ITLOTC 10-20-17

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

Prayer, Pt. 4

If you haven’t figured it out yet, we have a rotation for writing the newsletter.  For the past several months, I’ve been using my entries to talk about prayer.  You can find the previous posts here: (part 1, part 2, part 3). 

Our former teaching pastor, Kyle Lake, wrote a book called [Re]Understanding Prayer (and if you haven’t read it, we have a bunch of copies at the church, so just ask one of us for one).  As a whole, that book is an exploration of different approaches to prayer.  One of the things that has stayed with me over the years since I read it is an appendix titled “Historical Prayer.” In it, he briefly outlines three types of prayer and includes a collection of short prayers from prominent figures in Church history. 

Last month, I said that this post would be about prayer practices throughout history.  The breadth of information that could be conveyed about that topic is way to much for a blog post, so I want to highlight the practices that Kyle highlighted, then I’ll add one or two things.

Lectio Divina

This is a sort of prayerful reading of Scripture.  It’s a space that is created to read Scripture slowly, to sit with it, and to see what rises to the surface of your mind.  The idea here is that God is using the text to shape us in some way, thus we should make ourselves open to listen to the text—or perhaps the Spirit of God within and around the text.  If you’re wondering what makes this prayer, you can file this under the “active listening” column of interpersonal communication.  Or you could think of sitting down for this task as a petition for God to shape/speak to you.  I was going to walk through a how-to of Lectio Divina, but you should really just check out this resource from Vox Veniae (This resource is written for groups, but if you’re doing it alone, you can sub in journaling for the discussion part).

Ignatian Contemplation

This is more of a school/category of prayer than a single practice, but perhaps the most famous practice from this realm is the Prayer of Examen.  Long story short, this is a practice of looking back over your day, or maybe the past week, noticing the good and the bad that has occurred, how you responded, and measuring that response against the person of Jesus. This practice puts prayer, memory, and imagination into conversation with one another, and likely has many benefits, but I think a big one is the opportunity it offers us to stop for a moment and notice subtle gifts of our lives, or perhaps to confront concerning trends in our own selves.  There just so happens to be another well-organized resource from Vox for this practice, so rather than re-inventing the wheel, I’ll just link to that here.

Deep Breathing

The final practice Kyle highlights is “Deep Breathing.”  This is pretty self-explanatory—it’s taking a moment of slow, deep breaths, for the sake of entering into a more relaxed rhythm of breathing in order to be present to God in prayer.  Controlled breathing is a known way for locating one’s attention in the present moment rather than in the tempest of anxieties that accompany the fast paced life of the modern world.  It is a mechanism for being present and attentive.  I think that this pause is in-and-of-itself a kind of prayer, but you also might think of it as a way to prepare to pray—a stillness that precedes and follows your prayer—or maybe it’s both.  Anyway, mindfulness meditation seems to offer us a way into this (being still in the presence moment, focus on breathing, etc).  You can find a pretty straight-forward how-to about that here.

Praying with “Eyes Open”

Several years ago, I remember reading Eugene Peterson talking about Annie Dillard praying “with eyes open.” I think that was in a book called The Contemplative Pastor, but I know he also talks about it in this article (and you should really read it). He references her work, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, and notes the wonder-infused descriptions she has of seemingly mundane nature scenes.  It’s as though she is wearing Creator-calibrated glasses, that allow her to see the glory of the ordinary and the significance of the insignificant, and Peterson identifies this as a posture of prayer.  This prayer neither starts nor finishes, it’s more of a condition of life.  That condition is presence of mind to one’s immediate surroundings, and perhaps a curiosity as to how something came to be and what it might mean. 

Surrogate Prayers

Finally, there are any number of voices throughout church history whose prayers have been recorded or preserved in some way.  We would do well to seek those out, to find a couple with whom we resonate particularly well, and make a habit of offering those prayers as our own.  After all, like we noted in discussing the Psalms, the things that happen to us, the things that concern us, what we think and feel about God, etc. are not special.  Other people have carried similar kinds of experiences, and we might sometimes find language from them that help us make sense of our circumstances and express ourselves in prayer.  For me, this person has been John Baillie, a Scottish theologian whose book A Diary of Private Prayer is pretty famous.  If you’re looking for a place to start in tracking down a collection of prayers, the end of Kyle’s appendix on historical prayer is pretty good place to start.

--

So those are some places to start in investigating prayer throughout the history of the Church.  Like I said, this is a woefully incomplete introduction to such things, but you should have enough to meaningfully Google your way into more information.  

As always if you have any questions or concerns about any of this, you can email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

South Waco Halloween Festival

This Wednesday night (10/25) is our annual Halloween party with the South Waco Community Center.  We still need a lot of volunteers, so make sure to sign-up on Sunday after church (or you can email toph@ubcwaco.org).  The festival is promising to be bigger and better than ever this year, and we need your help to make it happen.  The festival is from 6-8pm, but volunteers will need to arrive at 5:30pm.  If you have any questions please email toph@ubcwaco.org  #yourbesthalloweennow

Junior/Senior Retreat - November 3-5th

The annual Fall Retreat for Junior and Seniors is coming up, and sign-ups will be the next two weeks after church.  The cost of the retreat is $40 (includes: all meals, lodging, and t-shirt).  We will be leaving Friday afternoon, and will return on Sunday morning in time for church at UBC.  If you have any questions, please email toph@ubcwaco.org.  Space is limited to the first 26 who sign-up.

Faith and Family Night

UBC is partnering with Baylor to support the first Faith and Family night for the women’s soccer team.  The game is at 7pm on October 20th.  We will be tailgating before the game starting at 6, just outside the baseball stadium.  Tickets are only $3!  There will be time for the kids to get on the field during halftime and participate in some games, and we will have a special time with the players afterwards hearing some of their testimonies, and UBC will gather around them to say a word prayer over them.  Make sure to put this on your calendar.  If you have any questions, email toph@ubcwaco.org or taylor@ubcwaco.org.

Auditions for a Christmas Production by InSite

UBC is hosting a Christmas production from InSite, a new arts organization presenting performing and visual arts around Waco. "The Second Shepherds Play" is a hilarious 500-year-old English nativity play, like the one Shakespeare would have grown up seeing. Performances are December 15 and 16, and UBCers are invited to audition! Visit www.insitewaco.com/2shep or write to luannpjennings@gmail.com for info. 

Work is Worship

Greeters: Blaylocks 

Coffee Makers:  Andrew Sabonis-Chafee

Mug Cleaners:  Maddy S. 

Money Counter: Anna Tilson 

Announcements

• Sunday Sermon: Special Guest Preacher Chris Seay 
• Quarterly Leadership Team Meeting 10-29
• The Big Meeting: our annual meeting with Finance, HR and Lead Team, 11-1
• College Retreat, 11-3-15
• Finance Team Meeting 11-9
• McLennan County Orphan Care 3: CASA, 11-15

Do you have an emergency and need to talk to a pastor? 

254 413 2611

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- Emma Wood:  emmaj.wood@yahoo.com

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

Adam Winn:  adamwinn68@yahoo.com

Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

Student Position: Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position: Leah Reed: Leah_Reed@baylor.edu

UBC Finance Team

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

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Anna Tilson: Anna_Tilson@jrbt.com

Doug McNamee: douglas_mcnamee@baylor.edu

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.

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 10-15-2017

This blog is a record of the call to worship, Scripture readings, and prayers from our Sunday liturgies.  If you are interested in writing something for the liturgy, or if you have a concern about any aspect of our liturgy, please email jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Call to Worship

we have gathered to worship
the Lord of Peace

to find rest and restoration
in the One who is Love

we have come seeking to be formed
more fully in the way of Christ

to have our eyes,
minds, and hearts,
conformed to his

and to turn ourselves toward the Spirit of God

so we might join
in the work of God in the world.

Amen.

Scripture

Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!

The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”

But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’?

Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’“ And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to the people in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.

Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’

But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’

And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Prayer

This week's prayer was provided by the Family Abuse Center in connection with Domestic Violence Awareness Month:

God of peace, there are many places and many people who do not experience your peace. Right now, there are women and children in our own community who live under the dark weight of the fear of violence within their own homes. For them, home is a place of danger and pain. Help them, Lord, and give them strength and protection. Give their friends and the officials in our community the courage to bring that protection to them.

Lord, we also confess as a church that we often have been silent in the face of abuse. Many of us have turned our back and ignored those in abusive situations. We have even allowed abusers to twist our faith and our Scriptures to justify their sin. Too often, we are those who know and yet do nothing to help end the suffering. Whisper into our ears, Lord. Let us hear of your love for all peoples. Open our hearts to the pain of others.

Lord, we hear the voices of our children crying. Help us turn their tears to laughter. 

We see terror in the faces of our sisters. Help us turn their fear into hope. Help us not to judge, for we do not know another’s pain. 

Give us courage to confront abusers, whether in our community, family, or ourselves. 

Give us strength to endure, Lord, for the battle will be long. We put our trust in You, for peace in our world will come only through peace in our hearts and in our homes.

Amen.

Setlist 10-15-2017

This was the nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost.  Our songs were gathered with this in mind.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics.  Below the songs, you can find a brief example of one way you might think of these songs. 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:

House of God Forever by Jon Foreman

Crown Him With Many Crowns by Jameson McGregor

Rise Up by Bifrost Arts

For Those Tears I Died by Jameson McGregor

Mystery by Jameson McGregor (adapted from Charlie Hall)

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. 

House of God Forever: This song is essentially Psalm 23, and offers us language to express a trust in God's comforting us in the face of uncertainty.

Crown Him With Many Crowns: We sang this song to give voice to the lordship of Christ, with language of power-in-weakness.  In doing so, we call ourselves to imagine how this self-giving savior would have us live and move in the world.

Rise Up: This song is a call for both God and our own community to rise up and defend the vulnerable.

