Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Seventy kids, and a large number of our parish, have been showing up this week. It's been fun, a little wild, and every day has been a blessing. Here are a few snapshots from the week. From Bishop Carl: VBS impacts the spirit and soul. First of all it's the interaction of the people, kids and adults smiling, laughing, serving, focusing on our Lord together. I love being with the staff as well as the children. It is refreshment at its best and more. The soul gets nourished. A friend of mine used to teach that when we taught, the first thing forgotten was the content. The second thing forgotten was the style, how you taught what you taught. And the thing remembered longest was the attitude with which we taught. Our attitude nourishes the soul. We also can bless the spirit of those present. We can awaken a thirst. A parishioner sent me the following, borrowing from Max Lucado. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). The phrase "train up" descends from a root word that means to develop a thirst. Hebrew midwives awakened the thirst of a newborn by dipping a finger in a bowl of crushed dates and placing it in the baby's mouth. To "train up," then, means to awaken thirst. Parents and teachers can awaken thirst "in the way [the child] should go." What an awesome gift it is! This is a work of the Spirit to the spirit. Roberta:

Friday Epistle - Dr. Larry Selig

SACRED ANTACIDS By Justin McRoberts A young man came to his priest. "I feel like something is terribly wrong in my spirit. Please help me." The priest replied, "Can you describe the feeling?" "It happens every night," the young man said. "I lie down and begin thinking over my day when a terrible feeling comes over me; a burning in my heart, like the burning the disciples felt when meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus. But when I feel it, it feels like something is wrong. It's more like a pain. It's as if God is trying to tell me something. Please, help me. What does it mean?"

HE ALSO MADE THE STARS Why do we spend a good bit of time on Sunday mornings praising God? It's not just a sing along, or as in some churches, a concert, but it's a time of praise. We can express that in different ways, but ultimately it is our offering to our God, and it's what we are created to do. Jesus said it is what God has ordained us to do on earth and in heaven: "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, " 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?" And he added, if we don't the stones will: "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." SO DON'T MISS IT! Don't' miss it! -- This video by Louis Giglio is 8 minutes plus. But includes the recording of the sounds of stars, and whales. He wraps it together with, "How Great is Our God." How Great is our God Don't miss it! -- How can we not join in the praise of all creation? Yes, he also made the stars and they sing constant praises. Don't miss an opportunity to join in the hymn of the universe on any given Sunday at New Covenant. It is a bit beyond our imaginings, but then it's about God. Psa. 148:1 Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. 2Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. 3Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. 4Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Blessings to You All,

What do you do with the fifth goat? Between the Services Sunday:

Fruit or Fire? Cut Off or Cut Back? John 15.1-8

Dear Friends at New Covenant, Like some horrific losses, and some beatific moments that transcend even our imaginations, the events of Good Friday and Easter are vastly beyond words. Sometimes a poet captures something words put otherwise cannot. Shortly after WW1, the Great War to end all war, when its memories and pains were still fresh, a book was published. Near the beginning is the text from John, "He showed them his hands and his side." And this poem follows. JESUS OF THE SCARS by Edward Shillito If we have never sought, we seek Thee now; Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars; We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow, We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars. The heavens frighten us; they are too calm; In all the universe we have no place. Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm? Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace. If, when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near, Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine; We know to-day what wounds are, have no fear, Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign. The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak; They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone. A comment on the poem by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple: " Only a God in whose perfect being pain has its place can win and hold our worship; for otherwise the creature (with his pains) would in fortitude surpass the Creator." Blessings to You All,

Good Friday The Service for Good Friday leads us through the last hours of our Lord Jesus' life on the day we commemorate his holy death. Beginning with Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering servant through Hebrews' description of the New Covenant, we finally listen to John's narration of Christ's trial and then rise to witness him cruelly crucified at Golgotha.