A Meal, A Weekend, A Season
" Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" - Matthew 6:26
I wanted to take this e-news to commend to y’all a meal, a weekend, and a season!
First, the meal. This Sunday we’ll be holding a Lunch and Learn following worship. Dr. Michelle Reyes, a writer and professor here in Austin, as well as the Fellowship Coordinator for Hope Community Church (HCC), will be teaching on “Cross-Cultural Conversations.” As a South Asian woman, married to a Latino man, Aaron, the pastor of HCC, who grew up in a predominantly white community, this is a topic that Michelle has a spent a lot of time reflecting upon and participating in. The intention with this L & L is that it would be a practical help, equipping us to love our neighbors well, helping us in the work of bearing witness to Jesus, and to live more fully together as a reflection of God’s kingdom, drawn from different cultures and nations. Childcare and lunch are available, sign up below!
Second, the weekend. The COTC Women’s Retreat is next week, and I’m excited that Rev. Heather Ghormley will be leading this time and preaching on the 23rd at COTC. Heather leads Tree of Life community in South Bend, Indiana and is a key leader in the Anglican Multiethnic Network (AMEN) and the Anglican Immigrant Initiative. She is a gifted teacher, active in kingdom service, and wisely sensitive to the Spirit’s leading. I’m grateful for her place in our province and for her presence with us for this retreat.
I'm most excited that the focus of this time will be Jesus word’s regarding anxiety in Mathew 6. This section of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is among the most precious to me. We live in a deeply anxious time, grappling often with our own fears, and my hope is that Heather’s teaching from Matthew 6 will be a particular word in season, and that this time in general will be used by God to cultivate among us the peace that only He can bring. Sign up below, the deadline to do so is Monday!
Third, a season. Ash Wednesday is February 26th, and that means Lent is right around the corner. In the church year, Lent is a season of penitence and preparation, looking toward Easter Sunday. It is often a season of focused and intentional walking with Jesus on the way of the cross through fasts, prayer, and acts of generosity. How might the Lord be inviting you to press into this season and the grace of God?
We’ll be doing a sermon series in the Psalms for the seven weeks of Lent. I’m really looking forward to looking at Psalms 51, 23, 95, 130 among others together. Also, in conjunction with the psalms and the “affective” life they speak of and touch on, we’ll be reading the book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality together. We’ll have some copies available over the coming Sundays, and our Coffee and Catechism time during Lent will be devoted to working through this material. There will be some other features to our Lenten season as we journey to the cross and Easter together, including a silent retreat, so keep an eye out in the weeks to come for more details.
Grace and peace,
Peter +
Ps. This Sunday we’ll be bringing 2020 pledges forward during worship. We’ll have physical cards available then, and you can also complete one online here, if you need. Please take some time to pray and listen for the how the Lord might be calling you to contribute financially to our common life in the Lord. Thank you!