Dear Brothers and Sisters of Messiah,
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Tomorrow, 40 days after Easter Sunday, We celebrate the Ascension of our Lord Jesus with our brothers and sisters at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Rockford (310 E Division St NE). A meal will be served at 6:00 pm (Main dish provided; please bring a side dish or dessert), followed by the Divine Service at 7:00 pm; Pastor Hoese will preside over the service, and Pastor Eric will preach the sermon. We invite you to rejoice in the proclamation of God’s Word, in the sound of our combined choirs and in the gift of our Lord’s body and blood as we worship Him together!
There are lots more opportunities for worship, education, fellowship and service in June as well:
WORSHIP AND CLASS SCHEDULE
During the summer, we continue with Divine Service at 10:00 am on Sundays; Bible Class will be held beforehand at 9:00 am. Monday night Divine Services will also be held starting next Monday, June 2nd through Monday, August 25th at 7:00 pm. (The only exception: there will be no service on Monday, June 23rd, when Pastor Eric and Rick are at the Michigan District-LCMS convention.)
Livestreams of our Sunday services can be found at
Our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/messiahgr
The most recent livestreamed service is viewable on our website's front page, www.messiahgr.org
Our monthly Lutheran Confessions Study returns to its roots! You are warmly invited to join us in an engaging study of The Augsburg Confession, continuing Thursday, June 5th at 10:00 am.
JUNE NEWSLETTER PLUS WHAT'S NEW AND NEXT
Our June newsletter is available online; click here to preview or download it in its entirety. Paper copies of the newsletter are available at our Welcome Center. We post the newsletter (including monthly calendars) and our weekly announcements online at www.messiahgr.org/news; calendars are also online separately at www.messiahgr.org/calendar. Be sure to check the newsletter and our weekly announcements for more info on the events listed below:
New Member Welcome Pentecost Sunday, June 8th! We'll welcome our new members or 2025 during worship, then have a Welcome Potluck in the Fellowship Hall afterwards. Please sign up to bring a dish at the Welcome Center or in Bible Class by Tuesday, June 3rd.
Vacation Bible School: Epic Australian Adventure Monday - Friday, June 16th - 20th from 9:00 am to 11:45 am. Register kids (age 4 as of August 1st through entering grade 6) now at www.vbsmate.com/messiahgr2025. There are plenty of opportunities to help out, too! Contact Steve Ledbetter for details.
Yours in Christ, Rick Krueger
FROM PASTOR ERIC (in the June Newsletter):
"If I believe in Christ, if I have faith, life giving faith, given by the Holy Spirit, then of course I am a Christian. But this is not one part of me. This is everything. I am not a Christian, and also an American. I am not a Christian, and also a father. I am not a Christian and also a son, as if these are all separate pieces of who I am. I am a Christian son, a Christian father, a Christian American even. All that I am flows from my identity in Christ. This has consequences . . ."
"From banking to plumbing, and everything in between, as we go about our work, we are always Christians, conducting ourselves according to God’s law for our lives. And even more so, we get to go out conducting ourselves in the light of God’s gospel. When I am wronged out in the world, in my day-to-day life, I am still a Christian, and I get to, I get to respond with the same love and forgiveness that Christ pours out upon me each and every day, in any and all situations. That means wherever I am, there is the love of God ready to be poured out into the world, upon me, upon my friends and family, but also upon complete strangers who just happen to cross my path that day, all because, by the grace of God, I am a Christian! Amen!"
JUNE'S HYMN OF THE MONTH:
"Holy Spirit, the Dove Sent from Heaven" (number 502 inLutheran Service Book) bridges the Easter season, the day of Pentecost and the Time of the Church! Philip Blycker, a lifelong missionary to Mexico & Central America, wrote the Spanish text and the music of this hymn in 1972, gathering words and phrases from the God's Word so that the people of Guatemala & beyond could sing the Biblical truth about the third person of the Trinity! The English translation is by LCMS Pastor Stephen Starke, a Michigan native who was instrumental in the production of LSB. We hope you enjoy singing and praying this hymn throughout the coming month.
