We are the Church!

St. Luke’s 2021 Annual Meeting
11:15 AM, Sunday, January 30, 2022
February 18, 1923, St. Luke’s church was born. There was no building. There was no council. There was no mission team, worship and music team, evangelism, community life, stewardship, or faith formation team. There were 9 families who following worship signed the original charter to become St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. A few more families joined and by June 1923 charter membership stood at 25 people.
The Reverend R.H. Gerberding, Field Missionary of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the Northwest, who helped form St. Luke’s wrote at the time of our 50th anniversary celebration that “a distinguishing mark of this young congregation was solidarity and unity of purpose.” 
Those people made a church. The current 595 baptized members are the church today. It is important to remember this truth as Worship Leader Jay Beech wrote in The Church Song ©1988.

REFRAIN
We are the Church, the body of our Lord;
We are all God's children, we have been restored.

The Church is not a building where people go to pray;
It's not made out of sticks and stones, it's not made out of clay. REFRAIN

You can go to worship but you cannot go to Church;
You can't find a building that's alive no matter how you search. REFRAIN

The Church is not a business, a committee, or a board;
It's not a corporation for the business of the Lord. REFRAIN

The Church, it is the people, living out their lives
Called, enlightened, sanctified for the work of Jesus Christ. REFRAIN

Let me repeat that last verse, “The Church it is the people, living out their lives; called, enlightened, sanctified for the work of Jesus Christ.”

From the very beginning being the Church is all about doing the work of Jesus Christ, in this time and this place, as we are commissioned, just like the disciples were…

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Matthew 28:19-20
On Sunday, three people will join us being church together. They have experienced our mission, “We are a welcoming and growing community of faith, busy making Christ known to the word.” They have witnessed us live out our core values – Service, Worship, Evangelism, Community, Stewardship, and Discipleship. Simply What Every Christian Should Do.
Following the 10 AM Worship this Sunday, join us in the sanctuary or online for our Annual Meeting. Prior to attending I encourage you to read the 2021 Annual Report. The report was emailed to all members. If you didn't receive one and would like it emailed to you, please email the office before 4 PM on Thursday, January 27th.
This is a time to celebrate the highlights of St. Luke’s Mission, Worship and Music, Community Life, Stewardship, and Faith Formation Teams. We will support our staff and council leadership. And most importantly we will commit our lives to one another as Church doing the work of Jesus Christ in the year ahead – A Beloved Community in solidarity and unity of purpose starting our 99th year and counting…
Let’s trust the promises that keep us going. God always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, worshipping together, spurring each other on, especially as we see the promises fulfilled as we faithfully follow Jesus. – Hebrews 10:23-25 MSG paraphrased
Ongoing prayers and blessings, Rob
rob@stlukesbloomington.org / 952-881-5801 ext. 103