You remember the thing that happened that made you not like church, or it’s not part of your tradition and it would just be too much for your family to take. Or you developed that mental objection or changed political parties, or the emotional hurt never quite healed, or life just got going in another direction until Sunday became a different kind of day than the day you go to church. You think Jesus is better than ok but you aren’t sure about the organized church. I’ve thought this is such a great opportunity for people to turn to God. Yet the church, well, self-inflicted wounds don’t necessarily make us seem like the most inviting and welcoming people on earth, which of course, we should be at some level. There shouldn’t be such a gulf between us and the God who loves us and the people we think of in our Jonah-like perceptions of our own personal Ninevites. Why doesn’t God get with our program?
Pray with me for those Secret Runners. Pray that this good news of Jesus would reach them and change their lives and ours. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)
Think about them in their homes. God is there. Jesus is alive. The Holy Spirit starts to get a little buggy. Leave me alone, you think. We estimate that 1,845 viewers on 671 viewing devices joined the Sunday morning services through our livestream, YouTube and Facebook pages last week. And that was lower than usual. That’s a lot of people. More and more I’m thinking about those Secret Runners like me who are clicking their way into church. How can they take the next step? What can we do to make it seem like a place worth going; are we as a people a group worth knowing? What about Jesus and forgiveness and this Easter thing coming up?
MILESTONES Condolences • Pray for friends of Dan Barabas who passed away unexpectedly on May 18. Dan was the son of the late Mary Jane Barabas and nephew of Olena Mae Welsh, wife of one of College Church’s past pastors, Evan Welsh. Services were held. • Pray for Dan Krc and family as they grieve the loss of Dan’s wife, Angie, who passed away on May 16 after a long battle with cancer. • Pray for Lisa Burlingame as she grieves the loss of her father, Dr. Reginald Westmoreland, who passed away on May 15 in Denton, Texas.
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• Continue to pray for Vijai (Alma John) Kuruppacherry and their family as they grieve the loss of Vijai’s mother who passed away on May 15, one week after the passing of his father on May 8. They both died from complications of COVID. • Pray for Kent (Courtney) Graham and family and friends as they grieve the loss of Kent’s mom, Joyce “Romelle” who passed away on April 22.
Births • Arthur Isaac was born to new College Church members Cameron and Lauren Price on May 1.
