Town Tent – May 19, 2018 – Audio
Thanks to everyone who came out to our TRI-annual Town Tent community meeting. The next TT will be held on September 8, 2018 as part of our Fall all-church retreat!
TOWN TENT!
We started off the morning by soaking in and praying through Haggai 2:1-9.
The word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak,[a] the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Here are some of the ways we prayed for our community in response to this passage (very unfiltered notes taken in realtime by P Gary, so have mercy on incompleteness/limited perspective):
let go of nostalgia. hold on to scripture
refreshing of our view on work.
remember that God has delivered us before
for those who saw this house in it’s former glory, be strong and hope
be brave in times of waiting and action- it pushes us toward the covenant
shake us up like an earthquake, waiting for an unpredictable spiritual earthquake that brings peace
God is with us in the summer even when scattered
repentance for nostalgia that quenches hope for the future
initiative to do the work we’re called to
hope in the midst of spiritual down times
prayer for older tired servants
be strong and with with God
Then it was onto the announcements and updates portion of the meeting. Listen to the audio for news about flexible, Sabbath-y. challenging, creative, and compelling ways to build community this summer! Also staffing updates, an elder team update, and more.
We ended the day with worship, affirmations, yummy gifts of homemade chocolates from Sharon and premium loose leaf tea and best of all, a delicious BBQ pork luncheon (plus yummy vegetarian option) from Deb Zenor-Davis. Thank you so much Deb! (And we composted everything & didn’t throw away any plastic–way to be green, CWOW!
