Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good! He Mercy Endures Forever!

That truth is not only what we celebrate this Thanksgiving, but also something that helps us prepare for the celebration of Christ's first coming as we look to the second coming (Advent). Make a list of all the blessings that God has given to you. If you have a family, do that with your family. Remind each other that even and especially in 2020 God is still good, and we can always be thankful because his mercy endures forever!

The pastors at St. Paul's are thankful for all of you--for our partnership in the good news of Jesus, and for the good work that Jesus is working in you through his Word!

Notes

-Thanksgiving Eve worship tomorrow (2 services)! 3:30 (Mask-required) and 6:30pm on Wednesday, November 25th.

-Sunday Worship is at 8:00am and 10:30 (mask-optional), with Bible Class and Sunday School in-between, at the church. Between services, we continue our Bible Study, "O Lord How Shall I Meet You," focusing on the life and hymns of Paul Gerhardt and how they help us in times of trouble.

-Monday night worship (mask-required) is at 6:30pm and will continue weekly through the month of January. The last few weeks have had attendance in the high 20s, so there is plenty of room to spread out more than safely, and stay far under 20% capacity in the sanctuary (~120).

-Midweek Advent Worship will begin next week under the theme: Prepare the Way for the Lord (Wednesdays at 3:30 & 6:30). We will host two guest ELS Pastors from nearby in the first two weeks as part of a rotation.

-Our livestream expert will personally oversee renewed attempts this week. I will decline to say anything else, so that I will not become the boy who cried, "Livestream" anymore.

-For those worshiping at home this week: See worship preparation below to get the hymns and readings ready (or find bulletin here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzC3y8YQ1IYcfndHWmRhQ2t6TVhhVXoyTWNVN29vcHBJMzlxcjMyWEJhRGpKM3RfNXdKMHc?usp=sharing ).

-DVDs and sermon copies are available by contacting the church office, between 9am-12pm on weekdays.

-Private communion always available by appointment. Call the office or call/email Pastor Naumann (412-0232); Pastor Buelow (412-0458)

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This newsletter includes:

1. Devotional Thought
2. Worship Preview for Sunday
3. Bible Study

Notes

-Sunday Worship is at 8:00am and 10:30 (mask-optional), with Bible Class and Sunday School in-between, at the church. A new Bible class starts this week! It's called, "O Lord, How Shall I Meet You?" and will help us appreciate the hymns and life of Paul Gerhardt and apply his favorite Bible truths of comfort during cross and trial to our lives. Watch this video to get an overview of his life and impact.

-Monday night worship (mask-required) is at 6:30pm and will continue weekly through the month of January.

-The Livestream claims that it is fixed! While we have become suspicious of our livestream, we have reason to believe that it will indeed work from now on! We thank the Spaudes for all their hard work. Say prayers that everything works this Sunday.

-For those worshiping at home this week: See worship preparation below to get the hymns and readings ready (or find bulletin here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzC3y8YQ1IYcfndHWmRhQ2t6TVhhVXoyTWNVN29vcHBJMzlxcjMyWEJhRGpKM3RfNXdKMHc?usp=sharing ).

-As cases rise going into the winter season, we thank you all for continuing to make faithful decisions out of gratefulness to God's forgiveness as you balance the commandments like the...

• 1st (regarding fearing, loving, and trusting God above all things)
• 2nd (regarding bringing glory to God's name with all we believe and do)
• 3rd (regarding treasuring God's Word and worship)
• 4th (regarding respect for government)
• 5th (regarding love for our neighbor's welfare)
• 8th (regarding taking our neighbor's words and actions in the kindest possible way).

-Romans 14 is an excellent guide when we consider what Christians can do to serve and build each other up when there are situations where we may disagree. Read all of Romans 14-15 to review things to consider during this time. Here's Romans 14:13-18, 22-23:

• 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. 19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification...

• 22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

-Thanksgiving Eve worship (2 services): 3:30 (Mask-required) and 6:30pm on Wednesday, November 25th.

-DVDs and sermon copies are available by contacting the church office, between 9am-12pm on weekdays.

-Private communion always available by appointment. Call the office or call/email Pastor Naumann (412-0232); Pastor Buelow (412-0458)

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This newsletter includes:

1. Devotional Thought
2. Worship Preview for Sunday
3. Bible Study

Notes

-Sunday Worship is at 8:00am and 10:30, with Bible Class and Sunday School in-between, at the church. Monday night worship (mask-required) is at 6:30pm and will continue weekly through the month of January.