For Those Tears I Died: This song expresses a feeling of dislocation, abandonment, and perhaps just deep pain, and puts it in conversation with Jesus' solidarity with those who suffer.

Mystery: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Mystery then: This song proclaims the story of the death, resurrection, and expected return of Christ, and offers this story to us as a cause for a transforming Hope in the midst of whatever affliction might befall us.

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

-JM

10-13-17

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

Always There

This is a good prayer in my opinion:

Give us eyes to see,

    Ears to hear,

        & Hearts to receive.

Matthew 13:16 (and then my own add on (yeah, I’ve read Revelation 22:19))

It’s Monday afternoon and my turn to write the newsletter again.  I don’t know what to write about.  This is not uncommon, but I’m driven by goals and I’ve decided that having the newsletter done was a goal.  So I’m forcing it.  

I go to an emotional space.  Three hours of Gregorian Chant from a youtube channel and pictures of beautiful places from my personal photo album.  

This summer I took my son camping on Lake Superior.  My emotional repressed enneagram 3 self has just discovered that trip was a blast.  I look at the pictures beaming at my own initiative.  Roy will love this forever.  

Then I scroll forward. September.  The weekend I went home to pack up my childhood home and move my mom out.    I see a picture I took of the lake I grew up on in September.  I’m taken with its beauty.  I’m a good photographer and I am humble.  The sun is setting.  The sixty foot pines stand like a chorus line arms around each other lining the lake.  The sunset resting on their shoulders.  The lake is a mirror disrupted by the lily pads.  The highest thing in the sky, the sunset, symmetrically stands at my feet by the shoreline.  I make the picture my background on my computer.

I give myself a minute to enjoy it.  Then I spot the remnant of a bog that broke off and drifted across the lake.  It settled just to the right of my parents property line about 30 feet out from a point.  This now small island played host to the nesting efforts of the summer loons who were my mother’s sole companions when we weren’t there to fill her home up with chaos and grandkids.    

For as much as I love nature, I don’t care much for birds.  Even my chickens annoy me.  The loon is something to behold though.  Yes, it’s beautiful, but even more intoxicating than it’s form is the sound it makes.  Click here for an existential experience.  

For as many years as I can remember I loved being put to sleep by the sounds of the Mabel Lake.  It’s the spring peepers after the first thaw.  Eventually they concede the stage to the bullfrogs who croak in chorus. Sometimes the bass supplement with splashing noises as they nip at mayflies, but the first chair of nature’s chorus belongs to the loon.   Her cry haunts the lake with beauty.  

The loons have been our friends all the years that the Carney’s lived at N10445 Pine Shore Ln.  We celebrated their arrivals in the spring and eventually noted their departures in the fall.  We were disappointed the few summers in those 32 years when they didn’t make it back for one reason or another.  

My mom went back to pack up the last of her house by herself after moving out, a few last things.   The loons also departed at some point in that second week in September.  My mom said they flew over the house and cried their goodbye.  

“Goodbye loons of Mabel Lake … forever.  You filled our ears and hearts with so much beauty. Thank you.” That’s a good prayer too because Psalm 66:4 says that the loons praise God.

In the midst of my hypnotic reflecting filled with Gregorian chant, Mabel Lake pictures, I stared at the white wall in my office and used my stupefied voice to report to Taylor the story about the loons saying goodbye.  

She asked a question.   Do you think the loons said goodbye every year and your mom just notice it this year?

I will tell you two things I know.

In Exodus 3 Moses sees a bush burning.  There, at that burning bush, God initiates Moses ...  telling him to take off his sandals because he is on holy ground.   There’s a rabbinical tradition that says the bush was always burning and Moses was finally able to see it.

Likewise … there is a tradition that says that after the transfiguration, the difference was not Jesus, but rather the disciples who could finally see that Jesus was radiating glory.

Yes, Taylor, I think the loons are always said goodbye.  We finally heard them

I’ll tell you one last prayer …

God awaken us to your already present presence.  Amen.

Faith and Family Night

UBC is partnering with Baylor to support the first Faith and Family night for the women’s soccer team.  The game is at 7pm on October 20th.  We will be tailgating before the game starting at 6, just outside the baseball stadium.  Tickets are only $3!  There will be time for the kids to get on the field during halftime and participate in some games, and we will have a special time with the players afterwards hearing some of their testimonies, and UBC will gather around them to say a word prayer over them.  Make sure to put this on your calendar.  If you have any questions, email toph@ubcwaco.org or taylor@ubcwaco.org

South Waco Halloween Festival

We are helping our friends at the Community Center to throw the biggest Halloween party in Waco (last year we had over 5000 people).  The festival will be on Wednesday night, October 25th, from 6-8pm.  We would love for you to bring your family out to the event.  We also need a lot (I mean like 80 people a lot) of volunteers.  There will be a sign-up sheet the next two Sundays in the foyer.  Volunteers will need to arrive at 5:30pm, and will be done at 8pm.  Volunteers will receive a volunteer shirt to put over their costume for the festival.  If you have any questions, please contact toph@ubcwaco.org

Sunday School for Fall Break

Champions, due to fall break, 2 of our 3 Sunday School classes will be cancelled Sunday morning. The mental health in the bible class and the Old Testament classes will not be meeting this Sunday.  Cheers, the class where everyone knows your name and also the class studying the book of Acts WILL meet this Sunday as scheduled.  

In addition to our regular Sunday School Classes, our OAR Sunday School class focusing on the history and values of UBC, begins this Sunday.  This class will last three weeks. 

Town Hall

We will have a town hall this Sunday after church.  I'm going to be honest, at this point i'm waiting to get something back from our architect.  We talked last Thursday and he said they are working overtime to have stuff ready for this deadline.  So i'm not sure how long it will take, but regardless, we'll meet right after church.  

McLennan County Orphan Care #2

Our second meeting of this semester in which we are investigating how we can care for the orphan here in McLennan County, will take place on Wednesday October 18.  The potluck will start at 6:00 PM.  So bring a dish to share and ears to hear.  In this second meeting we will hear from Arrow Child and Family Ministries.  They will talk to us about foster care and adoption.  Child care will be provided.    

Drummer Auditions

UbcMusic is looking for a new drummer!  If you are interested in auditioning, email jamie@ubcwaco.org, or sign up in the lobby on Sunday.

Parents Night Out

UBC Kids is having a Parent's Night Out! From 6:30-9:30pm TONIGHT bring your kids to UBC for some supervised fun and games. Dinner is not provided. Please sign up this Sunday after church! There will be a sign up sheet by the front door, or you can email taylor@ubcwaco.org.

Auditions for a Christmas Production by InSite

UBC is hosting a Christmas production from InSite, a new arts organization presenting performing and visual arts around Waco. "The Second Shepherds Play" is a hilarious 500-year-old English nativity play, like the one Shakespeare would have grown up seeing. Performances are December 15 and 16, and UBCers are invited to audition! Visit www.insitewaco.com/2shep or write to luannpjennings@gmail.com for info. 

Work is Worship

Greeters: Richardsons 

Coffee Makers:  Kim & Val 

Mug Cleaners:  Andrew Sabonis-Chafee

Money Counter: Doug M. 

Announcements

• Sunday Sermon: Exodus 32, "What Moses Learned About God" 
• Mclennan County Orphan Care 2: Arrow Child and Family Ministries 10-18
• SWCC Halloween Festival 10-25
• Quarterly Leadership Team Meeting 10-29
• The Big Meeting: our annual meeting with Finance, HR and Lead Team, 11-1
• College Retreat, 11-3-15
• Finance Team Meeting 11-9
• McLennan County Orphan Care 3: CASA, 11-15

Do you have an emergency and need to talk to a pastor? 

254 413 2611

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- Emma Wood:  emmaj.wood@yahoo.com

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

Adam Winn:  adamwinn68@yahoo.com

Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

Student Position: Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position: Leah Reed: Leah_Reed@baylor.edu

UBC Finance Team

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

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Anna Tilson: Anna_Tilson@jrbt.com

Doug McNamee: douglas_mcnamee@baylor.edu

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.

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 10-8-2017

This blog is a record of the call to worship, Scripture readings, and prayers from our Sunday liturgies.  If you are interested in writing something for the liturgy, or if you have a concern about any aspect of our liturgy, please email jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Call to Worship

we have gathered to worship the Living God

to direct our attention
to the Creator and Sustainer of all that is

seeking to be formed into the way of Christ

to become people who love God
with our whole hearts, 
our whole souls,
our whole minds,
and all of our strength.

and who love our neighbors as ourselves

that we might live in the world
as bearers of the Kingdom of God

Amen.

 

 

Scripture

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

When God spoke all these words:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. 

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. 

When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.”

Philippians 3:4b-14

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Setlist 10-8-2017

This was the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost.  Our songs were gathered with this in mind.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics.  Below the songs, you can find 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:

Just A Closer Walk With Thee

Heart Won't Stop by John Mark and Sarah McMillan

Mystery by Jameson McGregor (adapted from Charlie Hall)

Inbreaking by Jameson McGregor

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. 

Just A Closer Walk With Thee: As we seek to discern what it means to be the presence of Christ in our time and place during Ordinary Time, we sang this song to express a desire to be formed more fully in the way of Christ, while also acknowledging that our pursuit of this task will be flawed.

Heart Won't Stop: This song offers us the chance to confess the relentless love of God.

Mystery: This song proclaims the story of the death, resurrection, and expected return of Christ, and offers this story to us as a cause for a transforming Hope in the midst of whatever affliction might befall us.

Inbreaking: This song is a petition for the Living God to break into the brokenness of the world and carry out God's work of re-Creation in our midst.

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 confess our tendency to try to harness faith for our own means, and to give voice to the faithfulness of God despite this fact.

