Life Together May 24, 2020

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Worship Preferences Survey | Access Here - Please take this 5-minute survey about opportunities for worship with Blacknall. Open until Wednesday, May 27 at 12 p.m. We want to explore every possible way to gather during these strange times. We are also solicitous about the unity and safety of our congregation. Your response will help us plan well.

  • Lament, Love & Joy during COVID-19 | Sunday, May 31, 10 a.m. How do we care for ourselves and for one another during this time? Join us for a moderated discussion with Blacknall members and Mental Health professionals Warren Kinghorn, Frauke Schaefer, and Kendra Varnell. The conversation will be released on Sunday, May 31. Plan to watch and discuss with others. The 30s, 40s & Friends Class will host a discussion which is open to all on May 31 at 10 a.m. Find Zoom details on the CCB homepage.

  • Know Your Neighbor Month - We encourage you to read the book The Art of Neighboring. To join us in this neighboring journey, read more here.

FINANCES

There are multiple ways to give to Blacknall:

  • Checks mailed to the church office. 

  • Automatic bank drafts as a part of bill pay directed to Blacknall using your local bank.

  • Gifts of stock. Contact Rick Every or Carol Smith.

  • Online giving (including ACH, debit card, and credit card donations). Members can also schedule recurring online gifts when signed on to CCB. Details here.

PRAYER & THANKSGIVING

  • We rejoice with Josh & Lou Gaghan on the birth of their daughter, Violet Elizabeth Gaghan, on May 12.

  • Pray for Sean & Carmen Garrigan who are serving at Missionary Air Group (MAG) Headquarters in Burlington, NC. Sean prepares missionary pilots for field deployment. Carmen ministers to apprentice families during their time in Burlington and works to mobilize the local church to fulfill the great commission. They are members at Blacknall, where they co-chair the IMT committee. Prayer requests:

    • Thanksgiving that the way is clear to begin in airplane flight instruction again.  Pray for good working airplanes, good weather, and good progress with the apprentices to be able to make up for the time on the ground during the COVID-19 shut down.

    • Pray for God's blessing on the Maust family (one of our apprentice families) as they complete their training with MAG and prepare to move to Alaska to work with Arctic Barnabas.

    • Pray for Honduras. For the government to have wisdom as they make decisions.  Movement and travel are still very restricted there.   Safety for those working to refurbish a bridge in the remote community of Rus Rus where we have a base.  God's help and sustenance for our Honduran staff.

  • Pray for Reality Ministries, a Blacknall Deep Common Journey Partner.

    • Praise for staff and volunteers, who've made creative adaptations which strengthen the sense of connection among folks involved at Reality. Weekly community groups, daily encouragements, and group activities continue virtually. 

    • Pray for all participants. People with disabilities are particularly vulnerable during times of isolation.  

    • Pray for donations to provide for staff salaries, programming, and other expenses. Goal is $60,000 by June 30.  

    • Pray for  wisdom for many decisions as we refigure programming and discern what safely reopening Reality  might look like in the months ahead.  

ABOUT THE MUSIC

As many years as I have been doing this work, it continues to catch me by surprise: I make song selections for what I hope are good reasons, only to discover that God had things in mind that I never imagined.  Shocking: His ways are not my ways, His thoughts not mine! Look what God hath wrought for us today: Line up “Eternal Light”, “We Who Once Were Dead” and “Blessed Assurance.”  The ethereal prayer only makes sense if we acknowledge that we are in relative darkness compared to the Lord of Light; “help me see” and “raise me from death” directly connect to the other songs.  “We Who Once Were” could just as well be “Blind” – as was the case for Fanny Crosby, the author of “Blessed Assurance.”  All three songs have imagery of blindness/darkness, and of the exchange of life for death. For Crosby, though physically blind, her spiritual sightedness allowed her to rejoice that she was “lost in His love.” We who once were – lost, blind, dead – now are found, can see, and live. Thank you, Lord!

Eternal Life, raise me from death;
Eternal Brightness, help me see;
Eternal Spirit, give me breath;
Eternal Savior, come to me.

***

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

***

We who once were dead
Now live, fully knowing
Jesus as our head.
Life is overflowing
When He breaks the bread.