New Classroom

If you haven't joined us in a while, please note that we've changed classrooms! We are now meeting in the main church building upstairs in Room 222. Please join us next Sunday!!

First Friday Art Walk at the Paseo

Please join us Friday, October 2, at 7pm for dinner and an art walk in the Paseo. We will meet up at Galileo's.

Put on your best 80's gear and join us for a party!

Marci and Chris are hosting our "First Friday", next Friday. We will all be fabulously attired in 80's wear. Join us!

Agape Update

This week we started a new lesson series on John Wesley. Thanks to Heather for getting us started on this thought provoking series! Please talk to Heather if you would like to volunteer to teach this month!

This Saturday is our "First Friday BBQ" at Rachel's house. Please RSVP on the Evite or to Rachel. It starts at 6pm and is BYOB. This is also our chance to say farewell to Jon and Katie, who will be moving to Stillwater later this month.

Easter at St. Luke's

Check out stlukesokc.org for all of the Easter week festivities. Please note the schedule change. Agape will meet at 9:30 and traditional services will be held at 8:30 and 10:30. Agape will feature a pot luck breakfast, so please bring something yummy to share. Also, as we are all encouraged to invite someone to church for Easter, please feel free to bring any guests, family or friends, to Agape on Easter. We would love to meet your family and friends and share a wonderful breakfast.

Mission Moment

Good morning Agape,

I mentioned on Sunday that our class is putting together goodie bags for the meals on wheels folks as a special Easter offering. We were asked to come up with 100 bags. These can be filled with homemade treats, candy, or your choice of something special. It doesn't have to be something big. If you would like to enclose a small note of encouragement, that would be fantastic! We can do it two ways: create your own bags or bring goodies and the mission team will put them together. Let me know what works best for you and we can start a sign up. The bags are due on April 1st. That gives us a little over a week!

Thanks for all that you do for St. Luke's!

Marci Stellman

Agape Game Night- First Friday for April

Please join us for Game Night!
The Busey's will provide Sliders (mini-hamburgers), you bring the rest! Please contact Heather to sign up to bring something to share. (And BYOB).

A small part of the evening will be discussing curriculum, followed by some Pictionary, Apples to Apples...or whatever the dice rolls! :)

Agape on Facebook

Don't forget to join us on Facebook! We have up to date information as well as discussion boards about our curriculum, missions, and social outings. Look for Agape at St. Luke's OKC!

Join us this Sunday!

This Sunday we will start our Lenten series. Then, next Friday, March 6, is our annual trek to Eichen's in Okarche for some fried goodness. Join us!!

This Sunday

We are continuing our discussion about different Christian beliefs. This week we will be discussing Catholicism.

Sunday's Lesson

Happy Friday!
Hope you all are having a great week! We had a wonderful turnout last weekend for class AND the Super Bowl party. Thanks again to Randa and Mike for hosting and to everyone who provided such great food!

Sunday’s opportunity for everyone to talk about their faith beginnings was a great exercise for all of us. It enlightened us and allowed us to learn a little more about each other. Who would have known we’d have so many with backgrounds in various religions?! Such a great beginning for our newest lesson series. Like last week we’ll again be sharing more of our faith story, focusing on two of the following questions. The two you speak about are entirely your choice!

· What do you remember about church?
· What did you learn, what did you not learn?
· What was something you didn’t understand about the bible?
· How did you view God? How did you view the Devil?
· How did you view the church and your church leaders?
· Did you have any questions about your faith from others?
· Did you feel confident in your faith or feel like more of a wanderer?
· How did your faith change as you grew up? Did you become more faithful? Less faithful?
· Did your view of God change as you grew up? In what ways?
· How did outside influences affect your faith? TV? Movies? Friendships?

We’ll be looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday!! Thanks again for your participation and eagerness to share!

Heather

Questions to consider this week

Glendon has asked us to consider the following questions and be prepared to discuss any two in Sunday School.

