ITLOTC 12-18-15

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Advent

Over the next four weeks we'll be hearing form various folks in our community on the themes of advent.  Those themes could be any number of things including: waiting, light in the darkness, anticipation, the lectionary texts or the four explicit themes of the candles (hope, peace, joy and love).  Our last entry comes from Sara Cooley.  Sara is working on completing her dual degree program in both Truett Seminary and Baylor's school of social work. _____________________________________________________________

In the Magnificat, Mary, who bears the Savior of the world, sings as though God’s salvation has already come. Jesus does indeed bring salvation through is birth, life, death, and resurrection, but not all that Mary sings is fully realized then and now. Not all the proud are scattered. Many of the mighty are still on their thrones. There are still too many people who are hungry. Mary embodies the longing and hope for salvation and peace that we have in this advent season. The Magnificat attests to Christ’s salvation as “already but not yet.” The gospel has been realized in Christ, but all is not yet well in the world. Christ’s kingdom is still to come, and Christians still have work to do.

In my introduction to social work class, Dr. Garland asked us why we wanted to be social workers. I answered, maybe naively, that I wanted to help people, particularly children, feel loved even when they are not loved at home. Dr. Garland responded that social workers are called to help people be loved more than feel loved. She explained that social workers are temporary figures in people’s lives, so we need to find people who will continue to love and care for our clients long after our relationship with them is over.

My mind connects this conversation with Dr. Garland to the Magnificat, because I believe Christians are called to be the kind of people that social workers can count on to love their clients. We are Christ’s witnesses and ambassadors. I believe every individual Christian continues the work that Christ began and Mary proclaimed. As we wait for Christ’s return, we seek to show mercy, fill the hungry, and help God’s servants. We share Mary’s faith that her words will be fulfilled. We all must follow Christ’s example by caring for outcasts of all kinds.

I know for me, I joyfully love those who are easy to love, maybe those who can offer it in return. I sometimes get it in my head that I have the right to choose who I love and who I will serve. Especially in my experience working in food service, when I encounter unpleasant guests, I find it far too easy to respond to them in a similar manner. The Magnificat speaks to the kind of people to whom God’s salvation comes – the humble, hungry, servants, and those who fear God. Maybe to truly love people, we must put aside our pride and self-righteousness and try to see the world from the eyes of those we find hard to love. We should ask what they are feeling and thinking before we step in to provide the help that we think they need. This means that will have to step out of our comfort zones and offer Christ’s love to all people, even those with whom we prefer to not associate.

As we long for Christ’s salvation and peace to all the world, may we find ways both individually and as a part of the Church to thank God for the redemption that we have received and to share God’s redemption with all those we encounter. May we intentionally seek to serve the humble and lowly and those on the margins of our society. 

Newsletter Taking a Brake

ITLOTC will not be in print Friday December 25 and January 1.  Please take the time that you would have used to read this newsletter to celebrate baby Jesus, enjoy family, and play with your new toys. 

Finance Update

UBC Financial Status
as of: December 7, 2015

THE PLAN:  Our fiscal year runs from the first of July through the end of June.  This year’s budget is $309,412.  Fixed expenses (staff salaries, building and office expenses) are projected to be $253,373, or 82% of the total, and ministry expenses (the many things our church does for our community and for those who attend) are projected at $56,039 or 18%.

OUR EXPENSES AND INCOME:  Between July 1st and December 7th, we have spent $119,913 or about 39% of our budget. Those items considered fixed accounted for 88% of this spending.  Our income from tithes and offerings during this period totaled $145,156; we have also received a small amount (about $170) in interest and other income (e.g., building rental).

OUR STATUS:  UBC’s cash (checking account) balance is currently $49,419, with another $87,796 in savings.  We continue to carry no debt.  Quick math shows that we have the cash to meet about 66 days of expenses without having to dip into our savings.  This is an improvement from earlier in the year, but we continue to rely heavily on weekly tithes and offerings.

If you’d like to be a financial partner with UBC, you can sign up for monthly giving through EasyTithe.

Mi Casa Update

If you're looking for a way to commit to the life of UBC and form friendships with other folks in the community, Mi Casa is a great way to do that! Groups meet in homes once a week and build deeper community with one another.and typically share a meal too. 

We have hit that time of year where Mi Casa's take a break for the holidays. Since so many folks head out of town and Baylor is out of session we will wait until mid-January to get things going again. But, if you're interested in joining a Mi Casa and haven't had a chance to let me know that yet, this break time is a great time to get in touch! 

Email me at liz@ubcwaco.org or fill out an info card on a Sunday morning. I'd love to begin talking with you and finding a place for you to connect this spring!

Work is Worship

Greeters: Marygale and Ryan

Coffee Makers: Toph

Mug Cleaners: Josh 

Announcements:

•  Sunday Sermon Luke 1:46-55  "Advent 4" 

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:

254 498 2261

Leadership Team

If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members. 

Chair- Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Joy Wineman: joy.wineman@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

David Wilhite: David_Wilhite@baylor.edu

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu 

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

UBC Finance Team

Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.

Tom Haines: thomas_haines@baylor.edu

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Lacy Crocker: lacykcrocker@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.

Maxcey Blaylock: maxceykite@gmail.com

Mathew Crawford: mathewcrawford@yahoo.com

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Setlist 12-13-2015

This week was the third week of Advent, and our songs were gathered around the theme of joy.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs

All the Poor and Powerless by All Sons & Daughters

Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic

Peace (Change Everything) by ubcmusic

Joy (Brightest) by ubcmusic

Make This Go On Forever (Refrain) by Snow Patrol

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Doxology

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

All the Poor and Powerless: I've pointed out before that this song can come off as insubstantial and/or repetitive.  The chorus basically just repeats "everyone will praise God," and the bridge basically just repeats "grab a megaphone and tell everyone who God is."  I don't think there's any serious problem with the content of these lines, but their repetition feels like it drains their potency.  But here's the thing.  The verses of the songs create or portrait in which the people for whom this is good news are the poor, the feeble, the underrepresented, the depressed, the complacent, the ones at the end of their rope; and over/against these seemingly hopeless states of being, we find a God who has neither forgotten nor abandoned them.  The hallelujah's of this song are what we might think of as "cold and broken hallelujah's"--praises that come from places we might not expect--and since these praises are directed toward the God who loves and is redeeming a fallen world, we find in this song a portrait of joy.  This is the stubborn joy that comes along with fixing one's eyes on the faithfulness of God, that refuses to be swayed by our circumstances or our emotions.  It's a joy that can coexist just fine in peace and in chaos, in contentment and depression.

Hope (There Will Come A Light):   I wrote this song a couple of years ago for the first week of Advent.  A few months ago, I wrote songs for all the other weeks, too, so we will sing the whole series of songs over the next few weeks.  I recently recorded some video sessions of these songs with some friends in Austin.  The video for this song has been posted here.  

Peace (Change Everything): This is a song that voices a longing for peace.  More accurately, this song voices a longing for several different kinds of peace: peace from existential despair, physical violence and threats, less tangible violence and threats that exist in our minds, and the threats that accompany the natural processes that carry our bodies from birth to death. We'll be singing this song a few more times this month, so feel free to listen to it again here.

Joy (Brightest): This song contemplates the strange nature of the joy we find in Advent--it's a joy that puts our feeble expectations of joy to shame in a way that might be considered destructive.  The good news we await on Christmas day just might be bad news for certain aspects of ourselves.  I've been more reserved in the descriptions I've offered of the Advent songs as a whole, and this has been intentional.  I feel like you could take these songs in many different ways--especially when you take them all together--so I would prefer instead just to direct you to listen to these songs and read the lyrics and think about them for yourselves.  As always, you can email me or comment at the bottom of the page if you want to talk about them further.  The video of this song is available here.

Make This Go On Forever (Reprise): We once again closed this week's advent song with this reprise from the end of a great Snow Patrol song (spoiler alert: we'll do this next week and the week after as well).  The point is to voice the longing that we live in during Advent: while we may not understand how it will happen or when it will happen, we know that God is the One who can save us from this present darkness.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: We sang this song because of the way it marries rejoicing with the hope of peace/reconciliation, which incorporates every Advent theme through which we've journeyed thus far.

Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos. 

-JM

ubc advent songs: joy (brightest)

Earlier this semester, I wrote a song for each week of Advent.  My friends at Canowan in Austin invited me to their church to record video sessions of them as a part of a series of Christmas song videos they're making.   We'll sing one of these each week during Advent, and I'll be posting the videos here.  If you want to check out some of the other songs my friends recorded for this project, they'll be posting four songs each week of this month here.

