 A project supported by the Lilly Foundation’s Thriving Congregations initiative
St. Luke’s was selected as one of the 15 Minneapolis congregations for the 2023-2025 Cohort. Over these two years six people: Leah DeShepper, currently President-Elect of St. Luke’s, Adult members, Kelsey Newby and Donna Tabat, Student Member, Sadie Cinnamon, and a Community Member, and Venessa Nelson who serves as President of St. Luke’s Preschool, and me will make up the team. The Teams first experience will be a retreat with the other congregations on Friday, and Saturday, October 6 & 7. Please hold the team in your prayers as they give of their time on behalf of St. Luke’s and our surrounding neighborhood. Here is a glimpse of what the team will be experiencing and inviting the congregation to participate. “Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” – Luke 10:25-28 Faith Practices & Neighboring Practices: Renewing Congregational Imagination is a two-year learning community for congregations in the Minneapolis Area Synod. We believe that vital congregations take seriously the small simple practices that build community, cultivate mutual relationships, and expand our awareness of God’s activity in the places where we have been called to live. Faith Practices & Neighboring Practices guides cohorts of congregations through a learning process focused on collaborative learning, community building, and spiritual practice. Congregations experiment with practices in their own community to build authentic relationships with neighbors, connect across difference, and engage contemplative spirituality. Practices are grounded in asset-based community development, intentional simplicity, and contemplative spiritual traditions. Each month, cohorts meet to process and support one another’s work, explore new practices, and build meaningful relationships. The Center for Leadership & Neighborhood Engagement guides each learner through the Intercultural Development Inventory and assists in developing an individual and community plan for growing in intercultural competence. Additionally, the cohorts engage in a parallel learning process with the Riverside Innovation Hub at Augsburg University and other Thriving Congregations Initiatives in the Twin Cities. We look forward to sharing more in the weeks and months ahead. I believe this was a Spirit calling as St. Luke’s has been seeking a Director of Community Engagement. God answered our prayers with this congregational opportunity, where not one but five people are willing to lead us. It is living out our mission statement: St. Luke’s is a welcoming and growing community of faith, busy making Christ known to the world.
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 We’re a little late to the party, the Sun Current Readers’ Choice Awards Voting has begun:
https://apgecm.secondstreetapp.com/BLOOMINGTON-2024-RCA/gallery?group=462854 Thank you to all who have voted for St. Luke’s and those who will be voting. You can do so once per day. St. Luke’s won the award last year 2023, and many previous years. It is a wonderful recognition to have members and friends who take the time to vote. I feel blessed to attend worship at St. Luke’s and enjoy the music of the Choir, Bells, and Jubilee. Thank you to all of our singers and musicians and especially to our Music Leadership: Greg Anderson – Jubilee Director Patrick Lair – Choir Director Lori Murray – Organist and Choir Accompanist Alanna Teragawa – Bell Director Also a thank you to all who serve in worship. I count every person who helps worship be pleasing to God and all who attend, inside and outside of the sanctuary: Lectors, Worship Assistants, Ushers, Altar Guild, Sound-Video-Camera Techs, Greeters, Welcome Desk, Treat Providers, Hosts, Communion Assistants, Snow Shovelers, Acolytes, Office Staff, and the Prayground/Children Church Leaders. Furthermore, to all who attend, lifting their voice in praise and prayers, welcoming one another and most importantly guests. Thank you especially to those who remember the 2-Minute Rule. Following worship, please take the first 2 minutes to greet someone you don’t know. It makes all the difference. And you can still meet up with your friend, even better introduce them to the guest. And for those of you online, may you do the same. Last, but not least, may worship help you serve as you go out into the world. Hold St. Luke’s in your prayers. Share God’s love, Jesus’ peace, and the Holy Spirit’s joy with all you meet. Take all of this one step further and invite someone to join you this Sunday or in the weeks ahead. You can tell them, “Come to the best place of worship in Bloomington that has the best choir and music program and the best Vacation Bible School. Thank you Emily Schoeller, Director of Children and Family Ministry. “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker – Psalm 95:1-6 As a typical American boy rooting for the team that both of sides of his family followed, Walter Payton was my first hero and in many ways he still is today. His nickname spoke of his personality, “Sweetness.” However he was not sweet when he touched the football, he was a gritty, hard-nosed Chicago Bears running back who would take on contact often deliver a wicked stiff arm before being tackled, almost never running out of bounds. Former Bear Tight-End and Super Bowl Coach Mike Ditka described Payton as the greatest football player he had ever seen—but an even greater human being
