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Stay Tuned and Stay Rooted

Update for 3/17/2020

How are you? Ok? It has been a crazy couple of days, even couple of weeks already! I am praying for all of you that, during this situation, you are not feeling too overwhelmed or afraid. While there is reason for caution and concern, let us remember that in every situation, we can be at peace because of our Savior. Nothing can take away our faith in a God who is above all things, who uses all things for his good purposes, who knows us intimately, and who loves us more than anyone in this world. He has not abandoned us nor will he. He is a faithful God. He is with you. 

All of that being said, I definitely understand that this is uncharted territory for us and as such, brings with it a lot of stress and anxiety that is new and ... weird. We also have to wrestle with tough questions of how to behave, how to obey, how to worship, how to serve, and how to live. I don't have answers to all those questions but am wrestling with them just like you are right now. In some ways our answers to those questions are harder than those who do not believe... since not only do we have to wrestle with what our authorities are asking us to do (which we should obey!), and what our medical experts are recommending (which is wise for us to apply for good order and assisting in whatever manner possible to serve and protect our neighbor), but we also must wrestle with what God tells us in his Word (and our need to constantly be nourished by that Word and the Sacrament!). We get to practice our confidence in these uncertain times that we don't rely on human wisdom, statistics, and what we can do, but instead our hope that things will be ok ultimately relies solely on our good and merciful God. How can we practice that confidence as a body of believers, as neighbors, as Christians? This is a good question and also a great opportunity!

In response to that question, I hope to send you another email later today to update you on our plans for worship and how to get the Word to you. I am staying up to date with what our Synodical leaders, other pastors, and area groups are doing to respond to our current situation. Later tonight, I will be meeting with our elders and our church president to discuss how we here at St. Paul can best react to this situation with wisdom, obedience to authorities, common sense, medical recommendations, a recognition for our need of God's Word (especially during this time!), and finally a firm confidence in God. 

The one who healed the blind man, who raised Lazarus, who used the evil intentions of wicked men, the corruption of our world, and the filth of the human condition to demonstrate his love, his power, and his victory over sin, death and the devil, will also use this virus and the affect it has had on our country, community and congregation to bless us and to draw us closer to him. He WILL defeat this by-product of a broken world and deliver us from ALL evil. 

From home for now, may all of you find comfort in your God. Take this extra time at home to gather around the Word of God. Families, read the Word and pray together. Everyone, be a calm pillar of hope in this raging storm for the people in your life, not by your power or ability, but by keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith! 

Here are some prayer requests that you can add to your own: 

  • Please pray for the elderly who are compromised and at high risk of death if infected with the flu or the COVID-19.

  • Please also pray for the health care workers who put it all on the line treating us for our aliments during this crises.

  • Please pray for all our brothers and sisters in Christ, that they remain vigilant and monitor their health.  

  • Please pray for our governing authorities, that they may make wise decisions on how to react to this crisis.

  • Please pray for our communities, that we may band together to serve one another, love one another, and be calm for one another.

  • Please pray that God give you the strength and the confidence YOU need to weather this storm and to carry out your callings.

Again, stay tuned for more updates on our worship plans, other functions, and other opportunities to hear and live the Truth. 

I love you all in Christ Jesus. He is with you always.

In His grace,

Pastor

P.S. Read this too! vvv

Mark 4:35-41

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Be Still

Grace, mercy and peace ARE yours in Christ. Please read these words from Psalm 46 and take a deep breath with me:

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Whether you have tried to or not, you can't help but hear about the Coronavirus that is going around and the measures going into place to be proactive in any way we can. It can be quite overwhelming. It can be frightening. I feel it too.

However, what I keep reminding myself and I hope all of you remind yourselves is this: Our God has not changed... therefore nothing has changed for us. We still have a God who is our refuge and strength. WE still have a God who loves us. We still have a God who does all the things that Psalm 46 describes. Read those beautiful words again. Nothing stands in the way for him to be there for his people and to be our God who is still in control. That is why we can breathe. We can be still and know that HE is God. I am so thankful for that! I pray that this psalm as well as the reality of your faith gives you hope and a broader perspective. While this virus and the news about it may cause us to be afraid, let us put our lives and our hope in our God who will be with us. Therefore, we can BE STILL.

Pastor Buelow

Lent Is Not Fantasy, It Is Your Redemption History

Peter, one of the 12 disciples, had been with Jesus since the beginning. He had now outlasted some of his brothers, who were killed for their faith. He had even lived long enough to hear rumors from younger people who doubted that Jesus had ever existed at all. It was time for him to speak and to testify then and now to what he knew to be true:

To be sure, we were not following cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. We heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. 2 Peter 1:16-18

Peter stakes his life on what he saw. Jesus is real. His power was real. God coming to our world to walk with us was real. This is not just a story. This is not a fantasy. All of it really happened. Peter would eventually be killed because he refused to deny the reality of Jesus.

