Service for Julie

The memorial service for Julie Maxwell will be this Saturday at 1:00 pm, followed by lunch for family and friends. Julie was a beloved member of this church and cherished by her husband, Tracy, and her friends.

We hope you can be present.

NDE Study Off to a Good Start

We had 23 present for the first session at 9:30 am last Sunday. This will require us to move to the larger classroom next door for the remaining three or four sessions.

Each week someone who has had a near-death experience will share their story with the class.

This NDE study will be followed by an extended study of my to-be-published book, Discovering God. This study will also meet at 9:45 am each Sunday.

Breakfast This Sunday

It’s a “Winston Sunday.”

We had all 23 people from the NDE class join breakfast last week.

Food and fellowship at 10:30 am.

This Sunday

This is it: the sermon that will answer the question: Did God Kill Ananias and Sapphira?

See you in worship.

God Bless—MB

I have forgotten the date of our upcoming concert (and it is too late at night to call anyone to find out).

We will remind you on Sunday.

Or Jason or Mary may mention it in this newsletter. It is coming. And it will be great.

Greetings dear church and extended church family,

Blessings to all of you in the name of Jesus from Matthew 25. Blessings upon blessings to you for being who Jesus describes in Matthew 25. Our church is not the picture painted in the comments of Kaitlin Shelter that I read to you on Sunday morning. Our church is an affirming, welcoming, loving congregation that stands with arms wide open to our community. We do many things for our colleagues at Eastside Community Assistance. I do not doubt your engagement or your willingness to be the hands, feet, mouth, and resources of Jesus Christ to the least of these in our neighborhood. And then I stood before you on Sunday morning and asked you to consider doing more. I listed several things that we could do: groceries for folks who cannot buy food; a place to be when the temperatures are dangerously cold and maybe even when they are dangerously hot; a safe space for folks recovering from the trauma of addiction and/or abuse. There is a Title I elementary school just down the street from us. Those kiddos could use a friendly neighbor, I am almost certain. We could make an appointment with the counselor at the school to determine exactly how we can help.

I cannot do this alone, though, and I don’t want to do it without you. School starts in about 30 days. I am tentatively scheduling a meeting for August 4th after church at 12:30. Please plan on bringing a sack lunch with you to church. We will fellowship and discuss some feasible plans.

Blessings to all, Mary

This week, we met Mephibosheth. Do you remember him? He was the son of Jonathan, who was King Saul’s son.

Jonathan and David were best friends when they were young. Jonathan helped David escape when the king wanted to kill him. David and Jonathan made a promise that they would always protect each other’s families.

Many years later, after David is established as King, he sends for a man named Ziba, who had been a servant in King Saul’s household. Ziba asks if there are any survivors from Jonathan’s household. He learns that Jonathan has a son who is disabled. New kings often killed family members of the old king because they were afraid they would try to take the kingdom. Instead, David invites Mephibosheth to eat at his table each night, like a member of his family. David gives Mephibosheth the property that would have been his as Jonathan’s son.

We all need to know that we have a place to belong through God’s love. Because we want to show faithful love back to God, we must be like David and welcome and show love to those God loves.

See you in church on Sunday. Blessings