Happy November from your friends in Duluth! In the spirit of the season, we have so very much to be thankful for. Our plates have been full of good teaching, outreach, fellowship, missions work, and service. Thinking back one year ago when the world was still mostly shut down, it’s been our joy to now be hard at work, taking advantage of all that God has put in our path. Here’s what we’ve been up to the past month.
FELLOWSHIP
Earlier in October, the couples were invited to join Menomonie for a camping trip at the JFB campground in Connorsville. As usual, there were lots of snacks, jokes, stories, long hikes with falling leaves, and weird noises from behind the fence.
We ended October in the spirit of Halloween with a good old-fashioned costume party. Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, so we got to hand out candy to the neighborhood kids in addition to playing games, feasting on chili, and eating (too many) tootsie rolls.
OUTREACH
Last year was the first time our Community Group brought the coffee trailer to “Boo at the Zoo” right down the road from the church. They invited us back again, and with COVID restrictions lifted, people were flooding in. We served coffee at the entrance, while another group of us gave out candy to literally thousands of people as they walked through the grounds. We spent three weekends in October at this event, and it was exciting to see so many people getting the church’s information into their hands.
Not only did we get our name out there, but there were several promising conversations and connections made with individuals who crossed our path. We’ve had billboards and bus ads for the church posted around town for a few months now with our “Live Like You Mean It” slogan, and some people were able to recognize us because of this. Please pray for fruit to come from our outreach efforts as well as for continued direction for our Community Group as we seek God’s direction for the winter months ahead.
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
Our pastors had a new outreach opportunity of their own that came about recently. Justin and Jesse were invited to host a mid-week Bible study at the assisted living home right across the street from the church. We’ve had a couple members of that community join us on for services on Sundays, and several more of them have been attending the study each week. Please pray for these individuals, that God would use his Word to reach them at a heart level.
Street Level has been continuing their series called Alpha. They’ve been partnering with Street Level Menomonie and River Falls over video for some of these studies. Recently, before dinner at the Garage, they have been meeting on campus to read a short excerpt from a book called, “What if Jesus was Serious?” and talk about it, devotional style. Street Level also co-hosted a pumpkin carving contest on campus at the end of October. Please pray for God to move through our campus and bless our efforts at reaching students for Him.
TEACHING
We’re continuing our study through the book of Romans on Sundays, and on Wednesday evenings, we are working thorough 1 Peter. In both books, two themes keep coming up: suffering and love. We are learning about the inevitability of suffering in our lives, how to handle it in a godly way, and how to continue loving our Church and our neighbors. Romans eight brought a refreshing and timely reminder of God’s love for us as the fuel for our love for others.
Later in October, we took a short break from Romans, and Pastor Jesse took us through a mini-series in Luke 12. It was all about setting our hearts on Christ’s mission and priorities and preparing ourselves for Jesus’ return. Jesus says that where our treasure is, there will our heart be as well. We looked at how to identify what we truly treasure in our heart and how we can direct our attention and affection to the Kingdom of God, so we don’t end up being fools in the end. We were challenged to answer the question, “Are you ready and eager for Jesus’ return? Or do you need more time?”
We hope you can thank God with us as we take time to praise Him for all He is doing and will continue to do. Thank you for praying for us; we hope to see you soon!
-Annie