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 10-6-17

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

The Commune

All who believed were together and had all things in common;  they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. - Acts 2:44-45

As far as the consumption of art goes, I'm an architecture person.  I love cathedrals, but majority of the good ones are not in America, so that is a hobby confined mostly to google images.  The consolation prize isn't bad, though - I love looking at houses.  But let me be more specific.  My Zillow app is set to houses that were built before 1945, have at least three bedrooms (though I prefer four), and start at at least one million dollars.  I love second empire roof lines, but my first love is colonial brick homes.

When I see these homes for sale on Zillow, I engage in a mental exercise in which I live in these homes.  I'm wearing a Victorian suit complete with top hat and coat tails.  I make my way in the men's parlor where I inquire about caviar.  I'm something out of a Jane Austen novel, except that I still drive my scooter.  

Admittedly, these mental exercises are self-indulgent and fiscally impossible.  I'm currently reading a Parker Palmer book about vulnerability in circles of trust.  Palmer doesn't intend to pick on money per se, but points out that wealthy people are often the most alienated and lonely.  To make the same point with the other side of the coin, C.S. Lewis, in his depiction of hell, points out that scarcity creates community; that’s why hell is spread so far apart.  

So I've made an adjustment to my dreams.  I’ve found a twenty-million dollar, four-hundred acre, farm/lodge on Lake Superior that is for sale.  Instead of imagining myself as Mr. Darcy on a Vespa, I imagine my family and friends as a commune on this glorious property, sharing life and eating pretentious, free-range, GMO- free, fair-trade-happy animals and vegetables.  In addition to this, we share our values.  My role on the commune will be director and physical education teacher who also coordinates the book club to keep people focused on our counter-culture vision.  Imagine something like Homestead Heritage, only you can go to church wherever you want, and I’m the only one wearing overalls.  

The truth is, I may be even further from the commune than I am from my Victorian mansion.  But I have a start.  My sister’s family lives right next door to us.  My mom is about to move in for a few months, and I have chickens.  

But something wonderful has also happened in the meantime.  The Winns moved in with us while their house is finishing being built.  Every day and night for the last few weeks there have been 9 beating hearts in our house, and I can tell you: IT. IS. AWESOME!  It’s like I get to have a friend over every day.  Adam, AKA dad Winn, and I think highly of each other.  We direct a steady stream of praise towards each other’s ability and existence, and we love a lot of the same things.  So it’s not uncommon for us to watch football together 3 days a week.  In addition to this, there now seems to be an abundance of everything ... ideas, friendships, resources, food.  Just last night, I finished off a bag of Brennan’s Puffy Cheetos.  

A mud mask party with Mary K consultant Kelly Tetens.  Just one example of lively commune activity. 

To add to the excitement of nine people living in the same house, our oven died and then propane ran out on our grill.  So we’ve ordered take out more nights than is healthy.  It’s like one big party all the time.  

Then there’s the other unspoken benefits like, “Hey, I have to run to the gas station, can you watch my kids for 10 minutes?” And the, “Hey, I’m running to the grocery mart, does anyone need anything?”s.  It really does seem to me that more people makes life easier.  

I have to confess to you that I was a little nervous about this arrangement before it started.  9 people in one house.  I realize the person-to-living- space ratio in America is more generous than much of the world, but still I wondered if we could do this.  So when the Winns told us they might bunk with us for a few weeks, I put my commune aspirations on trail in my head.  Could I really do this if need be?  

Molly provided a  festive cake celebrating three weeks of "CL" or commune life. 

And let me tell you, I’m ready to make the jump.  In the book of Acts, people did this kind of a thing, in part, because it was economically necessary.  But I also think there’s part of the Christian faith that can only be made sense of and lived into with the close proximity of people.  We need community.  

Parents Night Out

"UBC Kids is having a Parent's Night Out! From 6:30-9:30pm on Friday October 13 bring your kids to UBC for some supervised fun and games. Dinner is not provided. Please sign up this Sunday after church! There will be a sign up sheet by the front door, or you can email taylor@ubcwaco.org."

McLennan County Orphan Care #2

ur second meeting of this semester in which we are investigating how we can care for the orphan here in McLennan County, will take place on Wednesday October 18.  The potluck will start at 6:00 PM.  So bring a dish to share and ears to hear.  In this second meeting we will hear from Arrow Child and Family Ministries.  They will talk to us about foster care and adoption.  Child care will be provided.    

Finance Team Person

UBC is looking for a finance team member.  Our fearless fiscal warrior, Josh McCormick will be bringing his time of serving to a close.  Thanks Josh, for being a champion and sharing your money advice and knowledge.  You helped steer this ship into calmer waters.  As such we are in search of a new finance team person.  If you yourself would like to be considered or you would like to nominate someone, please email josh@ubcwaco.org.  I've included some information from the bylaws below: 

(A) Purpose.  The Finance Team shall exist for the following purposes:

a.     To serve as the primary advisory group for the Leadership Team in all budgetary and financial aspects of the church. 

b.    To oversee, in coordination with the ministerial staff, yearly budgetary processes, working to create a financial ministry plan in alignment with the ethos, mission and values of UBC.

c.     To advise the staff and Leadership Team on any emergency financial matters that may arise with regards to the physical infrastructure of the church building, as well as those matters pertaining to compensation and benefits of personnel.

d.    To assess the current financial status of the church on a monthly basis and advise the staff and Leadership Team on matters concerning changes in planned ministry expenses.

e.    To advise the Human Resources/Staff Support team on all financial matters regarding new and existing personnel, including available resources concerning salaries, salary increases, insurance, taxes, etc.

f.      To advise the church body on all matters relating to stewardship, financial integrity, etc.

(C)  Qualifications.  Finance Team members shall have been an active participant in the life of UBC for at least a year, have received at least a bachelors degree level of education (or roughly an equivalent amount of experience in business or finance,) and have at least a basic understanding of financial reports and budgets.

(E)  Term.  Finance Team members shall serve for a duration lasting up to five years.  All efforts shall be made by the Finance Team to ensure that no more than two members in a given year rotate off of Finance Team due to duration requirements. While they are encouraged to remain the full five years, members may voluntarily remove themselves from their position at any time. 

Work is Worship

Greeters: Walters 

Coffee Makers: Kaylin Campbell 

Mug Cleaners:  OOTP 

Money Counter: Hannah Kuhl 

Announcements

• Sunday Sermon: "Proliferated God" Philippians 3:4b-14
• Finance Team Meeting 10-9
• Parents Night Out 10-13
• Town Hall 10-15
• Mclennan County Orphan Care 2: Arrow Child and Family Ministries 10-18
• SWCC Halloween Festival 10-25
• Quarterly Leadership Team Meeting 10-29
• The Big Meeting: our annual meeting with Finance, HR and Lead Team, 11-1
• College Retreat, 11-3-15
• Finance Team Meeting 11-9
• McLennan County Orphan Care 3: CASA, 11-15

Do you have an emergency and need to talk to a pastor? 

254 413 2611

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- Emma Wood:  emmaj.wood@yahoo.com

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

Adam Winn:  adamwinn68@yahoo.com

Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

Student Position: Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position: Leah Reed: Leah_Reed@baylor.edu

UBC Finance Team

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

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Anna Tilson: Anna_Tilson@jrbt.com

Doug McNamee: douglas_mcnamee@baylor.edu

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.

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 10-1-2017

This blog is a record of the call to worship, Scripture readings, and prayers from our Sunday liturgies.  If you are interested in writing something for the liturgy, or if you have a concern about any aspect of our liturgy, please email jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Call to Worship

we have gathered to worship
the Creator and Sustainer of all that is

to remember what God has done
and anticipate what God will do

seeking to locate ourselves within God’ story

to tune our eyes to see
the world the way God does

and seeking the Spirit to form us
more fully in the way of Christ

to be caught up in the humility,
empathy, and love of Jesus

Amen

Scripture

Exodus 17:1-7

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”

But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.”

Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Matthew 21:23-32

When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”

And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Setlist 10-1-2017

This was the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost.  Our songs were gathered with this in mind.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics.  Below the songs, you can find 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:

Wandering by Jameson McGregor

Up On A Mountain by The Welcome Wagon

Pulse by Jameson McGregor

Tune It Out by Jameson McGregor

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. 

Wandering: We sang this song to confess our tendency to try to harness faith for our own means, and to give voice to the faithfulness of God despite this fact.

Up On A Mountain: This song contemplates the presence of Christ in suffering, and the continued presence of the Spirit among us.

Pulse: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Pulse then: This song is a confession of our tendency to be selective with our love for people, such that we withhold this love from people we deem to be "others." This confession includes a petition for the Spirit to awaken us to our interconnectivity with the rest of Creation and to relate to everyone we encounter as a creature who is worthy of love.

Tune It Out: This song is about the disconnect between thought and action that we each carry in our own ways, and raises the question of which of these things defines us (or whether they do at all).  

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 9-29-17

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

I was talking to some friends about Shark Tank the other night. (Probably not how you thought this was going to start, huh?) And everyone was talking about how they always feel really bad watching Shark Tank and seeing people’s dreams get shot down or ripped apart as all the investors either tell everyone that their products are stupid or they tell them they’re great but they’re going to take 100% of the company and 95% of all the profits. I didn’t realize Shark Tank was so depressing.

To be honest, I’ve really only ever seen one episode of Shark Tank – or really just one pitch from one episode that somehow ended up on my Facebook feed – so I don’t know much about it. The pitch I saw was from a guy named Johnny Georges selling something called Tree TPees. Ol’ Johnny was selling directly to farmers – and the pushback he ended up getting from the Sharks was that they wanted him to charge more for his product. They though there wasn’t enough product to go around. Johnny told them he’d never even considered raising the price of the product because he was just trying to do right by all of the farmers he was selling to. (Here’s the whole clip if you’re interested.) Johnny ended up getting a deal and giving an emotional speech about how his father inspired him to work hard and treat others well.

It seems that on a show that’s all about Machiavellian ambition and a determination to put yourself ahead of others at all costs I’ve somehow seen one of the only clips that involves a person of true humility.

