VBS, Breaker Rock Beach, is coming in June! Our dates have been set! They are Monday, June 24 through Thursday, June 27. A meal will be served at 5:45 pm and VBS will be from 6:30-8:00 pm. Classes for all ages! If you are interested in helping out with VBS, please contact Sherrie.
St. Jacob’s Historical Ministry
Posted May 20, 2024 By adminDo you have an interest in archiving church records, including photos of church members from past years? Do you enjoy scrapbooking your family photos? St. Jacob’s has records, photos and other memorabilia that need to be archived and possibly displayed for everyone to enjoy. Especially need ed are our more “seasoned” members of all ages who have been at St. Jacobs for many years and can help identify people in photographs. It will be an exciting walk down memory lane!
Helping with this ministry is not a long term commitment! The goal is to archive existing records and photographs and then make a plan for how to display some items. We will also be preparing these items for display at St. Jacob’s 250th Anniversary in 2026!
Please contact Susan if you are able to assist with this fun and very interesting project!
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Mercy Bags Ministry
Posted May 15, 2024 By adminYour continued support of the Mercy Bags Ministry is making a difference in our local community. In March, we were able to provide 22 Mercy Bags to We Care for their mobile delivery in Newberry, Whitmire, Prosperity, and Jenkinsville. Please continue to support this ministry through a designated monetary donation, shopping for meal items or helping to pack food for the Mercy Bags after worship on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month.
May Pastoral Devotion – The Second Day of the Week
Posted May 12, 2024 By adminRead Luke 24:36-53
The Easter narrative makes us fully aware of what happened on the first day of the week. Women went to Jesus’ tomb and found he was not dead; he was raised. The news spread throughout that first day of the week with Jesus appearing to his disciples and two people on the road to Emmaus. Easter changes lives, but for our world today, what are we to make of Easter on the second day of the week?
On Easter Sunday, churches were filled with worshipers. On the second day of the week, with the chorus of Jesus Christ is risen today!” fresh in its ears, the world returned to work. With images of the resurrection still vivid in the minds of believers, how long is it before doubt once again creeps back into the forefront?
Throughout the succeeding Sundays of the Easter season, the daily struggle of earthly life has returned in force. For so many, worry returns, grief remains, relationships are still broken, and death looms on the horizon. Living in the midst of brokenness, some forget that because of Easter, these things no longer have power over God’s people. In the face of such sin and death, we have the promise of life in God’s kingdom.
The events of the first day of the week set the tone for life in the face of death, forgiveness in the face of sin and certainty in the face of doubt. We are several weeks beyond our Easter Sunday celebration, but one thing remains true and certain: through his death and resurrection, Jesus conquered the powers that defy God. On the first day of the week, and everyday here after, God’s people are witnesses to these things. To quote an Easter hymn, “Christ is alive, let Christians sing!”
Holy God, as we worship you on the first day pf the week, fill our hearts with Easter joy all the days of our lives. Amen
The Congregational Care and Discipleship Teams are here for you!
Posted May 10, 2024 By adminOur Congregational Care and Discipleship Team are committed to help and assist our members with any needs that they may have. As Jesus shared in Matthew 25:40, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me”. As disciples and members of the Congregational Care and Discipleship Teams, we are here to serve, to assist, and to care for one another. Have you had these thoughts?
I wish I had someone to call to pick up and deliver my medication today.
It would be great to have someone to drive me/us to my/our doctor appointment or to another appointment.
I need an errand run, who can I call?
I wish I had someone to talk to.
I would love to have someone from the church visit me.
You can call the church office at 803-345-2309, Billy, or Lynn! Our church ministry teams are here for you! If you have any special requests/needs, please do not hesitate to ask. We all need help at some time in our lives. We are a phone call or text away. Let us help! Let us serve!
From Your Pastor’s Heart
Posted May 9, 2024 By adminWhen the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4
On the day of Pentecost, the church celebrates God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. We also celebrate the birth of God’s Church. In our worship, our learning, and our serving, we see God’s Spirit in action. We feel the power of God’s love as the Spirit comes like the rush of a violent wind, stirring our hearts and minds to faithfulness. Such is the theme of Pentecost; it’s the power of God’s Spirit blowing through the lives of His people.
It isn’t about wearing your red dress or shirt to church on Pentecost Sunday. It’s about the mighty breath of the Holy Spirit, rearranging the furniture of our lives and filling us with all the confidence, strength, excitement, and assurance the disciples had in order to share the good news of God’s redemption.
