Plymouth Lutheran Church, Pastor Joel Baker September 2016 11015 County Road 15, Plymouth, MN 55441 Telephones: 763-544-7248 & 763-544-9170

Luke records Jesus' Words in Scripture, chapter 14:25-35:

Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them,

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife

and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My

disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My

disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he

has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to

ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another

king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one

coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for

terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

“Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the

soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus wants us to be His disciples and to be followers of Him. He says that the first relationship we are to value is with

Him, above and beyond all else-above family and friends. Time with Him and getting to know Him is to be a top priority.

(Philippians 3:7: But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ; Hebrew

11:24-27: By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to

endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ

greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of

the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen). Paul and Moses both thought that gaining Christ was of utmost

importance, more than anything else in the world, and by faith obtained that goal.

Then He tells us to carry our own cross daily-Moses and Paul also had to endure hardship, anger, ill- treatment, etc, for

considering the reproach of Christ greater than the sins and passing pleasures of the world. Daily we are to put off the

fighting old nature in us, asking the Holy Spirit to help us in that battle and to have victory in our lives even now, and to

remember God's grace and mercy as we struggle.

He says we are to obey Him, imitate Him, show love to our family and neighbors, and even our enemies.

The result will be that we will be the salt of the earth rather than being salt less, tasteless, deserving to be thrown out and

trampled upon.

Are you salting the earth today-seasoning it with the Word of God both in what you say and what you do?

Being able to be salt means a solid relationship with Jesus, growing in the Word and struggling against personal sin in

your life rather than indulging as the world does. I pray that you are.

Keep our church in prayer for God's leading in the direction we should go- or not go. Please direct comments to the

Board-they are interested in hearing from you and will respect your opinion, bringing those opinions to our meetings for

prayer and consideration. This should especially be a time of seeking the Lord on blended knee for what would please

Him the most and bring honor and glory to Him.

Shalom2u from Pastor Joel

Pastor Baker’s e-mail: shalom2u2@usfamily.net Church website: www.plymouthapostolic.org Church e-mail: secretary@plymouthapostolic.org Prayer Chain: 612-554-6823 or pep59@aol.com If you would like to receive this by email please send a message to secretary@plymouthapostolic.org

1Thessalonians 5:13-15

13 and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with

one another. 14 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help

the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but

always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.

…from the Pastor’s Office

September at PLC

Sundays: 4 10:30am Worship Service

11:30am Coffee fellowship 11, 18, 25 9:00am Morning Bible Study

10:30am Worship Service 11:30am Coffee fellowship

11 11:40a.m. Prayer in Sanctuary 18 10:30 am Communion Service 25 11:40am Abbreviated communion

Tuesdays: 13 5:45pm Mission Committee Meeting

6:30pm Board of Trustees meeting

Wednesdays: 7 9 a.m. Men’s & Women’s Breakfast at

Perkins 6:30pm Bible Study for everyone 14, 21, 28 9:15am Ladies Bible Study

9:30am Men’s Bible Study 6:30pm Bible Study for everyone

Thursdays: 15 9:30am Senior outing to Candy Store

Fridays: 16 7:00pm Movie night at the church “God’s Not Dead 2” 23 5:00pm Fall Youth Rally at Spruce Grove ALC

Saturdays: 24 9:00am Ladies Saturday morning Bible Study

Looking ahead

October is Pastor Appreciation Month

Celebrate Our Congregation September Birthdays:

Roy Saari 9/2

Jenny Haataja 9/2

Tom Madison 9/5

Peter Pelto 9/5

Jane Johnson 9/9

Brian Bartell 9/10

Brad Aho 9/10

Natalie Bartell 9/13

Sarah Siirtola 9/19

Addison Ellis 9/21

Terri Bloomquist 9/28

September Anniversaries: James & Elise O’Neill 9/13

Ryan & Jennie Rintala 9/22

Bill & Joan Graunke 9/27

Sweet, Sweet Senior Outing! Minnesota’s Largest Candy

Store.

But wait! Minnesota’s Largest… is much more

than candy store. It is a place of nostalgia. This is an outing packed with memories of your own youth.

Jordan, MN is located less than an hour south on highway #169. The plan is to tour at your leisure and afterwards enjoy lunch at a local restaurant.

This is the Kick-Off of the 2016-2017 Senior Season. Thursday, September 15, 2016. Sign up now. Questions? Check with Lorraine Besonen.

Oink – how about that pig!?

Reads return to East Asia Prayer Requests:

1. All the last minute packing and goodbye details to get completed well and on time,

given our Aug. 18-20 departure day.

2. To quickly find a new home to rent, close to the girls’ school, near a university and

convenient to the subway.

3. For God to lead us to the students and working professionals that He wants us to

develop relationships with and for their hearts to be open to hearing the good news.

4. For a good transition back to East Asia. We desire to find a community of believers for

support and for the girls to find likeminded friends.

