January 2026

Dear Friends,

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.1

In October of 2025 I had the pleasure of assisting in the ordination of Pastor Scott Seppala at Eastwood Apostolic Lutheran Church in Negaunee MI. The text I chose for that occasion appears above. Since that time this passage has been persistently on my mind. While preparing that message I was amazed at John’s usage of the Greek root word translated as full and fullness. John tells us that Jesus, the only begotten Son of the Father, is full of grace and truth. There is nothing surprising about that statement as the balance of the Gospel bears witness to it. Jesus spends His earthly sojourn demonstrating God’s grace to humanity and that He is the true, real God. We are made to witness by John’s testimony that God has become flesh and has done so to purchase our redemption. Jesus goes to the cross to shed His blood to save us by forgiving all our sin, taking away the sin of the world. That was His mission and He fulfilled it entirely so showing God’s grace to the world. This is remarkable but expected as the Gospel unfolds. The statement that is particularly shocking though is that found in verse 16; “And of His fulness have we all received, and grace for grace.” Jesus is full of grace and truth and of that fullness all of us have received. All of us have received grace and truth from His fulness. We have not received it partially but fully, of His fulness. God has withheld nothing of His fulness from us, he gave us all in Christ. Still John follows that up by telling us this grace goes on and on. This is grace for grace that is inexhaustible. The Greek preposition used here means “in the place of,” and in this usage gives the idea of grace in the place of grace in an endless stream. As we need God’s grace, we don’t exhaust it at all, the application of grace to us is done again and again into eternity. God’s grace goes on forever and comes from the fulness given us in Jesus. It is there whenever we need it and we need it all the time. The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin 1 John 1:7. It is in this grace that we begin a new year. God’s mercies to us are new every day.

Thank you for supporting us in years past and kindly doing the same in this new year. A Blessed and Happy New Year to all of you in the fulness of His grace!

God’s Peace,

Jay Weidner

Donations received... In memory of the Seminary Founders Dr. & Mrs. Uuras SaarnivaaraRev. & Mrs. Kenneth HendricksonDr. Albert Saari

From Janis Saari          

In memory of Adam Ostapenko

From Joan Ostapenko

In memory of Joyce Magner

From Joan Ostapenko

In memory of Pastor Elmer & Ruth Liimatta

From John Sullivan In memory of Jed Hammond

From Ken & Jackie Kangas

In memory of Donald Bielinksi

From Pamela Bielinski

In memory of Gary Worrall

From Barbara Worrall

In memory of Kathleen Forsman

From Pastor Chuck Bylkas, Joy & family

In memory of Ernest Bylkas, Jr.

From Pastor Chuck Bylkas, Joy & family

THANKS TO YOU, the matching funds program was a huge success.

We are pleased to report that donations received reached $25,000 and will now be matched by a generous donor. May God bless your generosity and continued support!

CHOICE DOLLARS PROGRAM IN 2025

THANK YOU to those who made contributions through Thrivent Financial Choice Dollars Program. The seminary received $2,078 in the calendar year 2025. For more information about Choice Dollars, visit http://www.Thrivent.com/thriventchoice or call 800-847-4836 or contact your local Thrivent Financial representative.