United Christian Ministries is in need of: canned soup, canned chicken and Boost. To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
Midweek Meal & Activities
Our Wednesday evening fellowship meal and bible studies are going great! Let’s keep the momentum going, inviting others to join us and enjoying the deepening of our fellowship.
Please spread the word. And remember, preschoolers and college students’ meals are free, grades 1 to 12 are $7, and adults are $11. Join us!
REMINDER: Reservations must be made before noon on Mondays.
Below is the schedule for our Wednesday evening activities:
The meal begins at 5:30 p.m. each Wednesday. Group time begins approximately 6:10 p.m. and goes to 6:45 p.m. This group time is for college students and adults.
Our youth will meet from 6:10 to 7:00 p.m. in the youth room.
Our children also meet from 6:10 to 7:00 p.m, and they will be in the children’s department for a devotional, activity and play time.
Choir rehearsal follows at 7:00 p.m.
We can’t wait to see you on Wednesday evening!
1st Explorers After-School Ministry Update
The explorers had a short week this week, so we had chapel lessons that focused on being slow to anger, slow to speak, and quick to listen. We played games and had object lessons that tied into what we were learning. For example, we mixed baking soda into vinegar to show how anger can abrupt quickly! We played games where we got to practice self-control and have to be quick to listen to instructions. Then we enjoyed the beautiful spring weather outside!
Mission Moment 3.19.25
Brittany Ramirez
CBF Field Personnel, Baguio, Philippines
“I will hold the Christ-light for you in the nighttime of your fear. I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.” –Servant Song by Richard Gillard
In 2020, with a global pandemic, the world changed for everyone. For our family, that change was the death of the dream of what our life and calling would look like.
After getting stuck away from our home and ministry in China due to the pandemic, then forced to return to the United States for three years, it was hard to see and understand how God could possibly use this painful time. It was hard to believe and see God’s light and presence in our lives and future.
As field personnel, it is hard to share when we struggle with belief. But it is important for us all to be authentic and honest in those times of struggle, because that can be a time when we see the work of the Spirit in our lives and community. With the theme of “What is saving your life right now?,” I can say that it was a death that saved my life. It was the death of a dream, turned into a resurrection and hope of a new possibility. And when I look at what sustained me through that death, I point to community.
When all seemed lost for our calling, our ministry, our hope of how we could take part in the mission of God in our world, we found our community of faith, holding hope and light for us in the darkness. Our community of families, support partners and churches sustained us through their prayers, continued financial commitment to maintain our ministry upon return to the field, their affirmation and their belief that we were still being called. They believed for us that we would get back to ministry—even when our hope wavered.
The artist, Scott Erickson, writes, “We have our resources, skills, and technologies to offer… but it seems what we most deeply need to receive and what we most deeply need to offer is the Light of Presence.”
It was our community that offered us the light of presence and held the Christ-light for us in the midst of our darkness. And isn’t this exactly what we are called to do for each other as Christians?
We could not have imagined in 2020 where our journey would lead us. We could not have imagined the way God would not only sustain our calling to minister among the Chinese community, but to broaden that call into a beautiful partnership with Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary and ministry to overseas Chinese in Baguio, Philippines. What has been saving my life the past few years, has been the Light of presence and hope from our CBF communities and churches. And what a joy it is to be able to go back out with renewed calling and offer that light of presence to others along their journeys.
Prayer, Practice, Ponder
How are you experiencing community right now? Have you been able to hold the Christ-light for someone in your community recently? Or are you experiencing a time where you need someone to hold onto hope and light for you? Take some time today to practice Visio Divina with the attached art by Scott Erickson or find another piece of art that is meaningful to you.
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of: canned soup, canned chicken and Boost. To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
1st Explorers After-School Ministry Update
We explored the world of Dr. Seuss this week! We read “Green Eggs and Ham” and made our own colorful plates of green eggs and ham. We read “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut.” After, we played a game where two people had to keep their eyes closed and draw something only with the help of a teammate telling them where to place the marker. We finished the week with “The Cat in the Hat Comes Back” and made our own silly Dr. Seuss style hats.
Our pen pal program is back in full swing as well, and we wrote our pen pals back!
Midweek Meal & Activities
Our Wednesday evening fellowship meal and bible studies are going great! Let’s keep the momentum going, inviting others to join us and enjoying the deepening of our fellowship.
Please spread the word. And remember, preschoolers and college students’ meals are free, grades 1 to 12 are $7, and adults are $11. The menu this Wednesday is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas and a roll. Join us!
REMINDER: Reservations must be made before noon on Mondays.
Below is the schedule for our Wednesday evening activities:
The meal begins at 5:30 p.m. each Wednesday. Group time begins approximately 6:10 p.m. and goes to 6:45 p.m. This group time is for college students and adults.
Our youth will meet from 6:10 to 7:00 p.m. in the youth room.
Our children also meet from 6:10 to 7:00 p.m, and they will be in the children’s department for a devotional, activity and play time.
Choir rehearsal follows at 7:00 p.m.
We can’t wait to see you on Wednesday evening!
Mission Moment 3.12.25
Mike Liga
Hospice Chaplain, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
“It can be seen that mental health is based on a certain degree of tension, the tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish, or the gap between what one is and what one should become.” —Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
Through my work as a chaplain, I am increasingly aware of the tension within me. Namely, the person I was, the person I am and the person I will become.
I’ve struggled with identity for most of my life, not having had a physical, psychological or even a theological home. I grew up in the “in-between,” whether that’s growing up in two cultures (American and Filipino), or in two theological frameworks (Pentecostal and Baptist traditions). The resulting feeling has been a cycle of self-shame and an unease from never having the ability to please anyone.
As I reflect upon being in the “in-between,” I see now that it has been a gift all along. The very thing that I found shameful, has now brought me to a place of peace and wonder. The “in-between” has always been my home.
I can see now the “detours” in my life have been nourishment to my soul. By detours, perhaps I mean more of the unexpected paths of life, even within a single day—a call from a friend, a surprising affirmation from a colleague, a smile from a patient. These fillers of joy and meaningful encounters have always made me feel at home, a hospitality between destinations.
I wonder in my own life at the power of slowing down and embracing those moments of surprising detours. Seeing them not as a chore or a distraction, but as glimpses of joy and opportunities for growth. I wonder if what is saving my life is not just tolerating these detours, but simply being open and present to them. Seeing them as opportunities to see God and see myself anew, constantly learning the wonder of being with God and others.
In a busy and efficient world, particularly in the West, I wonder if what we need most is slowness and presence during the tension we sense within and outside ourselves. And perhaps we might see that tension, transience, slowness and openness as part of deep enrichment to our souls.
Prayer, Practice, Ponder
God, may we see your wonder in the tense, the transient, and the detours of our lives. Would that we would be open to them, following the leading of your Spirit into the unknown with courage and humility. Amen.
Ash Wednesday Service
TONIGHT, March 5 at 6:15 p.m.
At 6:15 p.m. in the sanctuary, we will observe Ash Wednesday in a brief service of contrition and worship. This day begins a 40-day (plus Sundays) march through the season of Lent.
