SUNDAY BULLETIN | March 30, 2025
Today: What Color is Your Parachute?
This Sunday, we continue our Lenten journey and embark on a deeper exploration of the beautiful world of spiritual gifts. Each of us has been lovingly and intentionally designed by God with specific talents, abilities, and perspectives. These unique attributes are not merely coincidences—-they are purposeful flowers in the gardens of our creation. Our differences, rather than dividing us, enrich the collective strength of our communities and the world.
Think for a moment about the diversity in nature. Each flower, each leaf, each snowflake is a masterpiece of uniqueness, and yet they all belong to the same creation. Similarly, we are each crafted with distinctive qualities that contribute to the greater whole. Together, our uniqueness forms a gloriously diverse and rich garden of purpose and potential.
Consider the seeds of thriving plants like dandelions, milkweed, cottonwoods, and thistles. These beings rely on nature’s gift of wind to carry their seeds far and wide. Each seed is cradled by a delicate parachute of silky filaments, enabling it to soar gracefully through the air until it finds its place to take root and grow. These seeds remind us of our own spiritual gifts, which are designed to lift us, guide us, and help us find fertile ground where we can thrive and serve. Just as its parachute helps provide lift and movement for the seed, your spiritual gifts are your God-given tools for navigating life’s challenges and fulfilling your purpose.
These gifts are not meant to be hidden or held back. Like seeds that rise into the wind, our spiritual gifts are meant to spread beauty and hope, reaching places we may never have imagined. When you embrace your gifts—your vibrant colors—you become part of a divine cycle, planting seeds of light, love, and transformation in the hearts of those around you.
This week, we invite you to pause and reflect on the ways God has uniquely equipped you. What are the talents and passions that set your heart on fire? How can you use these gifts to serve and to live each day more fully? Discovering and embracing these spiritual gifts is not just about self-fulfillment; it’s about stepping into your calling and fertilizing and enriching the garden of life.
Join us this Sunday as we contemplate the truth that each of us has been wonderfully made for a purpose. Together, we will explore how to identify our unique gifts, how to lean into our calling, and how to walk through our lives meaningfully and intentionally. Are you ready to soar?
“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.”
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
ORDER OF SERVICE | |
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SONG: "I Feel Good" | Written by James Brown | Kimberly Morgan |
Welcome & Announcements | Rev. Dr. Carolyn Scanlan-Holmes |
Stepping Stones | Lea Ann Koekenberg |
Intro to the service | Rev. Dr. Carolyn Scanlan-Holmes |
Candle Lighting & Words of Welcome | Rev. Richard Brendan |
Prayer | Christina Fidone |
Harvest Basket | |
SONG: "Give Me Love" | Written by George Harrison | Joey McClain |
Message | Rev. Dr. Carolyn Scanlan-Holmes |
SONG: "Until We Meet Again" | Written by Tom Douglas, Paul Mabury, & Cory Asbury | Caroline Smith |
Closing | Rev. Dr. Carolyn Scanlan-Holmes |
DEVOTIONAL MOMENT
Whoever you are and wherever you are on your journey in faith you are welcome in this place.
We are an inclusive Christian community...seeking to serve God, follow Christ, and change the world. Starting with ourselves.
We trust in the Spirit of God who opens up new and liberating ways to experience the love of God.
We are welcoming of both human experience and human diversity.
We are committed to using the Bible seriously, and seek to understand it in the light of that same experience and diversity, and of what this age knows and Biblical writers did not, and could not, know.
We are committed to a Church that conveys the Christian message in signs and symbols, especially in the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist.
We are committed to taking all people seriously - married and single people, gay and straight, those who have a natural faith, and those who struggle with belief.
We are committed to identifying and affirming what is good and identifying and opposing what is evil, and living as best as we can in the confusion in the middle.
