Weekly Announcements

Worship

"SING A DAVID"

The Psalms are the Holy Spirit’s own hymnbook. They are rich in the history of Israel, the prophecies of Christ, the wisdom of God and the steadfast love of the Lord. You probably know a few by heart. It was once required that pastors be able to “sing an entire David,” that is, to know the whole Psalter from memory (Canons of the Second Council of Nicea, Canon 2).  But what if you’re just starting to learn and pray the Psalms?  With your Bible and one of these pages in hand, you should have everything you need to take your first step into any of the 150 Psalms. Learn more and download these from the LCMS Resources website at resources.lcms.org/worship-planning/psalm-sheets/.

STREAM "PEACE WAVERLY" YOUTUBE, OR THIS TV OPTION

If you cannot make it to Peace or another LCMS congregation in-person on a Sunday, go to "Peace Waverly" on YouTube and stream the service, "live" or recorded.  Or, here's another option:  Main Street Living” is a liturgical worship service broadcasting a different local pastor each Sunday morning. It airs along with the classic Lutheran Hour program, “This is the Life”. Both can be viewed on KLKN Channel 8 (Lincoln) & WOWT Channel 6.2 (Omaha). Visit www.mainstreetliving.com/lincoln to view current and past episodes. Sermons are interpreted and closed captioned for the deaf and hard of hearing.  Aug 31, 2025, 10:00am - “The Reluctant Witness” - A man’s fishing trip is interrupted when he becomes a witness to crime and struggles with the aftermath. 10:30 AM - Rev. Tim Gall, pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Pleasant Dale, NE, presents a message titled ”Humbleness to Exaltation”. This sermon is based on Luke 14:1-14. Sept 7, 2025, 10:00am - “Harriett’s Wedding Day” - A groom nearly cancels wedding plans due to fear of the unknown. 10:30 AM - Rev. Scott Porath, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Eagle, NE, presents a message titled ”Count the Cost”. This sermon is based on Luke 14:25-35.  Sept 14, 2025, 10:00am - “Tragedy Near a Small Town” - Tragedy in a small town results in a loving father holding a grudge instead of forgiving as our Father has forgiven us. 10:30 AM - Rev. Thomas Goodroad, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lincoln, NE, presents a message titled ”Half Dead”. This sermon is based on Luke 10:23-37.  Sept 21, 2025, 10:00am - “Spite” - Negative emotions and grudges are destructive, but forgiveness allows people to move forward. 10:30 AM - Rev. Tyler Hauptmeier, pastor at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Doniphan, NE, presents a message titled ”God is a Giving God”. This sermon is based on Luke 16:1-15.  Sept 28, 2025, 10:00am - “The Visit” - A Christian’s response to tragedy becomes a witness to others during wartime. 10:30 AM - Vicar Trevor Flanick, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lincoln, NE, presents a message titled ”Who is your Master?”. This sermon is based on Matthew 6:24-34.

HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING TO PEACE ON SUNDAY MORNINGS?

Consider nearby LCMS congregations’ alternate worship days/times!  Faith Lutheran (84th & Adams) Sundays 5:30pm; Redeemer Lutheran (510 S. 33rd St) Saturdays 6:00pm; Immanuel Lutheran (Eagle) Tuesdays 9:00am

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE DAILY e-DEVOTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORSHIP TIME?

If you would like to receive a daily devotion in your email from Lutheran Hour Ministries, please let us know at office@peacewaverly.org.  Or, if you prefer to sign up with LHM yourself, you can do that at lhm.org/newsroom.  God bless your daily time of worship!

