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Last night I had the privilege to gather at the round table in the conference room with St. Luke’s Knights of the Round Table – the Mission Team. These are members who selflessly give of their time and treasure to lead St. Luke’s Mission out into the world. Listed are those who were in attendance along with the organizations they connect with on behalf of St. Luke’s. There is lots of crossover and mutual support for organizations and fellow Knights, but I’m identifying one member for each.
Bev Brosam – Raise Right, Oasis for Homeless Youth, Lift Garage Britt Halaas – Council Representative Craig Brandt – Feed My Starving Children Janet Lyson – VEAP and Quilting Larry Nelson – American Red Cross Blood Drive. Pat Cavanaugh – Loaves and Fishes Roger Lyson – Bridging In addition to the Knights gathered, there are many others… Gina Griffith – Meals on Wheels and Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage Community Life, Faith Formation, and the Mission Team – The Sandwich Project And as a congregation we join others of the ELCA to support the following organizations: Camp Wapo Lutheran Disaster Response Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Lutheran Social Services MN Minneapolis Synod Last night another member attended seeking a seat at the Round Table, nominating another organization. That is how the Mission Team works at St. Luke’s. Each organization has a member representative. Missions, Outreach and Service Statement "Putting God's love in action; our multi-generational congregation shares our talents, gifts and prayers in service and support, which enhances quality of life and inspires hope in our church and the community, both local and global – Making Christ Known to the world." St. Luke's lifts a few organizations a month to support financially, through a collection, or service. During this Thanksgiving and Christmas time as a congregation we have… Thanksgiving Eve Special Collection for VEAP. Pointsetta Sales proceeds and donations for Loaves and Fishes. Raise Right Gift Cards for Kennedy Kids, with a percentage of the card sales benefitting St. Luke’s. Oasis Coat Collection and Christmas Gifts. Along with Volunteer Opportunities with… Feed My Starving Children, Friday, December 30th (click here to sign up) and January 13th (click here to sign up) at the Chanhassen Location, 7 PM. American Red Cross Blood Drive here at St. Luke’s, Tuesday, January 3, 1 - 6:45 PM. Click here to sign up. Thank you to the team and everyone here at St. Luke’s is so generous care for all God’s children, in Jesus name. Blessed to be a blessing!
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Every year Christ the King Sunday and Thanksgiving Day are during the same week. Two very important holidays for Christians living in the United States.
Is Christ the King in your life? That will be the conversation on Sunday with our current theme, “Continuing in the Faith.” The best answer is not through words, but through our actions. We have the opportunity every day and moment of our life. As a community of faith, busy making Christ known we’re invited to do so in a particular way on Thanksgiving Eve. There is some controversy about how Thanksgiving began and the growing commercialization of it, but at its best Thanksgiving is to celebrate the Fall Harvest by gathering for a feast where all are welcome. At St. Luke’s Thanksgiving Eve Worship, Wednesday, November 23 at 7 PM. We celebrate all the blessings we have received following tradition as we make sure others are able to enjoy the feast. How we will do that is by having a collection for VEAP, our community food shelf. Presently, the items most needed include: · Whole grain rice (1-2 pound bags) · Whole grain pasta · Hearty soups (high protein, low sodium) · Whole grain cereal (like Shredded Wheat, Kashi, bran cereals, Chex, etc.) · Canned proteins (meat and beans) · Canned fruit and vegetables · Toilet paper · Paper towels · Diapers (size 5-7) and baby wipes · Cooking oil · Coffee · Baking essentials (flour, sugar, spices, baking soda/powder) · Laundry detergent · Dish soap · Personal care items (shampoo, toothpaste, hand soap, shaving cream, toiletries, etc.) · Gluten-free products (whole grains like brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, cornmeal; nut flours and butters; rice crackers, GF snacks, etc. Check for gluten-free product label.) · Birthday candles, cake frosting, birthday-themed napkins/plates, cake mix, small birthday party favors like chalk, bubbles or bags of balloons · Dog and cat food (particularly wet food, treats, litter, etc.) · Paper bags and re-usable, cloth totes (We’ll always take your extra paper grocery bags. We are not accepting plastic bag or totes donations). In addition, there will be a basket for financial gifts. So as you go shopping for your Thanksgiving Meal, add some of the items above to share on Thanksgiving Eve - consider it a gift to The King. Happy Thanksgiving! Ongoing Prayers and Blessings, Rob Remembering St. Luke’s on Veterans Day Weekend