The Lectionary text from the Epistles this week is Phillipians 2:1-13. Verses 1-4 say this:

“ If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” Phillipians 2:1-4 The Message

 The word “if” here might be better translated as “since.” Since we have been encouraged by following Christ. Since Christ’s love has made a difference in our lives. Since being in a community of the Spirit has enhanced our lives. Since we have a heart. Since we care. We are called into humility - to be more like Johnny. To agree with each other. To love each other. To be deep-spirited friends who don’t push or manipulate, but who wait and listen. To think of others before we think of ourselves. To not always be thinking about how we can achieve our own goals or our own successes. To lend a helping hand.

Putting others first, in front of our own need and desires is really freaking hard. How have you been a deep-spirited friend this week? How have you put others needs before your own? How has that changed you? How has it changed our community? I’d love to know – because this is still a place where I’m trying to grow.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about this, feel free to email taylor@ubcwaco.org.

Finance Team Person

UBC is looking for a finance team member.  Our fearless fiscal warrior, Josh McCormick will be bringing his time of serving to a close.  Thanks Josh, for being a champion and sharing your money advice and knowledge.  You helped steer this ship into calmer waters.  As such we are in search of a new finance team person.  If you yourself would like to be considered or you would like to nominate someone, please email josh@ubcwaco.org.  I've included some information from the bylaws below: 

(A) Purpose.  The Finance Team shall exist for the following purposes:

a.     To serve as the primary advisory group for the Leadership Team in all budgetary and financial aspects of the church. 

b.    To oversee, in coordination with the ministerial staff, yearly budgetary processes, working to create a financial ministry plan in alignment with the ethos, mission and values of UBC.

c.     To advise the staff and Leadership Team on any emergency financial matters that may arise with regards to the physical infrastructure of the church building, as well as those matters pertaining to compensation and benefits of personnel.

d.    To assess the current financial status of the church on a monthly basis and advise the staff and Leadership Team on matters concerning changes in planned ministry expenses.

e.    To advise the Human Resources/Staff Support team on all financial matters regarding new and existing personnel, including available resources concerning salaries, salary increases, insurance, taxes, etc.

f.      To advise the church body on all matters relating to stewardship, financial integrity, etc.

(C)  Qualifications.  Finance Team members shall have been an active participant in the life of UBC for at least a year, have received at least a bachelors degree level of education (or roughly an equivalent amount of experience in business or finance,) and have at least a basic understanding of financial reports and budgets.

(E)  Term.  Finance Team members shall serve for a duration lasting up to five years.  All efforts shall be made by the Finance Team to ensure that no more than two members in a given year rotate off of Finance Team due to duration requirements. While they are encouraged to remain the full five years, members may voluntarily remove themselves from their position at any time. 

St. Francis Liturgy

On Wednesday, October 4th, we're having a brief liturgy centered around the life of St. Francis of Assisi (that's his feast day).  We'll gather in the Backside at 5:30.  The life and legacy of St. Francis form a lens that is well-calibrated for ubc to use in our worship and formation, and I hope you can make it.  One part of that liturgy will be a prayer of blessing over the animals in our lives. We are not going to have any animals in the building, but you can bring or email in a photo of an animal you cherish.  If you have any questions or want to send in an animal photo, contact Jamie at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Kid's Camp & Youth Camp Interest Meeting

This Sunday (10/1) there will be a joint Kid's Camp and Youth Camp Interest Meeting in the Backside directly after Church. If you are the parent of a child in 3rd-9th grade then come and get some more information and get answers for all of your camp related questions! See you this Sunday after church!

nUBC’ers Luncheon

If you are new to UBC in the last 6 months, we would love to have you stay for lunch after church on October 8th.  This was originally scheduled for after church this Sunday, the 24th, but we were forced change that.  We will tell you more about UBC’s history, how you can plug in, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have.  There will be a sign-up sheet in the foyer after church, or you can email toph@ubcwaco.org

Work is Worship

Greeters: Walters 

Coffee Makers: Kaylin Campbell 

Mug Cleaners:  OOTP 

Money Counter: Hannah Kuhl 

Announcements

• Sunday Sermon: Matthew 21:23-32: "By Who's Authority?" 
• Kid's Camp and Youth Camp Interest Meeting 10-1
• Finance Team Meeting 10-9
• Parents Night Out 10-13
• Town Hall 10-15
• Mclennan County Orphan Care 2: Arrow Child and Family Ministries 10-18
• SWCC Halloween Festival 10-25
• Quarterly Leadership Team Meeting 10-29
• The Big Meeting: our annual meeting with Finance, HR and Lead Team, 11-1

Do you have an emergency and need to talk to a pastor? 

254 413 2611

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- Emma Wood:  emmaj.wood@yahoo.com

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

Adam Winn:  adamwinn68@yahoo.com

Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

Student Position: Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position: Leah Reed: Leah_Reed@baylor.edu

UBC Finance Team

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

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Anna Tilson: Anna_Tilson@jrbt.com

Doug McNamee: douglas_mcnamee@baylor.edu

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.

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 9-24-2017

This blog is a record of the call to worship, Scripture readings, and prayers from our Sunday liturgies.  If you are interested in writing something for the liturgy, or if you have a concern about any aspect of our liturgy, please email jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Call to Worship

we have gathered to worship
the One who is merciful, slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love

the One who delivered
Israel from Egypt,
and walked with them
in the wilderness

seeking to be formed by God’s Story

into people of mercy and compassion

and to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit

to tend to the Kingdom of God
wherever we go

Amen

Scripture

Exodus 16:2-15

The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.”

So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?”

And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’“ And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’“

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.

When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.

When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same.

And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage.

Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’

But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Prayer

This week's prayer was from An Iona Prayer Book and is attributed to Sundar Singh (79).

O Lord God, I seek from thee no other gift but thyself
who are the giver of life and its blessings.
From thee I ask not for the world or its treasures,
but thee alone do I desire and long for.
The hunger and thirst of this heart of mine
can be satisfied only with thee who has given it birth.
Take away then from my heart all that is opposed to thee,
and enter and abide and rule for ever.

Amen.

Setlist 9-24-2017

This was the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost.  Our songs were gathered with this in mind.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics.  Below the songs, you can find 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:

Future/Past by John Mark McMillan

Pulse by Jameson McGregor

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

Heart With No Companion by Leonard Cohen

Your Love is Strong by Jon Foreman

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. 

Future/Past: We sang this song to put words to what we are doing when we gather for worship; namely, to locate ourselves within God's Story, which extends before and beyond the part that we occupy.  In locating ourselves within this Story, we both acknowledge that God bends low to encounter us as we are, and greets us with love, and we also make ourselves aware that the way God relates to creation in this Story places a claim on how we are to relate to everything God has made if we are to call ourselves the body of Christ.

Pulse: This song is a confession of our tendency to be selective with our love for people, such that we withhold this love from people we deem to be "others." This confession includes a petition for the Spirit to awaken us to our interconnectivity with the rest of Creation and to relate to everyone we encounter as a creature who is worthy of love.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go: This song praises God's faithfulness to us despite our own inconsistent commitments to God.  

Heart With No Companion: This song is a reminder of God's solidarity with the hopeless, and a proclamation that the love of God meets us at our lowest points.

Your Love Is Strong: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Your Love Is Strong then: This song gives us words to acknowledge the work of God in our lives in both mundane and significant ways, and rises into an offering of the Lord's Prayer, where we essentially ask God to keep showing up and to transform us into people who relate to one another in a way that is transformed by the grace we have received.

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 7-22-17

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

Prayer, Pt. 3

For the past couple of months, I’ve been writing a series of posts about prayer.  If you haven’t seen the others, you can find part one here and part two here.  So far, we’ve been thinking through how to pray, and we’ll later turn to why we would pray at all.  Last month, I began talking about what we might learn about prayer from Jesus and the gospels, and this month I’m going to talk specifically about the Lord’s Prayer.

In two of the gospels, there is a moment where the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. The account of this prayer in Luke is a bit more pared down than Matthew’s, so we’ll talk about the latter.  Let’s start with the text of the prayer itself, here’s how the NRSV translates it:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one

Let’s begin by addressing one thing up front: Jesus offers this after having said, “when you pray, pray like this.” That is distinct from “when you pray, these are the words you’re supposed to say.” It offers a structure for us to take up and allow to shape both the way we pray and the way we think about God and our place in the world.

The best way I know how to talk about this is by going one line at a time, so I’m going to do that.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.

This prayer starts with an address of God that holds within it two pretty distinct concepts.  The first is one of intimacy.  Rather than appealing to some vague deity in the heavens, Jesus appeals to the Heavenly Parent (Obviously, “Father” is used here, but the broader image this evokes does not seem to beg limiting the span of God’s care and protection of God’s children to paternal roles alone), and is presumably invoking any broad-strokes positive attribute we might ascribe to parents (nurturer, protector, guide, etc.).  With that, we locate ourselves as children of God, which anchors us not only to God on a personal level, but also outside of our individuality into the community of God’s children. 

The second part of this phrase, “hallowed be your name,” is essentially a proclamation that God is holy, which offers an interesting contrast to the opening line that evokes such intimacy.  This is also an acknowledgement of God’s Otherness from us.  

Taken together, this opening is a turning-toward God that carries within it both a sense of trust/intimacy, as well as an acknowledgement that our ability to address God rests upon God’s already having bent low to hear our prayers.

Your kingdom come.

From the opening address, the prayer moves to a petition for God’s kingdom to come.  Pinning down what that means is easier said than done.  For all Jesus’ talk about the Kingdom, he never lays out a clear definition of it, and leaves us instead with parables to chew on for a couple of thousand years.  But it seems safe to say that the Kingdom is synonymous with things being as God has intended—something that is sort of present now through the legacy of Jesus and the work of the Spirit, but is coming fully later.  In the broadest sense, praying for the Kingdom to come is a way of entering into work that God is already doing—it’s orienting ourselves alongside God in God’s work of re-creation.  

Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

This line isn’t entirely separate from the previous—after all, one might imagine that God’s Kingdom has something or other to do with God’s will being done.  To ask that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven is to acknowledge that there is, in fact, evil in the world.  And we need not obscure what this evil is—though there is plenty of evil in the world, we have a good bit of it stored within ourselves.  So, in a way, this functions as a confession.  Though fully submitting ourselves to the will of God is not even necessarily a live option for us (and if it was, how would we know?), we confess that there is a difference between God’s will for the way people relate to God and other people, and the way that we in fact relate to God and other people.  And, of course, it would also be helpful to view this confession more broadly as a petition for God to continue to transform our lives and the world around us. 

Give us this day our daily bread.

This one is pretty one the nose—it’s a petition for God to provide for our needs to live.  And I suppose it’s also a reminder to ourselves that God is our Provider.  If you in a financial situation where your food security is a given, it’s probably difficult to cultivate an urgency for having food every day, such that you find it wrapped into a form prayer offered by Jesus himself.  And because of that, it is probably easy to slip into a tacit feeling of self-sufficiency for providing for your own needs—I know that’s my experience.  If that’s you too, maybe this line offers us an opportunity to reorder our thinking about where our security comes from.  And furthermore, within a culture of consumption, an opportunity to rethink what it is we actually need to live; this is, after all a petition for our daily bread, not our daily feast.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

This line takes up one of the more difficult concepts of Jesus’ teaching: that there is some sort of relationship between the way God forgives us and the way that we forgive other people.  The words that Jesus offers us here are presupposing that we are living lives that have been transformed by forgiveness, such that we are in the habit of offering the same sort of radical forgiveness that God offers to us to those who harm us in some way.  So, this is a confession that we deliver with a plea for forgiveness that includes a built-in reminder for us that the way God relates to us has a bearing on how we relate to other people.

And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one

There are some complex implications for this line, depending on what you take it to mean.  Some might read this as acknowledging that God indeed sometimes brings us to the time of trial, or leads us into temptation, on purpose to see what we’re made of.  I don’t know what to do with that.  But I do know what to do with the idea of God guiding us away from the myriad ways we harm ourselves and others, and continually rescuing us from that which would destroy us.  If that is what this line is getting at, this becomes a confession of our tendency to wander, and a plea to God to save us from ourselves. 

--

So there is a (very) brief rundown of the Lord’s Prayer.  

When you look closely, these lines carry some robust challenges for us to consider day-to-day, but the broader themes of the prayer are helpful in an of themselves for our thinking about the way we pray.

Taken together, Jesus seems to be suggesting that our prayers include language that acknowledges the divine-human relationship, acknowledges that God is on the move in the world (and expresses a desire to be brought into that work), asks God to provide for our needs (and reminds us that it is God who provides for our needs), confesses that we have sinned (and reminds us that we should deal out the same kind of forgiveness that we are asking of God), and asks that God would guide us away from harming ourselves and others.  

Or, perhaps more simply, this prayer offers us a model to speak the truth about God and the truth about ourselves. 

I meant to mention this in an earlier post: while I absolutely think that model prayers (or the Psalms) are able to help teach us to pray, they will only do that if we actively engage them, think about them, pray them, etc.  So, if you care to, print off/screenshot/bookmark the Lord’s Prayer, and find a couple of minutes every day to pray it, and then in a month or two, I’d love to hear if that practice shaped the way you pray at all.

Next month, we'll round out the "how" movement of this walk through thinking about prayer together with some prayer practices that emerged in the history of the Church.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about this, feel free to email jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Finance Team Person

UBC is looking for a finance team member.  Our fearless fiscal warrior, Josh McCormick will be bringing his time of serving to a close.  Thanks Josh, for being a champion and sharing your money advice and knowledge.  You helped steer this ship into calmer waters.  As such we are in search of a new finance team person.  If you yourself would like to be considered or you would like to nominate someone, please email josh@ubcwaco.org.  I've included some information from the bylaws below: 

(A) Purpose.  The Finance Team shall exist for the following purposes:

a.     To serve as the primary advisory group for the Leadership Team in all budgetary and financial aspects of the church. 

b.    To oversee, in coordination with the ministerial staff, yearly budgetary processes, working to create a financial ministry plan in alignment with the ethos, mission and values of UBC.

c.     To advise the staff and Leadership Team on any emergency financial matters that may arise with regards to the physical infrastructure of the church building, as well as those matters pertaining to compensation and benefits of personnel.

d.    To assess the current financial status of the church on a monthly basis and advise the staff and Leadership Team on matters concerning changes in planned ministry expenses.

e.    To advise the Human Resources/Staff Support team on all financial matters regarding new and existing personnel, including available resources concerning salaries, salary increases, insurance, taxes, etc.

f.      To advise the church body on all matters relating to stewardship, financial integrity, etc.

(C)  Qualifications.  Finance Team members shall have been an active participant in the life of UBC for at least a year, have received at least a bachelors degree level of education (or roughly an equivalent amount of experience in business or finance,) and have at least a basic understanding of financial reports and budgets.

(E)  Term.  Finance Team members shall serve for a duration lasting up to five years.  All efforts shall be made by the Finance Team to ensure that no more than two members in a given year rotate off of Finance Team due to duration requirements. While they are encouraged to remain the full five years, members may voluntarily remove themselves from their position at any time. 

St. Francis Liturgy

On Wednesday, October 4th, we're having a brief liturgy centered around the life of St. Francis of Assisi (that's his feast day).  We'll gather in the Backside at 5:30.  The life and legacy of St. Francis form a lens that is well-calibrated for ubc to use in our worship and formation, and I hope you can make it.  One part of that liturgy will be a prayer of blessing over the animals in our lives. We are not going to have any animals in the building, but you can bring or email in a photo of an animal you cherish.  If you have any questions or want to send in an animal photo, contact Jamie at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

nUBC’ers Luncheon

If you are new to UBC in the last 6 months, we would love to have you stay for lunch after church on October 1st.  This was originally scheduled for after church this Sunday, the 24th, but we were forced change that.  This meeting has been rescheduled for Sunday, October 8th.  We will tell you more about UBC’s history, how you can plug in, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have.  There will be a sign-up sheet in the foyer after church, or you can email toph@ubcwaco.org

Work is Worship

Greeters: Blaylocks 

Coffee Makers: Gerhard Stuebben 

Mug Cleaners:  

Money Counter: Anna T. 

Announcements

• Sunday Sermon: Matthew 20:1-16, "5 O'Clock People" 
• St. Francis Feast Day 10-4 (more info to come)
• Finance Team Meeting 10-9
• Parents Night Out 10-13
• Town Hall 10-15
• Mclennan County Orphan Care 2: Arrow Child and Family Ministries 10-18
• SWCC Halloween Festival 10-25
• Quarterly Leadership Team Meeting 10-29

Do you have an emergency and need to talk to a pastor? 

254 413 2611

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- Emma Wood:  emmaj.wood@yahoo.com

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

Adam Winn:  adamwinn68@yahoo.com

Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

Student Position: Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position: Leah Reed: Leah_Reed@baylor.edu

UBC Finance Team

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

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Anna Tilson: Anna_Tilson@jrbt.com

Doug McNamee: douglas_mcnamee@baylor.edu

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.

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 9-17-2017

This blog is a record of the call to worship, Scripture readings, and prayers from our Sunday liturgies.  If you are interested in writing something for the liturgy, or if you have a concern about any aspect of our liturgy, please email jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Call to Worship

we have gathered to worship the Lord of Mercy

the One who pulls life out of death

to look back on what God has done

and to look ahead to what God is doing

and to invite the Spirit to continue to shape us

into people who live and move
like Christ in the world

amen

Scripture

Exodus 14:19-31

The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night. 

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.

The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic.

He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth.

As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained.

But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 

Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Matthew 18:21-35

Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 

“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made.

So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.

But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’

Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.

Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’

And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Prayer

This week's prayer was from An Iona Prayer Book and is attributed to the Syrian Church (14).

Lord, open to us the sea of your mercy
and water us with full streams
from the riches of your grace
and the springs of your kindness.
Make us children of quietness and heirs of peace;
kindle in us the fire of your love
and strengthen our weakness by your power
as we become close to you and to each other.

Amen.

Setlist 9-17-2017

This was the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost.  Our songs were gathered with this in mind.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics.  Below the songs, you can find 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:

Come Thou Fount

Amazing Grace by Citizens & Saints

Your Love is Strong by Jon Foreman

Breathe for Me by Jameson McGregor

There's A Wideness In God's Mercy  by Jameson McGregor (adapted from F. Faber)

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. 

Come Thou Fount: When this song is in the set, we almost always sing it first.  This is because it offers us language to orient our attention toward inviting God to shape us around who God has been for the people of God in the past.  By some measure, one of our main concerns in our liturgy is to remember the work of God in the world.  This implication is made most plain in the second stanza that talks about raising an Ebenezer, which, if you don't know, is a monument to signify God's showing up in a time of need.  It is a monument of remembrance.  The song also has some significant themes of God's faithfulness to us, and a petition for God to transform us through God's Story.  During Ordinary time, this is doubly significant, because it mirrors the part of the story that we now find ourselves in--Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again (but hasn't yet).  These words serve to reorient us toward God in a time where we are left to work with the Spirit to look for and lean into the inbreaking of the Kingdom in our particular time and place.

Amazing Grace: We sang this song to remind ourselves of the grace of God both in our particular stories and the larger Story in which we find ourselves.  In the context of this week's sermon text, this song served to remind us of the forgiveness extended to us through the grace of God that we are called to extend to those who wrong us.

Your Love Is Strong: This song gives us words to acknowledge the work of God in our lives in both mundane and significant ways, and rises into an offering of the Lord's Prayer, where we essentially ask God to keep showing up and to transform us into people who relate to one another in a way that is transformed by the grace we have received.

