Transcript the Powerpoint slides here

Theological Foundations
St Mark’s Lutheran Church
Matthew 6:26-30
 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor
reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than
they? And can any of you by worrying add a single
hour to your span of life? And why do you worry
about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how
they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you,
even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like
one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the
field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown
into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—
you of little faith?
Matthew 12:33-37
 Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or
make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is
known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can
you speak good things, when you are evil? For out
of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
The good person brings good things out of a good
treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out
of an evil treasure. I tell you, on the day of
judgement you will have to give an account for
every careless word you utter; for by your words
you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned.
Matthew 13:24-30, 31-32
 He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven
may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his
field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and
sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So
when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds
appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came
and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your
field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He
answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him,
“Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he
replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot
the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together
until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers,
Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be
burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
 He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven
is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his
field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has
grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so
that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
Mark 4:26-29, 30-32
 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone
would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep
and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout
and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces
of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full
grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once
he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has
come.
 He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom
of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a
mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is
the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is
sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all
shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the
birds of the air can make nests in its shade.
John 15:1-8
 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears
no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to
make it bear more fruit. You have already been
cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.
Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch
cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the
vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am
the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in
me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart
from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not
abide in me is thrown away like a branch and
withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into
the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my
words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish,
and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified
by this, that you bear much fruit and become my
disciples.
What is the ELCIC doing?
 Stewardship of Creation initiative
 Greening Congregation Accreditation Program
 Season of Creation (United Church of Australia program
endorsed by the ELCIC)
What are our Partners Doing?
 LWF
 “God, Creation and Climate Change” study
 Official statement on climate change
 #FastForTheClimate
 WCC/ACT Alliance
 Climate Justice campaign
 Dedicated staff to climate policy analysis
What nOW???
Little actions by a lot of people...
St. Mark’s Approach
Intentionality
Involvement of each unique group
Practical solutions
Intentionality
in our words
in our worship
in our community
Intentionality
bringing the idea to light
setting goals
making the goals a priority
Involving Other Groups
how to motivate others?
involve them in the process
meetings with each committee/group to brainstorm
Practical Solutions
care for creation mission
statement
naturalization of church
grounds
bike/walk to church
day/week/month
annual pledge cards
community garden
solar panels
composting toilets
create resources for wider
church
political awareness
Celebrating our
accomplishments
carpool program
decrease number of bulletins
composting
rain barrels
Green/Powersmart retrofit of
building
having idle free zones
hosting panel on the
environment
community workshops
season of creation/liturgy
encourage season of poverty hosting presentations from
during Lent
other groups
pursue accreditation
pledge to Earth Charter
ELCIC and ELCA bible study
sunday school/confirmation
class teachings
provide place to recycle
plastic bags
serve fair trade coffee
hand towels instead of paper green funerals
towels
look into grants for green
projects
What do you think?