A Newsletter of the Churches of Christ in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
LET THE BIBLE SPEAK (LTBS)
Check out the web page on the internet! The month of June was very good for web traffic. The number of visits increased as well as unique visitors. What that means is there were more individuals checking the web page. For example, once I go to the web page at the beginning of the month, I am counted as a visit. I am not counted again each time I visit. As the number of unique visits increase, we know we are picking up new visitors!
All of our TV broadcasts are available on the web in video, audio and text format. We are developing a rather large archive of lessons available to the public. Each lesson is recorded with a title and brief description of content. Guests to the web page are able to browse through the titles and look for topics of interest. We have hundreds of lessons including TV, Escanaba church and IMK church.
The program has been receiving requests and feedback. In June there were 5 requests for Bibles; 4 Correspondence Courses; 6 studies in Romans and Revelation; and 3 DVD lessons.
ESCANABA (ESC)
Our bylaws were completed in June. To continue as a nonprofit entity, we needed to approve a reestablish the governing principles for the ESC church. The initial group wrote the bylaws in 1959 to be in force for a period of fifty years. Brother Wesley Hawley was one of the men involved in that first set of bylaws as they organized the church. Now, a little over fifty years later, his daughter, Phyllis Hazen, is an active member of the church!
Friends & Family Day is going to be held in August this year. This will be a Sunday of inviting folks to church and to spend the afternoon cooking out, games and fellowship on the church grounds.
In July, we begin a new series of lessons in ESC. The lessons began with a question: How should we interact with those not living in accord with the truth of God’s Word?
I’m not the only one who struggles with relationships. There are those in marriage relationships with non-believers. Some have family members who have turned from the faith and no longer associate with the church. There are those who no longer associate with our church for a variety of reasons and are now attached to a denominational church. What about those who still associate with the church but do not live according to the pattern given us in the New Testament (NT)? Have I touched on an area in which you are affected? Most likely.
There is a need for us to look more closely at our relationships. The Lord has provided direction through the apostle’s teaching. We’ll begin looking into this area of teaching in July. Our lessons will be recorded and made available on the web page, www.letthebiblespeak.net, in audio and text format. If you do not have access to high speed internet, these lessons can be sent to you in the mail. Call the church office at 906-233-0065. Here is a list of the seven lessons we plan to present.
Discipline in the Church Part 1 & 2
Disfellowship Assumes Fellowship Exists
Christians Who Leave Us
Family Exemption?
Living in Sin
Grace Greater Than Sin
If you’re traveling through the UP this summer, we hope you’ll stop and visit one of the UP congregations! The encouragement we receive from faithful Christians dropping by should never be underestimated. You can find out more about addresses and contact numbers at the end of this newsletter. Submitted by davegrant@att.net
HANCOCK
I am happy to tell you that we have had a wonderful vacation! We enjoyed our stay with Jillena, and the graduation ceremony and Open House for Abby, our granddaughter. And we were pleasantly surprised when Kel Rende, our deceased daughters husband, and his present wife, Julie, showed up at the Open House. So, we had a good visit with them, as well as all the family! Then we proceeded to Kentucky to visit the Creation Museum. Then we traveled to Maryland, to see Otha and Caryn Thorton and their family. We enjoyed attending the Laurel Church of Christ with them, and were blessed to share in a potluck meal with them. We also spend time sight seeing in Washington D.C.
We talked to Kathy Archambeau, about how services went here while we were gone. While there were only four present the first Sunday, and ten the next, she said that Rob Washeleski and Jared Phillips did very well at leading the services. This is of special significance for me to know that there are those in the congregation who really “own” the responsibility for doing things in our absence. It helps me feel that when the time comes that I am no longer here, they will carry the church into the future!
So Lutricia and I are ack to work here, and very grateful to all of you for your continuing prayers and support. With you as our partners, we intend to keep on keeping on preaching the gospel in this community! Please keep the prayers and support coming so we can! Praise the Lord!
Lots of love, Dan & Lutricia Skaggs
MARQUETTE
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings from the Lord's church that meets along the shores of Lake Superior. As I write to you I am still touched by what happened last night at our Wednesday fellowship. We had invited a man to come and speak to us about the persecution Christians are facing in Pakistan. Faras Mukhtar who operates a non-denominational Christian school in Pakistan shared with us the dangers believers in Jesus face there every day. He showed pictures of burned out villages, burned Bibles, coffins of Christians and individuals badly burned by the Muslims. The country is 98% Muslim and is therefore politically, economically and judicially controlled by them. Many people are forced to work in brick making factories making around four to five dollars a day. Faras has received many threats against himself and his family for telling the truth about Jesus. Yet we were all inspired to hear how this man of faith continues to try to make a change in his country by teaching Christian and Muslim children, side by side in the Christian school he is the principal of. He understands that it is only the love of Christ that will make change possible. It was very quiet in the auditorium that night as he shared with us what it is like to be a Christian in that part of the world today.
