Lent is a time of spiritual rigor and growth. The main way this is done is through intensified meditation on God’s Word and prayer. To that end, St. John’s and St. Peter’s offer midweek services for your spiritual growth. The Book of Psalms is one of God’s most precious gifts to us. Martin Luther, the great Reformer, loved the Psalms and extolled their use:

No books of moral tales and no legends of saints which have been written, or ever will be, are to my mind as noble as the Book of Psalms…. In it we find what all saints do — their attitude to God, to their friends, to their foes; and their manner of life and behavior in face of manifold dangers and sufferings. Above all this, the book contains divine and helpful doctrines and commandments of every kind. It should be precious to us if only because it most clearly promises the death and resurrection of Christ, and describes his kingdom, and the nature and standing of all Christian people. It could well be called a “little Bible” since it contains, set out in the briefest and most beautiful form, all that’s to be found in the whole Bible, a book of good examples from among the whole of Christendom and from among the saints, in order that those who could not read the whole Bible through would have almost the whole of it in summary form.

On Wednesdays in Lent, we will be studying the Psalms together during our special Lenten midweek services. In particular, we will examine five categories Martin Luther used to describe them: Psalms of Prophecy, Instruction, Comfort, Prayer, and Thanks. Come and hear, so that your heart may be increasingly nourished by this most precious gift, the Psalms.

Dates: Wednesdays, March 8, 15, 22, 29, and April 5

Time: Noon at St. John’s, Rankin (40 minutes or less); 7:00 PM at St. Peter’s, Forestville

(All services preceded by a meal.)

Title: The Trinity: A Doctrine To Be Held With Both the Mind and Heart
Sermon for Trinity 2016
Text: Acts 2:14a, 22-36
Date: May 22
Preacher: The Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Jackson
Location: St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Forestville, WI

Join your fellow Christians in marking the important holy day, the Feast of the Ascension. This will be a joint service between Faith in Green Bay, St. Peter’s in Forestville, Saint John’s in Algoma, Prince of Peace in Sturgeon Bay, and St. Paul’s in Montpelier.

Pastor Chris will be the liturgist.

Location: St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (Montpelier), N4118 Co Rd AB, Luxemburg, WI 54217

Time: 7:30 PM

Special Presentation: Tradition and Revision in Sexual Ethics


Rev. Dr. Gilbert Meilaender

As part of the Hearts and Re-Creation series, our sister congregation, St. John’s Lutheran Church in Algoma, WI, will be hosting a special presentation from Rev. Dr. Gilbert Meilaender.

Dr. Meilaender summarizes: “Learning from Christian tradition how to think about ourselves as sexual beings, we can better understand the distortions of our culture.”

Gilbert Meilaender is the Richard and Phyllis Duesenberg Chair in Theological Ethics at Valparaiso University and the Paul Ramsey Fellow at the Center for Ethics and Culture at Notre Dame University. One of the nation’s preeminent bioethicists, Professor Meilaender has written extensively on the body, human identity, and the meaning of emerging technologies. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Professor Meilaender is a Fellow of the Hastings Center and was a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics from 2002 to 2008.

Date: Monday, October 5
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: St. John’s Lutheran Church, E5221 Church Road, Algoma, WI 54201
Contact: revcjackson@gmail.com, 920-365-2218

hearts and re-creation image

 
We live in an age of Tinder, Bruce Jenner, same-sex marriage, and hook-ups. Not to mention older challenges: divorce, cohabitation, and pornography. How has God’s re-creation of us in His image called us to a mind and life distinct in this world? The Hearts and Re-creation series will provide guidance through sermons, Bible studies, and a special presentation from renowned bioethicist Gilbert Meilaender.

I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2 ESV)

 

Today we focused on the theme “Jesus Give Me Faith,” and we learned about how Jesus gave Bartimaeus his sight.

  • Craft time

St. Peter’s recently completed a handicap accessibility project. Up until now, those with mobility problems could not easily participate in the life of the congregation. We had steps up into our sanctuary and down into our fellowship hall.  To fix this, we put in an elevator and automatic opening doors. There were a few other improvements made as well, such as the installation of a new tile floor. the renovation of a bathroom, and more.

To celebrate and to call attention to these improvements, we put on a great celebration. (Wisconsinites know how to party!) We hosted a chicken dinner, dedicated the elevator, and finally took in a great concert by Parks, Phillips, and Company. (Pastor Chris joined in to sing on the final song.)

We could not have done this without some incredible support from many people. Ruth Krueger very generously supported this project by a monetary donation. Don Krueger was an incredible leader in seeing this project through from beginning to end. Arnie Johnsrud, Nila Schley, and Joyce Bathke were the driving force behind the celebration. Many thanks to these and everyone else in this momentous point in St. Peter’s history!

  • Celebrating with a chicken dinner

Today we learned about Deborah and how, like her, God gives us wisdom to serve others. Today we hit the number of fifty kids involved. Pretty exciting for a little village church like us!

  • Bible Challenge time

What a wonderful first day of Camp Discovery Vacation Bible School! A great group gathered as we focused on how “God gives us courage.” We learned about how God gave David courage to face Goliath, and so our craft was a slingshot.

  • Opening