Worship will not take place at St. Luke through March 29, nor will any groups or gatherings have access to the building. On March 30, we will assess our situation and enact our next steps.
Worship will take place, however, wherever you are. Singly or in small groups, the Lord will speak through his Word and transform us as he always has.
St. Luke continues our worship series The Story by preparing to experience Chapter 22, which by the Lord’s design contains the key phrase, “Fear not!”
Tomorrow morning, we will have people at St. Luke prepared to greet, pray with, and minister to those who didn’t get the news about our closure, and guests who may come to us out of fear and wonder (as they did post 9/11). We have recruited the people we need. If you desire to do the same, take a walk in your neighborhood and greet, pray with, and minister to people there.
Go to those without internet
You know people in our congregation who can’t/won’t use email, YouTube or Facebook. When they come to mind, call or go visit them with the offer to bring your laptop over so you can watch worship together. Don’t hope someone else does it. Don’t look to anyone else other than yourself to do it; these are relational, not institutional, opportunities to be the church.
Wednesday Lenten worship
We have not had the opportunity to coordinate with all the pastors of the three congregations participating in our Lenten series. We’ll send information as to how we will adapt our Wednesday worship to an online experience.
Initial Commitments Event
This integral event in our Cash Flow Zero initiative, scheduled for Monday, has been postponed. Our Lord will give us another opportunity to hold that event, or some event like it.
Ministry during the pandemic
Ministry does not stop. It won’t stop. In the days to come we will share ideas for prayer, care, and community, conducted in a way that is effective and safe for everyone.
During this time, you can give:
Before logging into Connect, select Give and enter the requested information.
The app is St. Luke-Ann Arbor “Connect” and you would select Give.
Text Give to 734-359-7179 and follow the prompts.
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
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I believe the Lord of the Church is going to use this time to awaken and motivate us to the reality that his mission is not to “get people into church,” but rather “get church to the people” who don’t yet have salvation, and that God doesn’t gather us to meet our needs, but to be equipped to meet the need of those for whom he is searching. This is the time to be the presence of our Savior so that others glimpse him through you, and desire to know him better.
What an exciting time to be us.
“See” you online! And a great thank-you to our staff, SLC, and elders who have been dialoguing, thinking through, and praying about the very best way for us to be the presence of Jesus. When you see one of them, save the hug for later; just wave energetically.
Blessings, and fear not,
Pastor John