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6/30/2021 0 Comments

Do you find it hard to be patient?

Beloved of God,

I am so excited that we have been able to restart our McBaptist Breakfast for the young at heart this week. But such a great chance for fellowship with seniors in our community reminds me of a deep need we have. We are looking for someone to fill the fellowship chair and to represent that ministry with the CLT. I have had several people approach who are willing to serve on the team, but nobody who senses a call to lead it yet. If you have a gift of hospitality and might consider leading that team, I hope you’ll get in touch with me so we can talk about it further. It would be an immense blessing to this congregation.
On a similar note, we are looking for folks to teach Sunday school at all levels this fall, and I hope that you will get in touch with me if you have any interest in doing so. I’d like to talk through what your plans are, and to get a sense of how we can help provide curriculum or supplies as you need them. Feel free to email me if you have decided to teach, or are discerning a call in that direction.
    On Sunday we will be reading from 2 Samuel 5:1-10, a passage which I think often gets passed over in the David narrative. Mentally, I often will go straight from “Saul is king” to “David is king”, but that’s not how it happened. Saul had a son who followed him on the throne, and David ruled only Judah, his own tribe, from Hebron for a full 7 years. It is this passage where all of Israel finally comes to him and anoints him as king over all the tribes.
    Sometimes we gloss over that story if we aren’t patient. We know where it is going and we just want to get there. So in our mind we crown David king even before all the people have, and just get on with it. It’s hard to be patient when you already know where you want to go.
    I wonder if David ever found it hard to be patient. I wonder if there were moments between that day where he knelt in front of his father, and brothers, and the prophet Samuel, and this day in 2 Samuel 5, when he was frustrated. I wonder if he ever wondered why God wasn’t moving along any faster, or why he had to run for his life from Saul instead of God intervening swiftly and decisively.
    Sometimes I sure wish God would get on my schedule. I’ve had days where waiting for God to move was difficult and disappointing. But I think that’s just a sign that I haven’t learned to get rid of hurry in my life yet. John Wesley, in a letter from 1777 explaining his rapid pace of life, says to a friend that he is “always in haste but never in a hurry”. I think it might be wise for us to understand God’s movements this way. God’s work for us and for the world is unceasing. “He who guards Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.” But if God does not seem to move for us as quickly as we would like, it is not because God has ceased to move.
    We must, like David, learn to be patient. God knows what God is doing, and no matter how it looks, God is always doing.

Please join me this week in praying for:

Those among us who are mourning.
Those among us who are sick or hurt in body, mind, or spirit.
In praise for a nation where we are allowed to practice our faith in peace.
Those facing danger from the pandemic at home and abroad.
In praise for the gift of rain.
Doctors, nurses, PA’s, paramedics and others working to keep us all well.
Safety and courage for first responders to emergencies on the road, in the forest, and in our towns.
A sense of call and mission for each of God’s people, and all of God’s churches in accordance with our gifts and the needs we may meet.
Safety and defense for those among us who are traveling.
Patience, flexibility, and wisdom as we seek God’s will together.
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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6/24/2021 0 Comments

Pray for Wisdom

Beloved of God,

    I sure hope you are praying for this body as we approach our congregational meeting this coming Sunday. We will do well to have you listening for the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we join together. It will not be broadcast on Zoom, and so to hear from you we will need you to be in the room with us.
    I also want to mention that a long time favorite ministry for the more senior members of our community will begin again this coming Wednesday, June 30th: McBaptist Breakfast. Anybody who ever called a significant other on a rotary phone is welcome to attend.
    This fall we will begin again with adult Sunday school classes. If you are interested in teaching a class, I would love to speak with you about that and any needs of curriculum, supplies, or space you might have. Please feel free to email me if you are certain you’d like to teach or even if you’re just thinking about it. It’s worth talking over either way.
    Today is the last call for signups to have items picked up for our youth garage sale. If you can transport items on your own, you are welcome to bring them to the church through the week from 10am-3pm daily, or by appointment. The Garage sale will be July 10th.

    I’ve spent a good deal of time in the last several letters asking us to consider a few things:

What are my own unique spiritual gifts?
What are the spiritual gifts God has placed in this congregation?
In light of those gifts, and the needs of our community (local and global), how might this particular church use those gifts to further God’s kingdom in ways that fit us?

We are fast approaching the fall, and we will likely have an opportunity to re-enter the regular ministry of this church in some ways that we were not able to over the past year. But the past year has also placed us in a position to reflect on some of the things that had been normal rhythms up to this point. Here’s what I would ask you to begin doing as regularly as God calls these things to your mind:

Pray that you will gain a deep sense of your own spiritual gifts, and where you are uniquely suited to lead, grow, study or serve.
Pray that this body will have a deep sense of calling grounded in the gifts God has already placed among us.
Pray that as we enter the fall we will be attentive, imaginative, and responsive as we plan the time we spend together and the ways we serve the King and the Kingdom.

The sermon text for Sunday is 2 Corinthians 8:7-15.

Please join me this week in also praying for:

Those among us who are grieving.
Those among us who are hurting or sick in mind, body or spirit.
In praise for the recent rains.
Wisdom and guidance as we approach this congregational meeting on Sunday.
Those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local levels.
Doctors, nurses, paramedics, PA’s and others working hard to keep us all well.
First responders to all sorts of emergencies, whether on the road, in the forest, or in public places.
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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