Redeemer Lutheran and St. Theodore

On Sunday, June 21, the congregations of Redeemer Lutheran Church and St. Theodore of Canterbury Episcopal Church will celebrate the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost and Father’s Day at its holy Communion service 10:30 a.m. The church is located at 13564 St. Andrews Drive. All are welcome to join.

People can stay after service for fellowship with coffee, tea, cookies and snacks. The congregations collect donations of canned food for those in need.

A meeting to prepare crafts for the holiday bazaar will be held on Monday, July 6, at 10 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. The group will meet every first and third Mondays of the month. There will be have preplanned projects with directions, guidance, and all the materials.

The gospel lesson for this week is from Matthew 10:24-39. Jesus warns his disciples that following him will not lead to a easy,carefreelife. Jesuscame to show the way back to the Father. He did not come to say, “believe and everything will be easy.” He showed through his own life that following the will of the heavenly father is hard.

At times that burden seems too heavy to bear, but bear it must be done to reach the reward at the end. Jesus carried his cross even though he did not deserve it. But just as Jesus had Simon to help with his cross, believers have one another to help when the cross gets too heavy, leading back to the concept of mercy. Sharing the weight of the cross helps both people.

The “go” order for this Sunday is a bit more subtle: “go, carry your burden; share with others when you need to, help others to carry their burden, walk the journey in support of one another.”