Engage with Christ!

The weekend of September 11th, the members of Sharon Lutheran Church fanned out across the community as “Engage with Christ!” went into full swing!  They were involved in a host of service projects, helping people in our community, and living out Christ’s love by putting faith into action.

 Shari Breiland, one of the organizers of this event says “Engage with Christ!” is all about living our faith.  “Each of us is uniquely created by God for a purpose.  Service projects can get us thinking about how we can use those gifts and abilities God gave us to help others.  Living our faith means it’s not enough to just learn about Jesus.  We need to take those things we’ve learned and put them into action; to practice our faith every day in all kinds of situations.”

 All together, Sharon sponsored over two dozen projects.  Some examples are: maintenance projects at Christus Rex, helping out at CVIC, helping with the Valley Memorial Homes Memory Walk, sorting donations at Lutheran Social Services, stuffing envelopes at Altru, and assisting with the Special Olympics.

 Cheryl Nyhlen, another “Engage with Christ!” leader says, “One of the great things about service projects is the opportunity to meet new people and be active together in our faith.  I feel blessed to participate in something that serves others.”

 Fall-a-palooza weekend was chosen as the time when “Engage with Christ!”  kicks off because it is a special time that we re-connect with others and celebrate new beginnings, but it’s not just a one-time event.  “Engage with Christ!”  will be a theme for our congregation as we encourage everyone to be involved.  “We don’t want to just ‘do church’,” says Cheryl.  “We want to ‘be the Church’ as we reach out in mission.”