SM² Easter Breakfast!

This Easter Sunday the SM² Youth Group will be hosting an Easter Breakfast for all hungry church-goers.

On the Menu: Eggs, Sausage, Pancakes with Syrup, Hashbrowns, Biscuits, & Grapes!

The West Houston Chapter of Thrivent Financial will be supplementing some of the funds & also provided us with 1,000 cups & napkins! THANKS, THIVENT!

Please join us for Breakfast! We’d love to have you!

Youth: Please arrive by 7:00 a.m. for set-up.

A/V Team Needs You!

An Audio/Visual Workshop will take place on Sunday January 24 from 12:00 until 2:00 p.m. for current and prospective A/V team members. Lunch will be served and breakout sessions will be presented in live sound and ProPresenter presentation software. If you are not currently a part of the A/V team but have an interest, we invite you to attend and find out more! Please RSVP to the Kimberly Radtke in the church office at 713/ 255-3621 or kradtke@stmarkhouston.org so we can get a lunch count and have enough materials for everyone.

Audio/Visual Workshop January 24, 2010 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. Sanctuary

Help for Haiti

By now you have heard about the terrible devastation and loss of life in Haiti following a destructive earthquake.

Our church body, The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, is helping with the recovery effort through LCMS World Relief & Human Care. Other options include the pan-Lutheran relief group, Lutheran World Relief, The Red Cross, or other great organizations.

If there is another respected agency through which you would like to help, please do so!

If you can help, please do! Thank you!

A "Campaign of Commitment"

Gentlemen,

First let me say what a pleasure it was to work with you during this process. It was an experience that pushed me outside of my “box”.

I never saw a singular direction for our church. With so many people with so many talents certainly God wouldn’t limit us to one goal. When I prayed, “Lord, what do you want your people at St. Mark to do to touch people with the love of Christ?” I saw individuals, families and groups of families Committed to doing that which God has lead them to do. If you would, think of a family working with a mission to help the people there, a group of families coming together to help start a satellite church or 50 men joining with Fred and the Men at the Cross. There are too many possibilities to see them all. The common thread through all this is the commitment, the commitment to do as God would have you to do and follow through with it. I see the church leading a “campaign of commitment” where our members commit to doing something to touch someone with the love of Christ, to do as Christ has commissioned us to do. I realize this is late in the process, but I have struggled with the question “is this meant for me or the church”. I have come to the conclusion that it is me and my family and it is something we will do. Whether this is God’s vision for our church, I don’t know, but I thought I’d put it in to the forum to see where it leads.

Again, Thanks
Frank Radtke

LINC Houston News & Needs

The following is from an email I received from Mark Junkans, Director of LINCHouston.

I am posting/passing it on in hopes that some may be able to serve and help.

God bless,
Pastor Heitshusen

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News from
LINC Houston
http://www.linchouston.org/

Greetings!

Here is some information for upcoming projects that LINC is planning, also volunteer and donation opprotunities for anyone willing to give their time and financial support to local missions in the Houston area.

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NEWS

House Church

About 2 months into the launch of 4 new house churches, we are already seeing the fruit of this work. Several new families have joined these groups led by trained leaders. Already we have seen six individuals come to a new found faith in Jesus Christ. One individual who was most resistant, has been a Mason for the past several years.

During the house meetings, he continued to argue that God has many names and that he did not need Jesus to have peace in his heart. A few weeks later, he attended Sunday service at Centro Familiar Cristiano led by Pastor Lincon Guerra. After a sermon that clearly spoke the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he was seen praying, clearly broken by what he had heard. When he stopped, his whole demeanor had changed and he began to hug his wife and children. Pastor Lincon is overjoyed to see new families come faith through the ministry of the church in the homes of its members. We praise God for his power at work in the lives of our leaders.

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NEEDS

Spring Branch Mission Center:

• Volunteers for ESL program - We need individuals that can help our students practice the English they have learned in the lessons. Classes are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the early evening at 8149 Long Point. Volunteers only need to pick one night a week that they are available.
• Computer Setup - We need individuals to help setup our computers. Includes setting up drivers and operating system, plugging in monitors, keyboards and mice.

