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Table of Contents

Pg. 2-5 From the Pastor’s Desk & MOPS

Pg. 6-7 Birthdays, Serving in the Lord’s House, and Prayer

list

Pg. 8-9 Sunday school, & Loaves and fishes

Pg. 10-11 Outreach, Sewing group and Cookbook

Pg. 12-13 Office reminder & February Lessons

Pg. 14-15 February upcoming events & Lenten services

Pg. 16 Community Lent services

Pg. 17 St, Luke’s Website

Pg. 18 Church info

Pg. 19 February Calendar

“Reflecting the Light of Christ”

2

Four Core Values

Christ-Centered

Jesus Christ revealed in scripture, is the Lord of the Church and the

only Savior of the world

What does it mean to be Christ- centered? Well, simply put, to be Christ

-centered means to “keep the main thing the main thing,” which is, of

course, Jesus Christ, the second person in the Holy Trinity who is the

“way, the truth and the life,” the exclusive Savior of the world, and as

the object of our faith, our greatest source for hope. Therefore, in

“keeping the main thing, the main thing” we first and foremost honor

Jesus Christ for who he is as revealed in scripture, over against any

distortions that have developed.

One prominent and intended distortion is that Jesus, is “one of many”

who brings us to God and offers salvation. This distortion has been

popularized with the “Co-exist” bumper sticker which is, if you have

seen it you know, stylized with the different symbols of the various

faiths across the world. To be clear, seeking to live in harmony with

those of other faiths is right and noteworthy, but that does not mean

even for a second that we ignore the biblical revelation of Jesus and

simply talk about him as just “one among many.” He is indeed the

“way, the truth and the life,” and we are not ashamed as Christians to

witness to his sheer uniqueness as the only true Savior of us all.

19

18

St. Luke’s Evangelical

Lutheran Church 909 Circle Drive

Monroe, North Carolina 28112

Web Site

www.StLukesMonroeNC.org

FaceBook

https://www.facebook.com/stlukesmonroenc

Pastor ~ Rev. Christopher A. Metze Email: sllcpastor@charlotte.twcbc.com

Secretary ~ Stephanie Griffin

Email: sllcsec@charlotte.twcbc.com

SUNDAY MORNING 9:15 Gathering time 9:30 Sunday School

10:30 Worship

Hours Tuesday—9:00 am to 2:00 pm

Wednesday & Thursday—9:00 am to 2:00 pm

Phone 704-283-5244

3

There are, however, other distortion of Jesus that may not be quite so

prominent or intended but are nevertheless pertinent to discuss. Indeed,

sometimes we Christians can distort who Jesus is quite unintentionally.

Many of you will remember the “WWJD” bracelets which stood for,

“What would Jesus do?” Now, at first consideration a faithful person

would say this is great advice, but after further exploration one may be

ale to detect the problem. Asking ourselves, “what would Jesus do,” is

problematic in that it orients us towards works and holds potential to

make Jesus exclusively a moral guide who sets the example for us to

follow. Many prominent men throughout history have held Jesus in

high regard without honoring him as Lord and Savior. They could have

asked themselves, “What would Jesus do,” as a means to examine their

own moral character. As Christians, however, we certainly do not

ignore Jesus as an example, but we recall, first and foremost, that Jesus

is our Savior and Lord who saves us out of sheer grace apart from

anything we do or ever will do. Martin Luther will help us out here.

He writes: “If you have Christ as the foundation and chief blessing of

your salvation, then the other part follows. Then you take him as your

example…” Maintaining this order, acknowledging Christ as the

foundation of your salvation, then the “other part” taking him as an

example, is motivated by joy and not fear in trying to please him.

