Moving Forward

Hi,

Remember there will be a Special Announcement in worship this weekend?!
I hope you are seeing God's blessings in your life this summer. If you haven't, stop in sometime during the week at The Point and we will be able to show and share with you a great number of blessings that God has poured out on us.
Here are some things to keep you up-to-date and in the loop.
The TPOG garden is going great guns. Thanks to Nick and Diana and everyone else who has been able to water and nurture along the garden. A reminder that the food from this garden will go to help prepare meals here at The Point and also to help fill the stomach's of the homeless and those in need. What a cool labor of love!
The small group Bible studies continue to meet. The men's group meets on Tuesday mornings at 8 at The Roast (Maryland and Locust). The women's group meets at The Point Friday morning at 10. The book study, Essential Church?, finished up last night with a list of things for us to do here at The Point to improve on the already vibrant ministry that Jesus is giving us to do.
The two committees (building and no building) are about to wrap up their work and give us their final reports.
Through the generosity of the Antioch Foundation, we are working with Cornerstone Stewardship Ministries so that we are sure to be on the right path so that God's kingdom may come to us and to many others.
This Sunday we will continue to shoot the DVD to let people know what is going on at The Point. So be sure to come and bring a friend or two as well. As a part of this endeavor, we will have a cookout beginning at 5 pm.
I have a special prayer request for Kale Donovan. Kale is the nephew of Hannah Kunz (Marquette). Kale is about three weeks old. He was born with Zellweger Syndrome. He has already had a number of surgeries. I ask you to join me in prayer that God would turn our worry, concern, and fear into JOY! And that God's love would fill and lift up the hearts and lives of the Donovan's and the Kunz' families. Thanks.
Remember: There will be a Special Announcement at worship this weekend! I'll see you at 10:30 or 6:30.

Have a great day with Jesus!

Bill

His Grace Our Hope

Hi,

This weekend we will be continuing our teaching series on the Lord's Prayer entitled, "His Grace Our Hope." Our specific emphasis this weekend is "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." It is going to be really cool to see what God's will is for our lives. Worship times are 10:30 am or 6:30 pm. this Sunday.

This Saturday is the 4th of July. As we celebrate our independence with cookouts, fireworks and fun I encourage you to celebrate safely. And as we celebrate our nation freedom, please don't forget to celebrate our freedom won for us by Jesus Christ. Feel free to go nuts over this one. It's going to last forever!

I already had two really cool meetings this week. One with Tom Trapp, the campus pastor at UW and one with Dan Oberer, pastor at Hope in Farmington, MN. What a neat thing to explore God's Word and ministry with these two guys. Keep them, their families and their ministries in your prayers. Just a reminder you can send your prayer requests to pray@tpog.net.

Mike Westendorf is back after two mini-tours, one to southwestern Minnesota and one to the Pacific Northwest. It is amazing what God will do as we make it our goal not to bless ourselves but to bless others. When you get a chance, talk with Mike. He has more than one "God story" to share.

As pastor at The Point, I want to thank all of you for all that you do to make The Point a place where Jesus meets all people. I hope you are enjoying the journey as much as I am! It is so great an honor to be connected with you and God's ministry here at The Point.

I have to share with you a YEAH GOD moment. I received a phone call yesterday (Tuesday) informing us that The Point of Grace is the recipient of an award: The 2009 Best of Milwaukee Place of Worship. Join with me in shouting - YEAH GOD!

A reminder to wrap up: The DVD focusing on The Point of Grace will be shot on Sunday, July 12. We will be having a cook out at 5 pm and follow that up with our worship service.

See you at worship!

Bill

Summer Activity

Hi,

Another week and it is the same thing - blessed by God beyond measure! God's blessings are truly remarkable and more the sands of the seashore. Why not take a momnet to write down or think of ten of those blessings?
Our men's small group met yesterday (Tues.) and Book study group meets tonight at 6, and the women's small group meets this Friday at 10 am.
TPOG staff is busy preparing for the upcoming school year:
* planning the freshman welcome
* planning the the beginning of the semester picnic
* making brochures
* contacting students
* praying
* tables and banners in the union
* etc
We can't wait!
Did you know we have three souls currently in the Exploring Christianity?!
Summerfest starts tomorrow (Thursday) with the Big Bang Fireworks Display. Have you signed up on Facebook yet?
This weekend our morning worship will be led by Brian Diring. Thanks Brian. I will be back for the evening worship. In the morning I will be helping out in the worship at Trinity in Dundee. It is a part of the Dundee Dash. If it is half as fun as last year it will be great. Give thanks to God in prayer for Trinity has been and is a tremendous supporter of TPOG.
On Monday Pastor Tom Trapp and I will meet and do some planning in the afternoon and then we will "force ourselves to go to the Brewers game." Oh, well :)
God's blessings on your week!
Bill