This song is called "Brightest," and it was written for the Joy week. If you have any questions, email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org

Lyrics:

is this fear or joy, and what is the difference?
there's a change coming on the wind
my God, it's electric
the skin on the back of my neck is needles and stitches
like there's a New Light among the stars, just out of my vision

what Joy could come from darkness
and not destroy the place we've made?
like if the candle we called Brightest
suddenly fell in the hay

is this love or death, and what is the difference?
there's a change coming to the scales
my God, it's infectious
the veins on the back of my eyes are straining and pulsing
like there's a New Light among the stars that I can't behold yet

what Joy could come from darkness
and not destroy the place we've made?
like if the candle we called Brightest
suddenly fell in the hay

this is the moment that everything changes
and all of our fears find the peace they've been chasing
and all of our comforts shatter like mirrors
caught in a Light like has never been seen here
the mountains, they crumble
chasms, they shade them
and all of our answers grow into questions
when the feeble, like lions, are freed from their cages
and the mighty are pulled from the places they're saving
this is joy, unspeakable joy

ITLOTC 12-10-15

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Advent

Over the next four weeks we'll be hearing form various folks in our community on the themes of advent.  Those themes could be any number of things including: waiting, light in the darkness, anticipation, the lectionary texts or the four explicit themes of the candles (hope, peace, joy and love).  Our third entry comes from Bethany Parrot.  Bethany graduated from Truett and Baylor with a master of divinity and a master of social work, respectively.  She currently serves at the Methodist Children's Home.  _____________________________________________________________

On Joy

As the Church continues into week three of the Advent season, we reflect on the meaning of joy. This time of year, our culture tells us that joy should be effortless. This is the happiest season of all, full of twinkling lights, upbeat songs, ugly Christmas sweaters and countless get-togethers. If joyous things are all around us, then why is joy so hard to find and maintain for so many?

My current ministry involves loving on teenage girls who come from hard places. Through my relationship with these girls, God continues to shape my understanding of the gospel. Prior to this ministry, my experience with most children was that they all appeared to exude a natural joy.  They were innocent, un-jaded and full of expectation of the good in the world. They were not weighed down by the darkness of this world and therefore could live freely and joyfully, trusting that they were loved and accepted. But many of the children I work with have not experienced life in this way. They have seen the darkness of the world and understand the brokenness firsthand.  Joy does not come naturally to many of them. For them, joy must be sought. They must actively choose joy.  

The deeper my relationship with each of them grows, I notice that often their encounters with joy happen at unexpected times and places. It rarely comes through outward things or in planned activities. Instead, those moments of deep joy are experienced through authentic relationship and in simple expressions of love towards them. 

The image of a broken child experiencing redemptive joy is a beautiful glimpse of the power of the gospel. This world gives us plenty of outward things to make us happy, but it is authentic relationship that brings true long-lasting joy. This week we reflect on the most unexpected encounter with true joy in the form of a child who came to earth which was God’s greatest expression of love towards us. 

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – Isaiah 9:6

This child loved the world so much he came to create a way for us to have an authentic relationship with God the Creator. It is in this most unexpected encounter that we can live in relationship with God which allows us to expect good in a world of brokenness and to love each other deeply in a way that exudes joy.  Because of the good news of Jesus’ birth we can maintain an expectation of hope, peace, and joy.

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”  -Luke 2:10-11

This week may we recognize the moments of joy in our lives, appreciate the authentic relationships surrounding us, and live our lives so that others may be filled with the joy that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. Whether you feel like the un-jaded child or the child who is weighed down in darkness, may we all embrace the true joy that is possible through the birth of Jesus.

A Note from Human Resources

Staff Encouragement

Don't forget to bring your notes of encouragement for our UBC staff members to church this Sunday! The drop off box will be located on the table in the church entry. 

-UBC HR Team

We Need Your Help (with greeting)

UBC is in need of greeters for the spring semester! Greeters serve one Sunday per month January through May. It's a great way to serve our church while meeting new people! You can sign up here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MRWNHC5 or contact Maxcey Blaylock at maxceykite@gmail.com for more information.

Free Concert @ UBC

Bradley Hathaway//Least of These//Sun City at  UBC
There will be a FREE concert at ubc on Saturday (tomorrow) featuring three great acts.  Doors will open at 7, and it should be a great time!

Sunday School
Sunday School is over for the semester. Stay tuned for next semester’s classes!

Work is Worship

Greeters: Rick & Kelsey 

Coffee Makers:  Timothy & Adrienne 

Mug Cleaners: Cooleys 

Announcements:

•  Sunday Sermon Luke 3:7-18  "Advent 3" 

• ITLOTC will not be in print Friday December 25 and January 1.  Please take the time that you would have used to read this newsletter to celebrate baby Jesus, enjoy family, and play with your new toys. 

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:

254 498 2261

Leadership Team

If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members. 

Chair- Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Joy Wineman: joy.wineman@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

David Wilhite: David_Wilhite@baylor.edu

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu 

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

UBC Finance Team

Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.

Tom Haines: thomas_haines@baylor.edu

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Lacy Crocker: lacykcrocker@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.

Maxcey Blaylock: maxceykite@gmail.com

Mathew Crawford: mathewcrawford@yahoo.com

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Setlist 12-6-2015

This week was the second week of Advent, and our songs were gathered around the theme of peace.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs

Hope (There Will Come A Light) by ubcmusic

Come Thou Fount

Future/Past by John Mark McMillan

Peace (Change Everything) by ubcmusic

Make This Go On Forever (Refrain) by Snow Patrol

Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light

Doxology

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

Hope (There Will Come A Light):   I wrote this song a couple of years ago for the first week of Advent.  A few months ago, I wrote songs for all the other weeks, too, so we will sing the whole series of songs over the next few weeks.  I recently recorded some video sessions of these songs with some friends in Austin.  The video for this song has been posted here.  

Come Thou Fount: We sang this song to think about the peace that God has extended to us as people who are not necessarily deserving of reconciliation.  If you don't know, the "Here I raise my Ebenezer" line is referring to the idea of a monument that would remind us of what God has done for us--it's the "looking back" that we talked about last week as being our source of Hope.

Future/Past:  We sang this song to think about the looking back and looking forward that comes along with Advent.  The reconciliation that God offers us is not limited to a fixed point in time, but is instead an activity that is carried through all of time--something we can look back at with gratitude and look forward to in faith.

Peace (Change Everything): This is a song that voices a longing for peace.  More accurately, this song voices a longing for several different kinds of peace: peace from existential despair, physical violence and threats, less tangible violence and threats that exist in our minds, and the threats that accompany the natural processes that carry our bodies from birth to death. We'll be singing this song a few more times this month, so feel free to listen to it again here.

Make This Go On Forever (Reprise): We once again closed this week's advent song with this reprise from the end of a great Snow Patrol song (spoiler alert: we'll do this next week and the week after as well).  The point is to voice the longing that we live in during Advent: while we may not understand how it will happen or when it will happen, we know that God is the One who can save us from this present darkness.

Wayward Ones: We sing this song every time we take communion to remind ourselves of a couple of things.  First, we are a broken people--though we are seeking to become more like Jesus, we often fail at this.  Second, Christ has given Himself for us despite our brokenness.  We take communion to remember the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, even though we did not, and do not, deserve it.

Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos. 

-JM

ubc advent songs: peace (change everything)

Earlier this semester, I wrote a song for each week of Advent.  My friends at Canowan in Austin invited me to their church to record video sessions of them as a part of a series of Christmas song videos they're making.   We'll sing one of these each week during Advent, and I'll be posting the videos here.  If you want to check out some of the other songs my friends recorded for this project, they'll be posting four songs each week of this month here.

This song is called "Change Everything," and it was written for the Peace week. If you have any questions, email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org

Lyrics:

When will the night be turned to day
when will our torches find their Flame
when will our eyes have Light to see
o God, bring peace

when will our weapons have no place
when will our violence be replaced
when will our safety be complete
o God, bring peace

o God, if You could change everything
would it be a King or a new way to breathe
neither, or both, o God could it be
something we'd never conceive

when will our worry be dissolved
when will our anxious thoughts be lost
when will our minds be put at ease
o God, bring peace

o God, if You could change everything
would it be a King or a new way to breathe
neither, or both, o God could it be
something we'd never conceive

when will our cells maintain their shape
when will our bodies cease to fade
when will our dying taste defeat
o God, bring peace

-JM

ITLOTC 12-4-15

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Advent

Over the next four weeks we'll be hearing form various folks in our community on the themes of advent.  Those themes could be any number of things including: waiting, light in the darkness, anticipation, the lectionary texts or the four explicit themes of the candles (hope, peace, joy and love).  Our second entry comes from Blake Nobles.  Blake is a Truett Student pursuing his master of Divinity 

____________________________________________________________

As the Church continues its Advent journey, we come to look during this second week upon the promise and assurance of peace given to us by God.  And yet it is possible that peace has become a strained concept to us as of late.  It’s not that we don’t understand it, or have not ourselves experienced it.  It’s that in these past weeks, months, and years, peace has become fleeting in light of ever breaking news of new tragedies facing our world and its people. 