Special Worship, Sunday, November 13, 2022 – 3 PM. We will begin and end at the Flag Pole. One of my treasured possessions is the prayer book my Grandfather carried during his service in the Army, island hopping in the South Pacific. He was not active in his faith following his active duty, but the book is well worn. I used it when I officiated his funeral. There is an Evangelical Lutheran Worship Prayer Book for the Armed Services designed specifically for military personnel, their families, veterans and chaplains, published by Augsburg Fortress. Eric Wester, ELCA pastor and former assistant to the presiding bishop of the ELCA and director, Federal Chaplaincies, Washington, D.C. said when he served, “In our office, we get at least one call per week asking, ‘What can we do to support our troops?’ Individuals and congregations who send copies of the prayer book for our chaplains to pass on to others help sustain faith in Christ for those serving in uniform.” The features of this special prayer book include:
I invite you to prayerfully consider making a financial gifts to the ELCA Bureau for Federal Chaplaincy Ministries for the purchase of prayer books that can be shipped according to your wishes or sent to chaplains in deployed settings, military medical facilities and pre-deployment sites as troops head “out the door” and “down range.” The prayer books are also sent to basic training and “boot camp” sites for new recruits. Please indicate that your gift is to be used to purchase a prayer book to donate. ELCA Bureau for Federal Chaplaincy Ministries 218 D Street SE, Suite 100 Washington, DC 20003 Let us close with one of the prayers from Evangelical Lutheran Worship: Prayer Book for the Armed Forces. Almighty and ever-living God, we give you thanks for the men and women who have served and defended our country and the values of freedom and justice we hold so dear. Help us be mindful of the sacrifices they made and the hardship endured by their families and friends, so that we never take for granted the privileges they have secured for us. Hear us, we pray, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. (PBAS, p. 66) This Sunday we will celebrate All Saints.
It begs the questions: What exactly is a saint? Why do we are celebrate? First, it’s a time to thankfully remember our church members, friends and relatives who have died in the last year to join the saints in heaven. Second, it is also a day we are invited to reflect on our own saintliness, especially in the light of the life and witness of those who have gone before us in the faith. For we must remember that, as Christians, our family tree is not limited to, nor defined by, our biological connectedness. We are all grafted into God’s family tree through baptism; we have all been adopted as children of God and sisters and brothers of Christ through the working of the Spirit in our lives. Therefore, we are related to all the saints—they are our sisters and brothers. When I reflect upon the lives of “the saints,” the ones I’ve known personally and those I’ve only heard or read about, I don’t feel very saintly myself. I feel like the little boy I read about who was met at the door by the author one Halloween. He was about 4 and wore a Superman outfit. He reached out his hand as he said trick or treat. The woman could not resist teasing him a bit, asking, “Where’s your bag?” He replied, “My mom’s carrying it. It’s too heavy for me.” The woman smiled and said, “But you’re Superman!” He glanced down at the “S” on his chest before whispering, “Not really, these are just pajamas.” The Scriptures tell us that because we’re Christians, we’re also saints, but most of us don’t believe it. We look down at the “S” on our chest and then plead with God, “Not really, I’m only human.” This is the great mystery of All Saints Day. We are indeed only human, but we are also “the saints who gather at …,” as Paul put it in many of his letters. We are, as Martin Luther said, saint and sinner at the same time. Though we don’t go around in Christian pajamas with a big haloed “S” on our chest, we do have an invisible cross on our foreheads. It was put there at our baptism with these or similar words: “Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.” Each of us has that mark on our lives, a mark that calls us forward into saintliness. We are invited to constantly live into our name as a child of God, as a baptized saint. And we never quite make it. We’re always aware of falling short, of not measuring up. We are also always aware that the other people in our family of faith seldom measure up either. Unfortunately, we are sometimes more aware of the failures of others that we are of our own. Someone sent me a little poem a few years ago. I ran across it in my files the other day: Oh, to live above, with Saints we love. Oh, that will be Glory. But, to live below, with Saints we know. Well, that’s a different story. The struggle of the Christian life is to remember that we are all saints in spite of our failures, and to remember that the other people in our church family are saints as well, in spite of their imperfections. As Isaiah said: On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear (25:6). We are invited, on this All Saints Sunday, to remember our sainted-ness, our blessedness, our holiness—all gifts from God, gifts we were given for the benefit of the world. We are also invited to remember the sainted-ness, the blessedness, the holiness of others. To remember that they, too, are the beloved Children of God—and treat them that way. Amen and amen. Used with permission. Originally printed in the Living Lutheran Lectionary Blog, October 29, 2018 Retired Pastor Delmer Chilton. Lives in North Carolina. He received his education at the University of North Carolina, Duke Divinity School and the Graduate Theological Foundation. He received his Lutheran training at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C. Ordained in 1977, Delmer has served parishes in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. |