News

This newsletter includes:

1. Devotional Thought
2. Holy Week Worship Information
3. Bible Study (Personal or Online)

"Come, let us return to the LORD. For he has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us. He has struck us, but he will bandage our wounds. After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, so that we may live in his presence." Hosea 6:1-2

This newsletter includes:

1. A devotional thought and Bible study on one of the readings for this Sunday
2. COVID-19 Holy Week Worship and Bible Study updates and links for online worship opportunities
3. Northwestern Publishing House Resources

God bless you as you study his Word!

Sorry for sending this newsletter twice--I had a glitch! NOW we've added in contacts from our St. Paul's School list. Welcome, new "subscribers"! We hope this newsletter will be a weekly blessing to you.

To unsubscribe for any reason, click the unsubscribe button on the bottom of this email.

This newsletter includes:

1. A devotional thought and Bible study on one of the readings for this Sunday
2. COVID-19 Worship and Bible Study updates and a worship preview for this Sunday with ways to participate
3. A message from our treasurer

Please feel free to give feedback on what will be useful to you. God bless you as you study his Word!

For this newsletter, we've added in contacts from our St. Paul's School list. Welcome, new "subscribers"! We hope this newsletter will be a weekly blessing to you.

To unsubscribe for any reason, click the unsubscribe button on the bottom of this email.

This newsletter includes:

1. A devotional thought and Bible study on one of the readings for this Sunday
2. COVID-19 Worship and Bible Study updates and a worship preview for this Sunday with ways to participate
3. A message from our treasurer

Please feel free to give feedback on what will be useful to you. God bless you as you study his Word!

We'll be testing out new newsletter formats/content during the COVID-19 situation. This newsletter includes:

1. A devotional thought and Bible study on one of the readings for this Sunday (Maybe do this together on Sunday morning?)
2. Worship preview for this Sunday and ways to participate
3. Our current COVID-19 Worship plan

Please feel free to give feedback on what will be useful to you. God bless you as you study his word!

First: St. Paul's will have services and Bible studies/Sunday School as normal this weekend. The pastoral staff, elders, deacons and ushers will practice good hygiene as usual. We will continue to have common cup--the CDC has shown people who partake of the common cup have no greater chance of infection than those who do not, and even those who do not attend church at all. You are free to choose individual cup, as always.

Second: A couple changes for now:

-Pastors will wait for you to extend your hand if you would like to greet with a handshake.

-The offering will be collected by the ushers as you leave

Third: We encourage you to follow brotherly love, common sense and CDC guidelines when it comes to attending worship and to personal hygiene.

Finally, below are two letters of encouragement from your pastors during the days ahead.

This Sunday we celebrate the Third Sunday in Lent, a Sunday in which Jesus, the light of the world, shines in our lives so that we can see him and see life properly.

In our Gospel Reading, John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39, we have an example of people who can't see life properly. The religious leaders of the day see a man born blind and refuse to listen to him when he is healed and he says Jesus, the one who did it, must be the Savior. The religious leaders--though their eyes can see physically--are spiritually blind, because they reject Jesus as their Savior.

Like the man born blind who was healed by Jesus, we too, were born spiritually blind--and Jesus shined into our hearts so that we could see him for who he is and see our lives as an opportunity to praise him.

In the Old Testament Reading, Isaiah 42:14-21, Isaiah prophesies that God's Old Testament people should have trusted in the their LORD who turns darkness into light! But instead, they blinded themselves so that they became a useless servant--living their lives for themselves instead of for their Savior.

The Epistle Reading, Ephesians 5:8-14 (Sermon Text), tells us that we were darkness, but now we are light, because Jesus shined on us! With our lives illuminated by Jesus' grace then, God tells us to walk as children of the light. Expose pointless and sinful ways of living in yourself (and others!), and live in a way that shows the new life of goodness, righteousness, and truth that Jesus has given you.

The Psalm of the Day is Psalm 143, where we ask God to save us from the darkness of sin in this world, and, in the light of his mercy, to teach us to live according to his will.

Sunday's Hymns: Christian Worship Supplement (Blue Hymnal) 771; Christian Worship (Red Hymnal) 343 (Communion Distribution: 379, 397)

This Sunday we celebrate the Second Sunday in Lent, which reminds us that Lent isn't about earning God's blessings by giving things up or trying harder or being better. Lent shows us that all people receive blessings from God completely as a gift by having faith in God's promises.

Our Gospel Reading, John 4:5-26, shows that Jesus came to bless all people, as he shocks his disciples by conversing with and sharing the message of salvation to a (gasp!) Samaritan woman, and she receives the blessing of salvation through faith.

In the Old Testament Reading, Genesis 12:1-8 (Sermon Text), God told Abram (before God changed his name to Abraham) that this would happen--people from every nation under heaven would be blessed through him, because his descendant would be Jesus.

The Epistle Reading, Romans 4:1-5, 13-17, tells us that, just like Abraham, and just like all nations, we too receive the blessings of Jesus not by earning them, but by faith

The Psalm of the Day is Psalm 121, a prayer of faith--a prayer of someone who knows he needs help, and also knows that God provides that help by his grace.

Sunday's Hymns: Christian Worship Supplement (Blue Hymnal) 737; Christian Worship (Red Hymnal) 391, 404, 289

This Wednesday we celebrate Ash Wednesday. In readings and songs, we are reminded that we are sinful mortals, yet we have a gracious God who pardons our sin and renews us every day through repentance and faith in Jesus.

This Sunday we celebrate the First Sunday in Lent. Our Lent midweek services this year (After Ash Wednesday) have the theme "The Son of God Goes Forth to War." In our Gospel Reading for the first Sunday in Lent, Matthew 4:1-11, we see the Son of God go to war against the devil and his temptations for us. Jesus, the Second Adam, was the promised champion who would do what the first Adam could not--defeat the devil and give his victory to all mankind (Old Testament Lesson, Genesis 3:1-15 & Epistle Lesson, Romans 5:12-19).

The Psalm of the Day is Psalm 3, a confident prayer to God for deliverance in times of temptation.

Sunday's Hymns: Christian Worship (Red Hymnal) 200, 202, 312; Christian Worship Supplement (Blue Hymnal) 726

Before we enter the season of Lent, where Jesus' glory is hidden, the season of Epiphany concludes with conclusive proof that Jesus is who he has appeared to be: The Glorious Son of God.

In our Gospel Reading, Matthew 17:1-9, we are given an eyewitness account of a time when Jesus' disciples saw a glimpse of Jesus' glory on a mountain.

The First Lesson, Exodus 24:12, 15-18, shows us the Glory of the LORD on another mountain, Mt. Sinai, where God appeared to Moses after rescuing his people from Egypt.

In the Second Lesson, 2 Peter 1:16-21 (Sermon Text), the apostle Peter reminds us that he was one of those eyewitnesses who saw Jesus' glory. He also reminds us that we are as good as eyewitnesses, because we have the completely reliable word of God, that has the power to give us faith in who Jesus is and what he has done for us.

The Psalm of the Day is Psalm 110 (CWS p. 54). This Psalm describes the rule of Jesus, the glorious one chosen by God to bring justice and salvation.

Take home truth of Transfiguration:

Because Jesus is who he says he is, the glorious Son of God, listen to him. Listen to him even though his glory often is hidden, as it will be during the season of Lent, and as it often is in your life.

Sunday's Hymns: Christian Worship (Red Hymnal) 95, 96, 97; Christian Worship Supplement (Blue Hymnal) 712