Message from the Pastor

Let’s start the new year looking back at our core purpose. John and Charles Wesley can help us re-focus on what’s most important.

John Wesley believed that Methodists and all Christians should reaffirm their covenant with God annually, so he created a worship service in which a participant makes such a covenant, closing with a version of this intense prayer:

I am no longer my own by yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,
exalted for you or brought low for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed
God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

When a pastor friend of mine (who is an Episcopalian priest) was serving as a hospice chaplain to a retired Methodist minister, he was looking for some uniquely Wesleyan spiritual resources to use in aiding this dying man in his last days. I directed him to this lovely covenant prayer that we’ve inherited from our Wesleyan heritage.

In 1755 Wesley held his first covenant service, using words written earlier by Richard Alleine. Wesley published this service in a pamphlet in 1780, and this form was used without alteration for nearly a century in England. (It has been modified somewhat in more recent years.)

The covenant hymn, "Come, Let Us Use the Grace Divine," was written for this service by Charles Wesley.

1. Come, let us use the grace divine, and all with one accord,
in a perpetual covenant join ourselves to Christ the Lord;
Give up ourselves, thru Jesus' power, his name to glorify;
and promise, in this sacred hour, for God to live and die.

2. The covenant we this moment make be ever kept in mind;
we will no more our God forsake, or cast these words behind.
We never will throw off the fear of God who hears our vow;
and if thou art well pleased to hear, come down and meet us now.

I love this prayer and hymn. Whether employed at the beginning of a new year or the end of a life, we can relinquish the naïve idea of an independent “self” and embrace our role as part of God’s great Body—the Church—and God’s great Creation—the world.

I’ll close with a New Year Blessing for us all:

May this new year be the death of your old self (your false self, your fictionally independent “self”) and the beginning of your new life in God. As Paul the Apostle wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

May we listen carefully to others, no longer imposing our will upon them.

May we drop expectations, state our wishes clearly, and accept that we won’t get many of the things we want.

May we cultivate gratitude for the many good things in our lives.

May we grieve our losses, and may we grieve in solidarity with those who suffer.

May we be generous, fair, honest, and kind.

May we embrace the reality of the God-Christ-Spirit in every atom and in every person.

Amen. Happy New Year!

Pastor Brad

Lectionary Readings for January

Sermon Series:

Sunday, January 1 — First Sunday after Christmas Day - Epiphany Sunday
Matthew 2:1-23 — The Visit of the Magi and the Flight to Egypt
Sunday, January 8 — Baptism of the Lord
Matthew 3:13-17 — The Baptism of Jesus
Sunday, January 15 — Second Sunday after the Epiphany
John 1:29-42 — John the Baptist and the First Disciples
Sunday, January 22 — Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Matthew 4:12-23 — Jesus’s Ministry Begins
Sunday, January 29 — Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Matthew 5:1-12 — The Constitution of the Church

The Mission of St. Luke UMC is to be a Place to Belong, Believe, & Become Disciples of Christ

OPPORTUNITIES TO BELONG

UWFaith Grace Circle will NOT meet on January 3, 2023.

Crock-Pot Cook-Off! At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 29, cooks will provide a variety of dishes to compete for the coveted GOLDEN SPOON, awarded to the chef who pleases the most palates. To bring your delicious dish to be sampled by the congregation, a signup sheet will be available at Sunday’s worship service, or you can contact Kay Daves. You don’t have to make a particular type of food, just make it warm, so we can shake off any wintertime shivers. Variety will be lovely. You can also make dessert! (And if you don’t use a crockpot for your dessert, that’s fine. You can still receive votes.) The Hospitality/Kitchen Team will provide tables and a few extension cords for the crock-pots, and we’ll have plates, cups, cutlery, and drinks for the diners. You can sample all the dishes until they’re gone, and then vote for your three favorites.

OPPORTUNITIES TO BELIEVE

The final Life After Loss Workshop, offered by Larry Lambert, is at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 3, at Our Lady of Victories Catholic Church. The session is free and open to the public. Please contact Larry for more info. If you have a friend or loved one who may be struggling, please let them know about this opportunity.

OPPORTUNITIES TO BECOME DISCIPLES

We will need all hands on deck to take down and store the Christmas decorations after the morning worship service on January 8. Decorating the church together was fun, and this will be, too, so please plan on a late lunch that day and come help us!

