Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

In today’s gospel from Mark, Jesus invites a man to leave behind everything he has known and thought about himself to become Jesus’ disciple. To the world, the mand is defined by his wealth, but Jesus sees the man behind the possessions and loves him. He sees past what seems inevitable about the man, to what God can make possible. Yet, tragically, the man can only see the world’s vision of him, a vision of limited possibilities. When Jesus calls him to leave his wealth behind, the man thinks he is being asked the impossible and leaves. How will we respond?

In today’s gospel from Mark, the two episodes may seem disjointed: a challenging, even unsettling passage about divorce is followed by a much-loved image of Jesus telling his disciples to let little children come to him. Yet in both passages, Jesus puts rules and conventions aside to challenge his followers’ hearts to greater openness and vulnerability. How might we become agents of love through Christ?

The first Sunday of Fall was a beautiful morning to praise God. We were blessed with almost 60 folks present.

Our “Perfect Pair” project collected 238 cans of fruit for the Loaves & Fishes Pantry during the month. We also received 24 personal care products. Thank You! We are currently collecting bags of candy to give out through the pantry at the end of October.

May your last week of September be a blessing!