I hope you and yours are enjoying the early summer. I can’t wait for our tomatoes to ripen! I continue to give thanks for the joys of participating with you as partners in the Christian ministry. I marvel at how so many of you spend so much time and energy advancing the Realm of God. Life is certainly a constant struggle between satisfying our own desires and serving others. But Jesus was pretty clear that the path to spiritual joy and fulfillment is one where we love our neighbors as ourselves and even love and pray for our enemies. But that does not mean we pray for our enemies to continue down a destructive and selfish path; it means that we pray for their redemption and for reconciliation with God, their neighbors, and enemies. If we remain on this path of empathy and love, we find that we are blessed with God’s grace that leads to great joy and peace. So, I continue to give thanks to God for all the creative ways you serve God by serving the church.
This Sunday I will preach on two different lists from the Apostle Paul in his Letter to the Galatians. List one contains the sins of the flesh, and list two the fruit of the Spirit. A member of our congregation gave us a beautiful framed needlepoint version of the fruit of the Spirit three decades ago that still hangs in our home.
If Jesus’ great summary of the Christian life is “love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and love your neighbor as you love yourself,” Paul’s is the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.” If every Christian in the world embodied these virtues every day, what a transforming influence this would have! This would smother the greed, anger, pride, aggression, and self-centeredness that rule the day. Surely, this is why Paul ended chapter 12 of his First Letter to the Corinthians by saying, “Let me show you a still more excellent way.” Then came the most beautiful chapter on love that the world has ever seen: “If I speak in tongues of mortals and angels and have not love, I am a noisy gong or clanging cymbal …. So, faith, hope, love abide, but the greatest of these is love.”
As I drive around this lovely city of oaks in the first week of summer, I give thanks to God for this beautiful place we get to call home. But even more beautiful are the people who quietly go about their business every day with a smile on their face and a song in their heart, treating all God’s creatures with the respect, empathy, and love they deserve. May God continue to bless us as we strive to embody the fruit of the Spirit and live in God’s Kingdom, one overflowing with amazing grace and steadfast love. I hope to see you in church on Sunday if you are in town. If not, please know that you will be missed.
Request for Montreat – Member Melody Allen does an amazing job of being mindful of special dietary needs AND planning delicious meals for our youth in Montreat. In the past, she has asked for specific food donations to help stretch her meal budget. This year, Melody hopes to simplify her task, and is asking for general MC/VISA gift cards, since the grocery store she uses doesn’t have an equivalent in the Triangle. If you are able to drop by a gift card of any denomination, I know she’ll be so appreciative.
In addition, Tom Carrigan would love to add some items from folks’ gardens for the trip as well. Please talk with Tom to coordinate when he’d like to get your fresh grown veggies, herbs, and fruit.
If you prefer to shop, here are a few items that are always helpful: pancake mix, syrup, microwave popcorn, hard corn taco shells, brownie and muffin mixes, canned fruit, chips, cookies (Oreo's especially), spaghetti noodles, sauce, and Kraft mac 'n' cheese packages.
You may bring the gift cards and items to the church office.
Please note the update to summer communion dates: Sunday, August 4th and Sunday, August 25th.
We are delighted to share worship space with Emmanuel Presbyterian and Iglesia Santuario. Often our congregations work together, for workdays and for special Sundays, such as World Communion Sunday in the fall. We are grateful to each church’s leadership and their congregants for their careful use of our shared space, and for their financial contributions to Trinity’s Extraordinary Revenue Fund.
(Pictured above: children from Santuario Iglesia)