Vision statement, St Anne’s Church, Cork, Ireland
OUR SERVING TEAMS: | |
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The Good Earth Band | Music Director: Doran Nash; Keyboards - Michael Read; Guitar - Michael Clark; Drums - Mike Kessler |
Creative Team | Creative Director: Dave Bradley, Betty Brandt, Becky Cheetham, Christina Fidone, Joleen House, Kimberly Morgan, Doran Nash, Marci Struble |
Hospitality Team | Hospitality Director: Tricia Frye, Kevin & Jessica Young, Konnie & John Schlechte, Tom Ford, Shannon Robinson, Beth Young |
Technical Team | Technical Director: Scott Carroll, Matthew Vire, Tom Ford, Arcy Clark, Jaco Carroll |
Stepping Stones | Program Coordinator: LeaAnn Koekenberg |
View the works of prominent local African American artists during one of the city’s premiere cultural events, Meet the Artists XXXVII "Pearl Experience" celebrating 30 years of fashion. Works are on display throughout Central Library during regular Library hours. The exhibit was created to provide an avenue for local, talented African American artists to show off their creative works, artists whose works might not otherwise have a chance to appear in front of such a large audience. Meet the Artists provides an opportunity to educate the community at large and promote the work of the artists. The exhibit, curated by Anthony Radford, is free and open to the public. Now until March 29, regular library hours, Central Library, 40 E. Clair St, Indpls, free. Learn more at tinyurl.com/2025-library-artists
Come to a droup dinner before the performance of "Lockefield on the Avenue" on Saturday, March 29, 5 p.m, at Thaitanium, 735 Massachusetts Ave. Click below to email for info.
In this play, a white aspiring journalist, Tom Sucker, wants to write for a predominantly black newspaper, The Indianapolis Recorder. His father is a member of the KKK but Tom doesn't agree with their beliefs and joins with a black business owner, Percy Davis, on Indiana Avenue to write a story about the power of unity between races and the historical and communal importance of Indiana Avenue. But dark secrets of both men's father's past and the racial segregation of the time threaten their ability to join together and make a difference.
Take time to slow down and listen for the still, small voice. If you are new to labyrinth walking, someone will greet you and introduce you to this spiritual practice. In poor weather, the walk will be moved indoors (enter through door #6). Monday, March 31, 6 - 7 p.m. St. Luke’s UMC at the NW corner of the back lot, 100 W 86th St, Indianapolis.
We Care Indy is dedicated to empowering at-risk youth aged 14-19 in Indianapolis through mentoring, employment, and career development. Since 2014, they have supported over 200 young people from high-crime areas with skills in media production, entrepreneurship, and character development. In 2025 they are focusing on media training, including videography, photography, social media, marketing, and more.
At this online event, Amanda Tyler, Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty will explain the growing threat of Christian Nationalism and why it is such a dangerous ideology. She will then discuss ways to deal with it that are described in her new book "How to End Christian Nationalism." Sponsored by New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington D.C. Wednesday, April 2, 7 p.m.
“Brother Outsider” chronicles the life and work of Bayard Rustin—a visionary strategist and activist who has been called “the unknown hero” of the civil rights movement. A disciple of Gandhi, a Quaker, and a mentor to Martin Luther King Jr., and the architect of the 1963 March on Washington, Rustin dared to live as an out gay man during the fiercely homophobic 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Wednesday, April 2, 7-9pm, Butler University, Edison-Duckwall Recital Hall, 4600 Sunset Avenue.
Wear your Indivisible blue to mobilize with Indiana 50501 and nearly 100 other national and local organizations to tell Musk/Trump and the oligarchs Hands Off!
You are invited to experience the ancient Christian tradition of the Christ as the very first idea of God that permeates the entire universe. If you have ever stood in awe under a starry sky, been lifted by the fragrance of a rose or felt joy in the laughter of a child, you have experienced the permeating presence of the Christ in all that is. Each station offers an original work of art, a scripture passage, and a reflection. Walk all the Stations or just a few. Let yourself be moved by the Spirit of God. April 6 – April 18 when the church is open. Call 317-846-3404 for hours. St. Luke’s UMC in the Narthex, 100 W 86th St., Indianapolis.
Nearly a million Hoosiers, including many working families, struggle to put healthy food on the table. The film tells the stories of Hoosiers living with the daily challenges of hunger and features experts discussing the impact of food insecurity on the health and well-being of individuals and communities across our state. A must see!!
The United Methodist Church maintains an office in Washington DC to lobby for life enhancing legislation. If you are curious about what the United Methodist Church stands for and/or if you want to join with its advocacy efforts, click the button to visit a page with links for action.