AUG 31 - SEPT 6, 2025

Education

“THE SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANCE”

Starts Sept 16th in the Commons area 7:00 pm  thru 8:30 pm.  In the 28 years of leading this study we have personally seen hundreds of lives changed. This study helps us to own the Worth and Value God gives to us through Jesus and to Deliver That Hope to Others.  “God’s Love, expressed through His people and woven into our lives by His Spirit and His Word can over a period of time bring healing into our deepest of wounds and instill within us an appropriate sense of self worth.” This study teaches and coaches us how to do Heart To Heart Ministry. This study is about Personal Transformation that equips us to do just that. Luther taught this about the topic: “The first and highest work of love a Christian ought to do when he has become a believer, is to bring others also to believe in the way he himself came to believe.…. every Christian should instruct and teach his neighbor, that he may also come to Christ….all Christians are commanded to profess their faith publicly and also to lead others to believe.” Contact Dick Rockenbach dickandsue75@gmail.com or 402-450-4443 cell.  I will need to order books so I will need a head count if possible.

“EVERY CHRISTIAN A WARRIOR”

Men's AND Women's study with Breakfast.  Starts Tuesday Mornings 6:00 Am thru 7:15 Am Sept 16th in the commons area.  This is the best basic Discipleship process I have found in 28 years of leading small group ministry. I asked a Pastor a few weeks back “What is the biggest roadblock in the LCMS in reaching the Lost?”  His response was “#1 Lack of focus on raising up disciples who are equipped to disciple others.” I agree.  This study is about Personal Transformation that equips us to do just that.  Luther taught this about the topic: “The first and highest work of love a Christian ought to do when he has become a believer, is to bring others also to believe in the way he himself came to believe.…. every Christian should instruct and teach his neighbor, that he may also come to Christ….all Christians are commanded to profess their faith publicly and also to lead others to believe.” 

Contact Dick  Rockenbach dickandsue75@gmail.com or 402-450-4443 cell.  I will need to order books so I will need a head count if possible.

CONFIDENTIAL RETREAT FOR WOMEN WHO'VE HAD AN ABORTION

Have you or someone you love experienced abortion and now seek healing, peace, or forgiveness?  Redeeming Grace is a confidential retreat for women who have experienced abortion at any point in their lives.  This small-group, Christ-centered experience offers emotional and spiritual renewal through reflection, fellowship, and activities that draw participants gently toward the hope found only in Jesus.  The retreat takes place November 13–16, 2025, at Wildwood Hills Ranch in St. Charles, Iowa.  The cost is only $75, with generous financial assistance available.  Learn more at word-of-hope.org/rgr.

BROADENING DEATH AND CHEAPENING LIFE?

