Auburn Christian Church

By Pastor Nate Powell

You have your favorite bands and I have mine. We love to sing along to the words of those songs that we know, and those lyrics often have a deep resonation within us, reminding us of truths that we hold to or people that we love.

That being said, a favorite band of mine penned some of the following lyrics, and I will often be found singing along when I’m jamming to them in the car:

• “My sleep was shattered by blinding light / High and lifted up upon His throne / Was the great I AM and me alone / Jehovah´s glory was all about / All heaven shook with the angel shout: / “Three times holy is this God of might” / Here am I / Send me / Here am I / Take me / Here am I / Use me / Here am I / Spend me / Send me, take me, use me, spend me / I am not my own.”
• “Let´s hate all that is evil / And stick with what is good / or else we mock the Man who died / Upon a cross of wood.”
• “Offering’s the time when proving piety’s a cinch / Thumbing Andrew Jacksons, so that all can catch a glimpse / Your right hand tells your left hand the great sacrifice you’ve made / But the widow’s penny next to you just blew your wad away.”

I could go on with great quotes from one of my favorite bands. The name of the band is One Bad Pig, and they are a Christian Punk Band that landed on the Christian Metal scene in the late 80’s and early 90’s. They had some super quirky, funny and novel things about them, but the funny part is that they have lyrics that have dug their way into my head, and have left a tremendous impact on my faith from the time I was in High School. The guys in OBP love the Lord, a couple of the guys in the band are pastors and their lyrical theology chops are as deep as reading a systematic theology book.

As I was preaching about the washing of the feet and what Christ was willing to do in his incarnation, I was reminded of the lyrics of another OBP song. These lyrics remind me of what Jesus did in his foot washing, his healing and all that he did in his ministry to people. He was clean. They were dirty. But he was not afraid to get his hands dirty.

Get Your Hands Dirty (music/lyrics by Paul Q-Pek):

Click here to listen to the song, if you dare!

“You were sinking deep in sin

You were lost but now you’re found

Been washed whiter than snow

Don’t be afraid to touch the ground

Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty

To the punks and the prostitutes

The homeless, poor and needy

You are called to the least of these

Don’t be afraid to love the unlovely

Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty

The Son of Man wrote in the dirt

He spit, made mud and healed the blind

He saw me wallowing deep in my sin

And he embraced this filthy swine

Christ our Lord, he got his hands dirty!

Praise the Lord, he got his hands dirty!”

As a pastor, I don’t really care that much about getting you into any type of music … Christian Punk may not be your cup of tea. But I am very into growing a group of disciples at ACC who are becoming more like Jesus. Remember this week: He washed feet. He got his hands dirty so we could be clean. And he calls us to love like he has loved us. Remember his words: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15)

Are you willing to get your hands dirty this week with the savior to love and serve those God has placed around you?

Hearts clean. Hands dirty. Let’s serve!

Pastor Nate

By Pastor Nate Powell

Spineless // Definition: 1) having no spine or backbone, invertebrate. 2) lacking resolution, weak or purposeless.

Again, this past Sunday, in preaching thru John, there was a short 2 verse section that I didn’t comment on, but wanted to make sure I addressed in this space this week.

In John 12:37-41, John is reminding the reader of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled when people did not believe in Jesus. All who were opposing Jesus were unwitting tools in the hands of God in their unbelief. But there is another group of people noted among the Jewish leadership. We read of them in verses 42-43: “Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees then did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. For they loved human praise more than praise from God.”

What is John describing here? He is describing someone who is spineless. They say they believe something, but they don’t believe it enough to speak up. He’s saying that there were Pharisees who had fully put the signs, words and clues together. They knew that Jesus was the Messiah. They were leaders in a position of leadership. But it says they did not confess him because they didn’t want to be banned from the synagogue. Their life was not in danger. Their health was not in danger. But their social status was in danger. They were too afraid to speak about Jesus, because they cared way too much about their standing among the other Jewish leaders.

