Church Family Update - June 3, 2020

First, some good news:

Here is some good news that was passed along to me by another member of our congregation. It’s a link to a VBS curriculum that is being made available online for free since so many VBS programs have been cancelled. I have not personally looked at this curriculum so this is not a personal recommendation from me. Just something you might want to check out if you’re looking to do something at home for VBS:

https://answersingenesis.org/vbs/incrediworld2020/

A prayer request:

Last night our council met once again via zoom. It was good to be “together” again and we had a productive meeting. Perhaps the highlight of the meeting was when Wilbur suddenly disappeared and we were all left staring at a thin trail of smoke rising from his empty chair. (Or maybe that smoke was just my overactive imagination?) For a minute there we all thought that Wilbur had been raptured and the rest of us were left behind to face the apocalypse without him! Thankfully, he reappeared a few moments later. I was especially relieved because if this really is the apocalypse, I don’t want to go through it without Wilbur. 

We spent most of our time talking about the process of slowly reopening our Sunday morning worship services. 

Our current plan is twofold. First, we’re going to construct a protocol for reopening based on the guidelines for religious gatherings given to us by the government of Alberta. Second, we will get feedback from the congregation to determine what percentage of our congregation is interested in attending a service with these guidelines in place. So be on the lookout for communication from council regarding the process of reopening.

The prayer request is simply this: please pray for our council members. Yesterday in the devotional thought I talked about servant leadership. I am thankful that our council members embody this Christlike way of leading. But we continue to need your prayers and support as we seek the Lord’s will for Ebenezer and attempt to lead with humility and wisdom. 

A devotional thought:

“How blissful those now weeping, for you shall laugh.” (Luke 6:21)

Lately I’ve been reading a new translation of the New Testament done by an Eastern Orthodox scholar that I admire. I like reading different translations because sometimes they help me to look at familiar verses in a new way. 

When I read the verse above, I just had to stop and think about what it promises. That verse comes in a section of the Sermon on the Mount called the Beatitudes in which Jesus pronounces a blessing upon various groups of people who suffer hardship in this life. I’m so familiar with this passage of Scripture that I can be tempted to sleep through it when I read it. But for some reason, the language of this translation stopped me in my tracks.

“How blissful those now weeping, for you shall laugh.” Maybe it caught my eye because there’s so much weeping going on in the world right now. This verse is like an island of hope in a sea of tears. What I noticed is that this verse gives a present blessing based on a future state of affairs.

It doesn’t say that those who are weeping will one day in the future be blissful. Rather, it invites the weeping into a present blissfulness. Even as the tears are falling, the weeping can be blissful. Why? Because the time for laughter is coming. 

Even though this world is at times sad and painful, weeping doesn’t get the last word. Laughter wins!! This verse is not a denial of pain and suffering and tears. This verse isn’t saying, “Don’t worry, be happy!” This verse both validates our pain and suffering but also promises that they won’t last forever.

Somehow, in ways that I don’t even pretend to understand, God is going to undo the bad things that have happened and right the wrongs and make everything new. And our tears will turn into laughter.  

May you have a joy-filled day today.

And even if you’re sad or suffering, I pray that you may find a reason to laugh today. 

Many blessings,

Pastor Jason