Pastoral Letter for a Distributed Church May 28, 2020 Dear friends, The above graphic is a nice way to let you know that A) there is a plan, and B) you should keep reading. This is the eleventh pastoral letter of the coronavirus pandemic and I hope it finds you staying alive and well and hopeful! The Governor of Virginia is moving slowly to reopen the Commonwealth an...

This week, we've come to yet another well-known passage in The Gospel of Mark. And that's the story of Blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52. One of the things I like about Mark is that he arranges his gospel stories to make a point. The last few weeks we've seen Jesus welcome the little children, followed by the Rich Young Ruler who declines Jesus' welcome. Then we had Jame...

If you're not already having a sense of dj vu due to the pandemic, this week's passage should make you think that we're repeating ourselves. We'll be looking at Mark 10:32-45. In this passage, we find the 3rdinstance of Jesus foretelling His death and resurrection. The last time we saw Him do this, we were in chapter 9. And staying true to form, the disciples reacted to Hi...

Dear friends, The above graphic is a just another way of reminding us that the church is made up of the people in it. In fact, the word used most in the New Testament to describe the "church" is ekklesia, meaning "the assembly of the called." Now, understanding the definition of ekklesia is an important component of understanding what the church is and what the church is ...

This week, we've come to another well-known passage in The Gospel of Mark. And that's the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10:17-31. One of the things I find most interesting about this story is how it's placed right after Jesus' teaching that "whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." Because it sure doesn't seem like the Rich Youn...

This week, we've come to a short passage in The Gospel of Mark. And that's because, with the cancellation of our Officer's Retreat, we also lost the Officer Retreat Speaker for Sunday, May 17th. So, I took the passage originally intended for this Sunday and split it in two. And that's okay, since this passage,Mark 10:13-16, talks about children, and this Sunday is Mother's...

Dear friends, As the weeks drag on, the purpose of this letter has subtly shifted. Back when this whole thing started, it was a way to get information out to everyone about what we were doing and how things would shift online. We struggled together to adjust to the new normal, and for the most part, we've settled into the new pattern of life. And so, while the pastoral le...

This week, we’ve come to a hard part of The Gospel of Mark.  And that’s Mark 10:1-12 which is on the subject of Jesus and divorce.  And that’s a challenge, because we have a number of folks in our church who have been divorced and possibly remarried.  However, Jesus has some hard words to say here.  And because I preach right through books, and don’t skip any...

Dear friends, The above graphic is a fun way of reminding you not to skip church this Sunday just because it's just so easy to do. It's easy to say, "I'll watch it later" but it's also easy to forget. The staff has been fascinated by the YouTube viewing analytics which show us how many views we get, what's the average time, what's the total time, etc. (BTW, the average ti...

At my community group this past Sunday, I shared that I felt like so much of our time in isolation/social distancing has been spent in survival mode. We've had to adjust, adapt, and persevere through the hardships and stresses of this time. But I don't want to simply persevere. I don't want to simply endure; I want to thrive. The problem that I keep running into is that "...