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A reflection on the cross by Jay Gregus:

Step by step, he climbed the hill,
Knowing what it meant, but walking still.
His wounds were deep, but would deepen still, 
till a chiseled tomb...

I mentioned this morning that Deuteronomy gives us seven principles in building a community of concern, a community of people who are caring for one another's needs in ways pleasing to the Lord. Here are those seven.

We had some technical issues Sunday with our sermon on Deuteronomy 5:20, so we decided to put the sermon notes into a blog post.

Hand of Hope has announced plans for a special walk for life event this year. This year's walk will be a virtual walk to allow for greater flexibility, but it will be coordinated with five other pregnancy centers across the state!

Over the last few months we’ve gone from the reality of COVID-19 to a global economic upheaval to the death of George Floyd to riots and looting in cities across America. These recent events feel unrelated and distinct, but they aren’t. They’re simply ripple effects of something that happened thousands of years ago and which shapes everything we experience in this world.

The elders are grateful that the church will be able to begin meeting together again on Sunday mornings. It will be a mixture of praise, joy, gratefulness, and awkwardness. We are glad to be back together, but recognize that the changes in our schedule, physical space, and safety protocols will feel unnatural and frustrating at times.

Thank you for your commitment to bearing with one another and with your leaders as we seek to honor the Lord, provide a safe environment, and encourage one another through gathering together in these strange times.

Currently we find ourselves in the midst of a lot of change, especially when it comes to our routines. One thing that doesn’t change is God’s word and the truth contained in it. Jesus told his disciples that if we would abide in his word we would know the truth and it would set us free.  

Last week in our sermon we looked at Romans 15, God’s guidance for handling disagreements between Christians. Seems like a worthwhile topic to revisit here.

COVID-19 brings with it a lot of opportunity for disagreements:

• Should the church follow the government’s orders or practice civil disobedience?
• Should churches add protocols for COVID or keep things as normal?
• Who are the medical and public health voices we should listen to?

It’ll feel a little different to gather while maintaining what we now call “social distance.” This six feet of space we call “social distance” is just a tad farther than normal. It’s basically the distance of a fist bump where you don’t quite land it.

This isn’t brand new, though. If your family had the stomach bug or the flu is blowing through the children’s ministry, you wash your hands a lot. You might even stay out of children’s ministry. Sometimes you don’t shake hands.

As of Tuesday night, May 5th, our church became a member of Trinity Fellowship Churches. Our elders signed the Partnership Agreement Friday May 1st and then Tuesday night the General Assembly of TFC voted to receive us. For this post I want to share some of the key aspects of TFC.