The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2:20 It’s better to be a shepherd than an angel. You remember the angels. They’re the glowing, larger-than-life mysteries who showed up in the middle of the night and scared a bunch of shepherds out of their pajamas. In a second, they formed the best choir that anyone ever heard. They sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace!” They had news to share, news that would spread across the earth, news that would [...]

Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. These lyrics from my favorite Christmas hymn, O Holy Night, feel especially poignant this year. The world feels so full of sin and so, so weary. Shootings, wildfires, hurricanes, and earthquakes have delivered devastation to a countless number of communities and families this year. I’ll admit, there are days when it feels like a dream I cannot wake up from—so real and yet so [...]

Come back in time with me. Hear Burl Ives singing, “He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” I was probably five years old when I first heard this song. I was in a department store, Christmas shopping with my mother. The words struck home because I really wanted Santa to bring me an electric train for Christmas—a Lionel train with a switchbox to make the train go forward and backward and “smoke tablets.” You dropped those white aspirin-like tablets in [...]

My name is Henry Quillin. I am 14 years old, and I was lucky enough to be a part of delivering poinsettias to our Friends at Home members last year with Student Ministries. We delivered to the folks living in long-term care facilities. Since some of the senior members of St. Luke’s are unable to come to the Sunday services, my group and I drove to where our Friends at Home lived and gave them beautiful poinsettias so that they would know that they are loved by St. Luke’s. Though it is such a simple act of kindness, [...]

St. Luke’s continues to partner with families in the Houston area as we work together to rebuild our community! Last week, a team served with a family living on the west side of Houston, in the Energy Corridor.This family requested help spreading topsoil in their front yard. The homeowner said, “This may seem like a strange request with the many priorities we have (mold remediation, plumbing, electrical and structural damages to name a few) but driving up to our home and walking through a yard of clay speckled with glass and broken tile is so difficult.” This sweet family—including [...]

In February 2015, I decided it was time to find a church for my family. I grew up in Houston and spent my childhood very involved in my neighborhood Methodist church. I participated in about everything it had to offer from Sunday School to choir and being an acolyte. My parents instilled in me and my siblings a solid foundation to start our journey with Jesus. In college and most of my young adult life, I remained spiritual but sporadically attended church. I was building a career, moving to different cities and just got busy. That all changed [...]

Thankfully, my family and our home were spared the wrath of Hurricane Harvey. However, my grandmother died in mid-September, and her passing felt all the more heartbreaking after the difficult weeks we had all just endured. Reflecting on what a wonderful Nana she was, my thoughts turned toward the beautiful Christmas stocking she made for my daughter. She worked on it months before Tessa was born so that it would be ready for her first Christmas. It is a family treasure. That’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks... families who lost everything in Harvey also [...]