Dear friends:
I’m not much of a media guy. We rarely watch movies, TV shows, or those newfangled internet series. But in preparation for this week’s sermon, I couldn’t help but revisit one of my all-time favorites: The Big Chill.
The opening scene includes outstanding cinematography. Set in the low country of South Carolina, a group of old college friends gather at a small, country, white clapboard church for the funeral of a friend named Alex. I don’t know who played the part of the minister, but I do remember the character. She gazes out, leans over the pulpit, and, in a pitiful attempt at a Southern accent, asks, "Where did Alex’s hope go?”
Since then, that phrase has entered my common parlance. When a team gives up on a game, an athlete caves on a competition, when someone gives up a long-held marriage, a dream, a desire, I’ll sometimes think, “Where did his/her hope go?”
It’s a good question, especially as we consider our role in this world. Do we live with hope? Do we actually believe God will use us, our actions, our commitments, our efforts, to make a better way forward? Does God intervene to make a way when there seems to be no way? Mitri Raheb, our mission partner in Bethlehem, Palestine, often says, “Hope is what we do.” But sometimes I wonder.
This week we’ll continue our Welcome Home series by considering these questions from the perspective of one Old Testament Passage and one New Testament passage. We’ll also celebrate the final major gift of our Welcome Home series as we announce yet another substantial investment in Affordable Housing. Serenitye Taylor will be bringing her considerable talents to the sermon at our 8:45 service, and I will be preaching at the others. We’ll enjoy outstanding music at them all.
Come in-person or online and invite someone to join you.
Warmly,
Bob