A Christian, Payton, in February 1999, Payton announced that he had a rare liver disease. Earlier in his prognosis he had the opportunity to purchase a liver on the black market, but said, he was no more special than anyone else and decided to wait his turn in line. He spent his final months as an advocate for organ transplants, and encouraged others to donate organs, although by the time his first appeal was recorded, his illness was already too far advanced for a transplant to have been a viable option. He started many other charitable organizations and in response, the NFL Man of the Year Award which recognizes an NFL player for his excellence on and off the field, established in 1970, was renamed in 1999 after Walter Payton. Each team nominates one player who has had a significant positive impact on his community, representing the best of the NFL's commitment to philanthropy and community impact. A Hero – is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. I would add a hero seeks the best for all people and the common good. That is what we find in the Bible time and time again. As I shared in the Labor Day Weekend Message (Genesis 4:3-15), the first hero in the Bible is God. God’s response to Cain’s fear is amazing. The unreconciled, although punished is still protected. As it was shared in an August message– Jesus tells the people that God treats the righteous and the unrighteous the same (Matthew 5:43-47), while justice prevails. Last Sunday we looked at the Apostle Paul. He is famous for being probably the greatest evangelist ever, but he was previously Saul, infamous for being a Zealot religious leader who persecuted and killed Christians. Again, a hero wants the best for all people and the common good. Jesus, the Son of God, took one who was an enemy and transformed him. Over the next ten weeks we will hear many more Biblical people who trusted God and kept the faith – well, most of the time. Qualifiers are required because as you hear their stories they are far from perfect. What we can take from all of this is that perfection is not a requirement to be a hero. Neither is unwavering faith or blind trust, each of these characters had their faults and failures; as do we – which allows us to become everyday heroes as we seek to be the best person God made us to be and strive for the common good. We will hear the story of two unlikely heroes this coming Sunday. God takes an old couple, Abram and Sarai, blesses them by to be a blessing to all nations. There is a hero in each one of us. But I’m still curious, “Who is one of your heroes?” Share in the comment below. Ongoing prayers and blessings, Rob Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” — Romans 12:6–8
I realized early in life that I was happiest when I was serving. This led me to seek positions that allowed me to serve. From wait staff to Orderly to Nursing. As a former Registered Nurse, I have witnessed the deleterious effects of poor nutrition and malnutrition. When I discovered that I could make a difference in children’s lives by the simple act of packing meals that would then be sent to those same children and then that the organization (FMSC) has a 99.8% success rate of getting the meals that I helped to pack to get to those kids. As a member of your Mission’s Team I coordinate the scheduling of volunteers who pack meals from St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Bloomington. My wife and I also participate in each scheduled packing session – putting our sweat equity into each session. I am also the St. Luke’s point of contact for FMSC, so I forward their email and mailings to the office to share with you. Logistically speaking each bag packed equals six one cup meals. There are 36 bags per box which is the same as 216 meals per box. There are 36 boxes to each pallet which equals 7,776 meals per pallet. So far this year we have participated in eight sessions. Packing 137,520 meals, feeding 490 children. Breaking down St. Luke’s participation, we supplied 148 volunteers and we packed 48,191 meals, or 132.1 children fed for a year. We packed for Children in Malawi, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Mozambique and Panama. We have three sessions currently in need of Volunteers: 1. Saturday, September 