Happy Thanksgiving and Advent!

We often forget how much we have to be thankful for. It is so easy for us to get caught up thinking about all the things we don't have that we forget the mountains of blessings we have already been given! Let us use this time of thanksgiving to slow down, to take inventory of what we have, and to give thanks to the one who has given us so much more than we deserve!

Come, you thankful people, come; Raise the song of harvest-home.

All be safely gathered in Ere the winter storm begin.

God our maker shall provide For our wants to be supplied.

Come to God’s own temple, come;Raise the song of harvest-home. 613 s.1

I'd love to give thanks to God together with you tonight at our Thanksgiving Eve service at 6:30pm. What a perfect way for us to focus our hearts on the God who has given us all that we have and who continues to give us everything we need. We can also give thanks again for the ultimate sacrifice God made so that we can be called a child of God, the death of his Son! Without that gift, we would never be able to truly enjoy the blessings God has given or know our Heavenly Father through whom they come.

Here are another couple reminders for the days ahead:

Christmas Decorating of the Church - Saturday starting at 8am! Many hands make light work. Lend a hand this Saturday morning to prepare our beautiful church for Advent and Christmas!

Advent Begins this Sunday! Advent is a season dedicated to preparing your heart to celebrate the real reason for the season, that a Savior was born in Bethlehem that first Christmas for the world. Advent is also a time for us to prepare for his coming again one day when this world will end but all those who are sorry for their sins and trust in Jesus as their Savior will live with him forever! So plan to prepare your heart with us in worship each Sunday at 9am and Wednesday at 6:30pm up until Christmas. Each service is unique and will shed light on another way you can focus on what matters most during this busy time of year!

Women's Bible Study - Monday at 1pm! One more day and time change for Women's Bible Study. All ladies, consider joining this awesome group to learn more about how God wants you to live as his daughter in this broken world.

That is all for now. I pray you all drive safe, your Thanksgiving preparations go well, and I hope to see you later today. If not, have a blessed Thanksgiving! I thank God for all of you.

In His grace,

Pastor

Mission Festival This Sunday - Nov. 17

Brothers and sisters,

This Sunday, November 17th, we have an amazing opportunity to host one of our Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary professors, Prof. Brad Wordell, to preach and present at our annual Mission Festival!

Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary is our Synod’s last leg of school for training up pastoral candidates to be called into the public ministry. After completing four years at our Synod’s college of ministry, Martin Luther College, men then continue on to WLS for another 4 years of training to receive their Masters of Divinity before being assigned to a congregation like ours! I often explain, when some are surprised that we have an 8 year program for pastors, that if it takes 8 years to be a doctor of the body, why would it be any less to be a doctor of souls? Even after 8 years, our pastors, as well as all who study the Bible, must admit that there is still so much to learn about what God says and how it applies to our lives!

On top of being a professor at our Seminary, Prof. Wordell is also a team member of our Synod’s Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI) which takes our Seminary training and brings it to men interested in the ministry across the globe. This is a very exciting and growing part of what our Seminary does because there is such a hunger for the Word of God taught in its truth and purity in every corner of the globe.

This Sunday at our Mission Festival, hear Prof. Wordell share the beautiful gospel with us in worship. Hear updates and news about our Seminary and the men he is helping to train to go out into our communities, country and around the world to preach and teach the true Word of God. Learn about our Pastoral Studies Institute and the impact it is having around the world of more and more people hearing and believing the gospel! And finally, remember how you are a part of these efforts and our own efforts to share Jesus with our community right here in Clintonville!

I hope that all of you can be here on Sunday to celebrate with Prof. Wordell and one another about our mission at St. Paul to bring the good news of Jesus to our community and to the world. It is a privilege that God calls us his own and it is a joy to see him using us to bring that reality to others like us throughout the world.

Sunday’s Mission Festival Schedule:

• Worship at 9am

• Mission Presentation at 10:30am

• Potluck Meal at 11:30am

May God bless and keep you all. See you in God’s house!