This Sunday we are going to talk about that real story, starting from that moment on the mountain of transfiguration, where Jesus shone like the sun. From there we are going to follow Jesus, a man and also God, to another mountain where he will willingly die for the sins of the world. He does that for you and for me, so that we, like Peter, could have a living hope, even if we die!

That is what Lent is all about, recognizing our need for a Savior and then seeing that Savior do everything we need him to do to have life everlasting.

Join us Sunday at 9 as we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord in worship and then have Bible Study and Sunday School at 10:20am.

Then we begin Lent with Ash Wednesday, this coming Wednesday, February 26, with supper at 5:30pm and worship at 6:30pm. This will be a communion service. Wednesday services will continue throughout Lent (until April 1). We will also have a Maundy Thursday Communion Service on April 9th at 6:30pm and a Good Friday Service, April 10, at 6:30pm. Easter Sunday is April 12th with two services, a Sunrise Service at 6:30am and our Festival Service at 9am. In between, from 7:30-8:45am, we will have an Easter Breakfast open to all.

We would love to have you join us this Lent to remember the history of our God’s passion for us as fact not fiction… because this is not fantasy. This is our redemption history. Our eternity depends on it all being true!

- Pastor Buelow

Christmas for Kids 2019

We had a blast with this year’s Christmas for Kids! It was great having fun with the kids, being goofy with them, celebrating Jesus with them. Here are some of the pictures from the day…

Happy Thanksgiving and Advent!

We often forget how much we have to be thankful for. It is so easy for us to get caught up thinking about all the things we don't have that we forget the mountains of blessings we have already been given! Let us use this time of thanksgiving to slow down, to take inventory of what we have, and to give thanks to the one who has given us so much more than we deserve!

Come, you thankful people, come; Raise the song of harvest-home.

All be safely gathered in Ere the winter storm begin.

God our maker shall provide For our wants to be supplied.

Come to God’s own temple, come;Raise the song of harvest-home. 613 s.1

I'd love to give thanks to God together with you tonight at our Thanksgiving Eve service at 6:30pm. What a perfect way for us to focus our hearts on the God who has given us all that we have and who continues to give us everything we need. We can also give thanks again for the ultimate sacrifice God made so that we can be called a child of God, the death of his Son! Without that gift, we would never be able to truly enjoy the blessings God has given or know our Heavenly Father through whom they come.

Here are another couple reminders for the days ahead:

Christmas Decorating of the Church - Saturday starting at 8am! Many hands make light work. Lend a hand this Saturday morning to prepare our beautiful church for Advent and Christmas!

Advent Begins this Sunday! Advent is a season dedicated to preparing your heart to celebrate the real reason for the season, that a Savior was born in Bethlehem that first Christmas for the world. Advent is also a time for us to prepare for his coming again one day when this world will end but all those who are sorry for their sins and trust in Jesus as their Savior will live with him forever! So plan to prepare your heart with us in worship each Sunday at 9am and Wednesday at 6:30pm up until Christmas. Each service is unique and will shed light on another way you can focus on what matters most during this busy time of year!

Women's Bible Study - Monday at 1pm! One more day and time change for Women's Bible Study. All ladies, consider joining this awesome group to learn more about how God wants you to live as his daughter in this broken world.

That is all for now. I pray you all drive safe, your Thanksgiving preparations go well, and I hope to see you later today. If not, have a blessed Thanksgiving! I thank God for all of you.

In His grace,

Pastor

Mission Festival This Sunday - Nov. 17

Brothers and sisters,

This Sunday, November 17th, we have an amazing opportunity to host one of our Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary professors, Prof. Brad Wordell, to preach and present at our annual Mission Festival!

Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary is our Synod’s last leg of school for training up pastoral candidates to be called into the public ministry. After completing four years at our Synod’s college of ministry, Martin Luther College, men then continue on to WLS for another 4 years of training to receive their Masters of Divinity before being assigned to a congregation like ours! I often explain, when some are surprised that we have an 8 year program for pastors, that if it takes 8 years to be a doctor of the body, why would it be any less to be a doctor of souls? Even after 8 years, our pastors, as well as all who study the Bible, must admit that there is still so much to learn about what God says and how it applies to our lives!

On top of being a professor at our Seminary, Prof. Wordell is also a team member of our Synod’s Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI) which takes our Seminary training and brings it to men interested in the ministry across the globe. This is a very exciting and growing part of what our Seminary does because there is such a hunger for the Word of God taught in its truth and purity in every corner of the globe.

This Sunday at our Mission Festival, hear Prof. Wordell share the beautiful gospel with us in worship. Hear updates and news about our Seminary and the men he is helping to train to go out into our communities, country and around the world to preach and teach the true Word of God. Learn about our Pastoral Studies Institute and the impact it is having around the world of more and more people hearing and believing the gospel! And finally, remember how you are a part of these efforts and our own efforts to share Jesus with our community right here in Clintonville!

