I hope you are all having a blessed week and finding moments to see God’s goodness in the world around you.

A few quick ministry updates for this week:

Our Wednesday evening study continues through Paul’s letters as we finish up 1 Timothy and move toward 2 Timothy in the coming weeks. It has been a great time of study and discussion together.

The Tuesday night young men’s study is also continuing through the book of Romans, and that time in the Word has continued to be encouraging.

On Sunday mornings, the young adult class has concluded its catholicism evaluation study, and we are moving on to the book of Malachi.

As mentioned in my last update, East River Bible Camp registration is open for June 21st-26th. The theme this year is “Fruit Full,” focusing on the fruit of the Spirit. Registration will close when we reach capacity or on June 12th, whichever comes first. You can register or order camp apparel at www.eastriverbiblecamp.com.

As always, I am thankful to be part of this church family. Grace and peace to you all as we serve the Lord together. You are loved and valued!

Good afternoon church family!

Wishing you all a happy fake spring as we bounce back and forth between extra cold days and the mid 80s! I hope you've been able to spend some time taking in creation regardless of the temperature. One of the most beautiful reminders in scripture is that of Romans 1:20: "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse". Seeing God in what He has made is blessing to all of us.

As for ministry work, we have started the process of planning for Momentum Conference 2027. The current dates we have set are April 2nd-4th, 2027. If you have any young adults in your life or in proximity to you, please encourage them to entertain attending or at least put it on their radar. It was a great blessing to those that attended this year and as Marcus had accurately stated while he was here: They're not the future of the church, they are the church now. I love that thinking and agree wholeheartedly!

We are continuing through Paul's letters on Wednesday evenings, currently residing in 1 Timothy. We will continue on through the end of 2nd Timothy in the coming weeks. It has been a great study and discussion, and I have really enjoyed digging in with you all.

During Tuesday night study, I am still working through the book of Romans with some young men from the greater upper midwest area. We have really enjoyed our time together each week in the word.

On Sundays, the young adult class is still working through our Catholicism evaluation. We are slowly wrapping up this subject matter and will be moving towards more of a textual study for our next section. The young adult class will have a "break" quarter at some point this year where we will spend a quarter in the main class on Sundays rather than split off. I am unsure which quarter that will be, but just to put it on the radar for any young adults that read these updates.

East River Bible Camp registration opened up on April 3rd and we already have around 55 people signed up. If you have kids interested in attending, please don't hesitate to get them registered early! The camp runs from June 21st-26th. The registration cutoff will be when we fill our capacity or June 12th, whichever comes first. This years theme is "Fruit Full" focused on the fruits of the spirit. Each year we also sell some t-shirts and sweatshirts pertaining to the theme. Those are open to anyone who would like to order, so please check it out if you'd like some faith based apparel to wear! www.eastriverbiblecamp.com

Lastly, we announced the Sioux Falls Church of Christ hub website for membrers a few weeks or months back. Just a reminder that there are a bunch of resources in there that will be helpful including a prayer board for prayer requests, announcements, podcast links, life groups, directory link, calendar and much more! I hope it can be a blessing to you as we seek to all stay connected to each other as much as possible!

As always, I am thrilled being a part of this body. Grace and peace to you all as we serve the Lord together. You are loved and valued!

Grace and peace to you all from the Father!

Good afternoon church family!

I hope you all survived April Fools day unscathed! For those of you who didn't, hopefully it was all in good fun.

This past weekend we hosted around 40 young adults at Momentum Conference. As it was our inaugural year, we were not sure what to expect, but what showed up was a group of young adults hungry to learn, grow, and study the word of God. We were privileged to have Marcus Stenson from the Leander Church of Christ as our keynote speaker. He and his wife arrived on Thursday afternoon and spent some considerable time with Clint, Zack, myself and Gary. We were blessed by the conversation and had a great chance to talk about the kingdom of God and ministry as a whole. The whole weekend was tremendous. We are already getting excited to plan Momentum Conference for 2027, God willing!

A couple weeks ago, we also had our first week visiting other congregations, starting with Vermillion. It was a great assembly followed by fantastic fellowship among brothers and sisters. I am looking forward to our next date down there and spending more time with them.

We are continuing through Paul's letters on Wednesday evenings. Currently, we are working through the pastoral letters and have covered Titus and chapter 1 of 1st Timothy. We will continue to work through 1st and 2nd Timothy in the coming weeks.

During Tuesday night study, we are still working through the book of Romans.

On Sundays, the young adult class is still working through our Catholicism evaluation. We will proceed through that for a few more months at most.

There are many exciting things happening in this body, and I am grateful to be a part of it! Thank you for all your support, love and encouragement as we proceed as the body together! Grace and peace to you all from the Father!

Hello church family,

I wanted to share a few updates on what has been going on and what is coming up in the life of the church.

As I mentioned previously, we have been looking for ways to strengthen relationships with other congregations in the region and help equip some of our own members to serve in various roles. One opportunity coming up soon is on March 22nd, when I will be heading down to worship with the Vermillion Church of Christ. I am looking for about 5–6 more people who would like to come along that Sunday to worship and fellowship with their body. If you are interested in joining us for that trip, please let me know. It is a great opportunity to encourage another congregation and spend time together with fellow believers.

On the technology side, I have continued working on the Church Hub app for our congregation. The goal of the app is to help keep the body connected, informed, and able to interact more easily with various ministries and opportunities within the church. I am continuing to make regular updates and improvements to it as we go so that it becomes a helpful tool for both members and leaders.

There has also been some preparation underway for East River Bible Camp. As the camp season approaches, there are a number of things that need to be organized and planned. We are beginning to work through some of those preparations so that things are ready to go when the time comes.

Our weekly studies are continuing as well. On Tuesday evenings we are working through the book of Romans, digging into Paul’s teaching and laying the groundwork for the themes he develops throughout the letter.

On Wednesday evenings we are continuing through Paul’s letters and journeys. Last week, we finished up the book of Colossians. If you have not been joining us on Wednesdays, I would really encourage you to consider it. It is a refreshing time in the middle of the week to pause, study the Scriptures, and spend time together.

On Sunday mornings, we are still working through the Catholicism class with the young adults, continuing to examine various teachings and compare them carefully with what Scripture says.

Lastly, Momentum Conference is coming up quickly, and I have been working on preparing my lessons and plans for the event. Please pray over the fruitfulness of the event and that we can encourage and build up the young adult age group through it!

Hello church family!

I mentioned in my last note that we would be starting to minister to a few other bodies in the region and train up some of our own in leading in various roles. We have established a schedule with the Vermillion Church of Christ, and we will be sending folks the fourth Sunday of every quarter to worship with their body and lead a gathering. Please reach out to me if you have any interest in being apart of the 10-12 people we will bring along. Not every person we bring will have a role in the service, but rather we also want to bring people along who would be interested in fellowshipping with the Vermillion body and being together.

We recently released a podcast episode on Marriage and its design biblically. There will be more parts to this discussion as it is such a robust topic. Please take a listen if you haven't already!

I've continued working on a church hub app to unite the local body both informationally and in interaction as well. There are many useful tools in it for organizers and leaders as well as opportunities to stay connected and up to date with what is going on in the church body. This will be available starting this coming Sunday, 2/22. I believe it will be of great benefit to the local body here.

On Tuesday evenings, we have started to study through the book of Romans. Last week we covered chapter 1 and established our footing for the rest of the book.

Wednesday evenings we are continuing through Paul's letters and journies. Currently we are working through the book of Ephesians. We have been in this book for a couple weeks now and will finish up this Wednesday with the armor of God. If you haven't considered attending on Wednesday's for bible study, please consider it! It is a refreshing refocus in the middle of the week.

Sunday mornings I am still working through a Catholicism class with the young adults. We have been studying various topics within that realm and really digging into the scriptures for what matches and what does not. We will continue that at least into the middle of this year.

