Healing the Inner Sickness

11th Sunday after Pentecost
Just these lines, my friends …

… to say that, if you missed worship this past Sunday, I hope you’ll take the time to worship & hear Pastor Paul’s powerful sermon, The Control Freak from our High Maintenance Relationships series. Karen and I were away in the mountains and were able to participate online, as we were with our daughter, MacKenzie, and hundreds of women gathered for a conference. It was an incredible few days of worshiping and learning with college-age women from all over the country.

Summer is nearing its end. Though, the last “official” day of summer is still a month or so away. But for the church – for families, students, teachers, and all those who work in the schools – summer is nearing its end. Soon, the yellow buses will be lining the roads, stopping at corners, and students heavy with backpacks will be climbing onboard. The roads will have more traffic, with parents and students making their way to school. It’s almost here, the end of summer. Vacations are coming to an end in another week or two. But the endings are not bad; they are just new beginnings.

The end of summer brings the beginning of a new school year, a new church season, and endless new possibilities. But before we say goodbye to summer, let’s give thanks for all our blessings: Time with family. Endless hours of travel. Sunsets at the beach. New places. New faces. New friends. New traditions. Lazy days. Good books. Late nights. Swim team. Cookouts. Hanging out at the pool. Summer camps. All of these are memories stored in our summer libraries, and we give thanks for them.

The church is no different. We have endings and beginnings. The end of summer means the beginning of fall programming. Back to School blessings. Bible studies. Return to worship and Sunday school. As we prepare to say goodbye to summer, let’s also prepare to welcome the fall and begin again as followers of Jesus. We are, after all, people of new beginnings. Our faith is defined by new life in Jesus Christ. May we seek to rejoice in our endings and in our new beginnings. Always, may we be faithful.

I look forward to seeing you and getting caught up about family vacations and your hopes and dreams for the fall. I hope you will make time for worship if you are in town. And be sure to invite someone to church. You never know who might be looking for a new beginning!

Wednesday Devotional

There is an old 12-Step saying that “You are only as sick as your secrets.” Secrets make us sick and keep us sick. Let’s talk about in my devotional for the week titled, Healing the Inner Sickness.

Upcoming Events

• Community Forum – Tuesday, August 15, 7 pm at Mt. Moriah. More info here.
• Hug-A-Cop – Saturday, August 19, 4 – 7 pm at Mt. Moriah. More info here.
• United Women of Faith (UWF) Annual Celebration – Saturday, August 26, 8:30-11:30. More info here.
• Back to School Carnival – Saturday, August 26, 5:30 – 7 pm. More info here.
• Back to School Blessing – Sunday, August 27 in all Worship Services. More info here.
• New Studies: Disciple, Beatitudes, The Good and Beautiful Life (In Person & Intergenerational Online Study), Luke: Gut-Level Compassion, The Anxiety Opportunity and Are Miracles A Step Away? View all opportunities.

This Sunday in Worship

We invite you to join us this Sunday at 8:15 am (Traditional; in person only), 9:30 am (Contemporary; in person or online here), 9:30 am (Family Worship in the Gym), 11:00 am (Traditional; in person or online here) or 12:30 (Spanish; in person or on demand here).

Our Spanish-speaking community will be inspired by Pastor Roldan this Sunday. He will be preaching from Isaiah 41:10-14 with his sermon titled, Unconditional Love.

Join us this Sunday for an action-packed Family Worship service (9:30 in the Gym) for the whole family, focused on our monthly virtue of Creativity. Music, Games, skits and activities will help remind us that we can “Use our imagination to do something new,” based on the scripture from Ephesians 2:10, “We are God’s creation. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good works. Long ago God prepared these works for us to do.” Stay after in The Commons to enjoy a cup of coffee/juice, snacks, and serve as a family on a special mission project to support Classroom Central.

I hope to see you in worship on Sunday where I’ll be preaching on our 8th High Maintenance Relationship, The Gossip from Psalm 141:3 and James 3:3-5. Have you ever been wounded by someone’s careless or malicious gossip about you? It can cut deep. I think there is probably no more universally broken directive in the church than the one we are going to talk about on Sunday. God makes it very clear in one of the Ten Commandments what he feels about this when he says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” This commandment very boldly tells us to put an end to what I want to call careless speech … or words that hurt and undermine our neighbor’s reputation. We followers of Jesus just have a hard time taking this directive seriously. Let’s go to work on it come Sunday.

And now, as always, during these strange, uncertain, but hopeful days, remember … God does God’s best work in moments like this.

Following Jesus Together,
Dr. Charles (Chuck) W. Wilson II

Did you know that the Anchored in Faith Sunday School Class donated seven headphone ear defenders for our exceptional friends who may benefit from a little extra comfort in their surroundings? You can find them either at the Accessible Resources for Worship Kiosk in the Narthex or in the United Kids ministry area.

Did you know that members of the Faith Sunday School Class enjoyed a time of fellowship with our friends at Blessed Assurance Adult Day Care last Friday? They read devotions, exercised, and played Bingo together. Click here for information on all of our Sunday morning adult groups. Any of them would welcome you to visit or join!