St. Michael Lutheran VBS

07/14/2023

Vacation Bible Connect last night! Join us tonight 5:30 to 7:30 for spaghetti & meatballs. Walk with Jesus to the cross to see why He died. We’ll end this bittersweet time with s’mores.

07/07/2020

Tuesday - Taking Pastor Jon’s Message Home

Read Romans 12:3-4. “Far away, lost and alone, I feel the sadness in my sigh. Where can I find someone to pick me up, to wipe the tear from my eye? I’m not special. I’m worthless and I’m small. I’m not important. I’m no one, nobody at all.” In the children’s message I (Lori) retold the story of “The Littlest Part” by Michael Charron which is a story of someone being left out of a group. Hearing those lyrics pulls at our heart strings. Whether you have been that person who has been made fun of for not fitting in, observed it, or regretfully been a part of the attack, when you look back now, how do see the value God always has seen in someone who before seemed insignificant?

07/04/2020

Saturday - Taking the Message Home
Read Hebrews 10:11-14. This weekend we’re going to look at how every life needs to be in ministry. Priests in the Old Testament stood day after day, year after year, to sacrifice and pray because it was never enough, because sin and guilt are always there. But when Jesus went to the cross, He paid the whole price! We don't have to live in guilt or shame or in hiding or in darkness anymore – no matter what we’ve done. You see, we have a priest who sat down! That’s the good news – it means the price to cover our sins has been paid for in full! We have been forgiven; you are set free; God holds nothing against your account - all the junk, all the darkness, all the guilt, all the mess-ups…it’s all covered; it is paid in full. We have a priest who sat down; everything all the priests pointed toward, Jesus did for us. Now He invites us into ministry (into service) in His Name!

07/03/2020

Friday - Pastor Jon's Taking the Message Home
Read Colossians 1:28-29; 2:6-7. The power of community - it’s what the Apostle Paul is talking about in our reading today. It’s that all of us are on a path and journey of growing up in Christlikeness, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The good news (the Gospel) of Jesus not only brings grace and forgiveness, but it also brings change and growth. So, let us commit to having the courage both to give and receive advice, instruction, and admonishment – that truth might be spoken in love among us – it truly is what every life needs!

07/02/2020

Thursday - Taking the Message Home
Read Ephesians 6:17, 14-16. “Be humble and gentle.” Talk about a tall order! But that is not only the description of how we advise, instruct, admonish, and speak truth in love to each other but it is also the way we are to receive that kind of counsel – not where we defend ourselves, or try to rationalize what that other person is saying, or dismiss it, or even crumble underneath it. To receive guidance well, we need to have an appropriate sense of humility; we have to be humble. Not humble where we lack a sense of the value or worth that God has placed on us in Jesus, but a willingness that says that it is possible that what this other person, who we know cares about us, that what they’re saying is something that we need to hear and pray about.

07/01/2020

Wednesday - Taking the Message Home
Read Galatians 6:1-5. To carry out our calling to advise, instruct, admonish, and speak truth in love in the way in which God intended us, we must keep in our mind the simple truth that we are a sinner too. As we approach each other, we do that as one broken sinner, who has received grace and forgiveness daily in Jesus and is speaking to a fellow sinner in need of that same grace and forgiveness. There is no scale that weighs better or worse sins – the ground at the foot of the cross is level, so no one is closer or further away. Knowing and remembering that we are sinners, who have received grace and forgiveness in Jesus, is what allows us to give instruction to others in a well-intentioned way.

06/30/2020

Tuesday - Pastor Jon's Taking the Message Home
Read James 3:13-18 – Only the Holy Spirit can create real fellowship between us, but He cultivates that with the choices and commitments that we make. You see, it takes both God’s power and our effort to produce a loving Christian community. As we talked about this past weekend, cultivating a community like that takes honesty, to care enough to lovingly speak truth to each other. It’s where the reason why we’re having this conversation is because we are convinced that if that other person will listen, that led by the Holy Spirit they’ll have the opportunity to grow and change. Is there someone in your life that you know you need to speak truth in love to?

06/29/2020

Please sign up today if you are planning to come to worship this weekend July 4-5 so that we can prepare. In light of the fact that we have not seen a decrease in the number of cases in our area, if you are concerned about the trend or are part of the higher risked population, please worship with us via Livestream. We look forward to worshiping with you: on-line or in-person!

We want to make sure everyone who wants to worship in-person will be able to do so safely, comfortably, and within appropriate spacing. We strongly encourage people with health concerns, or anyone living with someone who has health concerns, to continue to worship with us via live stream until condi...

06/29/2020

Monday - Pastor Jon's Taking the Message Home
Read Colossians 2:6-15 – The 2 most powerful things that God has to offer us is His grace which we don't deserve and His forgiveness which we haven’t earned. Those are the things that are able to bring about change in us. You see, it is only in the strength of the Holy Spirit that we can do anything at all; it’s when God’s grace and forgiveness in Jesus begins to transform us. So, the choice that we have as we live together in community is that we can choose to avoid advising, admonishing, instructing, and speaking the truth in love to each other or we can make the courageous choice to do those things which will actually help growth happen.