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Friends, please consider writing a devotion to share with your church family!
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Devotion for Sunday, May 31st
by Sam B.
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Dear Church Family,
The story of the first Pentecostal (coming of the Holy Spirit) in Acts 2 tells us that the faithful were together that fateful day “all in one place”. I continue to lament and be challenged over the continued nature of health and government advice regarding Co-Vid-19 while still unable to be physically together like our early brothers and sisters, worshiping in one house.
I also continue to be in thoughtful prayer for all those deeply impacted by this virus, especially those grieving loved ones and those dealing with heavy economic burden. Even though we are not together in one physical place, prayers bear witness to the ways we are still, by God’s grace, united, connected, made one in Jesus Christ through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
That belief is well articulated in the words of the Rev. Ed McLeod, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Raleigh, NC who recently said:
"Our church is already open.
We are open to the Spirit’s leading.
We are open to new opportunities for mission.
We are open to the stirring challenge of the call to discipleship.
We are open to anyone that wants to join us on the journey to faith.
We are open to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.
We are open to criticism when we fall short.
We are already open."
Rev. McLeod continues by saying: "We just happen to be worshiping in our homes, for now, as a way of promoting safety and mitigating risk, as an expression of love we have for our neighbors. We also are grateful for the technology that makes this possible, aware that we are richly blessed."
But we are already open.
Sam B.
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Note from Emile:
Dear Friends, like many of you, I am waking up this morning to news reports of violence and unrest that has spread throughout our country. These are reports that I am just beginning to process.
A few thoughts come through my mind - and keep in mind, these are just my thoughts:
First pray. Keep praying.
Second: The sin of racism is very real. It wounds people - created in the image of God - very deeply in a myriad of ways. It blocks opportunities and crushes dreams. And in its worst forms it excuses violence directed against fellow children of God. Anyone should be able to go out for a jog in peace without the prejudiced and hatred-fueled fears of others being a danger to their lives. All citizens should be able to have confidence in their interactions with police. Racism is a sin of which we both as a society and as individuals need to repent. We who have the privilege to pretend that racism is some relic of the past need to hear the sorrow and outrage of those protesting its cruel impacts today.
Third: I am appalled by the scenes of destruction from around our country from last night. Destruction of property is counter-productive - so often hurting innocent people, and violence against other people is always inexcusable.
Fourth: When I am watching or reading the news, I need to keep in mind that the news is trying to keep my attention. Chaos and violence sell.
Fifth: I need to be wary of those people who would exploit or inflame tensions between people to their own benefit.
Friends, this morning I pray for the people of our country. I pray for leaders to act with wisdom and compassion and good judgement. I pray for all of us to act in love towards our fellow children of God. I pray for the people of our nation who are hurting in this time of COVID, who are mourning those who have died, who are straining under lost jobs and businesses struggling to stay afloat. I pray for those who are frustrated that so much has changed and been lost so quickly, and I pray for those whose lives - already difficult because of inequalities - have been made even harder. I pray for those traumatized by racist violence. I pray for innocent bystanders in the midst of civil unrest. I pray for police officers as they are called upon to respond to that unrest - I pray for the safety of those officers and those who they encounter. I pray for Christ's Church - celebrating the Good News of Pentecost, but yearning to be there together to offer each other comfort and hope in these trying times. I pray this morning for all of us.
Please pray.
Emile
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"Brethren We Have Met to Worship - Virtual Choir Project
Friends, we are starting another Virtual Choir project. This one will be for worship in 2 weeks.
You don't have to play the ukulele or be a member of our Ukulele Choir or Chancel Choir to participate! Just record yourself singing!
How to participate:
1. Watch this video of Ed singing:
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"Brethren, We Have Met to Worship"
Base Track
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2. Download this copy of the music for the song: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1my_IiW45yld9b_AKYvrHKYVOWTEploQp
3. Make a recording of you singing this song in sync with Ed.
Sing any part!
To record in sync with Ed, you will need two devices:
- One phone or tablet to listen to the song video as you play along
- and a second camera/phone/tablet to record the video of you singing.
(PLEASE wear headphones while recording. This makes it much more likely that you will be in sync and makes the editing process easier.)
4. Then share the file with Emile by Google Drive, Drop Box or another file-sharing service. (The video will be too large to text or e-mail. If you need help, please ask!)
The deadline to send me a video will be Wednesday, June 10th at 5pm. After that I will begin editing the video together - and it is difficult add a late video after I've begun work.
5. Call or text Emile to make sure I got the video. (Sometimes file transfers don't work the first time - especially if you've not sent a file to me before. I REALLY don't want to accidentally leave out someone who recorded a song!)
Thank you all! The more voices the better!
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