Lastly, I have begun my preparation for a few teaching opportunities that are upcoming in the next month or two. One of these opportunities is Momentum Conference. We have announced this a few times, but I will toss it in here as well. Momentum Conference is an event geared towards 18-30 year olds focused on empowering them to pursue Jesus in their daily lives. Young adulthood is one of the most formative time periods of a Christian's life as he or she establishes their identity in Jesus and wrestles with figuring out where they fit in within the body. If you know an 18-30 year old that would benefit from attending, please encourage them to come. If you'd like more info, please go to https://siouxfallschurchofchrist.org/momentum. To register, please go to https://siouxfallschurchofchrist.org/register.

Grace and peace to you all!

Hello church family!

I'm very excited for all of the upcoming opportunites that we have in this local body. The past month or so has been a whirlwind of different subjects, so I will do my best to capture it below.

Right before Christmas, I welcomed my third child, a son named Bryar. It is always a sweet treat to return to infant parenthood, so my family has been delighted at his arrival. We have been supported in so many ways by so many people, whether it be meals or gift cards, prayers or an encouraging word. THANK YOU to each and every person that has supported us. We cannot express that enough. We have felt overwhelmingly loved.

As part of my responsibility as a minister, we decided that we wanted to offer opportunities for younger people to train up in their leadership as well as offer encouragement to any church bodies that would desire it. In October this past year, I reached out to a few bodies within 3 hours of the Sioux Falls area and offered them a group of 10-15 people that would come worship with them, preach, teach, and song lead for a Sunday. Two of the 3 bodies we communicated with accepted this offer. The frequency works out to a bout once per quarter per body, which will give plenty of opportunity to be together and also to train. I mentioned above that I will be trying to bring 10-15 people with each time, so if you are interested in providing this encouragement to another body, please let me know! We have some young men willing to teach, preach, encourage, and song lead and some young women who are willing to teach children's classes and encourage as well. I am looking forward to this opportunity to connect with other bodies in this way.

We are going on episode 22 of the podcast now, and it has been a great enjoyment for me to record and edit these. I think we are covering some great topics that are worthwhile to converse over. This past week and this upcoming week we tackle some of the ideas behind baptism, its purpose, and address some common views.

I've continued working on a church hub app to unite the local body both informationally and in interaction as well. There are many useful tools in it for organizers and leaders as well as opportunities to stay connected and up to date with what is going on in the church body.

On Tuesday evenings, I am still studying with a variety of young men from around the area. We are finishing up a deep dive on the book of Philippians and will be moving on to Romans next. It has been a fruitful study and I expect that to continue to be so.

Wednesday evenings we are continuing through Paul's letters and journies. This past week, we covered Philippians 1-2 and will cover 3-4 this week. It is a great book of encouragement and exhortation for the Philippian body and something we should resonate with as we study it. It has been a great study and I'd encourage you all to attend if you're able!

Sunday mornings I am still working through a Catholicism class with the young adults. We have been studying various topics within that realm and really digging into the scriptures for what matches and what does not. We will continue that at least into the middle of this year.

In between a lot of my study preparation, I spend considerable time with young men in this body in an effort to love and encourage them as they grow in their faith and pursue the life of a Godly man. I really cherish this time and am passionate about my care for them. If you could cover that in prayer whenever you think of me or these young men, I would greatly appreciate it.

Lastly, I want to finish my report with an offering of gratitude. What a privilege it is to serve in a way you've prayed for. What a privilege it is to serve a God who made a way. What a privilege it is to work for the sake of a kingdom that is far greater than we could ever imagine. Gratitude and thanksgiving are the fuel and life blood of a joyful and faithful heart.

Grace and peace to you all!

If you asked me if I feel old, in some ways I would say yes and some ways no. But the reality of life is that no matter how you feel, there are clues to your age. When you’ve got 4 kids and one of them is almost a teenager, there is a good chance you aren’t all that young. Combine that with having had the same career for 15 years, 10 of them with the same place and it becomes harder to deny you’ve aged. As I think back on my years though, one thing I relate well too that Zack mentioned in his post last week is that I am truly blessed.

I’ve had the privilege to work with two amazing congregations over my 15 years of ministry and as I continue working with you all I am regularly reminded of how blessed I am. This time of the year is one that often points out to us how loved we are and you all have shown that tremendously to me and my family. Thank you. Truly thank you.

As we get ready to move into the new year I want to share with you a little of what’s been going on and a little of what to expect going forward.

December is a bit of a crazy month with some of the extra stuff everyone has going on along with some of the fun things we have like the Christmas party. Over the last month or so a lot of my work has been teaching and preaching and prepping for both of those. There’s also been the occasional hospital visit thrown in as well.

We are continuing rolling through Luke in our sermon series. We are moving ever closer to the final events of the gospel and the culmination of the book. I’ve never done a series of this length but I have really enjoyed it and I hope you have as well.

We wrapped up a series in the Sunday morning class on money and what scripture says about it and are shifting gears into something that I hope will have an impact on us as we move into 2026: our connection to one another. The Bible is filled with one another’s and while we are likely fairly familiar with them they are really a huge part of living out your faith. So many of these things that we are called to engage in are in connection with people. If you missed the first lesson in our series this past Sunday, take a listen and pick up with us this Sunday.

With that in mind let me encourage you with this: start off the new year with a desire to be engaged in the life of the body of Christ. Maybe that’s you already and I would simply encourage you to continue to invest in that part of your life. If that’s not been you before, let me encourage you to seriously commit to it this year. While the relationships that you will gain from it are amazing that isn’t all this is about. So many of those one another passages require us to truly know each other. Additionally, something we talked about on Sunday is clear: when we are present, the body is operating with part of what it needs. Committing to engagement and involvement this year isn’t just good for you but for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

I will end with simply saying that I hope your 2026 starts off great! It’s an exciting time to be part of the body of Christ here in Sioux Falls!

Depending on your view of snow, we've either had a couple of great weekends or a couple of awful ones. The last two Sundays have been filled with snow and sometimes some challenges in meeting together. Like some of you may have experienced, we had a little trouble after that first snow with getting up the drive to the building. With a running start off of Southeastern we were able to make it. It definitely makes for some interesting experiences.

Things have been a little bit unusual for me over the last couple of weeks with the holiday and then not preaching for two Sundays. I appreciate the messages that Zack and Mack have brought to us and the opportunity it gives me to listen to a message and consider my own life.

That being said, starting this coming Sunday and going throughout the end of the year, I will be back in the pulpit. The plan is to keep rolling through Luke with our focus this coming Sunday being on the prediction of Jesus' death and what the Old Testament scriptures have to say about that. In the midst of that series, I'm also in a Sunday class series on wealth and possessions. Yesterday our focus was on the warnings about greed and countering that with contentment. We will continue that series this Sunday. Outside of those areas, I'm wrapping up a study on 1 John with the Zoom Bible study that is on Monday nights.

Before I close out, I'd like to look ahead to the beginning of 2026. As we inch closer to the new year, it's often a time for reflection and for considering changes or areas that we want to grow in. Let me encourage you to take some time over the next couple of weeks to do a little of that reflecting. Even if you aren't a fan of new year's resolutions, I think it is beneficial for us to stop and look at our lives and consider any areas where we need to grow.

Have a great week!

Good Morning Church!

Things have been busy lately. Our congregation has experienced some tremendously exciting things recently. I may have already said this but the last year has been extremely blessed and God has been doing some amazing things. Over the last month or so we had another string of baptisms, 5 or so if I remember right. It's always encouraging to see people responding to Jesus. In addition to that, we have been enjoying a consistent stretch of close to 200 people on Sundays. While the number itself is exciting, what I think is important to see is that people are still inviting others to join us; that visitors are continuing to find their way here; that people are making it a priority to be together as we worship our God and encourage one another. Our goal isn't about numbers alone but as we continue to have full Sundays, it's encouraging to see how God is at work in this congregation.

But that isn't the only way we can see life and growth in the congregation. Sundays and Sundays alone wouldn't tell us the full picture. When you start looking at the calendar and considering all that is going on, it's a great reminder of the many people who are part of this body that are seeking Jesus. Between our fellowship groups, potlucks, 4th Sunday Fellowships, service projects, ice cream fellowships, youth, men's and women's Bible studies, and even more than I've listed, I am reminded that this body is concerned with the right things. Being together, growing together, and being a light in this world as we follow Jesus. It's a pleasure to work with the church here.

