This week's news from our church | |
Winners, Losers, and the Image and Likeness of God | |
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When our children were young, after we moved from South Bend, Indiana to Chicago, autumn would bring our thoughts back to Notre Dame and football. We were fairly avid Irish fans. If Notre Dame suffered a loss (unfortunately often back then) I would tell our children, “We don’t need to go to church tomorrow. Notre Dame lost; there must be no God.”
Then Sunday morning would come and I would wake them up and say, “The sun is up and it’s a new day, God is obviously alive and well. Time to get ready for church.” Of course, this was a way to put such events and their outcomes in eternal perspective. Truth be told, it was as much for myself as for them.
I obviously write this after Washington had a disappointing national championship game. It disappoints those who root for them, because sport gives us an opportunity for catharsis, to imagine a player or team an extension of us, and to experience their success and failure in ways that are safe and not essential to our lives. It may hurt when “we” lose, but life goes on with little long-term effect.
However, we in our culture esteem winning as a value that is essential to our human nature in much of life. We value “success” and being “better than average”—which means you are better than others—as givens in our culture. It shapes our view of education, economics, vocations, even church.
Comparison, if not competition, is a common theme in our lives. We seem to assume that we are at our most human when we are competing, and hopefully winning. This value, however, is far from how the scriptures depict our human nature as a reflection of God’s nature. Our communities best reflect God’s nature when we are collaborative and cooperative, even surrendering our authority to serve others. God is triune, and the three persons are interdependent, working in concert with one another. We reflect this when we denounce hierarchy (Matthew 20:16; John 13:1-14), when we use our gifts to work with and for one another (1 Corinthians12:12-31), and when we do not categorize people “winners and losers” (James 2:1-13).
This is countercultural. This is hard. It doesn’t come naturally to us. It requires us to take seriously our growing in conformity to Christ as disciples over time. If you find yourself falling short of these expectations, or even your own, take a breath; relax. Remember that we are saved by grace. And trust that the sun will come up each new day, because God is alive and well and loves us. And God’s Spirit works on our spirits incrementally to become more and more like Christ. This is a journey with comrades, not a race or competition to be best.
Might this help define our vision and our values for the coming year as we begin a new season of ministry at First Covenant Church.
With faith and love for and with you all,
~ Pastor Todd
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Meet and greet
We have two upcoming opportunities to spend time with Lauren St. Martin, our candidate for the position of Associate Pastor for Children, Youth, and Family.
Saturday, January 20
7:00 to 9:00 pm
Adam and Sheri Johnson's house
912 N 49th Street, Seattle
Wednesday, January 24
7:30 to 8:30 pm on Zoom (link to come)
Please join us!
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Looking for delegates for conference and denomination annual meetings
Pacific Northwest Conference
Annual Meeting/Celebration
April 18-20
Milwaukie, Oregon
Gather 2024 / Evangelical Covenant Church Annual Meeting
June 26-29
Cincinnati, Ohio
If you’re interested in being a delegate to either the conference or denomination annual meeting, please contact Karl Nelson.
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 12
12:00 pm Bible Reading
SATURDAY, JANUARY 13
9:00 am Community Breakfast
SUNDAY, JANUARY 14
10:00 am Sunday Worship (link to livestream)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18
12:00 pm Bible Study, Zoom link
Meeting ID: 861 0242 1704 • Passcode: 929248
7:00 pm Choir Rehearsal
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Our church calendar can be found here. If you would like to add a meeting, event, or a time that you want to use a space at the church, please let Cinda Madonna know and she will add it to the public calendar.
> Google Calendar
> Contact Cinda
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NEXT SUNDAY: JANUARY 21
Grief and Community session
After worship, downstairs in Fellowship Hall, the second of a two-part series will be led by Sonja Whitaker, called "Good Grief," focusing on how we can support ourselves and others through times of grief. Lunch will follow. These classes are brought to you by the Nurture Faith team.
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STAFF SCHEDULE
Cinda Madonna: Off Monday, office closed.
Allan Waite: Off Thursday
Pastor Todd: On vacation January 15 – 24.
