Dear Church Family,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, the darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Gen 1:1-2)
The origin of our existence was complete and utter chaos. BUT NOT FOR LONG…
“And God said, let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ”
When God speaks something happens. God does some of His very best work by speaking words of life and order directly into chaos. God is speaking into this world that He so deeply loves. In the same way, John begins his Gospel by saying that this Word of God became flesh and took the form of Jesus. And as He came into the world, He kept speaking the Word of God. And through the Word of God that is both spoken and embodied—which is to say, through Jesus—there is a new creation.
We are reminded later in the Gospels that Jesus was going about teaching and preaching when He received the unexpected news that his dear friend, Lazarus, had died. What does Jesus do in this moment of grief and crisis? Well for starters He doesn’t panic. He waits a full two days before going to Bethany. He’s patient and non-reactive. But that doesn’t mean He doesn’t feel their pain…and His own, for as the bible tells us – He weeps. It is here we see the full humanity of Jesus converging with His full divinity. What is true about Jesus then is true about Jesus now: In moments of crisis He doesn’t panic. And then He finds His voice. He speaks a word of resurrection: “Lazarus, come out!”
Lazarus comes out, and this changes everything! Then and now. For them and for us.
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I am writing all of you this morning from Houston, Texas where I travelled to be with my brother who had a serious cancer diagnosis and underwent surgery yesterday. I appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers on his behalf. Hopefully, he will be able to come home today and I’ll be able to “nurse” him for a few days. I’ll be returning home on Friday evening, and back at church the following week.
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On-Line Services:
Starting this Sunday, I’ll be posting my sermons on the church facebook page starting at 11am. We will no longer be broadcasting the CWS for the foreseeable future.
Future of the CWS: My hope and prayer is that we will be able to re-constitute the CWS once we locate and hire a new worship pastor and identify volunteers who can assist with the audio/video requirements. Please pray for our Personnel Committee co-chairs as they lead out in the effort of finding a new worship pastor.
Re-gathering in our facility: It’s now been over a month since we temporarily halted our on-site worship services. We continue to monitor the status of the virus in our region and will “follow the science” and recommendations from our health professionals. Additionally, we will make sure that our own worship leaders, volunteers and attendees feel safe and comfortable coming back to church before we restart our worship services.
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Church Family News
Remember in prayer:
- Sherry Brillhart’s Brother, please pray for PAUL as he has had a medical setback
- Carrol Ray Schools, medical issues.
- Pastor Frank’s brother, Scott, surgery for prostate cancer
- Lisa Shields, recovery from a recent medical procedure and a pending procedure
- All those in our congregation known and unknown who need prayers for a variety of issues.
- All our frontline workers, in and out of our church, who work hard each day serving and protecting us during this pandemic.
NOTE: With a temporary return to on-line services there is bound to be a lag in giving. So this is just a friendly reminder that you can still drop off or mail your tithes and offerings to the church. But, why do that when all you have to do is enroll in “E-giving” through REALM and have your donation automatically deducted each week. It’s simple, safe, and private. So, save a stamp and some of your time and enroll now.
I love you all,
Pastor Frank
