St. Luke Lutheran Church

This Sunday we wrap-up our Better Together sermon series.  I hope and pray that our community of faith would be a place of shelter, hope, and encouragement for all who gather.  A final building block for a strong community is generosity.  The word for “community” in the Bible is the word “fellowship.”  Fellowship is what we’ve been talking about for the last five weeks.  In the Bible the Greek word for “fellowship” is koinonia.  Koinonia is an important word which can be translated many ways.  Like a diamond that has multiple facets to it, so does koinonia or fellowship.  In the Bible, koinonia is translated as not just fellowship but it’s translated as community, participation, and generosity.

This is important because all three of these are essential elements of fellowship.  If you and I are going to have fellowship together there’s got to be a sense of community.  Community is built through participation and participation involves some type of contribution or practice of generosity.  We cannot have community without generosity.  Generous with our time and our energy and our money, with our resources, with all the different parts of our lives. The writer of Hebrews stated, “Keep doing good and sharing your resources.” (Hebrews 13:16) The phrase “sharing your resources” uses the word for “community” for “fellowship” – koinonia.  In 2 Corinthians 9 Paul wrote, “Your generosity… not only provides for the needs of God’s people, but also produces prayers of thanksgiving to God.”

Join us this Sunday as we learn to deepen our relationships through the practice of generosity.

Advent Sermon Series, Merry Xmas!

It wasn’t that many years ago that many Christians fought battles with local retailers over the store’s use of “Xmas” in Christmas advertisements. Uninformed people had gotten their anger up because they assumed a slight on Christians; an attempt to remove Christ from Christmas. It is possible that in some cases, the use of Xmas might have been an attempt to remove potential offensive religious language. It might be possible that the use of Xmas was simply an attempt to save space. Yet, it also is to be noted that the early Christians often used the letter “X” to represent Christ.  X was used to represent Christ because it was the first letter in the title, “Christ” or the Messiah.  It was used because it reminded the early church of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that paid for their sins. There is a chance that if we were to dig-up advertising from the late first or second centuries, we might see Christmas spelled out “Xmas.”

Whether it was a shop owner’s intent or not, when they use “Xmas” in their displays, they are reminding the world that Jesus came as God’s anointed, that’s what Christ means, and that he gave his life on the cross and rose in victory for the sins of the world.

Some have speculated that the “X” used by pirates had its roots in the Christian tradition of marking the secrete places of worship with an “X.”  The “X” helped people to find gatherings of God’s people where fellowship and grace could be found.  The gatherings were like precious treasure to those who gathered.  Each week we will use Greek words that begin with X (chi) to experience God’s hidden provision for our faith journey.

Here are all the nominated candidates:

SLC:
President: Chad Woltemath
Vice President: Julie Dunmire
Secretary: Libby Fink
Treasurer: Allen Morgan
At-Large: Ellen Davis
At-Large: Chad Hayes
At-Large: Johnnie Jackson

Board of Elders:
Andy Smith
Jim Putz
John Nees
Fred Himebaugh
Ron McCarty
Ken Pingel
O’Neill Young
Don Kuck
Emeka Egwim

The election will occur Sunday, December 10 and Sunday, December 17, both between services and after the late service. Tables will be set up in the lobby outside of the sanctuary. Candidate bios will be available to review at the tables and can also be reviewed online here. We look forward to all current voting-age (18+) members stopping by the tables to cast their ballots!

Please also continue to pray for discernment and wisdom for all our current leaders and for those up for election for lay leadership positions at St. Luke.

If you have any questions, please contact Pastor Jones or any of the members of the Nominating Committee: Andy VanEgmond, Karla Chapman, Sherrill Derksen, and John Nees. Since this is an annual process, please feel free to reach out to any

We will need volunteers for the following areas:

• Meals for the men each night
• Overnight hosts - Sign up here to be an overnight host
• Towel laundry

Allen and Sharon Morgan have coordinated/managed St. Luke’s participation with the rotating homeless shelter for many years and are looking for a person, couple, or group who would be willing to shadow them this year and then take the reins for the 2024/2025 season.

See here for more information.  Please contact Allen with any questions or to volunteer for meals, towel laundry, or if you are interested in coordinating the rotating homeless shelter next season.

Peace Light

The Peace Light from Bethlehem campaign was originally organized in 1986 by the Austrian Broadcasting Company - ORF (Linz) - and was part of a large charitable relief mission -Light into Darkness, for children in need in Austria and abroad. Since 1989, there has been a great deal of co-operation between Scouts and Guides in many countries, which has allowed the light to travel throughout Europe.

Each year, a child from Upper Austria fetches the light from the grotto in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. The light is then flown to Austria from where it is distributed at a Service of Dedication to delegations from across Europe who take it back, with a message of Peace, to their own countries for use at ecumenical services throughout the Continent. Scouts and Guides can then take the light on to houses of worship, hospitals, homeless shelters, old people homes, prisons, and places of public, cultural and political importance - to anybody who appreciates the significance of the "gift".

BSA Troop 446 from Saline Michigan will be hosting and distributing the Peace Light throughout the Saline and Ann Arbor Area.   St Luke Lutheran Church at 4205 Washtenaw Ave. will host the light and have it available on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings from December 10th through the 25th.  If you would like to make other arrangements, please reach out to @Troop 446 Saline on Facebook.

55 ALIVE December Meeting
Musical Christmas with Nate Zuellig

55 Alive is the senior ministry for St. Luke and area churches. Though mainly comprised of folks 55 and older, anyone is welcome! For our December meeting we are celebrating a musical Christmas with ULC's Artist-in-Residence and musician Nate Zuellig. We will share a Christmas feast featuring a turkey and would love for each of you to bring a potluck dish to share. Let Arthur know you're coming and what you're bringing .

You don’t want to miss this fun, enjoyable evening. Questions? Contact Lynn Wrightson.

You can connect with Pastor Todd either by email or cell phone 734-213-4256.