On Saturday, May 4, we are sponsoring the Pregnancy Resource Center’s Walk for Life. We have done this the last few years and are grateful to be able to continue to do this. The PRC provides invaluable care to young men and women facing unexpected pregnancies, and it is our delight to support their team in this work.
For those unfamiliar with the PRC, the center offers basic medical care (free ultrasounds) and a variety of types of support care. This support care includes classes on parenting, mentoring relationships, support groups, and spiritual discussion groups. All of this is free, as the Center’s mission is to provide compassionate, life-affirming care to all who need it. Their work has changed the lives of thousands in the Richmond area, and we are glad to encourage and stand beside them in this work.
Practically, we need volunteers! We will have a table at the walk and will be offering breakfast snacks to everyone present. We need people at the table to pass out the snacks and greet the people who are helping raise money for the Center. In addition, we need a small group to set things up and to clean up afterwards. Set-up begins at 8:00am, and clean-up will occur around 10:30am. Please help us by signing up for a slot here! Reach out to Katherine if you have any questions about volunteering.
Book Clubs
Book clubs last summer were a hit! Over the course of the summer, groups gathered to discuss everything from highbrow theology to great novels. Some books took a lot of effort to wade through and others were quick reads. The only criteria were, effectively, “Does this book help us see more fully the glory of God or what it means to live as his creatures?” You could summarize that as simply, “Is this book good for a Christian to read?”
For those who weren’t able to participate, it was a pretty simple endeavor—we gathered in various homes, ate good food, and discussed a good book. Some people read the whole book before the meeting and some people only made it a couple chapters in, but no tests were given! Some discussions had 25 or 30 people, and some had 5 or 10.
Given that small groups and Bible studies take a break for the summer, this is a great way to continue to learn and grow, and so we are planning to do this again. These are wonderful moments to bring friends to, and wonderful moments to enjoy each other’s company during the summer.
We need suggestions for this summer! If you would like to lead a discussion on a particular book, email Steven. If you want to facilitate an evening together over a book, but don’t want to lead the discussion itself, let Steven know—there might be someone that could join with you to help. We will finalize the list of book clubs in mid-May, so don’t wait too long to email.
Scripture Reflections
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. (John 20:19-21)
There is a truth about God’s word that recurs in Scripture: God’s word accomplishes what it declares. For God, to speak is to do.
This is not a minor point—you cannot get three verses into the Bible before you run into this truth. Over and over, the Bible implicitly and explicitly makes it clear that God’s speech is not like ours. His creative statements and promises always come true. When he speaks, reality changes. This fact undergirds prophecy—what value, after all, is God’s speech, if it does not accomplish what he declares? Yet the testimony, over and over, is, “It does! What God speaks is accomplished simply because God has spoken it!”
The two greatest testimonies of this truth are creation itself, where God speaks the world into existence, and the incarnation, where the Son of God, come in the flesh amongst us, is declared to be God’s Word to us. In the incarnation, we see that God’s ultimate speech to us is actually his own presence—his dynamic, powerful, and compassionate presence in our midst. His speech accomplishes what it says because, in the end, Jesus is his speech to us.
With that in mind, we need to reconsider Jesus’ own words to his disciples after the resurrection. He stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” This was no pious sentiment, but instead the word of God, which always accomplishes what it says, spoken by the Word of God, who is God’s final speech to us. In other words, if there ever were a trustworthy statement, this is it!
Most of us cannot imagine true peace being present in all parts of our lives—we may have tasted it here or there, but not overall. Yet Jesus says, “Peace be with you,” and God’s word does what it declares. These are not just nice words, but instead God’s powerful word, spoken to those who trust Jesus.
It will take us a lifetime to learn to receive the peace Jesus speaks into existence in us. There are impediments to receiving it (we are our greatest impediment!), and we need to learn to open our hands to it. But his offer is real; the word declared is effective. Peace is given to us.
Steven+