SEPTEMBER 2020 The Symbol of St. Luke

THANK YOU JOYCE In

June Joyce Mason made

the decision to retire from

leading the Thrift Shop

ministry at St. Lucas.

Joyce has been directing

the thrift shop since Octo-

ber of 2004, so she

served for sixteen years.

The thrift shop was

formed in what was the “Vintage Shop” of the rummage

sale on the second floor of the Sunday School building.

At some point it was moved to the first floor in the main

rummage sale room. Pastor Billmieier had the idea that

since we had rummage being donated year round for our

rummage sales, it might be a good service to our neigh-

bors in need to offer low cost clothing and household

goods year-round. We interviewed Joyce regarding her

years of service with the thrift shop:

AOSL: What made you say “yes” when asked to di-

rect the thrift shop at St. Lucas?

Joyce: I had worked for many years with Mary Frances

Berger and Ruth Smeltzer in the Vintage Shop of the

spring and fall rummage sales. When Ruth turned you

down for running a thrift shop, I thought, “That’s some-

thing I would like to do.” I thought I had the skills and

would enjoy doing it.

AOSL: What has been the most rewarding thing

about serving in the thrift shop ministry?

Joyce: Helping the people who came in to the shop. We

know we were providing a service for our low income

neighbors. You know, they could come into the shop

and then have lunch here (at Cindy’s Corner Café).

AOSL: What has been the most challenging part of

directing the thrift shop?

Joyce: Nothing really. Our volunteers were always won-

derful. Maybe dealing with the pastor (laughs). Some-

times getting so many donations that it was hard to sort,

and also when some donations would come in with dirty

clothes. [St. Lucas stopped taking anonymous dona-

tions at the door for this reason]. It also got challenging

when my back began to bother me. I couldn’t do the

standing it required.

AOSL: How do you see the thrift shop in relation to

the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Joyce: I think it’s been a very important ministry. We

have met people who have become church members

because of the thrift shop. I think the Lord is very happy

we have done this to help people.

LIVE STREAM WORSHIP SCHEDULE CONTINUES FOR ALL 3 SERVICES

4pm Saturday 9am Sunday 10:30 am Sunday

Livestreamed at www.facebook.com/StLucasLutheranChurch

HOLY COMMUNION PROCEDURE At each weekend service you have the opportunity to receive the Sacrament. You are invited to have a small amount of bread and a small amount of wine (enough to consume at once) prepared for the conse-cration. Bread only suffices if you don’t wish to receive the wine. Please do not substitute anything for the bread and

wine. Jesus promised to be present in bread and wine, not any substitute. We take him at his word and receive by faith.

You do not need a Facebook account to bring up our page online and view services.

Yvonne Reed has taken over as thrift shop director.

For an interview of Yvonne see page…..

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Pastoral Acts Pastor Martin E. Billmeier

In Person Worship Policy at St. Lucas During Covid-19 Pandemic

When we are in a level one (yellow) risk we will have in person worship every Sunday with all advised protocols followed.

If we are at a level 2 (orange) risk we will have in person worship every other Sunday with all advised protocols followed.

For levels 3 & 4 (red or purple) risk we will have live stream worship only, no in person worship. Right now Lucas County is at a level 3 (red) risk, so we will have live stream only. In the event that we move from the current level red to a level orange or yellow in the middle of a week, we will wait one Sunday before re-instituting in person worship. If you are in a high risk group due to age or health condition we encourage

you to stay home and watch the live stream worship, which will continue even if we are offering in person worship.

Dear St. Lucas Faith Community,

A number of years ago my partner, John, put the message to the left on our sign

out front. “Come celebrate with God.” Is it still an appropriate message today?

What do we have to celebrate at such a time as this? Much. We always have

Jesus Christ to celebrate. He is our Savior. His mercy and steadfast love endure

forever. We have the first article of the Creed to celebrate as well, “I believe in

God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” God created this world in

love and will not abandon us. God’s steadfast love endures forever. While we are

at it, let’s also celebrate the Holy Spirit, who as Luther put it in the Small Cate-

chism, “calls, gathers and enlightens” the whole Christian church on earth. Holy

Spirit is why we are here at St. Lucas, why anyone who contributes in some way to

this faith community is here. The Holy Spirit’s steadfast love endures forever and

shows up in the church, as the Spirit witnesses to the Christ within us.

