On Reformation Sunday, St. Luke’s welcomed the following new members into our congregation; Patricia Bowman, Melinda Franklin, Marvin James, Tricia Hall, Nathan Holliday and Ryan Sullivan.
The Fall Festival and Potluck Lunch were held October 27th in the Fellowship Hall. We had the opportunity to get to know our new members better over lunch. We also enjoyed an assortment of games including Bingo and awarded candy treats and other prizes to all participants.
St. Luke’s got a day of beauty on Sunday November 4th. Church members and Scouts all pitched in to clean, rake, fix and repair things in and around the church. Afterwards we all sat down for a well deserved lunch of hot dogs, chips and cookies.
From the ELCA website:
On this Election Day, pray for the nation’s voters that they will cast thoughtful ballots, and give thanks for all the candidates, both local and national, who cared enough to become involved.
From the Book of Common Prayer:
Almighty God, to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges: Guide the people of the United States in the election of officials and representatives; that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all may be protected and our nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
This week we hear an amazing promise: “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed.”
Come and see what promises God has in store for you this week!
The fourth of the Old Testament promises providing a baptismal lens this Lent is the promise God makes to Moses: those who look on the bronze serpent will live. In today’s gospel Jesus says he will be lifted up on the cross like the serpent, so that those who look to him in faith will live. When we receive the sign of the cross in baptism, that cross becomes the sign we can look to in faith, for healing, for restored relationship to God, for hope when we are dying.
From Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2012 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved.
The third covenant in this year’s Lenten readings is the central one of Israel’s history: the gift of the law to those God freed from slavery. The ten commandments are one of the chief parts of Luther’s catechism, a core piece of baptismal instruction. They begin with the statement that because God alone has freed us from the powers that oppressed us, we are to let nothing else claim first place in our lives. When Jesus throws the merchants out of the temple, he is defending the worship of God alone and rejecting the ways commerce and profit-making can become our gods.
From Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2012 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved.
The Sundays after Epiphany began with Jesus’ baptism and end with three disciples’ vision of his transfiguration. In Mark’s story of Jesus’ baptism, apparently only Jesus sees the Spirit descending and hears the words from heaven. But now Jesus’ three closest friends hear the same words naming him God’s beloved son. As believers, Paul writes, we are enabled to see the God-light in Jesus’ face, because the same God who created light in the first place has shone in our hearts to give us that vision. The light of God’s glory in Jesus has enlightened us through baptism and shines in us also for others to see.
On Saturday, June 18, two families from St. Luke’s joined other volunteers at the Volunteer Farm in Culpeper for a morning of hard work and fellowship.
The Volunteer Farm in Culpeper has planted more than 3,000 tomato plants, 700 pepper plants, 3,000 cucumber plants and 600 watermelon plants. The yield from these crops will be donated to food banks and pantries that serve 1/3 of the state. This is the first year of planting at the Culpeper Farm, off Cherry Hill Road near the county’s waste transfer station. The land, owned by a member of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Warrenton, has been leased to the Volunteer Farm and is going into production, acre by acre. The plowing, planting and tending is done by volunteers (including one gentleman who gets to play with his collection of vintage John Deere tractors) and more help is needed!
St. Luke’s will have more workdays on the farm as the growing season continues. We can provide volunteers to pick the crops once the plants start bearing, to plant late-season crops, etc. The Kern and Hartman families spent a Saturday morning in the summer sun, but hands will be needed during other times as the season progresses. If you’re interested in helping, contact Bobbie Hartman.
St. Luke Lutheran Church 