Category: Community

10/7/2021 0 Comments

God Calls Us to be Faithful

Beloved of God,

    In the coming weeks, the church council is going to be asking that the congregation submit nominations for the 2022 council. The church council is tasked with stewardship of the church finances, real estate, property, and personnel, other than the pastoral called staff. I hope that if you hold these gifts, or know somebody among us who does, that you will consider submitting a nomination.
    We are currently a congregation of about 125 members, and not all of us will have gifts that suit the task that the council is given. Please be thinking and praying about this over the next few weeks. It may be that you are more gifted than you realize, or that you see a gift for this work in someone that they do not yet see in themselves. More information will follow through the month.
    Please mark your calendars for our BASIC kickoff event on the 20th of October. I am so excited to have this opportunity for fellowship to start up again, and to renew the ancient Christian discipline of eating together. Adults can eat for $6, children 6-12 for $3, and anyone younger than that is on us. See you soon. Come hungry!

Our Scripture reading this week is from the book of Hebrews 4:12-16, and it's a set of verses that will be deeply familiar to us as Baptists. It is obviously a grand endorsement of the power of God’s Word. It is also a picture of astounding grace, and a call to proper Christian confidence. But I want us to notice the way these verses caution us against despair, and give us a reason for hope.
The previous passage, from about Hebrews 3:12 on, is offering a word of caution from Israel’s history. It seems that the community who originally received this message had been dealing with the problem of apostasy, folks who lived as Christians for a while and then just...disappeared. We’ve seen this before says the author of Hebrews and this breach of faithfulness doesn’t end well. The most pointed word about this comes right here in Heb 4:12-13. We are on the hook even for our small breaches of faithfulness, not just the big ones that we find when people turn their back on their faith. God sees all of it, and we’re accountable for all of it.
You can see why somebody with a clear view of themselves might despair, can’t you? And this is why the next verses are so very important.

Heb. 4:14     Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

God calls us to be faithful with a perfect understanding of just how weak we are. While God doesn’t soften the call, God gives us a High Priest in Jesus who offers perfect help where our imperfect faith may fail. Beloved of God, be faithful in everything. But when you are not, seek out our High Priest, who will not withhold from you His mercy and grace.

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 facing difficult circumstances personally, professionally, and financially in a season that is already hard.
Those among us who are hurt or sick in body, mind, or spirit.
For young people, especially students, who are bearing the effects of COVID on themselves and their friends.
First responders as they address emergencies on our roads, in our wildlands, in our towns and even our homes.
The church council as they enter the last quarter of the year, and for next year’s council as they are called into service.
Those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local level.
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

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9/30/2021 0 Comments

Desiring God's fellowship

Beloved of God,

    I sure hope you are planning on spending some time with us this weekend as we have some special opportunities for prayer, fellowship, education, and invitation to serve.
    First, we will be hosting an evening of prayer in the church building from 5pm to 9pm on Saturday. This come and go event is especially aimed at making space to pray for yourself, for each other, and over our various ministries here at WRBC.
    Second, we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper together on Sunday. In the spirit of fellowship, we will also be having a brunch immediately after the service as a time to (re)connect with one another over a meal. If you would like to bring a breakfast dish to share, please let us know what you’re planning to bring here.
    Third, our Mission and Outreach team is going to be sharing about what they have been up to, our partnerships with other ministries, and opportunities to follow the Church’s call to mission. I hope you’ll stick around after brunch to hear from them, and learn more about Mission at WRBC.

    Our Scripture reading for Sunday is Psalm 26, which needs a bit of attention. I think there is always a temptation to read Scripture as if we are the “good guys”. I’m a little suspicious of that sort of confidence, because it’s usually the folks who are most confident of their righteousness who tend to cause the most harm.
    Psalm 26 has elements of this in it. “I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness,” says the Psalmist in Ps 26:3. But at the heart of this psalm is a desire to be declared innocent, in order to draw near to a holy God.
6     I wash my hands in innocence,
        and go about your altar, LORD,
7     proclaiming aloud your praise
        and telling of all your wonderful deeds.
8     LORD, I love the house where you live,
        the place where your glory dwells.
It’s not “innocence” or “righteousness” alone that the Psalmist is after. It’s fellowship with God. We seek to live a life of righteousness or of innocence, not because it makes it easier to judge our neighbors. We do it because it allows us to approach our God more fully and faithfully; to know God more deeply. It is God’s own holiness that compels us toward a righteous life. We follow God into holiness for God’s sake, not our own. Most amazing of all, in Jesus we find a holiness that we can live into which we never would have found by ourselves.

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 in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local level.
Those among us dealing with hurts or sickness of mind, body, or spirit.
In praise for the rain this week has brought.
First responders who attend to emergencies on our highways, in our wildlands, in our towns and even our homes.
This congregation as we enter the final stretch of the year, plan budgets, take votes, and prepare for Advent and Christmas.
Neighbors in our community who have never come to faith.
Neighbors in our community who have left their faith behind because of deep wounds.
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

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3/4/2021 0 Comments

Community is essential...

Beloved of God,

I’m spending a good bit of time in Exodus this week since that’s what I’m preaching from on Sunday. I’m always intrigued by the way that early on in the story Moses relies so heavily on Aaron. You’ll notice that through so much of the first several chapters, it is Aaron who does the talking, who even will perform the signs God gave to Moses. None of this seems to be because Aaron had great ambition, but simply because he was being faithful to God and to Moses.
The whole Exodus story carries the assumption of a deep interdependence marked by caring for each other, forgiving each other, and holding each other to account. It’s not hard to imagine that there may have been some lone Israelite who got sick of doing circles in the desert for 40 years and wandered off on their own, but you and I have never heard of them. They didn’t have any effect on their community, or for that matter the story of God’s work in the world. It would seem that God’s interest was in shaping that community no matter what.
I’m thinking about some of this because I want us to remember that Christianity is not an independent experience. The movement of Christian hermits who wandered out into the desert in the 5th century to grow in prayer and holiness died out because there was something essential missing. Jesus didn’t leave behind a book, or simply pick one guy to carry on the Christian movement when he had died, risen, and ascended. Instead he chose 12 people. Jesus left behind a community. Community is native and essential to everything we are seeking to do as a church.
It will be important for us to bear this in mind over the next several months as we continue to negotiate (hopefully) the reopening of many of our regular ministries, the conduct of our congregational business, and whatever unexpected challenges await us beyond these things. I think it would be a wonderful thing if we all commit to doing these things graciously and wisely, and I expect that we will.

Please join me this week in praying for:

An end to this pandemic.
Doctors, nurses, PA’s and paramedics as they work to keep us all well.
Those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local level.
Those who are seeking medical treatment, and for those who are looking after them.
Those for whom 28 days wasn’t enough time to make the money needed to pay the bills.
Students, teachers, administrators and others who are trying to pursue the worthy work of education in these strange days.
Folks who are lonely, or frustrated, or worried about the future.
Wisdom, as we seek to meet the challenges this moment presents to this congregation.
Each other (please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list).