I hope that all of you can be here on Sunday to celebrate with Prof. Wordell and one another about our mission at St. Paul to bring the good news of Jesus to our community and to the world. It is a privilege that God calls us his own and it is a joy to see him using us to bring that reality to others like us throughout the world.

Sunday’s Mission Festival Schedule:

  • Worship at 9am

  • Mission Presentation at 10:30am

  • Potluck Meal at 11:30am

May God bless and keep you all. See you in God’s house!

In His grace,

Pastor Buelow

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:37-38

In Christ Alone

This past Sunday we sang a beloved hymn, In Christ Alone. With power truths and moving music, this hymn is a beautiful reminder of who God is. Take a few seconds to reread the words and let the reality of who Jesus is sink in. As you read it, think of the Scripture that supports these words.

In Christ alone my hope is found.

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my all in all,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

 

In Christ alone—who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones he came to save.

Till on that cross, as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied;

For ev’ry sin on him was laid.

Here in the death of Christ I live.

 

There in the ground his body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain;

Then bursting forth in glorious day

Up from the grave he rose again!

And as he stands in victory,

Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me.

For I am his and he is mine—

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

 

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the pow’r of Christ in me;

From life’s first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from his hand;

Till he returns or calls me home,

Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

Text: Keith Getty, b. 1974 and Stuart Townend, b. 1963 © 2002 Thankyou Music; admin. EMI CMG Publishing. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Church Dedication: One Year Later

A year ago we celebrated the completion of our expansion project and we dedicated it for its continued use for the proclamation of the true and unaltered Word of God. While a lot has changed in the past year, our purpose has not. Take a few minutes to remember our church’s purpose and mission. Below is a pdf copy of the dedication service bulletin and the sermon message from the service.

Here is an excerpt from the dedication service…

Today we also remember what has brought us here to this moment and to this ministry. We were redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ even though we were miserable sinners who didn’t deserve God’s love. Because of God’s sacrifice and unending love for us, we have new life and we overflow with joy and thankfulness to God and his Word. This has brought us to this moment of reflection, thanksgiving, and dedication.

 

Today is also a day for us to rededicate ourselves to the mission of this church, to proclaim the timeless truths of the Bible, and to share the good news with the world. We commit ourselves to that endeavor and we pray for God’s help, strength and guidance in the years ahead.

 

In all of this, may God alone receive the glory.

Christian Education: Keeping Our Heritage

“God’s Word is our great heritage and shall be ours forever;
To spread its light from age to age shall be our chief endeavor.
Through life it guides our way; In death it is our stay.
Lord, grant, while worlds endure, we keep its teachings pure
Throughout all generations.”
— CW 293 - God's Word Is Our Great Heritage

I'm thankful that I was given the great heritage of the Word of God. Who gave it to me? God did. The Holy Spirit worked faith in my heart that clung to the words recorded for me in Bible. The Holy Spirit did the same for my parents, my teachers, my fellow members and my Christian friends who inspired by the hope they had shared with me what they had received from others. The heritage I have, they have, and those who have gone to heaven retain, is a beacon of light to guide through this life and to ferry us through death to our eternal home. Such a heritage is yours. Such a heritage must be passed on by us faithfully to our neighbors, our children, and our children's children!

“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”
— 2 Timothy 1:13-14

We have an amazing opportunity to do just that as we ourselves spend time in the Word, learning the teachings of the Bible and being prepared to faithfully share the hope we have starting with our own heart and finishing with whoever else we can tell. We also have an amazing opportunity to give that to our children through family devotions and discussions about the Word, and bringing them to the many opportunities we have together as a family of believers to grow on Sunday and throughout the week.

We will be kicking off our "school year" of Christian Education on September 8th! Beginning with worship, we will celebrate the beauty of our heritage in God's Word. Then after worship, plan on sticking around as we will have a Christian Education kickoff to focus our hearts on what matters most and to have some fun to start of the year! Afterwards, we will enjoy a potluck together with our church family.

If you are able to help by bringing some food for the meal, please either let me know by email here or sign up this coming Sunday in the back of church.

Also, to get you excited for the opportunities coming your way to know and appreciate your heritage, check out all of our opportunities below for you and your children to grow in the Word this Fall-Winter-Spring:

  • Weekly Worship - Sunday @ 9am

  • Weekly Bible Study - Sunday @ 10:30am

  • Weekly Sunday School - Sunday @ 10:25am

  • Catechism Class - Wednesdays @ 5:30pm (starting Sept. 4th)

  • Midweek Book Club/Bible Study on "Heaven" - Wednesdays @ 6:30pm (starting Sept. 25th)

  • Monthly Men's Breakfast & Bible Study - Second Saturday @ 6am (starting Sept. 14th)

  • Monthly Women's Bible Study - Fourth Tuesday @ 6pm (starting Sept. 24th)

May God bless and keep you today and throughout the week. See you in God's house!

In His service,

Pastor Titus Buelow