HarmonySTL

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:14-15

My feet aren’t the best-looking. I had toe surgery on both which makes my toes lay down weird. I have a bunion forming. The bottoms are so calloused that a pedicurist wants to grab a large implement to shave them off. But they’re my feet, and they’re all I got to get me around. They bring me around to the usual places, the new places, the scary places, the fun places, and I encounter God in those places because God is everywhere. When our feet take us to those places, we don’t have time to look at our feet, and honestly 90% of the time, no one is looking at other people’s feet anyway. Keep your head up, looking for God. And when we find God, that is what we point to. That is the Good News, there, in that moment. And that’s what makes the moment beautiful. Thank God that it’s not what your feet look like, but where you go with them and what you point to that makes them beautiful. -Pastor Erika

In a world filled with bad news, what’s the good news? How do we learn to cultivate hope in the face of suffering? What’s love got to do with it? Let’s keep on encouraging one another and sharing Good News!

We welcome Pastor Linda Potter as she shares. Join us at 10:45 on Sunday in person or online at https://harmonystl.online.church/.
View the bulletin here:https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e5fb37285365e445f5d8186/t/6a2c1e7e9c65461f0886113e/1781276286742/6.14.26+Bulletin.pdf

“How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” John 4:7-30

We see that Jesus is always moving into difficult places, at least difficult places for us. Like the disciples, we are always wondering why Jesus would go to that place, talk to that person. As if that person doesn’t already feel the unwelcomeness. The woman says it outright to Jesus: why are you and all that you are, talking to me and all that I am?
She says the hard parts out loud and he says the even harder parts out loud as well: there’s a different kind of water that can give life. The Spirit puts hard truths that others are facing in front of us and it can make us so uncomfortable that we want to walk away, avert our eyes, change the channel, keep on scrolling. Yet it we stay with it, we can see that there is life. As Jesus sees it, there is life in the revelation, the interaction, the awkwardness. Make the connection for life to happen.

This week, we conclude our four-week series on Acts 8. Now, with the full story in view, we’re invited to see how the Holy Spirit is at work. Both Philip and the Ethiopian have been brought more fully into God’s expanding kingdom, and they have found transformation in the other. Does this change the way we see our community and how we share life with others?

Join us at 10:45 in person or online at https://harmonystl.online.church/
View the bulletin here:https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e5fb37285365e445f5d8186/t/6a203fa9fd50d706b8631a1e/1780498345663/06-07-26+Bulletin.pdf

Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” Acts 10:17-23

The story of Peter and Cornelius is similar to Philip and the Ethiopian. Peter was trying to understand a very odd dream that he just had and the Spirit tells him to get up and go meet Cornelius, like, NOW. As we experienced last week, the Holy Spirit can move in powerful and creative ways. Sometimes it takes all that power to smack us upside the head and shake us out of our doubts, our apprehension to point to a different narrative. A narrative that points to new abundant life. Pay attention this week to how the Holy Spirit might be nudging or even shaking you up so much that you cannot stay quiet.

May 24 is also “Aldersgate Day,” which recalls and celebrates John Wesley encountering the Holy Spirit in what he described as his heart being “strangely warmed.” It was truly a conversion experience for him as he was studying Romans 8 with his small group. When have you experienced the pouring out of the Holy Spirit or a “heart-warming” encounter?

What could you do in the week ahead to explore what it means to be unbounded by the Holy Spirit?

Spirit of the Living God, we sometimes place boundaries on how we understand or experience you. In this time of celebrating the gift of Pentecost, may we be open to how you want to pour out your Spirit on our lives. Give us ears to hear your voice and the conviction to be truth-tellers. Transform us with your love to all around us. Amen.

This Sunday we wear red for Pentecost! Pentecost Sunday celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all believers, empowering the church for mission and proclaiming that God’s Spirit is unbound and available to all. The unbounded Spirit is here among us, always working for the flourishing of God’s creation and always inviting us to participate. Will we join in?

Join us on Sunday at 10:45 a.m. in person or online at https://harmonystl.online.church/
View the bulletin here:https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e5fb37285365e445f5d8186/t/6a0f8157b58d185e7f163038/1779401047646/5-24-26+Bulletin.pdf

Last night Harmony hosted MICA Project’s strategy meeting to make our neighborhoods safe and welcoming for everyone. By the end of meeting, concrete plans were made for locations in the city, county and St. Charles. Exciting to see how the Spirit of justice moves amongst the people. Want to shape positive change in your neighborhood? Contact MICA Project to see how you can get plugged in.