"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Matthew 6:24
It is important to Jesus that we dedicate our lives to serve God because he bought us with his precious blood and brought us out of the darkness of death into the wonderful light of life with him now and forever. Service to God is not a slavish obligation, but a great privilege to express our appreciation for all of God’s great goodness toward us, especially the spiritual blessings of the forgiveness of sins and hope of heaven. Service to God is an act of our worship. We honor him above all because we recognize his great worth to us. He alone can give us true happiness in life.
Yet we are often tempted to think that if we had more possessions, then we would be happier. We can get so taken up in the pursuit of getting more money and the things that money can buy that our attention is drawn away from God and our hearts are diverted from honoring him. Money can so easily become a master we serve, and it’s not a very good master. There’s a passage in the Bible that says, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10 ).
This is not to say that hard work and ambition are sinful. God gives us abilities and talents and wants us to use them for our welfare and the benefit of others. We must be on guard, though, that the pursuit of worldly wealth does not become a sinful obsession. Jesus says, “You cannot serve both God and Money.” God has given us everything we have. But we must not allow our earthly possessions and our pursuit of them to get between us and God. He is our gracious master who has given them to us so that we can serve him better.
Prayer: God, help me always regard my job and income as blessings from you. Keep me from setting my heart on things and my mind from the endless pursuit of getting more and more. Rather focus my attention on your love which gives me everything. Amen.
AS YOU PLAN AHEAD: ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHOP COMING TO TRINITY SOUTH NOVEMBER 14 & 15. We will host an estate planning workshop here at Trinity South on Sunday November 14 and again on Monday November 15. Both workshops will follow the worship service and last about an hour. Pastor Dennis Kleist, a WELS pastor, will lead the discussion. He is not an attorney but he can suggest one if you need one. He is trained to help you work through and recognize the gifts that the Lord has entrusted to you and to help you plan to have those gifts go where you want them to go at your death. He will also speak about Power of attorney for Health Care and Durable Power of Attorney for you finances. There is no charge for the workshop or Pastor Kleist’s work. You will be responsible for any and all legal fees if you decide to write a will or change your existing will.
KMLHS CELEBRATION OF MINISTRY, SEPTMEMBER 12, 3:00 P.M. Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in West Bend will host the KMLHS Celebration of Ministry service on Sunday September 12. This is a service to install Miss April Alonte as a KML Spanish teacher and to praise God on the anniversaries of two KML teachers…40 years of ministry for Mr. Richard (Dan) Sievert,(35 years as a teacher at KMLHS), and 25 years of ministry for Gerald (Jerry) Zeamer, (11 years at KML). A reception will follow the service. Our congregation is most certainly invited to attend.
SUNDAY SCHOOL BEGINS ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12: Our Sunday School will begin on the Sunday following our service. Parents, be sure that your children are here each week for Sunday School. Talk with them about their lessons during the week, and help them with their memory work. Also remember to pray for the teachers of our Sunday School who devote time and energy to this important work of feeding Jesus’ lambs.
BOY PIONEERS RESUMES Tuesday September 14 at 6:30 p.m. here at Trinity South. This program is open to boys from 3rd through 8th grade. It involves social, health, environmental, craft skills, and other activities. This program depends heavily on parental involvement and lay-leadership.
The meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month from 6:30–8:00 PM at Trinity South. Other outings and activities will also be planned.
BOWLING ANYONE? The four congregations in the shared ministry are again forming a bowling league for couples and individuals of the congregations from September through May. We are looking for men and women interested in bowling on the second Sunday of the month at Circle B at 5:30 PM. The first night of bowling will be September 12. That night bowlers will meet at 5:00 PM at Circle B for orientation and league rules. The cost is about $72 per person for the entire season. We are asking bowlers to please pay in advance for the entire season. If you are interested please speak to Pastor or Mary Weinrich.
PUBLIC SCHOOL CONFIRMATION CLASSES will begin on Wednesday evening September 8 at 6:30 PM at St. John’s. The 6th through 8th grade children will meet every week from 6:30 until 8:00 PM. Both of these confirmation classes will be made up of children from Trinity West, St. John’s, and Calvary as well as children from here at Trinity South who are attending public schools. Parents should receive letters with this information.
In Christ,
Pastor S. Weinrich