It is likely that one cannot help but to be at risk of losing sight of our Christ-given peace during this Advent season.  From small to large, the struggles we face and the tragedies we see continuously weigh on us, placing a new call against what this second week of Advent would have us celebrate.  For students, school presses hardest during these last few weeks of the semester.  For families, the joy of being together can be fought against by the stress of making it so.  How much harder for those who cannot make it to see their families at all?  To accompany this is the awareness of our home nation ever at odds with itself, while domestically and abroad we become aware of those who sow misery wherever they seem able.  Peace can seem to be in short supply.

Yet when we turn to the promises of the coming Christ this Advent, there is an element to peace that can be rediscovered for us, even in such times as these.  The Lectionary would have us look to the song of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79), who, in celebrating his own coming child, proclaims what we must hold on to ourselves.

76.  You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,

    for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way,

77.  To give His people knowledge of salvation

    by the forgiveness of their sins.

78.  In the tender compassion of our God

    The dawn from on high shall break upon us,

79.  To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,

    and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Our peace is found in the salvation offered to us by the coming Christ.  And yet deeper than just the forgiveness of sins, this salvation is a restoration of our relationship with God, and with one another.  We believers will not find in our faith a peace that is only attainable when there is no conflict, but instead will come to recognize that the peace of Christ meets with us in redemptive wholeness.  We know that we live in a broken world, and there are none of us who do not start our lives dwelling in that darkness.  Yet even as this world struggles, as we struggle alongside it, in the big and the small, in prayer and petition for ourselves and for others, we can be at peace knowing that Christ has already overcome.  This is the peace we must rest in, and this is the peace that we are called to proclaim to the world.

Perhaps it is cheating ahead in the story, but it should not be surprising to us that at the final Passover meal, Christ tells His disciples all that He and they are soon to suffer, and yet does so for their benefit.  In this beautiful dichotomy, His proclamation is simple:

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus tells them they will have peace, even in the uncertain and tumultuous times ahead.  We have this same promise, and during these times we cannot loose sight of who Christ is, for us and for all, and what He calls us in to: a redemption that encompasses the whole of creation.  That is the peace He gives, which can never be taken away.

UBC OAR Update (Ownership and Accountability Research Team)

The UBCOAR team met again this past Sunday, and we are beginning to work through some conversations about what it means to be a “UBC’er,” and what ownership and accountability looks like at UBC.  We have set a schedule for our meetings in the Spring, and we would love to hear your thoughts on what it means to be a UBC’er, and what you think ownership and accountability should like at UBC.  We will be meeting the second Sunday of every month, starting on January 10th.  If you have thoughts or questions, we would love to hear them.  The team consists of the following folks: Toph Whisnant, Kareem Shane, Liz Andrasi, BJ Parker, Kristin Dodson, Jacob Robinson, Leigh Curl, Amy Smith Carman, Brandon Morgan, and Dani Miller.  If you would like to share your thoughts with any of these fine folks, please do.  If you would like contact information for them, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org .  

UBC in Thailand

This coming Sunday, December 6th, we will have our first team meeting.  We have 16 wonderful folks from UBC signed up for the trip.  Please be praying for the team as we prepare for our trip in May, and be looking for ways you can support UBC’s work in Thailand over the first few weeks of next semester.  If you have any questions, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org

Study Hall

In a recent not-so-scientific study, 100% of the people interviewed said they received all A’s on their exams by studying at UBC.  Yes, that’s right, we are open for Study Hall.  December 8th and 9th, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, the church will be open from 10am-midnight for you to come study.  We will have snacks, drinks, and other assorted goodies for your consumption.  Last, and certainly not least, we have our traditional pancake extravaganza at 10pm on Wednesday night!!!  Come eat pancakes, hang out with your friends, and dominate your finals before they ever start!  If you have any questions, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org

Backside

Have you ever thought to yourself, "man UBC has so much artistic talent.  i wish there was a venue for getting together to appreciate that talent?"  well great news, now there is.  this evening UBC will be hosting 'the backside,' which is a gathering of said artists.  come listen to music and experience art.  Doors open at 7:00 PM.  For more information contact jamie@ubcwaco.org. 

UBC Kids Information

Parents!  The holidays are upon us, so I wanted to give you a better idea of what you can expect over the next few weeks!  This week your kids will begin our Adventures in Advent!  We will be unwrapping the gifts that God gave us through Jesus and lighting our own (flameless!) Advent Wreaths each week!  On December 20th, we will be having our first UBCKids Christmas Party during the service!  If you are interested in helping out with this by providing snacks or in other ways, let me know!  Finally, we will be having kids join the service on December 27thand January 3rd!  Snacks and color sheets will be provided, but it’s always a good idea to have a few tricks up your sleeve!

As always, contact Emily (emily@ubcwaco.org) if you have any questions or concerns!  Happy Advent!

Work is Worship

Greeters: Evie and the Blaylocks

Coffee Makers:  Chad and Joel 

Mug Cleaners: Michael and Kayla 

Announcements:

•  Sunday Sermon Text: Luke 3:1-6 "Advent " 

• Least of These and Bradley Hathaway are playing a show at ubc on December 12th.  It's free, and you should come.

• ITLOTC will not be in print Friday December 25 and January 1.  Please take the time that you would have used to read this newsletter to celebrate baby Jesus, enjoy family, and play with your new toys. 

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:

254 498 2261

Leadership Team

If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members. 

Chair- Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Joy Wineman: joy.wineman@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

David Wilhite: David_Wilhite@baylor.edu

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu 

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

UBC Finance Team

Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.

Tom Haines: thomas_haines@baylor.edu

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Lacy Crocker: lacykcrocker@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.

Maxcey Blaylock: maxceykite@gmail.com

Mathew Crawford: mathewcrawford@yahoo.com

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Setlist 11-29-2015

This week was the first week of Advent, and our songs were gathered around the theme of hope.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs

Deliver Me by David Crowder* Band

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Rescue Is Coming by David Crowder* Band

Hope (There Will Come A Light) by Jameson McGregor

Make This Go On Forever (Refrain) by Snow Patrol

Be Thou My Vision

Doxology

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

Deliver Me:  It can be difficult to think/sing about hope without naming any of the circumstances that would demand the looking-foward that comes with hope.  This song was intended to open our time together with a hint of tension; a pleading for deliverance.  While it provides few specifics we might categorize as the things from which we need saving, it does give us the chance to say at least 6 times, "I know that You're the One to pull me through."  The Christian hope, the Advent hope, is not a vague kind of hope--it is a hope singularly focused on the faithfulness of God.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: We sang this song to move from a plea for deliverance, and the acknowledgement that God is the One who is the object of our hope, to asking that God would come and save us--to enter into the darkness we call home and flood it with light. 

Rescue Is Coming: We sang this song to put hope into our mouths, proclaiming that rescue is coming.  This is a hope we can shout, but its also a hope we can live in--one we can carry with us without having to escape our every day lives.  It's a hope that allows us to keep moving.

Hope (There Will Come A Light): I wrote this song a couple of years ago for the first week of Advent.  A few months ago, I wrote songs for all the other weeks, too, so we will sing the whole series of songs over the next few weeks.  I recently recorded some video sessions of these songs with some friends in Austin.  The video for this song has been posted here.  

Make This Go On Forever (Refrain): We attached this brief refrain to the end of the offering song because it seems to sum up the longing of advent exceptionally well.  

Be Thou My Vision:  We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Be Thou My Vision then: We sang this song for a couple of reasons.  First, we sang it to find language to offer along with the people of our congregation who shared their stories with us this week, asking for God's wisdom and presence with us.  Second, we sang it to offer the words of the final stanza in light of Christ the King Sunday.

Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos. 

-JM

ubc advent songs: hope (there will come a light)

Earlier this semester, I wrote a batch of songs for each week of Advent.  My friends at Canowan in Austin invited me to their church to record video sessions of them as a part of a series of Christmas song videos they're making.   We'll sing one of these each week during Advent, and I'll be posting the videos here. 

Here's the first song.  It's called "There Will Come A Light," and it was written for the Hope week. If you have any questions, email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org

Lyrics:

a day is coming soon
when the seeker will find wonder
a day is coming soon
when the meek will find their joy
a day is coming soon
when the wounded will find healing
a day is coming soon (when)

there will come a light into this darkness
a pillar of fire in the night, leading us home
the evil that's at our heels will find itself haunted
by insufferable sleepless nights and newborn cries

a day is coming soon
when this damage will find mending
a day is coming soon
when the weak will find their Voice
a day is coming soon
when our Hope will have a heartbeat
a day is coming soon (when)

there will come a light into this darkness
a pillar of fire in the night, leading us home
the evil that's at our heels will find itself haunted
by insufferable sleepless nights and newborn cries

there will come a light
there will come a light
there will come a light
not long from now

You sang out Hope into the dead of night
and it echoed off the edge of Time
singing, "there will come a light, not long from now."

