the St Paul Team
Trunk or Treat: November 2, 2024
the St Paul Team
Fall Festival 2024
the St Paul Team
Sunday School 2024
the St Paul Team
Basement Floor
the St Paul Team
Pew Update

Mission Festival 2022

Join us Sunday, October 16th for a special Mission Festival. This year we welcome Seminarian Caleb King to our church. Caleb is in his final year at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. A few years ago he spent time teaching English in Linares, Chile. The Lord used Caleb's time in the foothills of the Andes to share His Word and grow His Church.

Seminarian King will preach during our special service. After the service, Seminarian King will talk about his time and the opportunities he had to share the Gospel during his South American adventure. Finally, as a church family we will share a meal. Don't miss out on trying the different chili dishes!

Join us October 16th at St Paul Clintonville!

Trunk-or-Treat 2022

Since the city is having their annual Trick-or-Treat time and since our neighbors will be out and about walking past our church, we want to take advantage of this opportunity. Stop by us during the city wide Trick-or-Treating hours. There will be a high concentration of candy given out by many of our members who don’t live in town. We will also have a bunch of games/contests that you can play to get full sized candy bars. Yep, the good stuff :)

Stop by St Paul Clintonville on Sunday, October 30th from 4pm until 7pm

October Devotion

“Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.”

Matthew 13:30

As the first day of Autumn has come and gone, harvesting around here is in full swing. Gardens are looking sparse as plants give their last effort to produce food. Stands on the side of the road are full of sweet corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, carrots, and many other good things. Now that our garden is done for the season, it was my task to pull the plants out and dig up the garden. As pulled the plants out, I noticed all the weeds we failed to pull along the way. Whoops! The weeds that grow in-between the rows were easy to spot and pull, but the ones that found shade under the giant cucumber and squash leaves were a different story. When a plan gets big enough, we didn't find it as dire to make sure every weed is pulled because they don't threaten the health of the large plants.

Jesus uses harvest analogies many times in the gospels because to his original audience, the metaphors would hit home. For many of us with gardens or to those that at least know a thing or two about how planting and harvesting works, it makes sense too. From the moment we are baptized, that seed of faith in our hearts begins to grow. With constant watering and nourishment from the word of God, the seed turns into a beautiful tree that eventually produces fruits of faith. While our faith is young and fragile, much like a small plant, weeds also grow among us. They threaten to cut off our supply of the good things we need to survive and grow stronger.

Could God just snap his fingers and take all the weeds away? Yes. But that wouldn't give us a chance to show our fruit to those who need to hear it. God wants all to be saved, but our time is limited. Eventually, the harvest will come, but while we wait, we need to make sure we are constantly receiving the word of God that strengthens us and prepares us for the harvest. When God sends his angels for the harvest on the last day, we will be able to show the fruit we have been producing. In doing so, God tells us we are storing up a harvest of righteousness in heaven. God knows who are his. He knows what he's doing. We trust that he will continue to cause us to grow stronger until the harvest comes. Amen.

Pastor Rothfuss

Sunday School 2022 begins...

Sunday School is back in session! On Sunday, September 11th we were blessed by being able to install 2 new Sunday School teachers. Thank you for your time, effort, and service! Beyond the 2 new lead teachers, there are several back up volunteers and helpers. Thank you!

This semester the Sunday School children will be strengthening their knowledge of events and lessons from when Christ walked this world.

Sunday School happens after the service (and after the kids have a snack). If you come visit us, feel free to send your children to Sunday School. After the service they can go downstairs. If it is their first time coming or visiting, please go down with them. We would like to say hi and to make sure we know everything we need to about the kids.

Devotion: September 2022

by: Pastor Rothfuss

A major cause of strife in marriages is talking about finances. What should be done with the money? How much should go in savings each month? What if things are tight? School payments are coming around very soon - are you ready for them? These conversations are not the most fun to have. They can tear families apart, but they need to happen for the sake of the family.

What about those conversations in a church setting? If asked, I'm sure most would use the word "awkward" to describe them. If these conversations are difficult in the home setting with your spouse with whom you agree on many things, how much more difficult with people you may not agree with. In the church setting, the sheer number of opinions goes up exponentially, but those conversations also need to happen for the sake of the congregation.

Where is the best place to have those conversations? From the pulpit? In the church basement? Not at all? While the Bible does not speak about finances abundantly, Paul was not afraid to speak to fellow believers about the importance of giving and supporting. Instead of viewing our giving to God as this "need" that we must do or else the Almighty is going to be mad at us, we should strive to see it as a privilege we have been given to support the gospel ministry and reach those that have not heard the wonderful news that their sins are forgiven in Christ.

