"Caring for people in such a way that they meet Jesus!"

Faith-Altus, Christ-Elk City and St. John-Lone Wolf

   
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Daily Lectionary

Easter 4

Fourth Sunday of Easter– Leviticus 8: 1-13; Luke 9: 1-17

 

Monday – Leviticus 9: 1-24; Luke 9: 18-36

 

Tuesday – Leviticus 10: 1-20; Luke 9: 37-62

 

Wednesday – Leviticus 16: 1-24; Luke 10: 1-22

 

Thursday – Leviticus 17: 1-16; Luke 10: 23-42

 

Friday – Leviticus 18: 1-7, 20-19:8; Luke 11: 1-13

 

Saturday – Leviticus 19:9-18, 26-37; 11: 14-36

 

   

 

   
Ministry Staff

Pastor

Rev. Ronald Boelte

Click Here to E-mail Ronald.

 

Asst. to Pastor

Deacon BJ Armstrong

Click Here to E-mail BJ.

 

Organist

Faith:Altus-Kathryn Graumann

Christ:Elk City-Donna Davis

Christ:Elk City-Wayne Brekke

St. Johns:Lone Wolf-Nickie Straub

 

   
 
   

By Pastor Boelte

Why Pray?

 

YOUR FATHER KNOWS!

 

Our Father in Heaven definitely knows what we need before we even ask. So why ask? Why bother praying? This question can be on all of our minds from time to time, especially if we see and pray mostly supplication type prayers. However, prayer is not merely a means of presenting our request to God, but is our means of pursuing a relationship with our Heavenly Father. It is the same way with any relationship we may have on this earth; husband-wife, parent-child, friend-friend, that relationship is cemented on giving and getting, by love and communication. Prayer is our primary way of doing just that with our heavenly Father. A good way of showing our love and communicating with our Father is through the acronym F-A-C-T-S (Faith-Adoration-Confession-Thanksgiving-Supplication). Each Sunday we try to include each of these in our worship service, although they may not be in this order. Let me explain as we look at each one.

 

Faith

 

Prayers of Faith are not in the words we utter, but in coming to know the One to whom we pray. We get to know Him through His Word where He is revealed, and the prayer of faith is always rooted in Scriptures that reveals to us God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we continually build on this faith by saturating ourselves with God’s Word. As Jesus say in John 15:7-8(ESV) “7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  8By this our Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.“ Our Worship Services are full of God’s Word that helps us to know Him and to build a relationship with him so that we can pray those Prayers of faith that bring glory to Him.

 

Adoration

 

Faith in God just naturally leads to our adoration. So prayer without adoration is incomplete and just doesn’t work. Through adoration we express our genuine love and longing for God. This is done through our praise and worship and many of our song and psalms express these thoughts of adoration as we focus on God’s greatness and what He has done for us.

 

Confession

 

Confession needs to be a vital part of our prayer life. Un-confessed sin can break our communion with God. Confession than carries with it the acknowledgement that we stand guilty before God’s justice and it is only through Jesus and what he has done that we have been declare righteous before our God. We can only develop a deep intimacy with the Lord through prayer when we confess our need for forgiveness and seek His pardon. It is summed up by John this way in 1 John 1:8-10(ESV) 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Each week we have our confessions somewhere during our Worship Service, and these help us to draw closer to God.

 

   
 
   
Lutheran Facts...

General Lutheran Facts

Although all Christian churches use Holy Scripture, Lutherans emphasize that Scripture is the final and only certain judge of doctrine and practice (sola scriptura) - not human traditions, reason, or churchly authority.

 

Lutherans form the larges family of Protestants, numbering more than sixty million worldwide.

 

Among the Protestant denominations, Lutherans tend to have greater unity. For example, there are fourteen Lutheran denominations in North America. In contrast, other denominational families (Reformed, Anabaptist, Baptist, etc.) have at least twice that number.

   
   
All Partners

Congratulations

 

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Dillon and Katy Butchee recently received their Master’s Degree from Oklahoma State University! Congratulations!

 

   
   
Recent Events

St. John's

 

 

Lindsey Dugan (far right) and Cassie Straub (2nd from left) recently competed in the Memorial Marathon Relay competition in Oklahoma City. Their TEAM FAST FIVE ranked 24th out of 215 in their category, and overall ranked 104th out of 640 relay teams. Congratulations Lindsey and Cassie!