URGENT NOTE: All 9:00 AM activities (Worship and Sunday School) have been cancelled for tomorrow, February 9th. We expect to hold our 10:30 AM service as scheduled, but if those plans change, we will email you by 8:00 AM.

February 8, 2025

Dear St. Paul’s UMC and Wesley Foundation Family,

Grace and peace to you, church! Our current worship series about small things all started last fall when Pastor Sarah talked about small cars, small refrigerators, and small seeds. Then, a couple days after that, I heard someone say, “I have lived a small life,” and those words embedded themselves in me. I wonder what it means to live a small life? I wonder if we immediately react positively or negatively to such a statement, and what that says about us?

In our worship this weekend, we will hear a story from the Gospel of Luke, and another reading from one of Paul’s letters, that indicate that Jesus seems particularly interested in so-called “small” lives, even when the surrounding expectations would center on things that are larger-than-life or “supersized.” Join us in-person or online this weekend as we consider what it means that Jesus is absolutely enamored with the last and least of all, and how this affects the way we try and follow him today.

Here is our schedule for tomorrow, February 9th:

9:00 AM

ALL 9:00 AM activities (Worship and Sunday School) have been cancelled for tomorrow! 

10:30 AM: Hybrid Worship Service with Chancel Choir, in-person in the sanctuary and livestreamed here  

NOTE: If the roads continue to be unsafe, we will cancel the in-person part of our 10:30 service and will only do it online via livestream. If we cancel, we will let you know via email by 8:00 AM.

Please remember that since this service is filmed and live-streamed, you or your family members may be on our worship recording, which is streamed and archived on our YouTube channel.

11:45 AM: Hybrid Discussion Group, in-person and on Zoom

Join by clicking here, or use Meeting ID 87591478033 and Passcode stpauls.

Grace | Peace,

Pastor Greg

Discussion Questions

(1) What did you notice in our worship today? Thinking not only about the words of the sermon, where did you notice the Spirit, an unexpected connection, a flicker of life, hope, or love?

(2) What do you make of Jesus’ decision making in calling his core team of disciples? What does this tell us about Jesus?

(3) What does all of this tell us about how we might actually be the church in this particular season?

Prelude: Lord, I Want to Be a Christian" (Victor C. Johnson; arr. Douglas E. Wagner)

Ryan Ditmer, organ

Greeting

Rev. Greg Milinovich

Call to Worship

One: Called by God, we have come to worship;

All: from the lakesides of our lives, Jesus calls us.

One: Called by Christ, we have come to follow; 

All: even when we least expect it, Jesus calls us.

One: Called by the Spirit, we have come to love;

All: so unlikely; so small; yet here and now, Jesus calls us!

Opening Hymn: “Jesus Calls Us” (UMH 398)

Passing the Peace 

Children’s Message

Ted Voigt

Gospel Lesson: Luke 5:1-11 (NRSVUE)

Rev. Sarah Coker Voigt

Hymn: “Tu Has Venido a la Orilla (Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore)” (UMH 344)

Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (NRSVUE)

A Scout from Troop 31

Message: “Last and the Least of All”

Rev. Greg Milinovich

Anthem: “Hear My Prayer” (Moses Hogan)

Chancel Choir 

Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

Offering

Closing Hymn: “Here I Am, Lord” (UMH 593)

Mission Moment

Troop 31

Announcements

Benediction 

Postlude: "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus" (Anonymous; arr. David Berry)

Ryan Ditmer, organ