Grace Abounds

Invited to a meal with “a leader of the Pharisees,” Jesus teaches those present to act with humility - ‘Do not seek the best seats at the table’ - and hospitality - ‘Invite the poor and vulnerable to eat at the table with you’ (Luke 14:1-14). May we follow his counsel.

May we “do good and share what we have” (Hebrews 13:10). May we welcome others as Christ welcomes us.

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Join us In-Person or Online for Worship Sundays at 9:30am and 11am.

Find out more about upcoming events and ways to serve our community by joining our mailing list. Email [email protected] and request to be added!

If you are in need of prayer or pastoral care, email Pastor Jen at [email protected].

We continue to be deeply grateful for the ongoing generosity of our St. John’s community members, and the faithful financial support that contributes to our mission to “Know Christ and Make Christ Known.”

Thank you!

Ways you can Give:

For more information about Worship and Ministry at St. John’s, please email the Church Office at [email protected] or call us at 760-345-2122

CCLI Streaming & Podcast License # CSPL129016

Jesus does the ‘work’ of healing on the Sabbath (a holy day of rest), and a religious leader complains about Jesus ‘breaking the rules’ (Luke 13:10-17). Jesus responds that restoring a person to wholeness is holy work rightly done on a holy day. The Sabbath Commandment is not about rules governing how we behave on a particular day of the week. Sabbath is about how we live all the time in relationship with God and each other, about resting in God’s grace, about sharing God’s grace with others.

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Join us In-Person or Online for Worship Sundays at 9:30am and 11am.

Find out more about upcoming events and ways to serve our community by joining our mailing list. Email [email protected] and request to be added!

If you are in need of prayer or pastoral care, email Pastor Jen at [email protected].

We continue to be deeply grateful for the ongoing generosity of our St. John’s community members, and the faithful financial support that contributes to our mission to “Know Christ and Make Christ Known.”

Thank you!

Ways you can Give:

• Online stjohnslutheran.church

• Text "Give" to 760-330-2326

• Mail a check: 42695 Washington St. Palm Desert, CA 92211

For more information about Worship and Ministry at St. John’s, please email the Church Office at [email protected] or call us at 760-345-2122

CCLI Streaming & Podcast License # CSPL129016

After recounting stories of the “great cloud of witness” who have come before us (Hebrews 11), the author of Hebrews encourages us to fix our eyes of Jesus Christ, the staring mark and finish line of faith, to strip off the sin that weighs us down and trips us up, and to run with perseverance the race ahead of us (Hebrews 12:1-2). What does that mean for you today?

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Join us In-Person or Online for Worship Sundays at 9:30am and 11am.

Find out more about upcoming events and ways to serve our community by joining our mailing list. Email [email protected] and request to be added!

If you are in need of prayer or pastoral care, email Pastor Jen at [email protected].

We continue to be deeply grateful for the ongoing generosity of our St. John’s community members, and the faithful financial support that contributes to our mission to “Know Christ and Make Christ Known.”

Thank you!

Ways you can Give:

• Online stjohnslutheran.church

• Text "Give" to 760-330-2326

• Mail a check: 42695 Washington St. Palm Desert, CA 92211

For more information about Worship and Ministry at St. John’s, please email the Church Office at [email protected] or call us at 760-345-2122

CCLI Streaming & Podcast License # CSPL129016

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is not simply what we say we believe. Faith is the lived experience of being in relationship with God our Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. Faith is trusting that God is good and wants good for us and will work all things together for good. Faith is expressed in the hope that keeps us going and the love that we share serving God and our neighbors.

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Join us In-Person or Online for Worship Sundays at 9:30am and 11am.  Find out more about upcoming events and ways to serve our community by joining our mailing list. Email [email protected] and request to be added!  If you are in need of prayer or pastoral care, email Pastor Jen at [email protected].  We continue to be deeply grateful for the ongoing generosity of our St. John’s community members, and the faithful financial support that contributes to our mission to “Know Christ and Make Christ Known.” Thank you! Ways you can Give:  • Online stjohnslutheran.church  • Text "Give" to 760-330-2326  • Mail a check: 42695 Washington St. Palm Desert, CA 92211  For more information about Worship and Ministry at St. John’s, please email the Church Office at [email protected] or call us at 760-345-2122  CCLI Streaming & Podcast License # CSPL129016

In response to two brothers fighting over an inheritance, Jesus says, “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Jesus illustrates this truth with a parable about a “rich fool” who builds bigger barns to keep his abundance all to himself (Luke 12:13-21). As Jesus teaches, our toil for worldly possessions is vanity (Ecclesiastes 2); our labor for the Lord is never in vain (1 Cor 15:58). The stuff that money can buy is fleeting; the love we give and receive is eternal (Luke 12:22-34). Bigger barns cannot give our life meaning; bigger hearts will.

Join us In-Person or Online for Worship Sundays at 9:30am and 11am.

Find out more about upcoming events and ways to serve our community by joining our mailing list. Email [email protected] and request to be added!

If you are in need of prayer or pastoral care, email Pastor Jen at [email protected].

We continue to be deeply grateful for the ongoing generosity of our St. John’s community members, and the faithful financial support that contributes to our mission to “Know Christ and Make Christ Known.”

Thank you!

Ways you can Give:

• Online stjohnslutheran.church

• Text "Give" to 760-330-2326

• Mail a check: 42695 Washington St. Palm Desert, CA 92211

For more information about Worship and Ministry at St. John’s, please email the Church Office at [email protected] or call us at 760-345-2122

CCLI Streaming & Podcast License # CSPL129016

When Jesus visits with Martha and her sister Mary (Luke 10:38-42), Mary focuses on Jesus, while Martha is “worried and distracted” by her many tasks. Martha is so busy carrying the burdens of her daily life, she fails to recognize the presence of the one who will pick her burdens up, who will pick her up, who will never let her go. As we go about the many tasks of daily life, may we keep our focus on Jesus, and find rest in him.

In the “Parable of the Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus teaches that loving our neighbor means caring for everyone and anyone God places in our path. And while we might picture ourselves in this story as the unhelpful Levite or the compassionate Samaritan, it is perhaps the Innkeeper who best represents us. The Innkeeper is given the resources and responsibility to care for the person in need after that person is saved. May we “go and do likewise.”

For more information about Worship and Ministry at St. John’s, please email the Church Office at [email protected] or call us at 760-345-2122  CCLI Streaming & Podcast License # CSPL129016

In his public ministry, Jesus consistently crossed over human barriers to heal people in need and reveal God’s love for all, and he took his disciples with him, and he told them to do the same (Luke 8:26-39). May we follow the example of Jesus. May we live that gospel truth that Christ has united us in our wondrous diversity to share his good news (Galatians 3). May we remember that our essential identity is in the Lord who made us and loves us forever. And may we be people of peace and reconciliation in our broken and divided world (2 Corinthians 5:16-21).

On Pentecost Sunday (Acts 2:1-21), the Holy Spirit filled the disciples, who spoke the gospel in the languages of people from all over the known world and welcomed thousands into the community of Christ. The same Holy Spirit who filled those first disciples fills us. The Spirit is still moving, still speaking to us and through us, still working in this world in wondrous and mysterious ways. Are we open to the work of the Spirit in our lives?

“You will be my witness.” We are all called, as Christians, to live out these words of Jesus Christ to his disciples on the day of his Ascension (Acts 1:8). Whatever our profession, our vocation is to follow Jesus, to tell people about him, to do his life-giving work, to live the gospel every moment of every day. May we hear and respond to our Lord’s Great Commission to share the good news.