We also have other things to celebrate. In spite of a pandemic that has precluded in person worship, we have the technology to contin-

ue worshiping together via Facebook live stream. Not too long ago that would have been impossible. Holy communion is still being offered

in various ways, whether via live stream worship or Zoom meeting. People who couldn’t worship with us before are now worshiping with

us because we are on the internet. Something to celebrate.

We also have all the volunteers to celebrate, who come in during the week . We still serve lunch at our door and give out pantry food

thanks to our volunteers who feel called to serve. We have reopened the thrift shop through sidewalk sales. Ministry is happening. That’s

something to celebrate. Cindy’s Corner got a new stove for the kitchen. Something to celebrate. The community garden is producing food

for our neighbors and members. Volunteers are coming in to work the garden. Something to celebrate.

The St. Lucas leadership team comprised of church council also is able to meet thanks to us having the Zoom technology to do it online.

Leaders are seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance as they also seek to plan our way through these unusual times. Something to celebrate.

We have a rich variety of people at St. Lucas. Some like to work in the kitchen. Some in the garden. Some in the thrift shop. Some like

to be on church council. Some have gifts of music. Some are good at liturgical arts. Some enjoy serving in the scrip program. Some have

gifts for finance. Some like to serve in the worship space. Some have gifts for property maintenance. Some are good at prayer for this

community. Some are very generous in giving to support the mission. All are reason to celebrate and all are celebrating with God the joy

of knowing Jesus, whom we continue to serve unusual times or not.

It’s still appropriate to say, “Come celebrate with God.” Whether you come to the community virtually or in person you are invited to

celebrate with God our salvation in Jesus Christ and all that God is doing in the community of faith called St. Lucas.

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Acts of Education by Sharon Schaefer, Sunday School Correspondent

Love, Learn, and Serve God

Surprise Surprise Surprise

For those of you who are younger than I am, you may not hear Jim Nabors in his overly orchestrated Southern accent when you hear those words. For the rest of us, well . . . .

In the Surprise Department, Joyce Mason handed over the reins of the Thrift Shop to Yvonne Reed. Although the Thrift Shop hasn’t been open for months because of COVID-19, limited work goes on. Hilde, as she is affectionately known, continues to sort, sort, sort with lots of sanitizer, masks and careful handling. A few weeks ago, a Sidewalk Sale was envisioned and hap-pened very soon after, scheduled every Thursday morning from 9:30 to 11:30 until the weather no longer permits it. Only 1s, 5s and 10s can be used for purchases – no change please.

Yvonne is well known at St. Lucas for her many, many contributions. She was baptized at St Lucas, the on-ly child of George and Dorothea Etue, was confirmed here and has attended St Lucas her entire life except for the period of time her husband was transferred to Cleveland. Yvonne is a talented cook. A big part of the contributions she has made have been in that area. She was making homemade brownies yesterday to be included in the to go bags for Cindy’s Corner lunches. She orchestrated the publication of a St Lucas cook-book. She participated in countless Vacation Bible Schools and Sunday School picnics. She has been a Sun-day School teacher, has shared crafts with children, listened to children, been a friend to children, fed chil-dren. She has children and grandchildren. She has been active in WELCA and all the programs and events that are sponsored by WELCA and is the current Treasurer. She has been an Elder and a Visiting Elder. She has worked in the Thrift Shop for years, she cannot say how many, and has made many friends among the volunteers and the shoppers. Her relationship with Joyce Mason has grown throughout all of those years

volunteering in the Thrift Shop. If Yvonne says she will do something, she will. You know how you get repeated messages re-minding you of upcoming appointments? Yvonne has never needed a reminder about her activities at St Lucas. Please pray for Yvonne as she transitions into this important new endeavor. The top slot of her wish list in big capital letters is to be able to re-open the Thrift Shop safely with some major modifications in terms of number of people allowed in, sanitizing surfaces, and protecting all the volunteers and shoppers. Yvonne’s cell 419-450-1211.