“They loved human praise more than praise from God.” We can look at this statement on its face and understand that this is as despicable as the mindset of those who rejected Jesus, which is why the two types of Jewish leaders are listed together in this passage. Those who don’t believe and those who believe but stay silent are cut from the same cloth.

This idea of loving praise from people more than praise from God will ALWAYS be one of the biggest temptations for the Christian. It will always be easier for us to stay silent when it comes to wrongdoing & injustice than it is to speak out. It will always be easier for us to stay silent about the fact that we follow Jesus than to speak up. Praise of people will always be more desirable because it is immediate, it is convenient, and it is pleasing to our sinful flesh. Pride wants the praise of people. Humility seeks to serve people and honor God. These are directly opposed to one another.

There are currently Christians in our own country who have faced lawsuits, lost jobs, and faced very public derision because of their public stands against what is false and for what is right in their own lives. The articles I’ve linked to above are just the tip of the iceberg of the challenges that are increasingly faced lately, and may even be faced by us or people close to us.

Christian, today is not the moment for the spinelessness of the church. We must remember who we serve and who we are founded upon: Jesus Christ. He is the cornerstone of the church. (Ephesians 2:19-21) He is the King of Kings. (1 Tim 6:15) And he demonstrated the way of the cross, to lay down his life for his church and for what is true. (John 10:11) We should ask a few critical questions today:

• What cultural/philosophical idols are we being asked to bow down to? (Col 3:5)
• On what truths are we being asked to compromise? (2 John 7-11)
• In what senses are we being asked to call evil good, or good evil? (Isa 5:20)
• Toward what ends are our words being pressured into silence? (Eph 5:11, Prov 31:9)

There are answers to these questions. Are your eyes open to see them? Do not be pressured into silence to please people. Do not be pressured into losing your identity in Christ. “Do not conform, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2) Let’s stand strong in the Lord and be known as a people who have a spine.

Looking to stand stronger today than yesterday,

Pastor Nate

• Humans are image bearers // Genesis 1:26-27: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” When God creates humans, he says they are his special creations. To take a human life is much different that simply a decision to put a cat to sleep or to take the life of livestock for food. The human life is distinct, with God-given dignity and worth. We are the pinnacle of his creation and should be treated as such.
• Man and Woman’s gift of sexuality are intended for marriage and family // Genesis 1:28: “And God blessed [man & woman, created in His image]. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.’” Genesis 2:24: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” From the beginning, God’s plan was for mankind to form families as husband & wife. Their calling is to live in covenant as one flesh, “til death do us part”, and to reproduce as God blesses and allows. This is God’s intention for our sexuality, our marriages and his design for the safe upbringing of our children.
• Children are a blessing // Psalm 127:3: “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” Mark 10:14: [Jesus said] “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Children are to be viewed by all people as a blessing, not a burden. They are his beautiful creations, and He loves them.
• Murder is the taking of innocent life // Exodus 20:13: “You shall not murder.” The sixth commandment of the 10 commandments is quite clear: Murder goes against God’s law. All the rest of biblical morality falls in line with this command. To murder in the biblical sense is to put to death improperly; that is selfishly for selfish reasons. Specifically, this has to do with the taking of innocent human life. By all means and definitions, a baby or child is the most innocent and defenseless among us.
• Children in the womb are people // Psalm 139:13: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Jeremiah 1:5: [The Lord says to Jeremiah] “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” As well in Luke 1:41, when Mary and Elizabeth meet, each pregnant with Jesus and John the Baptist respectively, the text says that the “baby leaped in [Elizabeth’s] womb.” John has an awareness of being in the presence of Jesus. In all these cases, the scripture clearly treats the child in the womb with personhood and respect. They are worthy of being called a person, and are worthy of life.

