June 27 Update

Dear Brothers and Sisters at Messiah,

WORSHIP AND CLASS SCHEDULE

Through Sunday, September 3rd (Labor Day weekend), there will be one Divine Service held at 10:00 am on Sundays, with Bible Class beforehand at 9:00 am; Sunday School is in recess. Divine Services will also be held through August 28th on Mondays at 7:00 pm (with the exception of this coming Monday, July 3rd). The Sunday service is scheduled to be livestreamed at

Thanks to Pastor James Blain for leading our Divine Services and Bible classes for the next three weekends.


JULY NEWSLETTER (PLUS WHAT'S NEW, WHAT'S NEXT)
Our July 2023 newsletter is now available online!  Click here to preview or download it in its entirety. A reminder that: 

  • Paper copies of the newsletter are available for members and guests at the Welcome Center.  We also continue to mail the newsletter to homebound members.  If you want to continue receiving the newsletter, please contact the church office to make arrangements.

  • We also post the newsletter (including monthly calendars) online at www.messiahgr.org/news; calendars are also online separately at www.messiahgr.org/calendar.

The newsletter (and our weekly announcements) have further details on these upcoming events:

  • Summer Golf  on Sundays July 2nd, 16th and 30th at 3:00 pm at Scott Lake Golf Course. Contact Mark Altemann or Dwight Anderson for more information,

  • "Not Choir” resumes next week.  Join Rick Krueger on Wednesdays at 7:00 pm resuming July 5th for conversation, singing tips, skill building and previews of the music for the following weekend.

  • NEW!  Lutherans in Fellowship Together meet after the service on Sunday, July 9th to plan for August's Community Picnic and fall events.

  • NEW!  Michigan District-LCMS President Rev. David Davis will visit Messiah on Sunday, August 6th.  See the newsletter article by congregational president Dave Ahrens for more information. 

  • Our annual Community Picnic sponsored by the Board of Outreach will be held on Sunday, August 27th after the Divine Service.

  • Pastor Steven Mahlburg, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod missionary, and his family will visit Messiah for a Mission Festival on Sunday, September 17th. 


LOOKING AHEAD
At congregational president Dave Ahrens' request, I am including an article I wrote for the latest newsletter in its entirety below.

I didn’t expect to be writing this article. For the first time since 1980, a pastor serving at Messiah has accepted a call to another congregation. This is new territory for many of us.

We thank the Lord for Pastor Twietmeyer’s time with us, and we pray for God ‘s blessings on the Twietmeyer family as they relocate to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hillsdale. But their departure leaves us with unanswered questions and unexpected emotions -- perhaps even uncertainty about the future. My goals here are to let you know about our next steps as we enter the pastoral call process -- and to remind us of the strength, comfort and hope in Christ that Pastor Twietmeyer (like all Messiah’s pastors over the decades) faithfully proclaimed to us.

During a vacancy, Messiah’s Bylaws assign obtaining “interim pastoral supervision and pulpit assistance” to the Board of Elders, working with the Church Council. The Elders have already started on this; I’m glad to report that our brother Pastor Blain will lead most of our Divine Services and Bible Classes for July and August, aided by Pastor Hoese and guest pastors David Davis, Daniel Gruenwald, William Lahrman and Jason Peterson. The Elders’ ongoing task is to arrange regular pastoral leadership for services and classes, as well as “on call” spiritual care when needs arise. We’ll let you know more as arrangements take more definite shape.

Our Bylaws also give the Council the task of forming a Call Committee. A meeting of the Elders and Council with representatives of our church body’s Michigan District is imminent as I write; we’ll learn about the procedures to follow, as well as any changes in the process since we last called a pastor. Once we digest what we’ve learned, we’ll move forward to form a committee and make necessary preparations. Again, as we know more, we’ll share it with you.

Like many denominations, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has seen both more pastoral retirements and fewer men preparing for the Holy Ministry in recent years. Many congregations calling from the field have experienced longer vacancies than they had hoped, and there have been fewer seminarians graduating than congregations requesting them. If we judge our new situation only by what we see around us, we might be tempted to despair. And even if things were “better”, none of us can know for sure when God will send us Messiah’s next pastor.

Let’s all watch out! The devil will use these circumstances to tempt us into denying our Lord’s love and faithfulness. Our sinful nature will take every excuse to complain about anyone we think is “in the way” of getting what we want: Synod, district, other congregations, pastors who might decline our calls, each other -- you name it. And as for the world around us: “well,” we might think, “who cares about a relatively small church on Five Mile Road?”

Brothers and sisters, the Good News isour God cares: “this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”(Lamentations 3:21–23).

The Good News iswhile we wait for our next pastor, God will give us what we truly need, right here, every week:“faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”(Romans 10:17)“Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”(Matthew 26:26–28)

The Good News isGod’s Word enables us to die to sin and rise again redeemed, every day:“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”(Romans 6:3–4)

The Good News isGod’s Holy Spirit, working through these means of grace, will give us the power to resist temptation, repent of sin, and care for each other and others:“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:19–24)

My calling as Messiah’s Parish Assistant is to serve you, the people God has brought together around His Word and Sacraments in this congregation. Over the years, I’ve done this primarily by helping and supporting Messiah’s called pastors, as they worked among us to know Christ and make Him known. Hearing the men who proclaim the saving Gospel to us in the months to come, remembering the promise and power of our Baptism daily, and receiving Jesus’ body and blood for forgiveness and strength at every opportunity, I urge us all to rely on our Lord’s gifts, love and support one another as we learn to accept His will, and pray fervently for Him to send us our next pastor in His good time.

Yours in Him,


Rick Krueger, Parish Assistant

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