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A Garden Surprise! We had to put on our weird Sherlock Holmes hats to figure this one out. Below is a photo of what we now know is a sorghum plant. It looked like corn had volunteered to grow on our mound. We could not tell what it was until the top colorful part appeared with what looks like hundreds of carefully placed beads. In the meantime an entire patch of these corn plants had appeared close to the first one. The !bird food! we use apparently has sorghum seeds.

An unexpected but welcome Garden Surprise! Rudolf received a seed packet of Cali-fornia poppies many years ago on his May birthday from our sister, Julianne. We thought California poppies were annuals. Surprise! These grow every year, some years more vigorously than others. Their bloom cycle includes opening up golden flowers to the sun and light. When it starts to get dark, their flowers fold in on themselves.

*****************************************************************************

A couple quotes to consider: Georgia’s night devotions on 8/20/20 included the words “Help us to seek the help we need.” Bruce in the FB broadcast of Equality Toledo on 8/27/20, “Some people in the faith community have not welcomed the stranger.”

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News

by volunteer Joy Huener

Welcome to Autumn…this past summer has been very un-comfortable and HOT!!! I know some of you love the heat, but not this gal! At the time of this writing, school is still in the works, but who knows for how long? The new coronavirus has come back with a vengeance, especially in the southern states The authorities in the know say we may never experience “normal” for a long time. That is a sobering thought. But enough of the bad news. How about some good news? Cindy’s Corner is finally going back to normal, except we are still providing services to our community outside. But, we are back to our regular schedule of Monday thru Thursday. We are taking the temps of all volunteers when they come in each morning. EVERYONE is required to wear a mask. We are taking this pandemic very seriously! We also placed white tape on the sidewalk 6 feet apart. Majority of our community does take this seriously. However, there are always some people who will not abide by the rules. As you may know, Cindy opened another ministry at St. John’s Lutheran Church (Cindy’s God Squad) on S. Erie several months ago. At first it was only on Wednesday, but now she is open on Monday as well! The response has been overwhelming and wonderful! Cindy is in the process of open-ing another ministry at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on N. Erie St. downtown. Keep her in your prayers that God will bless this start up at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. We will be there on Friday’s only to serve lunch. St. Paul’s is a gorgeous church in the heart of downtown. We hope to cater to the homeless, the runaways and the children. UPDATE ON St. Paul’s—Pastor Pete from St. Paul’s Lutheran Church tells us St. Paul’s has accepted Cindy’s program of Cindy’s Uptown Cafe! Cindy, Joy, Dottie (our cook), Norma Ramos and Savannah will be working there on Fridays starting on September 4. Again, God has answered Cindy’s prayer! Cindy, Joy, Anna, Lavonda, George, Chris, Norma, and Dottie along with JFS placement supervisors, Louella and Laurie met with Pastor Pete Bowmer on August 14. It was a wonderful meeting! We again toured the facility and looked for places to place our desks. We are so excited to start this new chapter of Cindy’s Corner. The Lord has blessed all of us and we are so grateful to be able to help our neighbors and honor God with our ministry. Thank you to all who made this possible, espe-

cially our Lord Jesus! Our new stove has finally arrived! It is beautiful and Angie loves it! Bob Alley from our church, hooked up the stove which saved us quite a bit of money. GOD IS GOOD!!! Everything is going great at Cindy’s Corner. We average about 45 meals given out daily and 10 boxes a week. We have an awesome crew and the Lord has been with us every step of the way! Trying to choose who will be the volunteer of the month is an exceedingly difficult task, because everyone here is so awesome! But I have overlooked the most important member of our ministry, our Lord God! We show an empty picture because we do not know what God looks like. We do know that without God, Cindy’s Corner would not exist, St. John’s God Squad would not exist. Even Cindy would not be here. God has given her the strength to continue to do His work. He has provided everything Cindy has needed for her ministry. He is truly providing for all of us. He has given us Cindy’s Corner, St. John’s God Squad and now, St. Paul’s Cindy’s Uptown Café! When Cindy had a need, God provided for her. Praise be to God!!! We need to keep our children in our prayers. As school is to reopen sometime in the future, (we are not to sure when) we not only have to pray for their safety but also their educa-tion. E-learning is fine, but will they continue to study? Are the parents’ home to enforce the schooling? We just lift our chil-dren to Jesus for safety and to protect their future. We need more prayers for our communities.

