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Upcoming Events
Dear Friends and Family,
My youth group is attending the
2013 National LCMS Youth Gathering in
San Antonio, TX
this July. I am
so blessed to have so many good youth at
St. John’s
Lutheran Church.
We have 22 youth going to the gathering.
It gives them a chance to gain
new experience in Jesus’ church and their life of faith.
They will have the opportunity to serve one another and the
city of San Antonio,
listen to solid Christian speakers, and have the opportunity
to learn more about what God might have in store for their
future. They will have the opportunity to grow closer to
friends and also form new relationships.
I am asking if anyone can help support them in this trip.
We are selling “stock in our youth”-
Each stockholders
will receive the following:
Information about the Gathering itself
A picture and personalized
report from one of the participants Updates on the status
of the preparation for the gathering Prayer requests from
the participants and their families A chance to ask the
participants to pray for your family
Facebook access updates An invitation to a
stockholders dinner held after the gathering where
fellowship and personal testimonies will be shared.
Attached is the 2013 NYG
Pamphlet.
Thanks you so
much for your support, Chris Abatelli
Your Belief I was teaching Sunday School
about doubting Thomas and how he needed to see Christ for
himself to believe that Christ did indeed rise from the
dead. This doubt Thomas had was nothing new to people, but
he still let it affect his belief. Over the years of seeing
different people and reading articles or research about
psychology, I find it fascinating how people convince
themselves of things.
One article that sticks out in
my mind was a woman who convinced herself she was pregnant.
Her feet swelled, hormones spiked and she began to develop a
small but noticeable belly, but with one small
problem...there was no baby. It was later found out that she
did not have intercourse in two years. She convinced herself
so much that she was pregnant and her body responded to it.
Let's look at our lives and how many times we have convinced
ourselves of things, maybe not as to the degree that this
woman did, but close or even more. We have convinced
ourselves at times that Christ is not important, Sunday
School is not important, church is not a priority, or even
change what we believe to make it fit into the world. Aren't
we like Thomas, when we change our beliefs just because we
could not get past our doubt, even in fear? In this world,
we have so many different religions, churches, so it becomes
a "choose your faith society" and believe certain things the
Bible says and not take the rest because we may not like it.
I will admit there are some things in scripture I do not
like, but I believe them. So what worldly view are you
letting affect your belief? Thomas let his world view of
death get in the way of his belief in Christ being raised
from the dead, until he saw Him for himself. Jesus said to
Thomas "Have you believed because you have see me? Blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John
20:19. What good news to know we are blessed because we
believe and have not seen. In our lives, we have to be
steadfast, ready and keep the faith. One of the best ways to
do so is to know and remember the Apostles' Creed. A creed
is defined as a statement of one's faith or belief, a
confession of one's faith. I asked the youth group once that
"if the bibles were all taken away and we had nothing to
read about Christ, what would you do?" They learned that
knowing the Creed helps because it grounds them and us in
our faith in Christ and what God has done for us. Martin
Luther said "the Creed teaches us to know Him fully". So
brothers and sisters, know the Creed and teach it to your
kids so that they will stay the course with you and be
grounded in their faith in Christ Jesus.
In Christ,
Chris Abatelli, Director of Youth |
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