In a recent guest essay in The New York Times, three medical doctors proposed a solution for the lack of suitable organs available for transplant in the United States. Because an estimated 15 people die every day waiting for a transplant, they said, “We need to broaden the definition of death.”  Their basic argument is that because the existing medical definition of death is too narrow, good organs are left on the table. Most organs donated for transplant can only be taken from someone who is clinically dead, meaning that the person’s heart has stopped or there is no brain activity even if the heart continues. The crisis, according to the authors, is because too many viable organs are damaged by a lack of blood flow or not enough people are dying with an active heart but a dead brain. Thus, they argue: The solution, we believe, is to broaden the definition of brain death to include irreversibly comatose patients on life support. Using this definition, these patients would be legally dead regardless of whether a machine restored the beating of their heart.  In other words, people in “irreversible” comas should be considered dead, so that, as long as a person had consented to organ donation, “removal would proceed without delay.”  Not only are the authors asking all of us to ignore the countless accounts of miraculous cases in which people emerged from comas thought to be “irreversible,” but also many cases in which patients were rushed to death in order to secure their organs. They’re also asking us to ignore the movies.  Back in 1978, Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, directed a TV movie called “Coma,” starring Michael Douglass. In it, a young medical student discovers that otherwise healthy young people are slipping into comas. The cause is a group of doctors hoping to harvest organs, using many of the same arguments offered in The New York Times piece.   As a whistleblower from the U.K. warned on X in a post that featured an interview with Dr. Paul Byrne:  You cannot take organs from a cadaver. The best organ donors have a beating heart, a circulation, under 30 years old and ideally on a ventilator. Basically, someone is being murdered to give someone else organs. The entire brain dead scenario is a lie.  Ethical scenarios like this were unthinkable until quite recently in human history. Until a few decades ago, a broken or diseased organ was a death sentence. There wasn’t much doctors could do. In 1967, doctors pulled off the first heart transplant. Since, thousands of lives have been saved through organ transplants.  And yet, somehow, this groundbreaking and remarkable life-saving medical innovation became a crisis. The ability to transplant organs has become a shortage of organs. Because there are more people that can be saved, we are told there are more people who should die.  This kind of moral reductionism of human beings is both degrading and dangerous. As Wesley J. Smith said at National Review in response to the Times piece: We must not yield to the utilitarian temptation in health care. Pretending that a patient is dead does not make him deceased. This proposal—and others like it—have the awful potential to seriously corrode trust in the ethics of transplant medicine among an already wary public.  A utilitarian view of things would say that if we can do something, we must do something. If good results, the end will justify the means. Obviously, the Bible is silent on organ donation, but it rejects an “end justifies the means” approach to moral decisions. In the biblical view, humans cannot be reduced to mere bodies, nor can bodies be reduced to disposable and unimportant flesh.  In his book, Bioethics: A Primer for Christians, Gilbert Meilaender wrote:  This is the sort of slippery slope on which we stand if we permit ourselves to believe that ours is the godlike responsibility of bringing good out of every human tragedy. … Only by supporting organ transplantation in ways that do not lose the meaning of the body as the place of our personal presence, in ways that preserve the possibility of a humane death, and in ways that do not imply that staying alive as long as possible always has moral trump, can we become people who give thanks for medical progress without worshiping it or placing their trust in it. In becoming such people, we may bear a different kind of life-giving witness to our world.  Struggling through difficult questions surrounding the meaning of death and organ donation is not optional for the Church. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, good ethics are necessary if for no other reason than bad ethics exist. These doctors aren’t the first to make the horrific suggestion that we should pronounce alive people dead. Nor will they be the last. Christians, who believe that God makes dead people alive, should be the first to speak out and suggest a better way.  (breakpoint.org cited in Lutherans for Life)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE CHURCH

How do recent technological advancements in artificial intelligence and GPT4 impact the church? According to Dr. David Maxwell "The theological implication is that if AI starts acting human, we're going to think of it as human."  Join the conversation between Dr. David Maxwell, Dr. Joel Okamoto and Jessica Bordeleau as they discuss artificial intelligence and what it means to be human:  sites.libsyn.com/486336/artificial-intelligence-and-the-church-dr-david-maxwell-and-dr-joel-okamoto

Fellowship 

SUPPER EXPRESS: 9-3: Chicken & Rice!

JOIN US BETWEEN SERVICES ON THE 21ST!

Join the Belize Mission Team as they share about their mission on September 21st between services! This presentation will give you the chance to learn more about Belize Mission Society and other mission opportunities through their organization. Our team members are excited to share about their time in Seine Bight village, participating in VBS, construction, home health visits and more! We look forward to seeing you!

Y.O ROAD RALLY HOSTED BY THE OWLS

What is a YO = Youngers and Olders.  What is an OWLS? Older Wiser Lutheran Saints = Old People.  You might often hear that the Bible can guide you, but at the Rockenbach Road Rally, the Bible will literally tell you which direction to go! On October 5th from 4:00-8:30pm, come participate in a Bible Based Driving Scavenger Hunt. Each car will be given a Road Map of Bible questions as they leave, to make their way around the course. With the Road Map of NIV Bible verses you must look up to find your way and do what it says to do – answering questions along the way.  All questions will be from the OLD NIV 1984 thru pre 2010 version.  NO electronic Bible app searches are allowed.  Check your Bibles Date or you will get lost- they are different.