Cindy is all smiles in front of the new stove for the kitchen provided

by a generous grant from Zion Lutheran in Waterville.

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St Lucas Community Garden News

Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;

All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin;

God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;

Come to God ’s own Garden, come, raise the song of harvest home .

Good Things from The Garden ~in quantity! We have tomatoes ripening daily. The

cherry tomatoes and the little yellow pear tomatoes are

plentiful, while the larger ones are ripening in twos

and threes. The basil is sending its wonderful scent all

over the garden, and the eggplant and okra are outdo-

ing themselves. are picking cucumbers, summer

squash, peppers, and the first of the green beans. The

green beans, purple beans, and yellow wax beans are

starting to get big and tough –

they’ll be making dried beans for

winter stews. The Kentucky Wonder climbers are still small

and tender. In the middle rearmost bed we have a tomatillo

plant, blooming its head off and growing lots of those tart

green veggies that make great salsa,

tasty salads, or add zest to guacamole!

Just peel them out of their husks and

use your imagination.

The zucchini and summer squash have

fallen prey to their perennial enemy,

the downy mildew. That has cut their

production, but they put out a lot of squash while they were

producing. There ’s a lot of dill seed ripened and ready to

harvest, and the parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are

plentiful, ready to flavor your fall cooking.

A Garden Thank You to Cody Bridenstine and Steve Junge who spent part of Sat-

urday weeding our beds while I watered. I challenged them to tackle the growth

on our hugelmound, which has gotten out of hand while I ’m counting people for

the census.

Call me at 419-244-2243 with garden questions or to offer help.

Seasonally,

Mike Biscay

Pepper plants ripening

Tomatoes on the vine

Sunflower beauty

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THIS LITTLE PUZZLER COMES FROM THE “CONFERENCE CALL” NEWSLETTER PUT OUT BY REV. KURT MEYERS

ON BEHALF OF THE ELCA CHURCHES OF THE TOLEDO CONFERENCE. ENJOY! CAN YOU FIND THEM ALL?

There are thirty books of the Bible in this paragraph. Can you find them? This is a most remarkable puzzle, It was found

by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping him occupied for hours. He en-

joyed it so much, he passed it on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat.

Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in

her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to

help her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot. That’s a fact. Some people, however, will soon find

themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we

are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that some-

thing in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph, During a recent fund raising

event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new sales record, The local paper, The Chroni-

cle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen. As Daniel Hu-

mana humbly puts it, “the books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight.” Those able to find all of them will hear

great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel

may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper atti-

tude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember that there is no need for a

mad exodus, there really are 30 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph waiting to be found.

Do You Remember This Puzzler? It appeared in the June Acts.

Did you try to find all 30 Bible books? For the last 2 months Adolf Ruelke has been working away

at solving this puzzler. On Aug 13 Hildegard delivered his complete answers.

HE DID IT! Congratulations, Adolf. If you are stuck on this one, we might be persuaded to send

you the answer key that we now have thanks to Adolf. ;)

Thank you for your response! Sue White-Johnson, as

well as Pete & Peggie Morrison informed us this is

Phlox Paniculata. We are glad to have the mystery

solved.