-As cases rise going into the winter season, remember that the devil will try to use this to separate you from your God. Your greatest protection at this time is the Lord, and the mighty power he gives you in his word. "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the schemes of the Devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against... the spiritual forces of evil... Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:10-12... 17). This is a time for prayer, repentance, and a time to be strengthened with the means of Grace (God's Word in the Bible, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper). So, remember to set aside time to worship, whether in-person or at home. And if you are remaining home at this time, please contact the pastors to set up times for private communion. We are happy to come to you and bring Jesus' medicine of eternal life.

-This weekend we will host our Mission Speaker who was unable to come on Mission Festival. Pastor Karim Yaghlegi, who is doing Arab outreach in the Chicago area, will preach and present during the Bible class hour.

-The Livestream battle continues. The current plan is to replace the livestream box. If it's not working this Sunday, we will have a backup livestream on Facebook on our St. Paul's page.

-Wednesday morning Bible class will be livestreamed via Zoom. Questions are below. Click this link or enter the information below in the program/app Zoom. Meeting ID: 813 9931 8006 Password: 011081

-Thanksgiving Eve worship (2 services): 3:30 (Mask-required) and 6:30pm on Wednesday, November 25th.

-For those worshiping at home this week: See worship preparation below to get the hymns and readings ready (or find bulletin here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzC3y8YQ1IYcfndHWmRhQ2t6TVhhVXoyTWNVN29vcHBJMzlxcjMyWEJhRGpKM3RfNXdKMHc?usp=sharing ).

-DVDs and sermon copies are available by contacting the church office, between 9am-12pm on weekdays.

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This newsletter includes:

1. Devotional Thought
2. Worship Preview for Sunday
3. Bible Study

Notes

-The Livestream battle continues. The livestream worked, but was blurry, and then didn't work for Bible class. We'll keep working on it (and thanks Paul Spaude for all your work)!

-Sunday Worship is at 8:00am and 10:30, with Bible Class and Sunday School in-between, at the church for the time being.

-Monday night worship (mask-required) is at 6:30pm and will continue weekly through the month of January.

-Thanksgiving worship (2 services!): 3:30 (Mask-required) and 6:30pm on Wednesday, November 25th.

-We conclude our Bible Study "Politics: This Will Not Divide Us" this week with the topic: Our Messy Political World. Email stpls@stpls.org for the materials for the Sunday Bible class. Look for the class on our Facebook page if the Youtube livestream is still not working.

-Wednesday morning Bible class will be livestreamed via Zoom. Questions are below. Click this link or enter the information below in the program/app Zoom. Meeting ID: 813 9931 8006 Password: 011081

-For those worshiping at home this week: See worship preparation below to get the hymns and readings ready (or find bulletin here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzC3y8YQ1IYcfndHWmRhQ2t6TVhhVXoyTWNVN29vcHBJMzlxcjMyWEJhRGpKM3RfNXdKMHc?usp=sharing ).

-DVDs and sermon copies are available by contacting the church office, between 9am-12pm on weekdays. Private communion is always available by appointment.

***Thank you for your understanding, feedback and prayers as we make worship decisions. We know our current situation requires many to make sacrifices, some more than others. Continue to be patient with each other, thankful for each other, and pray for each other as you come to different decisions about how you will worship at this time. Our various decisions in matters of conscience do not change the unity we have through our baptism into Jesus. Remain humble and quick to listen to each other--your fellow Christians are those for whom our Lord Jesus humbled himself and bought with his holy precious blood.***

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This newsletter includes:

1. Devotional Thought
2. Worship Preview for Sunday
3. Bible Study

Notes

-The Livestream battle continues. I believe we are currently in Episode 5, "The Livestream Strikes Back." But we are optimistic that we will get to Episode 6 soon, "The Return of the Livestream." In the meantime, we will try to get the recorded 8:00am service up at soon as possible on Youtube on Sundays, and will use Facebook live again to livestream Bible class if needed.

-Sunday Worship is at 8:00am and 10:30, with Bible Class and Sunday School in-between, at the church for the time being. Monday night worship is at 6:30pm, and through November 2nd they remain mask-required, unless you are medically unable to wear one. We'll keep revisiting plans moving forward.

-We continue our Bible Study "Politics: This Will Not Divide Us" this week with the topic: The Separation of Church and State. Email stpls@stpls.org for the materials for the Sunday Bible class. Look for the class on our Facebook page if the Youtube livestream is still not working.

