Beloved of God,

    As we head more deliberately into the final few weeks of the year, there are several things on the calendar of which I hope you will be mindful.

First, and almost immediately, we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper together this Sunday. Elements will be available at the church for you to pick up this Saturday from 10am to 1pm. If it would be helpful to have elements delivered to your home, please email the deacons here. If you decide to stick around and chat for a minute, it will be a joy for me.

Second, we are trying to devise a safe and creative way to care for and celebrate with one another this Thanksgiving. Please be take a moment to give us some feedback here.

Third, if you would like to be involved with this year’s Christmas Eve service, we are going to try to keep as much of its traditional shape as we can while still being safe. We will need some help in doing so, and if you would like to be a part of that, I hope you’ll email me and let me know.

I’m thankful for the ways this congregation continues to be church with and for one another, even when it takes a new shape. Thank you for being creative, willing, and loving.


Please join me in praying this week for:

• An end to, and defense from this pandemic.
  
• Our leaders, and leaders-elect at the federal, state and local levels.
• Healthcare professionals including doctors, nurses, paramedics and support staff, that God give them courage and shield them from harm.
• In gratitude for those who have served in defense of this nation and its people.
• Those who are grieving, or lonely, or afraid; that God’s presence and care would be apparent.
• That we would be signs of love and voices of hope for those living through these moments.
• Students, teachers, and administrators in our schools, and schools throughout the country.
• Each other (please contact [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

Beloved of God,

    I want to name the fact that we’re moving through a pretty high-anxiety national moment. I imagine that looks a little different for each of us, and I also imagine we are all handling it a little differently. Those of you with deep political loyalties might be feeling a different kind of strain than those of you who are unnerved by the national rise in COVID. Some of you may be feeling the strain of both. Others of you are dealing with the concerns of your own situation that have only to do with your unique hurts and cares.
    All of this is part of why I love that we are reading Psalm 85 this Sunday. Psalm 85 gives us one of the most beautiful pictures of Shalom that I know:
10
Love and faithfulness meet together;
    righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11
Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
    and righteousness looks down from heaven.
12
The Lord will indeed give what is good,
    and our land will yield its harvest.
13
Righteousness goes before him
    and prepares the way for his steps.

    Shalom usually gets translated as “peace” but it’s a thicker concept than that. Shalom is peace that spills out and over. Shalom is completion, wholeness, the world set right. And Psalm 85 guides us into this picture of Shalom as something deeper than just a hopeful optimism. There’s a confidence here. We can expect these things because of who God is.
    Slow down a little. Weigh your cares against God’s Shalom. I promise you, there is nothing so heavy as to tip that scale away from such a sure and sturdy peace, even if you see the scale wobble a little. The Lord will indeed give what is good, even if you can’t see it over the top of your own concerns. It is who He is.

Please join me in praying this week for:

• An end to this pandemic
  
• Peace and justice in this country as we receive results from federal, state and local elections.
• Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics and other healthcare professionals working in these days for our common good.
• Those who are suffering quietly; may we see them and care for them.
• In praise for the good and extremely creative work of those involved in our church’s ministries.
• Those who are lonely.
• Those dealing with stresses, changes, and griefs made harder by this season.
• 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