What a week it has been for our Refugee Ministry!  We are so excited to meet the Ukranian Family on Saturday, August 13 at 5:30pm at BWI.  If you can make it out to greet and welcome Yurii, Nataliia, Sasha, Ivan, and Stefan, please do!  So many things have come together for this to happen.  If you haven’t been following Realm closely, the Lord has provided greatly in the form of a townhouse.  If you recall, the single biggest hurdle to sponsoring a refugee family was the housing piece.  There were days when the team and the staff wondered what the Lord was going to do to provide housing.  We thought through some pretty outside the box ideas, and there were some pretty discouraging moments.  But continued to walk in faith and pray that the Lord would provide.  And provide He did!  The speed that this became available to us after our pairing with the family and the fact that it checks every box we were hoping for is amazing!  Praise God!

There are also some other things that need your help.  This Saturday, there is a move to get some furniture into the townhouse at 9:30am.  If you’re able to help out, please let Josh K know and he’ll give you the details.  There is also a Sign-up Genius for some household items to help make the transition smooth. 

And while lots of exciting things are happening, we also want to prepare our hearts to receive God’s Word this Sunday.  We’re continuing our series in Biblical priorities with “Know First”.  Our passage is 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.  It’s a passage that lays out the foundation of the Gospel, and hopefully isn’t new news to any of you.  But there is a danger in familiarity.  We have heard about Jesus’s death and resurrection every week from the pulpit (praise God!).  And yet, I encourage you to try to come to these familiar events with new eyes, searching for new depths to the wonder that the Lord of the Universe died for me and that a man, a true man, rose from the dead in victory over our greatest enemy.  I encourage you to meditate on how well you know these simple and familiar truths.  Do they animate your moment-to-moment life, or do they usually sit on the sidelines to be called into play during church events and morning quiet times?  Let us be honest about our relationship with these foundational doctrines so that we might approach the Lord’s Table this Sunday well, in repentance and worship for the One who is our hope.  Can’t wait to see you Sunday!