Pastor Beth is a potter, and in one of her attempts at making a bowl it collapsed and she thought it was a total failure. With help she was able to resurrect it and the “scars” from the collapse ended up making it a beautiful and unique piece. She likened our lives to this bowl.…
This was the 13th Sunday after Pentecost and John 6:56-69 tells us the rest of the story of those who did not understand Jesus’s invitation to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Pastor Eric compared today’s gospel to Paul Harvey’s radio comments always having many parts to them and in today’s text, there is…
Would you believe that this beautiful picture on the Sanctuary wall of St. Mark Lutheran Church was designed and executed by a 9 year old? It is true – with a little help from David Nelson, our retired pastor and artist in residence. And here is a written description of the art piece: For the…
When standing in the redwood forest, one is reminded that the world is a big place. And that in this world, there are things much bigger than us. In today’s sermon, Pastor Eric reminds us that death happens and that it is bigger than us. But love is greater than death. The gift the Lord…
In John 6:35, 41-51 Jesus said to the people He had fed that He was the bread of life. What does that mean? Retired Pastor David Nelson reminded us that we at St Mark seldom experience hunger. We may diet and try to avoid eating carbs, but we do not experience hunger. Bread is a central theme…
Here is a slideshow including pictures taken up to July 15, 2015. It is amazing what volunteers, horse and cow manure, seeds and water can do to a patch of land! Come walk through the garden – it is very beautiful this time of year!
Remember the early TV show Mission Impossible? Remember how the mission was communicated on reel to reel tape, then self-destructed? The actors were equipped with disguises and fancy devices while attempting to accomplish the mission. And it always turned out. It always did. But “not without a lot of twists and turns and action and…
Pastor Beth begins her sermon with a very loving story concerning her own family. She goes on to talk about John’s gospel, 6:1-21, revealing the mystery of God when Jesus fed the 5000 followers with only five barley loves and two fishes. God is generous. That the feeding happened is what matters; not how it…
The Olympia High School Freedom Farmers (30 of them!!) came to the St. Mark Community Garden to help us with many tasks today. Freedom Farmers is a summer program that high school kids apply for where they work on a 6 acre farm that supplies food to the school district. Many of the kids on…
We’ve all seen and heard the phrase “God’s Work, Our Hands”, but what does this really mean? Bishop Hanson stated, “We do God’s work not because God needs us to do so, but because our neighbor does”. In Pastor Eric’s sermon today, he reminds us that doing God’s work has three elements: Divine Play, Divine Hospitality,…