St. Paul's News

Dr. Cal Swan, District Superintendent, Preaching February 10 This Sunday at St. Paul's. Dear St. Paul's Congregation, Sausage Dinner. This Sunday our Sausage Dinner will be served starting at 12:30 and ending at 6:00 p.m. Come enjoy a traditional sausage dinner, complete with homemade mashed potatoes, sauerkraut and pie. Adult tickets are $9 in advance or $10 at the door. Children ages 6-11 are $5, and children ages 0-5 are free.

Worship with Cal Swan Preaching. Our center focus each Sunday is worship, and we have two wonderful worship opportunities available this Sunday, at 8:30 and 11:00. Dr. Cal Swan, our District Superintendent will be preaching on the topic, "The Mandate for Pilgrimage" from Hebrews 12:1-3. Let's all make a special effort to be in worship this Sunday to greet our Superintendent.

Cal Swan to teach Adult Bible Fellowship (9:45 to 10:45 in Auditorium). Dr. Swan will also teach a class on pilgrimage between services. He plans to show a DVD of his travels along the Camino de Santiago in Spain several years ago. Dr. Swan will explain the meaning and purpose of pilgrimage in the life of a Christian.

Let's remember that Sunday School for all ages is available between services.

Grace, mercy and peace to all!
A. Mark Friz, Senior Pastor  follow on Twitter | like on Facebook | forward to a friend  Copyright © 2013 St. Paul's Evangelical Church, All rights reserved.
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Help Needed for Sausage Supper Help Needed! Dear St. Paul's Congregation, More help is needed for the Sausage Supper coming up this Sunday. We need help in the following areas:

• More pies and cakes are needed.
• Help is needed in the kitchen in the second shift (2:30 to 5:00).
• Help is also needed on all shifts, as you are able.
• Invitations for friends to come.

Please contact Frank May if you are able to help. His phone number is 314-423-3435.

Blessings and Thank You!

Saint Paul's Staff  follow on Twitter | like on Facebook | forward to a friend  Copyright © 2013 St. Paul's Evangelical Church, All rights reserved.
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An Invitation to Honor Walt Caesar for Singers Past and Present An Invitation from the Caesar Family Dear St. Paul's Family, On behalf of my Mother and Father I want to thank you personally for everything this congregation meant to them in this life and how comforting it is to know that they are together now in peace in the loving care of our Lord thanks to the faithfulness of this church.   Chuck, Cindy and I cannot express in words what St. Paul's means to us spiritually and from a human perspective what it means to know that we are never alone on this earth.  That comes only by worshiping together in fellowship with you.   As you know Mom and Dad enjoyed many years praising god in the Music Ministry at St. Paul's and we plan to honor that legacy during Dad's funeral service on Monday.  We invite everyone that would like to participate to join the choir in singing "In This Very Room" during the funeral service on Monday.     Fern Black will be in the choir room at 10:00 AM Monday to rehearse.  If you would like to participate but are not able to rehearse please still join them in the choir loft.  If you know of anyone that doesn't currently attend St. Paul's or participate actively in the Music Ministry please let them know about this and that they are most welcome.   In Christ's love and with gratitude, Craig and the Caesar Family  follow on Twitter | like on Facebook | forward to a friend  Copyright © 2013 St. Paul's Evangelical Church, All rights reserved.
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This Sunday at St. Paul's (February 3, 2013) Pastor Friz to finish off "Imagine" sermon series this Sunday. Dear St. Paul's Congregation, ABF Topic: Homosexuality. This coming Sunday, Feb. 3, Mr. Kyle Keating, a teaching assistant at Covenant Seminary, will speak to our Sanctity of Life Adult Bible Fellowship on the subject of homosexuality and same-sex attraction. Kyle will share his personal story and the way his identity in Christ Jesus has shaped his response to this issue. Kyle will also have helpful information not only for those who struggle with same-sex attraction, but also for parents who may be wondering how to respond to events in their own family. This is a topic that has touched everyone at St. Paul's in one way or another, and my hope would be that the entire congregation would come to hear what Kyle has to say.

"Imagine" Series Closer. Our final sermon in the Imagine What God Can Do series is on the topic of Financial Freedom. If you check the top New Year's resolutions for Americans in 2013, "saving more money" or "getting out of debt" are always toward the top of the list. Americans long for financial security, but what God offers is even better: Financial Freedom. In preparation for Sunday, why not do a study of 1 Timothy 6:3-10? Also, if you are very ambitions, do a word study on "contentment" or perhaps "satisfied" in the Lord.

Faith Commitment Cards. Please bring your commitment cards this Sunday if you were "iced out" last Sunday. God wants us to plan our giving to him, just as we might plan to budget for utilities, mortgages, etc. If you did not bring your cards last Sunday, we will be happy to receive them this Sunday. Just put them in the offering plate when it comes your way.