The Reads began sensing God’s plan for them to return to East Asia. They prayed and meditated on Scripture passages in daily devotions. God in miraculous ways cleared hurdles and provided storage for furniture, a car and miscellaneous other items that can’t make the journey to East Asia.

A letter from a friend of a friend of a friend announced employment for Phil so that he could apply for a work visa. Via friends who had connections in the city where the Reads are to live, temporary but immediate housing has been provided. The list goes on; truly they serve (and we serve) a God of miracles. God has a plan.

By the time you are reading this newsletter, the Reads have reached their destination. A pilot friend provided four stand-by tickets. The Reads’ commitment is to serve for five more years. Pray for them. Pray beyond the requests mentioned above. Pray that the Joy of the Lord may be their strength!

Phil, Megan, Sarah and Cindy Read Carla (Cindy’s sister), Lorraine and Aunt Elaine (Lorraine’s sister)

House Number 11: Maryin

Nicole the gringa

Two weekends ago I was a part of a unique house build. Instead of a full house, we built an extra room onto a family’s already

existing house. This was special also because YWAM already had a relationship with this family because we had met them through our kids’ ministry called Circulo Andante.

During the two days we were building, I spent a lot of time with the older daughter of the family, who is called Maryin. She is six years old and has a wonderfully innocent heart. She is sweet and caring. She wants to be with you and know you.

Little girls like her are part of the reason that I love building houses. I hope this post helps you experience a little bit of why I love doing

what I do. Until next time, Nicole

Dear Friend,

summer is the time of change. How we are

spending these two months can have big

impact on the rest of our lives. Who are we

going to meet during these two months? Are

we spending summer at home or are we

travelling a lot? Whom/What are we going to

dedicate our heart to?

During summer 2001 I got to know Jesus

personally, during summer 2004 I heard His

calling to make disciples, during summer

2005 I spent 2 months in Canada, where God

taught me that He is enough. During other summers I fell in love, saw beautiful new places, laughed with friends... At

the end of summer 2012 I got married and last summer we moved for 3rd time.

You and I have another summer ahead of us. I wish this summer would make it to the list of summers to remember. I

want to remember it as a summer when I got to know Christ even more, when I fell in love with Him even more and

when I was obedient to Him every day.

I wish you, dear friend, and I wish to myself to experience

summer of good and obedient decisions in peace and

beauty of His presence.

Last small group of the School year

When I asked my girls what they would like to do for the last special small group

of the school year they easily agreed on Bubbleology. Of course, I had no idea

what they are talking about as usually when I am in the world od 14-years

old:) But we went, I tried for the first time in my life the tea with bubbles and we

said goodbye to the old school year big style.

Last small group More like

Jesus

It is a great joy to lead these

girls, to see how they love

Jesus and want to be more like

HIM. At our last small group

we talked about Stewardship

of relationships - how to

invest into them.

School of leaders Graduation

School of leaders successfully finished another school year. Students wrote tests, presented their final papers. On

Sunday we welcomed the parents for celebrating Graduation and together we rejoiced about what God has done

throughout the year. Our prayer is that these young leaders will walk as Jesus walked and make disciples

wherever they go. Here you can have a look on the pictures.

European Leadership Forum

At the end of May Daniel and I participated at conference - ELF. Together with my colleagues from Josiah

Venture I taught at Youth ministry network.

It was great opportunity to share about what Lord is doing about young generation in Slovakia. It was also great

opportunity to learn new things.

There will be one kingdom...

We are preparing Obišovce youth camp with theme of Kingdom. On the

team there are many different people from different churches, from 14 till

28 years old - but all of us are excited to share gospel with the new

students. Please pray with us for open hearts.

Inspiration

Summer is amazing opportunity to invest into discipleship

relationships. I am not thinking about another small group with teaching, I am thinking about something far more

easier. Are you going to the cinema? Invite your disciples. Do you have a free day? Call them and ask them what

they would like to do and then do it together, whatever that may be. Just spend time together and build

relationships.

Please pray with us for

• English camps in Slovakia

• Daniel - to have wisdom to lead English camps

• Follow-up after English camp in Prešov - so that students may grow even more in knowing Christ

• younger small group - so that girls will use summer wisely

• investing into good relationships

• our house-to-be - so that it may always serve God's purposes

LBF Bible Camps 2016

Camp Pastor: Bruce Bergstedt

The theme of this year's camps was "Taste and See!"

The theme verse was Psalm 34:8. "Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"

at Wood Lake Bible Camp June 29-July 3 and Lahti Retreat Center July 27th – 31st

WLBC Directors: Ben & Libby Bergstedt

LRC Directors: Troy & Julie Sunnarborg

Sam & Amanda Kilpela

Family Style Dining and family style study

groups @ WLBC

Nine Square

Praise & Worship

Bonfires

Taste & See

Future Campers

Taste & See

God Bless you Alex Walters on your

Confirmation. July 10, 2016

Game Night on August 4th

A Challenging game of Croquet. Fun had by all.

PLC held VBS August 8th – 12th “Growing with Our Faithful God”