Announcements

TODAY - Officer Recommendations | View Form. Today is the last day to make recommendations for deacons and elders. More info here.
Virtual Table Talk | Wednesdays, Oct. 14-Nov. 11, Learn more here!
6:30-7 p.m -All the fellowship & fun of a meal together, minus the food.
7-8 p.m. - A variety of courses - Confident Pluralism; Land, Literature, & the Church; Romans: A Study in Sin; “Thy Kingdom Come”
Fall Inquirers’ Class | Sundays, Oct 18-Nov. 15, 7-8pm | Zoom
Do you want to know more about life and membership at Blacknall? We will kick off with a socially-distanced outdoor meeting on Sunday, October 18. The rest of the class will take place on Zoom. To attend, contact Goodie Bell.
S’mores Bake Off | Saturday, Oct. 24 10-12 p.m. kit pick up. The deacons are offering 50 free S’mores kits in honor of the long time Festival of the Bean (which will not take place this year). Gluten free kits available by request in the sign up form. To participate in the bake off, create a dish using the 3 items plus anything else you want to add. Read more here.
DMET Local Service Survey | Take Here
Blacknall’s Durham Ministry Engagement Team (DMET) is seeking to capture a better sense of where Blacknall members currently (or pre-Covid) serve in our community, through work life and volunteer service. With the information from this survey, we hope to offer a more accurate picture of where we as a church are serving in the community already and how we can facilitate service opportunities in the future. We also are interested to know if you’d like to formally serve on the DMET Team. Please take a moment to complete this survey before Oct. 31. We look forward to sharing results and loving our neighbors even better in the future! - The DMET Leadership Team

Prayer & Thanksgiving

Ministry Partners:

Durham—We pray for Durham CAN as this organization seeks to empower people who are oftentimes not invited to the table when decisions are made in Durham. We pray for Tinu Driver, the Executive Director and Lead Organizer. We pray for CAN’s efforts to fight for the concerns of the Hayti community of Durham with regard to the empty 20 acres of what was known as Fayette Place. This property has been an eyesore for 13 years and the community is waiting for promises to develop the land as affordable housing to be kept. We pray for Durham CAN leaders in the Hoover Road, McDougald Terrace, and other public housing sites as they seek to hold the Durham Housing Authority accountable to promised upkeep and maintenance needs as well as health concerns. Pray for Bill Shively as heads up Blacknall’s Durham CAN team.

International—We pray for Blacknall missionaries Sean and Carmen Garrigan. This Sunday’s focus is on our missionaries Sean and 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. Sean is an Instrument Rated Commercial Pilot, a Certified Flight Instructor and is licensed as an Airframe & Powerplant mechanic. Carmen is an ordained Presbyterian Pastor. They are members at Blacknall, where they co-chair the IMT committee. Specific prayer requests: (1) thanksgiving for the 3 Honduras-bound pilot/mechanic families that God has brought to Burlington for team building and pilot standardization training; (2) wisdom and strength to provide this training; (3) safety and good health for everyone at MAG; (4) no unexpected maintenance issues with their airplanes; (5) harmony and love for the Garrigan family during this season of intense ministry.

Campus—We pray for Andy and Cheryl White and their work with international students at NC State through InterVarsity. Pray for Andy as he does ESL classes, outdoors, socially distanced. Pray for two new Egyptian women who recently joined the group and for a Chinese couple who are recent believers. Pray also for a Turkish grad student and his wife who have become involved and a Czech couple, Vance and Anda, who became believers several years ago.

Grief:

Pray for Pam Pennigar whose Mom died recently.
We pray for Scott Hamman whose Dad died recently.
We pray for Kris Barman whose Dad died recently.
We pray for Dean Storelli whose Dad died recently.
Continue to pray for family and friends of Joanne Hodgson.

Joys

We celebrate Jerry Walter’s continued recovery from his heart transplant. He is now home from the hospital!
We thank God for the Women’s Retreat this weekend and for the time and connections shared.

