Inside Evergreen

Dear Evergreeners,

(1) We have a congregational meeting in two days, on Wednesday the 28th, as part of our bi-weekly LifeTogether gathering.

Children, except those in the nursery, will join parents for the first 10-12 minutes, in order to ensure that children’s ministry volunteers are able to participate in the voting. (Our nursery workers are hired help from outside the church.)
According to our denomination’s Book of Church Order, only members are able to vote in an election of new elders.
But the meeting is open to everyone who claims Evergreen as home, and I hope you’ll all be able to come. After the election, we’ll engage other topics of church life.
For your encouragement and interest, our two elder candidates have written brief statements about their eagerness to serve as elders. Click here for Siji Adewunmi’s and click here for Sean Molloy’s.

(2) Parents, it’s time for me to confess a smidge of holy envy.

You get to worship with your children every week! I only get to do that on vacation.
I know it may not always feel like a privilege, especially when the snacks run out or the crayons break. If I haven’t told you previously about my experience of getting called out in the middle of a service for having a less-than-silent child…well, I get that it’s not always simple to worship with your children.
At the same time, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me.” God wants them in fellowship with him, and he gives parents the lead role in bringing them. Your parenting in worship rings with eternal significance!
If you’re stuck on how to maximize this opportunity, I’d be happy to troubleshoot. It might be as simple as sitting directly next to a child, using your finger to guide through prayers and songs and responses. During the sermon, you can help kids who read to listen for the keywords in the kids’ worship guide or even just to draw pictures connected to parts of the sermon.
As I pray for you all, I pray for each child by name, and recently the Lord has impressed upon me the importance of praying for their worship…which means I’m praying for you in this too.

(3) The last two weeks of Adult Ed discussions have raised a number of robust questions about theology.

Many thanks to all of you who have participated, both verbally and simply by your presence. I feel privileged to belong to a church where God is stirring minds to seek his truth actively in community.
Yesterday’s conversation addressed topics especially related to sacraments, and I sensed that, if time permitted, we could easily have ventured much further into fascinating horizons.
I suspect we will have a few minutes at the congregational meeting for follow-up, and I’d be happy to engage things further, if you like. Hit me up in advance if that feels more comfortable than voicing your question in public.

(4) Yesterday’s sermon text (Acts 13:1-12) also offered horizons for further exploration.

Like in v. 1—Luke mentions five leaders of the church in Antioch: Barnabas, a man of peace and wisdom; Simeon, noted for the darker color of his skin; Lucius from the North African city Cyrene, renowned for its massive temple to the Roman god Apollo; Manaen, a lifelong friend of Herod, the one who authorized the beheading of John the Baptist; and Saul. The church was multi-ethnic and loaded with witnesses to the transforming grace of God. May the Lord favor us with more, similar stories in our church!
v. 2—"the Holy Spirit said…” How did he speak? We might want to imagine an audible voice. Wouldn’t that be a bucket-list experience? But Luke tells us the church was hip-deep in worship and fasting. It’s far likelier, given many other inputs as well, that the Spirit spoke by directing the thoughts and desires of the church into unity. Today, in our stream of the Church, this language may be unfamiliar, but this divine encounter is normative. We cannot overestimate the value of seeking God earnestly together.
v. 9—Luke introduces Saul’s alternate name. Now the story will speak about “Paul,” which nestles nicely into Luke’s narrative development. “Saul” is a Jewish name, while “Paul” is Roman, and with this episode the story turns decisively away from Jewish Christianity in Jerusalem in order to show us the gospel stretching to the “ends of the earth.”
No doubt there’s more, but I need to stop now!

The Lord’s blessings to you all. I look forward to being with you on Wednesday…or whenever the Spirit re-unites us.

Your brother and pastor, Christopher