-JM

ITLOTC 11-27-15

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Advent

Hope From the Other Side

Over the next four weeks we'll be hearing form various folks in our community on the themes of advent.  Those themes could be any number of things including: waiting, light in the darkness, anticipation, the lectionary texts or the four explicit themes of the candles (hope, peace, joy and love).  Our first entry come from Ben West.  Ben is  a graduate of Logsdon seminary with a masters of dignity.  He is currently ministering as a unit manager at the Methodist Children's Home boy's ranch. 

_____________________________________________________________

A few weeks ago we sang a Leonard Coen song “Heart with No Companion.”  It is a song about the long arm of the love of God that reaches us even in our darkest and loneliest places.  A love that is not afraid to inhabit our unfulfilled dreams, doubts, and outright despair. It is a love that finds its home in hospital rooms and empty nurseries; a promise from the other side of pain that God is a God of restoration and redemption.   

Now I greet you from the other side of sorrow and despair,

with a love so vast

And so shattered,

it will reach you everywhere.

And I sing this for the captain whose ship has not been built,

for the mother in confusion

 her cradle still unfilled 

You can see this sentiment at play in this Sunday’s Old Testament reading from Jeremiah 33:14-16. The book of Jeremiah straddles the most tumultuous event in the Old Testament for Judah, the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile. Chapter 33 is a great example of this. Verses 1-13 are a bleak prediction of the coming destruction and a promise of redemption. But by the time the second section, beginning with our reading in verse 14, is written it is likely that all of this has already happened.

Judah is on the other side. Their concern now is living righteously in the aftermath of God’s grace. The message from the other side is not that everything happens for a reason, or that everything will work out and all your dreams will come true beyond your wildest imagination. The message is an appeal for hope in the face of despair. A reminder that you are not forgotten by God, you were never abandoned and in the end God is still good.

The thing is, this can be hard to believe when you’re in exile. When your hopes and dreams ring hollowand it feels like no one is there. This is the image earlier in chapter 33. The walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and the streets are “desolate, without inhabitants, human or animal” (v. 10).

We have more in common than we may realize with Judah, waiting on God in Babylon, who are promised that their streets will be filled with “voices of gladness” again (vs. 11), but are left in a time of waiting, and hoping with nothing to do but “build houses and live, plant gardens and eat”  (Jer. 29:5) while their home is empty. There is a tension between hope and contentment. How do you build gardens and live while still living in hope, waiting for restoration?

I don’t think there is any easy answer to this question, and I don’t think there is anything easy about hope. Hope, by definition, has an element of doubt and expectation, it is born in the rubble, and makes it home in the ruins of our lives. There is no sure footing, each next step is an act of doubt overcome by faith. Faith that God is a rebuilder and that the love of God is never too far out of reach. This is captured perfectly in my favorite hymn for this season of hope and expectation: 

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel 

This week may we rejoice in our waiting. Let us remember God’s promise that our empty streets will be filled once again with glad voices. Let us not forgot the times that the love of God has found us in lonely places. Let us rejoice and wait for Emmanuel. 

 Advent Workshop

Reminder.  If you signed up for the advent workshop it will take place this sunday.  You can either go get food after church or pack a lunch.  We will begin about a half hour after service is over.  If you haven not signed up and are interested email:  josh@ubcwaco.org.  We may have enough supplies.  

Work is Worship

Greeters: Blaylocks 

Coffee Makers: Caroline & Sarah 

Mug Cleaners: Leigh & Stephen 

Announcements:

•  Sunday Sermon Text: Luke 21:25-36   "Advent 1" 

• Advent Workshop, November 29th. email josh@ubcwaco for more details. 

• Least of These and Bradley Hathaway are playing a show at ubc on December 12th.  It's free, and you should come.

• Study Hall:  Dec. 8th & 9th 

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:

254 498 2261

Leadership Team

If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members. 

Chair- Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Joy Wineman: joy.wineman@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

David Wilhite: David_Wilhite@baylor.edu

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu 

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

UBC Finance Team

Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.

Tom Haines: thomas_haines@baylor.edu

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Lacy Crocker: lacykcrocker@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.

Maxcey Blaylock: maxceykite@gmail.com

Mathew Crawford: mathewcrawford@yahoo.com

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

An Artist in Our Midst

Our friend Nathanael Mosher created some amazing artwork for the children's service.  Unfortunately due to some email issues, Emily was not able to get the artwork and use it for the service.  So we thought we'd at least display Nathanael's work here.  You can see more of his stuff at his website which can be found here.  Thanks Nathanael for serving our kids.  

Setlist 11-22-2015

This week was Christ the King Sunday, so our songs were gathered around the theme of kingship.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs

Revelation Song by Jennie Lee Riddle

All Creatures of Our God and King by David Crowder* Band

Be Thou My Vision

How Great Thou Art

Crown Him With Many Crowns

Doxology

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

Revelation Song: We sang this song to begin our time together singing about God's holiness/power/all of those things we might associate with God being above and beyond us all.  While this is not the primary image of God given in the Christian story, it is important to remind ourselves that God is indeed mysterious, powerful, elusive, holy, etc, so that we will realize how scandalous and amazing it is that this same God cares to have a relationship with us.

All Creatures of Our God and King: We sang this song to contemplate and proclaim the significance of God's kingship for the whole of the created order--not just humans.  To say that Christ is King impacts more than humans--it impacts the way stars explode, the way animals go on about their lives, and the way plants climb out of the dirt.

Be Thou My Vision:  We sang this song for a couple of reasons.  First, we sang it to find language to offer along with the people of our congregation who shared their stories with us this week, asking for God's wisdom and presence with us.  Second, we sang it to offer the words of the final stanza in light of Christ the King Sunday.

How Great Thou Art: We sang this song in the middle of our service to proclaim the glory of God in creation (both past and present), the life and death of Jesus, and the future hope of redemption, in the midst of stories that were marked both by tears and bold faith.  In some way, we raised this language to remind ourselves of the story in the midst of which we are living--one where God is putting the pieces back together, not spreading them apart.

Crown Him With Many Crowns: I occasionally ask Josh if there are any songs he wants me to include in a set.  This week was one of the few times he had a suggestion, so I jumped on it.  I had not thought about this song since I was a small child, so I had to go look up the lyrics.  It took all of 10 seconds for me to be convinced that this song needed to be in our Christ the King service.  In many ways, Christ the King Sunday is about speaking the truth of Jesus' Kingship into a world where such an idea seems like nonsense (because of how broken things are).  A thing I love about this song is the way it weaves together God's transcendence and immanence, and God's suffering and victory.  These tensions provide a window into a deeper truth about God and God's story.

Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos. 

-JM

ITLOTC 11-20-15

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

Christ is King?  When the World is Spinning Off It's Axis

I was intending to write about Chris the King Sunday and then I read an article in which my friend Sharyl Loeung did just that better than I could.  This and other articles Sharyl writes can be found at Thinking Through Christianity. 

______________________________________________________________

This Sunday marks an important Sunday in the life of the church liturgically. The Christian calendar, also known as the liturgical calendar, is coming to a close in November. Whereas our American calendar puts Christmas at the end of the year, the liturgical year actually begins with Advent after closing with Christ the King Sunday (November 22 this year). What I love about Christ the King Sunday is the emphasis on Christ on the throne.

We are about to start a period of reading and talking about the baby Jesus, but before we get there, we are reminded of the reign of Christ. For many, the holidays can be a difficult time. It can be a time that conjures up feelings of loss and loneliness.

This year, in particular, we cannot avoid the heaviness of the world in the wake of the destructive path of ISIS, the rhetoric surrounding Syrians refugees, and the still unsettled racial tension in America. Christ the King Sunday lets us reflect on all the good and all the bad of the year, but at the end of the day still proclaim, “Christ is on the throne.”

Some of our most sincere thanksgivings are in direct response to hardship. We are grateful for the little things during hardship (though the little things are probably really the biggest things) because we don’t know what else to do.

We know what we do have matters when we experience loss. When a family member is ill or you lose your job or your home, or terrorists attack, or whatever it may be, suddenly so many once important things fade to the background. Your whole world is reoriented. It is the reign of Christ that gives us the strength to endure with patience and joy because we know what it means to be brought out of darkness into light. We know the depth of the power of darkness and yet we’ve seen glimpses of the Kingdom.

We believe in a fullness of God that encompasses far more than the notions of kingship we inherit from American history in which kings are controlling and militaristic and maybe even corrupt and self-serving. Instead we read about a shepherd in Jeremiah 23 who gathers the remnant carefully and condemns the shepherd who does not care for his sheep. We read about a God in Psalm 46, who, despite creating everything around us, despite the ability to control the seas and bring down mountains, speaks individually to us and to the church, in a still small voice. A God that asks us to just “be still.” And the importance of that stillness is it reminds us we are not alone.

Parisians are not alone. Lebanese are not alone. Syrian refugees are not alone. Students across the U.S. on college campuses seeking justice are not alone. No one is forgotten by God even if they are forgotten and pushed aside by the rest of us.

