Unity in Action

As we continue with the sermon series REBUILD TOGETHER, our focus this week is on unity. We see unity throughout the book of Nehemiah. However today we will look at three examples in which unity was displayed. In chapter 3 unity is displayed when the people of Jerusalem gather together to build the wall. No one was left behind in the work; the priests, the goldsmiths, the district leaders, sons, daughters, even the perfume makers. Everyone joined in and got their hands dirty. They were all united by the work of building the wall. 

The second display of unity is seen in chapter 4 where the Jews experienced opposition, threats and intimidation from individuals and other groups of people. Instead of giving in to fear and discouragement, Nathan rallied the people and encouraged them to take up arms and protect each other. They chose to love and protect each other from hatred they were experiencing. 

Lastly, we see unity displayed in chapter 4 when all the people gathered as one to listen to the word of the LORD. They were united in worship. Their worship then resulted in celebration and sharing food with those who didn't have any. This is what I like to call transformative worship. A worship that leads to justice and action; where the weak and vulnerable in the community are seen and cared for. 

We can learn a few things from the display of unity in the book of Nehemiah. First is that unity is a verb not just a beautiful idea that we hope for. The Jews were united by action i.e. building the wall, protecting each other and worshiping together. Therefore let us pursue unity through action, by building the Kingdom of God instead of being divided by different ideologies that breaking our society apart. 

Secondly we learn that God is present when His people are united. Today more than ever the world needs to experience God's presence. In His presence we find love, healing and hope. These are all things we are looking for today. 

Lastly, unity is a tool for evangelism. Jesus prayed in John 17 that through our unity the world would know Him.

Let us seek to be united so that Jesus will be lifted for all the world to see!

See you Sunday,

Pastor Mark Nsimbi

Believe It to Receive It

I believe in God the Father who is all powerful. He is the creator of the universe and designed us with love. He has sprinkled us with smiles, ideals imbedded in our character, and hope infused in our DNA. 

I believe that God intended us to love flowers and trees, mountains and lakes, animals and blue sky. But most of all to love other people. Including tiny children bursting with giggles, young people on the edge of their adventure, and vulnerable families- precious in their potential. I sense God made us to enjoy characters, grumpy people, and masterpieces that require extra grace.

I believe the Holy Spirit is with us. For times when life is tragic His spirit does not quit. Oh there are lots of mysteries. And I believe God and science are not enemies. Science is simply God’s footprints- wondrous, fascinating, beyond our imaginations.

I believe in Jesus Christ. God’s only begotten Son. Who heals us with his sacrifice, loves us more than we can ever know, and presents hope for the most troubling situations. Jesus brings the dead back to life in Eternity. We will be surprised at all those who had more faith than we recognized because they were dancing with Jesus in tender friendship.

I believe that God is good. Yes, in the times when life does not make sense. Even when life seems bad God is good. He is reaching out to us with his outstretched hands wanting to hug us, cry with us, and laugh with us.

I believe in miracles! Times where God infuses our faith with daring and resolve. Moments that seem ridiculous because we take a stand for what is right. Committed together willing to hope that something good can come out of facing the impossible odds and trying beyond what makes sense. Bound in the friendship of the journey and at peace because we are together with Him.

I believe in you. God has called me to be a friend to you. To pray for you, encourage you, pull for you from the deepest part of my heart. I want to celebrate you, to listen to you, and laugh with you. Until someday at the dawn of an eternal morning we stand together with all of our families- all people- with our hands quivering, our breath quickened at the dawn of an eternal party with Jesus Christ. Yes, I believe, and I invite you to believe with me because there is not a better way to live.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Radical Bravery

 Hello Church!

Chelsea Maitland here. A few years ago I had the privilege of witnessing radical bravery in the midst of fear- and it came from an 11-year-old girl. It was one of the most significant ministry experiences I have had to date, and I want to share it with you because this type of boldness in the Holy Spirit is accessible to you too.

I was leading worship at a middle school summer camp. It was everything you imagine a middle school summer camp to be- full of joy, creative games, and all kinds of dancing and singing. The kids were phenomenal worshipers- but what caught me off-guard was that they actually started to lead me in worship. They were so fully immersed in these songs about following Jesus, becoming aware of the Holy Spirit, and asking God for miracles, that it caused me to engage in deeper, more intimate worship with the Lord.

One evening we started singing "No Longer Slaves" by Bethel- and during the chorus I called out to them, "Sing this to the face of fear." As they sang the words "I'm no longer a slave to fear/ I am a child of God" I started to notice a shift in the body language of one of the students. She seemed scared. 

