ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH
(The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod)
Alma, Kansas
A family united by faith in Christ gathering around God's Word and Sacraments.
To reach out in Christ-like concern and Christ-borne love to each other and to those without Christ!
In This Month's
St. John Witness
AUGUST WITNESS
Pastor's Message
“The plans of the heart belog to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
On October 28, 1993, the U.S. Space Command watched as a two-ton-chunk of Chinese Satellite began to reenter earth's atmosphere. The Space Command begins its work 62 miles above sea level and tracks more than twelve thousand man-made objects orbiting the earth. The Space Command calculated that the Chinese satellite would drop into the Pacific Ocean 500 miles west of Baja California. But when it plunged into the atmosphere, it skipped south and took an unexpected detour, landing in the Pacific west of Peru, 4,000 miles away.
Major Bob Butt explans: "Space debris traveling 17,000 miles per hour takes unpredictable twists and turns when it breaks into the thickening atmosphere. It's like dropping a penny into water. Sometimes it goes straight down, and sometimes it turns end over end and changes directions.
This wasn't the first time the Chinese satellite had thwarted the predictions of scientists. The satellite was launched October 8, 1993, carrying microgravity experiments. Ten days after launch, a capsul containing the experiments was to separate and parachute back to earth for retrieval. But when the Chinese radioed command codes for the application to function, the satellite went outof control, split in two, and stayed in orbit. They predicted the satellite would orbit for six more months, but it only managed another 10 days, coming down earlier than even the U.S. Space Command expected.
God recognizes that our plans are uncertain, and God often sees our plans as incomplete. We do not have the wisdom to understand all the twists and turns of life, as we rush along, skipping away from resistance as we face it. Yet God teaches us that such resistance is sure to come throughtout our lives. "We must through many troubles enter into the kingdom of God," He declares in Acts 14:22.
We approach planning with humility as we begin another academic year at St. John. We seek God's blessings as we review God's Word, recognize God's voice, and pray for God's guidance. God knows the answers we seek even before we can properly phrase the questions of our hearts. Proverbs 16:3 teaches us: "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established."
God's plan for salvation has been assured. It is easier to predict the past rather than the future. God wanted to rescue fallen humanity from sin and death, and His plan was, and is, Jesus Christ, His Son. His grace guides our plans, too.
Praying for God's guidnce!
Pastor Grimm