One of the things that has been a really enjoyable part of work lately is the podcast. It's been a lot of fun to join Mack and Zack in conversations about a range of different issues. Having Lucas on the podcast recently was a blast as we got to reconnect with him and hear about all that was going on. I know I am a little biased but I would encourage you to take some time and check out the podcast.

As for my regular work of preparing sermons and classes, things are rolling along pretty well. We will be looking at the account of the rich young ruler this week, a text that really makes us consider how we view wealth. I'm currently also working through a study on Monday nights with a group on Zoom over the book of 1 John. And on Sunday mornings during the Bible class we've been looking at the Lord's Supper in greater detail. We will be switching gears likely this week or next.

Good morning! I try to communicate my thankfulness intentionally and often, so I will start again with that here! Thank you to all of you members of the church body for your support in this work that I get to do for the sake of the kingdom. The encouragement and support means the world! I tell my wife often that I feel an even greater sense of fulfillment and purpose every moment I get to serve this body and the Lord's church!

On Sunday mornings in my young adult class, we are still working through the study on Catholicism. We are shifting gears into the apologetics surrounding each belief structure and working through scripture to support or refute certain beliefs. We've had roughly 10-15 young adults join us on any given Sunday, which has been great!

In my Tuesday study with young men from around the area, we are continuing to study through the book of Philippians and having some impromptu discussions on what it looks like to be godly men in the roles that have been designed for us.

On Wednesdays we are continuing to work through Paul's missionary journies and the letters he had written. This past week we covered Paul's 2nd missionary journey, and next week we will cover his third missionary journey before entering into another letter!

I feel as though Clint, Zack, and I have settled into the flow of recording and releasing the Beyond Sunday podcast episodes. We've had tons of great discussion and reasoning even beyond what is recorded on the mic. I've made sure to sneak some bloopers out of our audio that someday may see the light of day, but I'll keep them under wraps for now.

This past Saturday, a group of us attended a men's day at the Albert Lea Church of Christ and it was a fantastic event. Bob Turner (some of you may remember him from the leadership seminar we did a few years back) was the main speaker, and he offered up some great insight on training up the next generations of leaders in the Lord's church. We had some great fellowship with believers from portions of Iowa, Albert Lea, and other Minnesota locations as well as great fellowship on our drive to and from the event.

Please continue to pray over the work of this local body, that souls may be reached for the sake of the kingdom. Knowing the Father and His son and having His spirit is such a blessing and a gift. There is no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth! (3 John v. 4)

Grace and Peace!

It’s a drizzly day outside, and days like this are the best days to sit in a coffee shop and write a minister’s update. As I write this I’m sitting in the Westside Coffea, which has become my a pay-as-you-go office, and I’m staring out the window at the trees. Two of those trees have turned red and two are just turning yellow. If my wife were writing this, she would say they are some fancy word like burgundy and old dog-tooth yellow. I don’t even know what burgundy is. I think it might be reddish. It must be reddish or sorta purple. It’s a true mystery known only to my wife. I’m totally positive I just made up old dog-tooth yellow. Someone should make a crayon of that and send me a million dollars royalty.

When I stare out at those rainy trees I wonder things like, ‘I suppose the leaves didn’t change before the fall of mankind…’ ‘Was there harsh winter in the world then?…’ ‘I suppose not with the mist blanketing the atmosphere…’ ‘There definitely wasn’t rain then -that didn’t come until after the flood’ (Genesis 2:5-6)… ‘The world is even beautiful after the fall of man….’ Then maybe I come up with a lame pun like ‘the fall gave us fall.’ And that’s how I spend several hours per week: sitting at the coffee shop staining my shirt up and staring out the window like in a trance, almost drooling. I usually come in and open a Bible and some book and a computer, and I spread out my battle station on the varnished tree stump table next to the squishy seats. I usually read something, and then the drooling commences. And that’s how I study the Bible.

Tanner Minson has been at my house for the last week and a half. He’s come all the way up from Oklahoma to preach and teach with the Tyler church, after visiting with them earlier this year. Being impressed with their devotion, and the potential that he saw there, he decided this was a church that He really wanted to work with. To make a long story short, several months later he crash landed in South Dakota during the wee hours of Saturday morning. It was about 2:30 AM when I got a call that he broke down at the Canton exit on I90. Mack and I drove down there to see what could be done, and we wound up having his 300,000+ mile truck towed back to my place, along with a small tow-behind Uhaul trailer.

How much faith does a man have to have to drive 10 hours with all of his possessions in a 300,000 mile truck to work for a church with no set promise of financial support and no home? He’s young and sturdy and full of the kind of faith that is written about in Hebrews 11. I like this fella. What will He do in his lifetime? If he continues taking leaps of faith like this, God will surely do something good with Him. We discuss scripture and ministry ’til midnight some nights, and I can definitely say he needs to be preaching. And of course I have introduced Tanner to his new office at Coffea. He sits in the cubicle next to me.

Since arriving, God has opened the storehouses of heaven for him. Tanner got a really decent full time position working with Wes Crum at a company that manages hog farms, his offer on a small house in Tyler was just accepted (it sold for a whopping $38,000), and he is going to start out in a vocational ministry position with the church there. Wes is his boss and has said that he can go down to half time as church work picks up and he arranges for more financial support. It’s almost a perfect setup. Jesus sat on the mount and told his disciples and the crowds, “Seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). It’s a promise that, due to our flesh, we don’t always fully embrace. But as much as we embrace it, we get to see God’s power and blessing in a very real way.

We also got to see God’s power and blessing in a very cool way this Sunday as three souls put on Christ in baptism. It seems like conversions come in bunches, and we are in the next round of them. I expect to see more. There are other ongoing Bible studies with seekers as well as foundational discipling studies with those recently baptized, our members are bringing family and friends to know Jesus, and I see a lot of conviction coming over people at a rate I haven’t seen in my life of ministry so far. We are not traveling over land and sea to make a single convert (Matthew 23:15); they’re coming in like sheep looking for pasture. They’re coming out of a disturbing and confusing world looking for some solid truth to anchor their souls. Whether they know it or not, they’re looking for a Shepherd.

If you want to help these new brethren, do something that three ministers and two Elders can’t do fully: show them what it looks like to be part of a church whose hearts have been “knit together in love” (Colossians 2:2) Welcome every new Christian. Learn their name. Invite them to your homes. Invite them out to lunch. Get to know them so that you can encourage them. Sacrifice your time and money and a bit of your private life to show them how disciples of Christ think and live. God will bless you in doing this.

God give us shepherd hearts to help these souls walk the narrow path that leads to life.

This is Zack signing out.

We are entering into a pretty busy timeframe for the church and it’s exciting to see all the things that are going on. If you are wanting to get plugged in to the church here, now is a great time to do so.

We are starting to get into a bit of a groove with Mack on the team and over the last few weeks we’ve been able to record several podcasts that will release in the weeks ahead. You can look forward to a couple of conversations between Mack and I on connecting with young people and impacting generations and then another conversation with all three of us on the theme of sacrifice that flows throughout scripture.

As far as my preaching and teaching responsibilities are concerned, we’ve made our way through chapters 15 and 16 of Luke over the last few weeks. A lot of the conversation has connected with the topic of money. I hope the words of Jesus have caused you to think about not only what we have or even how we use it but even how we think about it. In our culture, Jesus’ words are just as needed as ever. As we move forward over the next few weeks you can expect to see a couple more well known sections combined with some things that don’t get that much attention.

On Monday nights, the Zoom study I lead is continuing to move through the letters of the New Testament. We are getting near the end of the book of James and will be moving on to Jude and then 1 John. The Thursday night men’s study has been looking through Colossians and we are getting near the end of that book. I’ve also been working on a lesson for an opportunity I have to teach in ND in November on the topic of “Holiness in the Epistles.”

As far as other work going on, I’ve had the opportunity to study or meet with different members of the congregation recently and have really enjoyed that. If you’d ever like to grab lunch or just want to sit and talk scripture or life, please let me know.

