Shepherd of Peace Lutheran Church

Announcements

• Worship Service Cancelled - Wed 1/20/21

  Please be advised that Worship Service on Wednesday 1/20/21 is CANCELLED as Pastor Ben will be out of town. Please feel free to revisit one of our historical worship recordings from our YouTube video channel - CLICK HERE

• LCMS Convention Voters Request

  Due to the impacts of COVID-19, the district presidents of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod expressed to LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison uncertainty regarding the ability to meet for their district conventions during 2021.  After consultation with the LCMS Board of Directors, and with the encouragement of the LCMS Council of Presidents, President Harrison proposes, per LCMS Constitution Article XI B 8, that the congregations of Synod vote to delay the 2022 Synod convention one year (to 2023), thus extending the window for district conventions to include the calendar year 2022.

  Our congregation’s participation in this deliberation and decision is vital as our church navigates this historic vote.  Shepherd of Peace Lutheran Church voters are being asked (along with all LCMS congregations) to submit our votes regarding this proposal. There you can review the letter from LCMS President Harrison to congregations, pastors and church workers, as well as a link to a list of frequently asked questions or FAQ regarding the proposal, and the LCMS Commission on Constitutional Matters meeting minutes from their November meeting. These documents will also be printed and available outside the church offices for your review. 

  Congregations are able to submit their votes to the district between January and February 15, 2021. We are requesting that SOP voting members submit your vote on this proposal by early February (NOTE: This matter requires 25% participation by congregations in order to validate the vote, so your vote is important).  CLICK HERE FOR INFO AND SUBMIT YOUR VOTE or call Lannie at 712-943-4502
   
• 

  2021 Readings - ESV Bible in a Year!

  For 2021, our reading plan this year will be a challenge to read the bible in a year with focused readings each weekday. This is a very flexible schedule. Each day will cover a portion of the Bible. May God bless you as we take on this task together again in 2021!  Pastor Ben Perkins
• 

  Exhausted by the Pandemic

  Are you experiencing pandemic fatigue—that feeling of being mentally and emotionally exhausted by everything that’s going on right now? We’re all facing different kinds of life challenges during this time—

  • Isolation and loneliness;
  • Anxiety over health;
  • Grief;
  • Juggling work, childcare, and schooling responsibilities;
  • Financial strain or job loss;
  • Uncertainty about the future . . .

  
  The list goes on. It’s no wonder we might be hit by pandemic fatigue—I know I have.  But you don’t have to go through it alone. If you or someone you care about is experiencing difficulties like these, our Stephen Ministers are ready to listen, care, encourage, and be there to offer support.  A Stephen Minister will meet with you privately—by phone, by video chat, or possibly in person when it’s safe to do so—to focus on you and your needs. It’s free and completely confidential, and it offers real care, comfort, and hope.

  You can find out more by calling our Stephen Leader, Diane Zanter at 712.251.3009 or Pastor Ben at 712.943.4502.

• No Sunday School

  Parents, Due to recent status events associated with the COVID pandemic, we will not have Sunday School for the foreseeable future. Please check our Facebook page and/or website for updates on a Children’s Christmas Program or alternative at home material. Blessings to everyone!

• Online Offering via PayPal

  Thank you ALL for continuing to worship with us ONLINE and for keeping each other in your thoughts and prayers as we ALL get through COVID-19 together. Many of you have requested a method to process online offerings until we are able to worship together again and as such we have added this method to submit offerings via PayPal here on our website. To process your offering, click on the ONLINE GIVING link at the bottom of our website menu.  If you chose to use this method, for proper accounting, please include your name or envelope number in the "Notes" section as you submit your offering. Clicking the link will redirect you to the PayPal website where if you have a PayPal account you can simply sign-on, or if you do not have a PayPal account, you can click on the button to donate using a credit card or debit card account.

  Here are ALL of the offering options available to you: 
  
  1. Drop Off or Mail envelopes to church
  2. Online Bill Pay via your banks website
         (set payee as SOP and account # as your envelope number)
  3. Give Online via SOP website
         (uses PayPal and supports credit or debit cards)
  4. Enrollment in ACH or Automated Clearing House
         (auto withdrawl from checking or savings account.)
  
  ACH is a secure and efficient way to submit your weekly offerings. Simply print and fill out the ACH form via the link below. You select a designated offering amount that you wish to have electronically deducted from your checking account each week or month. Your financial contribution is then automatically withdrawn from your checking or savings account and deposited directly to Shepherd of Peace under your envelope account. You will need to provide a voided check for use in validating account information as required by Pioneer Bank. or  you can simply drop off your offering envelopes to Lannie in the church office Mon-Thu 10a-3p.
  Click Here for ACH Enrollment Form

  Shepherd of Peace Lutheran Church
  203 Port Neal Rd.
  Sergeant Bluff, IA 51054

  

• Prayer: Worship

  Father bring us to Your house. Change the way we think about time. Reorder our priorities until You are first and biggest and most important. Draw us into Your presence with loud songs of praise. In our prayers, our devotions, and our worship life make communion with You our first thought each day. Make our walk with Your Son the biggest part of our lives. With every step, bring us closer to the prize found only in Christ. You live and reign—one God, now and forever. Amen

   

• Prayer: Stewardship

  Master, Give me a steward's heart today. Help me be faithful with all You have entrusted to my care. Make me efficient with my time, sparing with my words, and thrifty with Your treasure. Grant that my spending be wise and my giving represent my gratitude. Amen.

   

• Prayer: Life

  Lord, You give us the breath of life and have given us new life—even eternal life; You love every precious life. God, we find ourselves in a land where life has been devalued. It has become a commodity to be bought and sold at no high price. Forgive us our inaction as so many lives are being neglected, taken, sold, and squandered. Show our culture the value of life. Guide our feet and our hands and our mouths—to go and to act and to speak. Wherever life is threatened or cheapened or disregarded make us defend and preserve life in the unborn, the untimely born, the infirm, the ill, the underprivileged, and the elderly. Watch over every precious life.Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen.