So often we paint Bible characters with special colors, halos over the heads of our well-respected saints, looking at them as special people with powers and abilities way beyond our own.

But God pulled ordinary people into the extraordinary. He pulled every day people into the miraculous. He pulled earthy people into heavenly events.

This Christmas season, Pastor Christopher will look at some well-known characters with fresh eyes and introduce some people that we often overlook. He will investigate historical background to give us insights beyond our usual Christmas remembrances.

May this series bring you encouragement that God loves and visits His love upon ordinary people like you and me. Series schedule is as follows:

• Nov. 29   The Heart Cry of Infertility Turned into a Song of Hope
• Dec. 6      The Embarrassment of  Illegitimacy Overcome by God’s Peace
• Dec. 13    The Joy of the Outcasts
• Dec. 20   The Patience and Reward of the Faithful
• Dec. 27   The Jealous Rage of the Villainous Politician
• Jan. 3      The Wisdom of the Seekers

Also Join Us for Our
Christmas Eve
Candle Light Service!
7:00 PM

Missions Conference Features Muslim Awareness
“Understanding and Reaching Muslims” was the theme of this year’s Missions Conference at St. Luke Evangelical Church in Wellington on October 11. Special guests Dr. Mark and Sarah Anderson of International Teams spoke on three different topics to enlighten and challenge attendees on how to move from fear to faith when it comes to dealing with Islam in America and the world today.

The Andersons provide similar special training in workshops across the country and around the world. Their presentations focused on: “Unexpected Disciples–Audio” comparing the Roman Centurion during Jesus’ day with modern-day Muslims — in both morning worship services.

They shared insight into Muslim beliefs about Jesus and especially offered simple questions to ask Muslims about Jesus and Muhammad (Questions Power Point) during Sunday school.

Dr. Anderson then shared incredible stories of the salvation of many Muslims around the world and gave insights into the form of Islam practiced by the majority of Muslims around the world and in the US–Folk Islam Power Point–at a 1 PM workshop after a potluck lunch.

“I am very excited that we had the opportunity to host the Andersons,” said Pastor Christopher Barnes. “This is an important topic today. People are often unnerved by what they see in the news and unprepared to have a loving, gracious relationship with Muslims who might join them in the work place or in their neighborhoods.” Barnes also felt that this is “a caliber of presentation not often available in small communities like ours.”

The Andersons served as missionaries in France for twenty years. A ministry among middle and upper-middle class French people was expanded their last four years to evangelism among Muslims from French-speaking North African countries. Mark and Sarah now live in the United States.  They work in the Muslim Ministries Department of International Teams.  They teach and mentor Missionaries-in-Training.

What if twenty steps
across a room
could change your friend’s forever?

In his newest book, Just Walk Across the Room, Pastor BILL HYBELS
paints a compelling picture for how a few steps of obedience
really can touch eternity.

JOIN US

for a Four-Week Church Experience that will refresh your
appreciation for the Holy Spirit’s mysterious ways,
rekindle your passion for people,
and revive your belief that the single greatest gift
you can give to your friends and family members
is an introduction to

the God who…

CREATED them
LOVES them
has a PURPOSE
for their every day.

During these four Sundays, we’ll learn together how to approach our
sin-scarred world with a relevant, appropriate message of truth
- a message that is conveyed on the heels of a simple walk across a room.

We kick off this this new series on the first Sunday of November! Call now to order your copy of the best-selling book, Just Walk Across the Room, in either hardcover or audio CD. The book is authored by Pastor Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church.

Small group guides are available for those who will be in small groups. Small groups will feature DVD portions to kick off the weekly discussions.

One of our greatest fears is talking to someone about Jesus. Learn how to take the fear out and make each day of your life an exciting adventure.

The first four Sundays in November can be life-changing if we let them. See you there. Pastor Christopher

I’d like to invite you to a celebration of God’s saving grace! We will have this celebration at the upcoming Believers Baptism and Cook-Out at Gilberts Farm on Saturday, August 15. We had a great time last year and look forward to another good time.

Mackenzie Todd was one of seven who shared their testimonies
and followed the Lord in baptism last year.

Ben and Jim led singing for us on a beautiful summer evening!

We are sad that Melany Jackson is finishing her ministry here as the Contemporary Worship Leader. She has taken our Praise Team to new heights and introduced the ministry of the Praise Choir as they led us in our Christmas and Easter Celebrations.

Melany served here at St. Luke as part of her call to help churches transition in the areas of worship and outreach. Though this was not part of her paid responsibilities, she helped St. Luke reach out to the community and provided great opportunities for learning how to share one’s faith.