• Prioritize Prayer Daily: Set timers if you have to. Keep a list. Let the news you receive from the media or from others impact your heart enough to bring it before The Lord in prayer. We are called as believers to never cease in praying (1 Thess 5:17). It is our first ministry. Let’s give it our first priority and not be desensitized to what is happening in the world or in the lives of those around us.
• Turn Off the News: Your pastor is giving you permission. If your TV gets tuned to the news each evening for an entire evening of learning what’s wrong with the world, you have my permission to change the channel or turn the device off. Bad news filling all your free time does nothing to help your attitude in terms of loving your neighbor or doing something to address the issues the world is facing.
• Give Social Media a Break: Your pastor is giving you permission on this one as well. Social media is a powerful tool, but without limits, social media can fill all the other free time that you TV can’t. Those news feeds are meant to monopolize your time, feed off of your fears and the things that fire you up, and like many things in life, are not healthy if they are not used in moderation. So, commit to a break, set limits, delete the app if you need to.
• Connect with People and Needs around you: Who are you connecting with to help grow in their faith? Who is helping yours to grow? Your first impact is to be with your family, then with your neighbor. So go to coffee, connect with others, share the love of God and study His word. Serve at your church. When you see the needs around you in the world, let them stir you to action. Attend a school board meeting. Write a congressman/woman. Give time or money to a charity that helps meet the needs. We are to be the people living out Micah 6:8 every day and every week: doing justly, loving mercy, walking humbly with God.

By Pastor Nate Powell

              I don’t just wing it to come up with what I’m going to preach each week. I pray about it over the long term. I come to rest in a portion or book of scripture. Then we preach tactically and fully thru it.  In doing so, we try to make sure we preach thru the whole thing, especially the parts that may spark lots of questions.

Currently, we’ve been preaching thru the Gospel of John, and all I can say is “WOW!” I knew John, and I have loved John as a gospel, but studying it in depth has been both a true challenge and a blessing to me. It’s challenging in that the messages and patterns of the book are very clear, purposeful and repetitive. The purpose is to call you to belief in Jesus! (John 20:31) The book is laser focused on that purpose. But within that purpose, it really challenges me in my preaching. Is what I am saying fresh bread from God’s Word for his church today? Pray for me as I handle God’s word to handle it rightly, and to bring it to bear on our day and age in a contextualized and engaging way.

That being said, we are almost thru the Book of Signs (Chapters 1-12). In fact, I’m currently prepping this week’s message on the 7^th Sign, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. It’s been eye-opening to see just how systematically John builds his case for who Jesus is, and I am hopeful that this series has been not only convincing for the church (as to who Jesus is), but convicting as well. Jesus calls the church to be the agents of his message of salvation and his call to belief for the world. Will you answer that call to give the call to salvation to your unbelieving family and friends?

As with any comprehensive book study, there are things which you notice, come to believe or become more convinced of in the process of your study. It is in that spirit that I share with you 3 things that I have become more convinced of as I’ve studied this great gospel.

