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October 2024

Dear Friends,

“ Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. 59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” John 6:53-69

This passage in the Gospel of John highlights a very important aspect of studying God’s Word. Sometimes we hear sayings that are difficult to understand. This was the case with the disciples of Jesus after the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. In His discourse following that miracle, Jesus declares that He is the Bread of Life. The greatest need of the people is not earthly food or drink. They need Jesus. In fact, Jesus says that He is their food and drink “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:54 These sayings of Jesus, which foreshadows the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, emphasize the intimate union that God is establishing with His people. For many of Jesus’ disciples however, His words are too difficult to listen to “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” John 6:60 Many of those disciples ceased to follow Jesus. When Jesus asks the Twelve if they too will go away, Peter makes this wonderful confession “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” John 6:68-69 Even if the words of Jesus appear to offend or are difficult to understand, Peter and the disciples are determined to remain with Jesus.

So it is with us as well. Even though there are many things in the Holy Scriptures that challenge or even offend us, we remain steadfast in God’s Word. The Bible is trustworthy because the God who gave us this Word is trustworthy. Faith tells us that everything that God reveals in His Word is beneficial, because it teaches us about who God is, who we were in light of the Fall and who we now are in Christ. The death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ has given us the forgiveness of sins, Life and salvation. God grant us grace to continue to follow Jesus, who does indeed have the words of eternal life.

God continue to bless you for your steadfast support of the ministry of the Seminary.

Yours in Christ,
Chuck Bylkas

DONATIONS RECEIVED...
In memory of Carl Lamppa
From Bill & Phyllis Krumholz

FALL SEMESTER BEGINS
The fall semester is well under way, and it’s been very busy for students and staff. This semester the full-time students are Caleb Maunu, Scott Seppala, Travis Fredrickson, Michael Mattinen and Tyler Johnson. The part-time students are Garrett Traffie, Bruce Ruotsala, Chad Kyler, Ken Helmes, Bjorn Lampinen, Matthew Holmgren, Garrett Kandoll & Norma Nominelli. Deaconess Program students are Gwen Fredrickson and Cindy Koivu Bermudez. God bless our students!

SEMINARY RALLY
The Board of Directors of the Inter-Lutheran Theological Seminary invite you to attend the Annual Seminary Rally on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 3:30PM at Zion Lutheran Church, 400 Ingot Street, Hancock, Michigan.
Dinner will be served after the service. All are welcome!

WITH THANKS
The seminary is so thankful that a kind and generous donor has come forward with a matching fund donation of $25,000 for the year end of 2024.

We are seeking additional donations above and beyond normal giving that would be matched dollar for dollar within this program. The program begins October 1 and runs through December 15, 2024. If you are able to contribute to this program, please earmark your contribution “matching funds” in the memo section of your check.

Your continued support of the seminary is deeply appreciated and enables us to continue to grow as a seminary and carry on the work of teaching and preparing our students for ministry. God bless you again for your generosity!



ATTENTION: SUPPORTERS
THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT THE SEMINARY.


CHOICE DOLLARS DETAILS: Eligible clients with membership can recommend where Thrivent distributes some of its charitable grant funds. These recommendations are shared by directing Choice Dollars to enrolled nonprofit organizations, including churches.

Eligibility requirements: To be eligible to direct Choice Dollars as part of Thrivent Choice®, you must be a client with benefit membership. Individual eligibility is also based on at least one of the following:
• Having $750 or more in annual billed premiums of qualifying life and health insurance products.
• Having $20,000 or more in contract value of qualifying life insurance and annuity products.
Eligibility is determined monthly and reevaluated on an annual basis.
Minimum and maximum Choice Dollars designations: Eligible clients will be designated a minimum of 25 Choice Dollars and a maximum of 5,000 Choice Dollars per eligibility period (Jan. 1 to Dec. 31).
Choice Dollars expiration date: Choice Dollars designated during the calendar year can be directed until March 31 of the following year.

For more information about Choice Dollars, visit http://www.Thrivent.com/thriventchoice or call 800-847-4836 or contact your local Thrivent Financial representative.

THRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTINGTM

The Inter-Lutheran Seminary has established an Endowment Fund through Thrivent Charitable Impact & InvestingTM (formerly InFaith Community Foundation). All earnings of the endowment will be used for the seminary’s needs thereby ensuring the continued existence of this funding source. This is the preferred method used by many non-profit entities, especially ongoing religiously focused organizations such as seminaries. To learn more about this organization, go to www.thriventcharitable.com.

We would love to grow our endowment into a major source of ongoing seminary support. Although the seminary still needs the financial ongoing regular contributions of our supporters, please consider the endowment fund for your planned giving needs. For more additional information, please contact Kirk Otto, Jr. at (715) 821-8574 or Cheryl Hendrickson at
(906) 482-3337.

ANOTHER OPTION FOR GIVING – PayPal
Online giving is as easy as clicking the DONATE button on our website: https://ilseminary.org. Simply go to the How to Contribute tab and tap the yellow DONATE button to begin. There are options for credit and debit card donations and even the option to help the seminary cover the PayPal processing fee. (Note we are charged 1.99% + $.49/transaction fee). As always, we are thankful for your continued support!


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Inter-Lutheran Theological Seminary
James Weidner, President
P.O. Box 449
Hancock, MI 49930

administrator@ilseminary.org
Phone: 906-482-3337
FAX: 906-482-0694