When I was asked to write a short statement on my experience of being in a LIFT group and studying Scripture+Shared with my group, I actually looked forward to telling the story. And then came Hurricane Harvey and the events of the last weeks have reinforced even more why small groups are so important at St. Luke’s.If you wanted the standard story, you would hear from me about theological learnings and the shaping of my own beliefs through studying and discussing the lessons with our group. You would hear from me about how, even as the “leader”, I learn [...]

Helpers came in many forms to rescue Texans in Harvey’s wake. In the beginning, they were Texans helping Texans, however, with the arrival of the Cajun Navy we quickly transitioned into Americans helping Americans. We all sat in horror as we watched our friends being rescued from their rooftops by Coast Guard helicopters and wept tears of joy as we watched caravans of police cars from across the country come in to relieve our exhausted first responders. It was a different type of caravan that descended on St Luke’s UMC. Red Cross volunteers from almost every state, including [...]

Robert and I are active members of the Fellowship Class. It is our Sunday morning home. Our class consists of families with children of all ages. We, like many other families at St. Luke's, are very involved in our children's activities and it makes non-Sunday gatherings quite a challenge at times. That is, until Harvey. As the roads dried up and the reality of the destruction set in, we all had one goal —to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Immediately. In addition, there are only so many days of cabin fever you can take when you [...]

When disaster strikes, the church responds, and when your church is located in the heart of some of the most diverse communities in one of the nation’s largest cities, it responds quickly. Gethsemane and their neighbors in Sharpstown and Gulfton are on higher ground, so flooding was not their main concern. But they did have another problem. Many of their congregation depends on hourly wages to make ends meet, and they couldn’t get to work. Add to that HISD shutting down for an additional week, and you see a pretty difficult financial situation. The Christian Community Service Center [...]

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Hurricanes have a unique wind field. The primary circulation is the rotational part of the flow; it is purely circular. Harvey’s wide swath of destruction arrived as rain bands lashed around [...]

On the Sunday after Hurricane Harvey hit our city, all the church services at St. Luke’s were cancelled. The following Sunday our schedule was back to normal. But everything wasn’t really normal. There was a tangible sense of joy to be together, as a church family, back in God’s house. My participation in the three traditional services included receiving the collection plates from the ushers, usually filled with paper — paper bills and paper checks. However, in one service, in one plate, there was an anomaly. Sitting atop the plate was a zipped-up plastic sandwich bag. It was [...]

Mumford and Sons have a song called After the Storm. It spoke to me as I listened to it today. Here is just a part…And after the storm,I run and run as the rains comeAnd I look up, I look up,on my knees and out of luck, I look up….And I took you by the handAnd we stood tall,And remembered our own land,What we lived for.And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.Get over your hill and see what you find there,With grace in your [...]

I stepped into my 8th grade Sunday School class on a crisp, cool Sunday morning. Fresh from mowing lawns the day before, I was armed with cash in my wallet. At that time, most of the money I earned went to sodas, candy and CDs (this was the 80’s, iTunes was not invented then). When my Sunday School teacher, Carl, asked for donations to help feed a few families he was trying to support, I did not really think about it and immediately parted with $20 of my recently earned money. I had completely forgotten about that donation [...]

As with most Sunday School classes, my class started looking for a service project — something where we could “give ourselves away in generosity and service.” You know, “The Inside-Out Habits”­—that is not just a slogan for St. Luke’s. Well, I guess it is, but it has become the mentality of the members of our church. Co-sponsoring a refugee family is a big commitment, especially for a class as small as ours. We did not want to fail in such an important endeavor. Since this was our first attempt, we asked if we could sponsor a family of [...]

This past summer St. Luke’s sent a group to the Dominican Republic on a family mission trip. Our church has partnered with GO Ministries in the DR for several years because we respect their philosophy that “by working alongside local leaders in construction, sports, medical or children’s ministry, groups have the opportunity to teach and be taught more about the love of Christ.” Part of the vision of that trip, or any trip we take to the DR, is that we take home what we learn there, and can continue that kind of work in Houston. It is [...]