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Saturday, January 20: Meet Lauren St. Martin, Sheri and Adam Johnson's home
Sunday, January 21: Grief and Community session, led by Sonja Whitaker
Wednesday, January 24: Meet Lauren St. Martin, via Zoom
Saturday, January 27: Memorial Service for George Scranton, 2;00 pm
Sunday, January 28: Congregational Semi-annual Meeting
Sunday, February 4: Connecting Righteousness and Justice session, (Amos 5)
led by Andrea Johnson
Sunday, February 25: What Does God Require of Us? session, (Micah 6)
led by Andrea Johnson
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 14
Greeters: Peter and Linda Dahl
Readers: Tom and Linda Morris
Children's Message: Andrea Johnson
Sermon: Todd Johnson
Coffee Servers: Ann & Trevor Scranton
Usher: Linda Dahl
Livestream: Kendall Magnuson
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Sheri Johnson
Christopher Landerdahl
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THIS SUNDAY'S SCRIPTURE READINGS
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“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
~ Philippians 4:6-7
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THANKSGIVINGS
We pray for our world with thanksgiving
- for those who welcome the presence of Christ into our world in the most unexpected places
- for those people who are advocates for preservation of God's creation, peace, equality, and justice in the world
- for those who protest for justice in their homeland and from afar, especially people from all over the world calling for restraint, even peace, in the Middle East
- for those who care for the sick, the infirmed, and the dying with love and compassion
- for those we support who live the gospel in very different contexts than ours
- for the efforts made by those to care for our neighbors who are housing insecure or food insecure
We pray for our church with thanksgiving
- for the work of our Associate Pastor Search Committee and for their candidate Lauren St. Martin. May God's guidance and blessing be upon the process and its discernment from this moment forward.
- for the gift of being an intergenerational congregation
- for the efforts towards Christian formation in our church and forming every generation in the faith
- for the facilities we steward, and those who care for them
- for the skill and diligence of the workers who are repairing our dome and roof
- for the many visitors who continue to grace our church
- for those to whom we serve breakfast each Saturday morning
- for those who volunteer in our many ministries
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INTERCESSIONS
We intercede on behalf of the world
- for those who, hearing a call to repentance, redirect their lives toward God
- for those who endure constant threats of oppression and violence in their homeland
- for a diminishment of violence, especially gun violence around the world, and for those who grieve the senseless killing of loved ones
- for the many people whose needs are not being met because of reduced giving to humanitarian aid
- for lawmakers who struggle to complete the tasks before them and to do so with civility
- for those who feel alone, forgotten, or a burden: might they see God's unique imprint in themselves
- for those who grieve, both those who have died and those they see slipping away
- for peace in the Holy Land and the broader Middle East. May the innocent be protected from attacks, and may those trapped by war find the essentials to keep them alive.
- for all those around the world who work behind the scenes to broker peace
- for the health of our planet
- for civility in our country in this potentially divisive election year. Might peace, love an unity have the final say.
We intercede on behalf of our church
- for all those in our community who grieve the diminishment of friends and their abilities, who grieve the loss of partners, parents, and dear friends, and who grieve the absence of people they love
- that we might find ways we can be witnesses to God's work in our world that offer people faith, hope, and love in Christ
- for the family of Karlene Johnson, her husband John Spence, their son Alex and his fiancée Anna, as well as Tina Lee and Becka Lee, her step-sisters. We especially hold in our prayers Elena Waite and Eli and Phia who grieve the loss of their sister and aunt.
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for Tan and her ongoing recovery from cancer treatments, Verna who is in therapy hoping to be able to return to her home, and Darryl who adjusts to his lessened abilities. May we be a support and encouragement to them and all who care for them.
- for individuals, couples, and families who find themselves in a difficult season of life
- for discerning where and how God is moving in our church and our world, and how to respond
- for those in need outside our church doors, and resources for our church staff to respond effectively to their needs
- for our denomination and its leaders in churches, conferences, and the national office to have wisdom, compassion, and vision for the days at hand
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Happenings around the Covenant | |
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Evangelical Covenant Church
Weekly update on Covenant news, stories, and resources:
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Pacific Northwest Conference
“The Catch” newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Conference:
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Cascades Camp and Conference Center
> Registration open!
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Do you have an announcement to include in a future e-newsletter?
Send it to Sandy Nelson before Wednesday at 12 noon, the week you'd like it to appear.
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