Saint John's Quincy Wisconsin

06/05/2026

What if God Is in Your Story?

66Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments… 68You are good and do good; teach me your statutes… 71It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. Psalm 119:66; 68; 71

Psalm 119 reads like the open journal of a believer walking with God through pressure, affliction, and longing. He clings to God’s Word as his lifeline. The psalmist is surrounded by scoffers, weighed down by suffering, and tempted to drift. Yet again and again he turns to the Lord with the same simple cry: “Teach me.” He knows his own weakness, he feels the pull of sin, and he recognizes that without God’s instruction he will lose his way.

What makes Psalm 119 so powerful is that it is both honest and hopeful. The psalmist admits his wandering, his weariness, and his need for help, but he also testifies that God’s Word brings life, steadiness, and joy. Affliction has humbled him, opposition has sharpened him, and longing has driven him deeper into the Scriptures. Through every line, he discovers that God’s commands are not burdens but gifts, a light for the path, strength for the heart, and comfort in the night.

Psalm 119 invites us into that same posture. It calls us to bring our confusion, our temptations, our fears, and our failures to the God who speaks. It teaches us that wisdom is learned, not earned; that understanding is given, not achieved; and that the God who commands is the God who comforts. As we read this psalm, we join the ancient prayer of every believer who has ever sought God in the midst of life’s pressures: “Teach me good judgement and knowledge…You are good and do good…It is good that I was afflicted that I might learn your statues.” Psalm 119:66; 68; 71

Lord Jesus, draw every searching heart to Yourself. Give us ears to hear Your Word, courage to turn back to You, and faith to trust Your mercy. Heal, restore, and renew us by Your grace. Amen.

06/04/2026

https://saintjohnsquincywigmail.myanswers.com/jungle-journey/
We invite the community to bring their kids, grandkids and neighborhood friends to our VBS this summer, July 15-17. Click the link below to find the registration form!

Every day, our kids are bombarded with questions: Did God really create everything? Why do bad things happen? Was Noah’s ark real? Why do I need to be saved? Can I trust the Bible? At this VBS, your kids will explore the biblical answers to these questions as they set off on an epic adven...

06/04/2026

https://saintjohnsquincywigmail.myanswers.com/jungle-journey/

Every day, our kids are bombarded with questions: Did God really create everything? Why do bad things happen? Was Noah’s ark real? Why do I need to be saved? Can I trust the Bible? At this VBS, your kids will explore the biblical answers to these questions as they set off on an epic adven...

06/04/2026

The Verdict That Changes Everything

22That is why his faith was “counted to him (Abraham) as righteousness.” 23But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Romans 4:22-25

Paul tells us that Adam’s sin brought condemnation into the world, and we feel the weight of that every day, brokenness in our hearts, in our relationships, and in our world. But Paul also announces something far greater: Christ’s obedience brings justification to all who believe. Where Adam’s failure spread death, Christ’s faithfulness brings life. His obedience stands in place of our disobedience, offering a new beginning to anyone who trusts Him.

In Romans 4, Paul reaches back to Abraham to show that this has always been God’s way. Abraham wasn’t accepted because he earned it; he was accepted because he trusted God’s promise. That same pattern holds true today. God counts us righteous not because we measure up, but because we cling to the One who does. Jesus’ death removes our guilt completely, and His resurrection proves that God’s verdict of “righteous” is real, solid, and finished.

Because of this gracious act—God declaring us right with Him—believers stand in a peace the world cannot give. We live in the wide-open space of God’s grace, knowing that our hope is anchored in Christ and will never disappoint. Whether you are searching for faith or growing in it, this promise is for you: in Jesus Christ, God has already done everything needed to gift you with his salvation, “…for today is the day of salvation…”

Lord Jesus, thank You for the righteousness that you have imputed to me by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ. Help me trust Your grace today. Amen.

06/03/2026

Psalm 50 is structured like a contract. God summons His people to court, to confront her insincere worship.

Psalm 50:1–6 set the stage: God appears as the righteous Judge, calling heaven and earth as witnesses. 1The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. 3 Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest. 4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 5 “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!” 6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge!

Psalm 50:7–10 speaks to every one of us—whether we’re skeptical of religion or deeply involved in church life. 7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. 8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. 9 I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.

We live in a world that constantly tells us to prove ourselves, to earn our worth, to perform well enough to be accepted. It’s easy to carry that mindset into our relationship with God, thinking that church attendance, good deeds, or moral effort somehow win God’s approval.

What God desires is our heart, our trust, our gratitude, our repentance, but He does not wait for us to produce these things on our own. In sheer mercy, He gives what He commands. Christ Himself is the gift of God’s mercy: the true sacrifice God provides, the compassion God desires, and the righteousness we could never achieve. For those who doubt, the cross stands as God’s greatest act of mercy, your worth is not measured by what you do, but by what Christ has done for you. For believers, this same mercy is your daily assurance: you do not worship to earn God’s love; you worship because His love has already found you in Christ. God’s mercy forgives sinners. Then as the mercy of God has reached us, in Christ, our lives become offerings formed not by pressure or performance, but by the steady, undeserved kindness of God.

Lord Jesus, give me a heart shaped by Your mercy, not my performance. In Your name I pray. Amen.

06/02/2026

What If God Wants You—Not Your Performance?

“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13

Jesus invites His hearers, and us to look deeper, to see what God truly desires. In Hosea’s day, people kept the rituals but missed what mercy and sacrifice truly mean: they offered sacrifices without repentance, compassion, or faithfulness. Jesus quotes Hosea to show that God wants something far greater than outward religion. He wants hearts remade by His mercy. And in Christ is true mercy, and the perfect sacrifice for sinners.