· What did you learn, what did you not learn?
· What was something you didn’t understand about the bible?
· How did you view God? How did you view the Devil?
· How did you view the church and your church leaders?
· Did you have any questions about your faith from others?
· Did you feel confident in your faith or feel like more of a wanderer?
· How did your faith change as you grew up? Did you become more faithful?
· Did your view of God change as you grew up? In what ways?
· How did outside influences affect your faith? TV? Movies? Friendships?

Update on our upcoming lesson series

Good afternoon!
As most of you know, this Sunday will mark the beginning of our newest Lesson Series on Christianity’s Family Tree. We’re excited to have so many people be able to contribute to this great series!

I am still needing people to sign up to teach on Orthodoxy and Pentecostalism. Orthodoxy would be taught on Feb. 15th and then Pentecostalism probably closer to May (due to the break for the Lenten series)…I can get you a firm date once we see how far we get during this first part. You can email Glendon, Rachel, or me if you are interested!

In the meantime, we’ll be looking forward to seeing everyone on ‘Kickoff Sunday’ – Feb. 1st!

Heather

Questions

Hope you all are having a good week! In preparation for Sunday, I thought that I'd send out some questions for us to think about as we begin a new series. We're only going to focus on the first four of these this Sunday. Looking forward to seeing you all!
· Where did you grow up and what denomination were you?
· What is your career / does religion have an impact there?
· What brought you to St. Luke's?
· What are your spiritual goals moving forward?
· What do you remember about church?
· What did you learn, what did you not learn?
· What was something you didn’t understand about the bible?
· How did you view God? How did you view the Devil?
· How did you view the church and your church leaders?
· Did you have any questions about your faith from others?
· Did you feel confident in your faith or feel like more of a wanderer?
· How did your faith change as you grew up? Did you become more faithful? Less faithful?
· Did your view of God change as you grew up? In what ways?
· How did outside influences affect your faith? TV? Movies? Friendships?


Thanks!


Glendon

Superbowl Party

Please join us at Mike and Randa's this Sunday at 5:00pm for a Superbowl party! If you need directions or would like to sign up to bring food to share, please email Randa. Hope to see you there!

Bring a Friend Sunday!

Come to Agape this Sunday and bring a friend! We will also all be bringing breakfast food to share. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Mizpah

I love the Jewish tradition of summing up a theme of a passage with one word and often an accompanying symbol. One of these is in the reading this week, Genesis 31:49, “The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another". There is a good sermon regarding this by Laurie DeMott, God Watch Between Me and Thee. Here is an excerpt,

Benedictions often function, then, as more than simple prayers of blessing: they can capture the character of a congregation or its minister, summarize a worship, or convey a specific understanding about our relationship to God.

When Laban uttered his words of “Benediction” to Jacob, he chose words that he believed would create a certain type of bond between Jacob, himself, and God. The words Laban chose were powerful, words that most of us hear in the King James Version – “The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another,” – and those words touch that deep part of the human heart that always feels a certain anxiety when we are parted from loved ones. “If I can’t be with you to watch over you,” we want to say, “then let me take comfort in knowing that God is watching over you.” Laban’s words became known in Judaism as the Mizpah blessing and have been likewise adopted by generations of Christians often as benedictions in their own worship services.. Lyndon Johnson’s mother often wrote the single word, “Mizpah”, on the back of her letters to her son as a shorthand way of letting him know she was keeping him in her prayers.

Agape Update

Great turnout last night for First (Second) Friday/ Agape Planning
Session. I think we got a lot accomplished as well as some great
fellowship, and I am excited for the coming year!! Forgive this email
for being rather long-winded as we did cover several aspects of the
class: Officers, Curriculum, Missions, & Social Events.

