I promise I won’t talk about the weather, but upon further thought I suppose me saying that means I just broke my promise (Can one really live in Duluth and NOT mention weather?).

July has come and gone and we are into August now.

Thinking back on the last month, a lot has happened. If you really think about it, we are very lucky to be able to be involved in everything we are involved in. To be able to serve God in the capacity we are able to (or even at all). Most of us are blessed with healthy bodies, minds and a fair bit of youthfulness left still.

Summer can be a busy time, and sometimes you can get a little tired and be challenged, but if you think in Kingdom terms, everything we have done for the Lord in the last month has been an eternal investment. For one short month of expending our time, money and energy for Jesus, one day, we will be rewarded eternally with eternal treasure (not to mention 100 fold in this life for giving any of that up if we have done it for His sake). How awesome is that? More than we can probably realize, but now is a good time to reflect on that I think.

God has been good and faithful. It’s His work, but He lets us take part in it. He’s been slowly adding to our small fellowship.

So what has God been up to? What have we been up to? Speaking of eternal treasure, we’ve been going through the sermon on the Mount. This has been a theme. On Wednesdays we are often found going to parks taking part in “Rewind” sessions. This is where we review the sermon from Sunday, then break out into small groups to talk about it. This is a good opportunity to open up and encourage each other and better understand how to personally apply these things to our lives. We’ve also started up in the book of Psalms on certain Wednesdays, as well as Men’s/Women’s studies. (Enjoy being able to meet outside while it lasts.)

One mission team has returned, and another recently left for the Philippines (Pray for them!)

On Sundays it seems like we’ve had a lot of visitors, both temporary (travelers) and those from the area. It’s cool to see so many new faces coming into church all the time, the number of people we’ve been able to minister to just in that capacity has been many. One Sunday we headed to Lester Park for lunch, kickball, and a lemonade giveaway.

National Night Out was great. The Matthy’s hosted it at their new house (their backyard is basically a giant park with lions nearby. I doubt many others in the church can make that boast). A great many neighbors and others that people knew came by, and overall I think it was a great night, and that God did some cool things there.

We’ve also been able to continue to stream Sunday church to the nursing home across the street as well as visit every couple weeks for a Bible study. We may or may not have things in the works for St. Louis County jail as well in the coming months, so that is something to keep in prayer.

There is plenty more but we are out of space for this month.

We have a few upcoming events planned which we will likely cover in next month’s blog so stay tuned for more on that (as well as the campout coming up). And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

-Jason