Many thanks to all who shopped and contributed monetarily to our White Christmas project. Your generosity allowed us to provide Christmas cheer to 10 families with 20 children, 6 nursing home residents and make a monetary donation to the Methodist Children’s Home. We all have so much to be thankful for and we are blessed to be able to share our good fortune with members of our community who have less.

United Women in Faith along with the EPHFIC Woman’s Club is asking members of St. Luke to bring breakfast/snack items for children of our school district. The goal is to get enough items to share with schools in the district so that children will not go hungry. Some children, even though eligible for free breakfast, do not get to school in time for breakfast. We all know that hungry kids do not learn as well as those with full stomachs. The following items or similar items are needed: Apple sauce squeeze packs, juice boxes/pouches, Nutrigrain bars, Pop Tarts, Granola Bars, Cereal bars, Mini Muffin packs, cereal cups, chewy bars. All items must be packaged for individual servings. Bring food items to church and place in the bin in the narthex or take to the church office. If you have questions, contact Megan Armstrong, Julianne Bailey or Jackie Pennington.

Don’t forget that on the second Sunday of every month we collect bags of apples, jars of peanut butter, and also canned goods for the Helping Hands Ministry. That day is also our Dollar Sunday, when you are invited to drop a dollar or two into the basket in the narthex to help support our Compassion Fund, which the pastor uses at his discretion to help those in need.

Worship Greeters are needed for May-August and October-December of next year! A Greeter is a very important part of welcoming people to our worship service and helps by passing out bulletins, helping people in and out of cars (when needed), directing visitors to pews or various areas of the church, and helps in other capacities of the service. If you feel called to volunteer and want to sign up, a sign up sheet will be available in the narthex before/after worship service, or you can contact Bobby Horton or the church office.

If you would like to help deliver our “Second Sunday” mission project food items to Helping Hands next year, please contact Lisa in the church office to sign up. Drop off times for Helping Hands are Wednesdays or Fridays between 9:00 am and noon.

The 2023 Flower Calendar is available on the bulletin board across from the choir room. If you would like to help provide an altar arrangement sometime during the year, please look over the calendar, choose a date or two, and sign up. We also have a “flower fridge” so you can sign up for two consecutive Sunday, store your arrangement in the fridge during the week and re-use them the second Sunday. You can contact Sandi Melton (Flower Steward) or the church office to sign up or for more info.

The Finance Committee will meet on January 15 in the Fellowship Hall following the worship service.

The Worship Team will meet on January 22 in the church library following the worship service.

Runnels Baby Shower

Rise Against Hunger Food Packing Event

Dates for your Calendar

January 2, Monday
—Church Office Closed for New Years

January 3, Tuesday
—Life After Loss Grief Support, 12:00 pm (OLV Catholic Church)

January 8, Sunday
—Undecorate St. Luke, 11:35 am

January 15, Sunday
—Finance Meeting, 11:35 am (Fellowship Hall)

January 21, Saturday
—UW in Faith Team Meeting, 9:00 am - 1:00 pm (Fellowship Hall)

January 22, Sunday
—Worship Team Meeting, 11:35 am (Church Library)
—Runnels Baby Shower, 2-2:30 pm (Fellowship Hall)
—Rise Against Hunger Food Packing Event, 5-7:00 pm (First UMC)

January 29, Sunday
—Crock-Pot Cook-Off, 6:00 pm (Fellowship Hall)

Memorials and Honorariums

By:

Rev. Carl Grubbs

In Honor &
Memory Of:

The People of St. Luke Rev. Grubbs Pastored

Attendance and Offering Report

January Birthdays

Anton Dahman
Jamie Dahman
D.D. Hardy
Vicki Hartley
Betty Hunter
Sean Wessel
Mae Givens
Beth Jacks
Adam Williams
Shana Bolden
Carol McAdams
O’Hara Koerber
Polly Sheets
Isabella Givens
Kay Daves

1/05

1/08

1/09
1/16
1/18

1/20
1/23
1/24

1/25
1/28

January Anniversaries

Billy & Marie Boswell
Jim & Loretta Burdine

1/06
1/27

Contact Us

Newsletter Blog

January 2023

January 4, 2023St. Luke United Methodist Church

Message from the Pastor

Lectionary Readings for January