I served as an interim pastor in a church that weekly recited the New Creed. It was my favorite part of each Sunday. It reads:

We are not alone,
       we live in God’s world.

We believe in God:
       who has created and is creating,
       who has come in Jesus,
                the Word made flesh,
                to reconcile and make new,
       who works in us and others
                by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the Church:
       to celebrate God’s presence,
       to live with respect in Creation,
       to love and serve others,
       to seek justice and resist evil,
       to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
            our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
     God is with us.
We are not alone.

      Thanks be to God.

The fullness of God in Colossians 1 is God reconciling the earth to God’s self. Making peace through the cross. We remember this ultimate act, this lofty, cosmic concept this week before we make our journey to the humble manger. It is in Christ that this fullness is revealed.

We remember that the one who has the power to create all things, control all things, master all things, chose to come to earth in the form of a babe. To offer us a hand in the Kingdom, a part in reconciliation and the salvation that comes in surrender. The fullness of God is the union of both these parts. The God on the throne above all things, and the God in the manger.

As we approach Thanksgiving, may we give thanks for the One who in all glory and power shows us the way to humility and grace through his sacrificial death on the cross. As we deal with our families, may we remember the One who loved us sacrificially and taught us to serve. And for many, who approach the holidays with loneliness or memories that bring sadness, may we remember the God that has power over the darkness and has brought us into the light. May our joy and thanksgiving give us strength.

As Julian of Norwich affirmed, “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Christ is on the throne. Christ reigns.

UBC Kid's T-Shirt

Help support UBCKids!  Our UBCKids Service Be(Attitudes) shirts will be available for purchase this Sunday while supplies last!  All sizes are $10!  Contact Emily for more information!  emily@ubcwaco.org

Thanksgiving Love Feast

Champions!  Great news.  This Sunday night at 6:00 PM CST, UBC will gather to eat a thanksgiving style meal.  UBC is providing turkeys.  We are asking that the good people of UBC bring a side.  Please do not bring a dessert unless you sign up for one.  If you would like to sign up for a dessert you can do so by emailing toph@ubcwaco.org.  See you there with one extra notch in your belt. 

Work is Worship

Greeters: The Haines Family & Will 

Coffee Makers: Joy and Ryan (Dream Team)

Mug Cleaners: Emmy & Chase

Announcements:

•  Sunday Sermon Text: Christ the King Sunday.  This is the Sunday in which the church calendar comes to a conclusion.  We will be hearing testimonies from some folks in our congregation.  Please be in prayer for them as they prepare to share with us.   

• Advent Workshop, November 29th. email josh@ubcwaco for more details. 

• Least of These and Bradley Hathaway are playing a show at ubc on December 12th.  It's free, and you should come.

• Study Hall:  Dec. 7th & 8th

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:

254 498 2261

Leadership Team

If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members. 

Chair- Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Joy Wineman: joy.wineman@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

David Wilhite: David_Wilhite@baylor.edu

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu 

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

UBC Finance Team

Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.

Tom Haines: thomas_haines@baylor.edu

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Lacy Crocker: lacykcrocker@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.

Maxcey Blaylock: maxceykite@gmail.com

Mathew Crawford: mathewcrawford@yahoo.com

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: Jeff_Walter@ubcwaco.org

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

ITLOTC 11-13-15

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

The Children of the Kingdom

A few weeks ago my friend Brian preached a wonderful sermon based on Matthew 18:1-5.  You can listen to that sermon here.  The disciples are having an argument about who the greatest among them is and to make a radical claim about discipleship, Jesus pulls a child into their midst and says, "become like this one."  I found Brian's approach to the text appropriate.  He began by dismantling contemporary notions of Jesus and the children.  That reading, the one where a caucasian Jesus snuggles with cute kids with baby lambs in the background, is clearly influenced by what our society has done with children, which is to elevate them to a near sacred status within society.  Nothing could be further from the reality children faced in the Roman Empire.  

To give us an idea of how staggering the difference in perspectives is, i've Amazoned and screen shotted this page from John Crossan's book Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography. 

Brian's point was to show that in suggesting that we become like children, i.e. those without status, we embrace a downward mobility.  

Though the status of children has changed, the amount of functional power probably has not.  True, we now have mechanisms in society that protect children like CPS (praise be to God), but children or at least my children, still don't make many of the family decisions.  My children don't plan the meals we eat.  They don't select their extra curricular activities unless we help identify the possibilities for them. They don't pick their own bedtimes.  They don't possess purchasing power.  They don't pick their school.  Children today are protected but they are not necessarily empowered.  Part of the reason we don't give children this sort of freedom is obvious.  The frontal lobe doesn't finish developing until around 25.  To give children the keys to their own lives at a young age could be a disaster.  And yet, I have discovered my children have a sort of unique wisdom.  

Children haven't yet been crushed by the brutal realities of the world. Or if they have, they seem to have a resilience not worn down by the persistence of failure and the scorn of others.  

I think it is the naive optimism that draws us in.  It is this sort of hope that teaches us.  Children really do have something to teach us about God.  They have a way of helping us see the gospel in ways we haven't before or that we have forgotten.  So join my in prayer for our kids as they prepare to lead us in Worship this Sunday.  

Guys’s Night

Join us tonight for food, fire, and fellowship.  UBC will provide the drinks and chips, you just bring whatever you want to throw on the grill/fire.  Come out anytime after 5pm!   This is for guys age 0-99.  If you have any questions, or need directions, email toph@ubcwaco.org.  See you tonight!

UBCKids Service Practice

Hello UBCKids Parents!  The BIG DAY is almost here!  UBCKids Service is THIS Sunday!  But first, we've got to put on the finishing touches!  Don't forget to join us THIS SATURDAY at 1:00 for a run through of the service, distribution of the t-shirts, and one last moment of encouragement for our kiddos!  If your child is participating in a specific element of the service (instruments, interpretive movement, or skit) please arrive by 12:30 on Saturday for a warm up before the main practice!  We understand that Saturdays can be tough, but please make every effort to have your children present for practice Saturday!  If you can't make it, but your kids WILL be participating in the service Sunday, please let Emily know so that we can assign them a spot on the stage!  If you have any questions or concerns, please email Emily at emily@ubcwaco.org.

Thanksgiving Lovefeast

Our annual Thanksgiving Lovefeast is coming up next Sunday night, November 22nd, at 6pm.  UBC will provide the turkeys/ham,  but we need some brave souls to cook them!  If you are interested in cooking a turkey or ham, please let Toph know on Sunday, or email him at toph@ubcwaco.org.  There will also be a sign-up sheet in the foyer if you would like to bring a dessert to the lovefeast.  If you have any questions, toph@ubcwaco.org

Jesus Said Love Help

Our Waco City Team Leader recently asked me to put the word out that we need volunteers on: Security Team, Hospitality Team, Babysitter's Club, and Prayer Team. Most of these teams require very low time commitment (usually a few hours per month), but they are incredibly important to our ministry. 

Security Team: Rides along with Club Team on monthly outreach, waits outside the club to provide a safety and protection for our team members.

Hospitality Team: Helps meet various needs throughout the month for dancers in need (meals, baby showers, etc.)

Babysitter's Club: Provides occasional childcare for team members and/or dancers

Prayer Team: Attends short time of prayer prior to monthly outreach

If you would like to help with any of these teams, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org

Backside

On December 4th, we're having an event in the Backside, appropriately titled: Backside.  We'll have open mic for our poets and musicians, and an open wall for our visual artists. There will be a sign up sheet in the lobby this Sunday if you're interested in sharing some of your stuff with us.  As for you people who don't want to share something: there will be snacks and drinks and good times in excess, so you should come as well.  If you have any questions, contact jamie@ubcwaco.org.

UBC Financial Update (from Tom) 

UBC Financial Status
as of: November 4, 2015

THE PLAN:  Our fiscal year runs from the first of July through the end of June.  This year’s budget is $309,412.  Fixed expenses (staff salaries, building and office expenses) accounts for $253,373, or 81.9% of the total, and ministry expenses (the many things our church does for our community and for those who attend) accounts for $56,039 or 18.1%.

OUR EXPENSES AND INCOME:  Between July 1st and November 4th, we have spent $96,767, or about 31% of our budget.  Those items considered fixed accounted for 89% of this spending.  Our income from tithes and offerings during this period totaled $114,247.  Tithe income from online methods (PayPal and EasyTithe) accounts for 43% of the total, with the remainder coming from Sunday morning collections.

OUR STATUS:  UBC’s cash (checking account) balance as of the end of October was $32,363, with another $86,792 in savings.  We continue to carry no debt.

As you can see, our expenses and income are very close and our cash balance covers a little less than two months of expenses.  So we rely heavily on weekly tithes and offerings.

If you’d like to be a financial partner with UBC, you can sign up for monthly giving through EasyTithe.