Hi Everyone,

I have to tell you, I am and we are just so blessed. The ministry that God is doing with and through us is nothing short of WOW. Let me give you a little glimpse:
June 16
7:15am The Greater Milwaukee Area Chapter of WELS Kingdom Workers met here at The Point. The meeting focused on the ministries that they support (we are on of them). Talk about Christ centered people. I was honored to give a devotion which highlighted God the Father and his undeserved love for his wayward children. I used the parable of the prodigal son and talked about how the prodigal son was content to be a slave for his father, but his father was not content that he be a slave but that he be his son. I also talked about baptism and how God didn't just clean up our name in baptims but that he gave us his name in baptism.
10:00 am I had a tele-conference with Faith Highways which really struck a chord with me on getting really intentional in all that we do but especially in outreach.
11:00 am I had a teleconference with Pastor Dan Oberer from Farmington, MN. We are studying the Lord's Prayer together as we get ready to start our new teaching series, "His Grace . . . Our Hope." The conversation was in depth and a lot of fun. Pastor Dan is doing great work in Farmington!
2:00 pm I met with Jeff Davis from Cornerstone Stewardship Ministry. He took some notes on what we are doing and is looking for ways to help us accomplish our goals and provide resources so that we can accomplish our goals. (I also have to tell you that the Antioch Foundation - one of our greatest earthly supporters, if not our greatest earthly supporter is so gracious that they are taking care of the expenses of this assistance. Yes, they also pray for us big time, too!)
4:15 pm I begin to reflect on the four meetings that I had and how God was just so present in everyone of them. I want you know we have tons of people who are supporting us, encouraging us and praying for us. God has sent an army of people to be with us.
Today, (Wednesday) is going to have fewer appointments. I will meet with our staff at 10:30 am. Then at 4 pm I will start our adult instruction class, "Exploring Christianity," with two students and then at 6 pm Essential Church? book study will meet at Noodles!
It is just one exciting opportunity after another. I hope you can get a sense of just how exciting this ministry that we are all a part of is.
Pray for Mike W. as he heads to Minnesota to Share the Hope!
Just a heads up: On July 12 we will be shotting a DVD to promote The Point of Grace Campus Ministry. The DVD shoot will begin around 4:30 with a grill out and continue through our worship that night.
God's blessings on the rest of your week. And if I don't see you before, I will see you this weekend for worship: "His Grace . . . Our Hope."

Only Jesus!

Hey Everyone,

Yesterday (Sunday) was phenomenal.  Little Oliver Nelson was baptized and brought into God's Kingdom!!   Congratulations to Marques and Corissa on the birth and rebirth of their son. Congratulations also to big brother Rivers.   

Yesterday, we sent Dong-Uk back to South Korea complete with a new and growing faith in Jesus Christ!  Keep Dong in your prayers as he continues his faith journey.

Sitting on my desk is $24K check from the Campus Ministry Committee to support us in our ministry.  Are you kidding me??  

We will have a Prayer Service tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 7 pm for Charlie Hohenstein and his family.  Charlie's father David was called home last Monday.  He now enjoys the glorious prize of eternal life in heaven.    The prayer service will be held at St. John's, Wauwatosa. Visitation with the family is from 5 - 7 pm.

I also had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with our brothers and sisters in Christ at Garden Homes Lutheran Church yesterday.  What a neat congregation!  

Tonight we share our love as we host "New Friends" beginning at 6:30.  You are more than welcome to come and have a great time with some of our developmentally disabled friends.  It truly is a remarkable time.  

Our first small group Bible study also begins tonight at 6:15!

For more information on Heavenly Harvest our Community Garden contact Diana Mount at chocolate_hug @yahoo.com.  This is cool!!

The book study on Essential Church? is this Wed. at 6 pm.  

I will also be at WLC for District Convention Tuesday and Wednesday.

Friday I have a wedding rehearsal and Saturday the wedding!!

Thanks to our committees who are faithfully doing their work in the background.

Our message series "What if God really meant it" continues this Sunday.  

Only Jesus could bless us so much and give us so many opportunities to reach out.  God's blessings on your week.

Summer is in full swing!

Hi Everyone,

Can you believe it is already June? It seems like yesterday when we were sweating the papers and tests and now that is a distant memory. Summer jobs and activities are in full swing!

