November 6, 2025 E-Vine – St John's Lutheran Church of Napa CA

Set Free: Paul’s Letter to the Galatians

“A Gospel Community”
November 9, 2025

CLICK HERE FOR SERVICE NOTES.

As We Gather

What does it mean to be a community shaped by the Gospel? How does the Gospel affect how we live among each other? In our passage, Paul describes church life in terms of caring for one another and doing good to one another. What does this mean for us today?

Ongoing News and Information

Join Our Fellowship Team!
We are putting together a Fellowship Team to plan and oversee all of our fellowship activities, from soup suppers to special events to Sunday morning coffee. This team will work with Connections Ministry leader Josh Wright in planning and promoting the fellowship life of our congregation. If you are interested in serving on this team, please contact Josh (joshwright@stjohnsnapa.org) or Pastor Mike.

Support the Mission Farm Through the 2025 Give!Guide

The St. John’s Mission Farm is participating once again in the CanDo Napa Valley Give!Guide campaign. This year’s campaign kicked off November 1, and runs through December 31. Please visit CanDoGiveGuide.org and look for the St. John’s Mission Farm under the “Community” grouping. You can donate either by credit card or mail in a check to the address provided. Donation minimum is $10. Many thanks for your support!

Pastor Mike’s Bible Class – 1 John: Walking in the Light of God’s Love
Join us on Sundays for a study of 1 John. In this poetic sermon by John, he paints a compelling picture of the Christian life as walking in the light and living in God’s love. John emphasizes authentic discipleship, urging followers to live in the truth, reject false teaching, and demonstrate love not just in word but in action. In so doing, we live in the fellowship God has given us – with Himself and with one another. When we finish 1 John, we will go on to 2 and 3 John. We will be meeting in Room 8 at 11:00 AM.

November 19-23 – SJLS Theatre Program Proudly Presents: Encore! Celebrating 20 Years of St. John’s Musicals
We invite you to see our amazing SJLS actors perform in our 20th annual musical production, Encore! Come celebrate with us as we journey through our 20-year musical theatre history. Performances will be on November 19-22 at 7:00 PM and on November 23 at 2:00 PM. Tickets are available at this link. Thanks for supporting our amazing cast!

November 26 – Thanksgiving Worship
Join us for a special service of Thanksgiving on Wednesday, November 26 at 7:00 PM. This will be a communion service. We also ask that you bring an offering of a non-perishable food item for the Napa Food Bank.

December 6 – The Best (SJLC) Christmas Pageant Ever!
Mark your calendars for our inaugural St. John’s Lutheran Church Christmas Pageant, proudly presented by our Children’s Church kids. The pageant will take place on Saturday, December 6 at 4:30 PM in the Sanctuary. More details to come soon!

After-School Assistant at St. John’s Lutheran School

We are looking for an assistant for PALS, our after-school program for St. John’s Lutheran students. The hours would be 2:30-5:30 PM, Monday through Friday.

If you are interested in applying, or would like more information, please contact Ramona Kaufmann at rkaufmann@stjohnsnapa.org.

St. John’s Fam, Advent will be here before you know it!

Advent is just around the corner, and with it our Wednesday evening services—a midweek pause to breathe, reflect, and gather. And of course, no Advent Wednesday is complete without our tradition of soup suppers beforehand.

This is more than just a meal. It’s a chance to sit shoulder-to-shoulder, share stories, laugh a little, and warm up together before stepping into the evening service.

Here’s what to know:

• Soup suppers happen before each Wednesday service.
• Gather your group, your family, or your “secret recipe squad” and think about hosting one of the suppers.
• We invite volunteers to help set up, serve food (2-3 soups, a salad (optional), and a dessert or two), and help clean up. If you’d like to volunteer for one of the suppers, please sign up at this link.

Let’s make this Advent season one where the tables are full, the soup pots are stirred with love (and maybe a little friendly competition), and the midweek gatherings feel like the heartbeat of our community.

Pastor Mike’s Bookshelf

Tim Keller on the Christian Life: The Transforming Power of the Gospel
Matt Smethurst

You may have noticed over the years that I frequently quote Tim Keller, the late pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and author of many books. He had a gift for pulling together the best scholarship and insights on topics relevant to living the Christian life, but then synthesizing these insights and filtering them through the gospel. The result was analysis and application with Christ and His Gospel at the center, but delivered and applied with a pastoral heart shining through. I benefited enormously, both personally and ministerially, from Tim Keller’s work.

In light of that, I recommend any book of which he is the author. But where to begin? Which book?

Matt Smethurst has done the church a great service in putting together this summary of Keller’s insights and approach. He presents Keller’s input on many topics, including seeing Christ in all of scripture, the centrality of grace, how the gospel transforms relationships (especially marriage), serving God through our work, having compassion for all, as well as how suffering drives us into God’s heart. But through it all, it is a presentation on how the gospel transforms and shapes the lives of those who believe in Christ.

