July 30, 2023
9th Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Notes for Sunday
- Sermon Notes
Sermon based on Matthew 16:13-20
Today we hear about Peter’s confession of faith and how, like Peter, we are given the Spirit of Christ to confess the one true Christian faith boldly and confidently, and that even when we do not confess as we ought, our God and Savior continues to forgive, strengthen, and renew us so that we learn to confess His name before others.
Serving Schedule
This Week’s Servants
- ELDER: Alan Marxhausen
- Usher: Jay Nelson
- Reader: Logan Marxhausen
- Organist: Sue Drury
- Acolyte: Lane Marxhausen
- Sound Booth: Waylon Dreyer
- Altar Guild: Laurie Maurer
- Fellowship: Kris M./Joyce M.
Next Week’s Servants
- Elder: Derek Marxhausen
- Usher: Derek Marxhausen
- Reader: Brock/Brayden Theisen
- Organist: Jane Marquardsen
- Acolytes: Lily Dreyer/Ella Roehl
- Sound Booth: Chase VanDonsel
- Altar Guild: Wilma Frazier
- Fellowship: Cassie Y./Lane F.
If you are unable to keep your scheduled serving day, please contact the church at least a few days before the service so there is time to find a replacement. Thank you!
Statistics for Last Week
Financials
- Regular Offering: $3,297.00
- Online Giving: $25.00
- Non-Budget: $325.00
- Memorial: $20.00
- Scholarship: $0.00
- Building Fund: $0.00
Attendance
- Worship Attendance: 40
- Sunday School: 14
- Youth Group: n/a
- Midweek Bible Study: n/a
- Men’s Bible Study: n/a
Please make every attempt to have your kids in Sunday School each week, and your teens in Youth Group.
Birthday/Baptisms/Anniversaries
Birthdays This Week
- Brayden Haberman (Aug 1)
Baptism’s This Week
None
Anniversaries This Week
- Travis/April Bemboom (Jul 29)
If your birthday/baptism date/anniversary is missing or incorrect, please contact the church office so we can update our records!
Important News & Announcements
NEED PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS?
Please ask Pastor if you would like a printed copy of the announcements. Thank you.
Stewardship Thought for This Week
Matthew 13:45–46 – “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Indeed, Jesus redeemed us, purchased us back from sin and death, with all that He had. We belong to Him now. Our generosity ought to imitate the out-sized generosity of Jesus.
Sunday School/VBS News
Children’s and Youth Sunday School is over for summer, but children and youth are always encouraged to attend adult Bible Study. Instill a good habit of churchly participation! Bring them to Bible Study.
This year’s VBS theme is “God’s Living Water,” and is about some of the times in the Bible where God used water to bring about wonderful things for His people. VBS begins Monday, August 14th and runs for three days. It starts at 5:30 pm with a meal and opening. There will be crafts, games, music, and lessons for children ages 5 and up. Please invite friends and spread the word! If you are able to assist this year, please contact Amy Foster, Pastor Carlson, or just call or email the church. We will have a VBS meeting on Wednesday, August 9th at 6:00pm
Summer Bible Study Opportunities
There is no time like the present to be in the Word, studying and growing in Christ. To that end, we will continue to have our Thursday morning class where we study the Book of Concord. As Lutherans, we believe the Book of Concord is a correct exposition of the Holy Scripture and thus it’s important we are familiar with it. Join us Thursdays at 9:00 am and bring your Book of Concord with you. If you don’t have one, speak to pastor about getting one for you.
Our final Adult Bible Study on the Lord’s Supper will be this Sunday. We will look at the practical side of the Lord’s Supper.
Men, join us Thursdays at 6:30pm for Men’s Bible Study. We are studying the Book of Romans.
Lifetree Café will begin in September! Members are invited to attend, have great social time, and talk about some of the deeper things of the faith.
Re:Vitality – Shepherding Our Strays
We will begin a new “Re:Vitality” module in August called “Shepherding Our Strays.” This module will run every Sunday morning for several weeks. We will watch a video, have interactive projects and good discussion. Please prayerfully consider taking part in our Sunday AM Bible Studies! Materials for this module can be downloaded below or at the LCMS Revitalization website.