Breathe For Me: This song is a prayer for re-creation.  It gives voice to the sort of wearing thin that comes about when we live in a broken world, and asks the Spirit of God to form us anew and breathe life into us.

There's A Wideness In God's Mercy: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about There's A Wideness In God's Mercy then: This song is a reminder to us that God's mercy is greater than we deem reasonable, and that our thinking is much more bound by rules than God's.  We sang it to proclaim the good news, and to challenge ourselves together to imagine the breadth of God's mercy.

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 9-15-17

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

What I Really Wanted: Another Sappy Post About My Childhood Home

My favorite television show of all time is Parenthood.  The reason it is my favorite show of all time is because it is the best television show of all time.  Another reason it is my favorite show of all time is because it offered images that make sense of my life for me. 

In the last season of the show *** spoiler alert *** Zeek and Millie, the patriarch and matriarch of the Braverman clan, which the show is centered around, sell the home that they raised their four children in.  Can you see the connection between this and my life right now?  After they have moved and began unpacking, Zeek informs Millie that he can't find an autographed baseball.  Eventually he has an epiphany.  The ball is in a shoebox hidden in the rafters of the barn on the property of the home they sold.  So they go back to explain the situation to the new home owners in attempt to get Zeek's missing baseball.  

The following clip is that moment.  

The new pastor at the church my dad served for 28 is Ryan Hawley.  I have to confess to you that I was deeply suspicious of Ryan, not because of anything Ryan had done, but because I would have been suspicious of anyone who took that job after my dad.  In the last year of my dad's life, one of the hidden miracles was that the Hawley's rented the house next to my parents.  During that year Ryan would come over and talk to my dad and seek his advice.  My dad loved Ryan.  

I don't know if you believe in fairy tales, but this story includes a small version of one.  Eventually the Hawley's moved out of that house they rented and bought and remodeled a home in town.  They didn't love it, and when my sister was at my mom's house on vacation this summer she mentioned to Ryan that my mom's house was still for sale.  After a few conversations, the Hawley's decided that they would like to purchase my parent's house which, was on and off the market for five years.  

There's a scene near the end of the movie The Family Stone, when Claire Danes, who is dealing with the reality that she and her sister's finance have fallen in love with each other, confesses, "it's too much."  I suppose that the notion that the person who took the job my dad was doing for 28 years was now also going to be living in the house he built could be "too much."  But in the Christian story we are given a hermeneutic to make sense of this kind of craziness.  It's peace.  The profound and deep feeling that "this makes sense," or "this is just right."  That's how my family feels about the Hawley's buying the home we grew up in.  

On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend the Hawley family and a group of good Samaritans from the church came to the house to move all my mom's furniture into the moving truck.  During that time I showed Ryan's youngest son Sammy, who is just a few years older than I was when I moved into that house, that you could remove the grate covering the heat vent coming out underneath fire place.  I told him that it made a great dungeon to keep your bad GI Joe guys.  I then went outside and watched Ryan's middle son John-Mark pick apples of our apple tree and with his friends use tennis rackets to hit them so they exploded in the yard.  And then I talked with Ryan for about a half hour.  I showed him where the water shut off was for the house.  I showed him where our black lab was buried and I shared memories of the house. 

It wouldn't be until later that week when I was recounting this bit of the story to my childhood best friend that I realized how cathartic that moment was.  

I have had many dreams for my childhood home over the years.  One of them included me being wealthy enough to purchase that home and keep as a weekend retreat.   But if I'm honest, that never felt right.  What I realized in processing those moments I had with the Hawleys is that what I really wanted for the Holy space I grew up in is for it to be filled with life.  

I want those kids to build forts in the woods.  I want them to make Christmas memories there. I want them to go sledding on the hill beside the house.  I want them to sneak in and out of the room above the garage when they are teenagers.  I want their family to eat a million meals together there.  I want them to laugh and cry and love and lose in that house.  I want them to fill that house up with the life God has for them just like God filled it up with ours.  

Because ... that's what the kingdom does with gifts.  God gives them and then God gives them again and again and again.  And that is good because that is the best thing for us.  

OOTP Spaghetti Fundraiser

The Order of the Phoenix invites you to our Spaghetti Fundraiser this Sunday right after Church. We will be serving spaghetti with meat sauce and a vegan back bean and tomato option. You can eat here with us, or take it to go. The food will be cooked, served, and then cleaned up all by the youth! The suggested price is $5, but feel free to give as much as your heart desires. This money we raise will go directly to our students and help pay for fun stuff like camp this summer! So come eat spaghetti with us this week, and support The Order!

Family Weekend Breakfast

Family weekend at Baylor is this Sunday, and we would love to meet your family!  If you are student, bring your fam to UBC at 9:30 for a free breakfast on us.  If you are not a student, we need your help providing the breakfast food.  You can sign-up after church to help out, or email bheins@hot.rr.com .  If you have any questions, contact toph@ubcwaco.org 

nUBC’ers Luncheon

If you are new to UBC in the last 6 months, we would love to have you stay for lunch after church on the 24th.  We will tell you more about UBC’s history, how you can plug in, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have.  There will be a sign-up sheet in the foyer after church, or you can email toph@ubcwaco.org

Work is Worship

Greeters: Richardsons 

Coffee Makers: Kaylin Campbell 

Mug Cleaners:  Vince & Sarah 

Money Counter: Josh M. 

Announcements

• Sunday Sermon: Matthew 18:21-35 "it already is" 
• St. Francis Feast Day 10-4 (more info to come)
• Finance Team Meeting 10-9
• Parents Night Out 10-13
• Town Hall 10-15
• Mclennan County Orphan Care 2: Arrow Child and Family Ministries 10-18
• SWCC Halloween Festival 10-25
• Quarterly Leadership Team Meeting 10-29

Do you have an emergency and need to talk to a pastor? 

254 413 2611

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- Emma Wood:  emmaj.wood@yahoo.com

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

Adam Winn:  adamwinn68@yahoo.com

Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

Student Position: Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position: Leah Reed: Leah_Reed@baylor.edu

UBC Finance Team

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

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Anna Tilson: Anna_Tilson@jrbt.com

Doug McNamee: douglas_mcnamee@baylor.edu

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.

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 9-10-2017

This blog is a record of the call to worship, Scripture readings, and prayers from our Sunday liturgies.  If you are interested in writing something for the liturgy, or if you have a concern about any aspect of our liturgy, please email jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Call to Worship

we have gathered to worship the Living God

with our songs
with our prayers
with our attention

to locate ourselves within God’s story

and to offer our stories to God

and to seek the Spirit to form us more fully in the way of Christ

so that we might take up
the love of Christ as our own

amen.

Scripture

Exodus 12:1-14

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household.

If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs.

You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord.

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.

The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus said, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.

But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

Prayer

This week's prayer was from An Iona Prayer Book (25).

O God our Father, by whose mercy and might the world turns safely into darkness and returns again into light: we give into your hands our unfinished tasks, our unresolved problems, and our unfulfilled hopes, knowing that only that which you bless will prosper. To your great love and protection we commit each other and all your people, knowing that you alone are our sure defender, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Setlist 9-10-2017

This was the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost.  Our songs were gathered with this in mind.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics.  Below the songs, you can find 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 by Jameson McGregor

There's A Wideness In God's Mercy  by Jameson McGregor (adapted from F. Faber)

Noise by Jameson McGregor

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go 

All Creatures of Our God and King

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: We sang this song to begin our time together by locating ourselves within a story whose hope is described as light in darkness--not light that merely comes after darkness, but light that exists within and alongside darkness.

There's A Wideness In God's Mercy: This song is a reminder to us that God's mercy is greater than we deem reasonable, and that our thinking is much more bound by rules than God's.  We sang it to proclaim the good news, and to challenge ourselves together to imagine the breadth of God's mercy.

Noise: This song narrates the divine-human relationship, both in broad strokes and on a personal level, and notes two things: 1) humanity consistently fails at being faithful to God, but God always pivots to carry the relationship forward; and 2) God has entered into the depths of humanity and transformed what it is to be human.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go: This song proclaims God's constancy in relation to us, and offers us the hope that not even death can separate us from the love of God.

All Creatures of Our God and King: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about All Creatures of Our God and King then: We began with this song to join our voices with the rest of creation in expressing thanks and wonder toward the Creator.  

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 9-8-17

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church) 

Ordinary Time

There and Back Again: A Travel Log of Blessing and Letting Go

Last weekend, I went to the Tomahawk, WI, to help my mom pack up and move out of the childhood home I grew up in.  These are my reflections on that experience. 

Thursday

12:42 P.M. I drop Wendell off at a friend's house.  His school does not start until next week.  I love him and will miss him and my family, but 4 kids ages 10 and under.  2 hours in the car and a podcast download.  Is it my birthday? 

3:17 P.M. DFW Security Check.  I could take off my bulky broken arm sling, but i think there's a chance TSA agents will move me through a special line and I love attention.  I leave it on. 

5:01 P.M. Spirit announces they have overbooked our flight.  4 passengers too many.  They are giving away 2 free future flights and promise to put you on the next available flight to MSP ...

*** A sea of people make a mad dash for the ticket counter ***

ticket lady continues "... that next flight is Sunday afternoon."  An audible record scratch.  Sea of people return around and return to seats.  I wonder if we will have one of those viral videos of a security guard pulling someone from their seat.  I think this might be my 15 minutes of fame. 

5:13 P.M.  I have a "B" seat.  This is the middle.  My full figured frame and broken arm sling are disappointed.  My companions are a couple of from Austin who hoped by choosing seats "A" and "C" the one between them would remain vacated.  They give me the window seat and confess that this life hack never works.  I win. 

8:07 P.M.  My recently-graduated-Univerisy-of-Minnesota nephew picks me up to take me to my sister's house in Zimmerman, MN for night.  He's 21.  I realize how much cooler than me he is.  I hide my insecurity by over talking.   Later rationalize "he's just a millennial." 

