As you have hopefully heard by now, St. Luke's is striving mightily to fulfill God's vision for our parish as we have discerned it through our Visioning Process. In the weeks ahead, we will be focusing on a particular area that has especially broad-based support among our parishioners: the need to evangelize. Indeed the sacramental relationship that we have with God in Jesus Christ at St. Luke's is a precious treasure. This treasure is one that we cannot expect to keep to ourselves. The fact of it's having been bestowed on us means that God has found us worthy and able to share it - to be ambassadors of His Good News. St. Luke's is responding to this call to evangelize in an extraordinary way with our Harvest Outreach. Each and every one of us has the opportunity to share our gifts for ministry by sharing this spiritual treasure with our un-churched neighbors.
St. Paul writes: "For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake." ... "But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us." (2Cor. 4:5&7)
Please remember as you prayerfully consider how you will participate in the Harvest Outreach, that you will actually be allowing the power of God to flow through you, so that through you He will be accomplishing His will for St. Luke's and the un-churched souls with whom we will be connecting. It is that power of God which will overcome any obstacle to your participating in the way that He wants you to. How will you bear the treasure that has been entrusted to us to our neighborhood and the other communities whose lives are touched by St. Luke's? As I said last Sunday, each of us have gifts for ministry; we all have a role to play in Harvest.
This Sunday at 11:30, Anne Lucas, our Harvest Outreach coordinator, and I will be presenting to our congregation an overview of the Harvest process. This presentation will include detailed specific ways in which each of us can participate along with an introduction of the leaders who are organizing the various areas of responsibility. It is of utmost importance that we gather as a church family for this presentation. This is not a "project" that any group or groups within the parish are doing. We must do this together as one family. We all have the exciting opportunity to be willing servants and better evangelists. I look forward to seeing you there.
Meanwhile, let us continue to pray for the Spirit's guidance and grace.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
The Rev'd Robert M. Odom
Rector
St. Luke's Episcopal Church
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