• John is the Author: I had already thought that I believed this before this study, but you would be surprised at the number of scholars (even pastors) who at times come to a study with certain presuppositions, deconstructing what has been written, and become less convinced that the scripture is authoritative and has authoritative sources. But I am more convinced than ever that this book is written by John. Kostenberger’s excellent book, “Signs of the Messiah”, outlines three internal criteria of identifying the author. The author “a disciple who (1) was at Jesus’ side at the Last Supper (hence one of the twelve) (2) who was at the scene of Jesus’ arrest and trial; and (3) who witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion and saw Jesus following his resurrection.” This limits the field of candidates to a VERY small number. On top of that, the author always refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, and he is closely associated with the apostle Peter. This seems to be some authorial modesty on the part of the author candidate. The other item that has stood out to me regarding knowing the Author is that it closely aligns with the other books that are commonly attributed to the Apostle John. John’s gospel has all the closeness & tenderness of John’s letters, someone who knew well of the deep love, compassion and forgiveness of Jesus. John’s gospel also shares a great fascination with signs and numbers, which are greatly emphasized in Revelation. As well, both John and Revelation emphasize the identity and Lordship of Jesus. In my own mind, I have no doubt: John is the author of John, and this increases my trust in the eyewitness testimony of this book.
• You can’t separate the OT from Jesus: An argument could be made that all of the gospels show us this truth, but it’s been clear to me throughout the book that Jesus is not throwing the Old Testament scriptures under the bus. When he goes into clean house in the temple (in John 2), he doesn’t criticize or crush the worship taking place there but crushes the immoral money-changing practices taking place there. When Jesus is confronted about the Sabbath actions, he is taking concerning healing (as in John 5), he does not crush the Sabbath command, but confronts the legalistic tendencies of the Pharisees to pile their opinions on top of God’s words. When it comes to the celebration of the Jewish festivals (in several passages in John), Jesus celebrates and worships with everyone else, rather than tearing their holy days down. We must remember that Jesus was a Jew who came to and for the Jews. The modern tendency and call to unhitch from the Old Testament is not something that Jesus would have either recognized or blessed. As Jesus taught on, honored, and upheld the Old Testament scriptures, so should we. He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) As Jesus said: “Scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35)
• Modern Pharisees aren’t just Legalistic Christians: Often, when Jesus is facing criticism from the people in the book of John, they are referred to as “The Jews.” But Jesus is not simply being criticized by the Jews as a whole, but by the Jewish leaders and those that they influence. They are the Pharisees, the Sadducees and Teachers of the Law. They are the ones who are supposed to be the closest to God and know His Word the best. They are the ones who should recognize Jesus, but they don’t. Each time Jesus heals in this gospel, each time he does another miracle, there they are to criticize and condemn. One of the things we do in preaching or teaching (and we must do this work) is that we must cross a contextual bridge from then until now. Often, when you hear the Pharisees talked about, they are always likened to religious hypocrites, Christians who say one thing and do another. Certainly, that tendency is there in the church and must be fought against at every turn. But what has struck me in our current cultural moment is that there are Pharisees on every corner, not just “church” pharisees, but “irreligious” or even “atheistic” pharisees. Don’t believe me? Try speaking either on social media or publicly about a moral position that is formed by your biblical worldview. Whether that be a position regarding abortion, sex, marriage, race, expect to be chastised by the irreligious pharisees, because you have broken their manmade rules. There are even whole companies that are cancelling employees for taking a stand, or social media giants that have been locking down voices they’ve selected for cancelling. You see, you don’t have to be a Jew or a Christian to be a pharisee, you just have to be someone who values man’s rules and opinions over God’s law and objective truth. There is a Pharisaic tendency in every human heart. But Jesus calls us away from these thoughts and attitudes to come and follow Him.

These are just some thoughts that I’ve had in studying John. What have you been learning? What questions have you had? My inbox is always open: nate@auburnchristian.org.

Keep growing in God’s Grace and the knowledge of His Word,

Pastor Nate

by Pastor Nate Powell

Dear Church Family,

I truly hope that this post finds you and your family well. It’s been some time since we’ve had a “formal” update on the front of the Harvest campaign and our Family Life Center that we’ve been hoping and praying about building for some time. It was just a year ago that I was making the rounds to visit with 70+ families. You’ll remember that our church family committed together to give over $350,000 over the next 3 years to this project! It was this past April that we displayed the Harvest/FLC plans, and made the announcement that we were working to get bids. In January, our leaders announced at the annual meeting that it was our hope to be breaking ground on the FLC in July.

Well, it is August, and ground has obviously not been broken. We want to give an update as to where things sit. We did put out for bids from two different contractors to get solid numbers to move forward with in the Spring. What we heard from both contractors was disappointing, but not totally unexpected. Neither contractor could give us a full bid. There are two reasons that they could not do that. First, the prices of construction, and especially the price of steel, are currently VERY high. Most who know construction expect these prices to correct eventually, but they are currently at too high a cost for us to consider construction reasonable or affordable. Secondly, we were informed that even if we ordered the steel at these high prices, we would still not be able to construct until next Spring. That is how backlogged the steel mills are. So, because of these issues, we have been forced to wait on construction. The contractors we have visited with would like to re-approach the bids around the end of the year, so that is our current timetable.

While this is a bit disappointing, it is also wise for us to be patient and wait, both as a leadership and as a church. If we were to force the project thru now, we would certainly be paying too much for the building and we would not be good stewards with the Lord’s money and resources he has provided. The elders of our church are in full alignment and stand fully confident that the Lord wants us to wait on His timing to move forward.