A Minimum of one Bible is needed per car and we will have extra if needed.  Winners will be the team who answers the most questions correctly and gets back in the fastest time. Hotdog dinner will be provided, please bring chairs. All adults and youth are invited. Children/youth will need to be accompanied by an adult driver.  The Road Rally begins at Dick and Sue’s house: 4:00 PM 19906 Holdrege St. Eagle, NE.  PLEASE try to RSVP to Dick and Sue by October 1st  - if you can- It really helps us.  If you can’t RSVP please come anyway.  Dick: 402-450-4443; Sue: 402-450-5522

SUPPER EXPRESS IS BACK!

Supper Express was a huge success last year and we want to build on that success as we move into the new school year. Sue Rockenbach will continue as our head chief providing a menu that is delicious, hot and appetizing.  Part of the success last year can be attributed to your participation, and we are looking for your participation again this year. Here are three areas where you can help:

  • MAC set up prior to the meal. This is a 30-minute task, arriving at 5:00 pm and setting up the table and chairs. Only one volunteer per night is needed. (5:00 to 5:30)

  • MAC clean up post meal. This is another 30-minute task wiping down the tables and putting them away. Only one volunteer per night is needed. (6:30 to 7:00)

  • Provide desserts for the evening meal. Only one individual or group per night. The desserts would need to be delivered no later than 5:15 pm on Wednesday. (approximately 80 servings). 

The process to sign up is the same as last year. Click here to visit SignUpGenius where all the Midweek Wednesdays are listed. You can sign up for one Wednesday or several Wednesdays simply by entering your name along with your e-mail address for that specific task on the night or nights you are willing to serve. For dessert, you may sign up individually or as a group. A group example would be the 4th grade class or OWLS will provide dessert. If a group is providing the dessert, please include a contact person for that group. The calendar is wide open so sign up early to get the night or nights you like.

Thank you in advance for your willingness to serve and help in any capacity that you can.

LADIES RETREAT, OCTOBER 4TH

Faith Lutheran Church in Lincoln, NE, will host Gretchen Ronnevik for their Fall Ladies Retreat on from 9am - 2pm on Saturday, October 4, 2025. Gretchen Ronnevick from 1517 will be speaking over four sessions about spiritual disciplines - but not how one might think. When we mistake spiritual disciplines for to-dos, time slots in our schedule, or instagramable moments, we miss the benefits of Christ's continual and constant work for us. The overall good news is that spiritual disciplines have less to do with what we bring before God and more about who Christ is for us, not only as the author but also the perfector of our faith. Lunch will be provided and sign up is encouraged by visiting the website: faithlincoln.org/events

LORD, IN YOUR MERCY, HEAR OUR PRAYER:

Led by Prayer Team Leader, Dennis Bauer. 

Send prayer requests to prayers@peacewaverly.org, or 402.450.3357.

Health Concerns: Garrett (son of Patti Haertel), surgery recovery; Brian (brother-in-law of Dennis Bauer), cancer; Stacey Wheeler, cancer and radiation treatment; David Walker (brother of Marcia Werner), cancer; Linda Thraen (sister of Lori Curtis, daughter of Eileen and Lyle Hall), cancer; Lyle Hall, pneumonia; Bonnie (mother of Dennis Bauer), pneumonia and heart issues; Sara (cousin of Jennifer Knorr), Huntington’s Disease; Henry Michalski (son of Sara Michalski, grandson of Mike and Evon May), eye disease; Karen Pfingsten (mother of Lori Landis), cancer; Amanda Hansmeier (sister of Shelly Beachler), surgery recovery; Maggie (friend of Paige Dahlbeck), cancer; Dennis Bauer, radiation treatment; Donna Zapp (mother of Sean Zapp), cancer; Jodi Behlen; Marilyn Ash, heart issues; Carolyn Galligan, surgery recovery; Eric (friend of Dick Rockenbach), health issues; Phyllis Ohlmann (mother of Brad Ohlmann), cancer and pneumonia; Todd (friend of Bob Rankin), cancer; Patti Scheel (sister-in-law of Patti Haertel), cancer; Rita Nelson, surgery recovery; Lilo Johnson, Parkinson’s; Marcia (friend of Lanel Fenster) and family, cancer and illness; Rogene Isaacson, cancer; Rev. Brad Birtell (Uncle of Hannah McLaughlin), cancer; Jay Berry, health; Amy (cousin of Lanel Fenster), cancer) Brad, (Bruce Nelson’s brother), continued healing and pain relief; The Bassinger Family, health.

