Beloved of God,

    I want to remind you that this weekend our service at church will be a little different because I will be out of town at the Labor Day retreat in Glorieta. I have prepared something for you that I hope will be a meaningful chance to read and pray through Scripture together. I do want you to know that if you usually read Scripture on your phone or a tablet, a hard copy of the Bible may be useful for you to have with you. For some of you it won’t make much difference, but for others it will be a great help.
    Sunday School for all ages will be resuming on Sunday, September 12th. If you would like a list of adult classes you might attend, we will be sending out a list in the coming week. The list may update over the next week as leaders get a better sense of their scope and focus. I am especially excited to be teaching our Middle School class.
   
    I’m struck this week by the way the first verses of Psalm 125 speak of God’s care and protection with such confidence:
Psa. 125:1    Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
        which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
2     As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
        so the LORD surrounds his people
        both now and forevermore.

There are any number of difficult situations that folks near and far are having to deal with at the moment. The world in it’s fallen goodness is always ripe for chaos to emerge, and there are times when that chaos can catch our attention in a special way: devastating weather events, pandemics, economic crises, political upheaval. Some of these things don’t feel far away at all, in fact some may be right on top of you.
    ...And yet the Lord surrounds His people. I don’t know if there were many who supposed that God might save and protect his people through the use of a cross, but that’s what happened. There may be surprising things that emerge from troubling moments. God has never been one to abandon His people, but God also has a way of bringing help and protection from unexpected places. I think Israel could sing songs like this because they knew that. I hope we remember that for ourselves.

Please join me this week in praying for:

• An end to this pandemic.
  
• Safety for those who are travelling this weekend.
• Courage and wisdom for those facing difficult decisions.
• Doctors, nurses, PA’s, paramedics and others working to keep us all well.
• First responders who address emergencies on our roads, in our forests, in our public spaces, and even our homes.
• Those reeling from the damage and danger brought by fire and flood.
• Those who are injured or sick in body, mind, or spirit.
• In joy and praise as we begin Sunday School next week, and for wisdom as we seek to do so safely and well.
• One another (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

Beloved of God,

I want to remind you that next week (9/3-9/6) we will be on a church retreat at Glorietta through the weekend. This means that I will not be present to preach and that the worship team will not be present to serve in person. However, I’m working on something for you for Sunday that I hope will still be an opportunity for meaningful and careful engagement with God’s word. Please consider coming up to the building and spending that time with others if you like.
Our semi-regular newsletter, The Rock, is going to press within the next two weeks. If you know of special things happening within our church body, please submit them to Vanessa for publication by 9/1. Photographs of any of our recent events are especially helpful.

Our Scripture reading for this week is Psalm 15. I’m reminded of the way someone wiser than I suggested that we read the wisdom Psalms. Many of them are written with the intent of having them wash over you, over and over, until you become the sort of person that fits them. And I think this is one all of us could read more than once.
These are behaviors that one would expect in a righteous person. They are matters of the heart, matters of the tongue, and matters of the pocket book. They are also strikingly everyday things. Did you seek to walk in righteousness today? Did you tell the truth? Did you speak plainly and generously about your neighbors and not succumb to slander? Did you deal honestly with your money?
We could do a lot worse than to lay our lives against something like this at the end of everyday to take the measure of what sort of person we are. But flagellating ourselves over what we did poorly or congratulating ourselves for what we did well isn’t the point. We read and reread something like this because it tells us how to respond in love to a God who has already saved us from our sins. We want to be these sorts of folks because it is a way to love God. Let’s seek to love God by living honorably this week.

Please join me in praying for:

• An end to this pandemic.
  
• Doctors, nurses, PA’s, paramedics, and others working to keep us all well.
• Those who are facing difficult personal, professional, and physical circumstances because of the pandemic.
• Students, teachers, administrators, and staff seeking to do the good work of education, and facing challenges early in the year.
• Those who are lonely, afraid, or tired in ways they have never been.
• Those of us worrying over family who are ill or injured.
• Wisdom as we seek to be faithful and be good neighbors.
• In praise for those who are have sensed a call to serve in our ministries this fall, and for strength and joy as they do.
  
• 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

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