Welcome to St. Paul’s worship!

Worship times

8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday mornings

7 p.m. Monday nights

Worship lasts about an hour

Dress comfortably

What to expect-

1. Multi-generational

There is great beauty in a multi-generational church made up of people in all seasons of life. A number of UW-Stout students often sit right next to spouses who have empty nests, widows, and one-parent families with young kids. Single men and women find friendship with people they might never come into contact with otherwise. Families find that public worship is the foundation and beginning of having a God-centered home life. Our common faith in Jesus Christ unites us more than any cause or interest or passion of this world could unite us. We all have so much to learn from each other! Knowing a diversity of grace-filled people enriches our lives!

Worship is a place for kids. St. Paul’s kids are just like any kids, they make noise and they are loved by Jesus. Relax. The sight and sound of squirmy kids is welcome and normal here. We do offer a nursery that is in a separate room in the back of our worship space if you need to unwind.

There are plenty of options for seats, depending on where you are most comfortable. Sit near the back if you want quick access to the bathrooms or want to get up and stretch. Sit near the front if your really want to focus. Sit in the middle if you want to visit. Pick a spot, any spot! There are no assigned seats.

If someone greets and welcomes you, it’s because they truly care! They are glad you are here. They want you to feel at home so you can be as amazed and empowered by God’s grace as we are.

2. Rich

We believe that God speaks to us in two main ways, through his Law and through his Gospel. The Law is God’s way of showing all of us (the pastors, leaders, kids, spouses, bosses, and employees) what God created us to be and do. He created us to love and serve him and others. The Law is like a mirror that quickly reveals that we have fallen short of what God wants more often than we care to admit. But, God’s ultimate goal with the Law is not to beat us down or send us away with a burden of guilt on our shoulders. He does not use his law to twist our arms so we will do good things. No, his goal is to lead us to be amazed by what our Savior, Jesus Christ, has done for us, despite our failures to love and serve God.

God’s Gospel, or really, really good news, is that Jesus was everything that God created us to be. He did all things well. He had no failures or sins to speak of. He loved and served God and everyone along his path perfectly. The greatest way he loved and served the entire world, including us, was by suffering and dying on the cross. He fully paid the price for all of our rebellion and disobedience against God. He did this for all people. And then he rose from the dead three days later, to prove that he is the only Savior we need!

God has not kept this a secret. There were 500 witnesses of his resurrection. Jesus sent his followers out into all the world to share his amazing grace. God sent his Holy Spirit along with this message to bring people to believe these remarkable, miraculous things. His followers shared the message, baptized and then kept on teaching and encouraging one another more and more. We do the same. Many of those followers faced ridicule and even death to make sure more would hear about Jesus and believe in him. We can’t thank God enough for bringing this message to us.

Even faith, or trust, in Jesus is a gift, grace! In addition to having all of our sins paid for, believers in Jesus are brought into a whole new family, the family of God! Life after death is ours. God is with us always, through good and bad. Nothing can separate us from his love that is in Christ Jesus. He is always honest with us about where we are drifting from him. He is always calling us back to the cross of Jesus for freedom from guilt and shame and for peace that the world cannot give. He refreshes and guides us. In fact, he has made his home in us and is blessing those around us through us.

Even the new life we live in response to God’s gift of grace is…a gift! We don’t live this new life on our own, but by constantly depending on the support we have from God, his Word, and one another.

All the parts of the worship experience bring God’s Law and Gospel to us through the specific theme of the day. We sing hymns. We confess our sins and are even encouraged to confess specific sins silently. We hear God’s sweet, amazing words of forgiveness. We have a children’s message. We read from the Old Testament, from a New Testament letter, and a Gospel Lesson. We have a meaty sermon. We have a chance to joyfully give an offering so that God’s Word can continue to be taught and spread. We have baptisms right in front of the sanctuary. We take the Lord’s Supper twice a month. We pray for the church, the world and for those who have specifically requested prayers. We visit afterwards and look for opportunities to be in each other’s lives and join Growth Groups (click on the Growth groups tab).

We follow what is called “The Church Year”. Just a few seasons of the church year that you might have heard of before…Christmas, Easter, Lent.

We have sermon series that fall within the church year. They typically run for 4-8 weeks and are much like Netflix series. Each week is like an episode that focuses on a different aspect of a big topic.

Sermons are typically expository, meaning that we dig really deeply into one section of God’s Word and let God direct the message for his people that day. You will not hear the preacher’s latest ideas or just a little good advice. You will hear God speaking TO YOU! The pastor is not a celebrity. He’s pretty normal and has personal, family and professional struggles of his own that God uses to teach him. God is really all he needs for these struggles, even though he doesn’t always believe that enough! He is just telling you how God’s Word helps us navigate all of this! (Please click on the sermons tab to see our sermons on Vimeo).

3. Meaningful

Our purpose is that “God’s amazing grace empowers us to love and serve God and one another.” The more amazed we are by God’s grace, his undeserved, no-strings-attached gift of love, the more God empowers us to love and serve him and one another.

Typically, part of the sermon focuses very specifically on what loving and serving God and others looks like in our daily lives, at home, at work, at school, or wherever God has put us! Even more importantly, we are motivated by God’s grace to do this joyfully with all our hearts. And God gives us even more grace and forgiveness when we have a hard time doing this!

How kids and adults can follow along and participate in worship…

The readings, hymns, and different parts of the worship experience are on the screen or in the worship folder. Moms and dads holding kids and older people with poor eyesight appreciate the screen because it can be seen from anywhere and the print is large enough to easily read. The worship folder is handed to you by the ushers as you come into the sanctuary. The entire order of worship can be found in both places.

If you read music, feel free to take a red hymnal from in front of you and look up the song number that we are singing. There are also Bibles in the pews for your use. You are welcome to bring your own Bible or use a Bible app on your phone, tablet, or computer as well. If you like taking notes, you’ll notice that some of the grade school age kids are also taking notes right along with you, as they are filling out sermon notes sheets for the classes they take with our pastors.

You are invited to leave your name and any information you are comfortable giving out in the friendship registers if you’d like us to contact you and continue the conversation.

Ask about enrolling in our Grace classes. This is how you would go into more detail about what we teach and get to ask specific questions to our pastors.

More about Grace classes

We offer Grace classes throughout the year that give you an overview of God’s amazing grace. Come and see Grace!!!

Grace classes give you instant access to everything we believe and teach, which affects who we are as a church family. We are totally transparent and honest about what God says because he is our Creator and Savior and with him is honesty, forgiveness, a new life, incredible wisdom and much joy now and forever!

We cover the following topics in 9 sessions… 1. Sin 2. Grace 3. Faith 4. Works 5. The Triune God 6. Jesus Christ 7. Baptism 8. The Lord’s Supper and 9. Men and Women. There are people in the class who have never heard of any of this, which is very exciting! Others have heard lots of different ideas in their lives. We all learn from God’s Word and each other as we discuss the lesson, think critically, ask our questions, and consider God’s answers. We offer childcare and Sunday school for kids during these classes as well. Contact us about when the next Grace class begins.

Visit the “I’m New” page to see more answers to your great questions! https://stpaulmenomonie.com/im-new/