2009 Officers:

President/Co President: Heather Busey
Co President/President-Elect: Rachel McCombs

Mission Committee: Marci Stellman & Amy Curran

Compassion Representatives: Jayne Hudson & Laetitia Clark

Social Coordinator: Heather Busey, Rachel McCombs, & David Clayton

Prospect Committee: Dillon Curran & Philip Busey

Life of St. Luke's Write Up - Jon Arps & Mitchell Clark


Curriculum Planning:
While we have so many out volunteering for The Great Adventure, January
will be spent doing bible study on the books of Genesis and Exodus (to
go along with St. Luke's Read the Bible in Year challenge). These will
be informal discussions/observations among the class. This would be a
fantastic start to the new year and to get you thinking about your
readings for the week.

For February-March we will start a series on "Our Spiritual Legacy." We
will each get a chance to talk about our Spiritual Past and Present as
well as discuss what we want for our spiritual future and the legacy.
To correlate with this topic, we'll get into Adam Hamilton's book
'Christianity's Family Tree'. This will be a discussion of eight
Christian denominations and their beliefs led by various members of the
class.

Following 'Our Spiritual Legacy', we'll delve right into our Lenten
Series by James W. Moore called 'On the Road Again'.
I'm very excited about the idea of growing in our faith together by
learning from each other. We hope to see all of you there!

Missons:
Agape's Missions will be broken down into a quarterly schedule focusing
on four ideas:
"On Whose Shoulders We Stand"
"Within the Walls of the Church"
"The Future of Our Church"
"Outside the Walls of the Church"
Look forward to hearing more from Amy & Marci regarding these great
mission opportunities. Also, we'll be devoting one or two of our
outings per year to a Mission, whether that is volunteering to make and
deliver Mobile Meals or something else as the class decides. It will
be a great way to spread the love of God with others while experiencing
fellowship with each other.

Socials:
February's Superbowl Party will be held at Mike and Randa Orquiz's
house...details to follow soon!
Other upcoming socials: March - Eischen's Night
April - Progressive Dinner?
If anyone would like to sign up for a month to host, we'd love to know!
Email Rachel, David or myself to sign up.

Additional Information:
We'll be taking up a 'Compassion Fund' which will enable us to purchase
cards, meals, and flowers for life's joys and sorrows (births, deaths,
illnesses). We're looking to have everyone contribute around
$10/person to get this started.
Some in the class will be checking on a few other lesson ideas such as
having class with Robert Fasol in the choir loft again, a lesson on the
Stained Glass Windows surrounding the Church, and possibly a series on
Christianity in the Workplace.
We're going to put a lot of effort into inviting friends and prospects
to our class through 'Bring A Friend Sunday' which will generally fall
the 3rd Sunday of the month....just in time to invite them to our First
Friday! These Sundays we will be doing an open house with a potluck
breakfast.

Again, so much exciting things for 2009. Thank you all for your
participation, prayers and input. I know we all want this class to be
such a success, and I'm confident 2009 will exceed our expectations!

Blessings,
Heather :)

Noah's Ark

For those of you guys and gals who were lucky enough to be in class on Sunday, you remember this conversation....but, since not everyone was there, here is a summary.

We were discussing how many baby items, nursery, clothing, etc. depicted the story of Noah's Ark. My question was how this came to be since it is such a sad/scary story. Imagine reading this story for the first time as adult. This does not sound like the kind of God you want to worship. I have no idea how they found so many happy pictures of the Flood, but A for effort.

I think the hope/redemption/etc. that is found in the story is the Covenant that is formed between God and man. The promise of the Rainbow.

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Adam and Eve

Some of my favorite classes in college were the film classes. I took several and in graduate school I took one called Bible in Film. Now, every time I see anything with even the most vague biblical reference I am intrigued. Rereading the Adam and Eve story I started thinking about a movie we now have two copies of thanks to "the boys", Wall E. The female robot in the movie is Eve. Wall E mispronounces it throughout, calling her Ev-a, but is Eve. I Googled my theory and found several things. Here is one take on it from a fellow blogger.

Adam & Eve
The robot who drives much of the story of Wall-E is called Eve and she is given a decidedly feminine form in contrast to Wall-E who is masculine. Based on the significance of the name Eve alone it is worth examining the film from a biblical standpoint, and one finds that the plot of the film reverberates strongly with Genesis albeit in a way that most of the symbols are disguised by being reversed.