8:45 P.M. A late dinner to go from Noodles & Co.  How does Waco still not have one of these? 

9:15 P.M. Arrive at oldest sister's house, which includes 4 of her 5 teenage children on a school night.  "DEAR GOD!"  I realize this is my life in a few years. 

10:07 P.M. Sister and I share concern that mom's entire house of 32 years will not fit into 26 foot long moving truck.  

Friday

8:02 A.M.  My contribution will be taking a car to Wal-Mart for an oil change.  I'm warned it will take a while.  I'm offered a coupon to go to Valero instead.  It will cost me 10 of my own dollars.  Wal-Mart will be covered by the $20 my sister left for me.  I go to Wal-Mart because i'm cheap.  It's takes an hour and half.  No one is in front of me.  

10:27 A.M. I'm gifted my sister's Camry and 4th son who will be my travel companion.  He's 15 ... a kind of savant.  A genius and extreme introvert.  As I talk to him for the first 45 minutes of our 4.5 hour drive to Tomahawk, WI, I can see him trying so hard.  Head nods and "uh huh"s.  He's visibly wilting as I repeatedly express my enthusiasm for Minnesota weather.   

11:01 A.M. Stop by my college roommates multi-national renewable energy company at which he's approaching senior management.  Tell the security lady that "I'm Victor from Solar Solutions here to see Greg."  I'm astonished, she rings him for me.  It goes to the voicemail.  I ask for the phone.  I'm astonished again.  She hands it to me.  I leave him an immature message.   It will be a nice surprise for Tuesday morning when he gets back into his office.  

11:30 A.M. Lunch with my old boss Michelle @ Lee Ann Chin.  How does Waco not have one of these?  Michelle is like the best person I know.  Like a Minnesota Jana Parker.  Her kids are along.  I've never met them.  They are great. 

1:13 P.M. Drive to my old college campus.  My friend is now a religion professor there. I find his office and surprise him.  I greet him with, "looks like they'l hire anyone around here!"  Guffaw.  I now realize this is exactly the kind of thing a middle age man would say.  I do mental check.  I'm 36.  Yikes.  

2:30 P.M.  We leave campus.  My nephew has given up.  He reclines his seat and puts on his earmuff headphones.  I sometimes think he pretends not to hear me.  I drive down to Summit Ave.  A street famous for it's mansions.  I look for, for sale signs.  I imagine myself in a top hat, part of a Victorian Christmas Carol group singing on this street.  I want to buy the mansions.  

*** 4 hour car ride ensures across WI farm country.  I'm startled by how many times I find myself asking, "I wonder what Jo Jo would do with that?"***

7:07 P.M. I arrive at my mom's house.  I'm not emotional.  But I begin taking photos with fury and download the Lord of the Rings soundtrack so I can listen to "concerning hobbits" on repeat.  It helps with the nostalgia.  I talk my mom into taking me and nephew out for fish fry at a restaurant on a pristine lake.  

8:03 P.M.  Greeted by some church people at the restaurant.  She's into farming and he's a fiduciary.   I love this because I get to ask her farm questions before asking him about moving my depressing retirement accountant into a Vanguard mutual fund.  I sincerely want his help, but also want him to be impressed that I know what a Vangaurd mutual fund is. 

8:13 P.M. My in-laws walk in.  They are sitting at the bar.  I sneak up behind them.  Lindsay has failed to report that I was traveling to Tomahawk even though I was planning on relocating my winter sporting equipment to their house.  They wonder what in God's name I'm doing there.   

8:42 P.M. I'm served two pieces of breaded cod and french fries.  Why does Waco not have this?  I finish eating and approach my in-laws to confirm that in fact my winter sporting goods equipment will be welcomed at their house.  I pull them in with both arms for a big hug and tell them I love them.  

10:07 P.M. My sister and the rest of her family arrive at my mom's house.  After a half hour of small talk everyone goes to bed.  I stay up.  The pastor at my dad's church has asked my mom if they can pray for her (her last Sunday) and offers the space for someone in our family to say something.  This turns out to be my role.  I spend the next hour writing a farewell to the church that taught me faith.  It's the last goodbye.  My dad has died again ... in a different way.   The writing is my grieving and my opportunity to bless. 

Saturday

8:04 A.M. My sister knocks on my door.  "Get up."  My mom sticks her head in, "what do you think, this is holiday in?"  My oldest sister has never relinquished nor stopped relishing the role of telling me what to do.  I shout, "Kristin loved that," with my groggy voice. 

8:59 A.M. I quickly realize that no one takes me or my broken arm seriously.  I'm not considered for any jobs.  Then an epiphany.  I can drive my oldest sister to the next town to pick up the moving truck.  I feel meaningful.  I'm excited. 

9:42 A.M. It's been pouring for the last half hour.  We arrive in neighboring town.  The Penske place is about as visible as Waldo.  Our map says we are there, but all we can see is t-shirt print shop and a tanning salon.  Finally, an Alaskan transplant from the real housewives of Juneau informs us that we are in fact at the Penske place.  We then spot 1, 16 foot truck in the parking lot.  It turns out this is a shirt-making-tanning-salon-moving-truck-rental business.  A 16 foot truck won't do.  We tell real housewife that we think my mom rented a 26 foot truck.  She checks the balance and agrees.   She panics and starts making calls.  We panic and start making calls.  My mom gets Merv, the Tomahawk U-Haul guy who's been promising her a 26 foot truck for weeks, on the phone.  Merv comes through.  We'll have one later that day. 

10:17 A.M. Receive scathing phone call from Lindsay.  In recounting our joyous reunion, my in-laws include the detail where I give them a big hug.  Lindsay deduces this could only have happened if i wasn't wearing my broken arm sling.  In-laws confirm.  

11:02 A.M.  Sister and I return home without a truck but with Dunkin' Donuts. My sister notes that this result matches a pattern embodied by my dad.  

3:13 P.M.  After four hours of packing and moving furniture around the house, we concede a standstill without the truck.  We mix cocktails and pull Pictionary out of the garage sale pile.  I'm partnered with my sister's youngest son. He's 13.  We call our team the "youngest-awesomes!" 

4:19 P.M.  My sister and her husband crush us all.  My nephew and niece to the left of us win almost every all play so we are continually skipped.  We have about 7 or 8 turns.  The game ends in a fight.  This is quintessential. 

7:22 P.M. Truck has arrived and some loading ensues.  Dinner is a frozen lasagna.  After dinner another game with my nephews.  Linkee.  I'm confident I will win and am off to a dynamite start securing the letters "L-I-N-K-E"  before the others have more than 2 letters.  Then a change of fate.  My newly graduated millennial nephew comes back and wins.  We play again.  He wins again.  This bothers me more than I will let on.  

8:17 P.M. A trip down to the lake to watch the sunset.  My niece joins me.  She's the other individual having as hard of a time saying goodbye to this house.  After nearly 24 hours of hobbit music I switch to epic movie soundtracks like Braveheart, Last of the Mohicans and Dances With Wolves. 

9:33 P.M. Check my church speech to make sure i still like it.  Go to bed. 

Sunday

9:27 A.M. Arrive at church early to print off my speech on the office administrator's computer.   She's on the worship team singing this Sunday.  I'm in a pickle. I find her husband.  He knows the code to her door and gets me in.  I'm saved. 

10:13 A.M.  Communion.  I pray.  My prayer acknowledges all the things ... including our last Sunday in the church my dad built.  We celebrate with our tears.  

10:22 A.M. Prayer for my mom followed by my speech.  It's like a room full of Kareems.  They all respond with "amen"s, clapping and "that's right"s.  It's enthralling.  I can feel their energy and I get way into my speech.  After i'm done a hug from the pastor and a standing ovation.  I imagine myself as the general from White Christmas shaking hands and giving hugs as I make my way down the isle.  Feeling all kinds of pride ... then the Holy Spirit whispers, "they're clapping for your mom and dad's 28 years of sacrifice and love."  I join the clapping.  

12:00 P.M.  A makeshift, we're moving, leftovers lunch. 

1:00 P.M.  Moving crew from church arrives.  They get all the furniture done in 20 minutes and stay for another hour and a half to talk and fellowship.  I decide this is some small town Wendell Berry stuff going on right here.

5:33 P.M.  I leave with my niece to go to my in-laws to transfer my winter gear and eventually pick up pizzas for dinner.   We are greeted by my father-in-law who demands we eat dinner with them.  Them ... a small party at their house.  I negotiate down to a cocktail.  We stay for an hour and during that time Pat, a woman full of spit and vinegar, confesses to me that she's Jewish.  I report that I think that's great, but I will eventually see that this is a larger confession and my reaction did not match the magnitude of her secret.  I slowly work up my emotional response until i'm stunned.  

7:00 P.M.  We arrive at Billy Bob's to pick up the pizza.  Ashley the bartender, went to my high school.  She is two years younger and reports that "when I saw Carney come up on the phone, I thought it might be you."  Kayla one of the servers and I make conversation while I'm waiting.  She was in my class in high school.  I ask about the Tomahawk woman who won the HGTV dream home.  The reveal was at Billy Bob's and Kayla was working.  After that Kayla remarks that she saw on Facebook i was home moving my mom.  She proceeds to tell me to remind my mom to change stop her mail.  It turns out Kayla subs on my mom's mail route.  I thank her for the reminder.  On the way out the door, the other server, Dee Dee stops me to tell me she loved what I said in church this morning.  I'm reminded that this kind of small town intimacy is exactly what I'll miss the most about Tomahawk. 

7:15 P.M.  Arrive to the house with four large pizzas, which was the subject of a 20 minute debate earlier in the day.  It turns out to be way too much pizza.  My aunt and uncle are here.  We talk.  Eventually I join my niece who is already down on the beach.  This is our last night ever in the house.  Tonight no hobbit music.  Just silence.  Eventually my nephews, sister, and mom join us.

