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,…
What do Prophets and Semi-colons have in common? They are little used and poorly understood – now and in Jesus’s day. Pastor Beth connects stories of the prophet Amos with a current day prophet, Amy Bleuel, of Project Semi-Colon. Amy lost her father to suicide ten years ago and wanted to honor her father with…
In Mark 6:1-13, Jesus calls his twelve disciples and starts to send them out, two by two, with nothing but the clothes on their body, the sandals on their feet and a staff because God’s Grace will take care of them. Pastor Eric spoke of how God’s Love comes down on us abundantly. God’s Love…
It is summer! All are invited to an inter-generational “Vacation Bible School” St. Mark style on Tuesday, July 14 from 6-8pm in the Parish Hall. We will munch on burgers, share Bible stories, and play a lively game of Bunco! Bunco is a great dice game that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. It will…
St. Mark is excited to send 4 high school students and 2 adults to the 2015 ELCA National Youth Gathering in Detroit, Michigan on July 15-19. The theme of the gathering is “Rise Up!” The ELCA Youth Gathering for high school-age youth takes place every three years and is about faith formation, worship, study, fellowship, service…
In today’s Gospel Lesson (Mark 4: 21-45), Jesus healed a hemmorhaging woman and Jairus’ daughter. For the sermon, Pastor Beth wrote a dramatic reading which was shared by two women in the congregation–Amy B. and Joyce B. In Pastor Beth’s creative interpretation of these stories, we dig a little deeper and see how, although life…
In 2014, the St. Mark Website Team created an On-Line Giving opportunity for members who wanted to make their monetary offerings electronically. Initially, there were a few brave souls who tried it out and decided to stick with it. Over time, we have seen the numbers grow. Recent statistics show that there are now 17 giving units…
The Gospel lesson in Mark 4 is essentially about “crossing to the other side”. Jesus was traveling to the “other side” in a boat with his disciples. As Jesus slept, the storm brewed, and the disciples woke him for help. Jesus rebuked the wind and there was calm. Jesus asked, “Have you no faith?” Whether…