Hello Friends,

      Yesterday I went shopping for company, and then spent much of the day sprucing up the house inside and out, so as to make it a welcoming home for much anticipated and eagerly awaited guests.
       The only difference between an everyday nesting/hosting bustle and yesterday’s activities was that the house in question is God’s house, our church house here at St. Luke.
       Many of you know we’ve been in a serious sprucing and regrouping mode around here for some time to enhance our hospitality and offer intentional welcome to our neighborhood.
       Today (Tuesday, Election Day) affords us the priceless opportunity to open our doors to more folks than we may see come through them in one day.  Several of us realized this, and set about coming up with ideas for how we could communicate some neat things about our church that would be readily visible when the voters are inside our spaces.
       So with the creative inspiration of these faithful ones and with Dianna’s dedicated hands-on assistance, we have generated some images, posted some signs, arranged some spaces, planted some flowers, and otherwise readied our house for those already streaming in, in record numbers, this morning.
       I came over very early to make coffee for the precinct workers, and took stock of our labors, and gave thanks to God, once more, for the honor of getting to serve Christ with you here and now, because here’s what I saw: colorful,  lively and loving images of a community rich in tradition and creativity, longtime and brand new energy, commitment and spontaneity.
       Here’s what’s even better about what’s represented around the church house—I honestly  believe that those who choose to join us for worship and other times of celebration, learning, and service will find that the images truly reflect the heart of our faith community’s real life.
     Are we perfect?   Of course not.
Do we have all kinds of room for growth and improvement in how we make church, and do ministry?  Of course we do.
       Is God blessing us to be a blessing in some marvelous and exciting ways right here, right now, today, in Austin, Texas?   Absolutely!
       I hope you’ll take part in our ongoing creative, reflective processes around here, and I also
hope you’ll do your part to offer an invitation to a friend to join you for worship in the coming weeks, including for our services of Holy Week.
       I hope we’ll all keep getting our inner houses ready, too, so we can stay free, open, and available to Christ’s renewing presence, amazing grace, and guiding wisdom for us in this challenging and very exciting time for our community, and our nation.
        I look forward to welcoming with you this Sunday, and all our days to come.

Shalom,
Sarah