My hope is in the near future to really start getting into developing some leadership material for the congregation. From my time in ministry I have learned the value of leadership among God’s people. The church is so much more effective when Godly leaders are working among God’s people. As we move forward, our hope is that we can add even more leaders to what we already have. This leadership material that I am hoping to develop would be meant to give us some tools to equip men to step into roles like elders and deacons. As I get some of the project underway, I will share more with you guys about what it looks like.

Have a great week!

Good morning church family!

The first few weeks here as a minister have been tremendous. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve, learn, and grow in my faith, as a leader, and as a man in Christ. Below is an update on the work I have been doing and will continue to do:

College Campus Ministry - I have had some communication with Augustana College here in Sioux Falls about starting a student led bible study on the campus. The response was friendly and warm and very considerate of our desires to impact college students as long as it ends up being student organized. We currently have one student on campus at Augustana, so I will be meeting with them to ask if they'd have interest in being an organizer. The leadership at Augustana has provided a few notes on other opportunities to get involved as well. I am still waiting to hear back from the University of Sioux falls and South Dakota State University.

Digital Outreach (YouTube & Social Media) - I have begun to tweak and modify our online presence on our YouTube as well as with other social media accounts. The main goal of this endeavor is to present the truth of God's word to as many eyes as possible. In any place that someone would use their phone to consume content, we want that content to be rooted in scripture and truth. There will be more progress in this area in the coming months. If you are a subscriber on YouTube, you'll also notice some changes in regards to the content we have available. All of the Sunday live streams will be available still, but in addition to the live streams, I am also pulling the sermons into their own video. I will be doing this for all of the sermons back to the beginning of 2024. Hopefully this will help with searching for anyone that is already subscribed and also appeal to those who stumble across our messages as well!

Digital Outreach (Podcast) - As we have mentioned a few times now, we have started a podcast. It releases weekly at 6am on Wednesday. We are tweaking our process and setups in these first few episodes to ensure that we put out something that people are interested in listening to. It is so exciting getting to share the word with you all and with anyone else who ends up listening!

Wednesday Night Bible Study - A couple of weeks ago, I began a lesson series on Paul and his missionary journies. This week, we will be starting in on Paul's first missionary journey. This will be week 2 of the 14 week series. If you haven't been able to join us on Wednesdays, we would love to have you! It is a great time of encouragement and edification!

Sunday Young Adult Class - Two Sundays ago, I began an apologetics and learning series on Catholicism that will take up roughly a full year. This subject matter has been requested by many of the young adults in my class for a couple of years, and it is finally time! We will cover the history and tradition, evaluate against scripture and determine what the word of God has to say about our faith and pursuit of relationship with the Father! I am very excited for this series and can't wait to get into the meat and potatoes of everything.

Tuesday Night Study - On Tuesday nights, I meet virtually with 8-12 young men from Sioux Falls, Tyler, and Clear Lake Iowa (young ladies are welcome also), and we have been working through a very in depth study of the book of Philippians. I've been very encouraged by our time together as these young men continually grow in their desire to follow Jesus!

Lastly, there are many miscellaneous items that have been in my proximity as well in regards to loving and supporting people. I think it is a massive privilege to have the opportunity to serve this body and support people in whatever they need. I've been a part of so much in my first few weeks thanks to Zack and Clint taking me along to those opportunities, and I'm grateful for the learning that I am doing underneath the leadership of the elders, ministers, and deacons, as well as other members of this body.

I hope you have a great week! Grace and peace to you!

Good Monday to everyone!

Last week I had the opportunity to do something I've never done before: preach a gospel meeting. I was able to take my oldest son with me and we made our way over to Fort Dodge, IA last Wednesday. I preached an evening lesson on Wednesday-Saturday nights and then did the class and sermon on Sunday morning.

It was great to spend time with another part of the church and to be encouraged by them and to be given the opporutnity to share some of the things I've taught from our study in Luke. I hopped around in the book adapting some of the lessons. We studied about forgiveness found in Jesus (Luke 5), the desire God has for us (Luke 15), what can get in the way of following Jesus (Luke 18), Jesus as king (Luke 19), that we need to make a choice about Jesus (Luke 20) and ended Sunday morning with a lesson on the crucixifion and the love, forgiveness and hope found there.

Outside of that, I've got several things ending or starting up soon. We have reached the final chapter in Luke and over the next week or two we will wrap up our series in Luke and then move into some new areas. I am brainstorming now but haven't settled on anything yet. We are a little over a month out from camp so I will start preparing lessons for the high school class in the weeks ahead. Mackenzie and I are also starting a project on some resources for families that we hope will be a big blessing to people.

Outside of those changes we are still plugging away with the podcast and are around 40 episodes in. I'm still teaching on Revelation in the Monday night Zoom study. It's been a get privilege and pleasure to be a part of both of those things.

As I look back on all of these things I am grateful to God and to you as a congregation for your support and help in making all of this possible. Allowing me the time and energy to focus on these things is something that I hope brings a lot of good to the church here and wherever we might reach.

Good Morning!

The last month has been a bit of a whirlwind and things don't seem like they are slowing down. We had an awesome Momentum Conference just a couple of weeks ago and last Sunday was super encouraging as well. It's an exciting time to be a part of the church here with all the things that are going on.

With all of that in mind I want to pause and say thank you. Thank you for being a congregation who is seeking to follow Jesus. Thank you for being welcoming to visitors and to one another. God has blessed us with several new believers and quite a few visitors lately and it's great to be part of a congregation that truly values people. Let me encourage you to continue to do that more and more. As the other ministers and I have discussed, we cannot explain all that God is doing in the church here but He is at work and we are excited to be a part of it. God is giving us a tremendous opportunity right now and we want to continue to meet it well.

While all of the excitement is going on, we've also had a lot happening among different families in the body and I want to encourage you to really be in prayer for those that you know about and just the church as a whole. Just as the body is made up of many parts and none are the same, the different parts are often experiencing vastly different things. Paul urges the church to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

The beautiful thing about the church is we are meant to truly bless and encourage one another. In the full times, we rejoice together. In the times of difficulty, we surround one another. The church truly is a rich blessing when we are living out who God has called us to be.

As far as my specific ministry work, we are working closer and closer to the conclusion of the gospel of Luke. It's been one of my favorite series to have preached and I am looking forward to sharing the message of the cross and the resurrection over the coming weeks. I'm also in the midst of a series on Revelation for our Monday night Zoom study. We are moving into chapter 14 tonight. It's quite a different feel from Luke but has been something that has really challenged me. Due to the resent string of surgeries and hospitalizations I've had more hospital visits than usual but am grateful for the opportunity to walk with our brothers and sisters who are dealing with issues.

I've got a couple of things coming up that I would appreciate prayers for. In just a little over two weeks I will be in Fort Dodge, IA for a gospel meeting they've asked me to do. I'd appreciate prayers for my preaching and for those that may be there. I'm going to be walking them through some the lessons we've done through our Luke series that I hope will be helpful to them. The other thing is for our Bible camp. I'm teaching the high school students again this year. The theme is connected to the fruit of the Spirit. I'd appreciate prayers for my prep as well as for those students that will be attending.

As always, it is a rich blessing to work and serve with the church here. Thank you for your encouragement, friendship, and love.

Good Monday Morning!

This is an exciting week for us as we are hosting our first ever young adult conference. Right now we've got somewhere in the ballpark of 40 or so young adults that are planning on attending. Our guest speaker, Marcus Stenson, and his wife, Maggie, will be coming up this week and you will get to meet them this Sunday. We really hope this weekend is the springboard to something really beneficial for the young people in this area both now and in the future.

Speaking of our young people, we've also got another event coming up in about a month that we hope makes an impact. While Momentume is geared for the 18-30 range, Leadership Training for Christ is something we're a part of for 3rd-12th graders. This has been a fun event for our kids in the past and we are making a big change this year. Since we started going to LTC we've been meeting in Kansas City each year. With rising costs we are shifting gears and joining a more local LTC that started up a couple of years ago.

This year's LTC is in both a difference place and on a different weekend. This year we will be in Pierre and instead of the typical Easter weekend, the event is actually on the 24th and 25th of April. We hope this becomes a staple for our young people and the young people of this area going forward.

