I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself,
if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received
from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:25

From BVB

LENT 2012 AND BEYOND

Hello Friends,

We are fast approaching Lent. Ash Wednesday is February 22 this year. Seems like a good time to clarify a few things. Number one on the agenda: What about special services? These include Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunrise, and Christmas Eve. (Palm Sunday, Easter, and Pentecost are also special, but they occur at our regular Sunday worship times.)

We may want to change this in years to come, but for the moment and for this year, I have a few suggestions. They won’t work for all of you, but if you give them a try, they might work better than you think.

I am hoping that the practice for TNC members will be the effort to invite a few friends over for a cozy gathering and a little sharing for these special service occasions. I assume not everybody will want to come. What else is new? If nobody accepts your invitation, you still have the privilege of celebrating this special time for your own purposes. Even that is well worth the effort. But if you think about how to make such an invitation and who to make it to – who knows? At least until you have a better idea, why not give it a try? Since you are the host, you might have some notions about how to make it appealing, if you think and pray about it.

I am not suggesting that we livestream a service to our members at these special times. I suspect that would reduce the “cozy and personal” flavor of the gathering. But somewhere during the gathering, you could read a sermon, be ready to make some opening comments about it, and then invite your friends to carry on the conversation if they are so inclined. And where would the sermon come from? Well, you could write one yourself, if so moved. Or you could get it from bvbministries.com.

Beginning on Ash Wednesday (February 22), bvbministries.com will be posting the sermon series from A Year To Remember that shows the juxtaposition between the 12-Step Program and the Christian Faith. These are 18 sermons tailored to the Lenten calendar and then on through Pentecost (May 27). In my humble opinion, nobody is going to join TNC unless they are mentored by a real-life friend who will spend the time and effort to catch them up and guide them into some of the information and flavor of who we are and what we are about. If you care, here is a possible entryway into such a process. By the way, I love it that this is the likely way for new members to join us. It feels authentic to a true church, and I suspect this is the way it was happening in the early church – far more than most people realize. To be sure, it is more rigorous and demanding than most churches would consider. Bingo again!

There are other things on our agenda, especially the Diaconate and Trustee agenda, but you will no doubt hear about those developments as the reports come out. So this is all I had in mind at the moment.

Peace & Love to You,

Bruce Van Blair