OUR VISION:

KNOW God GROW in Him                      SHOW His love 

St. Paul Lutheran 

Church • School • Childcare  

The front office is open from 8:00am to 5:00pm  Monday—Friday. Call us at 956‐682‐2345. 

Administrative Staff Rev. Gregory Lorenz, Senior Pastor glorenz@stpaulmcallen.org

Rev. James Fickenscher, Associate Pastor jfickenscher@stpaulmcallen.org

Rev. Ernesto Garcia, Visitation Pastor 956-682-4697 or 956-270-2272 (cell)

Inese Dahl, Director of Christian Education, idahl@stpaulmcallen.org

Jessica Finley, Minister of Music jfinley@stpaulmcallen.org

Elena Rodriguez, Childcare Director childcare@stpaulmcallen.org

Nichole Perez, Principal nperez@stpaulmcallen.org

Daniela Gonzalez, Interim Food Service Director, kitchen@stpaulmcallen.org

Jon Finley, Church Secretary churchsecretary@stpaulmcallen.org

Reyna Willingham, School Secretary schoolsecretary@stpaulmcallen.org

Hannah McCann, Business Manager hbmccann@stpaulmcallen.org

Darrell Hagen, Sexton Please submit requests via the Mainte-nance Request Form in the Front Office

Church Council Matthew Drefs Executive Director mattdrefs@gmail.com

Fred Karle Assistant Director karlefarms@aol.com

Joy Madero Secretary joy_madero4756@yahoo.com

David Hargett Treasurer david.hargett@kbwsupply.com

Jamie Hempel Board of Lay Ministry jamie@dynteks.com

Brent Kirchner Buildings & Grounds brentkirchner@yahoo.com

Michael Bird School Board Chairperson michael.bird70@gmail.com

Sofia Vestweber Childcare Board Chairperson sofiakvestweber@gmail.com

Livestream Service Schedule Saturday: 5pm—Traditional Worship Sunday: 8am —Traditional Worship

9:30am — Bible Study with Pastor James 10:45am—Contemporary Worship

300 W Pecan | McAllen, TX 78501 956.682.2345 | stpaulmcallen.org 

When You Pray...

A sermon series on

the Lord’s Prayer

“Great Faith in

Unexpected Places”

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In-person worship services will resume on August 22 & 23!

We will also celebrate Holy Communion at all services that weekend!

We ask that the Saturday 5pm service be reserved for our most at-risk members — those who are older or have underlying

medical conditions.

We appreciate your cooperation in wearing a face

covering, social distancing, and hand washing/sanitizing to help keep yourself and others as safe as

possible.

Worship services and Bible Study with Pastor James will continue to be available on

livestream/Vimeo each week.

You can connect to the livestream platform and get the latest COVID-19 responses from

St Paul at www.stpaulmcallen.org

Column 1 

 August 15 & 16, 2020 Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Please remember these brothers and sisters in prayer… In order to keep our prayer list up to date, prayer requests will be removed after four weeks.

If you would like for your request to continue, contact Jon Finley at 956-682-2345. ILLNESS/ONGOING NEEDS Marcie Adamson Paul Allen Donna Bargsten Wava Bettes Delbert Birdsong Anne Cary Ruthie Hagerbaumer Ann Hempel Muriel Hinrichs Karen Karle

*Communion is offered on 2nd & 4th Sundays.*

ST. PAUL’S COMMUNION STATEMENT: Our Lord Jesus graciously shares with us His body and blood to forgive our sins, assure us of salvation, strengthen our faith, and unite us as members of His church. We believe: That we are sinful human beings in need of forgiveness; That the Lord’s Body and Blood are truly present in the

bread and wine which He offers us; That through the sacrament we are forgiven of our sins; and strengthened to live as God’s people.

If you share our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we invite you to join us at His table. If you do not wish to take communion, you are invited to cross your arms over your chest and re-ceive a blessing from the Pastor. If you have any questions, please consult the Pastor or a Lay Minister.

COME AS YOU ARE Welcome to St. Paul Lutheran Church! We are a community of believers from all walks of life, who face all kinds of daily struggles and challenges. We don’t have all the answers, but we know the One who does. We don’t always get things right, but by God’s grace we follow the One who never sinned. We are not perfect people, just forgiven people, and you’ll fit in just as you are! You don’t need to bring the perfect clothes or the perfect smile or the perfect family…just yourself, with all your questions or hurts or scars, and let Jesus take it from there!

A Year of Discipleship  Throughout the 2019-2020 year at St. Paul, we will take time to focus on what it means to follow Jesus and be faithful to His calling. Following Jesus isn’t always easy. Loving others can be difficult. Being generous with the time, energy, and resources He has given us can be challenging. But, as we seek His Kingdom and obey His Word, we will grow in faith, hope, and peace in the love of Jesus by His Spirit!

Pastoral Visitation Call the Church Office 956-682-2345 or email churchsecretary@stpaulmcallen.org if you, or someone you know, would like a visit from one of the pastors.

