Dear Church Family,
The Parker Family would like to thank each and everyone for your support, prayers, visits, cards, phone calls and the food that was prepared for our home during the week of Raye’s death and for hosting the wonderful meal after the service for our family and friends. Raye loved his church family very much.
We appreciated your thoughtfulness and your loving kindness.
Thank you,
Cindy, Mike and Drew
A Note from Circles of Hope
Dear Friends in Christ -
A simple act of kindness creates an endless ripple! The unification that has evolved since Circles of Hope's inception is blessings upon blessings! What an inflow of love, support, and donations the people of Jackson County and those miles beyond home bestowed on our project because that ripple continues to expand and grow for those in need in our community! Praise God!
Circles of Hope is filled with gratitude for your continued support and donations. Our commitment is to reach 10% of the 9,000 people now living in poverty in this county. We all know that will truly bring positive changes.
To our Circle Leaders and those who just graduated in July 2018, Circles establishes hope, encouragement, alleviating fear of the future, instilling confidence to proceed in new directions, how to manage finances and difficult situations, and learning how to have a positive job interview.
"In other words, we may not be able to control all events that happen to us, but we can learn ways and decide not to be reduced by them." - MA
Again, we thank you from our hearts for being a rainbow in someone else's cloud! Remember our dreams are wishes, thoughts, actions, ideas, lessons, wants, and realizations, and that's exactly what you are truly helping to accomplish for our program for others! Please continue to stay connected with us!
Sincerely,
Laura Wallace
Bell Chimes in Our Steeple
The current bell system in our steeple is no longer functioning. Do you think that it is beneficial for our church to provide the gift of hourly bell chimes for the Main Street community? Join us for conversation about this question immediately following worship in our Gathering Place room on Sunday, August 19.
The Melody of God’s Word
When I was child, my family attended church on Sunday evenings. And if we were lucky, we would have a ‘Hymn Sing.’ For those unfamiliar with this term, a ‘Hymn Sing’ consists of a worship service where the content was, well, the singing of hymns.
At the church I grew up in, people would shout out the title of the song they were requesting as the current hymn wound down. As I recall, there was an art to knowing when to call out the next hymn. If you yelled your song request out too early, it wouldn’t be heard over the sound of the piano or organ. If you waited too long, Ms. Higgenpowers would shout out, “Just as I Am” and its 41 verses.
No one liked Ms. Higgenpowers.
But I digress. One Sunday, my song request was heard and granted. I had yelled out, “Pass it on” and the music minister signaled for the congregation to turn to my hymn. This hymn was relatively new to the Baptist Hymn canon. I loved it because, like me, it was a product of the 1970s. It was contemporary. It was fresh. It didn’t sound like the other hymns.
“I’ll shout it from the mountain top!” the song rang out. “I want my world to know, the Lord of love has come to me. I want to pass it on.”
Although I love many different expressions of music in worship, there can be no denying the power of the Baptist Hymnal in helping to shape my faith over the years. Congregational singing is a deeply moving experience for me as I know that it is for many of you. Yes, the language of the lyrics is sometimes antiquated. And yes, the tune may not be as modern as what we listen to in the car. But, the theology, the scripture, and the testimony of the faithful who have gone on before us is undeniably present in the hymns that we sing.
I feel the power of Easter when we sing, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.”
I am reminded of the rich and storied tradition of the Church when we sing, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
I long for the chord in the last refrain of “Holy, Holy, Holy” when we land on the bedrock phrase: “God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.”
The music that we sing in worship each Sunday has been sung by our brothers and sisters in Christ in so many different settings, and for so many different occasions.
“This Is My Father’s World” was once the theme song of Vacation Bible School when I was a child. “Morning Has Broken” was the hymn at an Easter Sunrise Service at the first church I served after seminary. I presented a framed copy of the words to “The Servant Song,” to Rebecca when I proposed to her.
I have seen parents who have lost their child sing at the funeral, “It Is Well with My Soul,” with tears streaming down their faces. I have heard students belt out, “Be Thou My Vision,” on retreats. I felt the ground shake when the organ played the downbeat of, “For All the Saints,” at my first chapel service at Princeton Seminary. I remember singing, “My Lord is Near Me All the Time,” with my father as we took refuge in our backyard shed during a ferocious thunderstorm.
“In the lightning flash across the sky His mighty power I see, And I know if He can reign on high, His light can shine on me.”
“I’ve seen it in the lightning, heard it in the thunder, and felt it in the rain; My Lord is near me all the time, My Lord is near me all the time.”
Yes, I know of God’s Good News because the Bible has told me so. But the music of God’s Church has given me a melody to remember it by. And for that, I am most deeply grateful. I can imagine that you feel the same.
