Dear Servants,

 

We are only days away from our Special Parish Meeting on Sunday, August 20th. We will enjoy a fish fry dinner starting at 5:00pm followed by an information meeting regarding the opportunity before us for a facility purchase and also an update on our current financial position. There will be a presentation from several key leaders and then opportunity for the congregation to ask any questions or bring forward any concerns.

 

I trust every member, and anyone interested in hearing what Servants is planning, has RSVPd by now. The fish fry is being paid for by the vestry members because they feel the need for this meeting so strongly. The meal will be catered by a team from Forest Meadows Funeral Home – their cook team makes these fish fries available to non-profits at cost! Please thank these generous men on Sunday.

 

For those who could not be in church last Sunday, my sermon focused on Matthew 14. Jesus invited Peter to step out of the boat and walk to where He was on the Sea of Galilee. While I didn’t mention the building purchase process and finances specifically, this week God keeps bring this image to my mind. Meeting with the vestry and preparing for our time together Sunday, keep in mind that Jesus is calling us to come to where He is. This requires faith on our part. It also requires us to keep our eyes focused on Jesus rather than the storm. Storms are scary! Yet Jesus comes to us “walking through the storm,” wrote Rev. Dr. Michael Green. “Jesus walks on the storm.” My prayer is that God will continue to strengthen our congregation and unify us around His vision for our parish.

 

Like all of you, I rejoice in the news that the potentially-violent rally with an extremist speaker which was planned at UF on September 12 has been cancelled. Yet even when we still thought this “storm” was coming, our eyes stayed focused on our Lord! I rejoice in the unity among the churches of Gainesville, which crosses racial lines. Today the Alachua County Christian Pastors’ Association (of which I am a member) will meet for our monthly fellowship under the leadership of President Karl Anderson and Vice-President Phil Courson. I am confident that regardless of what plans the evil one brings against our city or county, the body of Christ in this city will stand in unity “to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.”  (Micah 6:8, ESV)

 

Onward and Upward,