July 3, 2020
Dear Lake B Family & Friends,
“Grace and peace to you from God our Creator and through Jesus Christ. I thank God every time I remember you. In all of my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Being confident of this, that the One who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ.” I wish I could claim that those were my own words, but they are not. They are the words of the Apostle Paul to the believers in the city of Philippi. These words do, however, reflect exactly how I am feeling today. I am grateful to be in this community of faith with all of you. I am thankful to be in partnership with you in this work of the Kingdom. The Church is much more than a Christian club. The Church is a visible, tangible expression of a partnership between God and the world. As the Rev. Ben McBride put it so well on last Sunday’s Justice League call, the Spirit is leading us in our discipleship to become both prophets of righteous resistance AND midwives to the Beloved Community. In my mind, this describes Jesus’ life so well. God, embodied in Jesus Christ, was both a prophet of righteous resistance and a midwife to the Beloved Community - on display for us at the intersection of the Cross. The Spirit of God now animates us, The Body of Christ, to live in that intersection: prophetically calling out injustice AND living and carrying forward into existence, a faithful vision of Beloved Community. (I encourage you to listen to the podcast from that Justice League meeting! Click here to listen: https://www.lbpc.org/recent-sermons.html ) That God would allow us to be part of this is both daunting and energizing! I am humbled to be working alongside each of you in this journey during this very unique time in the history of the Church and the world. A few updates: Children and Youth
Meal Distributions
COVID-19 Relief Fund Through the end of June:
Finally, join us in praying that we never lose sight of the vision for shalom and the Gospel fully alive in our own lives and the lives of all people. And we pray, with the Spirit of God, for courage, strength and wisdom to be both prophets of righteous resistance and midwives for the Beloved Community. Praying with joy today for our partnership in the Gospel, Pastor Lina |