Work is Worship

Greeters: 

Coffee Makers: Emmy & Stephen 

Mug Cleaners: The Cooleys  

Announcements:

•  Sunday Sermon Text: Matthew 5:1-11. Please be in prayer for our children as they prepare to lead us in worship this Sunday.  

• Advent Workshop, November 29th. email josh@ubcwaco for more details. 

• Least of These and Bradley Hathaway are playing a show at ubc on December 12th.  It's free, and you should come.

ITLOTC 11-6-15

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

Who is Taylor Post?

This past Sunday we were blessed with a sermon prepared for us by Taylor Post.  Taylor is a Truett student and spending this semester doing her mentoring with Toph.  Because the feedback has been so overwhelmingly positive from her sermon, i thought i'd invite her to share something with us in the newsletter.  Taylor is also a resident chaplain at Baylor.  She serves in Collins Residential Hall.  For that reason, and because UBC has a number of resident chaplains are part of our community, I've asked her to share about the ministry of presence and living incarnationally.  

______________________________________________________________

  When I first asked my boss and Baylor’s University Chaplain Burt Burleson how to describe my job to people he told me to give them the 3 P’s. (Burt’s a good Baptist and an excellent preacher so he knows that people remember things better if they come in 3s and involve alliteration.) The 3 P’s stand for programming, pastoral care, and presence. Those are the things that all 14 of us who are Resident Chaplains do.

            The first two can be explained pretty easily. The first P stands for programming, which means that I plan programs for the hall. I have a program called Waco 101 where I take residents from my hall (all freshmen women) and we go do different things around Waco – we go to Taco Tuesday at Rosa’s, we go to World Cup Café and talk about the importance of fair trade, we go to the Farmer’s Market and work in Baylor’s community garden and talk about the importance of knowing where our food comes from, we go to the zoo because the zoo is awesome, and we go several other places around Waco with the intention of getting residents out of the “Baylor Bubble” and giving them an opportunity to find places to get plugged in around Waco. I also write a newsletter called the Spiritual Flush that gets hung up in all the bathroom stalls – I’ve found it’s one of the only places where girls will for sure see it, but it also means I’ve been greeted more than one time with the phrase, “Hey you’re the girl from the bathroom!” which is not ideal to say the least – where I talk about homesickness, adjusting to college, balance, finding your identity in Christ, and other things that I know girls in my community are dealing with regularly.

            The second P stands for Pastoral Care. Providing pastoral care in a residence hall means walking into hard situations with residents and providing spiritual guidance while walking with them during and after the things that shake up their world. Sometimes this means asking probing questions and sometimes it means sitting in silence. Sometimes this means listening and sometimes it means telling girls when they’ve been treated wrongly and encouraging them to advocate for themselves. Sometimes it means going to the hospital with a girl with a broken ankle. Sometimes it means creating a safe space for a girl to mourn the loss of a friendship, or a relationship, or a loved one. And sometimes it means letting them come and hang out with Ruthie, my dog.

            Presence, however, has always been the hardest for me to describe to other people. I often say something about being a presence in the hall – about girls knowing where they can find me if they need me, spending time in the lobby and at the front desk, and letting girls play with Ruthie when they need some canine companionship. I sometimes talk about the idea that it’s my role to embody the presence of Christ to all of the girls who live in Collins – and to help them see the ways that the Holy Spirit is working in their lives. And other times I talk about the way that just being present for this much shared life experience is part of my ministry to the girls in Collins.

            But at the end of the day I think that all of these things, all 3 P’s, are part of what the ministry of presence and living incarnationally are about. Philippians 2 has been a helpful guide for me here. Verse 5 says, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…” and it goes on to instruct us how to do that. We are supposed to love others the way that Christ loved them, and Jesus did not love the world from a distance. Jesus loved the world by becoming human. He rubbed elbows with the people that he was living for, the people for whom he would eventually die. The ministry of presence is about rubbing elbows with the people we serve. In UBC language it’s about living life to the fullest and sharing that with the people around you. In Collins I get to do a lot of that. Eating crepes with girls at the Farmer’s Market, walking the Bear Trail with them, eating meals with them, praying with and for them, laughing at silly Youtube videos when we should be studying, worshipping with them, sitting with them when they are sick or sad or lonely – this is what incarnational living looks like in Collins. But the ministry of presence has to look different in different circumstances because it has to be aware of the needs of those who are being served. I have been convicted that the ministry of presence does not just mean that I am present for important times (although that’s a big part of it), but that I am actively engaged in loving people with the love of Christ during those times and at all times. It is not my presence that I want the women of Collins to be aware of, but the presence of Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Great Comforter who is always with us. In this season of life I have been called to practice the ministry of presence with 600 freshman women in Ruth Collins Residence Hall, but in May when I graduate I’ll have to find a new place to live incarnationally, a new place to be present. We all have to find a place to live incarnationally and embody the love of Christ – where have you been called to practice the ministry of presence?

Girls Night

This from Liz (aka #chamion4thelord).  

If we know anything at all, it's that UBC Women are CHAMPIONS. Come hang out and prove it  TONIGHT (Friday, November 6th)!! We want to spend time playing Catch Phrase, eating snacks, and meeting new friends. ALL AGES are welcome and wanted. We will have a game and coloring section set up for the littlest of the UBC women (read: children) to enjoy and we will take turns playing and creating with them when we aren't on the court fighting for the title of "Girl's Night Champion" (read: best Catch Phrase team)...Please bring a fall themed snack to share if you can!

Can't wait to see you there!

email liz@ubcwaco.org with any questions

Empty Nester Event

Our empty nester group is having a get together on Sunday November 15th at 6:00 PM @ Ninfa's.  Come and fellowship and eat great food.  Interested persons should email Teri @ terijan@gmail.com.

Made in Waco

UBC is hosting it's 3rd annual (and the original Waco) handmade market.  Doors open at this Saturday @ 10:00 and the craziness goes until 3:00.  We'd love for you to come fellowship, window shop or drop some big cash.  It is the embodiment of pinterest, and it can be your riveting Saturday. 

Children's Service Info. 

Hello, UBCParents!  On November 15th, your UBCKids will be leading our community in worship!  We hope to include ALL of our UBCKids in one way or another, but if your child is in the Branch or Root classes and beyond (older 4’s - 6th grade) we have some specific opportunities for them to lead!  If your kid would be interested in playing the Xylophone, reading liturgy, playing a role in a skit or interpretive movement, we will be practicing this week during Sunday School from 9:30-10:15!  Please contact Emily for more info!

Guys’s Night

UBC Guy’s Night is this Friday night, November 13th!  There will be a sign-up sheet in the lobby, and/or you can email toph@ubcwaco.org for directions.  We will be grilling out over a bonfire.  UBC will provide drinks, chips, and smores; you bring whatever you want to grill.  You can come out anytime after 4pm, we will start grilling around 5pm.  We would love for you to come hang out, and meet other guys at UBC.  Ages 0-99 welcome.  If you have any questions, email Toph.  

Work is Worship

Greeters: Rick, Kelsey & the Walters 

Coffee Makers:  Chad & Joel 

Mug Cleaners: Whoever the Spirit provides 

Announcements:

•  Sunday Sermon Text: Matthew 14:13-21 "Favorite Stories from my Favorite Story Part 3: Blessed, Broken, Given" 
• this Sunday we are excited to have the Digital Age lead us in the music portion of worship.  please be in prayer for them as they prepare to rock the flock and jam for the lamb. 

• Guys Night, November 13th. 

• Thanksgiving Love Feast, November 22nd. 

• Advent Workshop, November 29th. email josh@ubcwaco for more details. 

• Backside event display the talent of local/UBC artists, Dec. 4th

Setlist 11-1-2015

This week, our songs were gathered around the theme of redemption.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs

Chariot by Page France

Noise by Jameson McGregor

Because He Lives

Heart With No Companion by Leonard Cohen

Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light

Doxology

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

Chariot: The Christian story, in broad strokes, is about God redeeming a fallen world.  In terms of humanity, this means that God chooses to initiate making things right with us, and entering into our stories to weave them into a greater Story.  This song narrates what we might consider to be the end of this story, though it might just as well be called the end of the introduction.  When we sing about a big party at the end of all things, and categorize it as a happy ending, we are proclaiming this alongside the fact that even the most pious of us slip up along the way.  God's redemption of us is in spite of our own failures, and it is centered in the love of God that doesn't play by the rules.

Noise: This song begins with the acknowledgement that there is very little we can say with confidence about God--or at the very least, there is little we can say with confidence in its complete accuracy.  As much as we might think we know about God, we are incapable of getting our pictures of God to line up just right.  This is why the chorus narrows its talk about God to what God has done for us--and leaves it fairly vague in the process.  The song then turns to thinking about what God knows about us, namely, that God understands our pain and our doubts.  Why?  Because God became human in Jesus.  This is a much more intimate knowledge of the human experience than we could assume merely from God's having created humanity.  Instead, God lived humanity.  This is important when we think about redemption because it means we are known in the darkest parts of our being, yet God has still not abandoned us to our own devices.

