Scripture of the Week:
“My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
– Psalm 121:2
Hello,
There is an optimism that comes from being a Christian. After all, we believe that resurrection follows death, that God brings beauty from ashes, and that God is waymaker who can do the impossible! However, sometimes that optimism shifts into a toxic positivity that suggests that when we don’t feel upbeat, we’re not being faithful. Kate Bowler is a leading UMC writer right now, and a professor at Duke. She was diagnosed with incurable cancer at the age of 35, and she has talked about how putting on a fake smile didn’t really help her deal with her situation faithfully. Rather, facing it head on, admitting the crummy parts, and even in the presence of that, maintaining faith, is helping her get through. Now, instead of saying “Have a great day!” she says, “Have as good a day as is available to you!” Our faith is robust enough that it can admit the difficulties and challenges, and still hold steady. It doesn’t require pretending. Because even in the challenges, God is there, and God is enough.
I know we’ve been talking up the State of the Church meeting for the last several weeks. We really do want you to attend, because we’ll be sharing the feedback we received from the Cottage Meetings, as well as some short-term, mid-range, and long-term plans, and we’ll be taking a straw poll at the end that’ll guide us on how slowly or quickly we should move forward. We’ll provide childcare and lunch for kids, and snacks for adults to grab in the lobby between worship and the meeting, but we’ll start the meeting about 5 minutes after worship ends and plan to be done by 1pm.
This Sunday, our youth ministry will be leading all parts of worship. I know you’ll be cheering them on, and lifting up the next generation of church leaders during worship!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Lindsay Kirkpatrick
Senior Pastor
[email protected]