This Week (Aug 15-16) Readings: Isaiah 56:1, 6-8; Matthew 15:21-28

Next Week (Aug 22-23) Readings: Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20

Our Gifts to God Last Week’s Physical Giving $6,735.00 Online Giving $4,283.75 Last Week’s Total $11,018.75 Last Week’s Budget $11,538.47 Surplus (Deficit) for Week $(519.72) July 1 – June 30 Actual $42,828.25 July 1 - June 30 Budget $69,230.82 Surplus (Deficit) for Year ($26,402.57)

CARE FACILITIES Van E Foster Ed Hurley’s Mom Isobel Mall Vi Offutt Dick Smith Jerry Sullivan Laura Wagner

Shirley Keszler Jeanette Marshall Aron Nino Eleanor Norbie Janette Perkins Joe Portales Debby Schuster Stanley Steere Patricia Rickets Wayne Vestweber Chris Westphal

John Morin Corey Moss Gary Palmer Penny Pich Nell Smith Bill Shockley Greg Thompson Kay Thompson Holly Wilson

SPECIAL PRAYERS Daivd Berger Valorie Bird David Cazares Diane Drefs Joe Hetrick Kathy Jennings Linda Juden Eric Kaelberer Peggy Kirchner Taylor Mauldin Daniel Morin

MISSION/MINISTRY Rev. Gerry Harrow Fishers of Men in Port Isabel St. Paul Lutheran School

 

        

 

 

 

 

 

Announcements Craft Items Donation The school is looking for donations of certain items that you can collect over the summer, but please don’t bring them to the school until we ask for them. Thank you! Those items are: Bottle caps, mason jars, plastic 2-liter bottles, paper grocery bags, cardboard boxes and tubes, cereal boxes, egg cartons, newspapers, magazines, soup cans, yogurt containers, shoelaces, shoe boxes, buttons, scrapbook paper, bottle corks, oatmeal containers, pint-sized ice cream containers, used greeting cards. Please make sure to only bring clean items. Back to School Celebration August 16-24 This year is different and our Blessing of the Backpacks will look different too - but no less fun or exciting!!! Join us in prayer and celebrating as we start the new school year! Sunday, August 16, 1 - 3 PM: Drive-through Blessing of the Backpacks in the St. Paul Lutheran Parking Lot.

Gifts for students, educators, support staff and parents!

Tuesday, August 18, 6.45 PM: Online ZOOM Backpack Blessing of students, educators, support staff and parents. Your gift will be mailed to you. Watch for the ZOOM link as the date gets closer.

Weekend of August 24: Prayer for all the schools during all services. Submit the name of your school and we will pray for it: https://stpaulmcallen.breezechms.com/form/a432a363

Faith @ Home We at St. Paul Lutheran Church, School and ELC are passionate about partnering and providing resources and encouragement to parents, grandparents and other important adults as you raise your children to follow Jesus. Sign up for regular Faith @ Home mailings with activities and supplies: https://stpaulmcallen.breezechms.com/form/a8d3696

Join the St. Paul Lutheran Faith @ Home Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FaithAtHomeSPL/

Church Reopening August 22-23, 2020 With the start of in-person classes at St. Paul Lutheran School on August 19, 2020, Church Council has voted to reopen for worship services starting August 22 and 23! We are excited to return to in-person worship and will be following all of the same safety precautions and guidelines that have been put in place. Even as we are careful and take precautions, we cannot guarantee that the virus will not spread. Please review the guidelines in the Open St. Paul document at www.stpaulmcallen.org. See you soon! Funds Needed To Help St. Paul Live Stream We thank God that throughout the COVID-19 crisis, St. Paul has been able to live stream our Worship Services, Bible Studies, funerals, and other services! Live streaming has become an important part of our ministry. We have heard from many of you who have sent us notes of appreciation for the live stream worship. We approved funds in our 2020-2021 budget to buy permanent equipment for live streaming, but have not seen the cash flow to be able to purchase what is needed. The cost of the equipment is about $12,000. This would allow live streaming from both the Sanctuary and the Gym and would also be used for school chapel and other events. If you would like to make a special over-and-above gift to help us purchase this equipment, it would help us keep this ministry going! Please indicate "Live Stream" on your gift.

Sermon Notes Title: Great Faith in Unexpected Places

Text: Matthew 15:21-28

The abundance of God’s grace in Jesus overflows to all people!

1). Sometimes Jesus can make us ______________________. But this Jesus is still ______________, too!

2). Jesus is in an _______________ place, filled with _______________ people.

The disciples just want the _______________________ to be over.

3). Jesus’ response to this woman embodies the attitude of ___________ toward outsiders. But she understands that Jesus’ love for ____________ spills over to all the

___________. 4). Jesus commends her ___________, and lets her speak the words of __________

about Him Reflections

5). We can overlook “______________” people in our lives and see our time in “Canaan” as a ______________.

6). Jesus reminds us that: His grace is _______________ than our _____________________. Great faith can come from _______________________ people and places!