The worship set ended and we found that this student was having a panic attack. Myself and a couple of other leaders stayed with her as the other students went to their next activity- and we found that this particular panic attack was spiraling fast, and was lasting a long time. As time went on we saw that she was staring off into the distance at something that we couldn't see. As she wept, she described a presence that she found terrifying- so we prayed. We prayed that in the name of Jesus this presence would leave this little girl, we prayed that she would know that she is a child of God and we prayed that this presence would know that too. We prayed that in the powerful name of Jesus, when we said amen, that it would leave. 

We said "Amen" and nothing changed. I was mad. I walked up to my piano and started singing "I raise a hallelujah in the presence of my enemies" and sang it from a posture of frustration at God. I asked God, "Why won't you rescue this little girl from fear?". 

Just before we were about to take her to the hospital, I watched this child walk right up to whatever this figure was- this presence that was causing her crippling fear- and say, "Be gone in the name of Jesus- I am a child of God!".

She fell to the floor and cried tears of joy, and tears of relief because it was gone. 

You see if God had answered my prayer in the way I asked God- which was that this scary presence would leave when I said "Amen", this child would not have had the opportunity to claim her own worth in Jesus in the presence of her own enemies. In the presence of fear. 

The Holy Spirit empowered her to do that, all on her own. 

That type of rescue- radical, claiming-your-worth, deliverance from fear- is available to you too. 

Come hear Pastor Mark take us through chapter two in the book of Nehamiah on Sunday. It's another story of God empowering us through God's Holy Spirit to be bold in the midst of fear. 

Peace be with you friends,

 Chelsea Maitland

When you were a child, you do something that all did.  Feeling that everything was mysterious we would operate on false expectations. Do you remember when hiding was easy? You just covered your eyes and no one could see you. And nobody should have a money problem as long as you had your piggy bank. There were enough coins in your piggy bank that you buy someone a house or vacation- it didn’t matter for you. Those types of false expectations stick with many of us through our lives.

One false expectation that sticks with people is what I call, "no time for reality".  We have so much stress in our lives that we believe that if we work our projects hard enough that we can perfect that project at the very first attempt at it.

This false expectation causes people to be stuck because after one or two failures it’s all over for them.  They give up because their false expectation led them to make a poor choice to give up.

Everything in life requires continual rebuilding.  When we send a human mission to land on  Mars we have to build, analyze and rebuild.  No one is going to develop one attempt, and then quit.  It has taken every mission since John Glenn orbited the earth in an aircraft to get as far as we have. But we’re not there yet.  So we plan on rebuilding our attempts continually until we get there.

And so it is in our church and our lives.  We need to constantly rebuild.  There is a book in the Bible on rebuilding and it is called Nehemiah.  We’re starting this series this Sunday. Why don’t you try it.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Aligning Our Heart With God's Heart

Happy Friday, Church!

This Sunday Pastor Mark is diving into the book of Esther to help us unpack the spiritual gift of fasting. His sermon summary is so beautiful I thought I'd post it here for you to read. Before I do that let me share with you a special memory I have of the first time I ever fasted.

I went to a private Christian school here in Washington for middle school and high school- so we often had chapels and very youth group-like events. One of those events they called the "Hunger Drive"- it was an all-night event where students stayed for worship, games, and other activities, all while fasting. In the morning we'd go door-to-door to collect non-perishable foods to bring to the local food bank.

During the worship service that night I remember we were singing those 90's camp-worship songs. And at the time, I just felt like I was singing into the abyss. Until we got to the song, "Here I Am to Worship" (remember that one?). We got to the chorus which says,

"Here I am to worship

Here I am to bow down

Here I am to say that you're my God

You're altogether lovely

Altogether worthy

Altogether wonderful to me My Lord"

As these words fell out of my mouth I suddenly understood I wasn't singing into an abyss- I was singing directly to the Lord. How precious that felt then - and how precious it feels now. I love what Pastor Mark says in his summary below, "Fasting is a powerful spiritual discipline that helps align our hearts more closely with the heart of God."

May you know that God is just waiting for you to tune your heart to him- to listen to him- because God is always speaking, always pursuing you, and always present.

Here is what Pastor Mark says,

"The primary goal of fasting is to draw nearer to God. Fasting is a powerful spiritual discipline that helps align our hearts more closely with the heart of God. Once the pri­ma­ry pur­pose is firm­ly fixed in our hearts, we are at lib­er­ty to under­stand that there are also sec­ondary pur­pos­es in fast­ing.

We will only focus on two of the many secondary purposes of fasting. First, we fast in order to be transformed in our character and become more in tune with God. Second, we fast when we are seeking a breakthrough or direction. God gives direction and clarity and does the impossible when we humble ourselves and seek him through prayer and fasting.

