Chocolate Sunday was a big success!
There was chocolate everywhere. Everyone was smiling. No one complained about the sermon. I am not sure that anyone will remember the sermon, but they will not forget that chocolate. Thanks to all of our chocolate aficionados for making this a memorable Sunday at TLC.
Thanks, too, to all who wore T-shirts to church. We had T-shirts for UW and WSU, and we had Detroit Lions shirts and Oakland Raiders shirts. We had proud grandparent shirts, and a chocolate T-shirt. Of course there were Seahawks shirts, and one very brave member even wore a New England Patriots shirt. We love him anyway, after all, “mine is the church where everybody’s welcome.”
Lutherans are not likely to go door to door inviting people to church on Sunday. Lutherans are not likely to be seen standing by the ferry handing out religious tracks. We tend to be quiet about our faith. We volunteer at Habitat for Humanity, Good Cheer, Senior Thrift, or Hearts and Hammers. We give hundreds of thousands of dollars away every year in an effort to make our community and our world a better place.
We try to live our faith without having to talk too much about it. However, we are called to be “evangelical.” It is part of our name—The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Evangelical is a Greek word that simply means, “good news” or “gospel.” We have good news to share with others. We have a good news story—we are loved, we are forgiven, and we are not alone. Grace, grace, grace at TLC.
However, most of us are not very comfortable talking about our faith to others. That is why we have T-shirts. Your TLC T-shirt will give you the opportunity to tell people about your church—a church “where everybody’s welcome.” The T-shirts can open the door for you to invite a friend or neighbor to join us some Sunday. Invite them with confidence, knowing that they will feel welcome and they will hear words of hope, words of promise, and words of grace. In other words, they will hear Good News.
So fueled by chocolate, and wearing your TLC T-shirt, get out there and invite others to join us. You would not hesitate to tell folks where to eat, where to throw crab pots, or where to buy their groceries, so get out there and be evangelical.
Love you all!