As far as some of the things that I've got in the works, this is a bit of an odd stretch for me. With Zack preaching yesterday (if you didn't get a chance to hear it, it's definitely worth a listen) and with Marcus preaching this coming Sunday, I've got a little more time to work on some other projects before geteting back into the pulpit in April.

I'm speaking a couple of times this weekend for Momentum. You will get to hear one of those lessons as I am doing the final lesson during our Bible class time Sunday morning. I've also started working on what I hope turns out to be a series of short videos that encourage the men in our congregation to consider growing into the roles of deacons and elders. We've got one video recorded and hopefully we'll be recording a couple more in the near future.

Near the end of April I've been given an opportunity to spend some time with the Fort Dodge, IA church and will be preaching a gospel meeting from Wenesday the 29th thru Sunday the 3rd. I have really enjoyed my series through Luke and will be adapting some of those lessons to preach there. If you think about it, take a second and pray that that meeting would be fruitful for the kingdom.

We are continuing to do the podcast and appreciate everyone that listens. They are fun to record and we hope you are finding them beneficial. The idea is something we've talked about but struggled to start but now we are close to 30 episodes in. With Mack's tech knowlede we have been able to do quite a few things that would have been challenging for us to get off of the ground. He's been a big blessing to the work.

As always, thank you for your support and your encouragement! You all have been and continue to be a huge blessing to me and it is an honor to serve you!

Good Morning!

We are just a couple of weeks out from the launching of our Life Groups and I hope that you are excited for that. The word that comes to mind as we get ready for this new event is experiment. Now that may be an odd word in your mind but let me explain. When we think about experiments I think we often think of something that could fail and fail tremendously but that's not what I mean. Instead, when I think of this as an experiment, I'm thinking of it as a learning opportunity. An opportunity to gain some insight into what works well to help this congregation grow closer to one another.

As we continue to grow as a church our desire is to maintain the family connections that we believe are vitally important for the church to function as God intended. The more people you add, the more challenging it can become to continue to know and connect with one another. My hope is that these groups will help provide a resource to overcome that challenge.

With that being said, as we move into the Life Groups, we are going to be experimenting this first year to understand what works best. We are going to learn about group sizes and best times to meet. We are going to learn about what people need and what kinds of lessons and applications seem to make the most impact. What I hope this experiment accomplishes is laying a solid foundation for Life Groups for years to come. I hope that this experiment creates relationships that last for manys years and that connections are made between the young and the old and that by the end of this first year, we are a stronger body of believers because of it.

In order for the experiment to really work and for us to learn from it, we need you to be a part of it. Let me encourage you to make it a priority to be a part of the Life Groups. If you don't know which group you are in, you can find out on the bulletin board in the foyer or just reach out to me. If you don't know when your group is meeting, reach out to your group leader and they can let you know. I am excited for the 15th and I hope you are as well!

One other bit of exciting news is regarding our Momentum Conference. On Sunday, the 29th, instead of meeting at the building for worship, we are going to meet at the Ramkota hotel here in town. We will meet up with the conference attendees and spend that morning worshipping together. We will still meet at 9:45. We will also have someone at the building to redirect people if they happen to forget or are visitng. Due to the venue, we will not be having Bible class following worship but will instead be done once our service is over. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.

As far as other things going on in ministry, it's been busy the last few weeks with prep for teaching and preaching. I'm working through a study on Revelation right now in our Monday night Zoom study and we are nearing the end of our study of the gospel of Luke in the sermon series. We are also at a time in the year where big events that are coming up are going to need some time and attention including the Momentum conference that's coming up in a few weeks as well camp that will be here before we know it.

As alwasy, thank you for your support and encouragement. It is truly and honor and privilege to work with this congregation!

One of the ways we often talk about the church is as a family and I think it's a pretty accurate description. Families are filled with varieties of people at different stages of life doing a variety of things. They are different ages, roles, successes and struggles, and yet all of them family. They are connected by something deep, something that matters.

The church is that as well. We are connected in Christ and that has a big impact on our relationships to one another. Over the last little stretch we've had the births of several babies into the congregation. We've also had several members going through significant struggles all the way from health issues to life struggles. We've got people getting ready for surgeries. Sandwiched in all of that we've had a couple of baptisms recently. That's not even to talk about all of the every day kinds of things going on in the body. The point is, the congregation has a lot happening within it.

What does that mean for you? Let me encourage you to pay attention to what is happening within the body and step into those areas of need that align with the gifts that you have. Some of you are well equipped to help provide diapers, wipes or food for families entering a new stage of life with a baby. Maybe you are able to stop by and visit someone who has had some health issues. Some of you are equipped from your own experience and circumstances to assist those that are struggling with something. Others of you are skilled in making people feel connected and welcomed, especially those that are new to the faith or seeking. I want to encourage you today to use the gifts you have for the good of the body. We have needs right now and there will be needs coming up. Stay eyes open to your brothers and sisters and as opportunity allows, step in to make a difference.

As far as just the day to day side of things in ministry, we are entering into a busy season and much of my time has been spent on lessons, prepping for bigger events and getting the finishing touches put on the Life Groups. We've got a lot of really exciting stuff coming up and I hope that you will take advantage of what you can.

Over the last few weeks I've been teaching on the topic of "one another." It's one of those phrases that once you notice it and start really paying attention, you see that it is used a ton in the new testament. I think the first time I really ever dug into this idea was back at the end of 2018, not that long before the churches merged.

God paints a clear picture that we truly are connected to one another in so many different ways. While we know we are the "church" we also see language calling us the "body of Christ." I think that language portrays so well just what God intends for His people. We are truly connected to one another and when we are functioning as God created us to we truly do care for one another in so many different ways. This is something that God prioritizes and something that the leadership in the church here feels strongly about as well.

While we can know all of that and even agree with it, that doesn't mean it's always easy to implement. Between the schedules we all have, the busyness of life, and the struggle it can be to form strong bonds, there are plenty of obstacles to actually carrying out what we know to be good. It's with that in mind that we would like to announce today something that we are planning on starting in 2 months: "Life Groups."

We will be the first to admit that we aren't reinventing the wheel with this announcement. Many churches do some form of life groups or small groups. After meeting with another congregation from Montana and hearing about how good and helpful their groups are to their church family, we have discussed and decided that we would like to try something similar here.

What does this mean and what will it look like? Let me lay out a few of the details here and then we will have an announcement, likely this Sunday, and I will also spend time in the Bible class walking through some of the details as well.

These life groups would meet once a month for a time of fellowship, encouragement, food, and a Bible study. Our hope is that these groups strengthen the relationships within the church here and provide opportunities for people to grow. To that end we have made twelve groups and divided the congregation up into those groups. Most of the groups are designed to be large enough to have a solid group but not too large for meeting in a home. We have one larger group that we have put many of our out of towners in since they face an additional challenge to getting together.

In order to provide some stability and hopefully to make it easier for groups to meet we are going to be making some adjustments to a couple of current events. We are going to take the 4th Sunday Fellowship and the current monthly small groups that meet and aborb those into these new life groups. To provide a little bit of space between the life groups and potluck we are going to have life groups meet on the third Sunday of each month. That will potentially change a few times throughout the year as things like camp and the mission trip require us to move to another Sunday but generally speaking we are going to have the groups meeting on the third Sundays.

Additionally, to provide some depth of relationship within the group, the plan is for each group to meet for the year and then reset at the beginning of 2027 and new groups will be formed. We believe that these groups can really be a blessing to the church here. To that end, we want to ask that you commit to being a part of these life groups. We will release the groups soon and provide more details in the weeks ahead.

Good morning church family!

Hopefully, you've been diligent in staying warm this past week. I'll start off with a messsage of gratitude! Thank you so much for the care and appreciation this past Sunday. Blown away by the support and love my family and I have received from you all throughout our time in this body over the many years we have been here.

I have been steadily in rhythm with the podcast and preparing for Sunday and Wednesday classes during the week. I enjoyed having the opportunity to preach 2 Sundays back on the topic of prayer, which has been weighing on my heart heavily in recent months. The word of God and its instruction to us is so helpful and worthwhile.

Last week, I was able to find some time to work on a few administrative odds and ends things in regards to outreach and the church body's health. It was refreshing to have a moment for them, and I have been very grateful for it.

