New Directions. St. Luke Union Church Group/Bake Sale Friday, October 27th (9-5) & Saturday, October 28th (9-12) Home Bible Class

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1 St. Luke Union Church St. Luke Union Church 2101 East Washington St. Bloomington, IL East Washington St. Bloomington, IL Phone: Fax: Return Service Requested Non Profit US Postage Paid Bloomington, Illinois Permit No. 10 Special points of interest: Stewardship Campaign 2018 Thank You From Women s Fellowship! Hurricane Harvey/Midwest Food Bank Where You Find Joy Christian Education October 2017 St. Luke Union Church Group/Bake Sale Friday, October 27th (9-5) & Saturday, October 28th (9-12) S T. L U K E U N I O N C H U R C H New Directions As new members of St. Luke Union, we thought that volunteering at the group sale would be a good way to meet people and help out the church at the same time. It worked! Karlene Bledsoe and Lynne Wright have the sale down to a science. It seems overwhelming at first because there is so much stuff. People are very generous. They bring their treasures and clothes that they don t wear anymore. Home Bible Class We will meet on October 19th at the church from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Beth will be teaching on Galatians 6. All ladies are welcome to join us! I worked in the basement emptying bags of clothes, hanging or folding them as needed. Karin showed me what to do and away we went sorting all the clothes. The best thing is that the remaining items go to the Mission Mart and other charities so nothing goes to waste. Mike and other men came at the end to take everything apart. On Sunday morning, the congregation had no idea we even had a sale. Mike and I met some wonderful people and felt like a part of the church. If it is possible for you to volunteer, it is a great way to get to know your church family. ~ Mike & Ginny Kolze Inside this issue: Calling All Bakers! 3 3rd Grade Acolyte Training 3 CE Calendar Reminders! 6 SLUC Group/Bake Sale 7 Youth Mission Trip Vote 7 Pastor Andy s Trivia 9

2 Page 2 October Birthdays & Anniversaries BIRTHDAYS Katie Verplaetse - 2 Suzanne Waha - 5 David Sulzberger - 9 Andrew Gifford - 11 Diana McLean - 11 Dede Verplaetse - 16 Charlene Beringer - 17 Jacob Rambo - 17 Chris Bateman - 21 Neal Benjamin - 22 Marsha Hinthorn - 22 Savana Southwick - 22 Skylar Wright - 23 Seth Gifford - 25 Bill Walters - 25 Kathy Allison - 26 Diane Swanson - 26 Linda Weirman - 29 Elsie Schalk - 30 Stewardship Campaign 2018 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ~ Luke 12:34 The Stewardship Team is busy preparing our campaign culminating on Pledge Sunday. The mission of the Stewardship Team is to engender stewardship as a way of life within our church community, a way of thanking God for all His blessings. To deepen our relationship with the Lord by encouraging intentional, planned and proportionate giving of our time, talent and treasure as a response to time, talent and treasure allotted to us. Some important upcoming dates that you need to be aware of are: October 2nd - Ministry teams proposed budgets are due October 10 - Council reviews combined budget proposal November 1 - Giving request letters to be mailed to each home November 19 - Pledge Sunday Please keep the mission of our church in your prayers as you thoughtfully consider your contribution to God s work next year. Page 11 Gifford Wedding 2017 ANNIVERSARIES Ed & Nancy Proctor - 5 Dan & Deb Moret - 26 Chuck & Gwen Yurieci - 26 Men s Breakfast Mark your calendar for the next Men s Breakfast. It will be Friday, October 6th at 7:00 a.m. at Shannon s Restaurant.

3 Page 10 Page 3 Gifford Wedding 2017 Calling All Bakers! St. Luke Group and Bake Sale Friday, October 27th (9-5) & Saturday, October 28th (9-12) Your help is very much needed to make the Group Sale/Bake Sale a huge success. The Bake Sale is a very popular part of the Group Sale. Our best sellers are Angel Food Cake, Fruit Pies and Tea Bread. These items sell out quickly so we can use many donations. Other popular items are Cookies, Brownies, Rice Crispy Treats, Fudge, Lemon Bars and SNAK Mixes (Chex Mix, etc.). Regular Cakes, Cup Cakes and Muffins don t seem to sell well. Donations are accepted all day Thursday and Friday. Please indicate on your donations, what kind (Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, Sugar, etc.) and if the items contain nuts. We will portion and price items for individual sales. If you have any questions, please see Lin Walton. 3rd Grade Acolyte Training On October 15 th, Beth will be holding a class to train any third graders who are interested in being an Acolyte. More details will be ed to families soon. Thank you! Please SAVE THE DATE! Thank You from Women s Fellowship! Perhaps I am a little biased, but I believe that St. Luke Union Church has the very BEST Congregation! Women's Fellowship would like to extend a huge THANK YOU for all the fantastic support you have given us in our fund raising lunches! They are work, but we really appreciate how everyone pitches in, whether by bringing really tasty food, helping us get ready, clean up, or just coming and have a good time! Making money may be the underlying purpose, but seeing everyone enjoying the fellowship is an equally rewarding result (but we REALLY APPRECIATE the money)! Again, Thank You!