For the Bereaved:  The Tietjen family at the death of Jen’s mother; The family of Doris Maahs; Dudley Sorensen and family at the death of his father; Julie Wilshusen and family at the death of her uncle, Alan; Brian Behlen and family at the death of his mother, Ardith

Those Serving in the Military:  Piper Haen (Pv2 Haen Piper, 1985 Cooksey St., 102B Fort Leonard Wood MO 65473), Leah Rasmussen, Adam Haeffner, Rev. David Edwards (our adopted chaplain) SLD45/HC, 357 Titan Road, Patrick SFB, FL 32925

Out of the Area Members:  Gabe Wilshusen; Taylor and Malachi Casteneda; Stephanie, Bryer, and Larson Cecrle; Christian Dauel; Anna Manning; Maggie Reed; Jared Ohlmann

Shut-Ins:  Dennis Bauer, Dick Mohlman, Renae Johnson, Judy Steffen, Lilo Johnson, Lyle Hall, Rogene Isaacson

College / Early Career:  Rees Bunting, Chase Dittenber, Trev Greve, Henry Hollibaugh, Morgan Jenkins, Reagan Landis, Jonah Muench, Landon Williamson, Alaina Ropte, Cooper Wittler, Nikolai Buss, Adellin Doyen, Trae Greve, Jacob Kleinbeck, Leah Rasmussen, Cole Sorensen, Henry Angle, Meagan Dauel, Josh Giesler, Ryan Etheridge, Alex Etheridge, Adam Haeffner, Drew Hollibaugh, Garrett Jenkins, Nathan Krenke, Logan Ropte, Judson Tietjen, Carson Vachal, Kemper Reed, Jaidon Bell, Dain Frazier, Piper Haen, Hayden Knickerbocker, Noah Knickerbocker, Meghan Krenke, Selah Muench, Grant Schere, Madelyn Stone, Michael Williamson, Jordyn Behlen, Jaxon Kleinbeck, Josh Larsen, Ethan Rosenthal, Derek Walker, Tucker Bliss

Evangelism

Missions: 

“you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."   Acts 1:8

LOCAL (“Jerusalem")

CO-LEAD THE HALLOWEEN HOTDOG OUTREACH

Would you like to co-lead Peace's Halloween outreach with Dudley Sorensen?  This is one of the three, big outreach efforts we do in the community each year, as a congregation, and God has blessed it for several years!  Please prayerfully consider if you'd like to help lead it, and contact Pastor by September 15th.  There are several former coordinators to help show you the ropes! 

 

REGIONAL (“Judea")

CAMP LUTHER GOLF TOURNAMENT FUNDRAISER

Grab your clubs & support Camp Luther! Join them for their Golf Tournament Fundraiser on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025 at Quail Run Golf Course in Columbus, NE! Check-In: 12:00 P.M.  Shotgun Start: 1:00 P.M.  Dinner: 6:30 P.M.  Format: 18-Hole, 4-Player Team Scramble.  All funds raised go toward keeping camp affordable for families — helping more kids experience life-changing faith, friendship, and fun at Camp Luther! Play a round. Fund a camper. Change a life. Learn more, register today, and help fund your camp for generations to come!  campluther.org/golftournament

U.S. (“Samaria”)

PACK A CHRISTMAS BOX AND SHOW CHILDREN JESUS LOVES THEM!