-Wednesday morning Bible class will be livestreamed via Zoom. Questions are below. Click this link or enter the information below in the program/app Zoom. Meeting ID: 813 9931 8006 Password: 011081

-For those worshiping at home this week: Again, we will try to live-stream, but unfortunately it may be best not to plan on the service being available in real-time. We will try to have the worship service up by the afternoon. See worship preparation below to get the hymns and readings ready (or find bulletin here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzC3y8YQ1IYcfndHWmRhQ2t6TVhhVXoyTWNVN29vcHBJMzlxcjMyWEJhRGpKM3RfNXdKMHc?usp=sharing ).

-DVDs and sermon copies are available by contacting the church office, between 9am-12pm on weekdays.

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This newsletter includes:

1. Devotional Thought
2. Worship Preview for Sunday
3. Bible Study

Notes & Voters' Meeting Recap

-The graveside funeral for Bernie McCullen will be held at Oaklawn cemetery on Saturday at 11:00am. Please continue to pray that family and loved ones find their comfort in Christ.

-Tech Issues Update

ISSUE #1) The livestream still has not been working. In the meantime, we will try to get the recorded 8:00am service up at soon as possible on Youtube on Sundays, and will use Facebook live again to livestream Bible class if needed.

ISSUE #2) Our website, stpls.org, is back! We thank Fred Lorf, a member of Emanuel Redeemer in Yale, who redesigned our website and offered his time to fix the issue.

-Sunday Worship is at 8:00am and 10:30, with Bible Class and Sunday School in-between, at the church for the time being. Monday night worship is at 6:30pm, and through November 2nd they remain mask-required, unless you are medically unable to wear one. We'll keep revisiting plans moving forward.

-We continue our Bible Study "Politics: This Will Not Divide Us" this week with the topic: The Imperfect State. Email stpls@stpls.org for the materials for the Sunday Bible class.

-Wednesday morning Bible class will be livestreamed. Questions are below. Click this link or enter the information below in the program/app Zoom. Meeting ID: 813 9931 8006 Password: 011081

-For those worshiping at home this week: We will try to live-stream, but unfortunately it may be best not to plan on the service being available in real-time. We will try to have the worship service up by the afternoon. See worship preparation below to get the hymns and readings ready (or find bulletin here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzC3y8YQ1IYcfndHWmRhQ2t6TVhhVXoyTWNVN29vcHBJMzlxcjMyWEJhRGpKM3RfNXdKMHc?usp=sharing ).

-DVDs and sermon copies are available by contacting the church office, between 9am-12pm on weekdays.

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This newsletter includes:

1. Devotional Thought
2. Worship Preview for Sunday
3. Bible Study

Notes & Voters' Meeting Recap

-Thanks to all who attended the voters' meeting! The voters...

• approved the Board of Trustees recommendation not to buy the Bond street property next to the smaller parking lot. We hope the city will buy the property and raze the home.
• approved the Board of Endowment request to grant $1,210 to offset the cost for Covid-19 school updates (like the drinking fountains)
• voted to include 12 monthly special anniversary gift envelopes in the envelope boxes for offerings next year.
• voted to increase our benevolence fund distribution to the Roscommon Mission and Hispanic Outreach in Detroit at Palabra de Vida by 5% each, since the mission in Cadillac we had been supporting has closed.
• approved the Board of Elders recommendation to purchase the new hymnal (christianworship.com), with an estimated cost of $16,000 dollars to be funded by special individual gifts from members of the congregation.
• approved the Board of Education recommendation to extend a permanent call for a part-time (40%) teacher to assist in the lower grade classrooms and enable us to teach more students.
• approved the budget for 2021.

-Tech Issues!

ISSUE #1) The livestream has not been working, as you may have noticed! We're very sorry for those of you hoping to tune in live to worship and Bible class. As far as we know the problem is not on our end, so we will have to try to figure out what the issue is with Youtube.

ISSUE #2) Our website, stpls.org, is down. Again, we're not sure what the problem is, but hope to have some help and be up and running soon! Thanks for your patience.

-Sunday Worship is at 8:00am and 10:30, with Bible Class and Sunday School in-between, at the church for the time being. The elders have decided to keep Monday nights through November 2nd mask-required, unless you are medically unable to wear one. We'll keep revisiting plans moving forward.

-We are starting a new Bible class called "Politics: This Will Not Divide Us" which will look at what the Bible says about Government and being a Christian citizen. GOD-WILLING it will be livestreamed. Email stpls@stpls.org for the materials for the Sunday Bible class.

-Wednesday morning Bible class will be livestreamed. Questions are below. Click this link or enter the information below in the program/app Zoom. Meeting ID: 813 9931 8006 Password: 011081

-For those worshiping at home this week: GOD-WILLING Livestreamed 8am service. If not, we will try to have the worship service up by the afternoon. See worship preparation below to get the hymns and readings ready (or find bulletin here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzC3y8YQ1IYcfndHWmRhQ2t6TVhhVXoyTWNVN29vcHBJMzlxcjMyWEJhRGpKM3RfNXdKMHc?usp=sharing ).

