March 29, 2016
A quick note this week to say thank you to all who helped make Lent, Holy Week and Easter such an enriching journey. I stand amazed in your presence.
I look forward to seeing you on Sunday as we gather in worship, read Luke 24: 13-35 (the walk to Emmaus), and share communion. As we consider the gospel we will see that Luke is reminding us of the many ways that we continue to need Jesus and hinting that Jesus continues to need us as well.
After worship we will hold our spring congregational meeting. We really need to complete the project of refinishing the wood in the Sanctuary that we began in 2008. Worship Interiors Group, the company that has done the good work done so far, has submitted a bid to complete it and I trust that we will approve it and get the work done before the end of the spring.
Easter Joy,
Jim H.
Prayers of the Congregation
- All who are grieving
- All who are searching for housing and employment
- All our caregivers
- All who are undergoing medical treatment
- Evan Wilkinson as he recuperates from another surgery
- David Robinson for his mom (health concerns)
- Dayle Scott for Darlene (health concerns)
- Carolyn Matthews for her son William as he pursues his teaching career
- Gordon White, now living at the Grove in Piedmont Gardens
- The essential efforts to build affordable housing in the communities of the Bay Area
- The ABSW family as it mourns the death of President Paul Martin
- The people of Lahore, Pakistan in the aftermath of the Easter Day bombing
- Valentine Royal and family
- Geetha Thaker as her medical residency in Michigan draws to a close
- Karen Okusu (health concerns)
- Michele Austin (health concerns)
- Maxwell Vines (health concerns)
- David Holly as he mourns the death of his friend The Reverend Dr. B. Columbus Hayward
- All our homebound members
- Melanie Baggao as she ministers as part of American Baptist International Ministries in Beirut, Lebanon
A short rant – Religious Liberty is a precious gift and a sacred right. However, this does not mean it that everything done in the name of religious liberty is worthy of praise and support. Witness the efforts in several states (like Georgia) to pass “Religious Freedom Restoration Acts” which are little more that attempts to legitimize discrimination against the LGBT community. May such efforts be seen for what they are. The Constitution of the United States of America already well protects the rights of houses of worship to establish and follow their own practices in this regard. I like what Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said in vetoing the proposed legislation there: “I do not think we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia.”