"No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will not abandon you, and I will not forsake you." (Joshua 1:5)
If I say the word “crisis”, what comes to mind? Some might say, don’t get me started as my life is full of one crisis after another. I suppose everyone has a different definition of what is a crisis. For some people, the remote-control batteries for the TV going dead is a major crisis. Others might say that the grocery store being out of your favorite food or inflation is a major crisis. While others only consider major problems like health or wealth issues to be a crisis. If we are honest, there are many things that we call a crisis which usually lead us to getting a little hot under the collar and slightly worked up or agitated.
What is interesting is how we handle whatever the crisis is. Some reach out to the first calm person they can find, such as a husband or wife or a parent. I remember one person talking about how they handled crisis with their children. If a kid came to them with a crisis, the parent would jokingly ask the child, "Is anyone dying, bleeding or having a bathroom emergency?" The reply is usually no, and the crisis seemed to be solved. Maybe this is a little too casual approach to a serious problem, but it reminds us that while we all seem to have different ways to handle crisis in our lives, there really is only one way to handle crisis. With God on our side, we might answer the question, If I say the word “crisis”, what comes to mind is another question – What Crisis?
Looking at the many problems we may encounter through this lens changes everything. It changes where we should turn when a crisis comes? While our first reaction is to turn to someone or something on earth, we realize that we often forget to turn to our loving and gracious God who is our biggest help and comfort in any and every crisis. When we are struggling or are being swallowed up by a crisis, God is there with his strong hand to protect us and to haul us out of the messes we get ourselves into. God tells us, "No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will not abandon you, and I will not forsake you." (Joshua 1:5)
The word crisis often appears in the headlines followed by words like "health", "ozone", "political", or "economic" - the things of the world. But how often do we think about our “faith” crisis? When is the last time we sat down and took inventory of our faith? While we may not want to admit this kind of crisis, but because we are sinful these kinds of crisis will pop up over and over. And once again the only way to handle this type of crisis is to dig deeper into God’s Word where he uses his teachings of Law and Gospel to open our hearts to see what a gracious and all-powerful God we have.
The examples of God pulling people out of crisis are all over scripture. They are also all over our lives as well. We many times don't choose to give God credit for rescuing us in a crisis. Instead, we think, "I handled that pretty well, I was calm, I kept everyone else calm, and I knew what to do." Rather than give ourselves the pat on the back, why not give God all the credit for watching over us and protecting us during whatever crisis may pop up in our lives?
Pastor Mark Gartner
Church News
New Worship Times
Sunday, September 11 we will resume our normal Sunday morning Worship Service times at 8:00 and 10:30 with our many Bible Study opportunities between the services starting at around 9:15 am.
Sunday School
Sunday School will begin Sunday Sept. 11th at 9:15 am. Please bring your children (3K-6th Grades). This year we will be using new materials to help accommodate our children who are attending Christian Day Schools. The Lessons in Sunday School will be a different series than what the Day School students are receiving in school each week. What an opportunity for your children (both those in Public School and those in Christian Day Schools) to hear the Word of God and to learn about God’s love for us that is shown to us in Jesus. Register your children by signing up on the sheet in the entryway or you may register online.
Sunday Morning Adult Bible Classes
Sunday morning Bible Classes will begin, Sunday, Sept. 11th at 9:15 am. Pastor Schoell will be leading a Bible Study entitled, “How Can They Teach That? (And Still Claim to Believe the Bible)”, a study about why many churches have adopted positions on topics that go against what Scripture clearly says. It shows how human reason distorts God’s clear Word.
(New) Teen Bible Classes
Teen Bible Class begins today, Sunday Sept. 11th at 9:15am. This Bible Class is for all Teens at St. John from 7th Grade – 12th Grade. Pastor Gartner is leading the first classes. Our goal is to grow together through God’s Word and assist the young people at St. John as they seek to grow in their faith and to live their faith. Please come and invite a friend or two and join us as we find out how God’s Word has all the answers we will ever need. We will meet in the room in the Church basement.
Our first theme is entitled, “What about . . . ?” Here are some of the questions that God will help us answer: Homosexuality – Abortion – Euthanasia – Temptations – Evolution
Monday/Tuesday Adult Bible Classes
Our Monday morning Bible classes will resume Monday, Sept. 12th at 8:00 am. Tuesday evening Bible classes will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 13th at 5:30 pm. Pastor Gartner will be doing an overview Bible Study of the books of the Bible from “Romans - Colossians.” Our goal is to better acquaint ourselves with the major highpoints of each of these books which will help us to better understand God and his plan of Salvation.
Ladies Bible Study
All the women of St. John are invited to join us for our monthly Bible Study on Tuesday September 13 at 1:00 pm. We will be continuing our new series, “10 Lies About God.” This month we will study the lie, “There Are Many Ways Into God’s Presence.” Please plan to join us for Bible study and to also come and help find out ways you can help with the upcoming LWMS Fall Rally which will be held at St. John on Saturday October 8.
LWMS Fall Rally
This Fall on Saturday October 8, St. John will be hosting the Fall Wolf River Circuit LWMS Rally. At this Fall Rally, the Wolf River Circuit will be celebrating its 40 Anniversary. We will need the help of many men and ladies to help host this Rally. You don’t need to attend the monthly meetings to volunteer your time. We will need people to help with the Lunch and snacks. We will need help setting us things and cleaning up after. We will need help with registration and assisting the people as they arrive. All the ladies and men of the congregation are invited to volunteer and take part as we host this event. Please sign up on the sheet in the back of Church or call Kathy Schabo for more questions.
New Adult Information Class
Know somebody interested in joining St. John? Want to know why we believe what we believe? Need another Bible Class that meets in the evening? Join us for our new Bible information class beginning August 25th at 6 PM. The class lasts approximately 15 weeks and provides an opportunity to ask any questions and grow in your faith. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Pastor Schoell: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 920- 810-7264.
Online Worship
We continue to live-stream our services and post our worship folders online. We will be recording our Sunday 8:00 am service which means you can watch any time after 8:00 am on Sunday morning. If you need any help accessing these resources, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
You can find our worship services at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCsQs-LDzlHE1NTjOaVaQ2A.
You can find a bulletin for each Worship Service so you can follow along here: https://stjohn-appleton.org/bulletins
