Even though it feels like 2026 just arrived, the year is halfway over already! Duluth has officially thawed out, and Believers Church has hit the ground running. This spring has been action-packed to say the least. Keep scrolling to see what we’ve been up to.
WHAT WE’RE LEARNING
Pastor Justin has been teaching through the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians and recently finished the final chapter. No one can deny that Paul’s words are as practical as they are profound. During our Wednesday night service, we discuss the previous Sunday’s sermon in small groups and it drives the personal application home even more.
In addition, one of the biggest topics Paul addresses is the mind. He tells us to, “have the mind of Christ” in chapter two, and in chapter four he literally tells us what to think about: “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report…”. These few verses in chapter four are so rich that Pastor Justin dedicated a three week series dissecting each of the categories. You can watch the first installment here.
For two Sundays this spring, we had guest teachers in the pulpit. Pastor Jonah (left), from Believers Church River Falls, taught on Mark chapter three. It was an eye-opening passage contrasting Jesus’ expectations for discipleship versus our own.
Our lay-elder Jason, right, covered the topic of Christian boldness. Specifically, he taught on the barriers of boldness as well as strategies to become more bold in our faith. All of us at Believers Church greatly appreciated both of these men and their faithfulness to teach God’s word.
Every once in awhile, we’ll pause our regular Wednesday programming to watch a film that strengthens our faith. This spring, we watched Lifted: A Dying Tribe Encounters New Life about Ivan Schoen who was called by God to move his family to Ecuador to reach a very remote group with the Gospel. We got to witness the highlight reel of his life–what you could condense into an hour that in actuality spanned 50 years. We learned, by example, what it means to surrender your entire life to God regardless of where we live.
REPAIR & REHAB
Our church maintenance crew has had their hands full, quite literally, with many projects this year. In the last few months, they have fixed areas of the roof, installed antique lights in the sanctuary, and they hung a new Believers Church sign on the front of the building. It brings a sense of sincere ownership when projects like these are done in-house by our own members.
CONNECTING WITH THE COMMUNITY
It wouldn’t be spring without our annual church rummage sale. We love this event because it brings visitors into the building, we get to serve side-by-side with each other, and all while raising money for missions. One could say it was a “nice” day.
Also, we are hitting the streets every Sunday afternoon to meet folks outside of our immediate neighborhood. We are handing out cold drinks at a variety of locations, so if you see our black booth come say hi!
Beyond our local community, our church has a longstanding commitment to domestic mission work in the South. A few of us, plus many from Believers Church Menomonie, caravanned to rural Mississippi to aid in the construction of a new church. We are truly the ones who are blessed, knowing our efforts have contributed to God’s kingdom expanding well into the future.
SLIDING INTO SUMMER
Other than our rummage sale, one of our favorite events is playing kickball and eating at Gordy’s in Cloquet. This is usually a spur-of-the-moment, hey-it’s-nice-out type of event, that (if we’re lucky) happens more than once a season.
Spring turning into summer typically means eating outside on Wednesday nights. Shared meals are a large part of our church–every Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening like clockwork. While it may seem simple, it’s actually a significant act of fellowship in God’s eyes.
Believers Church has so much to be thankful for, and this past spring is just the tip of the iceberg. We look forward to what God has in store for us for the rest of 2026. For example, on August 4th we are hosting a National Night Out BBQ and everyone is invited. Don’t just look at these nice photos–come meet us in person!