Click here to download the Quick Guide to this module.
Morning Prayer @ St. Paul’s
Join us at the church or online every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 7:30 for morning prayer, a short service of responsive prayers, hymns, and readings. (No morning services this week as Pastor is in Milwaukee!!)
Senior Social Day
Seniors, why not come to the church every 2nd Thursday at 10am for a time of good fun, fellowship and games, coffee and treats, and to meet other Milaca seniors? We’ve got a good group of people but would love it if you could come too! Bring your favorite board game or card game with you.
Subscribe to the official newspaper of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod! Visit reporter.lcms.org to get regular updates, notices, synodical news, and more!
Subscribe to the Minnesota North District e-News service! Visit https://www.mnnlcms.org/newsletter to subscribe to regular emails, updates, and more!
Pastor Carlson has been publishing a regular devotion online and emailing it to subscribers. That’s right! This is a great way to start of your day in the Word and prayer. Simply go to stpaulsmilaca.org/subscribe or speak to Pastor, and you’ll start to receive a regular devotion in your email inbox.
Also visit https://www.lcms.org/worship/memory-verse-challenge and memorize a verse of Scripture a day!
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, 68th Regular Convention is July 29 through August 3. Pastor Carlson, along with a lay delegate from our circuit, is attending the convention and representing St. Paul’s and our circuit. The convention is in Milwaukee, WI at the Wisconsin Center/Arena.
To keep up with the convention timeline, to read the overtures, and to learn about the various candidates filling positions nationally, please visit LCMS National Convention – The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Also, please pray for safe travel for all who are participating.
Prayer Requests
| Tom Litfin | Glen Hamann |
| Family of Bev Laurent | Gary Anderson |
| Gary Asher | Marlene Krotzer |
| The Bembooms | LCMS National Convention |
LIVE LCMS CONVENTION BROADCAST… You can listen to a live broadcast from the 68th Regular Convention of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in Milwaukee from 7?9 p.m. Central on Sunday, July 30. You can listen at issuesetc.org and the Lutheran Public Radio mobile app.
Weekend Devotion
Prayer: Christ, our risen Lord, Your resurrection showed us what we will someday be and what we already are now through our Baptism into Your holy name. Give us courage to bear in our bodies Your resurrected life as we live out the fruit of Your victory over death through works of charity and mercy; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
SCRIPTURE: “For some time he refused, but after a while he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God or care about people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not wear me out with her endless pleading.’” – Luke 18:4-5
Persistent prayer is indicative of strong faith. It does not give up but cries and calls out to the Lord whom it believes no matter what reply human reason expects or wants. Prayer and crying out to God exercises our faith. Prayer is for us and benefits us for the Lord does not need restraint, but we most certainly need to restrain the Lord’s wrath by setting before Him what faith holds to and believes. Should the wrath of God threaten to strike, it is folded hands which hold Him back because they are wrapped tightly around the cross and its Victim.
On the cross, the Lord reached up to the heavens from earth to be the perfect lightening rod for God’s divine wrath against each of us. His divine prayer and pleading with His Father, “Forgive them…for they no not what they do,” means that He takes our punishment. As we are grounded in Him, this wrath consumes His life so that, like the prophets of old who interceded for the wayward people of Israel, Jesus deflects and absorbs God’s righteous strikes of anger. Faith holds tightly to this promise even and especially in the worst of situations.
Like Moses, whose prayers held back the wrath of God against the rebellious people of Israel, God’s anger is thwarted against us with persistent prayer. What we deserve is nailed to the cross and what Christ deserves is showered upon us. We may not see God’s immediate response, and His response may not be exactly what we expect or even wanted, but His response is always best and is always for the good of those who love Him — of whom He loves — His beloved children who live by faith, repenting of their sins and holding tightly to His cross.
This Week’s Activities
- Pastor at the National Convention in Milwaukee all week.
Coming Events
- Vacation Bible School coming in August. VBS Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, August 9th at 6:00pm
“If we are freed from sins, it is not proper for us to take them up again. As if one cured and freed from a fever should embrace it again by an evil and extravagant life.“
— Rev. Dr. Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)