November 10, 2105

Dear LABC,
In this season of gratitude let me begin by thanking Allison, Karen O., Mikki, Stan, Ruben and our young people for a beautiful and meaningful worship service on Sunday. They helped us understand what a gift it is to be part of a generous and joyous community of stewards.
Thanks also to Moderator Leon Taylor, Treasurer Casey Mitchell, Personnel Committee Chair Dale Edmondson and all who participated in the congregational meeting. A vibrant Baptist congregation requires a strong voice from both laity and clergy, pulpit and pew, membership and leadership. Let us remain committed to these.
November 15 is Pledge Sunday. There will be time in the service for all of us offer our pledges of time, talent and treasure. I hope you have had the opportunity to read Dave Robinson’s moving Pledge Letter and will be able to participate on Sunday.
My sermon will be “Growing Potatoes On Mars.” Calling on imagery from the novel “The Martian” by Andy Weir I will make the simple point that just as stranded astronaut Mark Watney had to make creative use of all available resources in order to survive after being stranded on Mars, so the followers of Jesus have historically used their resources creatively and faithfully in order to minister in often inhospitable contexts. Surely, “Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for Jesus out of their resources,” (Luke 8: 2b-3) provide us with an excellent example of the Christian community working together to “grow potatoes on Mars.”

Prayers of the Congregation

• Connie and David Hector as they mourn the death of David’s mother
• Ruben Artery and Cecil White for Ruben’s brother Robert (hospitalized in San Jose)
• Cecil White as he remembers a courageous friend, Father John Conley
• Edie Parrott (Bancroft Convalescent Hospital)
• Carol and Steve Leichter (Steve is now home while Carol’s  mom is hospitalized in Minnesota)
• Charlene Wolf for her mom
• Ann Fields for her family
• Bjoe Morris
• Michele Austin for her dad, Argee Hodge
• Marie Johnson for Dahlia, Dilcie, Cameron, Shari, Matthew, Jamani and family
• Helen Harrison for Mike Casey
• Alice Butler for the world in a time of great unsettledness and for her children
• Myra Saxton for her mom and her mom’s caregivers
• Virginia McClow for the leaders of Oakland
• Katrina Lau for her family and herself
• Mary Sue Meads for Georgia Upshaw
• Alodia Corpuz for her friend Manuel
• Sydney Webster for her friend  Tatiana
• Sandra Lee for the well being of Buddy the Cat
• Larry Sims for his family
• Frances Graham, Edna Dorenzo, Virginia Damretzky, Irene Jennings and Peg Shaw
• Doris and Ted Evans
• Joan Patten for Peter and Paula
• Alice and Dale Edmondson for their neighbor who is in hospice care
• Paul Keener as he considers a ministry opportunity
• Nedra Hathaway (health concerns)
• All the travelers of our community (Sean, Michael, Doris, Norman, Dianne) as the winter comes
• All the participants in this Thursday’s Ceasefire Call-In
• The Thanksgiving and Christmas Ministries of our Hunger Task Force
• Kay Baxter for Stacey, Jamie and herself
• Roy Browner and Al Johnson for Roy’s sister who is ill
• The people of Haiti in the wake of some post-election violence (American Baptist International Ministries has issued a call to prayer for Haiti)
• Thanksgiving for the family serving ministry of our Lakeshore Children’s Center
• Thanksgiving four the courage of the University of Missouri students in standing for justice
• Thanksgiving for the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference which will be held  in Paris, November 30-December 11
• Thanksgiving with our Kachin Congregation for the good reports of a relatively free and fair election in Burma
• Thanksgiving for the work of Jubilee USA in lobbying for international debt relief in order to create a global economy that works for all people
• Thanksgiving for all the Veterans of LABC

Announcements

Please join in the “Stand and Sing for Justice” (across the street at the corner of Lakeshore and Mandana) immediately following worship on Sunday. Our emphasis this month will be on support for federal background checks on all gun purchases as urged by Faiths United To Prevent Gun Violence.