We will be having a Trunk or Treat for the Church Youth and the community on October 28.
LCY Archive
Trunk or Treat
Posted October 15, 2022 By adminYouth and Family Ministry
Posted October 2, 2022 By adminYouth and Family Ministry
Dear Church Family,
As we look forward to the rest of 2022. We look forward to what our heavenly Father has planned for our continual growth in Him. With the summer over, we will have exciting new plans for the rest of the year. The Children’s Sunday school class will start a new Bible curriculum focused on seeing Jesus Christ through the entire Bible. The youth Sunday school class will dive into their relationship with our Savior, asking the question, “Why does Jesus Christ matter to me?” Anyone who would like to participate in this ministry would be more than welcome!
Regarding the youth and family program:
We are starting a new discipleship ministry with parents as they seek to be equipped for God’s calling through scripture. And will be starting to have fun Christian events for the youth and their families to fellowship with one another, creating a safe environment for an authentic kingdom community for the glory of God.
We would love for families and the whole congregation to get involved in this ministry; please feel free to reach out to get plugged in! Thank you, and please continue to pray for the Family ministry here at St. Jacobs; if you have any questions or would like to get involved, please reach out!
Blessings,
Matt Burt
Youth and Family Director
Director of Youth And Family Ministries
Posted August 26, 2022 By adminI have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
Isaiah 44:22 (NIV)
Why would the God of all deem us worthy to speak such sweet words?
This past month we have opened up the question of why. Starting in the beginning and working our way through the Bible, seeing how His plan of redemption unfolds. I can’t thank you enough for continuing to think of the family ministry through your prayers and support. May you pray that the family’s here at St. Jacob’s would grow in their intimate, personal, and authentic relationships with the God of all.
This past month, we also had the opportunity to join the youth group at St. Peter’s, Lexington, for their annual youth week! The week was full of fun activities like going to a driving range, a family night, serving, and ending with a laser-tag lock-in and hearing about God’s mission for us.
As we look forward, please pray for our youth’s upcoming lock-in during Labor Day weekend and the continual ministry God has planned for St. Jacob’s.
As always, we would love you, the congregation, to get involved in the lives of youth. If you are interested, please feel free to reach out any time!
In Christ,
Matt
Youth and Family Director
Youth Lock-In
Posted August 26, 2022 By adminOn Friday, September 2nd St. Jacob’s youth from grades 5 – 12 are invited to participate in a lock in here at the church. Pastor David and Matt will be leading the evening’s activities. We will have plenty of snacks and games. As a ministry project, we will have materials on hand for each youth member to assemble a mercy box to be delivered to We Care of Chapin. Parents may begin dropping off their children in the fellowship hall at 7 PM on Friday, September 2nd. Pick up will be at 8 AM on Saturday, September 3rd. St. Jacob’s participants are encouraged to invite a friend to participate as well. Please contact Matt to let him know if your child will be attending.
End of Summer Lock-In
Posted August 10, 2022 By adminPastor David and Matt are planning a lock-in for our youth in grades 5-12. We will enjoy plenty of games and activities as well as evening and midnight worship by candlelight. Please contact Pastor David or Matt to let them know that your child(ren) will be attending. A list of items children should bring with them will be published at least one week before the lock-in takes place. One activity during our lock-in will be to engage the mission of the Church by assembling Flood Buckets for the NALC Disaster Response Warehouse. Anyone who would like to donate items for the Flood Buckets may do so. A list will be published in the Mid-August Grace Notes and also included in the worship bulletins prior to the lock-in.
From the Director Of Youth And Family Ministries
Posted July 28, 2022 By adminSt. Jacobs Congregation,
Grace to you and peace from our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. I praise Him for all the blessing He has been in our Youth and Family Ministry over the past weeks. At the end of June, we had a wonderful VBS with our youth and the friends they invited! Over the week, we learned how much our Father loves us through His creation of each of us, the gracious work of the Son, and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. I can’t express how grateful I am to all the volunteers who cared for the kids’ physical and spiritual needs! Truly a testament to the Holy Spirit’s inward workings in the congregation’s lives.
We also had our first bi-monthly evangelism social gathering where the families of St. Jacob’s gathered to enjoy each other’s fellowship, eat ice cream, and support Pastor David’s Congo Ministry through the making of cross bracelets and necklaces with specific Bible verses written on them for the encouragement and lifting of our brothers and sisters in the Congo.
As our weekly family gatherings continue, I praise God for the growth He caused and the plan He has for it! Thank you for supporting this ministry through your words of encouragement and continual prayers.
