Weekly News | 8.15.25

This coming Sunday we return to two services (9AM & 11AM), and we (re)gather at 12:30PM for our annual Fall Kick-Off Potluck! Be sure to sign up here to bring a dish, and let’s feast!

I’m often skeptical of the spectacular.

The heroic person who jumps in front of danger.

The athlete who sinks 3’s with mind-boggling precision.

The adrenaline of a great first date.

The high-end event with all bespoke elements, every detail attended.

In part, my skepticism comes from an overweighting of meaning to the spectacular. Dependent at least in part on circumstance, genetics, charm, and money, the spectacular can make the meaningful life feel out of reach.

Thankfully, the spectacular life is not synonymous with meaningful life. 

It is in the ordinary places - backwater towns like Nazareth, modest tables where the stranger is fed, in washing dishes and working at our jobs - we find the powerful presence of God himself.

Our life together as Jesus-followers is fueled and held together by our participation in God’s weaving of the mundane and the meaningful. 

Each Sunday, our community lives into this reality. 

In quiet devotion, men and women arrive early and prepare the elements for communion.

Out of love for those who walk through the doors, volunteers make coffee, set our front table, and hand out bulletins so the warmth of God’s welcome is felt upon arrival.

With humility, ushers help us offer back to the Lord what we have been given, and prompt us to approach to receive Jesus and his blessing. 

Almost hidden, a brother or sister advances slides, keeping us in step with one another in our worship.

There is a gift in participating, a gift in taking our place in the reality of the mundane and the meaningful. I am incredibly thankful for all who serve! Our Sunday services do not happen without many hands. Yet! I am most animated when imagining how those who serve are slowly being formed into the image of Christ and how their service is enabling others to also encounter God. 

I am thankful for our volunteers who have put themselves in the path of unspectacular but trustworthy formation. That - on mornings they don’t want to get up, or a child is protesting loudly, or when the week didn’t go as planned and they’re still grappling with the setbacks - they say to the Lord, “Here I am.” 

If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to serve in these mundane and meaningful ways, or if you’re ready to take it up again, I encourage you to do so.

Peace,

Sarah+