Because He Lives: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last weeks' songs.  This is what we said about Because He Lives then: We sang this song to name the hope of the resurrection of Jesus over/against the pain of loss.  This is not merely future hope, but infuses every moment of life with great significance, making it worth living.  

Heart With No Companion: This song is fairly simple.  It's about the love of God reaching to us through all measures of pain.  This love comes from beyond this pain, and is untainted by it, yet it is a love that we might call shattered--it's calibrated to reach brokenness.  I think the thing I love most about this song is the variety of images Cohen uses to describe who this love is directed at: the captain without a ship, the mother without a child, the lonely, the wayward, the ballerina who can no longer dance.  While they aren't all the same, many of them point to people who have a passion or a self-identity that they are unable to fulfill.  The love of God reaches this person with the message of "you matter.  you are valuable."  In thinking about redemption, we would do well to remind ourselves that God also wants to redeem the way we view ourselves and our place in this world.

Wayward Ones: We sing this song every time we take communion to remind ourselves of a couple of things.  First, we are a broken people--though we are seeking to become more like Jesus, we often fail at this.  Second, Christ has given Himself for us despite our brokenness.  We take communion to remember the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, even though we did not, and do not, deserve it.

Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos. 

-JM

ITLOTC 10-30-15

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

The Mystery of Worship

I would like to say thank you to everyone who was able to worship with us this last Sunday.  It was and will remain one of the most meaningful days I’ve had at UBC.  A large number of you have spoken to the staff about your positive experiences.  Thank you for your encouragement. 

Worship is an experience in which we are led by individuals, but worship is also an experience in which we collectively receive from each other.   The obvious way this expresses itself is through congregational singing.  The sum of our voices make for something greater than whole of the parts.  Another tangible corporate moment happened through the collectively clapping that we did when we expressed our gratitude for the individuals who spoke or those who were honored for their contributions to the life of the church.  And then there are less obvious ways.  I’m not sure why, but one of the holiest moments for me is when I see the bunch us standing in line waiting for communion.  How is the line waiting a holy act?  I’m not sure.  Maybe it’s because it’s participatory.  Maybe because it’s open for anyone.  Maybe it’s because it’s the one place where patience seems to be accompanied by reverence.  Or maybe it’s because everyone seems so equal to me in that place. 

Here’s another intangible.  I began the service by naming that we had gathered to hope and remember.  Somehow we all did that so well.  How do I know?  I could feel it.  I said that worship is characterized by memory and hope because those emotions are the narratives that fill out our worship.  “God is mighty,” is a proclamation about God.  “God is mighty because he delivered from the hands of my enemy,” is a conviction shared from experience.  Karen, Craig and Jen gave us those narratives to fill up memory and hope, but you held that memory and hope, and it filled the room.

I’d like to describe what I think happened with the help of the scriptures.   I believe the gospel is the true story because I have experienced it.  At pinnacle of story, which begins with Adam and ends with things to come, is Jesus, His death and resurrection.  It’s the rehearsal of Easter Weekend.  It is the pattern of the Christian life.  Christ following does not walk around the pain it walks through it to resurrection.   This, to me, is the event that makes for one of the strange mysteries of the faith.  There is a joy that grows out of our suffering. 

I will tell you another mystery.  I used to think that the joy that comes from suffering is better than other joy, but not any more.  Now I just think it is a deeper joy. 

Listen to Paul make sense of this in 1 Corinthians 2. 

“we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory … For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.”

I believe that when we feel so deeply and profoundly in the worship gathering it is because we catch a glimpse of the mystery.   And when more and more of us see what is happening the sense of wonder grows larger … and you can feel it.

Today is October 30th, the actual ten year anniversary of Kyle’s death.  Today I challenge you look for the mystery.

Leadership Team Meeting Summary

The leadership team met on Sunday October 25th.  This is a summary of what was talked about.  Minutes from the meeting can be viewed upon request.  

Roll: All leadership members were present as was Josh Carney and Toph Whisnant. 

Devotional: Romans 5:3-5

HR Update: Toph gave an update on mid year reviews and an update on his role as the HR liaison. 

Finance Update: Josh gave a finance update.  The information for this finance update came directly from the newsletter writeup that was posted here. 

Scholarship Recipients: To verify the scholarship applications that we sign the headship team has to vote on accepting students who have been signed for.  Josh moved that we accept, Byron seconded and the motion passed with 7 votes to 0.   Two students were verified in this meeting. 

Pastoral Associates: An update was given on the work and performance of our pastoral associates.  

Ordination:  After a three month discernment period, the ordination committee recommended that Kelly Doolittle have his ordination affirmed by UBC.  Josh moved to accept the recommendation, Stan seconded it.  That motion passed by a vote to 7 - 0.  Details of Kelly's ordination service are forthcoming.  

We Love Our City Update: In the October 25th edition of the Waco tribune a statement of belief was signed by churches around Waco.  The leadership team had previously advised us not to sign it.  So we discussed this document and our response should we be asked why. 

L-Team Rotation Schedule: Three members from the leadership team, Kristin Dodson, David Wilhite and Byron Roldan are scheduled to rotate off in October 2016.  To break that up we created rotate off schedule.  Byron will rotate of in April (he graduates in May), Kristin in July, and David in October. 

Sabbatical:  Toph gave the leadership team his sabbatical proposal for the summer of 2016.  The leadership read it and asked questions.  Jon Davis moved that we vote to let Toph proceed with his sabbatical team to plan his sabbatical.  Stan seconded the motion.  The motion passed 7- 0.   

Fall Back (national-accidental-sunday-school-attendance-week)

Remember, this Saturday evening our clocks will be set back an hour. Interesting fact.  In google searching this picture I discovered that this grandfather clock, cost over $20,000. Christmas idea? 

Work is Worship

Greeters: The Blaylocks 

Coffee Makers:  Caroline & Sarah

Mug Cleaners: Team Haines

Announcements:

•  Sunday Sermon Text: Luke 7:36-50 "Humility" Please be in prayer for my friend Taylor who will be preaching this Sunday! 

• Girls Night, November 6th. 

• Guys Night, November 13th. 

• Thanksgiving Love Feast, November 22nd. 

• Advent Workshop, November 29th. 

• Backside event display the talent of local/UBC artists, Dec. 4th.  

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:

254 498 2261

Leadership Team

If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members. 

Chair- Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Joy Wineman: joy.wineman@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

David Wilhite: David_Wilhite@baylor.edu

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu 

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

UBC Finance Team

Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.

Tom Haines: thomas_haines@baylor.edu

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Lacy Crocker: lacykcrocker@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.

Maxcey Blaylock: maxceykite@gmail.com

Mathew Crawford: mathewcrawford@yahoo.com

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: Jeff_Walter@ubcwaco.org

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Setlist 10-25-2015

This week, our songs were gathered around the theme of healing.  Yesterday we had a celebration service for the life and legacy of Kyle Lake, our former pastor, marking 10 years since his death in 2005.  If you weren't able to attend the service, I'd encourage you to go check out kylesfilm.com where you can read about Kyle's story.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs

Because He Lives

How He Loves by John Mark McMillan

Rescue Is Coming by David Crowder* Band

Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light

Hope by Jameson McGregor

Doxology

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

Because He Lives: We sang this song to name the hope of the resurrection of Jesus over/against the pain of loss.  This is not merely future hope, but infuses every moment of life with great significance, making it worth living.  

How He Loves: John Mark McMillan has a video telling the story of this song--I think it is important to hear him talk about where this song came from, so I really hope you'll watch it. He wrote this song in response to the death of a close friend, and we sang this after Craig, a close friend of Kyle's, had just shared with us about the way in which Kyle was a gift of God to him and to ubc, and about the journey he has had since then.  I suppose there are several reasons we needed to sing this song in this service, but perhaps the greatest is to put a voice to the fact that the love of God is not beaten back by the anger and grief of loss.  Instead, this love holds strong through those seasons--in the midst of those seasons.

Rescue Is Coming: Josh asked me to put this song in the set this week because he remembered Kyle having a visceral and joyful reaction to it one of the first times Dave played it at ubc.  He told the story of that moment before we sang it and encouraged us to join with Kyle in that moment in singing this song.  As with Because He Lives, this song sets our eyes on some sort of future hope, but the purpose is to affect the here and now--to not give up in the midst of pain--to have the courage to let deep wounds heal.  [Note: Letting deep wounds heal does not mean getting the scars lasered away--while wounds can be debilitating, scars are vessels of memory and carry the story of healing in their own way.]

Wayward Ones: We sing this song every time we take communion to remind ourselves of a couple of things.  First, we are a broken people--though we are seeking to become more like Jesus, we often fail at this.  Second, Christ has given Himself for us despite our brokenness.  We take communion to remember the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, even though we did not, and do not, deserve it.

