20th Sunday After Pentecost
October 7, 2018
Holy Communion at 8:30 and 11am


Prayer of the Day
Sovereign God, you have created us to live in loving community with one another. Form us for life that is faithful and steadfast, and teach us to trust like little children, that we may reflect the image of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Scripture readings
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalm 8:1-9 
Hebrews 1:1-4; Hebrews 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16

Sermon 

"Building the Cross+Gen Kingdom"
Mark 10:2-16
Busy-ness is no stranger to my family. We are pulled this way and that, and it is time together as a family with God that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. We are pulled this way and that, and sometimes families, however you define that word, fall apart. Jesus points out to us this painful reality. And then he takes a child and puts the child in their midst. “Look,” Jesus says. “This is how you receive the Kingdom.” What does this mean for our life together? I think it means building up faith in our households, teaching and learning across the generations with the cross in the middle of it all. As some of us have been exploring this week in Colorado, it means putting the pudgy hand of a child into the wrinkled hand of the elder, so that with the wonder of the child and the wisdom of the elder, we would together discover what it means to be together in Christ, pulled apart no more.

Hymns

In our prayers we remember ELCA World Hunger. 

Education hour at 9:45am

Sunday School,  Pre-Confirmation and  Confirmation students meet in their regular classrooms. 

2018-19 schedule  

Adult Education

Faith and the Native American Experience
Gordon Straw
This presentation will follow two paths to understanding Christian faith and Native experience: 1) explore some of the theological themes that are important to Native Christians, along with some of the history about how they developed that way; 2) learn more about the history of the Christian Church with Native nations and individuals, with a particular focus on Lutheran Christians and Native communities. Together, these two paths paint an interesting picture of how communities who have little in common with Western European ways of thinking and being have adopted the Christian faith. Gordon Straw holds the Cornelsen Chair of Spiritual Formation at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

 
Food, Faith, Community
Terra Brockman
A fifth-generation farmer in central Illinois who is committed to biodiverse, sustainable agriculture, will discuss the connections between land, food, faith, and community, and how we can become more responsible members of creation through our daily food choices. Terra Brockman, whose writing has appeared in the Chicago Tribune and the Christian Century, is founder of the Land Connection, which encourages sustainable agriculture.

The Sunday morning Bible study group meets in the conference room.

Adult Ed schedule September–November 2018

The Grace Church Library is open and staffed on Sundays from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Look for books related to Adult Ed topics as well as many other subjects. The library is also open for self-service during the week.