Concerns

We pray for Matthew Emerson, Shirley Emerson’s son, as he has been diagnosed with COVID-19
We pray for all of those who are caregivers.
We pray for Marta Shultz as she is recovering from the COVID-19 virus.

World

We thank God that our president and his wife have recovered from the COVID virus.
We pray for deliverance from the virus as it surges in our nation and around the world.
We pray for the upcoming election and for the health of our shared civic life.

Life Together

We pray for search committees for the positions of Director of Music Ministries (chair, John Nicholson) and Director of Congregational Care (chair, Melissa Hartemink).
We pray for Durham Public Schools and for the Learning Center that we are hosting at Blacknall. We pray for the staff from the YMCA who are with the children and that our building will be a place of safety and learning.
We pray for the Table Talk program meeting on Wednesday evenings and for the four courses that are being offered.
We pray for Brad Turnage and Tanya Kronstad as they lead our youth ministries and as they seek to find ways to help our youth connect with one another in this season of pandemic.
We pray for wisdom about decisions about how we might gather for worship in the sanctuary.
We pray for the Nominating Committee as they begin their work of nominating people to serve as elders and deacons.

About the Music

Ever since I came across the lyrics (skillfully written by Peter Ellis) for “Lavish Love, Abundant Beauty,” I have been struck by how it portrays the Gospel with simplicity, insight and elegance. Look at those verses in light of the opening portion of Ephesians 3: The first stanza could be lauding “general revelation,” extolling God’s power and love on display to all. The second verse is the pivot point, when the one observing the works of this God reflects that he/she is caught up in this outpouring of grace – “Who am I?” In Ephesians 3, a key point for Paul is the marvel, the “mystery,” that even the Gentiles are now enfolded through grace, with the Jews, into this new thing. No longer is it appropriate to speak of Israel as the Chosen Tribe, but in Christ, the Holy Nation, the Kingdom of Priests, Jew and Gentile, all are image-bearers and grace-receivers. Probably most Israelites wouldn’t have thought to say, Who am I? (The answer, a descendant of Abraham, seemed to be “settled science.”)The tone of dawning comprehension establishes the “singer” as a Gentile, formerly outside the household, now seated at the banquet table; in other words, like almost everyone reading these words today. Verse 3 may be the perfect after-benediction song, affirming our identity, and committing to service as He sees fit, all of it in a context of gratitude. May that describe our hearts, and our lives, today.

Who am I that You should love me, meet my every need from birth?

Why invest Yourself so fully in a creature made of earth?

In Your loving heart You planned me, fashioned me with greatest care;

Through my soul You breathed Your Spirit, planted Your own image there.

We are Yours, Eternal Father, off’ring body, mind and heart.

Take and use us to Your glory, form Yourself in every part.

Lord, Your love brings joy and gladness flowing forth within our soul –

May our very breath and being rise to You, their source and goal.

Community

Music, Faith… and the Double Pandemic | October 19, 7 p.m.
The upheaval of the world surrounds us with unmistakable force. Healthy forms of community are being interrupted by COVID-19 just as unhealthy forms of racial disunity are erupting in violence and being exposed through large-scale protests. How do we make sense of this world? Can music teach us or help us in this process? Dr. Emmett Price believes that “with ears to hear” music can help us in our isolation and in our disunity. More info here.

Virtual Chefs for Change | Nov. 13
Please join Families Moving Forward for 2020's Virtual Chefs for Change Gala! We'll have an online silent auction, a short video presentation, and a virtual interactive element for all attendees, and we're working with our sponsors on some other fab goodies. It has been a tough year for so many of our neighbors experiencing homelessness. FMF has continued to provide families with children a stable, safe and loving home while adapting to new routines and physical distancing. The Chefs for Change Gala is our chance to safely come together in a time when we need connection more than ever. Tickets are $50 at fmfnc.org/gala. For more information, contact Mark Paulson (919-621-2725) or Anne Paulson (919-812-6208).