God has blessed us with many ministry opportunities this week as well. The house-fellows will be meeting tonight and will be deciding on activities for the rest of summer! The list looks great so be sure to keep up to date by either following the blog or checking in at tpog.net.

Did you hear? Steve Kopitzke and Shauna Gagnow are engaged!! God's blessings to you guys. We are really happy for you.

Did you know that Kwik Trip will soon be providing Karuba Coffee for The Point?! No more coffee by Bill, yeah. :)

In case you didn't know our church body's Campus Ministry Committee (CMC) is very active in supporting and encouraging the ministry that we do here at The Point. How cool it is to have people to lean on and to be encouraged by! Thanks CMC for all you do for all the campus ministries. :)

This weekend I will be preaching at Garden Homes Lutheran Church. I will be filling in for Pastor Jeremy Mattek. I will be able to use the hour in between the worship services to give a presentation on The Point of Grace. Pastor Buske from the Lighthouse is making sure our 10:30 morning service is covered. I will be back by noon because . . .
On Sunday after the 10:30 service we will have a farewell for Dong-Uk who will ge going back to South Korea. I thank God for Dong. What a special blessing he has been for us here at The Point. Please keep him in your prayers for the rest of your life. His Christian faith walk will certainly be different in South Korea than it has been here. Also, as you probably know, there are increased tensions with North Korea. Pray that Dong will be able to grow in his faith and share Jesus with his family and friends and many others in South Korea.

ESL will meet this Wed. at 5:30. So if you can come and share your language and your faith we will all have a blast.

Next week Wed. (June 10) at 6 pm the book study on Essential Church? will begin. I will grill some brats for supper and then we will spend about an hour discussing the introduction and first chapter. You can buy Essential Church? online or at any major bookstore.

Welcome back to Jerry and Starla Siegmann who were in Europe and Melissa Zellmer who was in Canada.

Our message series, "What if God really meant it?" will continue this Sunday at 6:30 pm.

Finally and very importantly, I do have another prayer request for you: The father of Charlie Hohenstein (our 6:30 pm drummer), passed away this morning as a result of a heart attack he suffered on Saturday. In addition to your own prayer for Charlie I ask that you would include his family and pray that they would be strengthened by the love of God. Thanks.
God's blessings to everyone this week!

Bill

Memorial Day and beyond

Hey Everyone,

What a neat day in our country! This Memorial Day I think back and think of all those who served in so many wars so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have. And I, of course, am thankful for those who are now serving our country at home and abroad. It is my prayer that we and all Christians will use the freedoms we have in this country to proclaim the freedom for captives that is only found in Jesus!

Our first book study this summer is going to be Essential Church? You can pick this book up at any major bookstore or online. It is written by Thom and Sam Ranier. The cover is just to the left. Our first meeting night will be June 10 at 6pm at The Point. We will have a grill out and then review the introduction and the first chapter of the book. This book brings us key information that we need to know and put into practice so that we can best share Jesus with our culture. If you are planning on being a part of this study, please e-mail at pastorbill@tpog.net, so we know how much food to prepare and so I can contact you personally with any up-dates that may be necessary. This book study is open to all!

In case you haven't heard - Paul Micheel has received his vicar call to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. God's blessings Paul, be sure to stay in touch - you will continue to be in our prayers.

Congratulations again to all of our graduates from UWM, MU, MSOE and WLC. God's blessings as you illustrate Christ in your various professions.

The campus ministry rally in Eau Claire was awesome!! College students from various ministries in the US met for three days and considered what it meant to Walk in the Light! I got back just in time to talk about Christ in College with Ryan Markgraf and Amber Frick at Grace, Downtown! What a deal!! I'm so blessed.

Nick and Diana have come up with a great idea - to have a community garden. If you want to take part in growing, eating and sharing food contact Nick or Diana at 414-455-8170. This is going to be a really cool way to get to know some of our neighbors, have some home grown food, and be able to donate to those who are in need.

President Mark Mattes and I will be meeting Tuesday to discuss a few aspects of our ministry. Did you know that Mark and I meet from time to time to keep the communication flowing and improve the ministry at The Point? Mark is such a great blessing for us at The Point. Be sure to keep Mark and his family in your prayers.

Speaking of praying, do realize there are many reasons to go to God in prayer. In prayer we can go to God with our praise, with our sins, with our thanks, and with our requests plus a whole lot more. Prayer is an awesome way to communicate with our loving God. If you want to be a part of our prayer team, contact abby at abby@tpog.net. Note: You do not have to be a part of the prayer team to pray. :)

This coming weekend we are continuing our series: What if God really meant it? We will at God saying, Remember the Sabbath day be keeping it holy.

God's blessings to you this week and always!

Bill