Today! Wednesday, March 3
6:00pm Fellowship, 6:30pm Worship

“Holy Vessels – Safekeeping”

You are invited to have a blanket with you to participate in tonight’s Ritual Action.

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Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/97223596179?pwd=Z1RqbXpJd0xuK1lLb2lBaTVIR3pCQT09

Meeting ID: 972 2359 6179
Passcode: 116529
For Audio Only, dial 346 248 7799

Pandemic Task Force Asks For Your Help

In an effort to assist the Task Force in making decisions about when it is safe to re-open our sanctuary for in-person worship, we are asking for your help. We would like each one of you to provide information about how your family has been impacted by the virus. Debra Lochtrog will compile a list which will be shared with the Task Force. Please know that NO personal information will be shared publicly. It will ONLY be used as a tool for helping the Task Force.

Please contact Debra at dlochnurse@icloud.com, or call/text her at
817-706-7580 with the following information:

1. Have you or anyone in your immediate family tested positive for COVID-19?
2. Have you received the COVID vaccine?

Date of vaccine?
Did you receive the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine?
Have you received both doses?

3. Are you planning to get the vaccine?

Tom’s Turn - Take up Your Cross? Really?

How about some Bible study this week? After Sunday’s sermon one of our folks wrote asking about the use of the word "cross" prior to the crucifixion, referring to Jesus saying his followers must “take up their cross”. It’s a great question. What are we to make of it?
Might Jesus have been foreshadowing his crucifixion by saying that? Or was "take up [your] cross" more a reflection of language that may have already developed in the church of Mark's generation (probably 35 to 40 years after Jesus)? Was it, perhaps, a phrase or even part of a song of the early church to which he was writing or out of which he had grown up and been trained? Or was it just Mark being blunt? Earlier in the passage Mark has Jesus simply saying that he would likely be killed, without specifying the means. But when he speaks of his followers he speaks of “their cross.”
To begin it’s important to note that this picture of Jesus talking about his suffering in advance of it appears only in Mark and those who copied from or depended on him as a source (that is, only Matthew (cf. 16.21) and Luke (cf. 9.22)). Neither John, nor Paul, nor any of the other writers we have in the New Testament write of such a prediction. It is very likely that the historical Jesus understood suffering to be an inevitable part of speaking the truth and standing up for justice just like it had been for the prophets before him. But Mark and, by extension, Matthew and Luke, are placing these words in the mouth of Jesus for theological reasons, not biographical ones, and to speak a word to his church.
I suspect mid-to-late first century Christians like Mark and his audience were far less concerned than you and I are about whether Jesus actually said those words or even when he might have said them. The scandalous thought that the Messiah should die was already an established fact for Mark’s church. The shocking thing for Christians by this time (again, maybe 65 or 70 A.D.) was that disciples would have a share in that suffering. That, you see, was already their lived experience. Mark's church knew crucifixions on a large scale, including the crucifixions of Peter and hundreds, maybe thousands of other Christians by Nero, even some in the very garden of the imperial palace in Rome. So, whereas for you and me, to "take up [our] cross" is an admonition to steadfast faithfulness the nature of which we're not really sure, but we're pretty sure it won't mean death, the folks in Mark's church knew exactly the meaning of taking up ones cross. They had seen it with their eyes and heard it in the screams of their friends.
Now, if that shakes you to the core of your being, I think Mark intended just that. He intended that for his church and for our own.
The gospels are not news accounts or historical biographies, nor are they personal memoirs of the sort you and I might write about some events or persons of a few decades ago. No, they are theological writings declaring the presence and power of God the authors were convinced had been revealed in the man Jesus of Nazareth. And they are testaments to what that life, that Jesus, meant and still means for all the world and for every one of us who live in it. If you are not shocked to new courage by “take up [your] cross” let me suggest that you should be!

I’ll see you online next Sunday morning. Please remember to share any of our worship, devotionals, Bible studies, and so forth on your social media pages. Share the Good News with your smile – and your mask! To prepare for worship Sunday read Mk. 5.1-13. Even the crazies (even the craziness in you) can be healed.

Peace,
Tom

Join In Saturday Food Distribution

Our friends at Community Christian Church have invited us to join with them in distributing food to some of our neighbors who are in need. We will begin setting up at 8:00 next Saturday morning, March 6^th. The food distribution is scheduled from 9:30 to 11:30. But they normally run out within the first hour. Then there’s plenty of work to do in cleaning up.
To join in the effort simply come to Community Christian Church, 1800 E. Vickery Blvd., Fort Worth 76104. That’s the corner of Vickery and S. Riverside. Come at 8:00 (or whenever you can). It’s a fun and worthwhile effort.

New Concerns

Kathy Thames (Moffett friend)
Bob Meece
Charlotte H. (Styles friend)
Tina Gonzales

Members

Curtis Aydelotte, Cheryl Beach, Payten Bihm, Betty Booth, Tom Boozer,
Pat Brazelton, Betty Bullard, Joe Don Conger, Cherilyn Dodson,
Charles Duke, Christopher Gonzales, Cookie Hargrave, David Hargrave,
Lynn Johnson, Nell Johnson, Ken Keener, Richard Manone, Bob Meece, Hannaphen Park, Melanie Peoples, Hubeart Savage, Jack Whisenand,
Denise White, Mary Wilcox

Nonmembers

Tommy Baker, Cay Billingsley, Rev. Bob Bosworth, Breanne, Rita Bryan,
Robin Bunker, Amanda Carey, Ed Christy, Kristen Cleveland,
Jaycie Nicole Marie Decker, Nancy Eilert, Britt Farmer, Corinne Gilliam,
Laura Ivie, Gloria Jackson, Kenslee Jackson, Russell Johnson, Eloice Lewis,
Jim Long, Rachel Orth, Kerri Madden, Charles Murphy, James R. Pegg,
Garrett Perales, Rev. Bill Perry, Sue Platt, Kathy Pugh, Nathan Reno,
Marissa Roberts, Debbie Sanders, Harry Sanders, Erin Smith,
Mike & Candy Smith, Tommy Steele, Ray & Mary Ann Stone, Jim Stotsky,
Alan Thompson,Dan Toombs, Taffi Wehe, Steve & Emily Whitson, Ron Wood

Grateful thanks to Adrian and Ronda Park for a safe transport to the home of Debra Lochtrog and Bill Carrell. It was warm, and there was a glowing fireplace, and Chuck and I were very cold. The food was hot and my bed was warm, for two nights. How very thankful we are to each of you and for the church which binds us together.

--Emma and Chuck Gardner

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Dear Rev. Plumbley,

Thank you so much for your recent contribution towards our Community Eye Clinic in Fort Worth. We greatly appreciate your generosity, and on behalf of Dean Twa and Dr. Jennifer Deakins, we are so thankful! As always, please let me know if I can be of any assistance to you.

Sarat Pratapchandran, Director of Advancement
College of Optometry, University of Houston

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612 Throckmorton Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102

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