FAREWELL & GODSPEED

We wish farewell and godspeek to

Russel Brohl. Russell informed us that

he is moving to Columbus to take a job

with the Post Office there. Russell is a

liturgical arts artisan. Two of Pastor

Billmeier’s chasubles were his crea-

tions (a green one and a rose colored

one for Gaudete and Laetare Sundays

in Advent and Lent). Pastor also

picked up another blue chasuble at

his moving sale. Russell arranged for the donation of a tabernacle

from (Episcopal) Church of

the Good Shepherd in East

Chicago, Indiana upon its

closing. He made a new

lining for the tabernacle

and procured a new finial

cross, as well as cleaning it

up Now we will be able to

reserve consecrated Communion elements in the sanctuary instead

of in a cupboard in the sacristy and shallow shelf on the altar.

Thanks & blessings in your new calling at the post office, Russell!

Donated tabernacle sits to the left of the altar

Russell Brohl,, left, with John

Mensing at his moving sale

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Our Thrift Shop is Back!

Well, at least on Thursdays. They held their first side-

walk sale Thurs. Aug 13 in the Frank St. parking lot.

And it was a big success. We will continue sidewalk

sales on Thursdays from 9:30-11:30 when the weather

permits. Thanks to Hildegard Ruelke, Jan Huffman, Su-

san Lang and Yvonne Reed who helped and George

Canady who helped set up tables in the parking lot.

We have now had three Thursdays of sidewalk sales.

Yvonne Reed, Thrift Shop

Director & Hildegard Ruelke,

faithful worker

Ken Sikorski & Yvonne Reed serve as clerks on Aug. 27

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PEWS READY FOR IN PERSON WORSHIP WITH DISTANCING

Our thanks to Jill Hojnacki, council viec-president, who spent hours in the sanctuary putting up gold patterned ribbon for our physical distancing requirements for in person worship. We are all ready as soon as the state of Ohio tells us Lucas County is no longer at a level 3 risk. There are spaces marked off for parties of 1 all the way up to six. Below left, Jill hard at work. Below right, the finished product.

OLD STOVE OUT, NEW STOVE IN

On Friday, August 28, we received delivery of the long awaited new stove for

the kitchen, replacing what we think was the original stove when the Sunday

School building was put up in 1956. We are grateful to Zion in Waterville which

gave us a $5100 grant toward the project. Torrence Sound also donated $1,000

and the St. Lucas WELCA contributed another $1000 to complete the project.

Our thanks to Torrence and the WELCA as well. We also thank Bob Alley and his

property crew who hooked the stove up for us. We are guessing that this stove

is more energy efficient and easier to use than the old one. Word is that Angie

and Barb love it.

This project will not only help Cindy’s Corner Café at St. Lucas. It will also ben-

efit all groups who use the kitchen for church events. When asked for comment,

Cindy Kirk responded, "Praise the Lord! God is good!”

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A BLAST FROM THE PAST! The following is a message from Rick Charchol that appeared in the June 2006 edition of the Acts of St. Lucas when he was president of church council. We found it when looking for the thrift shop opening date going through old Acts. The message is still (and maybe especially) relevant today.

A Message From Church Council President Rick Charchol (from Acts of St. Lucas June 2006)

I recently read a book entitled, Real Faith for Real Life, by Michael Foss. He is the same author who wrote, Power Surge, the book from which Pastor Billmeier has so many times quoted, and who inspired Pastor’s “Six Marks of Dis-cipleship” homily series. In Real Faith for Real Life, Foss explains each mark of discipleship in detail. In explaining his first mark, daily prayer, Foss suggests a prayer format that I now use. Prior to reading his book, I always felt that my prayers were inappropriate and ineffectual. It seemed to me that I tended to ramble on and on and that God had more important things to attend to than to listen to me try and get to the point. I suspect that I am not alone in feel-ing this way. For that reason, I would like to share Foss’s prayer model with you.

Foss says that daily prayer is a special time with God and that it ushers us consciously into the presence of the Crea-tor who promises to be with us always. He suggests that when we pray, we should;

Take time to thank God for your blessings. Mention some blessings specifically.

Next, talk about yesterday’s mistakes or today’s shortcomings. This part of the prayer is called confession.

Whenever you confess, conclude your confession by giving thanks that God’s forgiving love has sought you out like a sheep gone astray and that you know heaven rejoices at the new beginning you have received by God’s grace.

