St. Luke’s Westheimer Campus now offers both an Induction Loop and an FM assisted hearing system in the Sanctuary and in the Parlor.
Two Sections, Section A • 076510 • Vol. 157 • No. 34 • December 24, 2010
in this issue
2
Year-End Giving
3
A Letter to the Volunteers
5
Joy to the World
I
t is 11:50 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The last in a long line of Christmas eve services is reaching its climax. This one is calmer than those earlier in the evening. The crowd is slightly smaller. The volunteers Silent Night, have done their best to put the room back in order, to clean up the bits of candle wax and used bulletins and other remnants of almost 5,000 people who have come through our doors that evening. We have shared communion with so many—old and young, stranger and longtime friend-looking them in the eyes, and pressing into their hands the tangible sign of God’s unfailing love. Then, without fanfare, the organ begins, and the congregation knows what to do. The warm light of Christ spreads from the Christ candle as we sing.
Holy Night
Silent night, Holy night. All is calm. All is bright. A peace, mingled with exhaustion, and edged with excitement about the day ahead, comes over me. I don’t understand it. It is “pre-rational.” It doesn’t come from an intellectual understanding of the theological implications of the incarnation. Rather, it emanates from my very core. In spite of the disarray in the world around me, in spite of the broken places in my own life and my anxiety about so many things, all is well. A King has been born. God has not abandoned us, but has chosen to come himself and put things right. I can relax. Emmanuel. God is with us.
W
Christmas Offering
ant to give a life-saving gift this Christmas? Honor your friends and family with a gift to purchase an x-ray machine for the Maua (Kenya) Methodist Hospital. When the St. Luke’s Mission Team worked at the hospital in late August, our hearts went out to the doctors and nurses at the hospital as they worked to save lives with limited resources. The most limiting diagnostic tool that they lack is a working x-ray machine. The current machine is old and broken beyond repair. A new machine, purchased in Kenya with training and maintenance available, will make a daily difference in the level of care that can be delivered to the more than 14,000 patients that visit the hospital each year. You can make your donation through the Christmas Offering. Acknowledgement cards to give your friends and family are available in the church office or you may contact Alice King, 713-402-5067 or aking@stlukes-hou.org, to request cards. Thank you for helping to bring a new x-ray machine to the 800,000 people served by the Maua Methodist Hospital.
St. Luke’s United Methodist Church 3471 Westheimer at Edloe P.O. Box 22013, Houston, Texas 77227 713-622-5710 www.stlukesmethodist.org
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