Light of Christ Lutheran Church/Ray of Light Food Pantry

06/11/2026

Most people aren't looking for another lecture. They're tired, worn down, and carrying more than anyone knows. Jesus calls them "harassed and helpless." On Sunday we'll talk about what he does for people in exactly that condition.

Worship starts at 10:00 AM. Come as you are. No exceptions.

Light of Christ Lutheran Church, 2530 S Broadway St., La Porte.

06/08/2026

Ray of Christ Food Pantry served 319 households and 989 individuals this past week. Even more remarkable, during the month of May the pantry served 1,633 households and 4,692 individuals throughout the La Porte area. Those numbers represent thousands of meals, thousands of conversations, and thousands of reminders that no one should have to carry life's burdens alone.

This past Sunday was a meaningful one at Light of Christ. We paused to remember the 82nd anniversary of the Normandy landings and give thanks for those who served and sacrificed. We also celebrated the Rite of the Anointing of the Sick, gathering around brothers and sisters in prayer and asking God's healing presence to be with them. (Photos below.)

This Thursday at 6:30 PM our Bible study continues through the Book of Acts. This week we'll tackle Acts 5:1-11, the story of Ananias and Sapphira. It's one of the most unsettling passages in the New Testament and forces us to confront some uncomfortable truths about honesty, community, and discipleship.

On this coming Sunday we'll hear Jesus describe the crowds as "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." That's an ancient description that feels surprisingly current. We'll talk about the voices that accuse, shame, and wear people down—and the authority Jesus gives his people to bring hope, healing, and freedom instead.

Please “like” and “share” this post so that the Facebook algorithm drops us into the feed of more and more folks who might need our services.

Worship is at 10:00 AM at Light of Christ Lutheran Church, 2530 S Broadway St., La Porte.

Come as you are. Everyone is welcome. No exceptions.

06/04/2026

What if all you've got left is one last reach toward Jesus? This Sunday we're talking about the kind of faith that shows up when confidence is gone, options are exhausted, and hope is hanging by a thread.

Worship at 10:00 AM at Light of Christ Lutheran Church, 2530 S Broadway St., La Porte.

Following worship, Pastor Steve will offer the rite of Anointing of the Sick for anyone who desires it.

Come as you are. Everyone is welcome. No exceptions.

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Image: freepik.com

06/01/2026

Ray of Christ Food Pantry served 354 households and 1,009 individuals this past week. Every one of those numbers represents a neighbor, a family, or someone trying to make it through another week. Thank you to the volunteers, donors, and supporters who make this ministry possible week after week. The need continues to grow, and so does the response.

Pastor Steve has written a new article about the food pantry and the ministry of this congregation. If you haven't read it yet, head over to Substack, give it a read, and be sure to like, share, and subscribe. It helps more people learn about what God is doing through this small congregation in La Porte. Here’s the link: https://revstevestutzdmin.substack.com/p/this-church-has-30-people-on-sundayand

Our Thursday evening Bible study continues as we work our way through the Book of Acts. Thursday night we're looking at Acts 4, where Peter and John discover that the resurrection is considerably less controversial until you start talking about it in public. Arrests, threats, courtroom drama, and one of the boldest prayers in the New Testament. Come join us at 6:30 p.m. We have room at the table for you.

This coming Sunday (Jun 7) we'll hear the story of a woman who had exhausted every option and had nothing left but one last reach toward Jesus. The sermon is called “Last-Scrap Faith.” Sometimes faith isn't confidence or certainty. Sometimes it's simply reaching for the hem of Jesus's robe because you've run out of everything else. Jesus seems to think that's enough. Following worship, Pastor Steve will offer the church's rite of Anointing of the Sick for anyone who desires prayer for healing, strength, comfort, or God's presence in a difficult season. This is definitely a Lutheran “thing”—it’s in our hymnal on p. 276ff. Bring a sick friend or two with you!

We're also continuing our Baby Bottle Fundraiser. Please return your filled bottles by Sunday, June 21.

Please “like” and “share” this post so that the Facebook algorithm will get us before more people who might find our ministry just what they need at time in their life!

Worship is Sunday at 10:00 AM at Light of Christ Lutheran Church, 2530 S Broadway St., La Porte, TX 77571. Come as you are. Everyone is welcome. No exceptions.

The numbers don't add up. That's exactly the point. Why our church metrics are broken.

05/25/2026

Ray of Christ Food Pantry served 304 households and 877 individuals this past week. The weather was rough — hard rain, flood advisories, streets nobody really wanted to be driving on — and still the volunteers showed up and the neighbors came. Three years ago this same week, the pantry served 113 households and 311 individuals. The need keeps climbing, and this community keeps responding anyway. We can always use more hands on deck.

As we enjoy the Memorial Day holiday this weekend, we also remember why the day exists in the first place: lives given in service, families who carried the loss afterward, and freedoms that were not free. Memory matters.

Pentecost Sunday last week reminded us again that the Spirit still has a habit of showing up in un-likely rooms and among unlikely people. That includes this little church on South Broadway. Thursday night Bible study at 6:30 P.M. also continues, and there’s always room at the table if you’d like to come take a look. We are exploring the book of Acts—come along for the adventure of the early church!