In His grace,

Pastor Buelow

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:37-38

In Christ Alone

This past Sunday we sang a beloved hymn, In Christ Alone. With power truths and moving music, this hymn is a beautiful reminder of who God is. Take a few seconds to reread the words and let the reality of who Jesus is sink in. As you read it, think of the Scripture that supports these words.

In Christ alone my hope is found.

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my all in all,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone—who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones he came to save.

Till on that cross, as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied;

For ev’ry sin on him was laid.

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground his body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain;

Then bursting forth in glorious day

Up from the grave he rose again!

And as he stands in victory,

Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me.

For I am his and he is mine—

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the pow’r of Christ in me;

From life’s first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from his hand;

Till he returns or calls me home,

Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

Text: Keith Getty, b. 1974 and Stuart Townend, b. 1963 © 2002 Thankyou Music; admin. EMI CMG Publishing. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Church Dedication: One Year Later

A year ago we celebrated the completion of our expansion project and we dedicated it for its continued use for the proclamation of the true and unaltered Word of God. While a lot has changed in the past year, our purpose has not. Take a few minutes to remember our church’s purpose and mission. Below is a pdf copy of the dedication service bulletin and the sermon message from the service.

Here is an excerpt from the dedication service…

Today we also remember what has brought us here to this moment and to this ministry. We were redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ even though we were miserable sinners who didn’t deserve God’s love. Because of God’s sacrifice and unending love for us, we have new life and we overflow with joy and thankfulness to God and his Word. This has brought us to this moment of reflection, thanksgiving, and dedication.

Today is also a day for us to rededicate ourselves to the mission of this church, to proclaim the timeless truths of the Bible, and to share the good news with the world. We commit ourselves to that endeavor and we pray for God’s help, strength and guidance in the years ahead.

In all of this, may God alone receive the glory.

Christian Education: Keeping Our Heritage

“God’s Word is our great heritage and shall be ours forever;
To spread its light from age to age shall be our chief endeavor.
Through life it guides our way; In death it is our stay.
Lord, grant, while worlds endure, we keep its teachings pure
Throughout all generations.”

— CW 293 - God's Word Is Our Great Heritage

I'm thankful that I was given the great heritage of the Word of God. Who gave it to me? God did. The Holy Spirit worked faith in my heart that clung to the words recorded for me in Bible. The Holy Spirit did the same for my parents, my teachers, my fellow members and my Christian friends who inspired by the hope they had shared with me what they had received from others. The heritage I have, they have, and those who have gone to heaven retain, is a beacon of light to guide through this life and to ferry us through death to our eternal home. Such a heritage is yours. Such a heritage must be passed on by us faithfully to our neighbors, our children, and our children's children!

“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”

— 2 Timothy 1:13-14

We have an amazing opportunity to do just that as we ourselves spend time in the Word, learning the teachings of the Bible and being prepared to faithfully share the hope we have starting with our own heart and finishing with whoever else we can tell. We also have an amazing opportunity to give that to our children through family devotions and discussions about the Word, and bringing them to the many opportunities we have together as a family of believers to grow on Sunday and throughout the week.

We will be kicking off our "school year" of Christian Education on September 8th! Beginning with worship, we will celebrate the beauty of our heritage in God's Word. Then after worship, plan on sticking around as we will have a Christian Education kickoff to focus our hearts on what matters most and to have some fun to start of the year! Afterwards, we will enjoy a potluck together with our church family.

If you are able to help by bringing some food for the meal, please either let me know by email here or sign up this coming Sunday in the back of church.

Also, to get you excited for the opportunities coming your way to know and appreciate your heritage, check out all of our opportunities below for you and your children to grow in the Word this Fall-Winter-Spring:

• Weekly Worship - Sunday @ 9am

• Weekly Bible Study - Sunday @ 10:30am

• Weekly Sunday School - Sunday @ 10:25am

• Catechism Class - Wednesdays @ 5:30pm (starting Sept. 4th)

• Midweek Book Club/Bible Study on "Heaven" - Wednesdays @ 6:30pm (starting Sept. 25th)

• Monthly Men's Breakfast & Bible Study - Second Saturday @ 6am (starting Sept. 14th)

• Monthly Women's Bible Study - Fourth Tuesday @ 6pm (starting Sept. 24th)

May God bless and keep you today and throughout the week. See you in God's house!

