Before I head into work today, I'm taking advantage of this cool morning and some coffee. Last week was a busier week than normal with deaths, extra visits, and meetings. But, there were some additional fun activities too, such as joining the BSA Pack 3003 at the drive-in theater to watch Cars 3 and attending a piano recital for one of the youth in the church.
To top things off, last night I attended a bilingual worship service (Spanish/English) at the Chattanooga Valley Church of the Nazarene in Flintstone, GA. We are connecting with the other churches in the area as we can and that is one way, to join with them in various worship contexts.
The pastor for the Spanish service, Marcos Santos, comes over from Dalton, GA. Jon Bemis is the pastor at the CV Church of the Nazarene. Together, they offer these bilingual services on the last Sunday of the month. Members from both congregations join for worship. They sing, share the Word, hear a message, share Holy Communion, and then share table fellowship. Food is culturally mixed.
Having learned that MapCo gas stations has fresh chicken, I grabbed some chicken tenders on my way over so I wouldn't be empty handed. I had met pastor Jon Bemis before, so I knew I would know someone there.
I had been advertising it in our church bulletins and inviting our folks to come out to this opportunity to meet folks in community, but I wasn't sure if anyone would come. I was at a different church in the morning.
When I arrived, I was heading in and a woman noticed me. She was heading into the building to the right. I asked where we would be and where I needed to put the food. She said she would show me. Then, she looked at me again and asked, "Emmaus"? I said "yes". She introduced herself. Susie Gilley. Wow. I had just shared her daughter Samantha's story with someone this past week, the part I knew from having worked a Chrysalis Walk when Sam was on it and Sam's joy of life through difficult times.
She introduced me to the pastor and others. Pastor Santos and I begin speaking in Spanish with some others and I felt right at home.
Then, I saw other Emmaus folks, some I knew very well, like Joann, and others I recognized, but didn't know as well.
The worship in singing was uplifting. We sang "I Give You Glory/Te Doy Gloria", "I Lift My Hands On High", and another song. I was slow in finding the songs in the song book, but still enjoyed singing in both languages.
Because Pastor Bemis wasn't able to be there, Pastor Santos preached in Spanish and it was interpreted into English by a youth, who did a super job.
The message was encouraging and Pastor Santos shared some personal examples led to this Scripture passage.
The message was encouraging and Pastor Santos shared some personal examples led to this Scripture passage.
The main passage was Deuteronomy 31:6-8 (NIV).
These were words I needed to hear last night, in both languages.
Verse 6--"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
What I preached yesterday was Matthew 10: 24-39. In that passage of discipleship, Jesus spoke "do not be afraid" three times. We are called to "be like Jesus" as followers of Jesus and live as the teacher modeled, discipled, and taught. But that's a different post. The point here is that for some reason, the message "do not be afraid" has been coming up quite a bit lately in my studies, preaching, and then last night in the bilingual service.
Pastor Santos' message was affirming and encouraging on several levels for me-- (1) as I continue to question how and when I will use Spanish in the kingdom. (2) Also, we all need the message of strength and encouragement to continue in the face of adversity and difficulty.
We are all called to live into who God has created us to be and we are to be bold and courageous in doing so.
Pastor Ken Hagler wrote a blog post this morning that spoke to the difficulties of life. Check it out here: What Did You Expect? Further Thoughts When Life Sucks.
There are difficulties in life, yes, but there are also blessings along the way. The bilingual service last night was one of those blessings. Talking with Susie Gilley and learning about her rose tattoo with the blue eye that represented Samantha was a blessing too. Being reminded in several ways that we are called to live, love, lead, serve and be like Jesus with our heads held high in boldness and courage is a blessing too.
How are you being blessed in the midst of life's difficulties? How are you blessing others? How are you continuing to grow in and on your journey?
May there be blessings on your journey,
Debra
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