The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” – Romans 8:19-21
It’s funny – Sunday mornings may look almost the same every week, with just two or three people in front of a camera leading worship (no crowds filling the CLC and the sanctuary, no buzz of conversation, no chorus of voices resounding from the rafters). Yet, somehow, it is always distinct, uniquely interesting, something new every time we gather.
A new story
There is always a story to follow that we haven’t heard before, and always a sense of community even though “together” happens via several hundred screens in homes and neighborhoods across Wake Forest.
This week it was the story of creation care and what God is teaching us during this time, still living actively as the body – The Body of Christ – charged to be light and healing in this broken world.
Pastor John had the message, but he did it from home because he is observing a self-imposed 14-day quarantine right now. So Rebekah and Katherine held down the fort at the church while John was seamlessly spliced in by our tech gurus. And that is my story photo. When the sermon started I propped up my phone and listened along with Rebekah, Katherine, and our piano player, Susie.
Halfway through the message I asked Anita (WFPC’s elder for IT) to take this photograph. She did it perfectly, just how I saw the scene in my head.
The story here is that worship may be literally “in production” from 10:00 to 11:00, but it is real worship, in real time, and there we were, gathered in a small group, listening to the word just like the rest of the congregation.
God speaks through the written words of scripture, the spoken words of preachers, the sung words of hundreds of family units across the community, and – most plainly of all – in the acted out word that is the life of faith lived out from day to day.
the world is waiting for redemption
This world, Paul tells us in Romans 8, is waiting – impatiently it turns out – for the children of God (that’s us) to finally get it, to understand that the redemptive impulse set in motion in Christ’s victory over death must lead us to take our responsibilities more seriously when it comes to the redemption of the earth – soil, air, water, health, and more.
So I took some photographs out in the Rose Garden too, to show that we are very much conscious of this imperative for life here at 12605 Capital Boulevard. Flowers and vegetables, yes, but more importantly a sense of responsibility to live as children of light in an age teetering on the edge of darkness.
This is important. This is the story I want to tell. It’s the old, old story of Jesus and his love, and it is the story of how that love translates into action… how it must translate into action.
Earth. It needs our love too – DEREK
Thanks Derek. That was delightful – and to see around the grounds as well as the sanctuary brought back lovely memories of our visit last year. God bless the Church community and Wake Forest during these exceptional times.