"Preparing for Sunday Mornings"

Pastor Kory's Page for October 2025

 Much of my workweek is directed toward preparing for Sunday morning. There’s a service to plan, a sermon to prepare, a Bible study to lead, and catechism class to teach or sometimes other meetings to participate in. All of this is a normal part of a pastor’s calling. However, preparing for Sunday morning isn’t just for pastors! How can church members prepare themselves for Sunday morning? Here are a few reflections:

Plan to be here – barring illness, plan to begin each week in the Lord’s house. We need our Lord Jesus as we face each week. We need His forgiveness for past sins and His help for our future faithfulness. The writer of Hebrews said plainly that believers should not neglect meeting together but that we are to keep gathering and encouraging one another (Heb. 10:25). In AD 303, a congregation of Christians in Abitinae in northern Africa were forbidden by Roman authorities from possessing copies of the Scriptures and from gathering for worship and Holy Communion. However, one of these Christians, a man named Emeritus in whose house the church met, responded to the interrogator, “We cannot live without Sunday.” In other words, he and the other members of their church were declaring that they would rather face martyrdom than give up meeting together to hear the Lord’s Word and receive His Sacrament! May God grant us to follow their example!

Read the Word – each week, we publish the Sunday Scripture readings in our Thursday church announcements. You can also find a complete schedule of the weekly readings on the Year at a Glance website: https://yaag.org or on the LCMS Website. Take a few minutes to read over the Scripture lessons ahead of time. Look for thematic connections between them. Jot down some questions you have about them or applications you might draw from them.

Pray – as you look ahead to Sunday, pray that the Holy Spirit would make you receptive to His Word. Pray for pastors and church leaders. Pray for church members and guests that their hearts, too, would be prepared to hear the Lord’s Word and receive His Sacrament. Pray that you might be able to encourage someone who needs it.

Review the service bulletin – after arriving at the church, skim over the order of service. Take a moment to read the words of a hymn or Psalm. You can also use some of the prayers found on the first page of your hymnal (listed as Prayers for Worship). Additionally, your hymnal includes several structured orders of prayer (p. 282 and following) and topical prayers (p. 305 and following) which you could use before the service begins.

Take it home – jot some notes during the sermon and review them after you go home. Take your bulletin with you and reread the Scripture lessons devotionally. Pray the words of one of the hymns. Familiarize yourself with something in the service that was new to you. Use the church prayer list (in the back of the bulletin) as part of your personal prayers at home.

Attending the Sunday service isn’t just one more chore or activity in a Christian’s week. It’s the heartbeat of it! Like the early Christians, we can learn to orient our week around Sunday morning when we gather with God’s people, receive Christ’s gifts, and respond to Him in prayer and song. 

On that note, I look forward to gathering with you on Sunday.

Grace & Peace,

                                    Pastor Kory Janneke

Pastor Kory wrote the following letter to introduce our 2025 church pictorial directory.

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:2-6)

Have you noticed the saying on the cover of our service bulletins, “Partners in the Gospel”? That phrase is drawn from the passage above, St. Paul’s opening words in his Epistle to the Philippian Christians. Paul gave thanks to the Lord for the ways that the early Christians in Philippi partnered with him in his apostolic ministry. This partnership took the form of tangible support for Paul’s work, such as funding and supplies needed for his missionary travels. 

As Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he was likely under house arrest in Rome. While there, Paul needed the Phillippians to partner with him in prayer, asking the Lord to deliver him and enable him to return to the churches in person. Churches like the one in Philippi also kept in touch with Paul during his imprisonments, sending him messengers, letters, and care packages. We also know from a reference in another letter (2 Cor. 8:1-5), that Christians in Philippi and the surrounding region partnered with Paul in gathering a relief offering for famine-afflicted Christians hundreds of miles away in Jerusalem. 

“Partners in the Gospel” is a good description for fellow members of a Christian congregation. We share a common partnership through Jesus Christ, who has gathered us together into His body, the church, to share in His blessings both now and eternally. The same Gospel which makes us Christians is also the message which we, in turn, seek to make known, wherever and with whomever we can. 