Indeed, “keeping the main thing the main thing” is about honoring

Christ for who he is as revealed in scriptures and being mindful of

intended and unintended distortions. In addition, “keeping the main

thing, the main thing,” Jesus Christ at the center of our faith and life

means prioritizing as individuals and as a congregation. Martin Luther

once said that he was “so busy” that he needed to “spend the first three

hours” of his day, “in prayer.” Now, I am not telling you that you must

spend the first three hours of your day in prayer, but perhaps getting

into a daily routine of prayer and having an intentional time set aside

jut for faith development may be something to work towards. In

addition, as a congregation, we keep the “main thing the main thing”

when we prioritize worship above all else. Worship is how we are

formed and molded as disciples of Jesus Christ, and it is the catalyst to

all the ways in which we give our time and talents.

4

Lastly, in “keeping the main thing the main thing,” Christ as the

center of our faith and life, we pray. We pray to God and trust in the

Holy Spirit to raise up leaders who will nurture and orient the faith of

congregations to Jesus Christ alone, taking great care to fulfill the

responsibility “to preach the word purely and administer the

sacraments rightly” over against any other agenda contrary to the

gospel. With full confidence I can assure you that the NALC

Seminary in Ambridge, PA and Gordon Conwell in Charlotte are two

such places committed to forming future pastors who will execute

their responsibilities faithfully.

Next month we’ll look at the core value, “mission-driven.”

Thanks, and God bless,

Pr. Metze

Four Core Values continued:

17

Web Site - www.stlukesmonroenc.org

Catch up on sermons and scripture readings you may have

missed

16

February 21st 12:00 (noon)

First Baptist Church

109 Morrow ave. Monroe NC.

February 28th 12:00 (noon)

Central Baptist Church

4821 Waxhaw Indian Trail Rd. Matthews NC.

March 7th 12:00 (noon)

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church

909 Circle Drive Monroe NC.

March 14th - TBD

March 21st - TBD

12:00

5

February 2nd & 16th

6

February 2018

USHERS

WORSHIP ASST.

Feb. 4th Lisa Thompkins

Feb. 11th Jim Benton

ALTAR GUILD

Rose Judush

February

Birthdays

14th

Kim Hyatt

15th

Hunter Evans

19th

Tina Evans

25th

Kenneth Greene

26th

Betty Erickson

NOTE: Please let Stephanie in the

Church Office know if your name is

not on our listing but you would like

it to be or if it is listed incorrectly.

Thank you

Serving in the Lord’s House

4th

Gerald

& Tina Evans

11th

The Waddell Family

14th

Betty Jackson &

Barbara Carter

18th Bruce & Linda McCoy

25th Herman & Rose Smith

15

UPCOMING—MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Feb. 13th Shrove Tuesday service 6:30 PM

Feb. 14th Ash Wednesday 7:00 PM

Feb. 21st Lent service meal starts at 6:15 service at 7:-00

February 28th Lenten meal 6:15 & service 7:00 PM

March 7th St. Luke’s Lenten Luncheon 12:00

March 7th Lenten meal 6:15 & service 7:00 PM

March 14th Lenten meal 6:15 & service 7:00 PM

March 21st Lenten meal 6:15 service 7:00 PM

March 25th Palm Sunday

March 29th Maundy Thursday service 7:00 PM

March 30th Good Friday service 7:00 PM

14

Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday, February 4th

MOPS Friday, February 2nd & 16th

@ 9:30 AM—11:30 AM

Brian Center Devotions February 4th

WOW February 6th @ 6:00 PM

Sewing Group Every Tuesday @ 9:00 AM

Outreach February 13th @ 6:00 PM

Strove Tuesday February 13th 6:00 PM

Valentine’s Day February 14th

Ash Wednesday February 14th @ 7:00

Lent Begins February 18th

Noisy Offering February 18th

Lent Service February 21st 6:15

Council Meeting February 25th following worship

Handbell practice February 19th 6:00 PM during

Lent

Choir Practice Every Wednesday after service

7

Kelsey Arthur

Perry Beatty

Tyler Burnett

Mary Carter

Vivian Chaney

Irv Erickson, Jr.

