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Church Council

President Rod Christ

Secretary

Al Ledebur

Treasurer

Kent Wright

Financial Secretary

Stan Blair

Board of Elders

Rod Christ Bob Grafe

Phil Wiechman

Board of Trustees

Justin Amdahl Tom Bargsten

Jason Poole

Committee on Education

Representative

Rod Christ

Committee on Evangelism

Representative

Rod Christ

Committee on Stewardship

Representative

Phil Wiechman

Long-range Planning

(Part of Stewardship)

Food Bank Representative

Kent Wright

Pastor Dennis K. Strong

Office Manager

Ms. Carol Rice

Volume 2, No. 3 August, 2016

From the Pastor: 1 Timothy 1:15–16 (NIV)15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16

But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

Sometimes vacations can be so full of activity that one doesn’t have enough time to think. And then there are those vacations that one spends so much time on the road that there is more than enough time to think. The latter was true for me. We put on 6700 miles… plenty of time to think. One of the things I thought about the most was how we are a lawless nation (even lawless world). Shouldn’t surprise anyone. Except that you may think, “I’m not that bad.” St. Paul took a different approach. He called himself “the worst of sinners.” Obviously there were others who had done more sin than him, at least I think so. Then I began to think as I was speeding down the interstate about 9 miles over the

Am I that bad?( Continued on page 2)

Results of Spring Survey Our Stewardship Committee got together looked at the survey2 (there were 12 who responded) and will present a summary. 42% of the respondents were over 65. 72% were female. What we did was looked at the 4 questions and summarized the responses that were similar. While there may have been one or so remarks that went counter to the summary, the majority responses that were similar are presented here. 1) List three things which you believe are STRENGTHS of our congregation. Top 2 answers were: 1)Friendliness and welcoming; 2) Willingness of volunteers to help. Comments: There was one response that stated that we are not friendly. Thus we need to do just a little bit more to make sure we are friendly to all… members and guest. Volunteers are willing but we have to ask. Many do not just come forward. If you have a talent that could be used by the Lord in our church, pass that along to the pastor. Then we can compile a list and when that kind of help is needed, we can tap into your

abilities and likes. 2. List two or three things which you believe our congregation can improve upon. Top 2 answers were: 1) General appearance of bushes and trees around our building. 2) Getting the youth more involved. Comments: There have been outsiders that look at our campus from fresh eyes. They have made comments about our general appearance. One of guest pastors also remarked that out bushes and trees in front of the front doorway are overgrown and hide our church’s beauty and makes it look crowded and uninviting. While we don’t have a huge number of youth in our congregation we would certainly like to make them feel a part of the congregation. What are things that we can do? Brainstorm and let the Education Committte know (Rod and Darlene and Pastor). 3. What opportunities does our congregation have for reaching out to the people of our community?

Top 2 answers were: 1) Use of media/Spring Survey (Continued on page 3)

“Jesus, Savior, pilot me

over life’s tempestuous sea …

Chart and compass come from thee:

Jesus, Savior, pilot me.”

St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran

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speed limit. There are a lot of sinners out here including me. There were certainly vehicles that were going substantially faster than me. Once in awhile if they were going fast enough, I’d see them a few miles ahead on the side of the road in front of a highway patrol car with lights flashing. First thought: “They got what they deserved for speeding.” If someone is going the speed limit, I complain because they are going so slow. Whatever the speed limit, I habitually go 5 miles over because I am quite certain the patrol car with the radar isn’t going to stop me for “just going 5 miles over. There are bigger fish on the road that are more dangerous.” Fortunately except for a parking ticket last week because I was parking in the wrong direction in front of my house (which I’ve done since I’ve been here and everyone else was doing it too), I haven’t had a speeding ticket since… I can’t remember. Okay, confession time is over. Besides speeding I thought about all the other ways laws are broken and nothing is done about it. Are those that are supposed to uphold the laws not sinning when they don’t uphold the laws?