Tell God what you desire or need. Be honest. Share with God those things that are most important to you.

Pray for others. Mention them by name and tell God your deepest hope and desire for them and their lives. Acknowledge that your vision is not as big as God’s so give those you are praying for into the care of God, who loves them more than any of us can imagine.

At the end of your prayer, sit in silence. Ask God if there is something that you need to hear or think about. Let your soul listen.

Foss challenges us to a thirty-day experiment. Pray daily for 30 days and take note of what happens with you – your response to stress, your outlook, your response to others. See what has happened in response to those for whom you have prayed and for those things you have asked for yourself. Ask God to help you see the working of God’s will. Then be spiritually alert.

I printed these six prayer pointers on cardstock and at first, I held them as I prayed so that I was sure to include all six parts every time.

Mention my blessings specifically

Confess my sins

Thank God for His forgiveness

Tell God what I need

Pray for others and put them in God’s hands

Sit in silence and let my soul listen

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

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ST. LUCAS PRAYER LIST

Please remember these people in your pray-

ers: George Brasel , Ph i l Chambers, Carmen

Bal l , Georg ia ’s nephew Josh Barnes who has

cancer, Ron and Peggy Ramm af ter h is cancer

diagnosis , Dan Mark ley ’s cousin Kevin Parker

who has cancer, our shut - ins: B i l l Granger, Cher-

y l Jones, Car l Hischka

WITH CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY

OUR SYMPATHY AND PRAYERS for Sally

Wing at the death of her husband Jim

Wing. Sally and Jim had been married

16 years. A private graveside burial was

being planned at the time we went ot press.

Our sympathy and prayers also for Jan Hoffman at the death

of her stepson Matthew in May. Pastor Billmeier conducted a

memorial service in Monroe, Michigan on August 8.

Our sympathy and prayers for Ken Sikorski and family at the

death of his uncle Stanley Sikorski.

Say a prayer for each of these cou-

ples on their special day.

Rick and Annette Mason 13

Rudolf & Sharon Schaefer 27

HAPPY SEPTEMBER ANNIVERSARY!

WE GIVE THANKS to the Lord who provides for St. Lu-

cas through our members and friends. For the first

month since February we find ourselves in a deficit situ-

ation, but a much smaller deficit than last year at this

time. Please continue to pray for the stewardship and

evangelism of our congregation, that the Lord will bless

us with the Holy Spirit’s power in both of those areas.

GENERAL FUND REPORT

JULY 1 BALANCE $(1,265.94) RECEIPTS 31,091.50 DISBURSEMENTS (18,843.01) JULY 31 BALANCE 10,982.55 BAL. LAST YEAR (22,247.10)

St. Lucas Cindy’s Corner Report

Beginning Balance $10,053.30

Received in July 3,460.50

Disbursements (9,028.09) *

Balance July 31 4,598.48

*Includes payment for the new kitchen stove to be in-

stalled soon!

SUNDAY SCHOOL WINDOW FUND

Loan Amount $56,000

Donations to dat 50,859.82

Remaining Goal 5,141.18

Happy September Birthday Say a prayer for each of these on their special

day.

Fritz Bloedow 3

Ann Hunter 5

Carl Hischka 6

DelAnna Coffman 7

Tim Teague 9

Tyler Woody 12

Bruce Taylor 15

Sharon Schaefer 15

Bob Alley 15

Sally Ortiz 16

Danny Wolfram Sr 17

Steve Tandler 18

Carmen Ball 20

Joyce Mease 20

Jill Hojnacki 21

Cheryl Jones 21

Phil Chambers 25

Georgia Steele 29

PASTOR’S SUMMER APPEAL

AS OF 08/31/2020

Total rec’d to date $5,370.00

The Summer Appeal is designated to capital improve-

ments for roof and outside stone work for the church.