We are approaching our young adult conference in March rather quickly now that the end of the year is upon us. The logistics of the conference will be coming together over the next month or two as we get ready.

As the end of the year approaches, preparation for East River Bible Camp also spins up, so I will spend time working in those ministry areas as well.

I've been able to spend considerable time with various members of the bodies around the uppper midwest area in the past few weeks and have been reminded of how necessary fellowship is for the sake of the growth and health of the body. I'll end my notes with a charge to each of you: Seek fellowship with one another, share meals, encourage intentionally, and act in abounding love. If we as believers can do something uncomfortable for the sake of the body, we will never be disappointed.

Grace and Peace to you all. Much love.

Good afternoon church family!

I hope you all have been well in the time since we have last been together! It is a great blessing to have a local body that is familial and desiring to be together often.

As I sit here and type this, I am listening to all of the creaks and moans of the church building and am reminded of how important it is for us to realize that we, the believers, are the church itself! This building sits lifeless and empty without the church body that assembles within it! I am grateful for the design from the Father in regards to how His people function.

I have been carrying on in many of my normal preparations and studies to prepare for Wednesday night bible study and Sunday young adult class. I find myself far more in tune with a desire to spread the gospel as I study Paul and his great desire to share the gospel of grace with all who would hear it. We will be wrapping up the book of 1st Corinthians this week in the same overview format as last week, and then we will move on to another letter.

My Sunday morning class has had great participation from many young adults that are desiring to answer some of the questions that they've had about Catholic doctrine and tradition. We are staying rooted on the scriptures and approaching everything from an exegetical perspective, that is, having the text inform us of what it is saying rather than our own perspective influencing the text. It has been a great study and will continue to be as we go forward late into next year.

As for the podcast, I hope it has been a form of blessing or encouragement to you all. We have really enjoyed the conversations we have had and it has been a great source of encouragement for us as well to be able to have them. We will be releasing another episode Wednesday morning this week, as per usual.

The past few weeks have been riddled with support items and many tasks that I believe just fall under "Supporting the body". I am very appreciative of the opportunity to support my brothers and sisters in Christ in any way that is fitting and it has been a great blessing to my life to be able to build relationship in that way.

As for some of the other items that have been on my plate, this current week has allowed me time to focus on them. I've been building a web app for the church body here in Sioux Falls over the last 8 months or so that will serve as a hub to help us remain interconnected and up to date on various goings on in the church body here. This week I've been able to spend a little bit of time focusing getting that ready.

Lastly, this past weekend we had a group of 40+ people who attended the Ignite youth rally in Omaha Nebraska. Our grouping consisted of members of the body from Sioux Falls, Clear Lake, Iowa, Tyler, Minnesota, and some Sioux Center area folks as well. The teaching was very sound and the worship was very encouraging. We had a great weekend of fellowship and intentional time in God's word.

I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving with family or friends or whoever you have chosen to spend that time with. And if you have chosen to spend it alone, I hope you have a fantastic time of rest and rejuvination!

Grace and Peace,

Mackenzie

Minister Update: November 10

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That’s how Charles Dickens would describe four preachers and an Elder crammed into a minivan with their luggage for a 60 hour tour to the Church Leaders’ Workshop in Bismarck, North Dakota. We set out on our spiritual pilgrimage as early as the birds this last Monday. It was Mack, Clint, Tanner, and me in the van with our fearless Elder, Gary Styke to chaperone. And for three risings and settings of the sun we lived off of coffee, licorice, hymns, and the hope of one day sleeping in our own beds again. I’m happy to report we made it back in time for Wednesday night church.

The Workshop theme was Wholly Holy. Now I’ve got to admit: something about that title bothers me. It’s just weird. But the lessons were good and deep and applicable, and they hit the mark. We scratched more than the surface of the Holiness of God and how to get more of that stuff into ourselves and the people we minister to.

The workshop is preachers preaching to preachers. Due to it’s small size and intense focus, it is a bit unlike any other lectureship I’ve ever been to. Like many workshops, the messages are aimed at strengthening young idealistic men to ‘hang in’ for the long strange race of leadership in Christ’s church. The messages are also aimed at old men in various states of baldness to keep them from the temptation to cynicism. The attendees come all the way from Canada to the North, Montana to the West, and Wisconsin to the East; and most of those church leaders are working in a similar context: somewhat isolated locations in the North. But there is an unspoken camaraderie among the church workers there that you can almost just see on their faces. Those folks understand you because they are living the same thing you are in similar places. For the ministers who are feeling discouraged and nearing burnout, events like these are divine cake carried in by ravens (1 Kings 17:6).

Every minister I’ve ever spoken to on the subject of discouragement has been through at least one of these valleys during the life of their ministry. For me, I think the year was 2013, and I was several years into a preaching position at a really small church in South Dakota. This was back when I still had hair that waved in the wind “like a flock of goats that have descended from Mount Gilead” (Song of Solomon 4:1). Like a lot of young preachers, I had expected to waltz in to that small, remote church and bring about the second Pentecost. I think I had envisioned myself with something like the Bible in one hand and a shepherds crook in the other, parting the James River and feeding 5,000 in some South Dakota pasture, followed by conversions en masse. I must have missed the part in the gospels where even Jesus didn’t experience mass repentance during his earthly ministry. It was a lot of opposition, and just a ragtag band of true disciples who had left everything to follow Him. And when He was crucified, even they fled. I shouldn’t have been shocked that the reality of ministry for me felt less like a Spielberg movie and much more like a cheaply produced public access TV show.

Whatever glamorous picture I had of preaching was quickly replaced with the perplexing difficulties of real people with very real problems, and alongside that, my very own problems and immaturity. The first week after arriving at that church the unbelieving husband of a longtime member died, and so my first funeral was that of a man I had never met. Another husband of another longtime member languished in a nursing home due to stroke. He was almost completely disabled, and he wanted badly to pass on, but it took him five years to give up the ghost. I was underprepared for many situations I encountered, and I often wondered whether I was really helping. The church had been without a full time preacher for five years before we arrived, and there was very little activity happening beyond Sunday morning. So here I was, this young man bringing ideas to sometimes skeptical older men about what we could do to bring the life of God back into the church, and I often felt frustrated when others struggled to embrace my vision. Even the smallest changes seemed disproportionately difficult to achieve. At one point I was rebuked by the song leader right after a sermon, which led to a month long controversy. We baptized just a few people during our time there, and most of them didn’t continue in faith or they moved away. On the other hand we did develop some great, lifelong friendships with members there and had some great times, and I think we also did help strengthen some feeble knees. But I never saw the success I had expected when I arrived, and I often wondered whether I had made a mistake in pursuing church work full time. I really didn’t expect it to be as challenging as it was.

One particularly cold November I came skidding into the Bismarck Lectureship with my now thinning flock of goat hair waving on my head and a heart full of discouragement. By then I was mostly cured of my naive idealism, and I knew I needed a solution to face the challenges of real life ministry.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find the silver bullet I was looking for which would bring about great revival. And it would take almost a decade of personal growth before I would see much of the fruit I had hoped for. But I left that workshop feeling very different. They fed us words of God for those three days, and on the last day I was like a dead man resurrected. If I had to define exactly what that conference gave me, I would say it was perspective and encouragement to continue on. I was like a starving man who had just had a good meal. I left with energy. I went back to my church noticeably different, and I continued on in the afterglow of that workshop for several months.

Every time I attend some workshop, conference, lectureship, or just hear a powerful sermon, and I feel that familiar boost that comes when I hear a message from God, I’m reminded just how necessary the preached word is to be able to carry out the mission God has called Christians to and how necessary it is for spiritual growth. The flock needs shepherds, and even shepherds need shepherding. Peter spoke of this power of the word to newborn Christians, directing them to: “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,” (1 Peter 2:2). The word of God is compared to milk: one of the most complete foods, able to nourish infants completely. The word isn’t just truth or knowledge -it’s food that strengthens us to keep taking steps of faith. Paul also encouraged the young preacher, Timothy to rely on the power of God’s word for his own equipping, saying: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work…. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.” (2 Timothy 3:16-4:2). We value that power enough to drive six hours for a big dose of it. It was worth the drive.