So many examples have been going on for years. We have a problem of illegal aliens in our country. And many in the government wink and let them stay and even provide them with benefits. Are they not illegal? There are those that change the status to “undocumented”. Does that change the illegality? They are sinning by being illegal. One of our presidential candidates has been declared to have lied and done illegal things and we are told that if it had been anyone else, that anyone else would have been imprisoned. She is not. Lying is covered under the 2nd Commandment. The other presidential candidate comes up with some real doozies that later he backtracks and states that it was sarcasm or just being comical. Kind of fits under the 8th Commandment. I saw a YouTube video where a person pretended to be a blind man and asked people if he had a winning lottery ticket (he did have a $500 winner). Two people said he didn’t and they started running off with that ticket and were confronted. What was astonishing is that he went up to two homeless people and they were honest and told him he indeed had won. Wow! Sin. It is rampant and the devil delights tremendously. Why not? It makes it seem that God isn’t in control and that humans can get away with anything. Murder, fraud, theft, living together without the benefit of marriage, pretending that immorality is no big deal, and breaking all the other commandments has always been around. But when we look at our lives and think that we aren’t as bad as everyone else, God does put is all in the

same boat. James 2:10 (NIV) 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. We are all guilty. Thank Jesus that he came to save us from all those sins. And we will be in heaven not because of what we haven’t done or have done but because of what Jesus did on the cross for us.

Church Secretary/Office manager update The Council felt that with the amount of work that could be done in the office as well as more thorough cleaning of the building (with the addition of our fellowship hall addition), that we would make the office manager/janitor position a paid position. We have hired Carol Rice to this position. She will oversee the office work and all janitorial work. If you would like to help in some capacity, just give her a call at church. Or talk to Pastor Strong.

Mission work in India Christ Evangelical Lutheran Ministries (CELM) has approximately 150 congregations with 5,000 souls. Our friendly counselors help CELM train local men to share the good news of Jesus Christ to their fellow citizens. At any given time between 50 and 70 men are studying to complete the seven-year training program. Most come with no knowledge of English. Therefore, initial classes are translated into two native languages, while the wives of the friendly counselors teach English to the students. More than 40 men have finished our program and serve as pastors. In order to continue to work in South Asia, humanitarian aid work is also done. Each year, our aid and relief agency gives money to dig 20-30 clean water wells and provide medical equipment for local hospitals. Through the gifts of individuals, an elementary school and nine children’s homes are also operated; they care for the physical and spiritual needs of 270 children.

Building addition update Oh, so much to say. If you look out the north window of our fellowship hall you will see the shell taking shape and no doubt within the next week the rooms will be enclosed. Look at pictures on page 4. Details are being worked out and seems everything is on schedule to be completed in mid October. We have applied for a loan from WELS Church Extension Fund. We will know after the 16th whether it has been approved. We are estimating that the impact on our budget will be an additional $400 per month. (Presently we have about $600+ per month coming in as special donations.)

(Continued from page 1) Am I that bad?

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The Pilot is a monthly newsletter of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church. Articles are to be submitted to the editor by the 10th of each month. Pastor Strong serves as editor. The Pilot serves to inform St. Paul members of the events that are taking place in our congregation. Keeping the communication lines open is very important. Your comments are welcomed. St. Paul Web Page location is www.stpaulgj.org. You may e-mail at pastorstrong@stpaulgj.org orchurch@stpaulgj.org

Website/mailing/door to door hangers. 2) Friendship evangelism. Comments: There is the cost of producing materials and advertising costs. That may be a stumbling block… or not, depending on how our hearts are open to reaching the lost. Friendship evangelism is certainly the best way. If you like something, you tell others about it. They trust you more than a postcard or someone who has only been in the community for a little over a year… of course there are exceptions :-) 4. What obstacles are there which stand in the way of our reaching out with the gospel and growing? Top two answers: 1) Size. 2) Lack of religious zeal in community (and everywhere else as well) Comments. Yes, we are a small church. But Jesus used 12 men to get the world out. He used St. Paul to get out and share the message. Yes, because we are small, there are many who are seeking large churches where they can get lost in. But we also know that we are conservative and we are preaching about Jesus Christ as the only way to heaven. God tells us to use the tools we have and the members we have and he will determine the success. Never think that we can’t do something for the kingdom in our “little church.”

