high school. These funds are already beginning to impact our day to day ministry! Please consider supporting this campaign. You can start your monthly donation at www.nelhs.org.

Upcoming events:

July 15: Work Day at NELHS (cleaning, weeding, trimming, painting, etc..)

July 29: Tuition Assistance Golf Outing at Eldorado Hills Golf Couse in Norfolk. Contact Benjy Wells at bwells@nelhs.org for more information. We need more golfers and more hole sponsors!

Sponsorships needed: We have several students who due to extreme financial hardship need full or almost full tuition assistance. We are seeking individuals who would be willing to sponsor these students so that they can attend Nebraska Lutheran. Please contact Mr. Otte if you would be inter-ested in learning more about these students and are interested in helping them.

Recruitment: Our goal is 40 new students for next year. So far, 30 have applied (20 freshmen, 5 sophomores, 3 juniors, and 2 seniors). Many families are still considering NELHS. Let’s pray that many of them choose NELHS! If you know of a family whom we can contact to tell about our ministry, please e-mail Administrator Mark Otte at motte@nelhs.org or call 402-728-5236. Keep praying!

Mission Statement

NELHS exists to assist parents and congregations by providing Christian training in the skills and values necessary for loyal ser-vice to Jesus Christ for time and eternity.

Page 7

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Elders: James Mullen, Bryan Hodges

Greeters: Rich & Alta Beltz (1st & 2nd Sunday)

Ashley Hussman (3rd & 4th Sunday)

Ushers: Jarod Wilkinson, Dwayne Burianek (1st & 2nd Sunday)

Larry Hans, Bill Marker (3rd & 4th Sunday)

Bulletin Folders: Mandy Krushenisky

Finance Committee: Carol Hans

Communion Ware Cleaners: Rich Beltz (1st Sunday)

Lori Meyer (3rd Sunday)

St. Mark Sunday School for the Summer Months — at 10:15 am

July Duties—9:00 am Worship Service

Page 10

St. Mark Church & School: (402) 423-1497 www.stmarklincoln.org

3930 S. 19th Street, Lincoln, NE 68502

Elders Officer

Family Nurture: Jarod Wilkinson 402-470-7073 President: Larry Hans 402-610-1024

Adult Nurture: Bryan Hodges 402-689-6219 Vice President: Rainer Gartzke 402-484-7112

Outreach: Tyson Martin 402-741-1396 Secretary: Tim Hans 402-430-9448

Support: Blake Baumann 402-750-0374

School: Curt Jamison 402-613-0327 Church / School Staff

Worship: James Mullen 402-430-9068 Pastor: Joel Vogel 402-238-5213

Teacher/Principal: Jeremiah Drews 402-480-1940

Teacher: Jocelyn Vogel 740-350-3260

Teacher: Stephanie Peitsmeyer 614-935-2190

Administrative Assistant: Carolyn Schwede 402-423-1497