Life Together May 31, 2020

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Congratulations to Blacknall High School graduates! Andrea Elzey, Ikey Harrison, Abi Hausman, Anna Kirk, Maddie Morrison, Charlie Mullins, Hannah Rogers-Gates, Ari Tshihamba.

  • Lament, Love & Joy during COVID-19 | Watch Here

    A moderated discussion with Blacknall members and Mental Health professionals Warren Kinghorn, Frauke Schaefer, and Kendra Varnell.

  • Weekday Morning Scripture Reading | Mondays-Fridays during June, 8:30-8:50 a.m.
    A group of Young Adults will gather for a short welcome, reading aloud for 15 minutes, and a short prayer as we head off into our days. We would love to have Blacknall friends of all ages join us. For zoom details, contact Justin Rasmussen.

FINANCES

We have received $1,428,805 in offerings during this fiscal year (July 1, 2019 to date). Our annual budget is $1,687,052. We will need to receive $258,247 by June 30 to meet our full budget.

 This has been an unusual season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some expenses have been reduced as activities have been cancelled. Our expenses are usually close to our budget, but we are currently projecting expenses at around 95% of our budget (around $1,603,000). We will need to receive around $174,000 by June 30 to meet our projected expenses.

 These numbers do not include the federal support Blacknall has received through the Payroll Protection Program. Please contact Rich Frothingham with questions.

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

  • Pray for John & Karen Mulle Friesen serving with Mennonite Central Committee in Egypt.

    • Pray for MCC partners in Egypt working with refugees who are particularly vulnerable and have lost jobs and are now without housing.

    • Pray for the Church in Egypt as all are trying to respond to the rising needs, both health and economic.

    • Pray for the MCC which has lost funding as a result of the virus and has had to reduce budgets by 30%. This particularly impacts their church partners who depend on these funds.

  • Pray for Jennifer Hagin, Regional Director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Southwestern Virginia.

  • Please pray for Jennifer as she recruits new staff for this region.  She says,  “leadership recruitment and selection in the area as it is a bit more difficult when you can't sit down to recruit someone and Zoom meetings just take longer.”

  • Pray for new student leadership teams on each of the campuses as they seek to prayerfully make goals and plans for the fall while many realities are unknown.

  • Also pray for rest and students and staff to choose to spend time developing intimacy with God in this time rather than distraction. “They are going to experience a crucible of leadership that is well beyond what is normally asked of our student leaders, but it is also an opportunity for exponential growth if we choose dependence and engagement with the Lord.”

ABOUT THE MUSIC

When I interviewed Vincent & Jane Stubbs last week, Vincent said something that has stayed with me.  He said that he prayed, multiple times a day, the familiar verses from Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God…”  He said that he did this when he found his thoughts or mood going in the wrong direction.  If you read what Jesus says in the Upper Room about the Holy Spirit, it seems that obedience is a central factor. In our anti-authoritarian age, the word “obedience” may seem negative – if so, imagine it instead as walking in the light, being imitators of Christ, living a life that bears Godly fruit. Let’s use Vincent’s wisdom as an example to follow: What if, this week, all of us would pray the refrain of the beautiful “Spirit of Heaven,” multiple times each day?  “O Spirit of God, come down; let mercy and grace abound.  My passionate prayer shall be: Christ in me.”  I wonder how differently we would view our circumstances, the people around us, the anxiety in our culture…  Anybody wanna join me?

 Spirit of Heaven, flood over me, forming Christ in all that I do.
Turn every sinful desire in me into holy passion for You.

 O, Spirit of God, come down;
Let mercy and grace abound.
My Passionate prayer shall be:
Christ in me.