We also share a partnership in the Gospel not only by supporting the ministry of our local church, but also by sharing in and supporting the work of our Circuit (Little Rock North), District (Mid-South), and Synod (The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod). Like St. Paul, we give thanks for the opportunity to share in the church’s wider mission in places both nearby and faraway. 

Speaking of nearby, though, the word “partnership” also conveys our need for one another as members of St. Matthew Lutheran Church. I wouldn’t be able to carry out my pastoral ministry without your support and partnership in the Gospel. Additionally, it takes the work of many members to carry out all the work which needs to be done – volunteering, visiting, praying for and reaching out to one another and to our neighbors, baking and cooking, serving in congregational offices, caring for the church’s physical property, and much more.

Give thanks for all the ways in which Christ has made us partners together in the Gospel, and prayerfully consider how He might use you as a partner in the work of His church!

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Kory Janneke

Pastor Kory’s Page for Sunday, August 3, 2025

St. Matthew member Mark Cavender and his wife Casey are preparing to move to Concordia Seminary St. Louis for Mark to begin studying for the pastoral ministry. In the meantime, Mark will be assisting with leading worship, teaching Bible study, and making visits here at St. Matthew. Mark will also serve on our Church Council for 2025-2026. This Pastor’s Page is an interview with Mark and Casey, giving you and opportunity to get to know them and their story and how the Lord is leading them. Thank you for reading and please keep the Cavenders in your prayers as they prepare for the seminary!

     Grace & Peace,

                        Pastor Kory Janneke

Could you begin by introducing yourself and Casey to the readers? 

Mark is a retired USAF Master Sergeant, having served 25 years in the communications and training field. He is a veteran of three wars. He is currently working as a Certified Nurses Aid at Conway Regional Health System. He loves model trains, music, guitar, and trombone. He really enjoys singing in the choir. Mark has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UCA. 

Casey is a retired chemistry professor (one year at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, 35 years at UCA, and a semester at Hendrix College).  She loves reading, needlework (knitting, cross-stitch, sewing), music, and playing with/building computers.  

How has the Lord used your life experiences to prepare you for pastoral ministry?

Mark was raised in the Church of Christ while being influenced and encouraged by Gary and Mary Tumlinson of Peace Lutheran Church in Conway. After some very negative remarks during his late wife’s funeral, he moved to Conway and through friends was introduced to the Lutheran flavor of Christianity. He completed adult instruction and was confirmed on the 499th Reformation Day (2016). Mark has had service to God at a higher level on his heart for a very long time. His first wife’s passing brought him to a more dependent relationship with God. His wife told him just before she died to not be mad at God and don’t run away from Him. Mark ran to God. He took the aid of a Stephen’s Minister then became one. He then became a Stephen’s Leader when the need arose. 

What are you most looking forward to about serving in pastoral ministry?

Mark:  I am enthralled by our worship service and its liturgy in the Lutheran Church in accordance with Leviticus 23. I am excited to lead a flock of believers to God’s altar and worship our Almighty God.

Casey:  I view my first and most important job to be my husband’s helpmeet in this journey; I will support him every step of the way.  I look forward to the opportunities I’ll have for study and music while we are there, both at the Seminary, and in whichever church we end up worshiping.

What are you doing to get ready for life at Concordia Seminary St. Louis?

"Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’" (Matthew 19:21)

We have been selling our things, giving a lot of things to the poor and preparing to leave and follow Him. In the spiritual arena, we have been doing what Mark calls “spiritual house cleaning.” If there are any people who are not at peace with us, we go and offer peace. It has not been refused so far.

God has facilitated ease for us in some of the physical matters. We sold our camper almost by accident in one day. We sold the truck in one day the same week as the camper sold. In both instances, we were blessed financially making it possible to increase our contribution at church.

Are there any ways we can be praying for and supporting you and Casey as you prepare for seminary?

We ask for your prayers for Mark’s studies as he prepares to take the Entry Level Competency Exams (ELCEs). Pray for a quick sale of the house next March, and for continued good health so that we are strong to take on the work of the Lord.  We also wish for prayers that as we move from Conway to St. Louis, our housing situation will fall into place as tidily as the sales of our camper and truck.