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    St Luke Lutheran Church, Cordova TN
    stluke@stlukememphis.org
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    Pastor Cliff's Notes

    messages from Pastor Cliff

    Pentecost 2020: The Message of Jesus is for all people

    6/4/2020

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    On Pentecost Sunday, the church celebrates its birth and also its newfound
    diversity. Jesus of course was Jewish and he said his first mission was to the lost
    sheep of Israel. But on Pentecost the Holy Spirit spills out on everyone: both
    Hebrews and Greeks, on Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of
    Mesopotamia. The Holy Spirit goes worldwide. The message of Jesus is for all
    people.
    This new Christian church, these Christ followers were opening up to the world,
    and to the people of the world. Jesus predicted this when he said, “my house shall
    be a house of prayer for all people.” Indeed, the message of Christ has spread
    across the globe. Christians can be found in every country, every tribe and every
    nation of the earth.
    In Europe in the 1940’s we witnessed the horrible “final solution” to the ideology
    of race and Arian racial superiority, the dehumanization and murder of six million
    Jews, and the displacement and suffering of millions more. Unfortunately in this
    country, we also are still far short of being a color blind society. When our
    founding leaders some 400 years ago decided that European or white skin would
    rule and African or black skin would labor, a great sin was born in our land. This
    sin is so deep, it led to slavery and a legal system that favored whites over and
    above blacks. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution were
    meant to change and correct our legal system, but it failed to protect people of
    color from lynching and mass incarceration. Reforms of the civil rights
    legislation of the 1960s helped, but here we are in 2020, where a black man in
    Georgia jogging is seen as a threat. Ahmaud Arbery was killed while jogging
    because someone who saw him as he passed by on his run and decided that
    surely he must be a criminal. Just this week, George Floyd in Minneapolis, cries
    for help while he suffocates under a policeman’s knee on his neck.
    As Christians we must cry out for justice. Too many people have been sent to
    their deaths because they were profiled of as Jews, Muslims or Africans. We
    are called to speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves. We are to
    actively work to protect our neighbors. We cannot be silent when a person is
    denied their personhood. God is the creator of all life. The church at Pentecost
    welcomed people of all skin colors, all languages and all nationalities. We still
    have much work to do to overcome our past sins. Redemption starts with you
    and me. It starts when God convicts us of our sin. It is lived in genuine care and
    concern for all of God’s people, as brothers and sisters. Together let us work
    together to build an inclusive community of faith at St. Luke.
    Grace and Peace to all,
    Pastor Cliff
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    Here at St Luke ...

    We seek God. We are a church that seeks to express our love for God in all that we do - with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).
    We serve others. The St. Luke church family has a heart to serve the community, loving each other just as God has loved us (John 13:35). 
    We share our lives together. No one here is perfect - we are all ordinary people who gather together to worship God, grow spiritually, and put our faith into action (James 2:15).

    2000 North Germantown Parkway
    Cordova, TN 38016 
    Phone: 901-756-8850           
    Email: stluke@stlukememphis.org

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