The Weekly View

Sunday, November 3, 2019

This Sunday

Dear St. Luke Community, 

We had a lovely worship last Sunday in natural light by piano. We were reassured of what matters most in this life, which is life itself, as we prayed for those in harms way. 

As many of us continue to want to help those directly affected by the fire, our Outreach Committee is making phone calls to the churches in those areas for ways in which we can assist.

This Sunday in Worship we celebrate All Saints Sunday; a time to remember those who have gone before us and also a time to wake us up to our own lives and the daily choices we make.

All are invited to bring a photo of a loved one for the Communion table. We will once again take part in our Fallen Leaves ritual, prayerfully surrounding the table with leaves one by one as we process with flute and piano. 

For those who want to read scripture ahead of time; Psalm 121 and Luke 20:27-40. Both scriptures give us plenty to think about. And both remind us that our God is a God of the living here on earth and beyond, eternally present and exceeding all understanding. 

Please don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour or you will show up and have to wait an hour. Not a bad thing to sit and listen to the choir practice, watch flowers and candles being set, bread and cup being laid out on the table. Maybe showing up early could be a kind of worship in and of itself.

See you Sunday,
Nicole

Outreach and Deacon Ministry

All are welcome to attend 

KIVA.ORG ~ St. Luke’s Women’s Association has supported KIVA for many years and they will be a Deacon’s Ministry in the Fall. KIVA is a San Francisco based non-profit that offers individuals or groups the opportunity to make a $25 or larger loan in many countries.

Mill Street Meal Providers ~  Monday, November 4th, Group A

DIAPER DRIVE ~ St. Luke is collecting diapers, sizes 3-5 Through SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3rd. Simply ORDER from AMAZON and have delivered to St Luke 10 BAYVIEW DR or  pick up some diapers today and bring them to St Luke and we’ll have them delivered to moms in need at Oma’s Village.

St Luke’s November Food Drive Barrel ~ San Francisco-Marin Food Bank - Fill a Plate This Thanksgiving. Many families, homeless or not, won’t go hungry this Thanksgiving thanks to our help. St Luke will collect all varieties of canned proteins/meats:  Beans, Peanut Butter, Tuna, Salmon, Sardines, Chicken, Turkey, Beef. You may also donate funds using the green envelope and with the notation FOOD DRIVE. $1 = 2 Meals! When you fill an empty plate, you ease a worried mind and you improve nutrition to help kids eat healthier. Every food item and every $1 changes lives. Please give generously.

Ritter Center Christmas Gift Barrel ~ We are supporting Ritter Center of San Rafael. Ritter Center serves Marin families & individuals who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless. St Luke’s Barrel will arrive Friday, November 8th. Simply take a tag from the Christmas tree in the Narthex and bring back an unwrapped gift for that child to the office by Thursday, December 12th.  Our barrel will be picked up by Ritter Center volunteers on Friday, December 13th. 

Bible Study - Wednesdays at 9:30 AM
St. Luke Choir Rehearsal - Wednesdays at 7:00 PM
Women's Spirituality Group - Thursdays at 9:00 AM
Deacons Meeting - 2nd Tuesday, November 12th, 6:00 PM
Pizza and Theology - 3rd Tuesday, November 19th, 7:00 PM
St. Luke Women’s Bridge - 4th Tuesday, November 26th, 10:30 AM
Session Meeting - 4th Tuesday, November 26th, 7:00 PM

First Annual St. Luke’s Christmas Concert ~ Sunday, December 8th, 4:00 PM
It’s not too early to start thinking about the holidays! Save the date for the first annual St. Luke Christmas Concert, featuring St. Luke members and friends as they share their gifts in song, music and a few surprises along the way. From classical to contemporary, there will be something for everyone in our decorated sanctuary. Following the concert, there will be a complimentary reception with beverages and appetizers in the Bayview Room. Be sure to invite friends and family, and start the Christmas season with music and friendship. All proceeds will go to benefit St. Luke ministries and church.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Dear St Luke Community,

I write this to you as the air fills with the smell of smoke around us. It’s heartbreaking and our prayers are with the communities directly affected. We pray that they find the support they need and the perseverance required to get through circumstances that we all pray we will never have to face.

I don’t believe God has a plan or that God is responsible for this kind of destruction and tragedy. I do however believe that God is always working autonomously and through us to bring healing in the form of kindness, loyalty and love for our fellow human beings during times of suffering. God is the yes to the no. God is the resurrection after death. God is the hope in despair and the light in the dark. And if God is all of that, than we, who are created in God’s own image, have the ability to bring healing by reflecting God’s love in how we choose to live.

