St. Luke's Episcopal Church
Live Oak, Florida
St. Luke's Episcopal Church
1391 SW 11th Street
PO Box 1238
Live Oak, FL 32064
ph: 386-362-1837
fax: 386-401-2456
jasmine
Dec 2018
From Your Rector:
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
Since the earliest days Christians have spoken of the three comings of Christ. The first in His coming in the flesh at Bethlehem, the Christmas story with a manger, angels, and wise men. The second being His coming into our hearts daily as we make room for Him. And lastly, at his final coming in great glory. The season of Advent offers the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert for his Second Coming. These same early Christians, set aside time for themselves to prepare for Christ’s coming. In the original Greek, this event would have been called parousia {par-oo-see'-ah}, meaning coming, arri-val, and presence. The word Parousia translated into Latin means adventus or in English advent, from where we get the name of the season of preparation for Christ’s coming.
The Greek meaning of Parousia was literally coming, arrived, and present all at the same time. This was a way of explaining Christ coming into the world in the flesh and sacrificing his life for us, acknowledging His continued presence through the Holy Spirit, and awaiting His second coming in the future.
This concept might be conceptualized in modern terms like a railroad train. Imagine you are at a railroad crossing and the safety gate is down, as you await the passing of a train. You look to your left and see train cars moving toward the crossing, it is coming. You look straight ahead and see the train immediately in front of you has arrived. Lastly, you look to your right and see the train has al-ready been here. Christ is coming, arrived, and is already here for us in Advent.
During this Advent Season, let us come together as we prepare our hearts and light the symbolic candles of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love on the Advent wreath.
In Christ,
George+
DEACONS CORNER
Because of your faith-fulness, we have al-ways been able to send money to Moth-er Tulia for her ministry and for the completion of the renovation.
They are now working on the last room upstairs which is a dormitory that will sleep 8 people and a large
bathroom. Prices for building mate-rials skyrocketed after the hurricane last year, so they waited to see if the prices would come down. Of course, they haven’t, but they are going to continue with the recon-struction now anyway.
Also, I just received word for prayer request for Bishop Griselda’s husband, Rev. Gerardo. He is hav-ing surgery and is in need of prayer that the tumors are not malignant..
On November 19 we celebrat-ed our last ESL class for the Fall Semester. We had a celebration par-ty to give the students their certifi-cates and celebrate all they have learned this semester. Twenty-five of them received certificates! They know that this may be the last se-mester unless we add more quali-fied personnel to the teaching staff and to the child care staff. We have interviewed a person for the job of administrator, so there is a good possibility that we will be able to continue the classes in January. Please keep this ministry in your prayers.
Look! We have new pages: SUNDAY BULLETINS & Homilies are great resources to catch up happenings, lectionary and weekly message .
St. Luke's - Dec 11th
St. James - Dec 18th
St. Mary's- Dec 20th
5:30pm - 7:30pm
VESTRY
The vestry will not meet in December
NEW 2019 CALENDAR
If you have special dates you would like to reserve for memorial flowers for your loved ones, please sign up now on the new poster in the parish hall. Flowers can be used to honor anniversaries and special events or occasions in your family’s life. Make sure you get your special dates now.
NEW 2019 CALENDAR AND COFFEE HOURS ARE POSTED
BUSY HANDS
Busy Hands continues to make and send handmade items to Love INC, Honduras, and Gardien Ad Litem. Busy Hands also continues to appreciate your support providing materials to continue making items for the charities served.
*Update: Our final yard sale was a success! We were able to contribute to the Veteran's Hospital in Lake City, Dress for Success, and Sherriff's Boys Ranch with household goods and clothing this month in addition to the ministries we are able to serve with your support..
Meets Dec 1st 9:30-11am
AN INVITATION FOR ALL WOMEN OF THE CHURCH!!:
Tuesday, Dec 4th at 6:00 all women are welcome to join us for a dinner and a time of fellowship and prayer. Dinner is served by the Daughters of the King. There is no need to bring anything but yourself! Call Maureen Menosky if you have a questions or would like to inquire about the DOK. Brochures are available in the parish hall. 386-776-1817
Men’s Night Out
Tues. Dec 18th at 6pm.
Bring your favorite thing to grill and drink. All men are invited for good food and fellowship!
FOOD PANTRY MINISTRY
111 families were able to be blessed with shelf stable food as well as fresh vegetables, frozen meats and breads in November. All this has been possible in the glory of God through the congregation’s generosity and our partnership with Gateway Food Bank.
Pantry Sunday will be Dec 9th. Any items you wish to donate as well as your monetary contributions are gladly accepted. Some suggested items are:
Cereals
Pasta
Spaghetti sauce
All-in-one boxed meals such as Hamburger Helper and Suddenly Salad
Salad dressings
Beans
Canned tomatoes
Canned soups
Grits, oatmeal, pancake mix
Jelly
Ramen noodles
Rice
Oil/shortening/
Condiments
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.
St. Luke's Episcopal Church
1391 SW 11th Street
PO Box 1238
Live Oak, FL 32064
ph: 386-362-1837
fax: 386-401-2456
jasmine