Song Spotlight

This is our first “Song Spotlight.” Click on the link below to listen along as you read and reflect!  

“Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song”

In the first verse, John Stocker’s hymn sings of a joy that flows out of God’s mercy. In the second verse, he tells us why. He’s seen just how dark his sin really is. If the light of God’s mercy doesn’t shine through it he cannot bear that despair. He can only carry on if God’s mercy carries him. 

In the third verse, still feeling that guilt, he struggles to believe that God could really bring new life to his hard heart. He doubts that God could really be near him, working in him. This is my favorite part of the hymn: God’s mercy breaks through that anxiety. He who is “greater than our hearts” (1 John 3:20) draws us closer to himself than we, in our fear and shame, would dare to go.

Sometimes that may seem too good to be true. In those moments, we need this fourth verse. We don’t find assurance in our feelings, good works, or airtight theology. We find it in God’s character. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is merciful, and he always keeps his promises.

We will sing this hymn a few more times over the next several weeks because this is the kind of song our hearts must learn to sing! Even when our prayers seem dead, or our hearts seem hard, or our sin seems too strong, we need to remember that God’s mercy is greater than our weakness. We can rejoice with a joy that God graciously gives.

-Justin

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Cultivating a Love of Hospitality

In Romans 12:13, Paul encourages the church at Rome to “contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”  Because of your generosity, Incarnation has money set aside to take care of the needs of the saints.  A new benevolence policy is in place to guide the church in using this money, and we are thankful that we have the means to take care of each other in times of need.  If you experience financial need (or if you know someone in town in financial need), please don’t hesitate to speak to the governance team (Connie Beekman, Elizabeth Ellwanger, Ken Fitchett, Elizabeth Hammon, and Ed Hardy) or staff (particularly Steven or Katherine) about the need.  We will guide you through the process.
 
In terms of hospitality, though, we need your help!  Early in the life of Incarnation, we enjoyed potlucks together every week, and later every other week, and then later once each month.  It was a wonderful time for people to get to know each other and learn to love each other.  We would continue to do this now, but because of coronavirus, we need to be more creative and less programmatic.  Basically, we need new ways of showing hospitality that arise organically in smaller settings.
 
The need to find new ways to show hospitality has arisen at the same time that the church is growing in size, which means that the need to “seek to show hospitality” is especially pressing.  We are faced with the fact that we cannot have the large group gatherings we would like to have, and there are new people to incorporate into the life of the church.
 
My encouragement for you all is to find safe ways to continue to grow in friendship and incorporate new people into the life of the church.  This starts with greeting each other on Sundays, but can extend to taking walks together, having outdoor meals, or getting together for coffee.  Be creative, don’t always get together with the same people, and if you stumble on a good solution, let others (including me!) know.  My prayer is that Incarnation is a church marked by the fact that no one gets overlooked, and all are taken care of by others.  One of our church’s strongest aspects is the way we have loved each other.  As we grow, we will have to keep remembering this, so that new people are always brought fully into the body!
 
In Christ,
Steven+

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How do we Triad?

Some of you may be wondering how the triads will work.  This is new territory for many, and I wanted to give you all a brief overview.
 
First, the general rule is that the details are less important than the heart.  The heart is simple: a triad is a place for three believers to pray for each other, share each other’s burdens, and rejoice together.  If this is accomplished, it really doesn’t matter how you format the triad.
 
But for those who need a clearer picture of how to structure a triad, here are four basic ideas:
 

1. Meet twice each month at a set time and location.  Good places are a park where you can walk or someone’s deck with a cup of coffee.  If you choose to use the deck, set up a rotation between homes.  Use zoom if necessary, but face-to-face is obviously better.

2. Establish a pattern of sharing and prayer, and don’t deviate from it unless something really unusual occurs.  For example, give each person 15 minutes.  With your 15 minutes, spend 5-10 minutes sharing the struggles and joys of the last two weeks, and let the other two triad members pray for you for the remainder of the time.  Do this part of the triad first, so it doesn’t get rushed at the end.

3. After all three people have shared and been prayed for, discuss something interesting, such as a book you are reading, political issues, or a book of the Bible.  If you want recommendations for books to read as a group, let me know.

4. Set an end time that you follow consistently.  60-90 minutes is plenty.  As my great grandmother would say, “Leave when you are still having fun!”

This isn’t meant to be rigid.  The heart is what matters, and deviation from the pattern is fine if it helps you accomplish the heart!  If you have questions, please let me know.  You will receive the names of the people you have been grouped with next week.  We will be putting the names in a hat, praying over them, and drawing out three at a time.  Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit puts people together in a way that draws us all further along in the faith.  Once you have received the names, the burden is on you to contact your fellow “triadees” and set an initial meeting time. 
 
Don’t worry if the first meeting isn’t the best thing that you have ever experienced.  Deep trust comes slowly, and I am convinced that these groups will bear great fruit over the long haul as we learn to share burdens with each other and pray for each other. As a church we plan to meet in triads for the duration of the school year and end on Pentecost Sunday, May 23.

Steven+

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