Please continue to pray for the family ministry at St. Jacob’s. Blessings,
Matthew
matt@st-jacobs.org
First Communion Classes
Posted June 29, 2022 By adminPastor David will hold First Communion classes for those children who have not yet received this instruction. Anyone who feels their child in first grade or older is ready to begin receiving Holy Communion should contact Pastor David. Classes will be held during the Sunday School hour in the Children’s Choir Room downstairs. A parent or guardian must accompany their child during each class period. Classes will be held each Sunday morning beginning on July10th. Children completing instruction will receive their first Holy Communion on Sunday, July 31st.
Vacation Bible School
Posted May 25, 2022 By adminSparks Studios 2022
VBS is back! Kids for Pre-K to 8th grade and their friends are invited to join us for a week of fun games, music, snacks, lessons, crafts, and much more. This year we will be diving into the awesomeness of God the Father, our Creator and Designer. The overwhelming joys of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and the powerful work of the Holy Spirit as He helps us throughout our lives.
VBS will begin with a light supper served at 5:45 PM and will conclude each evening about 8 PM. Be sure to invite your friends and neighbors as we offer praise and thanks to God for all he continues to do in the lives of his people. Mark it on your calendars starting on Monday, June 20th to Thursday, June 23rd at 5:45 PM.
We are currently seeking volunteers for a variety of roles, including:
Games coordinator
Lesson teacher
Meal provider
Craft makers
Volunteers for each age group Pre-K, 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th, 5th-8th,
If you are interested in helping us or have any questions, please reach out to: Matt, Sherrie McTeer or the Church office,
In Christ,
Matt Burt
Director Of Youth and Family Ministries
Posted May 1, 2022 By adminDear St. Jacob’s Families,
I want to share the Holy Spirit’s burden on my heart. Let us look to the calling our heavenly Father has given us through Christ Jesus. To make disciples of all nations, teaching them all He has taught us. (Mt 28:18-20).
That vision I have for families at St. Jacob’s is to dive headfirst into the surpassing knowledge of the love of Christ for sinners and sufferers. And to become lights to their families and the world around them. (Mt. 11:28-30, Eph 3:17-19, Jn 6:37, Mt 5:14-16)
My goals are for the families, with the power of the Holy Spirit:
• To learn from the Son that they may see and glorify the Father. (Mt 11:28-30)
• To endlessly search for the riches of their identity in Christ. (Eph 3:17-19)
• To rest entirely in the never-ending promise to never be cast out. (Jn 6:37)
• To go into the world and be a light that draws others to Christ. (Mt 5:14-16)
With that as the foundation, I would like to invite families, both parents and their children, to join us for a weekly meeting where we might allow Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith, being grounded in love—comprehending with all the saints of God what are the breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that the Holy Spirit would fill us with all the fullness of God. (Eph 3:17-19)
Would you join us for a night of worshiping our Father through songs, teaching, fellowship, games, and more?
Brothers and Sisters, how wonderful would it be if we as a church might come to desire and delight in the calling of Christ Jesus. Our Friend, our Elder Brother, our Lord and Master, our Savior and Redeemer.
We will be meeting every Tuesday night from 7 PM—8:30 PM in the Fellowship Hall, starting on May 10th . If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to me and I can get you plugged in!
In Christ,
Matt Burt
Youth and Family Director
matt@st-jacobs.org
Choir Notes
Posted March 31, 2022 By adminBefore our service even truly begins, spoiler alert, the start of the communion service is the opening hymn, we usually have the brief order of confession and forgiveness. These words are so familiar to us that it can be easy to say them without giving a lot of thought to what we are saying. Our worship service comes to us from scripture, from glimpses of heavenly worship shown to man in Revelation and the prophets, and from our early church fathers. The words we hear each week in the confession, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us…” comes from 1 John 1:8-9. There is something very comforting to me in knowing that the words of our liturgy have been said by so many worshipers before me and were given to us by God.
I thought it would be interesting to see where in scripture some of the other elements of our weekly service are located. So, I challenge you to a matching game. Look up the scriptures below to match them to a few of the parts of our worship service. There are many other scriptural references for liturgies we use at different times of the year.
Joel 2:13 Sanctus- Holy, holy, holy Lord…
Matthew 6:9-13 The Blessing- The Lord bless you and keep you…
Isaiah 6:3 and Matthew 21:9 Words of Institution- In the night in which he was betrayed…
Luke 22:19-20 Lenten Gospel Acclamation- Return to the Lord your God…
John 1:29 Lord’s Prayer
Numbers 6:223-27 Agnus Dei- Lamb of God… Read the remainder of this entry »
