BULLETIN

St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church—LCMS 
40291 NE 40th Ave., Preston, Kansas 67583
Website: www.stpaulpreston.org              
Telephone: (620) 672-5354
Email: splcms@sctelcom.net (Office)        
mslcms@sctelcom.net (Pastor)
Rev. Michael Schotte, Pastor
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 2, 2026 
 
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 
 
A PRAYER FOR TODAY: We give thanks to You, O Lord, for You are good, and Your steadfast love endures forever. Thanks be to You that You have created the universe and all its wonders and that you still sustain and care for Your creation. Thanks be to You that You call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify Your one, true Christian Church on earth and that through Your Word You continue to bring souls to its fellowship. Keep our faith ever firm in Jesus Your Son, upon Whose death and resurrection the Church is built. Give us joy in the promise that You will receive Your Church into glory for eternity on the Last Day. For Jesus’ sake, Amen. 
 
IN OUR PRAYERS THIS WEEK: “It is He Who remembered us in our low estate, for His steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:23) 
• Thanksgiving for God’s daily protection and blessing upon homes and families, and for wisdom from His Word that they would be places where His Son Jesus is the Head, where His love and forgiveness are always at work, that parents will lead their children to grow in His grace and knowledge, and that children will honor, respect, and obey their parents in the Lord. 
• For mothers with babies and young children, that they will be kept from harm and danger. 
• Thanksgiving for the Lord’s blessing and gifts for many years to this congregation, and that His Word will lead us in faithfulness to Him all of our days. 
• For the peace of Jesus the Savior to be upon the people of St. Paul who are unable to be here, including: Jeanette Allison, Allicia Anschuetz, Evelyn Dye, Myron Falk, Charles Fritzemeier, LuAnn Hullman, John Paul and Sue Jorns, Bonnie Seidel, Edna Bell Studer, Nola McGuire, JoAnn Pearce, Jane Ann Starrett, Sandy Voshell, and Ruth Wiltshire. 
 
THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR is served today. Jesus said, “This is My body . . . This is My blood” (Matthew 26:26-28). We honor the words of Christ Jesus and believe what they say. His words form the fellowship of our receiving this gift together. Jesus gave and shed His body and blood for you. Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, wrote: “The words for you require all hearts to believe.” We practice closed communion. If you are a visitor of St. Paul Lutheran Church today, we ask that you please visit with the pastor before the service about receiving this Sacrament. 
 
ORDER OF WORSHIP TODAY: LSB, page 151 ff. 
HYMNS FOR WORSHIP: 816, 642, 625, 611, 774 
 
FRONT PAGE PHOTO: The miracle of the five loaves and two fish by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), a German Renaissance painter at the time of the Reformation. 
 
Introit Psalm 105:39–43; antiphon: v. 1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call up- | on his name;* make known his deeds among the | peoples! He spread a cloud for a | covering,* and fire to give | light by night. They asked, and he | brought quail,* and gave them bread from heaven in a- | bundance. He opened the rock, and water | gushed out;* it flowed through the desert like a | river. For he remembered his holy | promise,* and Abraham, his | servant. So he brought his people | out with joy,* his chosen ones with | singing. Glory be to the Father and | to the Son* and to the Holy | Spirit; as it was in the be- | ginning,* is now, and will be forever. | Amen. Oh give thanks to the LORD; call up- | on his name;* make known his deeds among the | peoples! 
 
Collect of the Day Heavenly Father, though we do not deserve Your goodness, still You provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may acknowledge Your gifts, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 
 
Old Testament Reading 1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, Isaiah 55:1–5 because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.” 
 
Gradual Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowl- | edge of God!* How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable | his ways! For from him and through him and to him are | all things.* To him be glory forever. | Amen. 
 
Epistle Romans 11:33, 36 Romans 9:1–13 1I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. 6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return and Sarah shall have a son.” 10And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call— 12she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 
 
Holy Gospel Matthew 14:13–21 13Now when Jesus heard [about the death of John], he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
NEWS AND EVENTS AT ST. PAUL 
August 2, 2026
 
CONTINUING EDUCATION and KANSAS DISTRICT MEETINGS will be attended by Pastor Schotte this week. Monday through Wednesday a course entitled Fathers and Heretics: The Apostolic Fathers will be held at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wichita. Dr. James Bushur of our Fort Wayne Seminary will teach the class. Thursday and Friday, Pastor will attend a President’s Council Meeting and District Board Meeting in Topeka. 
 
PRATT COUNTY FOOD BANK—The item requested for the month of August is Macaroni and Cheese boxes. You may donate these or other non-perishable food items in the box at the south entrance of the church. 
 
SUNDAY, AUGUST 23rd will be the day for our St. Paul Church Picnic. This will be preceded by an afternoon of VBS Bible lessons and activities for children and families. These events will take place in Iuka at the park and community center. Look for more details in next weeks’ bulletins, and plan now to attend. 
 
STAY UP TO DATE with news and events taking place around the LCMS and our Kansas District by referring to the websites at lcms.org and kslcms.org. Also, find in the August issue of The Lutheran Witness articles related to AI (Artificial Intelligence) and how the church should view it with caution and discernment. Notice: All members of St. Paul should be receiving monthly issues of this magazine. If you are not, please inform the church office. 
 
CHURCH MAILBOXES . . . Make it a weekly habit to check your box in the hallway of the narthex. Quarterly devotional materials—Portals of Prayer, My Devotions, Happy Times—are made available there, as well as any information received by the church that is designated for you personally. 
 
EXTRA COPIES of our devotional materials are made available on the tables at the church entrances. Please take these to share by giving them to family, friends, and neighbors. 
 
THE LUTHERAN HOUR - “Extreme Neighborliness” (Luke 10:25-37). Archives August Jesus is the ultimate “Good Samaritan,” the unlikely Rescuer who binds our wounds, carries us to safety, and pays the price through His cross. Lutheran Hour Speaker - Rev. Gregory Seltz. 
 
A LIFE THOUGHT FOR TODAY—Pentecost 10: Our God is the Lord and Giver of life! “Come … incline your ear to me, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live” (Isaiah 55:3)! “He who gives food to all flesh, for His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:25) also gives nourishment to every born and preborn life He knits together fearfully and wonderfully. Even while I “have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart” (Romans 9:2) over the spiritually lost and the violence of abortion and euthanasia, we continue to eat and be satisfied (Matthew 14:20) from Jesus Christ, our Bread of Life. 
 
KFUO RADIO, the broadcast voice of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, shares Christ for you anytime, anywhere on KFUO.org via worship services, Bible and theology studies, practical talk programs, and sacred music. Find programs on demand at kfuo.org and wherever you get your podcasts. Find us on social media: @KFUOradio on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
 
ALTAR GUILD: Terri Liggett, Kathie Thurman, Heather Van Slyke
 
HEAD USHER: Gary McGuire 
ELDERS: Derek Liggett, Shan Hullman, Lee Van Slyke 

Pages