Dear Caldwell,
It’s a beautiful day in our neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor, for a family, for a friend, for a faith community. That’s who we are called to be – neighbors, family, friends, and faith community.
The best part of my job is being able to take time to walk with you, talk with you, pray with you, and pray for you. Friends, family, and co-travelers in this community of faith, I pray that you know that, as you navigate these difficult days, as you mourn the loss of loved ones, as you prepare to care for yourselves and each other because of medical challenges, as you prepare to vote – you do not walk this journey alone. Please know that John and I are here, Anne and Justin are here, your Session members are here, the Congregational Care Committee – we are here to love you and care for you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me – or any of us. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t have many answers at all, in fact. I can’t even give you a proper Caldwell hug, but I can pray. I will pray. I do pray.
The good news is that prayer doesn’t stop with me or with your church staff and Session. In the New Testament letter to the church in Rome, in Romans 8:26, we read that “the Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” The very next verse says that “the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Just a few verses later, we read that Christ Jesus himself is interceding for us at the right hand of God.
It is a mind-bending thing to think about – we are praying and so is Jesus. So is the Spirit. That is news worth holding on to when your prayers and your faith falter. Jesus is praying for us! The Holy Spirit is praying for us.
Take a deep breath, dear one. Read that last paragraph again.
Let your shoulders drop. Unclench your jaw.
Say it out loud: Jesus is praying for me. The Spirit is praying for me.
I don’t know about you – but every time I say that out loud, I feel a little wave of peace and hope roll over me.
I pray that you will have an experience of the peace of God today,
peace that surpasses all your fears, anxiety, sorrow, and despair.
Come back to these truths as often as needed. Pray, trust, believe… and repeat.
A few communication issues to share with you, beautiful people.
+ Last Sunday, there was a technical snafu during worship and part of John’s sermon was lost in the netherworld of the interwebs. Please click here to read John’s manuscript. Please click here to see the sermon in its entirety.
Here is a message from our Caldwell Tech Genius, Justin Martin:
What Happened on Sunday?
Hey Caldwellians, if you were watching the worship service on YouTube or our website, you may have noticed that our stream shut down for a few minutes. Sorry about that. We aren’t exactly sure what happened, but one of the streaming services that we use to broadcast the worship service crashed for a few minutes. We were able to get it back up again within a few minutes, but I’m sure it was hard to know what to do in that time. Hopefully this never happens again, but if so, here’s what you should do. If you are on YouTube and the video stops, watch the chat. It will keep going, and I’ll tell you what to do in the chat. If you are on our website, hang tight and hit refresh every couple of minutes. Either I will get it turned back on, or I will put a text message above the video explaining what’s going on. Thanks for being flexible with us. We miss seeing you in person, and until we can be back in person, we’ll be working hard to make sure we can see you online! – Justin
+ There will NOT be Preacher’s Porch tonight. I am participating on a panel discussion hosted by the Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership and the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation at 7 pm. Tonight’s discussion is entitled “Bible, Theology, and Black Lives Matter.” Please click here to get more information and to register.
+ Look for new Zoom links for our online activities in our communications. Zoom is altering its security features and requirements, so we are in the process of creating new links. Please be patient as we transition to these new links.
+ This coming Sunday, we will once again gather for worship on Zoom. (Look for the link in the email that brought you here.) There will be a time for people to be in breakout rooms again – this time to discuss the 21 Day Challenge and what we are learning. Please know that even if you haven’t done the challenge every day, you are welcome to join in, to listen, to learn, to ask questions, and to share where you are on this antiracism journey.
+ Several of you have asked about having access to a church directory so that you can be in contact with one another. We are in the process of creating a digital directory of church members and active friends that will be shared only with church members and active friends in the next couple of weeks.
This list is NOT to be used for solicitation or advertisement of any kind. This list is NOT to be used for communication to large swaths of the congregation. This list is NOT to be shared with anyone or any organization outside of Caldwell. This is for you to reach out personally to folks in the Caldwell community to check in with each other. Please, friends, let’s use this tool to build one another up in love, to encourage one another to hold on to God’s unchanging hand, and to remind each other of just how cherished we are.
If you would like to opt out of being included in this directory, please let me or John know by October 1st. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you are okay with being on this list.
+ For 24 hours, starting this Friday September 25th at 5 pm, ending on Saturday at 5 pm, we will be working on upgrading our church email system. Because there is a possibility that emails might be lost during the time the upgrade is taking place, please don’t send any emails to the church during those 24 hours.
One more thing – No matter how bleak, difficult, and heavy these times may feel, we can believe the words of Jesus who, after telling his disciples about difficulties that were coming their way and promising to send them the Holy Spirit, said this in John 16:33 – I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (New International Version)
Grace and peace, Gail