Sermon Series for August
Join us for Sunday morning worship at 10:30 AM in August as we consider what the Path looks like for the Church in the 21st century. The story of Lewis & Clark and their Corps of Discovery will inform our reflections about our way forward.
Ice Cream Competition Winners
Congratulations to Judy Wilkey, our 2018 homemade ice cream winner! In third place was Carol Hardman‘s peach ice cream, and our runner up was Afton Stout‘s red velvet cake ice cream. The People’s Choice Award went to Jeff Mathis and his gluten-free delight ice cream.
National Night Out at Bridge Park
A Note from Ray Dunn
A special thank you to our church family and friends for your prayers, calls, and cards of encouragement. My new heart valve is working great and I am feeling better daily. Marlene and I hope to get to the mountains by the end of August.
Blessings,
Ray Dunn
A Note from Ruth Crawford
My heart is filled with the deepest gratitude for you - my Church Family. Your prayers, cards, phone calls, visits and food have meant so much to me these last years and have sustained me through difficult times. Your prayers for my son, Jimmy Crawford, during the time of his bereavement and his cancer surgery and treatment, have brought me such comfort. He was able to come see me for my 95th birthday. What a joy that was. Thank you so very much. Ruth Crawford
Hope for the In-Between Times
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” John 14:27
I genuinely wish that it was not true. But it is. As we walk along the Path, we will encounter danger.
As we’ve identified in worship these last weeks, the Bible is littered with stories about how the faithful encountered trouble along the way. Peter was thrown in prison, where he awaited his impending execution. Paul’s journey to Rome made little progress and nearly took his life. Nehemiah was trying to rally the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem’s city walls when they encountered sabotage. Jesus tells the story of an individual who was attacked while traveling on the path and was left for dead by robbers.
We take consolation in the fact that God redeems these challenging moments and even uses them for good. Peter was rescued by an angel. People’s lives were saved because Paul’s boat kept getting blown off course. Nehemiah experienced the power and strength of community. And that poor soul who was beat up was tended to by a good-hearted neighbor.
To sum up a month’s worth of study, we’d quote Paul’s motivational speech from the deck of the ship that was being battered by the waves: “Take heart, friends!”
Be courageous. Have no fear. Do not lose heart.
Not all of our stories have happy endings, though, do they? I am troubled by this, too, brothers and sisters. To suggest otherwise would be flat out dishonest.
To live means to lose. The author of Ecclesiastes makes this point well-enough, but we really don’t need to turn to the Old Testament to learn this lesson. We know this to be true because the ways of our world are relentless and hard. It doesn’t always turn out the way we wish. Our prayers are not always answered. Bad things happen to us along the way.
Where then is our hope?
Our hope lies in a God who will not allow sorrow and pain to win. First the hard news: sometimes the sorrow and the pain that we experience in life does in fact win the day. Now the good news: the darkness that we experience will not win the war. Because of God’s love for us, and because of the power of the resurrection, we can forever claim God’s victory over eternal sorrow and eternal pain. This reality—this kingdom reality—is what keeps us going when we live a story that does not have a happy ending.
People of faith seem to understand that there may be (typically is) a sizeable gap between our hard stories and a happy ending. In fact, that happy ending may be delayed until the Great Day of the Lord. We have ultimate hope, yes. It’s the in-between time that weighs us down.
Jesus seemed to anticipate this reality when he was concluding his earthly ministry with his disciples. He grasped that his disciples would have to live in the in-between. He knew that there would be times when his followers would not feel the ultimate resolution and redemption of their circumstances. He knew that his followers would be disheartened, downcast and frightened.
So, he sought to reassure them.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
Jesus promises us peace for the in-between times. When we are experiencing hardship and challenge and have not yet experienced the hope of divine resolution, Jesus gives us peace.
I think it’s important to note that he does not promise to make it all better. Our well-intended parents used to lie to us when we were children, didn’t they? We would experience a boo boo, or a let-down, or a loss, and they would seek to comfort us with kisses, hugs, milkshakes, maybe even cash. And they would ask us, “Now, isn’t that better?”
Yes, we would nod. And we would lie, too.
It didn’t make it better. But our parents’ presence made a difference, didn’t it?
Jesus gives us peace—not as the world gives—but as only God can give. “Be of good courage,” He tells us. “Shrug off the troubles that weigh you down.”
Christ’s peace is decidedly hard to define. Perhaps it is the gift of non-anxiousness in the midst of stress and worry. Maybe it’s the sense of sanctuary that we experience when our world goes to hell. Maybe it’s the sensation of being held and of being swaddled in assurance and encouragement.
Whatever Christ’s peace is, it is enough. The Bible tells us so.
I like how Christian author, Frederick Buchner says it: “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”
But fear is so easy. How do we resist its inky darkness?
By choosing Christ. That’s how. For He stands with us in the in-between.
