Redeemer Announcements & Prayers of Intercession | Sept. 25, 2020

GET OUT THE VOTE with REDEEMER TOMORROW! // Redeemer members and the Harrison Neighborhood Association are collaborating to distribute door hangers with clear and specific information on how to vote. The door hanger door hanging blitz will take place from 10am to 2pm tomorrow, Saturday, September 26th. Please come and join us! We have 5,000 door hangers for the Harrison and Heritage Park neighborhoods. Pastor Kelly will join with flyers announcing Redeemer’s upcoming parked car worship services (dates and details below) and Health Commons’ weekly and monthly events. We will meet in Redeemer’s backyard. This is a great activity for people who are looking for a safe way to mobilize voters and get a little exercise while they are at it. We are hoping people can commit to a 2-hour shift but will be happy to see people whenever they come and for however long they can join us. Please bring a mask to wear! We will have maps and door hanger packets prepared. See you tomorrow!

PARKED CAR WORSHIP & OUTDOOR BIBLE STUDY // We are excited to be hosting parked car worship in Redeemer’s backyard at 9:30am followed immediately by outdoor Bible study (with physical distance) this Sunday, September 27th, along with October 4th, 11th, 18th, and November 1st. We will receive holy communion during worship each week, and water will be available from the Redeemer building for Bible study participants. Please bring your own Bible and snacks. We will conclude by 11:30am or earlier. PLEASE NOTE: We will not host Sunday morning Zoom fellowship on parked car Sundays! Instead, we invite you to join us on Facebook where we’ll be livestreaming our services. You do not need to have a facebook profile to watch the livestream from our page!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for PARKED CAR WORSHIP // We plan to host outdoor worship on September 27th, October 4th, 11th, 18th, and November 1st (weather permitting) and we need your help! Each week we hope to have five hospitality volunteers to help with set-up, tear-down, and with distributing communion cups, bulletins, etc to our siblings who come to worship. You will be provided gloves (and a mask if you don’t have one). Please sign up here for one or more of these five Sundays!

SAVE the DATES for FLU SHOTS // In partnership with Fairview Health Commons, we will host Miniflu clinics on October 25th (during Reformation Zoom worship with Salem and Westwood Lutheran) and November 1st (parked car worship) in Redeemer’s backyard!

REDEEMER RACIAL JUSTICE & EQUITY MEETINGS // Redeemer’s Racial Justice & Equity group (formerly referred to as Seeing White) continues to meet every-other Thursday to discuss current events and our sustained efforts toward racial equity, along with The Racial Healing Handbook. If you’d like join us on October 1st, 17th, or 29th from 6:30-8pm, please contact Amy in the church office or church council VP Curtis Coats.

SEASONS of CREATION Lectionary-Based Devotional Online // The ELCA, Anglican Church of Canada, and the Episcopal Church have joined together to provide a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon “repairing and restoring our commitments to God, to one another and to all of creation” through a series of devotionals written by various ecumenical leaders. They follow the lectionary and are offered for each Sunday, September 6th - October 4th, and are available for free online. Download the devotional guide today!

HARRISON NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION (HNA) CALL for PARTNER SUPPORT // As partners in the work to advance housing equity and racial justice in Minneapolis and throughout the Twin Cities region, HNA needs the Minneapolis Area Synod’s and Redeemer’s support as they face severe city budget cuts that will deeply impact their capacity to continue this critical work. For context regarding what HNA and other Minneapolis Neighborhood Organizations are asking for, please see their letter. Will you send an email by September 30th (the sooner the better) to the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Frey in support of increasing funding for Neighborhood Organizations? HNA believes that hearing from their partners in the work will increase the City Council and Mayor's understanding of the important role Neighborhoods play in advancing equity in our communities. For city leader contact info, talking points, or a suggested letter template, click here.

HEALTH COMMONS at the LIVING ROOM currently offers Zumba in Redeemer’s backyard, Book Club Discussions, and Health Q & A's online or in-person -- all with social distance and masking. Their next social gathering (distanced & with masks!) will be October 6th from 3-6pm. Come on out for community and light snacks! Follow them on Facebook to get current schedules, events, and other resources: Health Commons at the Living Room.

MENTAL HEALTH CONNECT is a local non-profit based out of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis offering free, non-biased support for anyone seeking mental health resources. Visit MHC’s website to learn more or contact Mali, Redeemer's MHC ambassador.

17th Sunday after Pentecost | Readings & Gospel:
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32, Psalm 25:1-9, Philippians 2:1-13, & Matthew 21:23-32

Drawn together in the compassion of God, we pray for the church, the world, and all those in need---

In all the world, where the church is powerful and where it struggles, shape us with humility and obedience so that your love and the unifying mind of Christ may be at work in us.. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Turn the nations toward life by mending and redeeming places that are polluted and damaged. Where our ways are unfair, give us new hearts and new spirits for changing our minds and trusting your authority where sin permeates our cultures and institutions in Belarus,  Ethiopia, Lebanon, Japan,  and the Church in the Holy Land, for siblings across the US especially in the fire damaged Western states and Louisville, KY. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Our lives are yours, O God. Defend the lives and welfare of children who are abused or neglected, hungry or exploited, bullied or lonely,  Relieve the suffering of all in body, mind, and spirit: the survivors of the migrant fire in Lesbos, the family of Breonna Taylor, Claudia, Cindy, Linda, MarySue, Robin, Shoonie, Tatiana, our local and global siblings living with COVID-19 and quarantines, for the first responders, disaster volunteers, for; Marylou, Ione, and Sarah living in care, for Bill and all receiving hospice and any needing our embrace. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Turn Redeemer Lutheran away from our own interests toward the interests of others as they seek their called pastor filling them with your compassion and sympathy as you bless ministries of care in our community especially Redeemer Center for Life, the feeding ministry at Metropolitan church of Christ, Harrison Neighborhood Association; make us into signs of your mercy and justice for our neighbors. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Thank you for those who have gone into the kingdom ahead of us confessing as witnesses: Jesus Christ as Lord in life and in death -- Mark, tax collectors and prostitutes, likely and unlikely, obedient and slow to learn. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

All these things and whatever else you see that we need, we entrust to your mercy; through Christ our Lord. Amen