I am grateful for our St Luke Community, in all the ways we show up for those who need assistance, and we’ll do it again this Sunday as we dedicate the offering to help those directly affected by the fire.

This Sunday in worship we’ll examine our giving. We’ll be hearing from scriptures that call on us to examine why we give. Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, dedicated years of her life to caring for the poor on the lower east side of Manhattan. Theologian Parker Palmer writes of a time when he heard Dorthy Day (a hero of his) speak at a conference. He writes this;

I heard her start to ruminate about the "ungrateful poor.” I did not understand how such a dismissive phrase could come from the lips of a saint - until it hit me with the force of a Zen koan. Dorothy Day was saying, "Do not give to the poor expecting to get their gratitude so that you can feel good about yourself. If you do, your giving will be thin and short-lived, and that is not what the poor need; it will only impoverish them further. Give only if you have something you must give; give only if you are someone for whom giving is its own reward.”

I believe God created in us a “must give” muscle that needs exercise to develop. It's counter-cultural to give in a way that giving becomes its own reward, but it’s at the core of the kind of love we care called upon by God to express.

See you Sunday,
Nicole

Sunday, October 20, 2019

This Sunday

Dear St. Luke Community, 

This Sunday is Acoustic Sunday and our own Jim Tillson is back to join us on the keyboards. We’ve missed both Jim and Skipper and look forward to worshipping together again.

I share with you something I sent to the Bible Study group this week who get their own weekly email. If you’d like to be on that list, let me know. Even if you’re not attending class it’s sometimes nice to know the upcoming scripture on Monday and ponder it all week long. Usually, I send quotes from other people’s musings, but this week, I wrote one of my own.

Dear Class,

The focus scripture is Luke 18:1-8 and Genesis 32:22-31. 

This morning I spoke with my mom on the phone. She’s wiped out from all the visits to the hospital and she can’t understand why she’s so tired. She can’t understand why she doesn’t have the energy to pray. She usually prays for over an hour a day. My mother has spent many years giving me advice when I was sick. And this morning I said to her what I imagined she would have said to me. "Putting your face in the sun and feeling the warmth of the sun is a prayer, Mom. Eating pastina, watching a show that makes you laugh, taking a nap, are all prayer when we’re  healing and giving your body what it needs to regain strength.” I then reminded her that she has said these things to me and she agreed. 

There are some around me who are struggling so much that they know God must be around but they’re too tired or too stressed or too preoccupied to feel God. They are wrestling with a lack of assurance. At those moments I want to tell them not to lose heart. 

Luke opens with this….Jesus tells the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 18:1 

Maybe prayer and having heart are one and the same. Maybe prayer isn’t about words at all but about trusting that God knows our heart, whether we say anything or not. And when we start to feel like we are losing heart, that’s the best time to pray for trust in a God who never abandons, but knows our heart.

And when God knows your heart, what else is there left to say?

See you Sunday,
Nicole

PS-Please join us for our after worship Men Against Gun Violence educational gathering. For more info on that see below.

Outreach and Deacon Ministry

All are welcome to attend 

KIVA.ORG ~ St. Luke’s Women’s Association has supported KIVA for many years and they will be a Deacon’s Ministry in the Fall. KIVA is a San Francisco based non-profit that offers individuals or groups the opportunity to make a $25 or larger loan in many countries.

Mill Street Meal Providers ~  Monday, October 7th, Group B
The first Monday of each month Group A or Group B is assigned a meal item to provide (fruit, milk & bread, main, salad, vegetable, dessert). The volunteers bring a different food item every other month. Please contact Stacy Bischoff at for information.

Bible Study - Wednesdays at 9:30 AM
St. Luke Choir Rehearsal - Wednesdays at 7:00 PM
Women's Spirituality Group - Thursdays at 9:00 AM
Deacons Meeting - 2nd Tuesday, November 11th, 6:00 PM
Pizza and Theology - 3rd Tuesday, November 19th, 7:00 PM
St. Luke Women’s Bridge - 4th Tuesday, October 22nd, 10:30 AM
Session Meeting - 4th Tuesday, October 22nd, 7:00 PM

St Luke’s Christmas Concert ~ Sunday, December 8th, 4:00 PM
It’s not too early to start thinking about the holidays! Save the date for the first annual St. Luke Christmas Concert, featuring St. Luke members and friends as they share their gifts in song, music and a few surprises along the way. From classical to contemporary, there will be something for everyone in our decorated sanctuary. Following the concert, there will be a complimentary reception with beverages and appetizers in the Bayview Room. Be sure to invite friends and family, and start the Christmas season with music and friendship. All proceeds will go to benefit St. Luke ministries and church.