-DVDs and sermon copies are available by contacting the church office, between 9am-12pm on weekdays.

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St. Paul's Family,

Since we have some bigger items for discussion on the council agenda for Sunday, the council wanted to let you know about some of them ahead of time. We will also announce some of the items at church. Our new business will include:

1. Elections
2. Bond Street Property: The Board of Trustees recommends we do not purchase the Bond Street property that has become available for the price of $5,000 (The trustees no longer believe there is a need for additional parking. The $5,000 is only the purchase cost of the house, but purchasing would involve additional cost of tearing down the house, landscaping, and maintaining the property each year.)
3. Special 100th Anniversary of Building Offering in 2021: The Council is recommending a special offering be gathered in 2021 through 12 monthly special anniversary envelopes, which will be split between the renovation of the church basement at St. Paul's and the construction of a church building in a mission field or other congregation.
4. New Hymnal Recommendation: The Board of Elders recommends the purchase of the New Hymnal (https://www.christianworship.com/) by November 28, 2021, with the estimated $16,000 cost to be funded by special individual gifts from members of the congregation.
5. A Permanent Call for a New Part-time (40%) Teacher: The Board of Education recommends the congregation extend a permanent divine call for a part-time teacher to assist in the lower grade classrooms.
6. 2021 Budget --The proposed 2021 St. Paul’s Ministry Fund budget has minor inflationary adjustments for some expense categories as usual, and the normal worker salary bumps associated with gaining one more year of experience. The proposed 2021 budget may also include wages and FICA for a new 40% part-time teacher (with no health insurance or pension benefits) should the congregation approve same (see number 5 above) Also, the proposed 2021 Mission Fund goal was set a bit differently this year; we chose to set the Mission goal to be a certain percent of the total St. Paul’s Ministry Fund, 13.5% to be specific. The proposed 2021 Mission goal is $113,400 which is $7,800 or 7.4% greater than the 2020 Missions goal of $105,600. 

God bless,

St. Paul's Council

This newsletter includes:

1. Devotional Thought
2. Worship Preview for Sunday
3. Bible Study

Notes

-Sunday Worship is at 8:00am and 10:30, with Bible Class and Sunday School in-between, at the church for the time being. The elders have decided to keep Monday nights through November 2nd mask-required, unless you are medically unable to wear one. We'll keep revisiting plans moving forward.

-Sunday morning Bible class will be livestreamed. Sunday's materials can be found here: https://www.stpls.org/bible-study/ .

-Wednesday morning Bible class will be livestreamed. Questions are below. Click this link or enter the information below in the program/app Zoom. Meeting ID: 813 9931 8006 Password: 011081

-For those worshiping at home this week: Livestreamed 8am service, with the service available on Youtube afterwards. See worship preparation below to get the hymns and readings ready (or find bulletin here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzC3y8YQ1IYcfndHWmRhQ2t6TVhhVXoyTWNVN29vcHBJMzlxcjMyWEJhRGpKM3RfNXdKMHc?usp=sharing ).

-DVDs and sermon copies are available by contacting the church office, between 9am-12pm on weekdays.

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Good morning St. Paul's family,

Our mission speaker, Pastor Karim Yaghlegi, has asked that he postpone his visit to St. Paul's due to recent prolonged contact with an symptomatic individual who has tested positive for Covid-19. Please pray for him, his family, and his congregation as he awaits test results and cares for his people:

Dear Risen and Ascended Savior Jesus, thank you for ruling not just over the vast universe, but over every small particle in it as well, all for our eternal good. Lead us to trust in your control over every disease and to rely on you when you decide, in your wisdom, to allow us to fall sick. Help the congregation of St. Timothy in Lombard, Illinois, use the gospel to encourage each other even more as the recent Covid concerns remind them that the day is fast approaching (Hebrews 10:25). Bless their pastors with good health if it is your will, and help them to serve their people by fixing their eyes not on earthly concerns, but on the heavenly joy they have through you and what you have done. One day you will decide to call each of us out of this world of sorrows. Help us look forward to that day with conviction, knowing that we are simply going to our permanent home, as Hebrews 13:14 says, "For we do not have a permanent city here, but we are looking for the city that is coming." We pray in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.

We will find another date, possibly in November, where Pastor Yaghlegi can come and preach and talk about his mission work in the Chicago area.

We will go ahead with our mission festival celebration this weekend with the same readings and hymns and music.

The LORD bless and keep you,

Pastor Buelow