Christ Lutheran Church, Struthers

10/21/2026

10/21/2026

"Ask the Spirit to help us along our baptismal journey so we might speak truth rather than deceive, show empathy and caring rather than callousness and indifference, practice mercy and forgiveness rather than retribution, and inspire others through our faith, hope, joy and compassion." —Prayer Ventures

10/21/2026

🎃 Everyone is invited!

10/17/2026

We need your help! Please take the Baptized Living Survey.

As part of the Baptized Living Initiative, we want to learn about what God is doing in your life and community. Our goal is to support you and others as we work together to cultivate ministry sites that equip disciples to live out their baptismal calls.

This survey is short (about ten minutes), and mostly multiple choice. There are no right or wrong answers. We simply want to hear about your experience. Congregation members, friends, lay leaders, confirmation students, staff, and rostered ministers of all kinds are all welcome to participate. In fact, we hope you do! We particularly want to hear from folks from a wide range of contexts and locations, so that definitely includes you!

Complete the Survey: neos-elca.org/baptized-living

The digital survey will be open from October 1 to October 31, 2026.

10/17/2026

CALL TO WORSHIP ⛪ Come and give God what is God's.
⚕St. Luke’s Day is observed on October 18 when we honor the gospel writer St. Luke, referred to as a doctor in Colossians 4:14.
🎃 Christ Lutheran and Yellow Creek Methodist are planning a Family Fall Fest Sunday, October 25, starting at 3pm. Everyone is invited for fun, games, and treats.
💰 It's Noisy Offering Sunday! It is fitting that our Noisy Offerings will go to the Midlothian Free Health Clinic on Wick as we recognize St. Luke, the physician.
🍁 Camp Frederick’s Fall Festival is Sunday from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. A day of fun free activities. (See event posted above for details)
❤ Next Sunday is Reformation Sunday when we recognize our Lutheran origins. Don’t forget to wear something RED in honor of Reformation. Rev. Julianne Smith will lead and preside over Holy Communion. 🍷

🔥 21st Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture text overview
In today’s first reading God uses the Gentile ruler Cyrus to accomplish divine purposes. When the Pharisees try to trap Jesus, he tells them to give the emperor what belongs to him and to God what belongs to God. To gather for worship reminds us that our ultimate allegiance is to God rather than to any earthly authority. Created in the image of God, we offer our entire selves in the service of God and for the sake of the world.

>>On the lessons>A Closer Look at…
🔍 Matthew 22:15-22
🔸 Introduction: This week's readings all seem to circle around one simple question: what, or who, do we trust most? It's a question that feels just as relevant today as it did for Isaiah, Paul and Jesus. We all put our trust somewhere. Sometimes it's in money, sometimes in people, sometimes in our own abilities. These passages gently invite us to ask whether our confidence is really rooted in God.
Jesus refuses to be trapped by the Pharisees' question. Rather than taking sides in a political debate, He asks for a coin and poses a question of His own: "Whose head is this, and whose title?" (v.20). The answer is obvious, but Jesus' response takes the conversation in an unexpected direction: "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's and to God the things that are God's" (v.21).
As I reflected on this passage, I found myself thinking less about taxation and more about identity. The coin bears Caesar's image, but Genesis reminds us that human beings bear God's image. The question isn't simply what belongs to Caesar, but who belongs to God.
That feels particularly relevant today. We live in a world where our identity is often shaped by what we own, what we earn or how others see us. Yet Jesus reminds us that our deepest identity is found not in possessions, status or success, but in the God whose image we bear. That truth speaks powerfully into communities where people can easily feel defined by their circumstances rather than by their God-given worth.
The question that stayed with me was simple: What shapes my identity most? Is it the values of the world around me, or the God whose image I carry?
(Rev Eleanor Hamilton, Minister at Dumbarton Parish Church, www.churchofscotland.org.uk)