Coming Up. On Sunday, February 10, there are two important events coming our way:

1. Our District Superintendent, Dr. Cal Swan, will be here to start our Lenten Sermon Series on the topic of "Pilgrimage." Cal will speak of his own pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and use Hebrews 12:1-3 as his text for the day. Cal will also speak in the Sanctity of Life ABF to show pictures of his "Camino" pilgrimage.
2. Sausage Supper takes place on Sunday, February 10. Frank and Lynn need people to sign up for shifts and for desserts, so please be helpful in any way you are able

Grace, mercy and peace to all!

A. Mark Friz, Senior Pastor  follow on Twitter | like on Facebook | forward to a friend  Copyright © 2013 St. Paul's Evangelical Church, All rights reserved.
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Walt Caesar's Funeral Funeral plans for Walt Caesar. Dear St. Paul's Congregation, Plans have now been made by the Caesar family regarding funeral arrangements for their father, Walt.

The funeral will take place at St. Paul’s on Monday, Feb. 4 at 11:00 am.

Visitation will take place at Kriegshauser Funeral home in Olivette on Sunday, Feb. 3, 1:00-6:00 pm. Another visitation will be on Monday at 10:00 am, one hour before the service.

Our St. Paul’s ladies will serve lunch following the graveside service in St. Paul’s Cemetery.


Pastor Dan Walter
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Walt Caesar's Passing Walt Caesar passed away last night, January 30, 2013 Dear St. Paul's Church, Last evening one of our life-long members, Walt Caesar, died and went home to be with his Lord Jesus. His family was gathered around him in the emergency room of Mercy Medical Center. Please keep Chuck, Craig, and Cindy in your prayers. Plans are being made later today and we will inform you of those plans when we know.

Pastor Dan Walter  follow on Twitter | like on Facebook | forward to a friend  Copyright © 2013 St. Paul's Evangelical Church, All rights reserved.
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Vanessa Ives Funeral Message Funeral Message for Vanessa Ives Dear St. Paul's Congregation, Several people have asked for a manuscript of the message I preached at the funeral service for Vanessa Ives on Monday, January 28. I am including the message below.

Grace, mercy and peace to all,

Pastor Mark Friz

-----------------------------------------

Preaching Portion: Romans 8:18-27
Subject: Security
Theme: Eternal Security
Title: Who Can Be Against Us?
Supplemental Scripture: Isaiah 54:8,10
Date: January 28, 2012
Disk Storage: SecurityVanessaIves.b31
 
Introduction:
God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform;
  He plants His footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace;
  Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.
                                                               —William Cowper
 
This hymn is one of many that were written by a man who had a record of long struggles with an afflicted and tormented soul. William Cowper first attempted suicide when he was a young English lawyer. During a fit of madness, he tried to penetrate his heart with a penknife, but the point was broken.
 
After eighteen months in an asylum, he was released and became a friend of John Newton, the famous evangelical minister. Newton suggested they jointly publish a hymn book.
 
“Amazing Grace” became Newton’s most famous contribution. And “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” became Cowper’s best-known hymn. Cowper’s majestic hymn was written after he went through the horror of another mental breakdown. At that time, he felt God demanded that he kill himself, like Judas, in order to hasten his final doom in hell. But he then rose out of the valley of the dark shadow to enjoy decades as the most popular poet of his eighteenth-century era. Even so, he ended his life in an asylum, where he wrote his famous poem of despair, “The Castaway.”
 
In this hour of darkness and uncertainty, we look to the Scriptures to give us a measure of reassurance. And so, Grant, Evan, and Drake; Abe and Mike; Nancy, Twila, Gwen, and Amy, and all of Vanessa’s family, I begin today with these words from Isaiah 54, 8 and 10: “‘With everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,’ says the Lord your Redeemer . . . ‘Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you”
 
Obituary. Vanessa Marie Pence Ives, age 45 of the Creve Coeur area of St. Louis County, Mo., died on Sunday, January 20, 2013. She was the beloved mother of Grant, Evan and Drake Ives; dear companion and friend of Abe Keil; dearest daughter of Quinn and Nancy Pence of Dallas City, IL.; dear sister of Twila (Jeff) Peitz of Fort Madison, Iowa, Gwen (Bill) Scanlan of Fort Madison, Iowa and Amy (John) Curran of Manchester, MO; dear aunt, niece, cousin and friend. She was preceded in death by her maternal and paternal grandparents and one nephew.
 
Childhood. Vanessa was born on January 13, 1968, in Chicago Illinois. When she was about a year old, she and her mother moved to Dallas City, Illinois. Her sister Twila was born 17 months later. It was here, in Dallas City, that Vanessa grew up.
 
During their childhood, Vanessa and Twila were inseparable. No matter what happened in the world, “they had each other.” They played with their tricycles, dressed up their cats, and took them on buggy rides. The lived close to their grandmother, and visited her a lot, along with other cousins and aunts. Vanessa’s childhood days were happy go lucky, filled with laughing and playing.
 