The Pharisees thought they were “righteous”—people who didn’t need forgiveness or the cross. But Jesus came for those who know their need, who feel their guilt, who long for grace. These are the people He seeks, welcomes, and saves. This is the heart of both Hosea 6:6 and Matthew 9:13: Jesus came not to reward the self sufficient but to rescue sinners—people like us—through His mercy poured out at the cross.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for coming for sinners and not the self sufficient. Give me a humble heart that seeks Your mercy, especially the mercy you showed us in the sacrifice of Jesus, the very Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. Amen.

05/30/2026

“When Worship Meets Our Doubt”

When the eleven saw Jesus, they worshiped Him. Worship is more than a posture of the body—it is the heart bowing before the One who is worthy. Scripture is clear: worship belongs to God alone, and the worship Jesus receives reveals His full deity. To worship Him is to step into our highest calling, to honor the Son as He deserves, and to share in the Father’s eternal delight. Even now, every act of bowing before Christ gives us a foretaste of the joy that will fill the new heaven and new earth.

But Matthew tells us something honest and surprising: some doubted. Doubt is that momentary hesitation of the heart—a brief wavering that interrupts trust. Scripture uses this verb only twice, yet both moments teach us the same truth: saving faith looks to Christ even when the heart trembles, while paralyzing doubt looks away from Him.

Into that mixture of worship and wavering, Jesus speaks His Great Commission—words strong enough to steady any heart. With all authority in heaven and on earth, He sends His disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching everything He has commanded. And He promises His presence: “I am with you always.” Then, before their eyes, He ascends in glory, sealing His authority and assuring His people that their mission—and their faith—rest in His power alone.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, strengthen my faith and draw my heart to worship You. Amen.

05/29/2026

What If God’s Majesty Is Reaching for You?

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Psalm 8:1 opens with a truth big enough to shake unbelief and steady the believer’s heart: God’s greatness can be seen. His majesty rises above the ordinary—power, excellence, and nobility that demand our attention. Yet this greatness is not distant. The God whose glory fills the universe is the God who makes Himself known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father created all things, the Son through whom all things were made came near to us in flesh, and the Spirit fills the world with life and awakens faith. Psalm 8 draws us into this wonder: the Triune God whose name stretches across the heavens is the same God who draws near in Jesus Christ to restore us, forgive us, and claim us as His own.

Prayer: Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the undivided Unity. Let us give glory to Him because He has shown His mercy to us. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

05/28/2026

The Hope You’re Looking for Has a Name

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. Acts 2:33

We often assume God must fit inside the limits of our own understanding. But the Scriptures reveal a God far greater than human reason can grasp: one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And they reveal Jesus Christ as true God and true man, the only Redeemer of the world. Whenever people have trusted their own ideas over God’s Word, confusion has followed leading to the denial the Trinity, and the person of Christ or reducing Jesus to a miracle worker, a prophet, or a mere man who is neither Lord nor Savior.

Acts 2:33 cuts through all of that. Peter declares that the Jesus who was lifted up on the cross is now exalted at God’s right hand, reigning as Lord and pouring out the Holy Spirit. The cross was His deepest humility; the ascension is His highest glory. And both were for you.

Just as the Israelites looked to the bronze serpent and lived, Jesus says that all who look to Him lifted up will receive eternal life. The same Jesus who died for sinners now rules over all things, sending His Spirit, sustaining His Church, and directing history toward the day He returns.

Here is the heart of the Christian faith: the one true God—the Holy Trinity, the undivided Unity—has worked redemption for you in Jesus Christ.

Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, lifted up for my salvation and exalted for my good, open my heart to trust You more deeply. Draw me by Your Spirit to believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have worked redemption for me. Amen.

05/27/2026

What if There Really Is Something Stronger Than Death?

8I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. have set the Lord always before me;
9Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secur
10For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption
11You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore Psalm 16:8–11

This is one of Scripture’s clearest windows into the indestructible hope God gives His people hope in Jesus’ resurrection. David wrote these words while surrounded by danger, yet he spoke with a confidence that went far be yond his own lifetime: “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol.” “Nor let your Holy One see corruption.”

At first glance, David seems to be talking about himself. But the New Testament tells us something astonishing: David was speaking as a prophet, carried along by the Spirit, pointing ahead to the Messiah. Peter says it plainly in Acts 2: David died. David was buried. David’s body did see corruption. So, these words cannot be about David. They are about Jesus—the true Holy One—whose body never decayed, whose tomb was occupied by death, but death did not claim Him. He rose again on Sunday morning. Our Lord’s resurrection broke open the path of life for all who trust Him.

Your hope rests on a Savior who cannot die again. Every earthly hope eventually fades. Every human promise has limits. Every source of security in this world can be shaken. But Jesus rose never to die again. Your hope is tied to a living Savior.

Your future is as secure as Christ’s empty tomb. If God did not abandon His Holy One to the grave, He will not abandon you. Your body may grow weak. Your circumstances may feel uncertain. Your heart may walk through seasons of darkness. But your is life is anchored in a resurrection that has already happened.

David ends the psalm with a breathtaking promise: “In Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Where is Jesus right now? At the Father’s right hand. And where will you be. With Jesus?
Your joy is tied to the risen Christ, seated in glory, ruling with life that cannot be taken.

A Prayer for Today
Risen Lord Jesus, Thank You that Psalm 16 points to You, our living hope, and our risen King. Thank You that You were not abandoned to the grave, and because of Your victory, neither will we be. Fill our hearts with the joy of Your presence, and steady our steps with the confidence in the promise of the resurrection. Keep us close to You, the One who conquered death for us. Amen.