New Year and Sabbath Rest

Happy New Year, beloved of God!

I love my drive to work, and home again. It would be much more convenient, and probably smarter in several ways, if Dennis and I lived here in Fallon rather than in Fernley, but if we did I would miss the drive. As I came in this morning, I was especially aware of the peacefulness of it...thirty minutes or so in the quiet, to relax and pray and listen to the radio. After the rain yesterday, everything looked and smelled clean and good. The snow on the mountains around us is beautiful this time of year, too.

As I drove, my mind wandered to the First Nations people who lived here hundreds and even thousands of years ago, when the land looked much different. And the pioneers who passed through this desert 180 years ago or so, looking for adventure and prosperity and a new life. And the people who decided this harsh but beautiful desert river valley would be a good place to stop, and make a home. And the people who decided what they needed most of all was a church.

Last Sunday in worship, before the sermon, we talked a little bit about the Wolf Center and the church and the different ministries we do, and how we wouldn’t be doing any of it if it weren’t for folks decades and generations ago who worked and prayed and gave what they had to serve the Lord. It was a previous conversation that got me thinking about it, with a woman at a graveside service for her good friend. She pulled me aside and handed me a donation for the church, and expressed how good and kind the church had been when she had attended events here in the past, and how much she appreciates the things we do. She said, specifically, that our facility (she meant the Wolf Center, mostly) was a great blessing to the community. Thank God, I thought, for those whose faithfulness and vision made it a reality.

This new year, that’s what’s on my heart. What legacy are we leaving for those who will follow us? What blessing are we creating now that they will benefit from, and grow with? As you pray, and worship, and study, and serve the Lord in your own way, I hope that you will consider that all of it matters. Not just for you, but for everyone you meet who will sense that little spark of God-light in you. 

Nurture that light, friends. Let God lead you, and fill your life with a renewed sense of belovedness, and purpose. 

In God’s amazing grace,

Pastor Dawn

Worship at Epworth and at Home

Sabbath Rest

Aaaaaahhhhhhh. After the busyness of the Christmas season, January can be a lovely sort of re-set. Some of us might be thinking about new ways to do things in the coming year, and we here in the church office are no exception. Worship in January will focus on that: how to really love the Lord our God by nurturing a healthy heart, mind, soul, and body. This Sunday, we will begin with a renewal of our life in faith, beginning with a re-commitment to keeping the Sabbath holy. 

 

Worship will meet in person, at 9:00am in our sanctuary for those who prefer, and on Facebook and KVLV at 9:30am. We can give GREAT thanks to God that, due to our care in sanitizing and masking and whatnot, we have had NO spreading of the virus in our church, even though a couple of members have gotten the virus elsewhere. 

Keep it up, beloved! It is a great way to follow God’s commandment to love one another.