Lent is a season to slow down and reflect, to attune our souls to listen more deeply for God in our lives. I feel like this becomes harder and harder every year. The world around us gets busier, more chaotic and unpredictable. There seems to be a constant, distracting noise all around us, making it so hard to cut through and listen for God.

Yet, we need God now more than ever.

This is why we embark on a sacred journey every year. We begin this journey on Ash Wednesday, humbly remembering our mortality, and over the next 40 days we walk with Jesus to the cross. It is a journey of quiet intentionality, a journey of focused self-reflection, and ultimately a journey of vibrant hope. We know that resurrection is coming. This rhythm prepares us for seasons in our lives because we become people who have a powerful, profound truth embedded in our souls:

Suffering is never the end of the story.

The end of the story is new life with Christ.

Even though we know this to be true, we may struggle to remember, and find it difficult to hear God in the midst of all the noise. This Lent, our weekend worship will focus on the theme: Cut the Noise: Listening for God in a Busy World.

Below, you will find several opportunities for you to walk this journey with Christ and one another this Lent.

On Ash Wednesday, February 14 (Yes, we know, it’s also Valentine’s Day!) we will have Worship with the imposition of ashes at 11:00am and 7:00pm.

Each Wednesday of Lent (February 21 – March 20) we will have a simple, reflective worship service at 11:00am. These contemplative worship services will have music, prayer, scripture, a message, and last approximately 40 minutes.

Ever struggled with prayer? Us too. How do we pray? When do we pray? What do we say? If you have a desire to understand prayer more deeply, this 4-week series is for you.

Join Pastor Josh Brecht this Lent as we explore prayer together. We will learn about both ancient and modern prayer practices, and learn how to connect more deeply with God through the spiritual practice of prayer.

Each session will consist of a short video, discussion, and practical tools you can take with you to help grow in your prayer life.

This series will utilize the book “How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People” by Pete Grieg, and the accompanying Prayer Course material. The book is optional (but recommended), and can be found HERE.

Sign up on the mobile app (under event registrations), or via the link below to ensure you get on the email list to receive all the supplemental material and weekly details.

This year our Mitten Tree collected over 300 items that were donated to Butterfly Haven, a nonprofit in St Louis that focuses on helping children impacted by Foster Care and families facing an immediate crisis. Our donation consisted of 166 sets of gloves and mittens, 116 hats, 12 scarves, and 9 pairs of socks. Butterfly Haven is extremely appreciative of our congregation’s generosity, and our collection was extra-large this year thanks to a Thrivent grant from member Jim Sandfort.

When we see the struggles of our fellow human beings, compassion awakens inside us. A deep desire to make a positive difference in the world stirs in our hearts. For those of us at Good Shepherd, we experience regular, clear opportunities to do just that. Yet for many people around us, they have the desire, but do not know how to help. In other words…

People are just waiting to be invited.

How do you do it? Where do you start? Bob Debolt, co-chair of Feed the Need, STL shares his experience of bold invitation in his neighborhood.

For a very long time I’ve had a “maybe” problem when it came to inviting people to our annual food pack. Maybe the music will be too loud. Maybe they will be busy. Maybe they will not think it’s a good cause. Maybe they have their own charities, maybe, maybe maybe…. Conversations like this went on in my head for a long time and always prevented me from sharing the opportunity to pack meals and save a the life of a child.

However, once we survived Covid and made the bold transition to Queeny Park and one million meals, I knew we were going to need more volunteers than ever before.

All the “maybes” that had stopped me from inviting folks outside of Good Shepherd finally had to change.

So, after careful consideration I did what every fully developed introvert does…. I turned to my wife of 38 years and asked her if she would invite the neighborhood to the food pack! After a serious eye roll, she did just that.

One neighbor quickly let us know that they were in the printing business and asked if they could donate their printing services to the pack. Another neighbor invited me to speak at their church pancake breakfast where they happen to collect cans for local food pantries. A whole group of neighbors decided it would be fun for them to pack together and signed up as a group. And still another neighbor said that it would be a perfect event for their grandkids, and subsequently got not only their grandkids, but their whole school involved!