Wall-E is the last of millions of cleaning robots on Earth, whereas Adam was the first of all men. But being the last or the first is no different when you are the only. Singularity is a trait shared by both Adam and Wall-E.

The Earth proves a poor garden of Eden, devoid of life and full of garbage, in opposition to Genesis’ verdant garden paradise. However, this is another reversed symbol which is turned forwards at the movie’s close as we shall see.

Suddenly Eve appears on the planet Earth scanning for signs of photosynthesis. Alone, her search proves fruitless and she finds no signs of life. Then she meets Wall-E and a relationship begins. The two robots court amusingly and this would amount to nothing more than a trifle until Wall-E gives Eve the small growing vine in the boot. This is perhaps as close to sex as we’re likely to get in a G-rated movie for there is significance in the way that the growing vine is passed from male robot to female robot, and especially how Eve deposits the vine into a kind of uterus chamber within her. Furthering the symbols here, Eve then transforms into an inert egg and incubates the vine until the mothership returns.

The vine also reflects as being fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, though we find another reversal as Wall-E/Adam gave the “fruit” to Eve. But in any case the vine is what triggers the return of the mothership which expels Wall-E and Eve from their garden of Eden and into outer space.

One particular trait of Adam and Eve over the other creatures in the biblical garden is that they have free will, and it is free will that, by accident, they bring to the fat humans on the starship Axiom. Wall-E bumps a woman on a transport, accidentally turning off her computer. She becomes aware of the world in which she lives and is seen exploring the spaceship instead of plugged into her computer from then on. Similarly, the robots give awareness to a man and to the spaceship captain. It is the awareness of the spaceship captain that eventually frees the whole society from their unconscious state.

By the end of the film the humans have returned to Earth which suggests a return to the garden of Eden, but the very last shot of the film shows the little vines growing. The Earth is returning to life.

I encourage you to look for biblical references next time you watch a movie and report back. I would love to hear what you find.

It Was Good

The first reading is the Creation story.  For me the most meaningful part of the story of "the beginning" is the quote, "It was Good."  The version that I read repeats this four times.  One thing I have realized while reading scripture....it it is repeated it is important.  (My past English teachers did not value this technique quite like the authors of the Bible.)

This is meaningful to me because it shows, from the beginning, God created us Good and created a Good world for us to live.  When I was a Children's Minister and in graduate school I did a project that required designing the existing church nursery and children's rooms to reflect appropriate theology.  The toddler room became the Creation Room.  We recreated scenes of the creation story on all the walls and across a prominent beam that was seen from the door and all over the room we put the verse "....and God said it was Good."  I thought this was valuable for the parents to see when they dropped their child off and picked them up.  I also thought that it was powerful for the volunteers and staff to see as the cared for some of the smallest and most vulnerable of God's children.  

How many times does your Bible say, "it was good" in the creation story?  

Agape Reads Through The Bible

"I have for many years made it a practice to read throught the Bible once a year."
John Quincy Adams

It takes approximately 71 hours to read the Bible alond from cover to cover (although a church in Scotland reported doing it in 62 hours, 55 minutes!) Based on that pace, it would only take 12 minutes each day to read through the Bible in a year.

The Agape Class has decided to join St. Luke's and commit to read through the Bible in 2009. Who will make it? No body knows....but it is worth a try. We will try to blog about this experience and reflect on the readings at least once or twice a week. Check back in with us and let us know how it is coming. You can read the Bible online too at http://www.stlukesbible.blogspot.com/.

Yesterday Wendy Lambert talked about starting a Heritage Bible. A Bible that you use to read through and record/underline/write questions in margins.....the idea is that you have a tangilbe object to pass down your faith to generations to come. I think this is a great idea and now I plan to do the same thing. If all goes well, I hope to do Bible's for each of my children over the course of a year of their life.