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Applying Bible Principles Stewardship Message

God has a wonderful “system” by which we as God’s children are to get our needs met. It’s a very simple “system,” but somehow, we fail to utilize it as we should. Here’s the plan: God says we are to ask Him. Is that simple or what? We are to call unto God, to cry out our needs before God, to bring our petitions before God’s throne. But somehow, we must think God’s plan is too complex, for with most of us, asking God is the last thing we do when we have needs.

Oh, we’ll tell our friends. We’ll discuss our needs with any and all who have the patience and courtesy to listen. We’ll frequently complain about our problems, even to the extent of sometimes holding God responsible for God’s seeming failure to provide for us. But ask God? Usually we’ll do that only The result is a sad state of affairs among Christians. “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:2-3). So our needs go unmet because either we do not ask or we ask with wrong motives.

J. Irvin Overholtzer was a pastor who was greatly used by God as the founder of Child Evangelism Fellowship. His philosophy of providing for the financial needs of this world-wide organization was this: “Ask God . . . and tell His people.” Yes, we need to share our needs with others. We ought to make others aware of opportunities for them to get involved in being used of God to meet those needs. But the first step in the entire process is this: “Ask God.”

And when we do, we can claim His promise stated so clearly in Jeremiah 33:3 — “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

Say, do you have needs in your life today? Why not “ask God”? Why not come boldly to His throne? Why not take Him at His Word and “call” unto Him? That’s God’s plan for His children: “ . . . ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Luke 11:9).

Or as Eliza Hickock wrote a century ago, “I know not by what methods rare, but this I know: God answers prayer!”

God wants us to ask for material possessions and other things we need.

“ . . . ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock,

and the door will be opened for you” (Luke 11:9).

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St. Lucas Evangelical Lutheran Church

745 Walbridge Avenue

Toledo, Ohio 43609

419-243-8189

Address Service Requested

Time Sensitive Material

Please Handle Promptly

September 2020

The Acts of St. Lucas Newsletter

AFFIRMATION OF WELCOME - adopted 1999

In accord with the gospel of Jesus Christ St. Lucas welcomes all. By this we mean we extend the radical welcome of Jesus

Christ to people of every age, race, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, economic level, mental health diagnosis,

recovery status, education level, or previous religious experience to participate in the sacramental life and work of our con-

gregation.

Worship & Sunday School Times

Saturdays: 4:00 p.m. Sundays: 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday School: 10:00 a.m. Sept. to May Wednesdays: 11:45 a.m.—Wednesday Chapel

The Sacrament of Holy Communion and healing rite are offered at all services.

Mission and Vision

ST. LUCAS PURPOSE STATEMENT:

The people of St. Lucas Lutheran Church invite and welcome everyone to enter and feel God’s presence.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

1. We believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior. 2. We embrace diversity and welcome all unconditionally. 3. We commit to live God’s Word and share the Good News. 4. We strive for closer relationship with God and each other. 5. We demonstrate compassion and forgiveness through open hearts and open minds.

**Handicap Accessible Building** Elevator Next to Handicap Parking on Walbridge Ave.

Please come dressed as you are…ALL ARE WELCOME

Parish Staff Martin E. Billmeier, Pastor Georgia Steele, Office Manager Jamie Dauel, Organist Ron Lang, Choirmaster ……., Custodian

Church Council Brian Hoch, President; Jill Hojnacki, Vice-president, Jason Slough, Treasur-er; Sharon Stofan, Secretary; Mike Biscay, Fritz Bloedow, Randy Hyter, David Jerman, John Kern, Cindy Kirk, Sally Ortiz, Diane Porter, LaVonda Rodgers, Steve Seaton, Lorraine Willoughby, Pastor Billmeier

Parish Office Information Tuesday-Friday—9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Phone: 419-243-8189 Fax: 419-243-8180 Secretary Email: stlucasoffice@gmail.com Pastor Email: pastorstlucas@gmail.com Cindy’s Corner: stlucascindyscorner@gmail.com Website: www.stlucastoledo.org

Northwest Ohio Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church In America 621 Bright Road, Findlay, Ohio 45840 1-419-423-3664 Bishop: Rev. Daniel Beaudoin Website: www.nwos-elca.org