Life Together

PRAYER & THANKSGIVING

  • Pray for Allan & Betsy Poole in the death of Allan’s father, Charles Ray Poole, on April 18.

  • Pray for Terry Risher in the death of his mother, Frances Elsie Risher, on April 20.

  • We rejoice with Alivia & Greg Archer in the birth of their son, Brooks Michael Archer, and their daughter, Maye Erickson Archer, on April 23.

LOVE & SERVE

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • 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.

  • Weekday Morning Scripture Reading | Mondays-Fridays, May 1-29, 8:30-8:50 a.m.

    A group of Young Adults will be gathering to read scripture over Zoom. The program will be simple: a short welcome, reading aloud together for 15 minutes, and a short prayer as we head off into our days. We’ll begin with 1 Peter and continue to the Corinthians. We would love to have Blacknall friends of all ages join. For more information, contact Justin Rasmussen.

FINANCES

Special Mission Offering: $32,218
Thank you for your incredible generosity!

July 1 through April 30, 2020
Actual offerings:        $1,257,220
Offering need:            $1,363,307
Ahead/(behind):        ($106,087)

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.

ABOUT THE MUSIC 

To paraphrase Paul’s words from Philippians 3:1, it’s not hard for me to repeat myself, and it’s to your advantage that I do so.  (Note: clearly I have no problem repeating myself, but how advantageous that is to others, well…)  Once again, I am struck by the power in worship of the word “come.”  “All Who Are Thirsty” allows us to ask the Lord through heart-felt cries, “Come.”  Each of us packs a lot into those four letters – longing for His presence (a word that in some ways is the opposite of our distanced lives), for the Lord to do as we asked our parents when frightened in the night, “Make it go away.”  The Lord of Light dispels the darkness; as Psalm 91 says, “I will not fear the terrors of the night.”  The clear teaching of Scripture is that God does not come because we beg or grovel – He is coming before we have asked, “leaping the mountains and bounding the hills” (Song of Solomon 2).  Before joining Jamie to sing “All Who Are Thirsty,” try to identify your pain or fear that causes you to cry – then imagine the Lord Who Leaps coming towards you.  Now sing “God With Us” – because He is.  He is more than a match for the depths of our fears in these strange days.  Your cries are interrupted, as with the Prodigal Son, by His embracing presence.  As the song says, “In Your presence we find our strength” – a phrase worth repeating.

 You’ve come to bring peace,
To be Love, to be nearer to us,
You’ve come to bring life,
To be Light, to shine brighter in us.
Oh Emmanuel, God With Us.

Our Deliverer, You are Savior.
In Your presence we find our strength over everything,
Our Redemption, God With Us.
You are God With Us.