Church family,
Continuing our slow march towards Easter, this past Sunday we looked at the Wednesday of Passion Week. Here we saw tremendous contrast between two figures: the unnamed woman who anointed Jesus with expensive oils and Judas who betrayed Jesus for thirty silver pieces. The woman rightly saw Jesus as having immeasurable worth and she sacrificed considerable wealth, and even endured undue criticism from the disciples, to recognize and honor Jesus. By contrast, Judas, who had personally witnessed Jesus’ miraculous ministry, decided that Jesus was only worth whatever the chief priests would offer for his arrest. The Gospel of Matthew does not tell us what brought Judas to this decision, nor do any of the other Gospels. At most we read from John that Judas was a thief. Whatever his motives, we know that Judas’ faith had dwindled to nothing, so Jesus became nothing to him. In light of this passage, we should seriously consider whether our faith is growing or dwindling. We should not take our faith for granted and leave it to atrophy but work on our faith in prayer, worship, and reading God’s word, even when it demands personal sacrifice. We should encourage one another in faith so that we never lose sight of the immeasurable worth of Jesus.
Easter Schedule
As we are presently in a sermon series preparing for Easter, it seems wise to prepare ourselves for the slight schedule changes we will have at the church surrounding Easter. First of all, we will be having an evening Good Friday service on March 29th at 5:30 p.m. Then, on Easter Sunday, March 31, we will have a time of fellowship at 9:00 a.m. in place of our Sunday Studies, followed by our usual worship gathering at 10:15.
Deacon Candidate
This past Sunday we announced Curtis Wyatt as a candidate for the deacon of technology. Generally speaking, we believe that the Bible lays out the role of deacon as those who serve the church in a particular and practical area. Deacons are qualified not only on the basis of their aptitude in their particular areas of service, but also on the basis of a consistent godly character. If affirmed as deacon, Curtis would be tasked with handling or delegating various technological needs of the church such as website maintenance and handling audio/video equipment. We believe he is qualified both on the basis of his extensive technological experience as a software engineer and, more importantly, on the basis of his clear love for God and for God’s church. If you have any questions or concerns about bringing Curtis on as a deacon or about the role of deacons in general, we encourage you to reach out to Curtis and to our elders before our vote on March 24th.
Grace be with you,
Logan Murphy
Pastoral Intern