THE LUNCH BUNCH
Monday, October 9 @ Noon
Lunch Bunch meeting location TBD.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICES GROUP
Saturday, October 28 @ 11am

This is a time for slowing down, for reconnecting with God and Spirit by pausing together as we recall, notice, name and deepen God’s presence through a rhythm of prayer that enhances our awareness of God’s presence.
“Sabbath Pause – A time and place in the heart of creation where we can receive the gift of a non-anxious presence and learn to live out of this essential blessing in service to the world. Practicing Sabbath takes us from the sometimes-cramped places of our lives to a place where our hearts can truly sing.” (Terry Chapman).
“Light for the Path” will gather in the Narthex before embarking on a guided meditation.
LUNCHES FOR THE HOMELESS
Wednesday, October 25 @ 4pm
Union Station Homeless Services Sack Lunch Project
Here’s a way to be of service through your beloved church! Union Station Homeless Services is part of a premier group of human services agencies in L.A. County that are leading the way to ending homelessness in our community. Union Station is the San Gabriel Valley’s largest social service agency assisting homeless and very low-income adults and families. We are looking to be of service to Union Station by helping out with their programs that provide food for those in need. Our mission will be to provide sack lunches. We will come together at the church kitchen third Tuesday of the month to make the lunches, which will then be taken to the station for distribution. Please let Marcia Albrecht know if you can help prepare the lunches (all food will be provided and in the kitchen). You can email her at: mla2575@aol.com.
FOOD FORWARD FRUIT PICK
* On hold until further notice *
Food Forward was recently awarded a commendation from the US Environmental Protection Agency, alongside myriad national food suppliers and purchasers like Wegmans, Disneyland, MGM Resorts and UC Davis, for the environmental impact resulting from our food recovery work in 2013-17.
One of the things we LOVE about [FF’s] UCLA partnership is that it is manned and woman-ed by students who are feeding other students. What many people don?t realize is that there is a high percentage of students who experience food insecurity. Current estimates show this number to be roughly 20% at UCLA, with students choosing to buy books over food. Food Forward’s program gives these folks a hand by creating an eco-system where the UCLA community can help its own who are struggling to make ends meet.
Watch for SMCC Picks
Watch your email for announcements on future picks with Food Forward. We look for available activities on the third Saturday morning of each month and will pass that info on to you so that you can join the effort. There is a quick registration on the Food Forward site that allows you to sign up for a pick of your choice and lets Pastor Donald know that he has volunteers. www.foodforward.org
SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF MOSES
Rev. Heather Blackstone
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”
2 Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
6 Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.
7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.