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Dear San Marco Church Family: How is your Lenten season going? Personally, I have committed to being more consistent with my daily devotional reading and meditation time. I know that when I am not consistent with my time with God, I get easily distracted and frustrated with life’s most petty annoyances. My life is much more positive and peaceful when I am grounded in my faith. I believe that many people in our world are lonely and yet distrustful of contact with other people. As an experiment, I routinely speak to strangers and strike up conversations when possible. (I realize that not everyone would be comfortable with this practice). What I have found is that most people welcome friendly interactions, and some are especially delighted to be noticed and addressed. There have been a number of academic studies that show that most people’s moods and life outlooks improve as a result of positive human interaction. So if you are comfortable with it, try speaking to the next stranger you encounter, and ask God’s blessing for all your conversations. This weekend we begin the Lumen Theatre production of “Agnes of God” in the San Marco sanctuary. This promises to be a thought-provoking, faith exploring production. I am delighted that we get to host it, and I understand that all members of San Marco church are offered a 50% discount on tickets! Just use the discount code SMC50 at checkout. What a great opportunity! This Sunday, March 16, we will continue our Lenten series based upon the book “Embracing the Unexpected.” I will be focusing on the topic of forgiveness. It is truly my honor to serve this church, and I covet your prayers as I prepare messages and endeavor to serve as God leads. Only by God’s grace and guidance do any of us serve as Christ’s hands and feet in this world. Yet with God’s grace, there is no limit to what we can accomplish! Finally friends, I was encouraged last week when so many of you committed to pray regularly during Lent this year for God to give us guidance on the future of the ministry of San Marco church and our building. We are located in the heart of a vibrant and diverse neighborhood, and there are many opportunities for us to serve the people around us. Every Wednesday during Lent we are doing a prayer walk around the neighborhood, so please consider joining us in the sanctuary at 5:30pm any Wednesday. Thank you for taking the time to follow this blog, and please reach out to me anytime with ideas, questions, or just to chat. One of my favorite aspects of ministry is getting to know new people and to hear about your faith journeys. I look forward to seeing you Sunday! Steve Hart
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