THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL

Monthly newsletter of

St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church,

Fort Dodge, Iowa

Our Mission Statement: Disciples of Christ Making Disciples for Christ 

Be Faithful in Worship

I cannot believe that we are already in the new year, 2025! It seems that the years go by faster and faster! Over

the years, we can often find ourselves looking back and evaluating how things have been going in our lives.

What struggles did we face? How did we get through difficulties? Are we still being kept IN worries? What

joyous events happened? What things can we celebrate? Maybe for you, these last years have been rather

mundane and ordinary.

You don’t need to be rescued from life-threatening danger or see God’s miraculous provision in the direst of

financial crises to truly know the faithfulness of the Lord and His grace. God remains faithful day in and day

out in the largest and smallest of circumstances.

Thomas Chisholm wrote “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” as a testament to God’s grace & faithfulness through his

very ordinary life. Born in a log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky, Chisholm became a Christian when he was

twenty-seven and entered the ministry when he was thirty-six, though poor health forced him to retire after just

one year. During the rest of his life, Chisholm spent many years living in New Jersey and working as a life

insurance agent. Still, even with a desk job, he wrote nearly 1,200 poems throughout his life, including several

published hymns.

Chisholm explained toward the end of his life, “My income has not been large at any time due to impaired

health in the earlier years which has followed me on until now. Although I must not fail to record here the

unfailing faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of His

providing care, for which I am filled with astonishing gratefulness.”

Just think, with each new day, God gives us the chance to prove His faithfulness and shower us with His

grace. And throughout history, He’s never once been proven wrong, for His mercies are new every morning, no

matter what. In January, we will begin a sermon series entitled “Reset.” We will take heart in God’s faithfulness

and begin to ask the question “What are some things I can reset in my life?” Maybe as we look at our lives, we

see that we need to reset our priorities, or our purpose, or our relationships. Maybe, if we are honest with

ourselves, we might need to reset the way we follow Jesus. As we ask these questions and evaluate, let us

rejoice in the grace and mercy that our faithful God showers on us!

Pastor Kendall Meyer