ANNOUNCEMENTS
TODAY - CONGREGATIONAL VIRTUAL MEETING | 12-12:30 P.M.
This congregational virtual meeting will be to ordain and install elders and deacons who were elected in the spring, and to approve changes in terms of call for Goodie Bell moving from a part-time 30 hours per week Associate Pastor to full time. Zoom link on the CCB homepage.
WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY | FALL 2020
Please join us in "Discovering Hope In The Psalms" together. Online audio teaching begins the week of Sept. 21. This semester will be flexible with audio teaching and various times for small in-person or zoom groups. Register here.
PHOTOS OF LIFE TOGETHER WHILE APART
Do you have a photo of worshiping from home, gathering over zoom, or another creative way of sharing life together while apart? If you’d like to share, please send them to Mary Grimm. Thanks to Anne Paulson for the above photo of the Paulsons preparing for worship. Mark and Anne are not pictured because they are still in their pajamas!
NEW BLACKNALL CLASSIFIEDS
A forum/exchange to support one another at Blacknall with items for sale, loan, or free; housing or job postings; and community events or opportunities.
PRAYER & THANKSGIVING
We celebrate with Erin & Brad Boswell in the birth of the daughter Hallie Caroline Boswell on August 28.
Pray for Empower Bihar, “a network operating in several North Indian states and in Nepal [and supported by Blacknall]. Its strategy is to train teachers to equip disciple making Christians. Neighbors are invited to attend a home meeting where they hear the gospel. As the neighbors turn to Christ and grow in their faith, the group divides and forms a second home meeting. In this way, some groups have spawned dozens of house churches over the past decade.” Prayer requests: (1) the online training of 500 leaders for disciple making across east and northwest India; (2) a new initiative to equip believers with entrepreneurial skills to alleviate poverty—the biggest issue in India; (3) emotional help for a few leaders who are going through difficult times; (4) effective outreach among Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, and Musahars; (5) means of livelihood for staff and their families amid much joblessness. (The photo is of Chandan, the founder and director, and his wife and daughter.)
About the music
Singing in a choir is a remarkable thing. I have found choral singing to be a good metaphor for the Christian experience. For the singers, preparation is a pilgrimage, a long journey of community-making and music-learning, where the goal is barely seen ahead of time. It is only at the absolute end that we “arrive” musically. For probably 99.9% of choral singers, it isn’t their vocation; it’s their avocation, a labor of love for the physical act of singing, for the music, and for the community called “choir.” The virus has taken away almost every aspect of choral music – but we found a way. As you listen to these beloved friends sing “He Will Hold Me Fast,” realize the process: each singer had to sing his/her part alone, not hearing anyone else. That’s the antithesis of the choral experience. But then there is post-recording tech wizardry (in this case rendered with an expert’s touch by my nephew, Sam), and voila – a virtual choir! The song’s message is deep and rich, and speaks into our fears and weakness: He will hold you fast (meaning, securely). Essentially every singer on this recording was uncomfortable about the process, some very much so. But in the midst of it, and having gone through it, they have tasted the truth, that when we sing to the Lord, it is as a response to His song of love and security over us. We who sing experience the abundant life of community expressly for the purpose of giving ourselves away – singing for you, to remind you of God’s compassionate, steadfast love. I could not possibly be more proud of each of them.
Community
Faith & Votes | Sept. 14, 5:30 p.m.
The world is buzzing with issues and questions of human rights, global public health, climate change, the education system…, and all in an election year. How should people of Christian faith think about these issues that face our country and the world? Duke Professor of Political Science Kyle Beardsley and Founder and Director of the Institute for Public Trust Frank Hill will discuss how their Christian faith informs their engagement as voters. Details here.