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,

    This has already been quite a week. As we watch numbers of COVID-19 cases rising around the state, and have new restrictions in place by public health order, I have to confess that I’ve found myself pretty deeply frustrated.
    It’s hard to have planned something life-giving at such a hard time only to then turn and question whether it can proceed.
    It’s hard to already feel deep exhaustion and now wonder if we will be headed back into lockdown.
    It’s hard to be charitable to those around us, especially when so much of our politics at the moment is driven by our unwillingness to be charitable in the name of winning an imminent election.

    If you’re feeling a little dragged down today, I get it. But I want to offer a couple of pieces of encouragement.

First, the restrictions that are now in place as a part of the most recent public health order do not supersede the specific instructions given to houses of worship for our weekly services. I am currently seeking more clear advice on other meetings. Even now we can still gather to worship, which is a blessing in itself. There may come weeks ahead where we are asked to further limit services or be restricted to an online service, but it isn’t this week. I’m deeply thankful for that.

Second, the Psalm for today is very brief, but forceful plea for rescue. If you’re feeling worn out or on your heels, spend some time with this today. Read it more than once, or several times throughout the day. Give whatever you are dealing with over to God, and remember that God is indeed our Refuge and Rescue.

Please join me this week in praying for:

• An end to this Pandemic
• Patience and grace as we all deal with the changes and chances it brings
• The students in our community
• The parents of those students
• Those who feel lonely or afraid right now
• Those we know who are dealing with any sort of illness in a complicated moment for medical services and patients
• Doctors, nurses, paramedics and other health professionals and first responders as they work for our common good.
• The two men standing for election to the office of President of the United States
• All those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local level
• Moments of peace and sabbath for God’s people, especially now.
• Each other (please email [email protected] if you would 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 make sure that you have been able to catch up with the good work being done by our missionaries. It was so great to hear from the Joneses on Sunday morning, and if you missed doing so I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch their interview with Dana Pratt.
    
    It was also great to spend time with the Blakes on Sunday evening at their “Desert and Dessert” event and hear more about the remarkable work they have been doing in West Africa. If you’d like more info on their good work, please feel free to contact the missions team at their new email address: [email protected].
    
    In Psalm 37, from the Monday reading, we come across one of my favorite images of God in all of scripture. I’m going to quote it here in the NRSV:

                      Psa. 37:23        Our steps are made firm by the LORD,
                                                            when he delights in our way;
                                         24     though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong,
                                                            for the LORD holds us by the hand.
    
    I love the image of God as a loving parent who knows that we will fall and fail, and yet preserves us from disaster by holding our hand as we stumble along. You’ve all seen a baby learning to walk with the aid of a parent holding their hand. It’s true that when the baby walks they are really walking. It’s true that when the baby falls, they are really falling. But because mom or dad are there with them, the walking is easier and the falling is less disastrous. And doesn’t this feel so much like the kind of care we get from God?

Please join me in praying this week for:
    *     Those facing hurricanes on the gulf coast
    *     Those fighting and fleeing fire on the west coast
    *     Those both known and unknown to us who have been directly affected by this pandemic
    *     Doctors, nurses, other healthcare professionals and first responders as they continue to work to keep us safe and healthy
    *     Students and their parents
    *     Administrators, teachers, and others trying to educate students well in the midst of new challenges
    *     Those dealing with mental health challenges that are more pronounced in this time
    *     In praise for the containment of the Medio Fire
    *     For those serving the church in leadership positions: council, deacons, CLT and others
    *     For our sister churches nearby and throughout
    *     For one another (please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to the 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 first of all that we are celebrating the Lord’s Supper together this Sunday. If you will not be here in person, you may pick up the elements at the church this Saturday from 9am to Noon. If you need them delivered to you, please call the church at 505.672.9764.
    I’ve been thinking about some of the Psalms that use imagery from nature to describe God’s power. I blame the Medio Fire and Psalm 104 for that. We have another Psalm in our readings this Sunday that does that. Psalm 29 feels like a storm. I love that the Psalmist looked at something like a violent storm, ripping through the Northern forests and flashes of lighting on the mountain and was able to look through those powerful forces and see the God of Israel. And yet this Monday we also had in our Psalm readings Psalm 23, one of the most tender pictures of God in all of scripture; God as shepherd. We have also this week Psalm 24 in which God is hailed as King of Glory. All three of these Psalms come out of the collection that we trace to David. I wonder how it is that one man could be so aware of God in so many different circumstances. I tend to settle into habits where I think about God as either Shepherd, or King, or the booming Voice in a storm, but very rarely all three at once.
    We may do well to remember that the way we imagine God might be too small if we can’t hold some of these images together at the same time. And it may be encouraging to note that if we don’t know how, we have a lifetime of discipleship in which to figure out how to do just that and the wisdom of the Psalms to guide us.

Please join me in praying this week for :
*     The family of Dick Basinger
*     Those working to serve our community in our schools
*     Lorelei Hayward and her family as she continues to recover from surgery
*     Those seeking refuge from and fighting the fires on the west coast
*     Our missionaries to Oaxaca (the Joneses) and West Africa (the Blakes)
*     Those working to keep others well in this pandemic like doctors, nurses, first responders and others
*     Those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local levels
*     Students navigating school remotely and at home
*     Parents of young students
*     Those who may be lonely, isolated, or afraid in the midst of COVID-19
*     Each other (email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to the prayer list)

You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world,
Marshall

Beloved of God,

    I want to begin by saying how proud I was of the way this church family conducted itself in the congregational meeting last Sunday. I was especially proud of you because there were real, substantive disagreements that were dealt with generously. Different points of view were heard and considered, and a way forward was proposed and accepted by the body. While I am certain this conversation will continue, the way you dealt with one another as stewards of this church’s resources and members of the body of Christ showed all the marks of people who take those callings seriously. Thank you.

    The Psalm for our congregational reading today is Psalm 19. I love Psalm 19. I am so grateful for the way it paints a picture of the way creation joins Scripture in declaring to us who God is, and what God is like. I think sometimes the fact that we all are very different people with different strengths, wounds, histories and hopes means that we are more able to hear the voice of God in different circumstances or even in different parts of scripture than others. This is of course part of why we need each other’s wisdom and witness. But I think it also may be the case that God, knowing this to be true, chooses to speak to us in ways that we can hear. I hear God’s voice in Psalm 19 so clearly. I expect that as we read through the Psalms together you too will hear God’s voice in one or more of them just as clearly. Thanks be to God for the gift of God’s Word!

Please join me this week in praying for:

*     Our worship team, as they continue to serve faithfully and prepare to resume evening practices.
*     Young students as they continue their educational adventure online.
*     Parents, who are tired and know just enough to stay worried about young students
*     Those dealing with the fatigue of their vocation in a time where so many are not “working from home”, but “living at work”.
*     Those who are lonely, afraid, and worried about the future.
*     Doctors, nurses, first responders and those working jobs in harms way for the common good of us all.
*     Wise and creative ways for us to use our resources and gifts to love our neighbor and serve our King.
*     The Haywards, and especially Lorelei as she recovers from surgery.
*     For those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local levels as the seek to make decisions for the good of us all.
*     Each other (please email april@wrbcnm 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