The Word of God was instrumental at the start of every believer’s faith, and it will be instrumental in sustaining their faith to their last breath. The ministers at the Sioux Falls church want the power of it for ourselves, and we want to deliver it faithfully to the rest of the flock. We want to take you to the green pastures to find something that will sustain you for the road ahead.

Blessings,

Zack

The life of the church and ministry within it can be varied and busy. We have had a stretch of a lot going on and things aren’t really slowing down. One of the most exciting parts of life in the church is when new people are welcomed into the body and within the last couple of weeks we’ve seen three people step into faith and baptism in Christ. What adds to the excitement about these baptisms is that these are friends and family of members here. It’s always fun to see God working through people to bring others close to them to Him.

While we have had some recent time for rejoicing we have also had some need for extra prayers. We’ve had people in the hospital and dealing with surgeries and it is a privilege to be able to represent the congregation and Christ in ministering to people and their families.

Amidst all of this are the regular parts of ministry. We’ve continued rolling along with the podcast and last week released an episode discussing the theme of sacrifice in scripture. There should be another episode releasing this Wednesday. It’s been a blast to record with Zack and Mack. If you’ve got any suggestions for topic, we’d love to hear from you.

Along with the podcast my focus is often on preparing for lessons I’m giving. I just wrapped up a study on James for the group that meets on Zoom and recently finished the book of Colossians for our men’s study. I’m still working through Luke and will pick back up again this week by directing our thoughts to Luke 17:20-37. If you were around for class on Sunday you caught the first part of my lesson on holiness from the epistles. We will continue that conversation this Sunday during class as well. Today I will be putting together some thoughts for a class on the book of Jude.

This weekend is one of those crazy times where it seems like everything is happening all at once. We’ve got a men’s breakfast, two families moving (Paul Pirtle and Patrick & Aleah Perreault), a men’s day in Albert Lea, and a painting day at the building to do some artwork. I’m going with a group to the men’s day and really want to encourage you to pick something going on and be a part of it. One of the richest blessings of being a Christian is being a part of the body and impacting the lives of others. This weekend is a great opportunity to do a little of what Mack preached about yesterday.

Have a great week!

Hi church family! I hope your week is off to a fantastic start! I keep saying this over and over, but I feel to privileged to serve the local body in this current manner and have had my cup filled consistently in getting to serve in a full time capacity.

On Sunday mornings in my young adult class I am continuing working through a year long study on the history and roots of Catholicism as well as the apologetics for why we would agree or disagree with certain doctrines and ideas. We are driving everything back to scripture, and I continually try to mention that the goal of this class is not to create some massive divide among people with different beliefs, but rather to give the tools and equipping needed to bring truth into places that may otherwise seem misguided. We have had great attendance and interest from our young adults and have had a great study thus far.

In my Tuesday study with a group of 8-12 young men from around the area, we are continuing to study through the book of Philippians. We are finishing up chapter 2 in the next couple of weeks and have thoroughly enjoyed many of the themes in the letter.

On Wednesdays we are continuing to work through Paul's missionary journies and the letters that he wrote to various church bodies. This past week we finished up Galatians 2 and 3 and will move on to chapters 4 and 5. I have really enjoyed the discussion and thoughts that people have had to offer as we have moved through this section of scripture.

Coming up we have the youth and young adult study on October 18th. This was started back in December of 2022, and those of us leading it have been so encouraged by the turn out of young people to study the word and be together once a month. They could be anywhere else on a Saturday night, yet they choose to be together with brothers and sisters in the body!

During the week, I am still working on a lot of what I mentioned in my last update. The podcast is going well and hitting a nice rhythm that allows for less busy work in editing and recording and more focus on studying to deliver truth when we do record! We have enjoyed having these conversations and speaking on these subjects. As for the college ministry, we will be spinning up a bible study/fellowship meeting with students from Augustana with help from Andie Ingalls, who is our student member there. We have many from our congregation that have personally reached out and inquired about being involved, which is super encouraging! In the digital space, I have been trying to get some of our live stream sermons out into the world by putting the sermon into its own video and posting it on YouTube. The goal of digital outreach is simply to get truth in front of as many eyes as possible. No hidden agendas, no desires for likes or fame or recognition: just truth!

Lastly, I have had the privilege to meet and study with various people on regular and irregular basis as well as fellowship in spaces that I hadn't fellowshipped in before. Every Thursday I have started to attend the "Sam's Club Lunch and Learn" (my name for it) with Les and Dixey Hawkey as well as Michael Reynolds, Ron Christenson, the Harveys, and anyone else that happens to show up. We enjoy a delectable Sam's club hot dog or slice of pizza and spend time being together as brothers and sisters in the Lord. If I'm fortunate, it ends up being a "4 berry sundae" occasion in which Les treats us all to an ice cream. Each time I have left, I have felt full to the brim both emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. Time with the body has been filling my cup and made it overflow!

I sure hope the Sam's Club hot dog extravaganza (my other name for it) wasn't a secret or something I shouldn't talk about, but I can't help it when it encourages me like it does!

I hope you have a great rest of your week and look forward to spending time with you all wherever I may encounter you!

Grace and Peace!

The Elders have asked Clint, Mack, and me (Zack) to make an extra effort to connect with the congregation by occasionally writing a short update of what's going on in our ministries. Now, some of you who know me well know that I would normally try to get out of such a seemingly mundane duty like this. I would probably argue against it in principle, in a dignified tone and with a wagging, wart-laden finger that, “it’s busy work!” or a “waste of time!” or maybe I would play the, “where’s that in the Bible?!”, card. I would plead dramatically that this cup of suffering might pass from me. But I have to admit it’s a fair request; I’ll even call it a downright biblical idea, as the Apostle Paul did plenty of checking-in with and writing to congregations in the New Testament.

But there is a deeper reason for us to keep an open line of communication with the church. This reason is that we now have so many 'irons in the fire' at the Sioux Falls church of Christ that many of those irons are becoming increasingly unknown or invisible to much of our church body, and it will only get worse as we grow unless we talk about them. And we shouldn't want you who are members of the church body in Sioux Falls to be in the dark about what God is doing in your midst, about the things you are supporting, about what you could be encouraged by, and what you could potentially become involved in yourselves. It is inevitable that increased communication and organization will become more necessary as our church is passing the 200 member mark. So we need updates like this, and the ‘live in the moment’ gospel cowboys like myself will just have to adapt.

As for my ministry, it’s taken a sideways turn in the last six years that I never planned for. I used to preach. I preached Sunday mornings and Sunday Evenings and adult Bible classes and Wednesday Bible classes, and then I would try to cram some one on one or small group fellowships and soul-winning on top of that. The latter ministry -the “crammed” one- was never very effective for me in those days, at least the soul-winning part. Yet that was my routine (give or take) for about eleven years. But ever since the Southeastern church of Christ and the 41st Street church of Christ dissolved to become the Sioux Falls church of Christ, things have taken a turn so that I’ve only been preaching from the pulpit twelve times per year, and now that Mack is working with us full time, it will be six times per year. I do also usually teach the moderately attended adult Bible class on Sunday, but right now I’m away doing a small new believers class downstairs. So the truth is that I’m not in front of the congregation very much, and a lot of people have no idea what it is that I do.

So for my check in, I’ll give you an internal view and a bit of a birds eye view of this thing I’ve been doing in Sioux Falls for the last six years. I’ll keep subsequent updates more brass tacks. But this one will be sort of a philosophy of ministry as if recounted from atop a hickory stump. Here is what I do:

I help people to take the next step as disciples of Jesus in the midst of life’s many challenges. On the one hand, now that I don’t spend much time in the pulpit, people don’t call me as often anymore for strictly theological questions or to have me marry them or even to complain about the church (that’s all yours, Clint!). Now people tend to call me when they or their family members are dealing with addiction, or when they’re in jail, or when they need help breaking free from some sin, or when they have a child custody case they’re worried about, or when they have a family problem, or when they’re having health problems, when they feel like God has abandoned them, or at one AM when their cat is about to be put to sleep. I do feel pretty honored that people call me with these problems. I’m sure Clint still gets a lot of those calls, and Mack will, too. But I get more of these personal trouble oriented calls than I used to, especially as I spend more time with people and develop more ongoing relationships with them in my current role.

