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1/20/2022 0 Comments

Psalm 19: the heavens declare the glory of God

Beloved of God,

    I really hope that you will spend some time thinking and praying about who might best serve on the committee established in December to assess our church’s needs and next steps toward calling an associate pastor. Members may submit nominations to the Deacons. Deacons will make a recommendation for the committee based on congregational input. The congregation will vote on whether to confirm that recommendation.
    That’s a multi step process, and receiving nominations is the first step. Please spend time over the next week thinking and praying about who might serve us well in this task.
    Our Scripture reading for the week comes from Psalm 19, which is written on three levels. The first level is the way God speaks to us through the cosmos. The heavens themselves teach us something about God, and do it constantly. They don’t talk, they have no words, and yet they pour forth knowledge and declare the glory of God.
    The second level is the law that teaches God’s people in more definite ways. We learn who God is and what God wants from us. They give light to the eyes and help us to become wise. But the third level points to where all of this lands. The heavens and the law all land in the lap of the individual person, as we seek to become who God wants us to be. It is our path to holiness and wisdom.
    If I’m being honest with you, this is a place where Baptists and Evangelical types struggle. We might read Scripture because it gives us warm fuzzies. We might read it because (as I pray each Sunday) we are hoping to hear a word from God. We think that word will fall on us like lightning. But much more often, the Word of God works its way into what we are day by day. It takes a regular practice of being in and with the Word of God. If it didn’t, Jesus would have called the disciples at the end of his ministry rather than the beginning.
    Let me encourage you to find a regular rhythm of scripture reading that you can keep after, day by day and year by year. I think it’s only by this regular pattern of life that we become the kind of folks whose words and meditations are acceptable offerings to God.

Please join me this week in praying for:

An end to this pandemic.
Those among us who are sick, or recovering from illness or injury.
Doctors, nurses, PA’s, paramedics and others working to keep us all well.
Students and teachers as they adjust to remote schooling in our community; that they may do good work under unusual circumstances.
Those who respond to emergencies on our highways, in our wildlands, in our towns and even our homes.
Those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local level.
Our worship team, and for wisdom as we explore new ways of doing worship at WRBC.
Guidance as we begin to explore our need for additional pastoral staff.
Each other (please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list).

You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world,
Marshall Cook

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1/13/2022 0 Comments

Let God Change you

Beloved of God,

    I do want to remind you that the office will be closed this coming Monday, January 17th, in observance of Martin Luther King Day. I hope you’ll spend some time reflecting on the legacy of a fellow Baptist.

    In December we voted to accept a charter for a committee which will discern the church’s need for an associate minister. Nominations for this committee can be submitted to the deacons either through the office or via email.

    Our Scripture reading for Sunday is from Isaiah 62:1-5. It’s an image of marriage, much like the sermon text for this week from John 2. God comes to his people, people who have forgotten justice and truth. God marries them, and renames them. They become a new sort of people living a new kind of life.
Marriages are like that. I got to go to a wedding this past week, and was pleased to find myself consenting to that moment completely. What I mean to say is that I know the people who walk into the sanctuary are all the same people when they walk out. But two of those people become a different sort of thing. They are changed, in a moment, from “fiances” to “husband” and “wife”. The sort of thing they are is fundamentally altered, it's a change that is meant to work its way in them over the course of a lifetime.
Beloved, that’s the sort of change we meet in our God. It is a change that is immediate, that makes us a different sort of thing than when we first came to Him. But it is also a change that works its way through us over the course of a lifetime. Husbands and wives grow into those roles; they become those things more fully over time and only insofar as they also grow toward one another. If God has come to us, to marry us, to rename us, then let’s recommit this week into growing toward Him who has loved us and called us by name.

Please join me this week in praying for:

An end to this pandemic.
Doctors, nurses, PA’s, paramedics, and others working to keep us all well.
Those among us who are recovering from illness or injury.
Those among us who are grieving.
The ministries of this church and those who lead them as we once again reevaluate what we should do and to what work we are called.
Those who respond to emergencies on our highways, in our wildlands, in our towns and even our homes.
Those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local level.
Teachers and students, who are making difficult adjustments as we seek to keep each other healthy and safe.
Wisdom, courage, and strength as we all seek to grow toward God in these extraordinary days.
Each other (please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list).