By Paul Dickerson, Congregational President
Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
Happy Advent!
These are not two words you hear very often. Usually we go from ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ right past Advent and straight on to ‘Merry Christmas’. But this year ‘Happy Advent’ seems to fit. Advent is a season of preparation. A season of waiting. A season of the now, but not yet fully.
It’s also the season I believe St. Luke is in right now. I shared at a recent family forum my belief that as a church we need to prepare and position ourselves to be ready for whatever God has next for us.
Part of this is getting our financial house in order. Already this year, we have made double-payments on our mortgage in four of the six months and we refinanced our mortgage to a lower interest rate while still making the same payment (meaning more is going to principal). Praise God!
But even as we look ahead to whatever God has in store for our church in the years to come, we cannot look past the work God is doing among us and through us today.
- In October/November, we hosted All Sons and Daughters for a concert/worship event and had a packed house for author Ted Dekker.
- On Reformation Sunday St. Luke – Ann Arbor welcomed nearly 40 new members into our fellowship.
- As a response to the “Beautiful Feet” women’s retreat, Living Water initiated the Soles for Souls shoe drive to serve Whitmore Lake Elementary School.
- In just a few weeks, ULC and the Common Cup will host the Final Fix and serve approximately 100 students (many of whom do not regularly worship at the Chapel) with free coffee, midnight-breakfast and snacks, and a safe place to study as they prepare for finals.
- The Brilliance is returning to the Chapel for a concert on December 11 (get tickets here).
- And we have seen a total re-launch of our website with over 50,000 hits since mid-August (share one of our excellent blogs with your friends!).
In all of this and more, we live out our core values of Reaching Up to God in worship, Reaching Out into our communities with the love of Jesus, and Reaching In our congregation to encourage, disciple, and grow our members in their faith.
Each of the ministries at St. Luke offers an opportunity for our members to participate in the work of advancing God’s kingdom through prayer, service, and monetary donations. As you plan your end-of-year giving, please prayerfully consider making a gift to our church over and above your normal offering. (You can give online here.)
I would also challenge each of you to select one or more of the ministries of our church to actively support through your service, and most importantly, your prayers. God chooses to use us to do His kingdom work, and we do it best together.
As you plan your end-of-year giving, please prayerfully consider making a gift to our church over and above your normal offering.
I am honored to serve our Lord with such a wonderful group of saints. May God bless each of us as we prepare for the celebration of Christmas and anticipate when He will fulfill his promise to return.
Peace,
Paul N. Dickerson
Congregation President
P.S. – MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
