St. Andrew United Methodist Church

Tomorrow night at St. Andrew! Join us for an Election Integrity Community Forum sponsored by Together Colorado Southern Front Range Chapter. This nonpartisan gathering will offer an opportunity to learn more about how our local elections are administered and protected, hear from election experts and community leaders, and explore ways we can support secure elections. Rev. Mark will also be participating in the evening’s conversation. We hope you’ll join us! Register using this link: https://www.mobilize.us/togethercolorado/event/1022558/

Thanks to everyone participating in this weekend's Feeding of the 5000 community-wide food drive as we partner with St. Luke's UMC for the second consecutive year! You can drop off canned food and non-perishable items at St. Lukes UMC today (Saturday) from 10 am – 6 pm, and on Sunday from 9–11:30 am.

Rev. Mark's Weekly Note:

Dear St. Andrew Family,

For centuries, people have recognized themselves in the ancient story of Odysseus—the weary traveler crossing treacherous seas, resisting temptation, driven by one consuming desire: to go home.

But when Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca, home is not waiting for him unchanged. Twenty years have passed. His son has grown up. His wife has learned to live with his absence. His household has been overtaken. He has returned to the place he remembers, but he cannot simply recover the life he left behind.

Why does this timeless story still resonate so deeply with us?

Many of us carry a longing for home—not necessarily for another place, but for another time. We long for a world that felt more coherent, for leadership and institutions we could trust, for shared rhythms of faith and family, for a community in which we knew we belonged.

The word for that ache is nostalgia: the longing to return home.

But nostalgia contains a dangerous illusion. The home for which we yearn may no longer exist. In fact, it may never have existed quite as we remember it. And even if it was possible to return to it, it wouldn’t be the same, because the journey has changed us.

Many of us feel strangely far from home these days. Scripture describes this experience as exile. And as we begin a new sermon series called “Echoes from Exile: Ancient Voices for a Strange New Time,” we’ll listen to people who learned how to remain faithful when the familiar maps no longer matched the lay of the land.

We’ll begin with Jeremiah’s letter to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. They had lost far more than their familiar home. The institutions that ordered their lives had been torn away. The temple, the monarchy, the land, and the rituals that had anchored their identity were no longer available to them. They had been carried into a culture shaped by different gods, different loyalties, and a different vision of the good life.

Then a prophet named Hananiah offered them exactly what homesick people want to hear. He prophesied that this disruption would soon be over. The old order would be restored. In two years, he promised, you will have your familiar world back.

Hananiah was a prophet of nostalgia.

We have our prophets of nostalgia, too. They campaign on “taking our country back” by preaching an edited past in which our nation was more faithful, our communities more reliable, and people like us knew where we belonged. For the deeply homesick, such promises are persuasive and nearly irresistible.

When someone offers us an idealized past, identifies people to blame for its loss, and promises that power will take us home again, we need honest voices like the prophet Jeremiah, who exposed such idolatry and taught his people how to live more faithfully. Whereas the prophets of nostalgia promise to give us our old world back, the prophets of hope teach us how to live when it is not coming back.

In Jeremiah 29, the prophet tells the exiles that they will not be going home soon. Instead, they must learn to live faithfully where they are: “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” Raise families. Seek the shalom of the city. Pray for it.

This is not a call to become Babylonians. God calls the exiles to love the city without worshiping its power, to seek their neighbors’ welfare without surrendering their own identity, and to put down roots without forgetting where their true citizenship lies.

That’s our calling, too. For those who look at the world and feel far from home in it, neither assimilation nor withdrawal are faithful options. How do we live in Babylon without becoming Babylonians? How do we seek the shalom of our city without becoming instruments of the empire?

Join us this weekend for “When Home Doesn’t Feel Like Home,” based on Jeremiah 29:1–7. Together, we’ll consider what it means to live as “resident aliens” with open hands, brave hearts, and an allegiance no empire can claim. I’ll be preaching live at all three services: 8, 9, and 10:45 am.

This Sunday, we’ll also join Christians around the world in celebrating World Communion Sunday. Across nations, denominations, cultures, and languages, followers of Jesus will gather around the same table. Some will worship in ancient sanctuaries, others in storefronts, homes, chapels, cathedrals, and beneath open skies. The music, prayers, customs, and bread will differ, but Christ’s table remains the same. No matter where we live or how we worship, we are held together by the boundless love of God.

For people living in exile, the table is a reminder that we are never truly homeless. Our deepest belonging is not secured by borders, governments, or cultural influence. It is given to us in Christ.

On Sunday, we’ll hear the Lord’s Prayer offered in the many languages of our own congregation—a small taste of the kingdom of God: many voices, one table, one love, and one tangible reminder that grace has made a home for us all.

Be well, be blessed, and abide in love.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Mark

Hear from some of our new members—how they’ve found belonging without strings attached and a place that’s accepting to all at St. Andrew.

Why you should join at St. Andrew Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Parenting and Beyond: Family Game Night
Sunday, October 11 | 4–6 pm | Fellowship Hall
Join us for a fun-filled evening of games and laughter at Family Game Night with Parenting and Beyond! Bring your own dinner and your family's favorite game. We will have some activities for younger kids, but if your little one has a favorite game or toy, feel free to bring it along to keep them entertained. This is a great opportunity for families to come together, enjoy some friendly competition, and make connections. For more information, email [email protected].

Register today! Class begins Sunday, October 4
Making Marriage Work: A 10-Meeting Workshop Series
Led by Kelley and Becca Tingstrom
The Making Marriage Work Workshop Series, inspired by the work of The Gottman Institute, is appropriate for couples contemplating engagement, for pre-marital couples, for couples living together, and for couples who have been together or married for decades. No matter the season you are in with your partner, you will find value in this series! Click the button below to learn more and register. Childcare will be available. Register using this link: https://gostandrew.churchcenter.com/people/forms/1313246

Fall Prevention Class
Monday, October 5 | 9:30–11:30 am
Registration closes Friday, October 2
Join us for a two-hour Fall Prevention Workshop with Mindie from AdventHealth. Using props and printed resources, Mindie will cover fall statistics, developing a plan to get help, how to safely get up if you do fall, the significance of exercise, how poor vision and medications can contribute to falls, and the importance of home and community safety. Giveaways and light snacks will be provided. Register using this link: https://gostandrew.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3854984