Hope: We sang this song to proclaim a story that is fundamental to the story of the cosmos: God lit a fire in the darkness that the darkness did not overcome.  We can think about this in many ways--creation and the life/death/resurrection of Jesus are pretty straight-forward examples-- but we sang this song to proclaim it as the story of ubc in the past 10 years.

Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos. 

-JM

ITLOTC 10-23-15

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

Kyle Lake

This Sunday we will gather to worship God and as an act of worship we will come together to express our collective gratitude to God for the life and legacy of Kyle Lake.  

I will share in the liturgy Sunday, but I will not directly address anything about my personal relationship or experience with Kyle.  So I thought I'd take this part of the newsletter to tell you what I remember and admire about him.  

First, an explanatory word about what happened.  It seemed like in the first few years after Kyle's death there was a strong chance that a complete stranger would have heard about what happened to Kyle, even if vaguely, especially within Baptist/church circles.  His story and death were national news.  Eventually though that familiarity began to fade.  I now don't assume people know Kyle's story even if they've been in Waco for a while.  

On October 30th, 2005 UBC gathered for Sunday morning worship on Homecoming weekend. After a few songs were played Kyle reached for a microphone while standing in a baptistry that no longer exists in the church.  Because a heater in the baptistry was improperly grounded, electricity was leaking into the water.  When Kyle grabbed the microphone he was killed.  

Kyle was my pastor for about 14 months.  My wife and I walked through the doors of UBC for the very first time in August of 2004.  Dutton was playing in lieu of the traveling David Crowder Band.  It was a typical first-sunday-back-with-students.  We found a pair of seats in the back and without knowing anything about the church, I eagerly awaited to see who was going to give a the sermon at a place like this.  Enter Kyle. I couldn't have imagined someone more perfect for the job.  I remember a few things about that first sermon I heard: 

1. Kyle was addressing God's will/providence in a way that I was  comfortable with.  You can read about his opinions from his first book.  Look at the section on debunking God as a task master.  

2. I also remember Kyle telling a story about Sutton and Jude's 2nd birthday party.  Things were going smooth until they opened a present from someone (Craig, I think).   The gift was a Wiggles guitar.  The guitar was a source of envy and created a firestorm among the twins.  

3. Kyle talked about going on a camping trip with a bunch of guys and getting made fun of because he brought along his Aveda Rosemary Mint Shampoo.  

I was hooked.  Our church search was over and I spent the next year learning with Kyle as my pastor.  

I think aside from Sundays and the few times when I'd see Kyle in public places, we had probably four to five substantial get togethers and or hang out times.  Here's what I remember best about Kyle: 

Kyle liked to have fun.  UBC continues to be a place where we take God seriously, but not ourselves.  One friend describes UBC as a place of playful reverence.  While I think we continue to cultivate that atmosphere, Kyle in particular, was good at injecting humor into that environment.  He loved to play jokes on people and use smart humor to challenge trite cultural assumptions.  While Kyle always gave great care to the worship gathering, he never did so at the expense of God's own sense of humor.  

Kyle was relevant.  Long before there was a magazine by the same name and that word had become the latest casualty in the evangelical vernacular, Kyle was truly relevant.  He was a pioneer in engaging culture and asking questions about not only what was happening in our culture, but also what would happen in our culture.  When the Emergent Church movement was fresh and new having recently grown out of Youth Specialties, Kyle was a conversation partner and a good one at that.  

Kyle was full of life.  I remember in the weeks after Kyle's death thinking that it would have been normal or at least seemed more feasible had we gotten a phone call that Kyle died in a car accident or something like that.  The type of death Kyle died made processing more difficult. The circumstances of his death along with his personality made the juxtaposition poignant.  The most full-of-life person I knew, died.  Kyle oozed vibrancy, and the not overwhelming annoying kind, in a way that I have seen few people do.  He talked about embracing life.  You can hear it in the benediction we still say and you can hear in the last sermon he wrote and could see it his eyes. Kyle loved life and that was contagious.  

There are many people who knew Kyle better than I did.  A few them will share with us this Sunday.  I hope you'll join us to remember and celebrate him.  

Children's Update From Emily 

Hey parents!  Here are a few things you need to know about this Sunday…First, I hope you are all enjoying your UBCKids Service CD’s!  This is all of the music for our upcoming UBCKids Service, so it’s important that your kids get a chance to become familiar with it!  If you didn’t get one last Sunday, I have plenty more!  Just let me know!

Next, the Parent Letter for the UBCKids Service will go home this Sunday!  It will outline our service and have important information, dates, times and reminders for the next few weeks!  I will also email this info out, but if you’re like me, having a copy in hand helps my tired little brain retain the information!  

Finally, since our service this week will be unique, there wasn’t a good time to dismiss the Roots Class.  Because we don’t want our Roots kids to miss out on our Beatitudes lessons, they will be in the Red Room (their normal hangout) for the entire service!  Be sure to bring them over after checking them in!

Thanks, and if you have any questions or concerns, email Emily at emily@ubcwaco.org! 

Thailand

If you are interested in traveling to Thailand with UBC, May 15-29, 2016, there are still some spots open.  Please contact toph@ubcwaco.org for more information.

Work is Worship

Greeters: Team Haines & Will 

Coffee Makers:  Joy & Ryan (Dream Team)

Mug Cleaners: Leigh & Stephen  

Announcements:

•  Sunday Sermon Text: Hebrews 12:1-2 "Surrounded by Saints-A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Kyle Lake."  Please be in prayer for our service this weekend.  We will be celebrating the life of our pastor and friend Kyle Lake as we gather to worship God. 

• Please be in prayer for our next leadership team meeting which is Sunday, October 25th.  

• Girls Night, November 6th. 

• Guys Night, November 13th. 

• Thanksgiving Love Feast, November 22nd. 

• Advent Workshop, November 29th. 

• Backside event display the talent of local/UBC artists, Dec. 4th.  

Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?:

254 498 2261

Leadership Team

If you have a concern or an idea for UBC that you’d like to share with someone that is not on staff, feel free to contact one of our leadership team members. 

Chair- Kristin Dodson: kschwebke@prodigy.net

Joy Wineman: joy.wineman@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

David Wilhite: David_Wilhite@baylor.edu

Byron Roldan: Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu 

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

UBC Finance Team

Do you have a question about UBC’s financial affairs? Please feel free to contact any of your finance team members.

Tom Haines: thomas_haines@baylor.edu

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Chris Kim: chris_kim@alumni.baylor.edu

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Lacy Crocker: lacykcrocker@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

If you have concerns about staff and would like contact our human resources team, please feel free to email any of the following members.

Maxcey Blaylock: maxceykite@gmail.com

Mathew Crawford: mathewcrawford@yahoo.com

Callie Schrank: Callie_Schrank@baylor.edu

Jeff Walter: Jeff_Walter@ubcwaco.org

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Setlist 10-18-2015

This week, our songs were gathered around the theme of struggle.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs

Amazing Grace by Citizens & Saints

Future/Past by John Mark McMillan

Oceans by Hillsong United

Unyielding by Sarah Dossey Keilers (Dossey)

Wandering by Jameson McGregor

Doxology

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

Amazing Grace: We sang this song as an exercise in perspective--to champion what God has done for us already over/against the struggles that we now face.  When I find myself in the midst of a difficult or dark time, and I can't see the end of it, that sometimes the only comfort I can find is in looking back on the things that God has brought me through in the past, and that is sometimes enough to convince me that there will be a day when my present pain is something I can look back on as well, knowing that it ended.  Probably the most straight-forward line of this song for our purposes this week is Through many dangers toils and snares i have already come//Twas grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.  I want to be clear that I am under no illusion that looking back can cancel out the struggles we face in the present, but I am convinced it can be enough to give us strength to keep moving forward.

Future/Past: I suppose this song, too, is an exercise in perspective.  We sang it to put into our mouths an expression of the fact that, though God commands unlimited cosmic power--and is thus a fundamentally superior and more real Person than any of us--God has bent low to regard us not simply as creatures who exist, but creatures with whom God desires to relate; creatures for whom to care.  This is great and terrifying news for us, and it makes a difference in how we view both the future and the past.  It means that there is significance to every moment that is beyond us; that there is hope in the midst of struggle around which we cannot wrap our minds.

Oceans: We sang this song to proclaim that God not only delivers us from struggles, but is with us in the midst of them.  God's faithfulness to us allows us to keep our eyes above the waves of chaos, which is to say that we can maintain a sense of perspective marked by trust in the midst of uncertainty--that our eyes can in some way maintain contact with God, though the rest of us in caught in despair.

Unyielding: Sarah has written a blog about this song on her band site--check it out!

Wandering: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Wandering then: We sang this song to proclaim that God is faithful to us even when we consistently misconstrue what it is to be faithful.  The verses of this song imagine various ways in which we recognize the power of God, then try to harness this power for our own devices--with what seem to be the best of intentions--and how God chooses to continue to journey with us anyway, coaxing us into understanding that God is not one to be tamed.

Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos. 

-JM