In the book of Esther, we see the Jewish community gathering together to fast for three days. As a result, God gave Esther confidence to approach the king who responded favorably, and the Jews were saved from being exterminated. Through fasting, Esther and the Jewish community in exile witnessed God doing something that was impossible in the eyes of man, but only possible in the eyes of God.

In light of this, we want to rebuild our church, but we cannot do it by our own strength or abilities. We want God to be the foundation and director of this vision that He has given us. We cannot rebuild our church unless the Lord rebuilds it Himself. So, we want to kick of our vision to REBUILD together by turning to God in prayer and fasting and ask Him to direct our steps as we embark on rebuilding His church together."

See you Sunday,

Chelsea Maitland

Meaningful Relationships

Hello Church!

This Sunday we will have the privilege of hearing from Allison Coventry about the spiritual discipline of meaningful relationships. Allison is a gifted speaker, pastor, and leadership coach and we get to hear her preach from 1 John 1. The following is a small taste of what we will get to learn from Allison on Sunday.

Allison says,

"Finding meaningful relationships is often complicated. We may be surrounded by all kinds of people and still experience loneliness. The letter of 1 John talks about how three relationships work together in a way that brings joy and meaning.

The first is your relationship with yourself. This means knowing you are loved, seen, and cared for just as you are. No shame. No hiding. No filters.

The second is your relationship with God. This means knowing God loves you as you are. Jesus gave his life for you. God loves you just as you are. Your true authentic, vulnerable self — which includes what is broken and in need of healing.

The third is your relationship with others. This is about spending time with others. Be real and vulnerable and open with others who are real and vulnerable with you.

We love because God first loved us. The key to meaningful relationships begins with God’s love and then grows through our generously sharing it with others.

Here are some reflection questions as we prepare for this message Sunday:

- What has been difficult for you in experiencing meaningful relationships?
- What practices do you use to make your relationships more meaningful?
- Where do you feel stuck in your relationships?
- Do you have any relationships that have gone sideways? What might God be inviting you to do?
- How do you remind yourself that God loves you just as you are? How do you receive God’s love?
- What practices do you use to “walk in the light”, unfiltered, open, honest, and vulnerable with God and others?
- Who can you reach out to and connect with this week?

- Who in your sphere of influence can you intentionally reach out to so they experience love and care through your words and actions?"

Join us this Sunday for a transformational perspective on meaningful relationships. 

See you there!

Chelsea Maitland

The Joy of Sowing Seeds

The Incredible Joy of sowing seeds

• Ecclesiastes 11:6. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. ...

Life is about sowing seeds.  Some of the most exciting times in my life were after I had planted a seed. When I was a kid my family had a large garden. And my parents allowed my brother Jim and I to help plant.  The same thing happened with both my grandparents.  What excitement it was to plant the magic seeds and to watch them grow up until we could harvest them.  Every family seemed to have a family garden in those days.

But that was just the beginning of sowing seeds.  To hand in a report and wait to see if your teacher liked it was really fun. When I practiced my French horn or prepared for a big game I always had this holy expectation that something really good could come out of this investment.  Waiting to find out which college I was going to go to.  Or listening to our daughter practice for her piano.

Life is exciting when you have had the faith to sow some seeds.  Our motivation is deflated when we don’t have the faith to ever plant a seed.

Let’s learn together a profound truth from scripture about the miracle of planting seeds this Sunday at 10:30 am

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

The Blessings of Rest

Hello Church!

This week Pastor Mark Nsimbi is preaching on the spiritual discipline of practicing the Sabbath- a day of rest. Pastor Mark is titling his sermon, "The Blessings of Rest". What a blessing rest is, isn't it? I will admit- resting is a challenge for me these days. I often say I don't regret any meeting, appointment, or obligation I waited to get ready for until the very last minute because I was sleeping in, or just resting- because then I had kids. And I had to learn how to rest in the midst of being "unrested". I'm still learning of course, so I'm going to let you in on some of my journey.

Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith wrote a book called Sacred Rest, which dives into her research about seven types of rest that impact many of her patients. She is a physician, an author, a motivational speaker, and a mom- amongst many other roles, I'm sure.

On her website, there is a frequently-taken test called the "Rest Quiz". I took the quiz, and I'll admit I scored very, very badly. But I have a wonderfully clear understanding of my "rest deficits", as Dr. Dalton-Smith calls them. The quiz is a series of questions to monitor the seven categories of rest you are receiving- or not receiving. And, after taking the test you receive a score and a description of each category. Here is what was sent to me after taking the quiz:

"Congratulations on taking the first step on your journey to finding the rest you need!

In my book Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity, I share about these seven types of rest I found lacking in many patients and how rest impacts every part of our lives:

Physical: The chance to use the body in restorative ways to decrease muscle tension, reduce headaches, and promote higher quality sleep.

