Weekly Uplook
Happy Saturday Dear Saints,
Greetings once again from my office back home in Seattle. We were blessed by our time at Portland Camp meeting even in the midst of some continuing trials due to COVID for many. After a two year hiatus it was a joy to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones. We also rejoice at the new names which were added to the “Lamb’s Book of Life” during the camp and are praying for God’s gracious keeping power to envelope them as they return home and to regular life. One of the highlights of camp for me was the Bible teaching given by Bro. Ola Balogun from London. He used the following words from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth.
2 Corinthians 4:16–18 “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
He spoke of how it is God’s grace which “tips the scales” from our affliction (which does not often seem light) to the side of an “eternal weight of glory”. You may or may not be aware that Bro. Ola and his wife, Sis. Remi lost their teenage son Sammy to cancer about a year ago. I was struck afresh with the reality that we all live in a fallen world and affliction and suffering is bound to come to all of us along the way. And yet, God’s redemptive grace “tips the scales” to the side of glory, offering hope in place of despair. This is the story of Christ’s redemptive work bringing resurrection life from death. The prophet Isaiah prophesied of this work of the Messiah (which was quoted by Jesus in a synagogue in Nazareth).
Isaiah 61:1–3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, To give unto them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they might be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”
May we all be inspired by this message of redemption as we enter into a new “church year”. The God of redemption is still very present in our world and we are blessed to be reflections of His character and representatives of His kingdom to those around us.
God bless you …we are looking forward to seeing you all again.
BB
Housekeeping Notes: Our schedule will begin tomorrow with Sunday school at 9:45 am and morning worship at 11 am. We will continue with our Sunday evening YouTube devotional at 5 pm at least through Labor Day. Wednesday Bible Studies at 7 pm will be hybrid (in person/online) except for July 27 which is during Youth Camp. COVID statistics for the area where our congregation lives show some increase so in an effort to continue to keep our church a safe place for all who wish to worship I will offer the following reminder to all of us. It is also important to note that we have several in our congregation who are immunocompromised and we protect them when we are careful.
Should you have cold/flu like symptoms or test positive for COVID, health professionals currently generally recommend the following:
Thankfully we seem to have gotten past the worst of the pandemic and have returned to a semblance of “normal”. We certainly do not want to return to those days so encourage all to take responsibility to stay in when they are ill (with COVID or other contagious diseases such as Influenza, colds, etc.) We are also patient and understanding with those who struggle with allergies which create similar symptoms.
Greetings once again from my office back home in Seattle. We were blessed by our time at Portland Camp meeting even in the midst of some continuing trials due to COVID for many. After a two year hiatus it was a joy to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones. We also rejoice at the new names which were added to the “Lamb’s Book of Life” during the camp and are praying for God’s gracious keeping power to envelope them as they return home and to regular life. One of the highlights of camp for me was the Bible teaching given by Bro. Ola Balogun from London. He used the following words from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth.
2 Corinthians 4:16–18 “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
He spoke of how it is God’s grace which “tips the scales” from our affliction (which does not often seem light) to the side of an “eternal weight of glory”. You may or may not be aware that Bro. Ola and his wife, Sis. Remi lost their teenage son Sammy to cancer about a year ago. I was struck afresh with the reality that we all live in a fallen world and affliction and suffering is bound to come to all of us along the way. And yet, God’s redemptive grace “tips the scales” to the side of glory, offering hope in place of despair. This is the story of Christ’s redemptive work bringing resurrection life from death. The prophet Isaiah prophesied of this work of the Messiah (which was quoted by Jesus in a synagogue in Nazareth).
Isaiah 61:1–3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, To give unto them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they might be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”
May we all be inspired by this message of redemption as we enter into a new “church year”. The God of redemption is still very present in our world and we are blessed to be reflections of His character and representatives of His kingdom to those around us.
God bless you …we are looking forward to seeing you all again.
BB
Housekeeping Notes: Our schedule will begin tomorrow with Sunday school at 9:45 am and morning worship at 11 am. We will continue with our Sunday evening YouTube devotional at 5 pm at least through Labor Day. Wednesday Bible Studies at 7 pm will be hybrid (in person/online) except for July 27 which is during Youth Camp. COVID statistics for the area where our congregation lives show some increase so in an effort to continue to keep our church a safe place for all who wish to worship I will offer the following reminder to all of us. It is also important to note that we have several in our congregation who are immunocompromised and we protect them when we are careful.
Should you have cold/flu like symptoms or test positive for COVID, health professionals currently generally recommend the following:
- Stay home and isolate/quarantine for at least 5 days from the first day of symptoms (or positive test when there are no symptoms).
- Provided you are free of fever for 24 hours (without fever reducing medicine such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Aleve, etc.) AND symptoms are improving, you may end isolation/quarantine BUT wear a mask for an additional 5 days (10 days total).
- If symptoms persist and fever remains you should continue isolating/quarantining until improvement and have no fever (without meds).
Thankfully we seem to have gotten past the worst of the pandemic and have returned to a semblance of “normal”. We certainly do not want to return to those days so encourage all to take responsibility to stay in when they are ill (with COVID or other contagious diseases such as Influenza, colds, etc.) We are also patient and understanding with those who struggle with allergies which create similar symptoms.
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