This fourth of July as we celebrate the many freedoms we enjoy in this country I am thankful to God that I am living here where we can assemble together to worship God, study His Word, preach the Gospel over the television airwaves every Sunday on "Let The Bible Speak" and live our lives of faith without fear of someone killing us because we follow Jesus. Sometimes we think we have it tough till you hear what others have to go through. Please pray for the church in Pakistan and around the world and be sure to tell somebody about Jesus this week while you are still free to do so. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Love in Christ, Jim & Pam Larsen yooperman@charter.net
LET THE BIBLE SPEAK (LTBS) TV & Web Ministry
Greetings from the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan! Thank you so much for your continuing support of the TV Ministry and the congregations of the UP. The TV audience was 9,700 viewers as we transitioned from winter to spring this year. Traditionally, the audience goes down in the summer months. We are praying for those viewers to continue strong through the summer.
Special promos and advertising is always helpful in increasing the audience. One way we hope to develop this avenue is through web presence. Our thirty-second promos (commercials)are on TV, bit we are going to begin running them on the web page as well. The technology is already in place so additional costs will be minimal. Check it our at www.letthebiblespeak.net.
The responses for May included 6 Bibles and 4 Correspondence Courses. From the web page, www.letthebiblespeak.net, we had requests for 3 Bible studies and 2 DVD’s.
ESCANABA (ESC)
Hello friends! We are looking forward to a few activities this summer and early fall. We will be serving lunch in June for some folks in our community who are having a difficult time. Anyone who wants to have lunch is welcome. Many have found it hard to make ends meet during these hard economic times. Our involvement in the community lunch program allows a meal to be served every Saturday throughout the year. Our Sunday night SOS Ministry group will be involved in a Spaghetti Benefit Dinner for a family with a burden of health concerns. Their 4 year old son has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain stem tumor. Please pray for Cameron.
Friends & Family Day is going to be held in August this year. This will be a Sunday of inviting folks to church and to spend the afternoon cooking out, playing games and fellowship on the church grounds.
September promises to be a good month with a three-day Gospel Meeting conducted by Jerry Robertson from the Atlanta, Michigan church. Jerry will present lessons Sunday, Sept.12 through Tuesday, Sept.14. He will also join Jim Larsen and I in taping two TV Specials on Let the Bible Speak.
If you’re traveling through the UP this summer, make it a point to worship with one of the UP congregations. It is so encouraging to have brothers and sisters visit with us! You can find out more about addresses and contact numbers at the end of this newsletter. Submitted by davegrant@att.net
HANCOCK
The Spring semester has ended now at Tech, so the students who don’t live here have departed. One is going to make a visit to England, another to China, during the summer break. But Rob Washeleski is continuing to work toward his doctorate degree here. He has agreed to take of services here the two weekends we will be away.
Last Saturday we had just gone to bed when the phone rang and a man asked me what time our services would be the next morning. It turned out that it was Mario and Danielle Lopez and their children from Illinois. Mario’s grandfather lives in Mexico, and he start the church of Christ in the town where he lives. Mario waited on the Lord’s supper for us and led two of our songs as well. They attended Bible classes, which gave us an opportunity to get to know them better. They came up here to attend the graduation of Danielle’s brother from Michigan Tech. Having them in our services helped fill the gaps left by our departing students.
We will never forget the day in Saigon, Vietnam, when there was knock at the door, and we were greeted by several local college students. They asked us if it would be too much trouble for us to study the bible with them. Needless to say, we had some good studies with them and resulted in their being baptized into Christ, and becoming members of the church of Christ there. I mention it here, because it was a once and a lifetime experience being approached in this way by people in the local community. As I read the reports of the other congregations in the UP in the NFMN, I don’t think this kind of thing occurs in our ministries either. But all of us continue to do all that we can to find those in our communities who are willing to hear the gospel! We appreciate so much your continuing support and prayers for our efforts here! Please keep them coming!