The older I get, the more I actually feel like a shepherd rather than a guy who awkwardly talks at people, and the more people present themselves to me when they’re feeling like a sheep without a shepherd and they need a word from the Lord. Often I am unable to “fix” the problems, and I end up just being a support, or helping them to see that God is there with them. And that is also a success. But if I have something to say from the Lord, that can be one of the most meaningful things I do during those crises. As the scripture says:

Like apples of gold in settings of silver

Is a word spoken in right circumstances.

Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold

Is a wise reprover to a listening ear. (Proverbs 25:11-12)

I think the most sacred of all of these more “personal problem” oriented ministries that I spend lots of energy on (from time to time) is helping people to face their own imminent death. This has been a terrifying, rewarding, and worldview changing thing to learn to do: to prepare people to step beyond the veil and meet the God they’ve not yet laid eyes on. We may not always see the effects of this in the church directly, but I know it helps people during the final stretch when they need it most. Those moments of grief are often the times that people are most open to God, and sitting with a grieving family this year has led to the restoration of one sweet soul who was away from us for many years.

Most of the outreach success I find is with people who visit our Sunday assembly or who are the family and friends of church members. So I try to double down on this. At times it keeps me totally busy. My wife and I try to get every visitor to the church service over to our house for lunch or dinner if they are willing. If they visit church, and they stick around long enough for us to meet and persuade them to come on over, then we will ask them what their spiritual story is, and my wife and I share the gospel. However, occasionally when I attempt to befriend visitors to the church, it is as if I have leprosy. Some days people seem to flee from my over-eager invitations, and I'm not sure if it's me or the gospel that scared them. Other times I miss someone who has been visiting, and I welcome you to point those folks out to me if I do. We did work with a couple of guys this year who I met in the community randomly to no enthusiastic response, but the folks I see the most success with is people who come to church seeking for something or else the friends of church members.

We’ve had a healthy number of baptisms and restorations in the last year, and the follow up to these takes a lot of time and energy. The bulk of most of my ministry is one on one or small groups. Much of it takes place at my home, and it involves my wife cooking lunch or dinner, and after that we make our way to the couch where, inevitably, we get the Bible open. For the last several years I have begun to enter most of these Bible studies, or counseling sessions, or visits I make “unplanned.” Even when I know what we’re going to talk about, or I know some specific scriptures to share, I often let the conversation lead to what we’ll study. It just works better, and this also seems to be the way Jesus interacted with people. And we can chase whatever theological rabbits need to be chased. It took me about ten years in ministry to become comfortable enough with scripture to do it the way I do it now, and for evangelism it seems to work best for me.

This summer we’ve tried to invite people over for dinner and Bible study every Friday, and the bulk of those invitations are to those who are new to the faith, although we usually try to get a few mature believers to come as well. As of this Friday we will start up the famed and widely adored Friday Night Feast at our house 6pm, open to anyone, every other week for the winter. We’ll reserve the other Fridays for newly baptized believers or whoever we think we need to spend more time with (Or maybe to take my damsel out for a lavish Olive Garden breadstick meal).

A big part of evangelism is just being available to those you minister to. It doesn't usually work to preach to them, expecting that they will show up to church and sort of ‘figure it out.’ They don't learn how to "love one another" (John 13:34) from merely polite greetings on Sunday morning. I wish it were that easy. But Jesus spent a lot of time with His disciples -literally he lived with them as He carried out his ministry. He fed them when they were hungry. He lived as an open example of faith. So I try to do lunches with people, I meet one brother regularly at the gym, I have coffee with people, I give rides, twice in the last two months we took up a private collection for brethren in need, last month I took a two day trip with a newer brother to Iowa for dental work. All three preachers worked throughout the week last week to get someone to go into detox. That was Mack’s baptism into full time ministry! One week last month Elizabeth cooked meals on five days for people. Before I am scolded by the ladies, that was abnormal, and I rarely wear her out that badly. I obviously don’t reach everyone, and a lot of what I attempt to do fails. But some good things are happening in peoples lives, and I get to play a limited role in that. Some of this definitely feels like chaos, but I think I was built for it.

Between fourth Sunday fellowships or Friday night feasts at our house, we try to keep an open door to anyone in our church who wants to come into a Christian home and to find a little deeper connection with Christians, and to get some of their spiritual needs met. We do this also in the hopes that our membership is inspired to reignite the passion for hospitality and fellowship that has fallen off a bit in our culture in the last decade or two.

One of my biggest long term goals for the Sioux Falls church, and one that I’ve had since I got here, is that we are able to train preachers right here in Sioux Falls. I believe restoration movement churches will not thrive in South Dakota and Minnesota until someone begins to train people born here to do ministry here. The problem is that I am more of a dreamer than a gifted administrator. I cannot do this by myself. Also, I don’t now have a Phd behind my name, which a lot of people expect if they were to commit themselves to training here. The thing I do have going for me is that I've got enough knowledge and experience to train men to preach. I know that if we can get willing young men into a room with open Bibles, and bring them along to do what we are doing, Clint and I and Mack will be able to train them for ministry here. I honestly hold the insane sounding notion that with hands-on training we can prepare a small group of men more fully to work in the North than what I received at a Christian university.

I do not know how we will bring this goal to fruition, but The Lord seems to be opening some doors. First we have Mack, who has now devoted himself to full time ministry. And along with his own ministry, Mack has volunteered to be a guinea pig so that we can find out what this training/mentorship will look like in our context. We’ve already begun piling the books on him and will be walking through a lot of stuff to sharpen his skills in the pulpit and for evangelism and for church leadership in general. Mack’s got some considerable gifting, knowledge, and experience already which is unique to him, so part of this is just figuring out the ways that we can help him expand his tools. But this will give us a frame of reference for working with others.

We also have a godly young man who is moving from Oklahoma to Tyler, MN within the month to work with the congregation there. He is strongly in favor of our plan to train men locally and wants us to mentor him. I’ve been spending three or four hours a week (and sometimes more) texting and talking with him about Bible and Ministry topics. I am really impressed with him and really excited to get him here with us. Y’all are gonna like this fella (that’s how he talks).

In conclusion, I’m looking forward to the next year of ministry. I know that whatever is happening in our assembly is much larger than me, and so many people have a hand in so much that is going on right now -many things I’m sure I’m not even aware of. But I also feel useful here in the role I’m doing. There are many good things happening among us, and we are such a unique congregation I think, that my prayer often centers around the idea just that we simply “don’t screw it up!” I know God has bigger plans for us than that. But I hope you do pray for the preachers as we are in way over our heads, and we know it. Blessings to you.

This past week was an exciting one as Mackenzie Driscoll starting working full time with the church. Coinciding with Mack's start he is making some adjustments to the website including adding this section that fills everyone in on what we've been up to. Each week you will hear from either Mack, Zack or myself. So here is a snapshot into a little of what I've been up to.

On Sundays I'm continuing to walk us through the gospel of Luke. Over the past few weeks we've covered parts of chapters 12 and 13. This past Sunday I taught class over chapter 14 and the plan for this coming Sunday is to preach through a familiar text to many from chapter 15.

On Monday nights I'm leading a Bible study on Zoom. We've been working our way through the letters of the NT and have just finished up Peter's letters and are now headed into the book of James.

I just wrapped up a series on "Impacting the Next Generations" and we are transitioning to a new teacher on Wednesday, Mack, and a new focus for me. Instead of teaching on Wednesdays I am going to be spending time working on some leadership development material for the church. We want to add more elders and deacons both now and in the future and my hope is that the material I'm going to be working on will help prepare men to do just that. I'm going to be researching scripture and the insights of others and from that build something that we can hopefully use to effectively train and equip our men.

I'm also a part of the men's study that meets on Thursdays and have just started teaching that again. We are walking through the book of Colossians.

We've got some exciting things in the works as well including a new podcast that should drop with a couple of episodes later this week. Zack, Mack and I have a discussion about a question a new Christian might have in episode 1 and then talk about the importance of humility and a soft heart in episode 2.

Take a few minutes and listen to the episodes. We'd love your feedback.

Have a great week!