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Each of us is on a walk with Jesus. Every day we have the opportunity to learn from Jesus on that walk, just as his first disciples did. As we disciples walk with Jesus, Jesus wants us drawn closer to him. Jesus wants our walk always to be drawing us deeper into our relationship with him.
It is because of this that Jesus talked so much about money as he walked with his first disciples. Jesus recognizes that the lure of money can erect a barrier between him and his children. He says so quite clearly in Matthew 6:24, when he says, “You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Perhaps the best example of this truth in all of scripture is the story of Jesus and the rich ruler in Luke 18. Jesus asks the ruler to sell his possessions, give the proceeds to the poor and follow him. The ruler is unable to do this. His loyalty to his possessions is so strong that he cannot follow Jesus.
Jesus wants you to be a generous giver. He wants this not because our church needs your money. He wants this because Jesus knows that you need to give. You need to generously give yourself and your possessions away in order that you might follow your Lord.
Clinging to possessions blocks your relationship with Jesus, just as it did for the rich ruler. Giving generously to Jesus opens the way for a new and deeper level of walking with Jesus.
In worship on Sunday, October 26th, you will have the opportunity to turn in your estimate of giving card indicating your plan for giving to Gethsemane Lutheran Church for the coming year. Make your generous giving a part of your walk with Jesus.
HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR!
with campfire & s'mores -
Friday, October 31st
Set-up at 5:00 p.m.
Event at 6:00
Join us for a warm and welcoming evening as we host our annual Halloween social for the neighborhood! As trick-or-treaters pass by, we’ll be serving up hot chocolate, hot cider, and s’mores around a cozy campfire in our front yard. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect with our neighbors, share some hospitality, and enjoy time together as a church family. Planning to attend? Please add your name to the signup sheet in the Narthex. Volunteers are also needed for setup between 5:00–6:00 PM—thank you in advance for lending a hand! Let’s shine a light in our community with warmth, kindness, and a little marshmallow roasting!
Fall Property Clean-Up Day
Date to be announced in November
The Property Committee invites everyone to join us for a Fall Clean-Up of the prayer garden and churchyard. This is a great opportunity to gather as a community, enjoy the crisp autumn air, and help beautify our church grounds before winter sets in. No tools or special skills are required—just bring your enthusiasm! If you have them, feel free to bring gloves, rakes, wheelbarrows, pruners, or any yard equipment you use at home. Let’s make the churchyard beautiful together. Thanks in advance, y’all!
Property Chair Bill Benjamin will bring breakfast snacks to share. If you have any questions, please give Bill a call at 518-466-5319 or email him at Wbenjami@aol.com.
Tornado Relief
Across the country, Lutheran Disaster Response supports communities recovering from devastating tornadoes. They include:
- Western Kentucky
- Selma and Prattville, Ala.
- Amory and Wren, Miss.
- Rocky Mount and Battleboro, N.C.
- Pulaski County, Ark.
- Central Tennessee
Our response:
In the aftermath of tornadoes, Lutheran Disaster Response works with ELCA synods, social ministry organizations and community-based groups to support local responses. Together we accompany impacted communities through disaster case management, construction management, providing relief supplies and addressing other unmet needs.
What you can do:
Pray:
Please pray for the people impacted by these destructive tornadoes. May God's healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of need.
Give:
Gifts to "U.S. tornadoes" will be used entirely (100%)
to assist those affected by tornadoes.
Connect:
To learn more about the situation and the ELCA’s response:
Sumud - For Justice and Peace in Palestine
Sumud is the ELCA Churches response to occupation and injustice in Palestine and Israel. In Jesus Christ all of life— every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life— flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God’s grace.
Freed by the transformative life of Christ, the ELCA is committed to accompaniment, advocacy and awareness-raising with our partners in the Holy Land and in the United States. For the past two decades that work was organized through the ELCA Peace Not Walls campaign. In October 2023 the ELCA announced that, following an in-depth review by ELCA staff and leadership from the Palestinian Lutheran church, Peace Not Walls would be renamed and reconfigured as a new initiative, Sumud: For Justice in Palestine and Israel.
Sumud is an Arabic word meaning “steadfastness.” The term is widely used by Palestinian theologians and others to signify Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and people. That resistance takes the form of nonviolent advocacy for political change as well as “resistance through existence,” embodied in education, social work, the arts and one’s relationships with the land and community.