Deep Waters.

March 8, 2022

Hello, friends!

I hope the hints of spring in the air and the prayerfulness of this season of Lent are making you feel as good as they are me. Praying the hours is a thing I have been doing for a few years as part of my own Lenten devotions – nothing fancy or formal, just a deliberate stopping of everything and spending a few moments in praise and prayer, 5 times per day. It’s so refreshing. I hope you are finding ways to add a good spiritual practice or two to your daily life…you’ll find it truly rewarding. Prayer, daily Bible reading, fasting, giving, and service are all good options. In fact, they are all deeply interconnected. The Lenten devotional I’m using, “Holy Solitude: Lenten Reflections with Saints, Hermits, Prophets, and Rebels” by Heidi Havercamp, blends them all in a pattern each week. I’d be glad to talk with you more about this, if you need ideas.

I have been really blessed lately to be in conversation with Tracy Runnels, who works with the Churchill Community Coalition. It’s hard to define what she does exactly, because her skill and energy level are so high and she does a bunch of different things. But her focus is on connecting folks in need with resources, and finding ways to fill in gaps between needs and resources we have here locally. I have for years felt really drawn to the connections between physical, mental, and spiritual health, and so I am excited to support several projects she is working on. One of the more exciting ones, to me, is a big health and wellness fair she is creating for September, to be held here at the church. Medical and dental clinics, parenting classes, art and music therapy, as well as games and laughter and maybe an outdoor bbq lunch…it’s all just in the idea phase right now, but she is getting a lot of good buy-in from local and Reno area groups like Children’s Cabinet who want to expand their services to Fallon. 

Like Fallon Daily Bread, things like this are powerfully impactful to our community, even for folks who just hear about them. I run into people all the time, strangers who express feeling moved by the things we do. We get private messages, or notes in the mail. Connecting selfless service like this to our Christian faith touches hearts and changes minds and open doors to God. We may never meet the folks who are impacted like this, and they may never step foot inside our doors, but it matters. Really matters. 

And then there are the people who are impacted directly. To be in service to our neighbors is a central tenet of our Christian faith; in the serving both the server and the receiver experience the real presence of God in Jesus Christ. I am discovering, in fact, that especially for folks who don’t trust or understand “church”, service becomes a deeply meaningful act of worship.

I want to encourage you to be in service in some kind of new way this season. There are many opportunities through the church, like HERO club or Fallon Daily Bread or the food pantry, driving folks to appointments, sitting with folks who are lonely to give caregivers some respite. All kinds of opportunities in town, too. Do it prayerfully and regularly, and make yourself stretch a bit into discomfort. And watch the Holy Spirit move.

 

Standing on the promises.

      Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

DEEP WATERS 2: The Other Side

“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.” Isaiah 43:2

This week, as we continue through the Gospel of Luke, we meet Jesus as he calls the first disciples in
chapter 5. In Luke’s telling, they have been out all night and caught nothing, and are returning home exhausted and disappointed. Rather than welcoming them home with love and comfort, Jesus tells them to go back out, but deeper this time, and try again. We’ll talk about all of this and more on Sunday. See you there. 

 

Artwork credit: the picture at left is a portion of a stunning painting by Yongsung Kim, called “The Hand of God.” You can find his work at youngsungkimart.com.

 

If you are worshiping with us from home, either via the radio broadcast or video, we are so glad! If we can pray for you, or if there is anything you need, we would love to do that. You can call the church office at  775-423-4714, or you can call Pastor Dawn on her cell phone any time, 775-671-5553.