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5/19/2022 0 Comments

Obedience and love are a packaged deal

Beloved of God,

    Please be praying for our children as they come to lead us in worship this week. They have been working diligently to prepare something to guide us into worship together. I’m excited to hear from them, and I know you are too!

    I’m also looking forward to recognizing some of our young people this Sunday who will be taking a big step into adulthood as the school year ends. Please pray for teachers and students, especially graduating seniors, as they finish this year’s work.

    In our Scripture reading this week, Jesus gives us a call to obedience. Loving Jesus, we learn, means obeying his teaching. Failure to love is a failure to obey. Modern folks like us can have a hard time connecting love and obedience. Our notions of fidelity, personally and professionally, don’t always include that kind of behavior. We’re free (we think) to do what we want!
    But here we find that when it comes to Jesus, obedience and love are a packaged deal. It is in loving Jesus, in obeying Jesus, that we become people at home in Jesus. What’s more, we don’t enter this task alone. In His goodness and grace, Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, to teach us and remind us. Even in this call to obedience, Jesus doesn’t leave us unsupported. God helps us to be that which God demands that we be. He gives us the task of obedience in love, and then helps us to obey. What a good God to do such a thing!

Please join me this week in praying for:

Rain
Wisdom
In thanksgiving for the good work of those fighting wildfire in our state.
Peace, comfort, and defense for those still facing danger or damage from wildfire.
Our young people as they come to lead us in worship on Sunday.
Faculty, staff, teachers, and students as they approach the end of the school year.
Those of us recovering from illness, or from medical procedures.
Those who respond to emergencies on our highways, in our wildlands, in our communities, and even in our homes.
Faithful hearts as we receive the teaching and reminding of the Advocate.
A habit of life that works out our love in obedience to Christ.
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

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5/5/2022 0 Comments

Tabitha

Beloved of God,

On Sunday, May 15th we’ll be having our regular Standing Lunch Date potluck. Please plan on bringing your favorite spicy food to share. If you don’t like spicy food, you can bring whatever you like. I’m sure you’ll have some company.
That same day we will also have the joy of being led in worship by our young people. Please be in prayer for them as they prepare to lead us. This is such a valuable way for young people to gain a deeper sense of their gifts and of God’s call to offer worship in spirit and truth.

This Sunday, May 8th is Mother’s Day, and through no real prior planning, we happen to be reading the story of Tabitha from Acts 9:36-43. Early on in the Christian story, there were people who found that following Christ meant forced separation from their families. Into this gap stepped faithful women like Tabitha, a widow of the newborn church at Joppa. She cared for other widows and for the poor using the talents she had to provide them with clothing and care. She leaned into the ancient practice of fictive family that has always grown up in faithful Christian communities, especially among the persecuted.
I’ve known so many Christian women who have lived out their discipleship by caring for those who needed it. There are many of you among us here at White Rock Baptist. We get such a unique privilege as Christian people to be able to honor these ladies alongside our own mothers this time of year. When Tabitha dies in Acts 9, it is a huge loss in her brand new faith community. People are devastated by her absence. But as God uses Peter to raise her to life again, we’re reminded that even small, diligent signs of care have a place of privilege in the kingdom of God. If one of our sisters has done as much for you, this might be a great time to reach out to them in blessing and thanksgiving.

Please join me this week in praying for:

Those fighting fire for the well-being of their neighbors. Pray especially for protection and rest.
Calm winds, and moisture as we face the threat of wildfire in our state.
Students and teachers in our community and beyond who are coming up on the end of the school term.
Those among us going for or recovering from medical procedures.
Our children as they prepare this week for Kid Led Worship on Sunday, May 15th.
Persecuted Christians who need Christ’s protection and encouragement in special ways.
In praise for the long line of faithful sisters who have mothered both their own children and others.
Those missing the presence of a familial or spiritual mother this time of year.
Our pastoral needs committee as they discern our path forward in seeking and calling additional pastoral staff.
Each other (please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list).