Week of Holy Trinity Sunday: May 18-24

New Format
Welcome to the new format for our weekly devotions. Why the change? Our hope is that it will make accessing the readings each week easier (see links at the right) and that it will now be possible to find previous devotional writings (see archives, also on the right).

Holy Trinity Sunday
Pastor Wietelmann reminded us Sunday of God's persistent love for us. English poet Francis Thompson is famous for writing a short verse in which he describes Christ as a "hound of heaven" who persistently searches for us to redeem us. I was reminded of this beautiful poem when our preschoolers this week gathered for "pet days." May God relentlessly pursue you this week!

Cross Training Event
Thanks to all who attended the Cross Training event this past weekend in Bowling Green featuring Tony Campolo, Ken Medema, Steve Marsh and Lost & Found. It was a great time. Look for another "revival" of sorts December 5-6 called Revive Us, Again in Bowling Green at St. Mark's and a Lost & Found concert coming up on Sunday, September 28. Members who attended all or part of this year's event included Dale Bruning, Rick Rahe, Renee Farmer and Don Gerke. Ask them what they thought of the experience and what they learned.

Bible Reading
How often is Bible reading a part of your routine? Daily? Weekly (besides worship)? Monthly? Hardly ever? Our denomination is promoting an initiative called Book of Faith to encourage us to be more familiar with and immersed in the Scriptures.

Summertime: Summer Sunday School begins June 1st
A big thank you to all teachers, helpers, confirmation guides, as well as our parish ed deacons Lisa and Becky for a lot of hard work during this past school year.

This summer there will several opportunities to continue our growth in faith. Children (preschool - grade 5) will meet in the basement and begin a summerlong "Journey with Jesus," complete with passport. Come travel with them!

For adults there will be two opportunities: a class on the Sunday readings in the chapel and another class exploring faith questions/issues using Rob Bell's Nooma series. Check out the website for some previews. The high school youth will also be invited to join the Nooma class as we watch the short videos together and then break into smaller groups for discussion.

Summertime: Vacation Bible School: June 16-20 from 9:00 - 11:30 am
Summertime is also VBS time. This year the emphasis will be on service. Come and learn what it means to serve others in the name of Jesus. New this year is an adult component called Lord, Teach us to Pray. Come learn some new prayer forms with Pastor Matt. We will join the children and youth for the opening and then learn about and practice some lesser-know Christian prayer forms.

Looking to Sunday
In preparation for Sunday, read Psalm 131 (it's a short one you could easily memorize), Isaiah 49:16a and Matthew 6:24-34. You may also want to bring a short scribbled list of things you worry about.