These conversations can be awkward. After all, how can you put a number on our thanks to God? How much is enough? The answer is, "whatever you have decided in your heart to give." If, while finances are tight, that number is lower than you'd like it to be, give cheerfully! If, when blessings flow in your life, you are able to give more, give cheerfully! If, like Abel, we come before God with hearts overflowing with thanks, no matter how much it may be, God will love what we have given. God has blessed us all abundantly in our lives even though it may be hard to realize sometimes. We have all we need because the love of Jesus fills us to the point of overflowing. Should our response to the abundant love of Jesus in our lives be an awkward thing to talk about? I pray it isn't. I also pray that we all may be filled with the love of Jesus and abound in good works of giving so that together we can work to seek and save the lost. Amen.

Namesake Sunday

On August 14th, 2022, we held a special service focusing on St. Paul, our church’s namesake. What is the meaning of the name? During the service we had many readings from Paul’s writings. These readings reminded us of who Paul was and how he lived. By Paul’s examples and the writings the Holy Spirit led him to write, Paul points to Christ. He lived for and gave all to the one who redeemed him. Take a look at this special service. The service itself was filled with lots of readings from Scripture so that God’s Word could speak for itself.

The service was followed by an extra special presentation. Pastor Caleb Rothfuss shared pictures and stories from his study tour to places Paul went.

Click here to view the worship folder.

VBS 2022

Thank you to all the families who came to our 3 day VBS this year! We had so much fun with you all!

During the 3 days we played with frisbees, we played soccer, we played eagle’s nest, we made crafts, we played with the crafts, and we heard about God’s gameplan for us! It was so much fun having each and every one of you here!

Devotion: August 2022

How many times have you pondered the thought, "why did God allow that to happen?" Maybe this is in reference to having to cancel a trip with some friends. The day before you were planning on leaving your dog starts acting funny. He won't eat and seems unlike his normal self. Not wanting to leave him sick with the sitter, you decide to cancel your plans and take your dog to the vet. After a shot of antibiotics, your dog is on the mend and doing better. Was this a random coincidence, or was it planned by God to save you from a car accident the following day?

Perhaps you pondered that thought when a loved one passed away suddenly. You thought they had many more years on this earth. Why did God decide to take them now? Why not wait until they were old and gray? You had many plans set in place with them and wanted more memories with them. Perhaps God was saving them many more years of pain and suffering with cancer. His plan for them was greater than their own.

It is hard to make plans because plans always change, but that doesn't mean we should stop making them. The apostle Paul understood this when he promised to see the Corinthians again. He made plans to see them, but God changed his plans. To the Corinthians, Paul may have seemed like a liar. Did he really want to see us at all? Why would he say 'yes' and then 'no'? Paul made plans to see them, but God's plans were greater.

When plans change, it can be hard to trust God because things aren't going the way we hoped. Our sinful nature leads us to question God when he allows things to happen that are against what we want. We ask ourselves, "Can I trust anything God says?" The answer is yes. Every single plan and promise that God has ever made has been "yes" in Christ. Are your sins really forgiven? Yes. If you believe and are baptized will you really be saved? Yes. If those are true, then are God's plans for you really better than your own? Yes. When plans change and things aren't going the way you thought they would, trust God. Trust that he is taking care of you and has your eternal welfare always at the forefront his heart. Let us always be quick to say "amen" and trust God's plan for us even when ours change. Amen.

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 1:20

Devotion: Freedom

What is your favorite Independence Day tradition? Is it sitting in the backyard with a cold drink in your hand and the smell of the grilled meat wafting through the neighborhood? Is it going to the parade or the fireworks show when the sun goes down? Is it going up north for the extended weekend to get some sun and time on the lake? Is it all the above?

Who would have thought that almost 250 years later, we would celebrate our Independence from the crown of England in almost the same fashion as they did back then? Traditions die hard, don't they? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to change a thing, but I hope during all the celebration, we put down for a moment all the star-spangled pomp and circumstance to take a moment to thank God for all the freedoms he has given us. The freedoms we enjoy in this country are thanks to him, but how too easily we can indulge ourselves with all that freedom. We have the freedom to do this-and-that, but is that how God intended it? Is that the best use of those blessings? Not always.

Christ has called us to be free. We are free from sin and free from death. That freedom is better than any other we enjoy in this country, because it didn't just free us from another oppressive country, it freed us from an eternity separated from God. With all that amazing freedom in the palm of our hands, how should we use it? To indulge our sinful flesh? Certainly not. The heart of a Christian with freedom from God should not say "Look what I can do," but rather, "Look what I can do for you."

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh: rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

Galatians 5:13