John Foster

Debbie Foster

Laura T. Griffen

Wayne Harland

Dave Jackson

Brian Jones

Margie Lee

Mary Nash

Karin Rhyne

Ken Rush

Ginny Quinn

Patricia Schlotfeldt

Carol Simpson

Donald Smith

Cathy Spino

Timothy Taylor

Bobby Taylor

Amanda Thomas

Roy Trexler

John Vasickanin

Andy Washington

Prayers for our Homebound

Members:

Betty Erickson

Joyce Williams

Lobby Benton

Bee Counsellor

Johnnie Young

Our Military

Teri T. Johnson

Jason Putt

Tyler Putt

Matt Shaffer

Natalia Thompson

College Students

Emily Bernhard

David Waddell

Chloe Mundie

Trevor-Redding

Hannah-Marie Wayne

Catherine Waddell

John Robitschek

Our Sponsored Children

Andres

Camila

Estephany

Pricilla

Gumato

Our Confirmation Students

Danial Beare

Jacob Beare

Taylor Evans

Joshua Robitschek

Stephen Waddell

Those who Grieve

8

Sunday School

What Lutherans believe

Why do we believe what we

believe? Gather with us on

Sunday’s at 9:15 for coffee and

refreshments before Sunday

school beginning at 9:30 as we

consider this question by

examining the “mission

statement” of the Lutheran

church, the Augsburg Confession.

All are welcome!

13

Date First lesson Psalm Second lesson Gospel

Feb.

4th Isaiah

40:21-31 Psalm

147:1-11

1 Corinthians

9:16-27

Mark

1:29-39

Feb.

11th

Exodus

34:29-35 Psalm

50:1-6

2 Corinthians

3:12-13, 4:1-6

Mark

9:2-9

Feb.

14th

Ash

Wed.

Joel

2:12-19 Psalm

51:1-13

[14-19]

2 Corinthians

5:20b-6:10

Matthew

6:1-6, 16-

21

Feb.

18th Genesis

22:1-18 Psalm

25:1-10

James

1:12-18

Mark

1:9-15

Feb.

25th

Genesis

17:1-7, 15-

16

Psalm

22:23-

30*

Romans

5:1-11

Mark

8:27-38

12

Reminders from the Office:

Take a minute to help us update the Prayer

Request listing.

Sign-up sheets in the Narthex:

Altar flowers for 2018

Serving in the Lord’s House for February

Prayer requests.

Any information that you wish to add to the

weekly newsletter or bulletin would need

to be in the office by Tuesday either via email,

calling or dropping it off to the office.

St. Luke’s - 704-283-5244

Pastor Christopher A. Metze sllcPastor@charlotte.twcbc.com

Music Director: Tom Honeycutt - 704-560-6867

Secretary: Stephanie Griffin - sllcsec@charlotte.twcbc.com

Web Site - www.stlukesmonroenc.org

9

SPECIAL NEED

Needs DRIED BEANS and they are

still in need of TOILET PAPER. Please

help and make a difference for

families in our community.

February 11th

Glory of God

In Honor of Pam Dennis

From Jerry & Debbie Smith

10

We will begin collecting items for the

Layette Kit.

As the title suggests, these are items for

babies.

One (1) Sweater ir Sweatshirt

Collection Date: February 4 & 11th

You may place your item(s) in the baskets on

the table in the narthex at any time. Once

again, the outreach committee is grateful for

your assistance. If you have any questions,

please speak with a committee member:

Betty Jackson, Betty Ann Thompson,

Lisa Tompkins, Herman Smith Pastor

Metze, Alyssa Metze or Linda McCoy.

Grace and Peace!

11

Every Tuesday at 9:00 AM,

Anyone is welcome to join. Cut

material, sew or just lend a hand.

NO experience necessary.

Heavenly Recipes

A Cookbook of favorite recipes from

St. Luke’s members

$10.00. Stop by the secretary’s office to

purchase a copy.