Newsletter
August 31, 2025
St Paul Lutheran LCMS
Julesburg, CO
970.474.2592
The Pathlight
Your Word Is A Lamp To My Feet and
a Light To My Path.
Ps 119:105
Zion Lutheran LCMS
Big Springs, NE
308.289.5148
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Admittance
“Someone asked Jesus, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’… Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” Luke 13:23-27, 30
A few years ago, there was a scandal involving prominent Hollywood families paying for their children to get into specific schools by rigging the admissions process. The Hollywood scandal was just the tip of the iceberg. Children of politicians regularly get into the best schools in America such as Harvard and Yale. One politician had all four of his children admitted into Harvard. If Ivy League schools are the most competitive schools where only the most talented students get in, it’s virtually impossible for every child from one family to beat those odds. Sounds like the old adage is true, “It’s not what you know, but who you know!”
In Luke chapters 12 and 13, Jesus is telling various stories to drive home the point that the key to life and eternal life is knowing the God who created and redeemed you. That’s the key. It gives proper order to our lives. It helps us overcome worries and anxieties. It reconciles us to one another in spite of our tendencies towards pride (and the rest of the seven deadly sins). Jesus is in a nutshell saying, “Don’t play games with this truth. Don’t play games with God, thinking that just being outwardly associated with religious things will help you rig the admission process in your favor.” No, God loves you and wants a reconciled relationship with you through forgiveness by grace through faith in Jesus.
Holy buckets! He wants that for you. And that changes everything.
The world does things the way it does. The world says, “It’s who you know that counts.” Actually, the real message for this world is whether God in heaven knows you as His own (John 17:3). And by faith in Jesus, He not only knows you, He calls you His son or His daughter, His family. There is no rigging the system. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for you, is your “admission”.
Pastor Christensen
For now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 1Cor. 13:12
Lutheran Service Book
Order of Worship
HYMN #902 “Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present Now”
LITURGY Matins pg. 219
PSALMODY pg. 220
INTROIT (insert)
COLLECT
OLD TESTAMENT: Proverbs 25:2-10
EPISTLE: Hebrews 13:1-17
HOLY GOSPEL Luke 14:1-14
SERMON HYMN #842 “Son of God, Eternal Savior”
SERMON
OFFERING
TE DEUM pg. 223 “We Praise You, O God”
KYRIE pg. 227
PRAYERS
LORD’S PRAYER
BENEDICAMUS pg.228
CLOSING HYMN #660 “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”
SILENT PRAYER
+ + + + + + + + + + + +
Depart In Peace
Servants for today’s Worship Service
St. Paul
Ushers/Greeters-Jay Lindsay/Brad Ehmke
Organist-Gail Nicolaus
Zion
Usher/Greeter-Judy Soper
Alter Guild-Shelle & Jodi/Organist-Gail Nicolaus
St. Paul
Sept. 7: 8:00AM-Bible Study
9:00AM-Worship Service/Communion
Servants for Worship-Craig Nicolaus/Rex Nicolaus/Gail Nicolaus Sept. 8: 9:00AM- Bible Study
Happy Birthday……..
Sept. 3-Murl Abts,
Sept. 7-Jennifer Law
Zion News and Notes
Sept. 7: 11:00AM- Worship Service/Communion
Servants for Worship-Jodi & Shelli/Gail Nicolaus
The Northeast Zone LWML Rally will be held at First English Lutheran Church in Sterling on September 20. More information to come
