By: Marcy Serby

Church is a family, not a weekly event. And because we are a family and God first proved his love for us through the sacrifice of his Son, we are called to love and care for each other. Love for God and love for our neighbor is the foundation of Christian living. 1 John 3:18 says, “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” Love is a verb. Love is action.

We are excited to offer you the opportunity to show love to each other through our new “Helping Hands” ministry. When a member has a short-term need – usually due to hospitalization, serious illness or death in the family – we want to provide food, transportation, or other help to carry them through their trial. And we guarantee double blessings! You will greatly bless the person you are helping, but you will also find yourself wondering who was blessed more – you or the person you helped.

You will be asked to complete a 5-minute survey telling us what, if anything, you will be able to do for your friends here at Holy Cross if there is a need. When you receive the survey through email or your church mailbox, please take a few minutes to complete it. This ministry is 100% dependent upon YOU and your family needs you!

The allegory of the long spoons talks about the difference between heaven and hell, but I see it as a story of joy received through serving out of love.

A man wanted to see what heaven and hell were like. God showed the man two doors. Behind the first one was a large round table with a large pot of stew. It smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water, but the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each could reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

Behind the second door there was the large round table with the large pot of wonderful stew that made the man’s mouth water. The people had the same long-handled spoons that could reach the stew but not their mouths, but they were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The difference, God said, is simple. These people have learned to serve each other.

… that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. I Corinthians 12:2b-26

By: DCE Dan Hampton

“WAR! What is it good for, absolutely nothing!” These lyrics written by Edwin Starr in 1970 evoke an era that was in turmoil. America was involved in what many people thought was an unjust war in Vietnam. While this kind of war is hard to understand at the time, just wars do serve a purpose in this broken world. But we need to learn to fight the right way, with the best resources, because winning a war doesn’t happen by accident.

From February 15-17, 2019 twelve couples spent a weekend learning to fight. Often when we think about married couples fighting it is not a positive sentiment; but in this case we learned who we are really fighting against. It is not our spouse, children, friends, or other family members we are really fighting. It is the Devil! He is the one that wants to remain hidden, because when we realize that it is not our spouse we are fighting, then we can both turn and repel the Devil and all his evil works and ways.

God worked His Holy Spirit throughout this weekend. For many couples it was a great time to reconnect with one another. Our lives are so busy, just having an in-depth conversation can be very difficult at times. This get-away allowed each couple to slow down and be fully present with each other. The weekend also allowed couples the chance to get to know other people in the congregation and form new relationships over some games, delicious food, and relaxing in natural hot springs.

War is still a difficult subject. No matter what, we must recognize that we are at war with the Devil and all of his minions. Prayer is how we fight; we must learn to battle the Devil in prayer. “If God is for us, who can be against us,” Paul writes in Romans 8:31. Our God is bigger than we can possibly imagine, and he can perform many miracles and defeat the Devil in ways that we cannot even imagine. If you would like to learn more about this topic I encourage you to watch the movie “War Room” that was released in 2015. The church also has several Bible studies; and even if you didn’t attend the Marriage Retreat, you are welcome to use the materials on your own to begin to learn how to fight for your marriage in prayer.

Click here to see the Holy Cross War Room Marriage Study Guide.

By: DCE Intern Payton DeVencenty

Saturday, October 27th was a wonderful day for Holy Cross Lutheran as we opened our building and land to the community to enjoy during our annual Fall Festival. The weather was spectacular, the views of Pikes Peak were fantastic, and the amount of candy distributed…nearly insane.

We couldn’t have asked for nicer weather, as the sun shone for the whole event and not a hiccup was made concerning wind and the like. Our guests and members enjoyed food from different food trucks, games put on by volunteers, bounce houses for the kids, and
a general sense of community which I truly believe will help bring new members to worship with us throughout the week.

Community events are often underplayed, a simple gathering to pass on goods or get out of the house. Holy Cross took the steps over Fall Festival to participate in something incarnational, a way to make our members, staff, and visitors all engage in something
together. To take down walls, literally to step outside of them, and begin having simple inviting conversations into the church and into our lives.

So yes, this event was a success, regardless of numbers of attendees or of the number of candy bars passed out.

This event allowed the body of Christ to reach into the community and provided an atmosphere of welcome to those who might not otherwise get anywhere near a church building. Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped to make this event possible, and may we all thank God for the little moments which remind us of His presence.