Lack of religious Christian zeal does abound all around the world. There are many who don’t care about their eternal future. And others thing that there are many ways to heaven apart from Jesus. We will continue to preach and teach the Gospel and the Holy Spirit will decide the results. So what will we do with these responses? Our committee will assign them to the Church Council and committees in the church to ponder what can be done to be better at sharing the Gospel with those in our community and around the world. That means there is more to come next month.

Special WELS Synodical offering Last month we had an article about having a special door offering to help our Synod reduce/eliminate their debt so that offerings could go to getting the Word out instead of paying interest. Our congregation gave $1,295 towards the effort. From our Synod: The WELS “One in Christ”

campaign was a special synodwide effort over this past year to pay off a $4.7 million dollar debt. To date, 551 congregations participated, encouraging God’s people to support this effort through special offerings. Likewise, 2,215 individuals and other organizations made direct gifts for this special endeavor. So far, $2.5+ million has been given since July 1, 2015! In addition, $1.6 million in monthly payments were made from the synod budget. The Lord blessed these efforts to the extent that the WELS debt is almost gone. As of August 8th, the debt is about $600,000. Considering this blessing we can only say, “To God be the glory.”

Parking at a premium With the building going on across the parking lot and our parking lot is a bit smaller, we are looking at some alternatives. We should not park parallel to the fencing because others that are backing up may not have enough space to get out. We can park along 26 1/2 Road just south of the drive in front of the Bradbury-Stamm sign (cleared with Grand Junction Police Department). Just make sure your vehicle is off of the blacktop of the street. You can also park next to the street light. That will give us some extra spaces. It will be a hassle for awhile but we can deal with it.

Mission Statement update At our April Open Forum it was suggested that we look at our Mission Statement and perhaps change it to something shorter and easier to remember. The Stewardship Committee is in the process of gathering thoughts on a new Mission Statement. On page 5 we have the present Mission Statement as well as guide on elements that can be in a Mission Statement and a couple of samples. One that has been submitted to this point is: “We present Jesus Christ who gives peace, love, forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.” You can email your suggestions and comments to Pastor Strong at: pastorstrong@stpaulgj.org or hand him a piece of paper with your comments and suggestions on it.

(Continued from page 1) Spring Survey

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Initial ground work

Beginning of framing

As of August 13.

See these photos in color on our online version of the newsletter. Go to the website and click on newsletters.

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MISSION AND VISION STATEMENT

Mission Statement

Matthew 28:18-20: Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the

Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the

very end of the age.”

The greatest mission ever given is the “Great Commission.” There is no sense in recreating the wheel. Use this passage

and define for yourselves a mission that fits who you are and where you are (cultural setting) in order to best serve the

Lord.

Mission Statement

The mission statement is a concise and memorable definition of the reason for the existence of your ministry. It will re-

flect the “Great Commission.” The mission statement will focus every activity and the development of all programs that

will be necessary to fulfill it. Everyone who reads it will clearly understand the purpose of this ministry. The mission

answers “Why are we here?” (WELS Commission on Parish Schools, 2003, p. 27)

Sample Mission Statements:

To praise the Lord, to know His Word, and to share His Love

To worship the Lord, win the lost, and nurture the saved

To glorify God by growing and going

We exist to exalt the Lord, edify his people, and evangelize the world.

Growing in Jesus, Sharing his love

Bring them in… Build them up… Send them out!

Grow in Christ, Go in Christ

Insert your own Mission Statement:

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

This is our present statement:

“St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church gives glory to our triune God as we seek the unchurched where we live and worship, teach the Law and Gospel, provide the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and serve

our fellow man through prayer, fellowship, and love. “

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632 26 1/2 Road

Grand Junction CO 81506-1932

Address Service Requested

Located on the corner of 26 1/2 Road and Horizon Drive

Church Office: 970-243-3626

Pastor’s Cell: 612-709-4772

Website: www.stpaulgj.org

Email: church@stpaulgj.org

Worship Services: Sunday mornings 9:00 AM

Fellowship: 10:00 AM

Sunday School: 10:15 AM

Bible Study: 10:30 AM

√ Result of spring survey, page 1

√ Pictures of construction work page 4

√ Help us with our Mission Statement, page 5

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our website access

Want this in digital format rather than having it printed or mailed to you? Drop a note off to the pastor or office manager and you will be notified each

month when the newsletter is ready and you can read it online.