1. I didn't have faith when I was walking on the water.
A: Peter B: Jesus C: John
2. I wrote Paul's letter to the Romans.
A: Tertius B: Gaius C: Erastus
3. I was a judge. I fell backward from my seat and died.
A: Ichabod B: Phinehas C: Eli
4. I was taken by the river, raised in the empire and got married in the desert.
A: Moses B: Joseph C: Isaac
5. Phinehas and I are the children of Eli.
A: Hophni B: Barak C: Elam
6. I killed more people in my death than in all my life.
A: Goliath B: Samson C: Eli
7. I started to reign when I was 8 years old.
A: Josiah B: Ahab C: Solomon
8. God created me on the first Day.
A: Earth, Space, Time and Light B: Dry Land and Plants C: The Animals and Men
9. I refused to come when the king wanted to show me off at a feast in front of his drunken guests.
A: Bathsheba B: Esther C: Vashti
10. The apostle Paul gave Alexander and I to Satan so he could punish us. A: Hymenaeus B: Ananias C: Barabbas
11. I am the commander of Saul's army.
A: Abner B: Ahinoam C: Abiel
12. I am a chapter on the book of Psalms, and I end all my verses the same way.
A: Psalms 142 B: Psalms 136 C: Psalms 150
13. I struck down a giant that had 6 fingers in each hand and 6 toes in each foot.
A: Jonathan B: David C: Hiram
14. God made garments off me for the man and the woman.
A: Fabric B: Leaf C: Skin
15. Saul went to see a medium, and she saw me coming up out of the earth.
A: Samuel B: Elisha C: Moses
16. I am a sacred book. On me it is written: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!"
A: Psalms B: Proverbs C: Matthew
17. I asked for the body of Jesus after his death.
A: John the Baptist B: Joseph of Arimathea C: Simon
18. I was given to God, that is, to the priest, to be raised in the temple of God.
A: Samuel B: Ezekiel C: Elisha
Words Matter
Actions speak louder than words … but words matter too.
Before we had email and telephones, letters were the best way to communicate over long distances. In Paul’s time, there was no post office, regular mail, stamps, card shops, or stationery stores—not even street signs or house numbers! Handwritten letters were special, treasured communications from long-separated friends and loved ones.
It was a risky thing to entrust a letter to a courier to carry it to the intended recipient. It could take months to reach its destination and months before a reply came back. But somehow, Paul’s letters to congregations around the Mediterranean found their way and endured long enough to reach us 2,000-plus years later. His words, penned all those years ago, provide us not only inspiration but also instructions to continue the mission of the church.
His letters connect us to the people who made the early church so impactful. These were real people. They had trials and tribulations. They were living in a world where survival was perilous and persecution by oppressive forces was everywhere. But the early church had a much bigger mission than mere survival. Paul was intent on instructing early Christians to: “Live wisely among those who are not believers and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone” (Colossians 4:5-6).
In today’s language, we might say “lead with love.” Loving kindness and respect are much more attractive than approaching someone with an agenda or trying to convince them to believe a point of view. The kingdom of heaven doesn’t encompass anger or fear. It doesn’t divide
people by any category or have a litmus test for worthiness, and it isn’t concerned about any human measure or status.
The people Paul wrote letters to and about—Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Jesus Justus, Epaphras, Doctor Luke, Demas, Nymphas, Archippus—are just like us. Paul understood his mission, and the mission of the church, was to demonstrate and communicate the inherent truth that God’s love is for everyone. Paul and the early church lived out that mission so that today we know God’s love is so great that he sent us Jesus Christ to ensure everyone’s inclusion into God’s eternal kingdom.
In today’s world of hyper-communication, every opinion is voiced on multiple platforms, and the issues of the day can easily take center stage over the mission God has for his people. I wonder sometimes if Paul were writing a letter to the church today, what would he say about living wisely among those who are not believers? What would it look like if we, as Christ-followers, were to make the most of every opportunity and practice Jesus’ command to “love one another, as I have loved you”? Would our online communication be evaluated as “gracious and attractive”? Would people we encounter feel valued and included? Would they see the love God has for them by the way we receive and welcome them?
Prayer:
God, I offer myself to you. Build with me and do with me as you will. Free me from the bondage of self, so I may better serve your will. Remove my difficulties, so that my victory over them may bear witness to those I seek to help to know of your power, your love, and your way of life through Christ Jesus. May I always do your will. Amen.
St. Paul Lutheran Church
7th & Maple
PO Box 72
Julesburg, CO 80737