“Do not let your hearts be troubled, and neither let them be afraid.” Jesus said these words to His closest friends, really like His church family, the disciples, the night before He knew He was going to be sentenced to death. As part of the last few things He could tell them, He chose these words. Jesus did not want them to worry or be paralyzed by fear, or to give up, or to lose hope. It was said for specific circumstances, but I believe these words of Jesus were preserved for the generations to follow to apply to what we have gone through and what we are going through right now.
These are times of such fast-paced change, I am hardly able to keep up. We just finished a Directional Team meeting during which we tried to plan for fall and out to Christmas. But we found that all our planning is tentative these days as we do not know what next week holds. Perhaps that is the word for 2020. Tentative. Because even though all of life is in a way tentative as we never know exactly what will come, this year we are faced with it more than normal. Tentative. We try to plan how to: do school for the kids, schedule work, consider if, how and when we might travel, try to maintain our finances when many are really struggling, stay in touch with family who live in places we are unable to visit in person due to high infection rates. Lisa and I are face-timing more than we did, but long to hug our parents, children and grandchildren, but face quarantine (we both work in medical field outside church) when we return if we travel there. And in our medical jobs, policies change more than weekly. Tentative. But just when we lay out what sounds like a good plan, something changes. That might be what affects me the most, because I like to have an idea of what to expect.
Then I am reminded by Jesus’ words not to let our hearts become troubled or afraid. Or in Philippians 4:6 not to be anxious but be prayerful in everything. Sometimes it is easier said than done, but God never leaves us alone to make this happen on our own strength. Our ever-present God of love, forgiveness, encouragement and eternity goes right alongside us in everything we do, or as maybe we should think of it, we go alongside God as God directs and guides us. Deuteronomy 31:8 “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
In all this change I think we need to count on two things.
1. God is Good! In fact, God is Love. 1 John 4:8
2. God is in control.
There are certainly things I would like to see go differently, and if God asks, I am glad to share those preferences, but until then we are invited (for our own good and that of all of creation) to trust in God’s goodness and ability. So my prayerful hope for self and others is to grow in trust – reflected in my choices, behavior, thoughts and plans – that God has this covered like God always has before. And that we will continue to Be The Church embracing that trust and helping others embrace it as well so that OUR HEARTS WILL NOT BE TROUBLED AND NEITHER WILL THEY BE AFRAID.
ROOTED - On Sept 13 we will be launching a new session of ROOTED. If you would like to know more about this powerful 10 week lifegroup experience, visit the info page at this link.
Care Calendar - We wanted to let you know that the Murray care calendar will continue to be updated as needs arise, so be sure to login and check it out on occasion. You can access the calendar here https://www.carecalendar.org/logon/292904 Security Code: PSteve
NextGen Kid’s Day – Mark your calendars for Sunday, Sept 20 at 10 am. We are planning an outdoor kid’s day to kick-off NextGen for the Fall. All campuses’ kids and NextGen leaders are invited to attend and participate. Please contact Glenda Maglio if you have any questions or would like to help! We are also planning to launch our NextGen program for the year beginning in October. We are still figuring things out but more details are coming soon!