 Last year was a milestone for our [Grace Lutheran-Norfolk] Christmas box project [through Orphan Grain Train] ! Since we started six years ago, we have sent 10, 301 Christmas boxes to children all around the world. Once again, we are collecting monetary gifts, clothing, and toys to pack more boxes. This summer we are collecting: Dolls,  Barbies, Blocks (Legos, Duplos, Wooden), Baseball Gloves, Small Cars (Matchbox, Hot Wheels), Pony Beads, Embroidery Floss, and Scissors, Decks of Playing Cards, Hair Barrettes, Rubber Bands, and Bows, Play Food, Jump Ropes, Stuffed Animals, T-shirts (Sizes 2T – Youth L), New 24-count Boxes of Crayons, New Underwear (Sizes 2T—Youth XL), New Socks (Sizes 2T—Youth L).  All items (except crayons, underwear, and socks) may be either new or used and can be dropped off at Grace Lutheran Church, Norfolk, NE. Monetary donations will be used to purchase other items to fill the boxes and can be sent (marked “Grace Lutheran Christmas Box Project”) to Grace Lutheran Church or Orphan Grain Train, Norfolk, NE. We are collecting donations through July 31st. If you have any questions or would like to help pack the boxes, contact Kelly Asbury at 402-371-3521.

WORLD (“Ends of the earth")

AUGUST UPDATE FROM THE GRULKES IN BOTSWANA

Every year, the rain in the mountains of Angola flows down to the Okavango River, flows through Namibia and into Botswana, and empties out into the Okavango Delta, the largest inland delta in the world. Maun sits just at the southern tip of the delta, so each year, we anxiously await the return of the river and the life the waters bring. People here will chase the leleme la noka, tongue of the river, to pour that water on their heads and clean their hands in it. The blessing of these first waters are an important blessing in the culture here and along with that blessing comes the return of wildlife: birds, fish, frogs, crocodiles and hippos. The water is also the biggest source of water for the city of Maun, so the banks are full of people collecting water and setting fish traps. Even big tanker trucks will pump water from the river to sell to farms and cattle posts that are far from water.  The Okavango River always reminds us of life, but we are especially reminded each year about the living water that we receive through the Word of God. That water quenches every thirst and will never run dry. As we work here in Botswana to bring the Word to those people who thirst for it in their own languages, please pray for us as we work and them as they wait for that life-giving water.  Carl was in Ethiopia earlier this month to meet with our partners there and work through some plans for 2026. While he was there, he sat in on a Greek class taught at the seminary  as a part of the translation program by fellow LBT missionary, Dr. Chris Pluger.  We are still waiting for our residence permits. We had no problem getting a 90 day waiver to stay here in Botswana while we wait, but being in this temporary state just adds a bit of background instability and uncertainty. Please pray for us as we wait and trust that God will provide a way for us to continue to stay here in Botswana.  The girls head to the US next week for high school! MaryJane will be in her junior year in Denver and Audrey will start her freshman year at St. Paul Lutheran High School in Concordia, Missouri. It was wonderful to have the whole family home over the summer, but it will be hard to adjust to having two kids on another continent. Pray for the girls as they adapt to life and school in the US and pray for parents who will be missing their kids.  Keep us in your prayers:  For the Wayeyi team as we continue with the translation process, that God would work through us to bring the Word to life in Shiyeyi.  For peace in Ethiopia and thanksgiving for the release Rev. Mesele from jail.  For our residence permit applications to be approved in time.  For a wonderful summer spent with MaryJane home in Botswana.  For Audrey as she begins a new school adventure and for us as we all adjust to life without her at home.  For the support of partners like you, that God would continue to meet our needs for ministry here in Botswana.  carl-kelsey.grulke@lbt.org 

  

Service

CHILDCARE DURING WORSHIP—4 YEARS OLD AND UNDER

Did you know that free childcare is available in the lower level Commons for kids 4 years old and under, from 10:15am through 11:45am on Sunday mornings?  Our staff are all background-checked and ready to serve the Lord by serving you.  Our current staff: Reagan Landis (leader), Jillian Muench, Addison Angle, Jaci Bunting, Elise Wilshusen, Rylan Behlen, Dakota Giesler. Questions: jennyholli76@gmail.com