So, what can you do in the meantime? Certainly, the work of the church continues. We are continuing to move forward with youth groups, new kids programming in our new kids ministry/nursery space, and new ideas for bible studies and small groups. The work of the church continues. Toward the ends of the Harvest campaign, I would encourage two things. First, please pray. Pray for costs to come down. Pray for the contractors/financing to fall into place. Pray for us to have patience as a church for the Lord’s timing to be clear and right. And secondly, it is a great time to continue to give. We have been doing very well at following thru on our pledges. In fact, we are ahead of schedule! And if you’ve not joined us, there’s no time like the present to consider joining us with either a one-time gift or a three-year commitment to equip this church family for the next 50+ years of ministry. Feel free to click here for more info. As well, I’m always glad to visit with you and your family on an individual basis on any questions you may have about the project or any other needs or questions you may have. I’m here to serve.

Let’s continue to move forward as a church: patient and persistent in prayer, continually growing in love, generosity and service!

Pastor Nate // Joshua 1:9

These haunting words remind me of revelations that have come to light in the past weeks and months regarding a speaker, apologist & evangelist by the name of Ravi Zacharias. Ravi’s writings, talks, debates, radio broadcasts & podcasts have been incredibly helpful to many believers. In fact, the college groups that I have taken to Passion conferences have been able to hear Ravi speak twice, the latest time being last January for Passion 2020. This was just a few months before he passed away from cancer.

In the 9 months since he died, terrible things have come to light about Ravi’s ministry and his sexual sins that have come into the light. You can read many of the details that investigations found in a variety of media outlets. (For examples, check out Christianity Today’s report or The Dispatch). A man who said and wrote incredible things, was (behind the scenes) guilty of saying and doing horrible and deplorable things to women. If you think you stand … take heed.

It is important for us as leaders (and as a church) to take heed that we feed a culture of transparency & accountability, rather than one of assumption, power-plays or duplicity. It is important that you hold me accountable and I hold you accountable. It is important that we ask hard questions. One thing that is abundantly clear from Ravi’s ministry is that there was no accountability structure to hold Mr. Zacharias accountable for his time and habits in the midst of all his travels and schedule.

Some of you are probably thinking “What the heck is he going on about? Does any of this actually affect us at all?” Granted, I wonder that at times too, but not this time. I have seen affairs and sexual abuse wreck churches both bigger and smaller than us. We are not above it.

Take heed if you think you’re standing. Your fall could be around the corner. Ravi’s example reminds me that no leader (or Christian) is above it. Which is why we must be ready. We must support one another. We must be accountable to one another. We must pray for each other. 1 Peter 4:8-9: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith …”

Good day ACC Family!

Pastor Nate here with an update on all things church related. We are in strange times in the midst of COVID, but we know that God is in control and he is our Rock and Fortress. We will trust him in the midst of all these things, and we will get thru this together!

HARVEST

I hope you can join us at church in person or online on August 30. On that Sunday, we will be kicking off our HARVEST Campaign. You may have noticed this graphic in church or sign on our property. In the coming month, we are going to be talking, thinking and praying about the future of Auburn Christian Church and setting our minds on the Harvest. In Luke 10:2, Jesus reminds all believers that “The Harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” His request is a call to prayer that has guided the church for centuries. We are to be praying for workers to carry the good news of Jesus, and we are to be praying for the harvest of people coming to faith in Christ for generations to come.

So, I have been meeting with many individuals and families to share this vision for our church that has been on the hearts and minds of many in our church for years. I’m finishing up my meetings in the next week. If you’d still like to schedule a meeting with me, please drop an email to Janell at: janell@auburnchristian.org. She has access to my schedule and will get you set up. Please stay tuned for more details in the coming days, both on our website and our Facebook page. I hope you can join us for these important messages, starting August 30. And in all of these coming days, please be praying for the Harvest to come!

A Youth Pastor?

