MenuSaturday Fellowship Breakfast: Our next Saturday Fellowship Breakfast will be on February 9th and we will study (Lutheran Love) ‘Joy: fully Lutheran’ – Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks! Other upcoming breakfast topics include-Mar 9 – (Discipleship) Pastor Britt Merrick, The Loving Presence of God , Apr 13 – (Your Gifts) THE BEAT by Allen Parr, Spiritual , and May 11 – (God Filled Heart) Pastor Steven Furtick, 3 Habits of a Healthy Heart. All breakfasts are at 9am and it is a great time to invite a friend. For more information contact Scott Brooks.
Hearts For the Homeless: As Hearts closes in on three decades of service to the community we look back at all we have to be thankful for. Your faithful support over the years has been instrumental in keeping this ministry in operation. On behalf of our clients, we want to say thank you. Countless lives have been changed, thousands of meals have been served, and immeasurable amounts of clothing, blankets, and personal care items have been distributed. The Mobile Soup Kitchen continues to be our first line of defense against hunger. This year we expanded our offerings by providing fresh items such as apples. More importantly our volunteers continue to build relationships with the chronic homeless and other clients-our fellow brothers and sisters, and those relationships give hope, and lead to lives being altered. New partnerships are building stronger neighborhoods and extending the ministry deeper into the community. God is opening doors and showing us where help is needed. We continue to walk in faith with Him and have announced our expansion in Riverside with the build-out of a food pantry and café, the Hearts Harvest Pantry & Café. This project is underway but we will need your prayers and support more than ever as we work towards our goal of opening this spring. The work we are doing and plans for future programs are made possible because of support from you. You play an important role in this ministry, whether that is giving financially, donating items into one of our red donation bins, or sharing our cause with others. On behalf of our staff, volunteers, and clients thank you.
Fantasy Football 2018: In Holy Cross Sports News, here’s how the 2018 Fantasy Football League Playoffs unfolded. In our 14-team league, Ryan and Larry Negron had the top regular season records (11-2 each) and earned a bye for the first week of the playoffs. During that first week of the playoffs, #3 seed Matt Wiepert was upset by #6 seed Nathan Grek, 114-96. The #4 seed, David Hare, was also upset by #5 seed Ken Grek, 128-113. The second week of the playoffs was a different story for the Greks, as the Negron teams proved their worth as the top 2 seeds, each winning in convincing fashion. This set up an all Negron championship game. Ryan’s “Amarillo by Morning” squad defeated Larry’s “Lone Star” team 112-89 behind great performances by QB Patrick Mahomes and TE Chris Herndon. Congratulations Ryan on becoming the 2018 Holy Cross Fantasy Football Champion!
Pioneer Camp Purple Palooza Party: Purple party and Purple Palooza is an all girls’ sleepover with a service focus. Registration is Friday Feb 8th at 7pm and pick-up is on Saturday February 9th at 4pm. It is for girls ages 8-17. Girls will be together for some aspects of the evening but also have their own age-specific activities. Call Pioneer Camp at (716) 549-1420 to register today!
Wednesday Evening Worship Services: Did you miss hearing God’s Word some Sunday because you were forced to work or out of town? St. Luke Lutheran Church (900 Maryvale, Cheektowaga) now has a Wednesday evening worship service beginning at 7:00 PM. (This replaces their Saturday evening service.) They have cordially invited all members of our Buffalo-North Circuit of congregations. It’s another chance to hear God’s Word and commune with fellow believers in Jesus Christ.
Holy Cross Annual Soup-er Fest! It is time again to complete for the spoon trophy and bragging rights for a year. Do you have the best soup at Holy Cross? Find out on Sunday February 10th after second service or come to taste all the mazing creations and vote for your favorite.
Update from MinistryFocus: I just wanted to pass on a brief update on the activities of MinistryFocus, a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod ministry that Holy Cross supports with our tithes. In January, a five-member grants panel convened and recommended awarding educational loan repayment assistance grants to 26 rostered church workers of the LCMS (roughly 50% of the applicants needing help). These workers hail from 16 different LCMS districts across the United States, and include 3 teachers and 23 pastors. This brings the total number of loan assistance grants awarded by MinistryFocus over the past few years to 86. The goal is to help these workers focus on ministry, so that faith is strengthened and more people come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This assistance with the educational debt load of pastors and other church workers is empowering ministers to share the Gospel across our country, thanks to the support of individuals, the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, and congregations such as Holy Cross. In 2018 Holy Cross contributed $1,095 to MinistryFocus to help alleviate church workers’ educational debt load, which represented about 0.4% of our total titheable offerings and about 2.6% of our total benevolent tithing to share the Gospel and Christ’s mercy to others. This is almost enough to provide a half-year of loan assistance support for one pastor or church worker. Thank you for all you do to help share the good news of Jesus Christ outside the walls of Holy Cross through this ministry and others. We thank God for His grace and the generosity of His people! “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” – Romans 10:17
Holy Cross Communications: Each week, we send out Holy Cross info via email…this a great reminder of upcoming events and also prayer requests. If you would like to be added to this, please contact Laura Scarantine at scarantine@msn.com
DCE (Director of Christian Education): If you are interested in working to develop a recommendation for a DCE resource, please see Pastor Nickel or Wendy Shelton. As we think about the many ministries we have currently and those we want to explore, the DCE role could be an important resource.
He-Brews Handyman Service: The He-Brew guys are willing to lend you a hand. We would particularly like to help those who are unable to do the work themselves. If you want advice or help around the house or yard ask us. If we can’t help we probably have someone who can point you in the right direction. Call the church office (716) 634-2332 or email holycrossclarence@gmail.com and Lynda or the Pastor will contact us. A handyman will then get back to you to determine the best fit for your needs and when they can come help. There are certain jobs that may be beyond our scope but even if that’s the case will be happy to advise you.
He-Brews: Our next meeting will be on February 21st at 7:30. We meet at local homes or restaurants and spend time in fellowship as we we continue to define how we can “together sow and grow” Christ’s kingdom. He-Brews is open to all men, young and old.
Weather Related Closings: In the unlikely event of a weather related closing, Holy Cross’ closing and delays will be announced on WGRZ, Channel 2, and online at www.wgrz.com/closings
Wear n’ Share: Members of Holy Cross generously donated $750 to Wear n’ Share. Wear n’ Share is a volunteer run organization that is 100% funded by donations so Holy Cross’s support means a lot to keep the mission running. Since our inception 9 years ago Wear n’ Share has helped over 9,000 children through clothing donations. Your generosity will help Wear n’ Share to reach more families
Please see your weekly program and monthly emailed Criss Cross newsletter for more news and updates. Thank you.