Dear St. Lukers,
It’s hard to believe we are in the third week of Lent. As we press on through Mark’s Gospel, we come to chapter 11 this week and find ourselves in a familiar passage. Don’t be confused, it’s not Palm Sunday yet, although in this chapter Jesus does enter into Jerusalem on a donkey. We decided to keep the reading there because there’s something in this chapter we don’t want to skip over. You’ll have to come on Sunday to find out more, but you can prepare by checking out Pastor Melissa’s lecture on the “Your Week with St. Luke’s” podcast episode from Monday. Click here to either listen or scroll down the page to watch the video version.
Remember we want you to LEARN Jesus’ story first, then LIVE the story with a small group, practicing the story in community. That way you are prepared and ready to LOVE the story through worship, where we put this story of God first in our lives to rehearse its meaning together, and then go LEAD our lives with this story in our daily life.
We are so grateful to everyone who has turned in their Estimate of Giving! Thank you so much for getting us started off so solidly in these first few months of the year. For those who haven’t sent one in, we hope you received yours in the mail and have had a chance to consider what you are called by God to give to St. Luke’s ministries. With all of us working together, God promises there is always MORE THAN ENOUGH through Christ’s abundance.
Last week the United Methodist Women had amazing success at their annual Rummage Sale. These women worked so hard and had a wonderful day making over $8,000 for Missions. Thank you to all of our women who continue to give so much to ensure our community has more than enough! You continue to bless and amaze us with your passion and dedication.
Another exciting announcement is that our Missions ministry received another large grant through No Kid Hungry. This $76,000 grant will allow us to continue our work with food distributions at Maxey Elementary School, we will be able to hire a Micro Farm Manager so the network of farms we are developing are also providers of the produce for those food distributions. This helps us strengthen the Grow It Forward micro farms while providing the needed fresh produce to families at Maxey Elementary. It has been the diligent work of St. Lukers over the years creating our Restoring Hope ministries to help fight hunger and homelessness through partnerships, leveraging the assets of the community and St. Lukers, and being relentless about creating coalitions which allow those most vulnerable to give voice to the needs of the communities, that has given St. Luke’s Missions leaders and volunteers the credibility among city, state, and national leaders to receive such funding.
This work all began with a vision created by YOU, the entire congregation! It was a big, crazy, audacious 2020+ Vision we literally wrote on walls, where YOU said we could help end hunger for children and families in our area. Little by little, step by step, food box by bag of grace, plant by plant, you all have made it happen. Thank you to all of our gleaners, growers, distributers, packers, encouragers, allies, builders, dreamers, and visionaries who have been the hands of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish for our families! When Jesus said to the disciples, “You give them something to eat,” you all have shown what it means to do what Jesus asked. I’m so proud to be a St. Luker!
Come on back to worship and let’s celebrate all God is calling us to do!
See you Sunday!
Jenn.
P.S.
DONUTS and COFFEE are back in the Rotunda starting on Sunday, March 27 before and after the worship services! Come fellowship with fellow St Lukers you have not seen in a while, and enjoy this St. Luke’s favorite!