Bible Verse for Sunday Service December 08, 2024
John 1:1-9
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
Announcements:
Thank you to the ladies for putting up the tree last week. Also, thanks for the poinsettia plant. More poinsettias are welcome.
On December 22, the Shepherd High School Jazz band will play a program for us after church. We will meet in the fellowship hall, and enjoy the music along with some Christmas goodies. If you can make some finger food for this event, please let Bree Hofer know.
Our church directory will print for 2025 soon, and we want to be sure that we have everyone’s correct information. If you are not in the directory now or if you need to change anything, please fill out the insert in the bulletin and drop it in the offering plate or leave it on the foyer table.
Cole and Alicia will be marrying in Oregon on December 15. You can send them a card to their soon to be address in Bozeman: Cole & Alicia Orelup, 933 Flanders Creek Ave, Bozeman, MT 59718
Christmas Eve service will be at 5:30PM. We will celebrate Christ’s birth with Christmas carols, special music, and scripture.
The church donated $1000 from our benevolent fund to the food bank at the Lutheran church in Shepherd. This donation was matched by Town Pump. They welcome any donations, especially this time of year.
Sermon:
In honor of the Christmas season Pastor Jim preached on the Word in in John 1:1-9 a sermon he titled “The Good Word of the Day.” By the example of people commonly asking what the good would is, Pastor introduced the best word, Jesus, and explained that Biblical term. It is a word that is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Firstly the word is unique. What other word is God and reveals God. In John’s introduction, he provides these qualities, immortal invisible, and the image of the invisible God. Next, he remarked on the Word existing with God. In so doing, he stressed the parallel in Genesis, in the beginning , God was there. Also, using this word helped to explain the essence of Christ by combining a term that had meaning in both Hebrew and Greek philosophies. After this introduction, he moved to discuss the Word is God, a member of the Trinity with God.
Next, Pastor looked at our connection with the Word. We have the ultimate connection to Him in that he created us, and revealed Himself to us in that we all have that inner sense of Him, and his existence. Romans is very instructive here.
With our understanding so far, of the Good Word, where does that leave us. Our only choice seems to be a witness for Word. After receiving the Light, another word for Jesus in John’s Gospel, we can reflect that Light. We receive by accepting Jesus as our Savior, and reflect by entering the Kingdom of God, the range of His effective will, through accepting His discipleship and becoming more like Him. In this way, reflecting is not work we have to undertake, but becomes a natural action, just like the Moon reflecting the Sun’s light at night.
Accessing the Service, Bulletin and Sermon Outline:
Here are the pages from the bulletin, click on the images below to see them full size:
If you would like to have the sermon outline, you can download it here, a pdf file.
If you would like a link to this service you can find it here. It starts a little later as we had difficulty with our camera at the start of the service. Perhaps you would like to share it with your friends. You could also share that link on social media, if you use any of the providers. We use Rumble, a safe alternative to Google’s YouTube.