I recommend this book for anyone who would like a sample of Keller’s insightful, Christ-centered approach to the Christian life. But I also recommend it as a very helpful encouragement to keep Christ and the gospel central in all that we do. I have placed a copy of this book on the church library cart in the church entryway.

Previous recommendations can be found here: church.stjohnsnapa.org/resources/pastor-mikes-bookshelf

Sanctuary Lighting Upgrade

Let There Be Lights!

The new Sanctuary LED lights have been installed. Thank you again to all who have supported “Let There Be Lights!” with your offerings. We are more than 90% of the way to reaching our goal of $50,000! You can make an offering to support the lighting upgrade for the sanctuary in different ways. For an offering by check, just indicate “Let there Be Lights” in the memo line. For online giving, please use the “Let there Be Lights” option to make your offering.

Confirmation Classes
Confirmation, for 7th and 8th graders desiring to know more about God, will be meeting throughout the school year right here at St. John’s. Our meetings for the rest of this month are on November 12 & 19 in the Library. Each of those Learning Events runs from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. If you have any questions or desire to get involved, please contact Kevin Mathison at kevin@stjohnsnapa.org.

High School Hangouts
Calling all High Schoolers! Join us every Sunday after the worship service for High School Hangouts in Kevin Mathison’s office. We’ll enjoy games, snacks, and fellowship as we dive into God’s Word and talk about what it means for our lives today. If you have any questions, please contact Kevin at kevin@stjohnsnapa.org.

Christmas Pageant Rehearsals
We will have rehearsals for our Christmas Pageant every Sunday in November at 11:00 AM in the St. John’s sanctuary. If you would like your child to participate in the pageant, please be sure to attend our first rehearsal this Sunday, November 9. For more information, please contact Kristy Watkins at churchoffice@stjohnsnapa.org.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow St. John’s Youth Ministry on Social Media to keep up with all the latest information!
Facebook: SJL Napa Youth Ministry
Instagram: St. John’s Lutheran Napa Youth

St. John’s LCC K9 Comfort Dog Ministry
Our team sent 13 members to the LCC K9 Comfort Dog Conference inn Northbrook, Illinois in July. There were over 500 humans attending as well as over 90 beautiful Golden Retrievers. We thank Thrivent for assisting us with an Action Team card.

Every week is an opportunity to invite someone to join with us in worship, whether in person or online. The first step, though, is to pray for those who you may invite. Who can you pray for? Who will you invite?

You can CLICK HERE to give your offering online.

Stephen Ministers Grow in the Lord

The more you focus on the Lord and do God’s work, the more satisfaction you will find. It’s that simple! Are you looking for more satisfaction in your life? Consider serving our congregation as a Stephen Minister. By helping others, you will help God’s kingdom grow – and you will grow too! To learn more about Stephen Ministry and what Stephen Ministers do, contact Penni Cremen (707-483-9321) or Pastor Mike at the church office (707-255-0119).

Women’s Monday Morning Bible Study
The Women’s Bible Study meets every Monday in the Sanctuary from 10:00-11:30 AM. This fall, we’ll be studying the Book of Romans. All study materials will be handed out when we meet. For more information, please contact Judi Rock at goalyce2041@gmail.com.

Men’s Saturday Morning Bible Study

Beginning in November the Men’s Saturday Morning Bible Study will be studying the Epistle (letter) to the Galatians. All men are welcome to join us every Saturday morning in Room 10. Breakfast will be at 7:30 AM, and the Bible study will be from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM.

Biblical Counseling at St John’s?

The Biblical Counseling Center of Napa Valley

The Biblical Counseling Center of Napa Valley is a ministry to the families of St. John’s Lutheran Church and all Christians in the greater Napa area. Our center began some 25 years ago to offer strength and direction to those Christians suffering through trials and tribulations using the promises and hope the Bible offers to those who trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior. To learn more, CLICK HERE. If you, or someone you know, is struggling with life’s stressors, please consider giving us a call at 707-738-5306. (We are a free ministry to all).

Right Now Media
Right now media is an online resource providing Christian videos for all ages. Children’s resource, Bible Studies, lectures and more. As a congregation, we have subscribed to Right Now Media, so access is free for all in our St. John’s family. If you haven’t already signed up for Right Now Media, CLICK HERE.

Where do I find sermons and services that I missed?

You can find previous sermons in three places. The full services are available on the YouTube channel.

YouTube Channel:
- www.youtube.com/user/stjohnsnapaca/live
- There are playlists for sermons, Sunday Services, Wednesday Night Worship and teaching on Matthew
RightNow Media Channel
- www.rightnowmedia.org/CustomLibrary/41667
- Scroll down to find recommendations as well as sermon and Gospel of Matthew lessons
Website
- church.stjohnsnapa.org/resources/sermons
- The sermons are arranged by worship series