It turned out that all those doubtful conversations in my head were just that, a bunch of conversations in my head. The reality was that people were just waiting to be invited to do something meaningful, something that they could do to make a difference. People are eager to help, but don’t know how.

The ask can be simple.

“We pack food in 2-hour shifts, 10 shifts over 5 days, offering morning, afternoon and evening shifts to accommodate every schedule. The shifts are a lot of fun! Music plays and 2 people will easily pack enough food to keep a child alive for more than a full year.”

Imagine who you might invite if you believe that people are just waiting to be invited.

Friends, neighbors, book clubs, exercise groups, scout groups, sports teams, people from work, relatives, civic organizations, school groups, the furnace repairman, your plumber, your doctor or your dentist…pretty much anybody you meet might be interested in saving a life with their own 2 hands in only 2 hours. - Bob Debolt

Sign-ups open to the general public on February 26, but pre-registration is open now for our GSLC groups packs!

On Wednesday, April 10, we will sign up as a group, inviting all our youth & families, not only to join us, but to invite at least one friend to come, as well. (Adults are welcome to sign up for this shift, too!)

2. Good Shepherd All-Church Pack – GOAL: Fill one entire shift, 500 volunteers

With the pack at Queeny Park, a single shift can utilize 500 volunteers. On Friday, April 12, FTN will reserve an entire shift for GSLC to fill. Imagine… 500 people from GSLC ALL serving together! What an amazing picture of God’s kingdom, and an amazing opportunity to invite your friends to join us!

We hope you will sign up for one (or both!) of these group packs and utilize this incredible opportunity to invite your friends and neighbors to join this generous, joyful, and life-changing ministry.

Have you ever wondered how our Church Council members and other leaders are selected at Good Shepherd? Most ministry teams appoint a gifted and passionate person to lead that ministry. Other roles are appointed/approved by Council, and for a few positions, we have a Nominating Committee.

The Nominating Committee consists of six voting members of the congregation, including two outgoing Council members. Our current Nominating Committee includes Sharon Misuraca and Larissa Hautekeete (Council members), Della Bretscher, Joyce Candela, Beckie Fingland, and Lyle Ziemann. They are responsible for finding leaders to fill positions on the Church Council, Endowment, and Nominating Committees. The committee considers names from our membership and they reach out to these members to ask that they prayerfully consider the opportunity to serve and engage in meaningful and exciting work to guide the future of Good Shepherd. The Nominating Committee submits the list of candidates to Council in the spring, and then the congregation has the opportunity to approve these leaders at our June congregational meeting.

Serving in these leadership roles is just one of the many ways God calls us to use our gifts to do ministry through Good Shepherd. We are grateful for the leadership God has blessed this congregation with, and look forward to the Holy Spirit’s leadership as we begin our nominating process this year.

If you have any questions or wish to nominate someone, please contact a member of the committee or Pastor Josh.

Welcome to the longest February you will experience in the next four years! But even though this is still a short month, it is full of opportunities to recognize important groups and activities. We have the whole month to learn more about black history, cancer prevention, and heart disease, while the most familiar days include Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, and Super Bowl Sunday. However, there are also chances to celebrate the armed forces, caregivers, inventors, letter carriers, and women and girls in science. There are days that highlight our freedom, feeding the birds, paying compliments, doing random acts of kindness, loving your pet, and writing a letter to an elder.

Good Shepherd is also looking forward to important dates such as Ash Wednesday on February 14 (this is the start of the Lenten season which ends on Easter Sunday, March 28). On Sunday, February 25, we are offering another multi-session orientation for persons interested in joining our church (it is at noon in room 205). The second part will be Sunday, March 3 (at 10 am in the Fireside room). Please share an invitation and these details with visitors who do not usually get this newsletter.

Let’s all be guided by Matthew 25:35 “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”