Presently, her plans are to end her ministry on Sunday, July 26. Therefore, the Worship Ministry Team has put together a job description for the position as it now exists after Melany’s time of ministry. To view, click the link below…

Worship_Leader JD 06.03.09

Join us for prayer at 7 PM, Thursday, May 7,
in the St. Luke church parlor located in the
CE building (brick building just west of the church).

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the
first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation.
It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the
United States Congress, and signed into law
by President Harry S. Truman.

Millions will unite in prayer as thousands of events
will take place from coast to coast.
The theme for this year is “Prayer… America’s Hope”
and is based on the verse from Psalm 33:22 which states:
“May your unfailing love rest upon us,
O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.”

For further information on the origins of
the National Day of Prayer…
History of N D of P

Dr. Terry Mortenson did an incredible job teaching the audience on the issues of creation vs. evolution for six sessions over two days. Comment after comment was, “I never really thought so deeply about these issues.” One of his common themes was the challenge to see how much of Christ’s teaching and our fundamental beliefs rely upon the presentation in Genesis of the creation of the world in six days, of the fall of humans, and of Noah’s flood as a global catastrophe.

For most, the importance of a young earth to our hope in Jesus Christ had never been presented. More than one person walked away saying to themselves, “this has given me a lot to think about.”

In addition to the philosophical importance of the Genesis account, Dr. Mortenson homed in on scientific and historical evidence for the co-existence of dinosaurs with humans, for the huge fossil record as evidence for Noah’s flood, and for the illusion of ape-men missing links. These scientific presentations helped reveal the unreliabilityof evolution as a whole and Darwin’s theory in particular.

You can catch what you missed by clicking the links below:

Sunday AM Worship Service: “Creation vs. Evolution: Why It Matters”

Sunday School Hour:  “Dinosaurs: Have You Been Brainwashed?”

Sunday Afternoon: “Noah’s Flood: Washing Away Millions of Years”

Monday Evening Session 1: “Origin of Species: Was Darwin Right?”

Monday Evening Session 2: “Origin of Species: Was Darwin Right?”

We at St. Luke are proud that one of our younger members has been invited to go to Australia for a track competition. In a letter to the Church Council, Kaylynn explained, “I recently received an invitation to join the Track and Field team in the Down Under International games in Australia in June of 2009. I was invited to go to Australia and Hawaii next summer to compete in an international competition for track and field. I will also join other youth across the United States and travel to the Gold Coast of Australia to compete in track and field events with people from several other countries.Then, after spending 7 days in Australia running and enjoying the culture, I’ll travel to Hawaii with the team to enjoy an authentic luau and Polynesian cultural with a visit to Pearl Harbor to pick up on some American history before returning to the states.”

“What an opportunity this will be to not only doing something Kaylynn loves, but have the experience of other cultures.” said her mother, Michele Portell.

Kaylynn got noticed as a result of her success last year in track and her extracurricular involvement including her service at Work Camp last year at Pawhuska, OK. Kaylynn finished 8^th in the two-mile, was awarded All-State, and went to State with the 3200-meter relay team.

Click here for full letter

If able to raise the funds, Kaylynn will represent Missouri Track & Field in the 21st annual Down Under Sports Tournaments.  The tournaments are hosted each June and July in Australia or New Zealand. Athletes from across the United States, Australia and New Zealand come together each year to participate in the Down Under Sports Tournament.  The tournament is sponsored by International Sports Specialists, Inc. ISSI’s goal is to provide athletes who excel in their sport to experience the culture, beauty and grandeur of the land Down Under all within the framework of spirited and intense competition in many different sports.

More on Down Under track & field…

Answers Conference 2009

Sunday and Monday, February 22-23

Mark Your Calendars for Special Creation Conference

This special conference hosted by St. Luke for our members, the public and area churches will feature Dr. Terry Mortenson of Answers in Genesis. Terry is a personal friend of Pastor Christopher and Linda, an extensive writer, speaker and debater on the Creation-Evolution controversy, both nationally and internationally. We encourage you to invite family, friends, and co-workers to this incredible opportunity to explore issues that shape people today.

Mark your calendars for Sunday seminars and dinner and for Monday evening seminars:

Conference schedule

Sessions recommended for ages 11 and up.

Sunday, February 22

8:00 & 10:45 AM Worship Services: “Creation vs. Evolution: Why It Matters”

9:30 AM:         “Dinosaurs: Have You Been Brainwashed?”

3:30 PM:          “Noah’s Flood: Washing Away Millions of Years”

5:00 PM:          Potluck Dinner (Please RSVP to the church office)

6:00 PM:          “Genesis: Key to Evangelizing the Evolutionized”

Monday, February 23

6:00 PM:          “Origin of Species: Was Darwin Right?”