10/13/2026

Cluster-wide Faith and Civic Life study
Pr. Becky Zielke will lead a study of the ELCA social statement Faith and Civic Life next Monday October 19 from 6-7:30 pm at Lord of Life in Canfield. Participants can access the social statement here:
https://www.elca.org/social-teachings/2025-civic-life-theological-discernment-social-statements?fbclid=IwY2xjawU6if9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mAWJyaWQRMUhDRHRZRDREQ2I0SzJsaDdzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeqdTedbPvbpf-2aQj1xxS8lGHQ-QBhXv0lFkFL0BI7Kka01kY2TfX40OsGgw_aem_MIOWvpDvLVp4qpPvX0pgEw
Members of all our cluster churches are welcome…or anyone who is interested! Please let me know about how many from each congregation plan to attend. It is a 6 week study.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is grounded in ancient and timely teachings about a powerful and patient God.

10/11/2026

CALL TO WORSHIP ⛪ Peace be with you.
🎃 Christ Lutheran and Yellow Creek Methodist are planning a Family Fall Fest Sunday, October 25, 3-5pm. Everyone is invited for fun, games, and treats.

🔥 19th Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture text overview
In Isaiah we are given a vision of the great feast to come, when God will wipe away death forever. In Jesus’ parable about a great banquet, those invited do not come, so the invitation is extended to others. In our liturgy God spreads a table before us. Even amid anxiety and hardship we rejoice in the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. With great joy we feast at the table of the Lord, and we go forth to share the wonderful invitation with others hungering and thirsting for the abundant life of God.

>>On the lessons>A Closer Look at…
🔍 Philippians 4:1-9
Philippians 4:1-9 turns from large images of a banquet and a pasture to the texture of everyday Christian life. Paul writes to a community under pressure and urges them to stand firm, to mend a damaged relationship, to rejoice, to pray and to think about what is honorable and just. The passage is grounded and practical. It does not deny anxiety; it addresses anxiety by placing it within a life of prayer, mutual support and disciplined attention.
One feature that stands out is Paul's refusal to separate spiritual life from communal life. Euodia and Syntyche are named because relationships matter to the witness of the Church. In places of deprivation, congregations can become overstretched and thin-skinned. Tired people can wound one another easily. So, this passage is helpful not because it tells people to calm down, but because it calls the Church to become a community where burdens are carried together.
"Let your gentleness be known to everyone" (v.5) is a strong line for this Sunday. Gentleness here is not weakness. It is the public shape of a people who know that "the Lord is near." In kingdom terms, this is what it looks like when the life of the age to come begins to take form in ordinary habits. N. T. Wright often points out that Christian holiness is not withdrawal from the world but the formation of communities that anticipate God's new creation. Paul is describing such a community.
The command to think about whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing and commendable can also be heard politically as well as personally. In a culture shaped by fear, outrage and despair, the Church is called to practice moral clarity without cynicism. The promise that "the peace of God... will guard your hearts and your minds" (v.7) is not an escape from hard realities, it is the gift that steadies people to keep loving and serving within them.
[N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters (London: SPCK, 2002)]
(Rev Dráusio Gonçalves, Minister of Dundee Northeast Church, www.churchofscotland.org.uk)

10/11/2026

As Hurricane Isaias approaches tonight, we’re thinking about our friends who will be impacted. We know there may be a lot of worry and uncertainty as people prepare for the storm and wonder what tomorrow will bring. Let's lift them up in prayer.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

We pray for everyone who will be impacted by Hurricane Isaias. Please bring peace to those who are afraid and protect those who are in harm’s way. Watch over the first responders who will be working through the storm, and give strength to everyone preparing to help their neighbors. We pray that the damage will be minimal and that those who need help will find it. Even in the middle of the uncertainty, help people feel Your presence and remember they are not alone.

We place all of this in Your hands, Lord. Thank You for hearing our prayers and for being with us through every storm.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

10/11/2026

10/06/2026

https://www.vindy.com/obituaries/2026/10/carol-j-boggs-1939-2026/