July 6, 2025
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Vacation Bible School, July 14-18, 9 am till 2 pm for all 4 year olds through 6th grade youth. Led by Luther Park Bible Camp. No Cost. Games, Crafts, Music, Food, and more! Friends welcome! We appreciate your registering in advance! See the attached form. STARTS IN ONE WEEK!
VBS Snacks, Snack helpers needed! See the sign-up in the Narthex or call the office if you would like to help!
Lagers with the Lord, Monday, July 14th, 6 pm at Buckshot’s!
Congregational Meeting, Sunday, July 27th, 10 am to authorize the Church Council to sell the existing parsonage and to borrow up to $100,000 to build a new parsonage on church property next to Trinity Lutheran Church.
Summer Fellowship Servers needed! Sign-up in the Narthex or call the church office if you are willing to serve fellowship on any Sunday June through August.
Luther Park Golf Outing, Thursday, August 7th, 9 am. $50 per person, includes cart. At Sioux Creek Golf Course in Chetek. 9 holes. Prizes, Raffle, and fun to help Luther Park Bible Camp! To register, email at info@lutherpark.org or talk to Pastor Brad.
MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD
Come and see what God has done: Psalm 66:1a
When you read the verse above, what do you think of? Do you think of creation, of the beauty of the world around you? I bet that is the first thing we think of. Maybe you spent the July 4th weekend at a lake or your cabin, enjoying time on the water and you think of the beauty of a sunrise or sunset on that lake. Maybe you thought of fireworks in the sky or the beauty of a campfire. Maybe you were traveling and you thought of the vista’s you encountered or something incredible you saw. I was recently back at Walt Disney World for the first time in three years and it was great to see the majestic Cinderella’s castle towering in the sky. When we think of God’s works, we so often think of those kinds of things.
But have you thought of the fact that, and your fellow human beings, are also God’s works? There is great beauty there. Think of the smile of a child, or the laugh of a loved one, or the twinkle in the eyes of our wisdom elderly. These are the works of this same God who created the mountains, the lakes, the rivers, the oceans. We are also the created works of the Lord. And there is beauty there, in our diversity of pigments, of heights and weights, talents and gifts, languages and accents. It is one of the things I love about travel. Not only seeing the diversity of landscapes and vistas, but the diversity of humanity. God paints with a glorious brush and there is beauty in all of it.
Take being in Walt Disney World for example. It was not uncommon as we walked from one thing to another to hear four or five different languages, see everything from Bachelorette parties to families celebrating graduations to anniversaries or weddings to school groups to everything in between, all in one place.
This verse in Psalm 66 is an invitation to see all of God’s splendor, to see the richness of God’s creation in all of its forms. For God is at work in this world, in the trees and mountains and lakes and deserts and in every form of living thing. And as it says in Genesis 1:31, “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.” This God loves this creation so much God sent Jesus, God’s only Son, to save and redeem it and promises to be with it always. You are a part of this creation, as is every other living thing. May we look at each other, and all of creation as God does: as something precious. May we take God’s invitation to come and see what God has done, to see God’s loving work and hand in all that is around us, to appreciate it, treasure it, savor it, and value it. And may we always remember that God loves this creation, and loves us so much that God sent Jesus to it, and us, to redeem and save it.
May God be with you today and always.