School. When Vanessa entered school, she immediately stood out as someone who loved to perform, sing, and act. She was always dancing and singing, and her sister Twila compared her to Shirley Temple. Vanessa was a good student, and she was never intimidated by a crowd. In her teen years, she took the lead in many school plays. She was in band, beauty pageants, and most of all, she loved to sing. In 1986, she graduated from Dallas City High School.
 
College. Vanessa’s mother encouraged all four of her girls to get a college education, and Vanessa decided to pursue a degree in teaching. She entered the Community College in Burlington, Iowa, and later transferred to Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL. Even though she was involved in a singing group there, Vanessa became more serious about her career in education. In order to make ends meet, she took on a job as a waitress.
                                               
Job. After graduating, Vanessa started to work as a substitute teacher in Fort Madison, Iowa. It was there that she met Mike, and they were married in September of 1993. In the years that followed, Vanessa and Mike lived in Waukeegan, IL for 4 years; in Ohio for 2 years, and finally, in 1998, they moved to St. Louis where Mike began his work with Purina. Vanessa lived in St. Louis for the last 16 years.
 
Throughout her life, Vanessa worked as a Kindergarten Teacher, and later she worked in childcare for a company called TLC. She was a regular child care worker for many families in the Ladue and Creve Coeur area, until after Evan and Drake were born, when she became a stay at home Mom.
 
Faith. Vanessa came to faith in Jesus Christ in her early years. She had a passion for others to come to know Christ, also. Her family members tell me that she led at least 2 or 3 people they could mention (Wayne and Monica) to faith in Jesus Christ. She loved to sing praises to God, and perhaps her best outward expression of her faith was singing to God on praise and worship teams at the various churches she attended.
 
There are many other things we could say about Vanessa. She loved to walk, and take excursions with the boys. She love to listen to music, sing karaoke, and help people with interior decorating. She was zany, silly, and wild. She liked to have a good time.
 
Tormented Soul. But Vanessa was also what her family calls a “tormented soul.” She struggled with demons that gave her a different sense of reality. She was afflicted by “voices,” which were always leading her down the wrong path in life. Perhaps her worst mistake was her conviction that her voices were from God, and her affliction was from God. No one could convince her otherwise. When family and friends tried to help her, she misinterpreted their help, and thought people were trying to hurt her.
 
I like to think of Vanessa’s illness like I would a person with cancer. Just like a person with cancer is at a high risk of death, so Vanessa was always at a high risk of death. No matter how much those around her wanted to protect her, there is no way that even Abe could protect her at every single moment of every single day. None of us will ever know the true depth of her despair. But there is something we can know, and that is the true depth of God’s understanding, God’s prayers for Vanessa, God’s Redemption, and God’s Ultimate Protection for Vanessa, even in her untimely death.
 
God Understands. In Romans 8, we learn of God’s understanding of our current torment. Paul writes, in verse 18:
      I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
 
God knows about our present sufferings. In fact, in verse 22, he talks about groaning. He says:
      We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
 
I submit to you that Vanessa was tormented more than most, and that in her, we saw the groaning, day by day, for the redemption of her body. God understood her torment.
 
God Prays. In Romans 8, we also learn that God prays for us in our tormented condition. In verse 26 we read:
      In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
 
It’s important to remember that there are many of us here, today, who have also struggled with our own demons, and have at times contemplated ending our own life. Isn’t it wonderful to know that, in the midst of our own despair, the Holy Spirit is praying for us in our weakness.
 
God Redeems. As we continue on through Romans 8, we also find out that God redeems the tormented lives of his sons and daughters. It says in verse 30:
      And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
 
God’s redemption and salvation for Vanessa did not depend on her own actions. God’s justification is totally dependent on the actions of her Savior, Jesus Christ.
 
God Protects. Finally, I would like you to notice God’s protection. Romans 8 ends with a stunning proclamation of the truth that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is our in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let me read these final verses of Romans 8, and substitute Vanessa’s name for the pronouns:
            What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for Vanessa, who can be against Vanessa? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for Vanessa—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give Vanessa all things?
            Who will bring any charge against Vanessa, whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for Vanessa. 35 Who shall separate Vanessa from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
            No, in all these things, Vanessa is more than a conqueror through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate Vanessa from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
There is a very powerful scene in the movie called Luther, which Evan’s confirmation class saw at our recent retreat. In Martin Luther’s day, the teaching of the church was that anyone who died because of suicide would not go to heaven, and they certainly could not be buried in the church cemetery.
 
After a teenager in Martin Luther’s church takes his own life, Luther wants to bury the child in the church cemetery, but the sexton refuses to dig the grave. Martin Luther carries the young man himself into the cemetery, digs the grave, and then invites the parents to come to the graveside as he absolves the young man of his sins and buries his body. He cries out, “God is mercy and compassion. This boy was not responsible for the demons that tormented him.”
 
In the same way, even the demons that tormented Vanessa could not, and will not, separate her from the love of God that she has known in Christ Jesus our Lord. Her security is eternal. Her protection is powerful. No matter how strong our torment, God’s protection of our souls is stronger.
 
I’d like to end with the words of Luther’s great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress”
 
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.
 
That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
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