FLC: Cares

It has been written that churches should not be museums for the perfect and the healthy but rather hospitals for the broken and forgotten. At First Lutheran Church, we claim as one of our core values, that we care for one another in community. We further say:

Together we create a welcoming community in which all can find love, support, encouragement, acceptance, forgiveness, guidance, and hope. We value relationships of mutual respect, compassion, and attention to the needs of others.

For the 2016-17 program year we have decided that our theme will be FLC: Cares. We have asked the congregational council, committees, task forces, guilds and you to make this theme a part of your work and planning here at FLC.

This is very much a biblical theme. From Leviticus to James we are encouraged to care for one another with these words: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. This love is not a love that calls us to "like" our neighbor or to "approve" of our neighbor. In fact Jesus reminds us in Matthew 5:44, "I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

This theme FLC: Cares is one that reminds us that we are called into a new way of being in the world. A way that makes sure that the least of these has what they need to have life, whether they "deserve" it or not.

And let us face the truth, even we do not deserve the grace that God has bestowed on us. It is with this undeserved love that God has given us that we are empowered to then share that love in the world.

I pray that this theme will inspire us to grow our ministry and to reach out in new ways.