Think about the world around you. Think about the things you have heard and seen. Think about all the times in your life when you thought you were at your wits end. Don’t’ you think the world needs to hear this good news of great joy? In so many ways and in so many instances, God makes his presence and power known in ways so clear that no matter what, people can know and understand His mercy and grace are real and that His love lasts forever.
This is exciting stuff folks. This is the stuff movies are made of…good movies!
The gospel of our Lord is the best news you are ever going to get in your lifetime. The times you first realized God’s grace is for you, that you have been rescued from the consequences of sin forever, well, these are as good as it gets.
When you are young, prom is a big moment. Some of us know kids who have recently gone to or will soon go to their first prom. Guess what, as good as prom is, God claiming you to be his child is better. When you get older, graduation comes with all its pomp and circumstance. Guess what, it can’t compare with all the glory of heaven. There are still bigger moments ahead in your lives. College, your first real job, engagement, marriage, the purchase of a home, and the birth of a child. You know what? All of these are blessings from a loving God, yet because of Christ Jesus, the best is still yet to come.
People of God, all these are wonderful events; they are milestone moments, times of great joy. But if these are the most important times in your life, you’ve missed the boat. None of these can even compare with the fact that through Christ Jesus, God has saved you from sin and death, made you holy in his sight and prepared for you a heavenly home. Nothing can compare with the fact that through Christ Jesus, God has saved your life for all time. That’s good news, that’s exciting.
At Pentecost, as we celebrate God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, let us pray that God stirs us into such faithfulness that we cannot help but tell others the good news of salvation through Christ. As we strive to follow the example of our Lord Jesus, may we continue to love others as we are loved, feed the hungry, care for the sick and minister to those who are least of all.
Come Holy Spirit, kindle in us the fire of your love!
Grace and peace,
Pastor David Nuottila
Music Notes
Posted May 8, 2024 By admin2 Chronicles 5:12-14 (…it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever,”
the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
When Solomon had completed the temple and the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the temple, the singers and musicians praised God with voice and instrument, and the temple was filled with the Glory of God.
Throughout the bible, God gives us examples of worship. In the Old Testament we see the directions God gave for worship first in tents as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness and then in the temple. In the New Testament we see John’s vision of the worship that we will one day join in God’s kingdom. Music is always an important part of this worship, and it is so important that we raise up our children to make music to the Lord.
This summer we will again have a bell camp on Tuesday mornings, starting June 18th, from 9-12:30 in the fellowship hall and music room downstairs.
VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED to provide lunch for the youth each Tuesday. And to be present to assist with set up, leading devotions, monitoring the youth and handling surprises that always seem to pop up. If you are willing to assist in any way, please call Angela.
It is almost time for our chancel choir to break for the summer. Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard this year to bring us a cantata, lead worship and share their talents in praise and worship of God. The choir will lead worship again this summer from the pews giving them a chance to sit with their friends and family. We will reconvene at the end of the summer.
Filed in Bible Study, Choir Notes, Fellowship, LCY, Other Happenings, Worship and Music, Worship Service
Lutheran Men
Posted May 7, 2024 By adminThe Lutheran Men enjoyed Ladies’ Night on Sunday, April 21st. We welcomed Mayor Koon as our guest speaker. The meal and fellowship was enjoyed by all.
Lutheran Women
Posted May 7, 2024 By adminThe Lutheran Women will meet on May 19th at 4:00pm.
Celebrating an Anniversary
Posted May 6, 2024 By adminOn May 12, I have been invited to be the guest preacher for my former congregation in Salisbury, NC as they celebrate the congregation ’s 250th anniversary. This is such a significant time for them and quite frankly, for me too. It shouldn’t be too difficult for us here at St. Jacob ’s to imagine such a celebration, for in just two short years, we will celebrate our 250th (although we know our congregation was formed several years before). I am honored that the folks at Union Lutheran Church have invited me to be with them in their celebration. It will be a great day filled with worship, music, and renewed relationships. Truly, I can’t wait until we have the opportunity to share our 250 year long heritage with the greater church and the many saints with whom we have shared the Gospel throughout our history. In my absence, our elders will lead worship as they have done several times in the past, but I will certainly be with you in spirit and prayer.
Filed in Other Happenings, Pastor
