Dear Evergreen Family:
Mark your calendars! Our “Journey Back to Church” takes its next big step on Sunday, November 1. That morning, we’ll begin holding two in-person worship services every Sunday morning. We will worship outdoors at 9:00 a.m. We will also worship inside at 10:00 a.m. (this service will continue to be livestreamed on Facebook), following the safety guidelines of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Watch our weekly e-mails for information about how to prepare for indoor worship.
What a journey! While this isn’t the end of the journey (there are many steps between here and “normal”), this is a significant milestone. Our last indoor worship service at Evergreen was in early March. We’ve been through a lot since then. It will be good just to be in the worship center again.
When you and I think about our relationship with Jesus, we rightly believe that relationship can happen anywhere. We can be with Jesus wherever we are. However, there is something special about a building constructed to facilitate that relationship.
We see images like water and fire and tree and cross, and they bring us back to truth. They bring us back to a sense of the Holy. Even the four walls can help us feel like we’re surrounded by God’s love. Further, if it’s our church home, our personal history in that place unlocks our connection with God in a special way. The Bible often refers to holy buildings when describing the deep relationship between God and people.
“He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed with God’s glory. Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal (Revelation 21:10-11).”
It will be very good to be back in there again.
Also, don’t forget to join us this evening at 7:30 p.m. as we discuss the movie Last of the Dogmen and the book of Proverbs, chapter four! There’s plenty of room at the “Zoom Table” for you! Zoom link (The passcode is 360582).
May God bless us all.
Your Fellow Minister in Christ,
Mark