Lots of love, Dan & Lutricia Skaggs
IRON MOUNTAIN-KINGSFORD (IMK)
We are greatly encouraged with the arrival of Ed and Georgia Mathews from Abilene, Texas. They have journeyed to the far north to work with the IMK church for the summer. Ed and Georgia just celebrated 50 years of marriage! They are an example in their lives and in their teaching!
We are planning an area wide singing for June 13th. The singing will take place at America’s Best Inn on US 2. The singing will begin at 2 pm CST followed by a lunch. If it is convenient, we encourage you to bring a dessert to pass. Hope to see you all there.
We meet Sundays @ 2:00 P.M. (central) for Bible class, followed by Worship service at 3:00 P.M. Our Thursday Bible class begins at 6:00 P.M. If you are in the area we would love to have you join us. We are located on the corner of Pyle Dr. and N. Balsam in Kingsford. The building is shared with Donna’s dance studio.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Greetings once again, from the congregation that meets near the shores of Lake Superior. We have been enjoying an extremely warm and early spring U.P. here and are thankful for the very nice weather we had for this year’s eighth annual men’s retreat, which we hosted out at our camp. We had a little lighter turnout than usual, but the twenty or so men that came had a great time and were challenged by the lessons shared by brother Sam Pace, from Otisville. We were encouraged as men to “Step Up To The Plate” and take on our responsibilities as the spiritual leaders of our family and the Lord’s church.
Starting in July we will be running a “summer series” on Wednesday nights where different men from the congregation will take turns teaching a class focusing on different characters from the Bible. We start off with the first part of the lesson geared toward the children. Then after they are dismissed to go and work on a craft to go along with the lesson we focus on the adults. We did this last summer and it was a very positive experience for all involved. This gives me a bit of a break from teaching on Wednesday nights and also gives an opportunity for other men to spend time preparing and then delivering a lesson. We are all looking forward to it.
We continue to thank God for His abundant grace as we try to serve Him here. We are also thankful for all of you and your continued prayers and support. If you are vacationing in the U.P. this summer we hope you will make time to visit one of the local congregations of the Lord’s church. We are always encouraged by our visitors. God bless you all. Love in Christ, Jim & Pam Larsen, yooperman@charter.net
NORTH DELTA
Greetings from the Lord's Church in N. Delta. When I started preaching here in N. Delta I only thought about preaching the Good News and how exciting and fulfilling that would be. At the time I didn't consider what else that meant I would be doing, like funerals, weddings, hospital visits, calls in the middle of the night, family problems both Church and individual families, the building up keep and such. And the list goes on. What I study for and want to be doing the most I do less and those things that I would rather do less or not at all I do more. But that does seem to be the way it is in a small congregation. As Paul would say 1Co 9:23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. So the Lord's work continues as we try and meet the needs of this community with the Truth and Love of God. Sara and I will be traveling to Milan, MI. in June to fellowship with the Church there. We are getting ready for our VBS/ Mission week with the Gateway Congregation in August. We are looking into the mass mailing of House to House Heart to Heart in our area. If anyone has any thoughts on this or something similar I would appreciate your input. As always we truly are in need of and appreciate your prayers and support. For the N. Delta Congregation, Richard Wert 906-235-0928
Upper Peninsula Congregations
ESCANABA 5079 18th Rd. PO Box 751 Escanaba, MI 49829; Minister: Dave Grant (Bonnie) (906) 233-0065
HANCOCK 1023 4th St. Hancock, MI 49930; Minister: Dan Skaggs (Lutrica) (906) 482-8704
IRON MTN-KINGSFORD 405 N. Balsam St. Kingsford, MI 49802 Contact: Stuart Ward (Karen) (906) 779-9477
MARQUETTE1104 W Fair Ave PO Box 372, Marquette, MI 49855; Minister: Jim Larsen (Pam) (906) 226-2310
MENOMINEE 4601 10th St PO Box 183 Menominee, MI 49858 Minister: Tyrren Yates (Cindy) (906) 863-7179
NEWBERRY 13219 Hwy. M-28 P.O Box 513, Newberry, MI 49868 Contact: Ron Seaberry (906) 293-3451
NORTH DELTA 16056 U.S. Hwy 41 Rapid River, MI 49878; Minister: Richard Wert (Sara) (906) 235-0928
SAULT ST. MARIE 201 W. 8th Ave., Sault St. Marie, 49783; Contact: Keith Bumstead (906) 632-9495
IRON MOUNTAIN-KINGSFORD (IMK)