Comunidad de Gracia:

• 2 window unit air conditioners that run on 220 volt.
• Volunteers to help pick up food from the Houston Food Bank Thursday or Friday mornings.
• Repair of a freezer.
• A/C repair for fellowship hall.

School Supplies Needed:

• LINC is in need of school supplies to give away to children in need. Through several of our ministries, we help provide needed supplies for families who don't have the financial means to purchase them. If you or your group is able, please contact the LINC office for more information.

Car Donations:

• Several of LNC's missionaries and church members are in need of good running vehicles. If you are considering donating your car, consider LINC Houston's mission field as a worthy recipient.

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RESOURCES

Mission Shift Video Series

The School of Urban Ministry has put together a 6 week video series to be used in adult education classes called Mission Shift. MissionShift is meant to open peoples eyes to what God is doing in our world and spark a desire to reach out to our new international immigrants. The specific numbers/data used in the videos is somewhat focused on Minnesota, but the overall material has application to communities all over the world.

Here's a link where you can see a short clip of the videos and learn more...

http://web.mac.com/citysitesmedia/Site/MissionShift/MissionShift.html

Sincerely,
Mark Junkans

Friends of Christ

Friends of Christ

As I prayed this morning, God reminded me that He is my best Friend. He is always there when I need someone to talk to. He is always there when I need advice. He is always happy for me and with me, when something good happens to me. He "calls" me just to talk to me, to see how I am doing. Not for any special reason, just to see how I am. He gently tells me when I am doing something wrong, yet, He never condemns me. He is oh so understanding when I inadvertently say something wrong; He knows my intent was not to hurt Him, for He knows my heart, He knows that I too am His friend.

In today's world, in our community, in our lives, we need friends. We need those relationships that are caring and always there. We need to know that someone is thinking of us and praying for us. We need to know that someone will be happy for us when we are happy, sad when we are sad, there in times of trouble and need. Today, I believe the Lord is leading me and St. Mark to be a friend to our community. How, I'm not sure. But the Lord brought to mind the idea of the mall that Pastor Scott discussed. Maybe, we could set up a kiosk and be Friends of Christ to the shoppers.

As I finished my prayer time this morning, I asked the Lord to convict me today and to affirm this idea of friendship. After prayers, I ate breakfast, watching the news. As I began to do my chores, I turned the channel to the XM station, "The Message" to listen to Christian Music. One of my favorite songs was on, at my favorite chorus line:

"I just want to feel your presence again,
I'm down on my knees in need of a friend
And I find you waiting there for me."

Talk about affirmation. I finished listening to this wonderful song, by DecembeRadio "Find You Waiting". Then I quickly came to put these thoughts down to share with you, my Friends in Christ. I really believe that we have in our community a lot of lonely people, who just need a friend. I believe that, whether they consciously know or not, they truly "want to feel Your presence again". The words of this song are powerful and I have many times wanted to feel His presence again, and I have often been down on my knees in need of a friend, and I always find Him waiting there for me.

Thank you for allowing me to share this with you today. Please pray with me to see if indeed this is how the Lord wants St. Mark to serve our community, and pray that He show us how to be a Friend of Christ to others.

Blessings,
Jimmie Sue Pratt
06/11/08

Service with a Smile

On Saturday, May 3, several members of one of St. Mark's Joy Groups* showed up at The Arbor School on Blalock, just north of Memorial Assistance Ministries. (Yes, this is the same school which has two classes of their students meeting at St. Mark.)

The task? Mostly painting and cleaning.

The group worked on the "curb appeal" for some of the buildings but also did some deep cleaning of some of the equipment and decking.

It was a wonderful example of living for Christ and living in Christ! This type of service was a deep blessings to many. It allows for others to see how we are "blessed to be a blessing." It allows for others to witness the joy we have in Jesus, our Savior. And, of course, it lets our community know that we at St. Mark care.

On a personal note: Jennifer and I thank each of you there from the bottom of our hearts, too!

In God's service and yours,
Pastor Scott


*"Joy Groups" are St. Mark's small group ministries. Let us know if you would like to join one and we'll get you "plugged-in!" The group mentioned here includes the following families: Helmkamp, Mater, Zoch, Marrs, and Heitshusen.