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Hi everyone!  

I hope your week is going well. Mine is so far, though lately there seem to be more meetings than usual. (The newsletter is a little late getting out, in part because of meetings! Sorry about that.)  

There was a time in my life when, I must admit, I felt some resentment about meetings. Maybe it was the stage I was at in my life and career. Or perhaps it was because the school president I was working for at the time was a little overly meeting-happy? There is such a thing as too many team gatherings! 

But these days I find that I’m less stressed by meetings and more generally pleased about them. I think it’s because meetings are a sign that a lot is going on. And there are a lot of things going on at WVBC these days, which is great! It’s exciting to see members of our community discovering ways to serve the Lord, dreaming and planning together, and encouraging one another as we gather for this, that, and the other things. Though I don’t want you all to be overloaded with meetings, I’m happy to see all the activity. May God bless each and every one of the projects’ groups and ministries that are represented, filling the participants with joy and making their work fruitful.

The most recent meeting I was in was with our Missions Committee. It was a great reminder of the important mission Jesus has given to His Church, and also of our own church’s commitment to invest our energies and resources in things that advance Jesus’ Kingdom. I mention it, in part, as a heads-up that in the next few weeks, there will be some more announcements that relate to missions, some opportunities for our community to give input into this coming year’s mission-related involvements, and at least one special meeting where we can dream and discuss missions together in a practical way. I’m pleased that WVBC is so supportive of global and local missions, and grateful for those in our congregation who help to promote and coordinate. Please be watching for more news and opportunities in the coming days. 

On other fronts, if you want to read ahead for our next message from 1 Corinthians this coming Sunday, we’ll be moving into 1 Corinthians 8, 9, and 10. This is all a single section, and it deals with the problem of disagreements in the church. For our first-century Corinthian friends, the disagreements centered around whether it was OK to eat food that was connected to the idol worship and pagan celebrations that took place in Corinth. Our situation today is different, but the lessons are still relevant.

We won’t try to work through all that Paul covers in these 3 chapters in a single week. This Sunday we’ll focus on the big question and the main principles Paul introduces, which are primarily in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and then in 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1. So if you’re reading ahead and your time is limited, that’s where I would concentrate my attention. If you’re able to add chapter 9 as well, that certainly won’t hurt, though we won’t be able to spend much time on that chapter. Next week we’ll dig into chapter 10 more fully.  

Meanwhile, have a wonderful week. It’s been nice to have so much sunshine. May it lighten your days, and even more, may our Lord’s presence brighten your path wherever He leads you this week. Blessings! 

Pastor Ken