Theological Foundations St Mark’s Lutheran Church

Matthew 6:26-30  Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you— you of little faith?

Matthew 12:33-37  Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. I tell you, on the day of judgement you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Matthew 13:24-30,  He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”  He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.

Mark 4:26-29,  He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.  He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.

John 15:1-8  I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine- grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

What is the ELCIC doing?  Stewardship of Creation initiative  Greening Congregation Accreditation Program  Season of Creation (United Church of Australia program endorsed by the ELCIC)

What are our Partners Doing?  LWF  “God, Creation and Climate Change” study  Official statement on climate change  #FastForTheClimate  WCC/ACT Alliance  Climate Justice campaign  Dedicated staff to climate policy analysis

What nOW???

Little actions by a lot of people...

St. Mark’s Approach Intentionality Involvement of each unique group Practical solutions

Intentionality in our words in our worship in our community

Intentionality bringing the idea to light setting goals making the goals a priority

Involving Other Groups how to motivate others? involve them in the process meetings with each committee/group to brainstorm

Practical Solutions care for creation mission statement naturalization of church grounds bike/walk to church day/week/month annual pledge cardscommunity gardensolar panels composting toiletscreate resources for wider church political awareness Celebrating our accomplishments carpool programdecrease number of bulletins compostingrain barrelsGreen/Powersmart retrofit of building having idle free zoneshosting panel on the environment community workshops season of creation/liturgyencourage season of poverty during Lent hosting presentations from other groups pursue accreditationpledge to Earth CharterELCIC and ELCA bible study sunday school/confirmation class teachings provide place to recycle plastic bags serve fair trade coffee hand towels instead of paper towels green funeralslook into grants for green projects

What do you think?