In His service,

Pastor Titus Buelow

Soccer Camp & VBS Recap!

We have another year in the books and what an amazing year is was. We had a record 60 kids this year! What a blessing to have so many eager to learn more about soccer and their Savior. And even though there were so many more campers, we had a very respectful and loving group. They listened attentively, were kind to one another, learned quickly, and had a blast!

Soccer Camp featured many drills that train the essential skills of soccer like dribbling, passing and shooting. We also played games that worked those skills while being a lot of fun! After two hours of running around and playing, we take a break to eat a delicious smorgasbord of a snack, sing some silly and some seriously grace-focused songs, and then talk about Jesus. This year we talked about finding Jesus at ALL costs because he is that much more amazing than anything else in our life. After devotion, we headed out for a last half-hour of scrimmage time to practice the skills we had been working on so that we could play the game of soccer!

After three days of Soccer Camp, we moved to our home base here at 31 N. Park and began our two day Vacation Bible School portion of the week. What that meant was an opening devotion about the focus of the day, some silly songs to get us moving, and some Jesus-focused songs to help us voice our confidence in Him! Afterwards, we broke into groups to dig deeper into God’s Word. Then we played kickball or duck duck goose outside, made some amazing crafts, ate more delicious goodies, and played some more big games outside. We closed with another wrap up devotion and said goodbye!

It was a fun-filled week with lots of things to take home to practice, to show family and friends, to study, and to talk about! I pray that it was as fun for everyone who came as it was for me. I was sad when everyone went home!

Thank you to all who helped make our week so fun for everyone who came. Thank you to the parents who sent your kids to be a part of our week. Thank you, Lord, for blessing our Soccer Camp & VBS week! And thank you Jesus for all you have done for us so that we can proudly share the good news you have given to us and to all!

…I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. Philippians 3:8-9

In His service,

Pastor Buelow

It's Time to Reexamine Everything

This past Sunday, we started a new series of sermons based on Jesus' words refuting commonplace ideas by attacking commonplace pride. Jesus goes beyond the artificial and the superficial things and instead strikes at the heart of the issue and the heart of the person. He will force us to reexamine our preconceived notions so that we clearly see him and ourselves in his light.

8.4 - Luke 10:25-37 - It’s Time to Reexamine… Being Neighborly

8.11 - Luke 10:38-42 - It’s Time to Reexamine… What Needs to Get Done

8.18 - Luke 11:1-13 - It’s Time to Reexamine… Asking for Help

8.25 - Luke 12:13-21 - It’s Time to Reexamine… Our Retirement Plan

9.1 - Luke 12:32-40 - It’s Time to Reexamine… Are We Ready and Alert?

We would love for you to join us Sundays at 9am, listen to our podcast, or watch us on youtube. You can find the tabs for each above.

Soccer Camp: Register Now!

There is still time to register your kids for our 5th annual Soccer Camp and VBS! It seems hard to believe but Soccer Camp and VBS are almost here. Make sure you include this in your child’s summer. To register, go to the link below (or on the black bar on the top of the page). Registration helps us prepare and gives us important emergency contact information.

The registration form is on this page… http://www.stpaulclintonville.com/soccer-camp-vbs

Instagram: Be Encouraged

Recently our church started an Instagram account. Use the link below to view recent posts and “follow” our account to see new, encouraging posts. The posts on Instagram will be encouraging Scriptures and meditations on the Word.

https://www.instagram.com/saintpaulclintonville/

Church Family Night: July 31

On July 31st, St Paul is having a special Church Family Night that is open to the area KEPT Youth Group. You are welcome to come starting at 6pm. Don’t worry about making food, we will have hot dogs and baked potatoes with lots of toppings (feel free to bring a topping, crazy or normal, to share). Rain or shine, we’ll have activities. Relax with some lawn games and then there will be a special water balloon fight for the kids!

RSVPing is not required, but we ask you to if you can. There is a sheet in the gathering area of church or email us to let us know how many people we should have water balloons for.