Mental: The ability to quiet cerebral chatter and focus on things that matter.

Spiritual: The capacity to experience God in all things and recline in the knowledge of the Holy.

Emotional: The freedom to authentically express feelings and eliminate people-pleasing behaviors.

Social: The wisdom to recognize relationships that revive from ones that exhaust and how to limit exposure to toxic people.

Sensory: The opportunity to downgrade the endless onslaught of sensory input received from electronics, fragrances, and background noise.

Creative: The experience of allowing beauty to inspire awe and liberate wonder. 

Below are your personal rest deficit assessment results. Use these results to help you see which types of rest you already excel at and which ones you need to focus on improving.”

As I read over my quiz results I found that each score resonated on a deep level for me. Life is full of joy and wonder- and it's also full of struggle, grief, and stress. I love that she describes the Spiritual rest section as, "The capacity to experience God in all things". You know what is so precious? That God gave us the capacity to experience God. God is always speaking over us, interacting with us, and speaking to us. God even created a day for us to stop everything we are doing, so we can rest. 

On Sunday we'll explore the biblical meaning of the Sabbath and talk about the holiness that is just simply slowing down to reflect and connect with God. 

If you are like me and need a little extra help slowing down, here is a resource for you from Dr. Dalton-Smith's Worship Therapy podcast:

Worship Therapy Archives - Dr. Dalton-Smith - I Choose My Best Life

I hope it blesses you as you practice resting.

See you Sunday,

Chelsea Maitland

An Iron-Pillar Discipline

How to regain your strength by speeding up!

Pastor Mark and I are enjoying a sermon series on making room for God.  Spiritual Disciplines from the life of Jesus are the method for us to forge a life like Jesus in the midst of the modern complexities that we struggle with today.

When we get frenzied, we pick up our pace sometimes- dropping our efficiency.  And we need to make a lifestyle of slowing down so that God can catch up, as Pastor Mark puts it.  As they say, "slow is smooth and smooth is fast".

But in this world of post-Covid burnout, it seems the whole world is burned out and moving slow. Perhaps sometimes we need to catch up with God.  Not moving or being stuck on the non-moving treadmill that has trapped and fatigued so many, is just not effective at finding space where we can meet God. 

This demonstrates the wisdom of spiritual disciplines. We need to slow down- or find the strength to speed up- to display the effectiveness of God as we live our lives. God has an answer for every dilemma. 

This weekend I am going to tempt you with establishing an iron-pillar-discipline into your life: daily quiet time. 

What if you could invest 60 minutes of your time this week to acquire a habit for your life, that would help find the strength to speed up and the wisdom to slow down all to make room for God.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn something that will be a blessing to your loved ones for generations.

Join us at 10:30 am at our inspirational sanctuary or online at the same time on Sunday.  God is going to bless us this weekend.

Your friend for the rest of my life,
Pastor Tim White

Slowing Down

My 2023 New Year's resolution is to only eat candy one day a week. Which will work out perfectly since we have so much Christmas candy laying around- my candy-breakfast, candy-lunch, and candy-dinner will get rid of that in no time. 

(Stole that joke from Eliot.)

I tend to get a large number of emails from 24 Hour Fitness right before the new year encouraging me to start up a membership with them again. I remember when I first joined, they told me they have all kinds of discounts in January because so many people join in the new year- and then by February the number of people actually using the gym drastically drops.  

There sure is a lot of pressure to have a New Year's resolution, isn't there? Add another activity, hobby, diet, job, etc. to your schedule and your life and expect to see it all the way through the year. 

On Sunday Pastor Mark Nsimbi is going to dive into Luke, chapter 10 to kick-off our new sermon series on spiritual disciplines: Creating Space for God. Mark will help us unpack the story of Mary and Martha. When Jesus visits their home Martha is busy and working hard to be hospitable to Jesus- and she actually gets frustrated at Mary, because Mary isn't helping Martha. Mary is just sitting and listening to what Jesus is saying. She's just...being in the presence of Jesus. To which Jesus encourages Martha to slow down and listen to him like Mary. 

Maybe we do have New Year's resolutions that require making more time for exercise, learning new things, or getting better at something- and we can do those things if we carve out time for them. But maybe also we can just carve out time to be in the presence of Jesus like Mary. And what would that look like? Would it be going for a walk? Listening to worship music? Praying or writing? Or maybe it would be just listening, like Mary? 

Mark says in his sermon summary that it's actually the slowing down that will allow us to process our inner journey, therefore helping us to keep from anxiety and worry. 

Let's start with Sunday. We'll worship together, pray together, and listen to the teachings of Jesus together. 

We'd love to have you. 

See you 10:30am in our sanctuary or online. 

Peace be with you,

Chelsea Maitland