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I was blind but now I see!

John 9:25

A family member in the Midwest shared this pic recently after a heavy snowfall. I wondered if that’s how everyone felt after more snow in late winter. I think we all feel like burying our heads sometimes instead of seeing all the needs around us. It’s easier to go through life if we don’t see or know what’s happening around us. Once we see and know, we have a responsibility and a call from God to respond. 

In Lent, we are seeking God’s call in our lives. We are listening for ways we can grow in faith, see needs and find ways to respond faithfully in love. In the Gospel of John, we hear a story about the importance of spiritual sight. Spiritual sight means seeing the world and other people through the eyes of faith. We receive this gift from Jesus just like the man he healed that was born physically blind. It turns out the religious leaders in the story were “blind” because they could only see the man’s sin instead of seeing him through Jesus’ eyes of love and mercy. 

Sometimes suspicion and fear can make us bury our heads so we can’t see what is right in front of us. Jesus says that he is the light of the world. He came to bring spiritual sight to all people so that we might open our eyes and walk in the light. As St. Paul writes, “Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord, you are light.” Because of Jesus, we can lift our heads high in faith to live as children of light and see our neighbors with eyes of faith!

Live in the light,

Pastor Andrea

Help Decorate our Sanctuary with Beautiful Blooming Plants for Easter

Once again, we will be decorating the Sanctuary spaces in Tempe & Gilbert for Easter with live plants.

As in the past, you have the chance to purchase one of these lovely plants. The price for one of these plants is $20.00. Order envelopes are available at the welcome/information tables beginning March 18. Please return these envelopes along with your payment to the church office by March 27.

Thank you for helping transform our worship spaces into a place that celebrates the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus!

Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday, April 8, 2023

10:00 am -11:30 am

Gilbert Campus

Bring your family and friends for an Easter Egg Hunt!

Games, Snacks, Crafts. Prizes...

Please bring your own basket!

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Please consider supporting the Easter Egg Hunt by contributing a bag (or bags) of wrapped candy (but no chocolate because of melting issues last year which attracted lots of ants).

There is a box in Fellowship Hall for donations. Please bring donations by April 2 so we can fill eggs on that Sunday. We plan on filling 500 eggs again and appreciate your support. 

If you have questions, please contact Deb Gabrielson at debgabrielson@gmail.com

A Message from Meg Sanders

College Connect (you can find our landing page by clicking "Read More" below) is a community partnership designed to increase post-secondary opportunities for youth in Tempe. Our mission is to inspire and enable students and community members (Adults) to pursue post-secondary opportunities by providing FREE access to resources, financial guidance, and support.

What are some examples of the support we provide? Scholarship searches, help with college essays and applications, financial aid assistance such as completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), and career and college exploration. We provide this support through 1 on 1 Advising meetings. 

I am located at the Tempe Public Library on the main floor. In-person or virtual appointments can be scheduled HERE and our contact number is 480-858-7890. In addition to Advising we host FREE workshops and provide 8 $1,000 scholarships (selected through random drawing) each academic year to graduating seniors who have participated in at least one of our workshops or advising sessions.

Extra Extra - Great News for the Gilbert Fire Panel

A generous family from our Gilbert campus has stepped forward to match any gifts that are given from this point forward (up to $5,000) to replace the broken fire panel. You can give in any number of ways (see the news item above) including by an ongoing pledge. 

We give thanks for your generosity!

Lenten Devotional

The theme for Lent at Desert Cross this year is Seeking: Honest Questions for Deeper Faith. It includes a Lenten devotional.

If you'd like a hard copy, please contact Denise McClellan at dmcclellan@desertcross.org or 480-730-8600.

"Bonus" Resources for Lent

Are you Seeking more this Lenten Season? Do you want to add other Lenten Disciplines this year?

You can try the 40-40-40 Lent Challenge from ELCA World Hunger. You'll be encouraged to include the following:

• Daily Devotion
• Daily Donation
• Daily Declutter/Destress/Retune
• and a Daily Discipline for Wellness.

Use the link below for more information.

40-40-40 Lent Challenge

Kids Connect and

Parents Connect

March 19, 2023, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm in Gilbert

Young Adult Group Re-Kickoff Event

Friday, March 24, 2023, at 6:30 pm

Tempe Community Center

As you may know, COVID slowed down our Desert Cross Young Adult Group a bit and it's been a while since we've seen each other. We would love to ramp things back up - we miss you!

We hope you all can join us for our "Re-Kickoff" event on Friday, March 24, at 6:30 pm! Meet us in the youth room at the community center on the Tempe campus. We will have time to eat pizza, catch up, play games, and make some s'mores outside at the fire pit :)

If you can, please give Erin Pelley a heads-up that you will be coming on the 24th so we can plan for food. If you can't make it this time but still want to be involved, feel free to drop Erin a line and she will make sure to keep you updated about upcoming events.

C3

Thursday, March 23, 2023

10 am - 11:30 am

Gilbert Fellowship Hall

C3 assembles on March 23 at 10:00 am in the Gilbert Fellowship Hall

C3 is a Discussion/Fellowship group for ANYONE and ALL are welcome.

55+ Fellowship

Thursday, April 6 at 9:00 am

Tempe Community Center -

Adult Classroom

The 55+ Group meets on the first Thursday of the month to share coffee and fellowship.

All are welcome to come for good conversation and some fun!

Wise Guys

Mondays at 9 am

Tempe Fellowship Hall.

Are you wise? Are you a guy? If so, then you are invited to this fellowship group that meets on Mondays for coffee and conversation.

The live stream and audio/video ministry is still growing and so we want to put a call out there to please join our Desert Cross Audio&Video team if you want to make a meaningful contribution to our congregation and have some fun at the same time.

To sign up today, please contact Joni Van Rossum at jvanrossum@desertcross.org or click the button below.

We need to fill all of the worship assistant jobs (ushers, communion assistants, scripture readers, etc.) each week. So please sign up today if you would like to serve in this way.

Please contact Art Krzyzewski about serving in Tempe or Sharynn Jennings about serving in Gilbert.

If you are interested in having your child baptized, reach out to Pastor Thadd at tbook@desertcross.org.

Do you have a news item, event, or ministry story to share? Please send the information to Joni at jvanrossum@desertcross.org by the TUESDAY of the week that you wish to have it advertised.

To go along with our theme for Lent, our March Playlist theme is Seeking.

Check out our Playlists for Children, Youth, and Adults.

If you have any questions, please contact Denise McClellan at dmcclellan@desertcross.org or 480-730-8600.

Would you like more information on our ministries or are you looking for last weekend's live stream? Can't find the church phone number or email address?

Just download and open the app!