16th starting at 9:00 AM - 10:45 AM. (This is Roger Lyson’s 70th Birthday and we are hoping for one Volunteer for each year of life, so far, he’s only 13… The Join Code is MYB9KG. 2. Monday, October 16th starting at 7:00 PM - 8:45 PM.This is World Food Day and there is a $15,000.00 Matching Gift available for each session on this day. World Food Day is a designation from the UN and there is a bit more information about it to follow. The Join Code is L35VXZ. 3. Tuesday, October 31st starting at 7:00 PM - 8:45 PM. Yes, this is Halloween. Kim and I thought about it and have decided that in lieu of staying home and passing out candy to kids we don’t know, we would rather pack nutritious meals for children we don’t know! We know this might not be popular right now, but we did it last year so it’s going to be our new tradition. Besides, if you participate in Trunk or Treat – then maybe you’ve have had your fill! The Join Code is 7X7D63. Four Ways to Sign up: 1. As always, put your name and children’s name and age (5-18) on the back of the yellow card and the Church Office will forward this information to me so I can sign you up. 2. Go to: http://www.fmsc.org/join-group?joincode=MYB9KG (This is Septembers Code!) 3. Text me at 612-799-7561 with the Volunteers Names and ages. 4. E-mail me at [email protected] with the Volunteers Names and ages. From Feed My Starving Children Web Site: Food insecurity in the Caribbean has taken a sharp turn upward since 2020. Increasing food prices are an especially heavy burden in a region where 30% of the population lives in poverty. Natural disasters are arguably the biggest threat to the Caribbean’s food security. In fact, a single disaster can cause losses to a country totaling 200% of their GDP. Droughts, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and landslides cause an annual $3 billion of damage and other losses. By all measures, Haiti is the hungriest country in the Caribbean — and one of the hungriest places on the planet. Our partners in Haiti are reporting the worst situation they’ve ever seen. A new spike in violence and a cholera outbreak have intensified already-severe conditions. In Port-au-Prince, people are facing famine-like conditions. And, across the nation, food shortages prove devastating. FMSC food is distributed by our network of partners across the Caribbean. Since 2009, FMSC has sent more than 1.3 billion meals to the Caribbean. This food has been used to support the work of dozens of our partners. This work includes: · Clean water projects · Sustainable agriculture · Microenterprise initiatives From the World Food Day Web Site: Water is essential to life on Earth. It makes up over 50% of our bodies and covers about 71% of the Earth's surface. Only 2.5% of water is fresh, suitable for drinking, agriculture, and most industrial uses. Water is a driving force for people, economies and nature and the foundation of our food. Indeed, agriculture accounts for 72% of global freshwater withdrawals, but like all natural resources, fresh water is not infinite. Rapid population growth, urbanization, economic development, and climate change are putting the planet’s water resources under increasing stress. At the same time, freshwater resources per person have declined 20% in the past decades and water availability and quality are deteriorating fast due to decades of poor use and management, over extraction of groundwater, pollution and climate change. We risk stretching this precious resource to a point of no return. Today, 2.4 billion people live in water-stressed countries. Many are smallholder farmers who already struggle to meet their daily needs, particularly women, Indigenous Peoples, migrants, and refugees. Competition for this priceless resource is increasing as water scarcity becomes an ever-increasing cause of conflict. Around 600 million people who depend, at least partially, on aquatic food systems for a living are suffering the effects of pollution, ecosystem degradation, unsustainable practices and climate change. From the FMSC Web site: 12 verses to guide your mercy-focused prayer Each of the 12 Scripture passages below focuses on mercy. A question for meditation follows each passage. You may choose to use the passages one at a time throughout the day, perhaps hourly, or all at once, or whatever works for you.
Each of the 12 Scripture passages below focuses on mercy. A question for meditation follows each passage. You may choose to use the passages one at a time throughout the day, perhaps hourly, or all at once, or whatever works for you. From the FMSC Web site: 12 verses to guide your mercy-focused prayer Each of the 12 Scripture passages below focuses on mercy. A question for meditation follows each passage. You may choose to use the passages one at a time throughout the day, perhaps hourly, or all at once, or whatever works for you. |