7:15 PM:          “Ape-men: the Grand Illusion”

Timely Issue – Charles Darwin Anniversaries

This year many around the world will celebrate two significant anniversaries: the 200^th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth on February 12 and the 150^th anniversary of the publishing of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in November. Though many of the ideas of evolution were floating around at the time, Darwin’s book was seized on by many who wanted to justify a rejection of the Bible and its values. The Answers Conference 2009 will examine these theories to see if they hold up scientifically and Biblically.

Our Featured Speaker – Terry Mortenson

Like most people, Terry grew up in an education system that taught evolution as fact. During his first year at the University of Minnesota (where he majored in math) and shortly after becoming a Christian, he began to see the fallacy of the idea of millions of years of evolution. After completing his BA in Math, he began working as a missionary to college students in both the US and Eastern Europe. During his work at Purdue University he met his wife, Margie. (They have been happily married since 1976 and have eight children and three grandchildren.)

During this time he felt compelled to get further training to be able to answer the challenging questions confronted on college campuses. This led him to complete a MDiv. in Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a PhD in History of Geology at Coventry University, UK.

Dr. Mortenson has lectured on the creation-evolution controversy in 18 countries since the late 1970s. He has spoken in homes, churches, schools (primary, middle and secondary), secular universities, Bible colleges and seminaries. Several of his popular lectures have been produced as DVDs and as TV programs. He has also participated in seven formal debates with Ph.D. evolutionary scientists in secular venues in four countries. He has also helped to lead seven-day geology field tours down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon.

Terry was a missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ for nearly twenty years. He has been a lecturer, author and researcher for Answers in Genesis for the last eight years.

I know the author personally and have for years been fascinated by the great stories of the uniqueness of his childhood and ministry. Mike and his family have deeply impacted and been impacted by the Yanomamo people with whom they have worked. I personally encourage you to take a look at this book.  You can get a taste with these excerpts…

Special Excerpt: Friends and Anacondas   Fishing for Pirhanas!

Here is a note from the publisher on some special pre-publication prices for this great book:

Dear Friend in Christ,

It isn’t often that a book such as this comes out. Three generations of the same family working with this Venezuelan tribe and now a new film coming out from the tribal leaders themselves to refute the secular anthropologists by showing how walking with Christ has transformed their culture.

But I need your help. We are going to press in a couple of weeks and need to make sure we print enough books to meet the need. In exchange, we are offering a huge discount on pre-publication orders (see below). We would appreciate it if you would share this information with others, as we don’t have access to many of those churches. With all of the marginal books and films that are out there that your church members might spend their time on, this is one that you’ll want to emphasize.

Thrill Your Church Members With Missionary Adventures in the Amazon Rainforest!

NEW for 2009

Available December 2008 with special discounts on pre-publication orders (see below)

Great for Ages 13 through adult
Missions groups
Families and individuals interested in missions

What people are saying:

…a bit of Huck Finn, with an Amazon twist.

            Simon Romero, Andean Bureau Chief, The New York Times

…a story of life with stone-age people, guaranteed to expand the mind even of the most experienced.

            Mark Andrew Ritchie, Author, Spirit of the Rainforest

Imagine a white boy, in “the hood” of this jungle tribe, living, playing and growing up Yanomamö.

            Christopher Bessette, Writer/Director of the feature film Yai Wanonabälewä: The Enemy God

…experiences will equip and encourage you in your faith…

            Roger Krenzin, JAARS Missionary Pilot to Africa, South America, and Asia, Retired

It is a book you will enjoy reading while learning about the problems of preaching the gospel to a people with a different world view.

            Duane Stous, New Tribes Missions missionary and trainer, Retired

Author Michael Dawson is a lifelong missionary to the indigenous Yanomamö tribe in Venezuela. Born in the middle of the Amazon jungle, the fifth child of ten born to missionaries Joe and Mildred Dawson who went out with New Tribes Mission, Mike continues to serve God with his wife, Keila, and their three boys and two daughters.

Now through Nov. 15, 2008
            Church library – $9.95 (50% discount)
            Group orders to one address (10 or more) – $7.95 (60% discount)

After Nov. 15, 2008
            Church library – $11.95 (40% discount)
            Group orders to one address (10 or more) – $9.95 (50% discount)

Call today to order! PO or credit cards accepted. 1-888-700-GRACE (4722)

Link to the Yanomamö movie – http://www.theenemygod.com/

Anne R. Fenske, Publisher
Grace Acres Press
PO Box 22, Larkspur, CO 80118
www.GraceAcresPress.com
1-888-700-GRACE (4722)