Precious memories & the joy of the Lord

This weekend Mary Ann and I ministered at St Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church's family camp at the Covenant Park Bible Camp in Mahtowa near my hometown Cloquet, Minnesota. It was a great joy to reconnect with friends from my youth and longtime supporters. We also made several new friends. St Paul's has in many ways nurtured me in Christ since I trusted Him as Savior in 1973 and has supported Mary Ann and me since we went to the Philippines in 1985. I preached three times from Galatians which was "Luther's book", gave a ministry update and challenge and preached this morning at two different worship services from Matthew 28:18-20 so in total six times. I seemed to get stronger as the weekend went on and I attribute that to many people praying and the people's receptivity to the Word and us. This was a precious weekend of remembering the past and making new memories. The joy of the Lord is our strength indeed.