St. Paul Lutheran Church
Phone 701-794-3166
Welcome!
I welcome your comments regarding our shared ministry at St. Paul.
If you would rather comment privately please, email me at Prshepherd@westriv.com
"Two are better than one," says Ecclesiastes,
"because if one falls down, his friend can help him up."
I deeply desire to bring Christian comfort and the power of prayer to those who are challenged with sickness or circumstances in life. However, in this time of restricted visitation call me and I will attempt to contact them.
Please, assume that if you don’t tell us, we do not know.
Call me at 301-4956 if surgery or hospital stay is imminent or if a visit could be helpful.
Pastor Dennis
From my perspective,
Ever wonder if the LORD God’s patience is wearing thin?
The first eleven chapters of Genesis show the LORD God creating order and life out of a chaotic, dead universe and creating human beings to ‘tend and care for it.’
And what is humankind's response? Adam and Eve disrespectfully ignore the LORD’S warning; Cain has no regard for God except to cry that his punishment for killing his brother is ‘greater than he could bear.’ Finally, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5, ESV) Has anything changed in thousands of years? Well – yes, quite a lot.
God’s solution is selecting one man, Abram, and his family to begin again. He takes Abram out of the land of Babel into a place of his choosing and promises, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3, ESV) This is good news for us.
Time and again, the LORD God, patient and long-suffering, remains faithful to His creation and nurtures a remnant with a kernel of faith that will not bow the knee to the empty, powerless gods of this world. (1 Kings 19:18)
Consider the LORD God’s character as described nearly a dozen times since He revealed who He is to Moses. “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6–7, ESV)
Hold firm to who the LORD is when you might think you are unworthy or the world is going to hell in a handbasket. The LORD will not give up for “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, ESV)
We have work to do, to care for our neighbors as a shepherd cares for his sheep. Even though the devils of hell are amassed against us, the Lord is with us, and He who is greater than all has promised that one day He will come again and make all things right and good. (Revelation 21)
Please take time to invite your neighbor who has difficulty believing in the LORD God who believes in them.
Your pastor, Dennis.
Pastor’s contact information:
Pastor Dennis Cell: 701- 301-4956
Home: 701-794-8703
Pastor Dennis’ e-mail –prshepherd@westriv.com
