April 18, 2017

Dear LABC,
It was a joy to celebrate Easter Sunday with you and I fully anticipate that there will be more joy to share as the season of Eastertide unfolds. Joy will be theme of my sermon this Sunday as we read the story of the followers of Jesus meeting him on the road to Emmaus on the day of the Resurrection (Luke 24: 13-35).
On the afternoon of Easter I received two emails from LABC members that, in different ways, speak to the joyful power of the Resurrection. In some words of encouragement to some loved ones Gloria Meads wrote, “Happy Easter to you all.  Rejoice that even when you have ‘hit bottom’  and it seems like all is lost, miracles can happen and great joy can come.”
In his weekly blog Thought For the Week Dale Edmondson wrote, “When we pray, ‘thy Kingdom come on earth,’ we’re not mumbling words about ‘hoping things turn out OK.’ We’re not abandoning human effort to bring about justice. When we pray that prayer, we’re committing ourselves to work actively, intelligently, and knowledgeably toward a world in which God’s blessed, inclusive community is brought nearer. ‘Hope,’ as Emil Brunner has said, ‘is the oxygen of
the human spirit’.”
It is good to walk the road toward joy with each of you.
Jim H.

Prayers of the Congregation

• Larry Sims for his family and friends
• Chris Sims as he prepares for shoulder surgery
• The ABSW community as presidential candidates are interviewed this week
• The Oakland Unified School District Board as it selects a new Superintendent of Schools
• The success of Oakland’s Ceasefire program
• Doris and Ted Evans as they move to the Point at Rockridge
• Peter Yuichi Clark, LeAnn Flesher and Carolyn Matthews as they recuperate from surgery
• The people of the North and South Korea
• The people of Syria
• The people of Afghanistan
• The people of Sudan and South Sudan
• Jeanette Paige as she cares for her father
• All who are grieving
• Jewelle and James Gibbs for their brother-in-law in Summit Hospital, Dr. Harold Haizlip
• Sheila Sims for her mom
• The Kachin people of Burma and the members of the SF Kachin Baptist Church
• Rick McKillop for his parents
• Kay Baxter for Stacey and Jamie
• Dave and Sheryl Gattey as they prepare to move to Piedmont Gardens
• All those who come to the church for assistance
• All our teenagers and parents of teenagers
• Thanksgiving with Michael Simpson on his mother’s birthday and his parents 73rd Wedding Anniversary

A big thank you to Dr. Cindy Carbin,  niece of Sandra Dunn, for providing 100 Easter baskets for both the Children’s Center and Church. Abundant joy!