We shared this a couple months ago with the whole church, but you may have missed it. We are currently seeking to hire a part-time youth pastor! We are looking to hire someone that will also fill the role of male campus pastor for Christian Student Fellowship at Peru State College. So it will be one person filling two part-time jobs! It is a great fit for where we are at and what we are able to do in terms of our staffing currently. Would you please join me in praying for the right person for this position, so that we can have this role filled by the end of the year? Let’s pray together as a church toward these ends! If you’d like to read the job description for the combined roles, click here.

Shuffling Some Property

In times past, many of you know that for the last 10+ years, our church has owned a bus. We have used it for youth events and other trips. It has served us well. However, our leaders determined recently that the costs of maintaining the bus outweigh our needs and uses for the bus. So our elders decided to sell it. The good news is that we found a buyer in Christian Student Fellowship, and they purchased our church bus. They hope to use the bus to transport students back and forth for the meetings of their UNL campus ministry this fall. We are thankful that God provided a way that our church could bless another ministry with our bus. In the future, as we take trips (and our youth group will still take trips), we will look to use rentals to our advantage.

In the meantime, we are also looking to sell the garage that the bus was parked in, that sits in our East parking lot. There is currently a silent auction going on for this building. Here are the details that our elders put together, in case you are interested in making a bid: “The Auburn Christian Church will be accepting seal bid for the metal garage in the gravel parking lot east of the church located at 1100 15th street Auburn, Ne. The garage is 14’ 2” W x 36’ 1” L. It has 12’ side wall and is 14’ at peak of the roof. It has one garage door. Door opening is 9’ 11” W x 10’ H. Bids will be accepted until 8/31/2020. Winning bid will be notified 9/1/2020. Winning bid will have until 9/30/2020 to remove garage from church property. If not removed by 9/30/2020 bid will be forfeited, and offer will go to next highest bid. Please submit bids to Auburn Christian Church Atten: Garage Bid. 1100 15th street Auburn, NE 68305 with Bid and contact information.”

And Sunday School starts …???

These last few months have been difficult to navigate. Between meeting online, meeting outdoors and now meeting indoors, the people of our church have been great at rolling with all the punches that COVID has thrown at us. Many have been asking when we are going to start back to Sunday School. We were hoping to do this soon. But …

In light of the current rise in cases in our part of the state, and in light of the changing status of COVID listed by our health department and school, the leaders of our church still feel it is in the best interest of health not to start Sunday School yet. Not having Sunday School helps us to fully social distance, avoiding much foot traffic crossover and shared space, as well as fully sanitize our worship space between services. We still continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments in the coming weeks and months accordingly.

And Finally … A Word on Facemasks

As I’ve stated, these are challenging times to navigate. It has not always been easy to figure out how to meet or when to meet as a church. One of the most difficult things that we wrestled with as a leadership was “When can we meet back indoors?” The reason we spent so long meeting outdoors was because we knew the risks of singing indoors, and we wanted to have adequate equipment to clean and sanitize between services due to the elevated risk. In case you aren’t aware, singing indoors is one of the ways that the virus can spread thru the air, which is why at points churches having been listed as higher risk (here’s one of many articles that speaks to the science behind this … there are many more articles out there that speak to these risks). So we have been cautious in a few ways: we have kept singing times short, we have maintained social distance, we keep doors open for a time at beginning and end of service for better ventilation, and we sanitize well between the services.

I, like you, love being with our church and praising God. Singing is integral to that. We want to keep doing it. However, we do know that cases are on the rise and we are seeking to control the spread as much as we can. Here’s how I want to encourage you: please wear a facemask. We are not making it mandatory, but we are STRONGLY ENCOURAGING you. We want to keep meeting indoors, and to keep doing so regularly. The masks that we wear will help catch those particles that we breathe out when we sing. You will see me now in the coming weeks, when I lead singing, wearing a facemask. Our elders will be wearing a mask when they share. I’m dwelling very strongly on preaching in a facemask, because I want to be an example in this. And we want to encourage people to wear them for the whole service, only removing them when we take communion together. Thanks for considering this, both to help slow the spread and to help keep us meeting in person.

Finally …

A reminder from the word, for all these challenging times: “Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Stand Strong and Look Ahead,
Pastor Nate