4 Page 4 Page 9 Hurricane Harvey/Midwest Food Bank Welcome to Our New Members George & Sheila Wells In late August, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas and wreaked havoc on the state, leaving many without home and bare necessities. Midwest Food Bank (MFB) in north Normal is a faith-based organization with the mission to alleviate hunger and poverty by gathering and distributing food donations to not-for-profits and disaster sites without cost to the recipients. As such, MFB has partnered with the Salvation Army to put together disaster relief boxes for storm victims that are being sent to TX. These disaster relief boxes contain enough shelfstable food and supplies to provide for a family of four for about five days. On September 9th, several of the members of St. Luke Union s youth group answered the call to volunteer to help fill boxes to be sent to TX. During our four hours of volunteer time, the group the youth worked with helped to assemble 40 pallets of food. Each pallet contains 45 boxes that will help feed a family. 24 pallets fill up a semitrailer to be sent into a disaster area. Above is a picture of a box built by one of our youth and on the next page a couple pictures of our youth. Pastor Andy s Trivia September Trivia Question: How many people did Jesus raise from the dead? Name them. Answer: Jesus raised three people from the dead. The widow s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-17) Jairus daughter (Matthew 9:18-26) (Mark 5:21-43) (Luke 8:40-56) Lazarus (John 11:1-44) We have a winner again! Suzanne Waha had the correct answer. Congratulations Suzanne! October Trivia Question: What significant thing did God reveal to Moses on Mount Sinai?

5 Page 8 Page 5 From Pastor Andy... Hurricane Harvey/Midwest Food Bank The Presbyterian Church does a very complete job of digging deeply into the theological understanding and psyche of the pastoral candidates who are coming through the system. There is a requirement for regular meetings with the CPM (Committee on Preparation for Ministry), a psychological evaluation, and regular reporting of degree progress. During one of these interviews I had a question posed to me that has stuck with me to the point of eventually needing to study on the subject. The question that was posed was, What does the virgin birth of Christ mean to your ministry? I must admit that the question caught me off guard but quickly came to realize that the virgin birth of Christ played a minor role in my call into ministry. This is a very important understanding and belief in the faith of Christians but at that time was not a pivotal factor in my personal faith. In studying the first aspect that we can discover about the virgin birth of Jesus through Mary, is that her action is one of the ultimate servant. If it was not for the servant nature of Mary then the greatest servant we have ever known would not have existed. She gives the ultimate sacrifice in knowing that by being with child and not being married would expose her to the laws of her people and a great possibility of exile. Luke 1:38 gives us her response to the Holy Spirit, May it be to me as you have said. Her being a virgin makes this account even more incredible but the general public would have no reason to believe Mary carried the Savior. Mary s servant nature is an important aspect of the birth of Christ but there s got to be more. Being a servant is an important thing that Christ and Mary have taught us but the greatest gift that we received was actually found in the love of Christ and how Mary made this connection. Our clue to the connection of Mary is found in Luke 2:19, she then, treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. It is the love that Mary has for Christ before she receives the Word. St. Augustine, a fifth-century theologian states, Mary conceived the Word (Christ), first in her mind and then in her body. He then adds, It would have been worth nothing to her to have carried Christ in her womb if she had not carried him with love in her heart. Mary was a servant because she first loved her Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit came upon her because she was open to its embrace. The virgin birth is significant to our faith but not merely to be an example of servanthood but rather as a pathway to the love of God for the people of God. We are called to embrace God s love and then be the servants of that love. Peace, Rev. Dr. Andrew Gifford

6 Page 6 Page 7 Where You Find Joy Christian Education As many of you know, part of my job is to make sure we have volunteers for our nursery on Sunday mornings. I sometimes hesitate when ing or calling people to fill this role, because I want to make sure our volunteers enjoy what they are doing. Remember what Paul says in Romans 12: 3-8: For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. In other words, we all have gifts given to us by the Spirit for strengthening the church and to build His kingdom. Christian Education Calendar Reminders! Yet, we don t all have the same gifts. Thus, please know, if I ask you to help in the nursery and you don t see the nursery as your gifting, please tell me that it isn t your gift. The neat thing about our Spiritual gifts, is that when we use them, we get great joy in return. I want the nursery to give joy to our volunteers. Hopefully, this article won t leave me with one volunteer now, but I did want to share my intention for our nursery volunteers. It is a role that is needed, and therefore people can find themselves serving out of guilt. However, I never want our nursery volunteers to feel that way. I want our nursery to be a volunteer role that attracts people who love children and receive great joy while serving them! In Him, ~ Beth St. Luke Union Church Group/Bake Sale Friday, October 27th (9-5) & Saturday, October 28th (9-12) It won t be long now. It s almost time for our Fall Group and Bake Sale. You have less than a month so you need to get busy. Go through your stuff. We re looking for clean, gently used fall and winter clothing, kitchen items, children s toys, linens, jewelry, furniture, knickknacks, and most anything else. We will start getting ready after church on Sunday October 22 nd by setting up the tables, shelving, and racks. Items are accepted Monday and Tuesday 9 to 7 and Wednesday 9 to noon. No items can be accepted after noon on Wednesday. We need more help. Workers are needed on Sunday for set up and on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during the day as well as in the evening to arrange and price items. On Friday and Saturday workers are needed to keep everything organized. After the sale closes at noon Saturday workers are needed to box up remaining items. We tend to focus on the fundraising aspect of this sale but we need to remember it also provides items at reasonable prices for the community and the remaining items are given away. Please sign up on the sheets posted on the bulletin board. You will enjoy the fellowship and have a lot of fun. October 1 st is Scrip Sunday for the 2018 Youth Mission Trip If you need gift cards, please consider buying them at church this Sunday. Part of the sale goes to the youth mission trip. Thanks so much! ~ Beth October 8 th : NO PreK worship, SNAC is TBD - depends on Confirmation retreat plans, will families soon. October 22 nd : SNAC is OFF CAMPUS - plans will be ed to families as the date gets closer. Youth Mission Trip Vote All 6 th -12 th grade students are invited to vote for the location of our next mission trip. Please do this by Oct. 8 th! The link to the form is: form.jotform.us/ (it is also in a parent , sent from Beth). Thanks for your help!