St. Luke's Regathering Plan

We have a new Facebook page! Find us at https://www.facebook.com/stlukesliveoak.org/

***These recordings are also available on the "Watch Services" page, available within 24 hours of service***



******Don't forget, you can follow along with the Sunday bulletin provided on the Sunday Bulletin page.******



Thoughts  from the Sr. Warden 

 Welcome St. Luke’s.  Next year, God willing, we can have a regular Lent and Easter Season.  With that in mind – I implore you to keep the Search Committee and Vestry in your prayers.  They are working so very hard to get us a Rector. 

   If this is April 1^st, then we are slap-dab in the middle of Holy Week.  This Lent, I took up reading the Old Testament as my Lenten ‘thing’.  There is a lot about Moses; but the story of Moses and the snake did not correlate to the Gospel of John until we heard in the sermon:

 ¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

  You can’t have a New Testament Life unless you understand how the Old Testament relates.  That is why we read from the Old Testament, Psalms, Epistles, and the Gospel every Sunday. 

    With April 15 just around the corner, we need to recall that in Old Testament days religion operated on a No Pay No Pray basis.  (Once again- a slight theft from Fr. Woodrum). While we understand that our Church is a business and has expenses -- when we tithe or place our donations in the Offertory Plate, we give back to God from what He has already given us.  Jesus paid our Sacrifice already.  What we give back is a Thank You gratuity - not a fee for that Sunday or for the year.   

    God believes we are worthy to be saved.  If our God sees this worthiness, it is up to us to self-examine ourselves.  That’s what Lent is to me.  We need to be thankful and grateful and strive to be worthy of that love, that gift.  Then we need to turn this realization outwards to others. 

    With Jesus in our hearts and minds, we are able to share His Holiness, His gifts, and His love with others.  That is how we should spend this Holy Week, the celebration of Easter, and the days after.  Easter is kind of like Christmas. We get the fever and excitement and we become the people God wants us to be.  An Easter hymn sings Hail thee festival day, Blessed day to be hallowed forever.  Let’s hallow not for just a day but forever.  Be an Easter person all year long, be an example to others.  Let people see the Love of God in you and you can start being an evangelist by those little tiny steps.  Let’s try to keep an Easter feeling up until November 28 when Advent starts.  Then we can reevaluate and start again.  I truly believe we need Our Church to do that.  So…it’s time to Come Home. 

Forever in Christ,

Brantly      

    



Look! We have new pages: SUNDAY BULLETINS & Homilies are great resources to catch up  happenings, lectionary and weekly message .

---

SHEPHERD'S HANDS FREE CLINIC DATE



www.Shepherdshandsclinic.org

St. Luke's -April 13th

St. James -  Location Closed 

St. Mary's- April 27

Greenville Methodist-  April 22nd

**If you are a patient of Shepherd's hands and need assistance, please call 386-362-1837 or email shepherdshandssuwannee@gmail.com

---

                                   VESTRY

                   April 12th @5:30pm



---

BUSY HANDS

 DAUGHTERS OF THE KING

   April 6 @ 4:30. No meal served

       MEN'S GROUP NIGHT OUT

April 27th@ 6pm. Bring your own supper.

YOUTH GROUP

April 4, 11  Parish Hall 5-6pm

GODLY GAZETTE NOW AVAILABLE VIA EMAIL

If you would like to receive your gazette by email, please notify the church office and we will remove your name from the snail mail list and add it to the email list. Thanks for your help in helping manage our budget. Don’t forget to visit our website. Most, if not all, of the newsletter is posted online. You may let Jasmine know @ jasmine@stlukesliveoak.org or go to  http://www.stlukesliveoak.org.

     Brothers and Sisters of Saint Luke’s -  It is with a heavy heart that I write this because it should be written by our Priest.  Believe me – our Search Committee is working as hard as possible.  Please keep them and their work in your thoughts and prayers.  That being said, it is with a glad heart that I write this because I love this Church and all it represents.  I was baptized, confirmed, married here, and like all my people, I will be carried out of here.  This is my Home away from Home.   

     In our 2^nd Lenten Season in the Age of COVID we look around the congregation and notice a tiny Sacramental population but a fairly large Social Media population. 

     I completely understand why people might not go out and expose themselves but … ‘Church’ is the most important thing we do.  The way we experience everyday life is clarified and understood in ’Church’.  There are no quick fixes in life.   Most problems are multi-dimensional and you need to look at them from different viewpoints.  ‘Church’ is one of those viewpoints.  ‘Church’ is the most important viewpoint!  The experience of sharing Communion with your fellow Christians cannot be experienced at home on the couch. 

     It’s time to Come Home. 

     You must repeat ‘Church’ just like you repeat a diet.  If you can drive to the gas station and put gas in your car, you can drive to Church and put Jesus in you.  (I stole that from Fr. Woodrum.)  I also stole this:  Spiritualize your ‘weirdness’ and your ‘mishmash life’ with the help of the Holy Spirit.  I truly believe the Holy Ghost is with me everywhere but I truly feel his presence in our beautiful building. 

     Now, Lent is not a “happy-clappy time.”  It is a time of reflection.  Our Church is a hospital.  It is a Sanctuary.  It is a place of Healing.  It is a place to practice asking forgiveness.  And, in turn, when you learn to forgive others, you learn how to talk to God a little bit better.  But you have to have a time to hear God.   You will never hear unless you listen.  And there is no better place, I think, to listen than 1391 11^th Street, Live Oak – at 9 & 11 on Sundays and 10:30 on Wednesdays.