11:30 P.M. Naturally, the crowd has been reduced to me and my niece.  She stayed longer than me last night.  I wouldn't be outdone tonight.  She retires to bed.  I need my solitude.  The moon's dancing on Mabel Lake.  I named my daughter after this lake.  That's how much it means to me.  

Monday

12:01 A.M. I have to go to bed.  I break the silence with "The Breaking of the Fellowship," a tune that includes the melody of the hobbit song, but in a much more dramatic and sad way.  It's a appropriate for the moment.  I turn my back to the lake and sit on my knees looking up at the 2.5 acres on which my childhood home is sitting on.  I think of my dad for the millionth time that weekend.  I bend over and kiss the ground.  "Thank you," my heart says.  To make this final walk up from the lake to my house, I take off my sandals.  I will walk on Holy Ground.  

5:35 A.M.  I'm woken by a pulsating pain in what feels like the tissue of my bicep.  I imagine for a second that my broken bone has displaced.  Then I imagine Lindsay kicking my ass for not wearing the sling.  Then I imagine paying my deductible for the surgery.  Then I stop thinking about it because I don't want to ruin my last morning at home. My nose is cold because I sleep with the windows open. 

7:13 A.M. Read my daily Eugene Peterson sermon before stripping my bed, which by this point has been reduced to a mattress on the floor.  I go take a shower.  While i'm gone my mattress has been taken and loaded on the truck.  The room I grew up in is now naked and upon discovering it empty I loose my breath like Andy's mom does in Toy Story 3.  

8:07 A.M.  There are eight of us and four vehicles departing.  We are sent out by twos.  I'm paired my mom.  I'm relieved.  I need to leave my childhood home with her.  The three vehicles depart.  We are left back to do a bit of laundry and a few last jobs.  

9:33 A.M. We finally get in our car and leave.  I tell my mom that I will walk to the end of our driveway and then to the end of our road.  I need to walk off the property.  Not drive.  On the way up the driveway I stop and snatch a few wild raspberries.  This land will nourish me one last time.  At the end of Pine Shore Ln. I ask for a picture of myself and the community board that displays the last names of the dead end street’s residents.  “Carney” is second and it is faded.  It’s time to leave.  

9:45 A.M. I realize that I need to print off my ticket and check in.  Part of Spirit Airlines "screw you, we hope you don’t really get to fly this cheap so we’ll charge you $100 to print your boarding pass at the ticket counter” strategy.  A quick call to my aunt who lives on the way.  I’m saved. 

11:00 A.M.  I begin one of the most exciting conversations of the day.  I’ve planned out a day of festive fun for my mother and myself that includes a trip back the mansion street in St. Paul.  There, in a historic neighborhood with old buildings, sits Moscow On The Hill, a Russian restaurant.  My mom vetoes it.  I reason this is lingering effects of the Cold War.  

2:02 P.M. We arrive at a famous pub with a “quaint lunch menu and a darling patio area,” my sister tells me.  She's right about all of it, but  there’s a 45 minute wait.  The Russian restaurant is across the street.  They too have an outdoor patio.  My mom agrees to give it a try.  I imagine Toph being proud of my lunch choice.  

2:51 P.M.  Lunch is exquisite.  A few vegetarian cabbage rolls and a Jim Beam and 7Up have my mom trusting the Russians again. My Russian restaurant lies just a few blocks from the start of my mansion street.  I talk her into a walk so I can dream about where I’ll retire as we comment on Gilded age architecture like we know what we are talking about.  

3:55 P.M. I’ve scheduled one last stop on the way to the airport.  Fort Snelling National Cemetery.  Second only to Arlington in size, it’s where my dad is buried.  I haven’t been there since Labor Day last year.  His grave is covered by grass this time.  He’s all tucked in.  My mom and I have a brief dialogue about Joseph's request to carry his bones. 

4:52 P.M. I’m now through security and sitting at a table in the food truck court in the airport, which has surprisingly good food.  For now I’ve just ordered carbonated water.  Saying goodbye to my mom is relatively painless.  A luxury of her new schedule, which will deliver her back the Wacoans in October.  I have to get work done.  I’ve already missed a whole day and sermons don’t write themselves.  I decide to work on the newsletter.  Who’s turn is it to write?  Mine.  Crap.  

6:01 P.M.  What should I write about? .... Nothing ....   Still nothing.  I think about my weekend.  What would David Foster Wallace do?  I have an idea.  A travel log.  I jot down a title: “There and Back Again: A Travel Log of Blessing and Letting Go.”  “That’s really good,” I think to myself. 

7:24 P.M. I’m now caught up to the present.  I haven’t moved or stopped writing.  I know about this.  It’s happened a few times in my life.  It happened when I wrote my speech for the church on Friday Night.  Elizabeth Gilbert talks about it in this video.  What to say now?  I get a little teary eyed in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport.  I think about my wife and children. I’m now present to their absence.  I miss them dearly.   I think about all my friends.  I think about UBC.  I think about Rapoport Academy and my wife’s passion for those kids.  I think about the fact that I live next to my sister’s family.  I think about tex-mex and brisket.  I think about the Mayborne Museum and the zoo.  I think about all the great people in Waco.  

7:25 P.M. I’ve said goodbye and now I’m going home … to Waco. 

8:31 P.M.  After purchasing a gyro and running to my gate, I discover I’m the last to arrive on the plane.   I look at my ticket as they scan it.  “6E.”  Crap.  "E" is the symmetrical wicked step sister of “B” I’m in the middle again and it’s no life hack.  This time between two burly dudes with square shoulders.  I remind myself that I saved $5 by electing to not purchase my seat selection.  That’s a quarter of a poker buy in.  My choice is redeemed by my thought process.  

Tuesday

1:15 A.M. I give all the kids a goodnight kiss.  I stop in Wendell’s room last.  Like me, he is the youngest.  Like me, he has the most time to form memories and meaning in this house.  I kiss him good night.  In the morning he will get up and walk on Holy Ground. 

UBCYP Game Night

"Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, One Night Ultimate Werewolf.  If you ever heard of these or are just intrigued by their name, then please come ready to get your board gaming on with some fellow UBCYPers and their guests!  Space fights, solving murders, surviving deserts, being a spy....yes, we got your crazy imagination covered as we bring those closer to life through artistic cardboard, intriguing cards and colorful dice.  All are welcomed to come, of course, even if only to observe or relax with a glass of wine.  Tonight!!!!  Please email Jamie@ubcwaco.org if you have any questions. 

Family Weekend Breakfast

Family weekend at Baylor is coming up, and we would love to meet your family!  If you are student, bring your fam to UBC at 9:30 on the 17th for a free breakfast on us.  If you are not a student, we need your help providing the breakfast food.  You can sign-up after church to help out, or email bheins@hot.rr.com .  If you have any questions, contact toph@ubcwaco.org 

nUBC’ers Luncheon

If you are new to UBC in the last 6 months, we would love to have you stay for lunch after church on the 24th.  We will tell you more about UBC’s history, how you can plug in, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have.  There will be a sign-up sheet in the foyer after church, or you can email toph@ubcwaco.org

UBC Kids Ministry Training

Orphan Care in McLennan County

This fall UBC will collectively look at the orphan situation in Mclennan County.  What this means is that we will gather for a potluck on three different Wednesdays (9-13, 10-18, & 11-15).  For this first meeting we will be doing a interview and Q/A with Erin Wheeler from Generation Adoptions.  So if you are at all interested in how you can impact the orphan situation in Waco, please consider coming to this event and bringing a dish to share. 

Work is Worship

Greeters: Walters 

Coffee Makers: Emmy & Caroline 

Mug Cleaners:  Teddy & Wesley 

Money Counter:  Josh M. 

Announcements

• Sunday Sermon: Matthew 18:15-20
• 9-17 Family Weekend Breakfast 
• 9-22 Backside Event 1 
• 9-24 NUBCer Lunch 

Do you have an emergency and need to talk to a pastor? 

254 413 2611

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- Emma Wood:  emmaj.wood@yahoo.com

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Stan Denman: Stan_Denman@baylor.edu

Adam Winn:  adamwinn68@yahoo.com

Bridget Heins: bheins@hot.rr.com

Sharyl Loeung: sharylwl@gmail.com

Jon Davis: jdavis83@gmail.com

Student Position: Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position: Leah Reed: Leah_Reed@baylor.edu

UBC Finance Team

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

Josh McCormick: Josh.McCormick@dwyergroup.com

Hannah Kuhl: HannahKuhl@hotmail.com  

Justin Pond: pondjw@gmail.com

Anna Tilson: Anna_Tilson@jrbt.com

Doug McNamee: douglas_mcnamee@baylor.edu

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.

Rob Engblom: Rob_Engblom@baylor.edu

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 9-3-2017

This blog is a record of the call to worship, Scripture readings, and prayers from our Sunday liturgies.  If you are interested in writing something for the liturgy, or if you have a concern about any aspect of our liturgy, please email jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Call to Worship

we have gathered to worship
the Lord of all Creation

the One who illuminates
the ordinary world with wonder

to remember who God has been
and what God has done

and to learn to look
for what God is doing

seeking to be transformed
by the Spirit of God

into people who carry light
into dark places

Amen.

 

Scripture

Exodus 3:1-15

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.

Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters.

Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”

He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’“ God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:

This is my name forever, 
and this my title for all generations.

Matthew 16:21-28

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? 

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Prayer

This week's prayer was from An Iona Prayer Book (53).

Lord of every pilgrim heart,
you are beside us
and before us on the way,
surprising us
through your Spirit
at every turning on the path.
Yet, like your disciples
on the Emmaus road,
we often fail to recognize
our companion.
In this morning hour,
and in whatever the day may hold,
open our eyes
to see your presence,
that we may celebrate
with you
the gift of the morning,
O Lord of the unexpected.

Amen.