This coming Sunday at Light of Christ Lutheran we’ll observe Holy Trinity Sunday. In the sermon we’ll talk about the difference between a vague “higher power” and the God Christians actually confess: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — not a distant force, but a God who knows your name, meets people in the wreckage, and stays present in the middle of real life.

Worship is at 10:00 AM, 2530 S Broadway St, La Porte, TX 77571. Come as you are. Everyone is welcome. No exceptions.

05/21/2026

The disciples locked the door because they were afraid. Jesus walked through the lock anyway. This Sunday (May 24) we’re talking about what happens when the Holy Spirit shows up in rooms built by fear.

Worship at 10:00 AM

2530 S Broadway St, La Porte, TX 77571.

Come as you are.

05/18/2026

Ray of Christ Food Pantry served 354 households and an estimated 970 individuals this past week. For comparison: this same week in 2023, we served 110 households and 324 individuals. The numbers keep climbing because the need keeps climbing. And every week this little congregation keeps showing up anyway.

This Sunday we also celebrated the completion of Shanea Brunson’s culinary externship with us. Shanea is a culinary arts student at the Escoffier School and spent part of her training serving alongside our pantry ministry. In a letter to the congregation she wrote: “Seeing the compassion behind everything you all do truly warmed and touched my heart.” She has also been developing recipes built around common pantry distribution items so families can make fuller use of the food they receive. We’re hoping to begin sharing those recipes later this summer.

Sunday is Pentecost — wind, fire, locked doors blown open, frightened people suddenly turned loose into the world. We’ll be in John 20, Acts 2, and 1 Corinthians 12 asking what happens when the Holy Spirit shows up in a room full of wounded people who thought their best days were over. Turns out resurrection people are hard to keep contained.

Worship is at 10:00 AM at Light of Christ Lutheran Church, 2530 S Broadway St, La Porte, TX 77571.

Come as you are. Everyone is welcome. No exceptions.

Please "like" and "share" this post! It's small thing that has an enormous impact on our visibility in cyberspace. Thanks much!

05/15/2026

The word “holy” has been used against a lot of people — used to draw a line and tell them they're on the wrong side of it. This coming Sunday, May 17, we're taking that word back and giving it its right definition. John 17 and Acts 1.
Worship at 10:00 AM.
2530 S Broadway St, La Porte, TX 77571
Come as you are.

image: freepik.com

05/11/2026

Ray of Christ Food Pantry served 317 households / 868 individuals this past week.

To put that in perspective: this same week in 2023, we served 115 households and 308 individuals. The pantry workers were remembering the day they broke the 100-household barrier — convinced they had hit their absolute ceiling, that they could never do more than they were doing that day. Now they're doing three times that. God has a way of expanding what we think is possible.

Please "like" and "share" this post to spread the good news!

A few updates:

The Baby Bottle Campaign kicked off today — Mother's Day — and runs through Father's Day, June 21. Grab a bottle, fill it with your spare change, and return it. Small thing, real difference in someone's life.

We're also working on setting up electronic giving for the pantry and the church — details coming as we figure out the best option.

And thanks to Mike and Marie, there's a brand new oven installed in the fellowship hall and a new dishwasher waiting on some electrical work before it joins the party. You may have spotted it in the sanctuary. Yes, that's where we keep our appliances.

This Thursday, May 14 at 6:30 PM, a new Bible study begins — we're going deep into the Book of Acts. Signs, wonders, riots, shipwrecks, visions. The first years of the church, told by people who lived it. Come be part of the journey.

On Sunday we'll be in John 17 and Acts 1 — Jesus praying for his people hours before the cross, and the disciples figuring out what to do when the one they'd followed disappears into the sky. The word "holy" is at the center of it all, and it probably doesn't mean what you think it means.

Worship is at 10:00 A.M. 2530 S Broadway St, La Porte, TX 77571. Everyone is welcome. No exceptions.

05/09/2026

Friends of Ray of Light/Light of Christ —
I want you to read something short. Thom Rainer, one of the sharpest church health voices in the country, wrote this last week: “Your church is not where it is by accident. God, in His sovereignty, has placed that congregation in a specific location, among specific people, at a specific time. The address is not random. The neighborhood is not incidental. The community is not a coincidence. It is an assignment.”
I’ve been thinking about that word. Assignment.
I know what some of you see when you pull into our parking lot. A building that’s tired. A neighborhood that’s changed. A trailer park next door that most churches would quietly pretend isn’t there.
Here’s what I see: the field God has already chosen for this ministry!
Rainer asks the question that changes everything: not “Why are we here?” but “Who has God placed around us?”
Read his full post. Then come on Sunday at 10:00 am ready to be the church this neighborhood was always meant to have.
https://churchanswers.com/blog/your-church-is-placed-where-it-is-on-purpose/
— Pastor Steve

It is easy for a church to see its location as incidental. The building is where it has always been. The neighborhood has changed. The community may no longer look like it once did. Over time, the church can begin to feel out of place—almost like it is simply holding on in a setting that has moved...