ITLOTC 8-9-2019

ITLOTC 8-9-2019

ITLOC (In The Life Of The Church)

Never Fully Arriving

During the first five weeks of this summer, I had the privilege of walking the ancient pilgrim trail called the Via Francigena that starts in Canterbury, England, and ends in Rome, Italy. It was for a class with Truett on spiritual pilgrimage, and basically I got class credit for hiking 360 miles with views of the Alps and the Tuscan Valley, all while eating incredible pasta and pizza. (I promise this is going somewhere— I’m not just trying to flex on y’all)

This was an experience that changed my life and continued to change my view on what it is to be a follower of Christ in this world. Since coming back to Waco, however, I have fallen back into a familiar struggle. I am in between jobs and waiting for classes to start, and I have found myself slipping back into the idea that my worth in found in what I can produce. Society has ingrained in me the idea that if I cannot stay busy and be as efficient as possible, then something is wrong.

God has led me (over and over again) to fight back against this idea. Even and especially in the seasons of rest, of waiting, and of quiet, God is with us. The pilgrimage that we are on will look different as we go, but that makes no season less important than the other.

We spend so much time wishing away the moment we are in waiting in expectation of the next big event or supposed life milestone. “If only this would happen, THEN I will have arrived.“ Instead, I believe that God not only works through these major life events, but also God is present in the sacred ordinary.

As this summer season draws to a close, I hope you can find time to rest in whatever it looks like. Or even put some practices into place that allow you to reflect on what it means to embrace the season you find yourself in now. We are not meant to ever fully “arrive,” whatever that means. We each have a different and elusive idea of what that looks like, anyway, so I pray that instead we can find our hope and worth in pilgriming together— in the happy and the sad and everything in-between— with the assurance that our God is with us.

What does pilgrimage mean to you? How can you be grateful where you are as you journey alongside other pilgrims?

I’d love to discuss this more with you. If you’re interested, email me at bri@ubcwaco.org.

Welcome Back Fiesta - August 25th - noon

It’s that time of year again, and we are excited to have everyone back for the Fall after summer break!  Join us for lunch after church on the 25th to kick of the year.  We will food, drinks, games, and good times galore!  If you have any questions, please email toph@ubcwaco.org

Leadership Team Nominations

We are looking for new folks to serve on the leadership team.  Here is some information for you to consider from the bylaws.  We have 4 positions open, two of which are students.

Section 1.  Leadership Team

(A) Purpose.  The Leadership Team shall be the primary decision-making body of UBC.  The Leadership Team will oversee all the business and property of the church, as well as make the final decisions regarding hiring and dismissal of staff and the acquisition and selling of assets that are beyond budgetary provisions. 

(C) Qualifications.  Each member of Leadership Team shall have been a member of UBC for at least one year, exhibited an understanding and commitment to the mission and values of the church, and be willing to fulfill all responsibilities in the Leadership Team job description.

(E) Term.  Members of Leadership Team may serve for a duration lasting up to three years.  While they are encouraged to remain the full three years, members may voluntarily remove themselves from their position at any time.  Members serving as student member commit to a year with the chance to renew up to three years. 

Nominations begin now.  So if you'd like to nominate yourself or anyone else, please use this link.

Announcements

• Preacher: Taylor, Luke 12:32-40

• Kindergarten Commission: 8/18

• Welcome Back Lunch: 8/25

• Mi Casa Leader Training: 8/25, 9:30AM

• UBCYP cookout: 9/7

• Sunday school Starts: 9/8

Work is Worship

Coffee: Michael & Oliver

Mugs: Nelsons

Money Counter: George Thornton

Greeters: Ricky + Rose

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. 

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu

Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com

Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com

Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com

Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.

JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu 

Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com

Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com

Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com

George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

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

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 8-4-2019

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

the One in whom we live and move and have our being 

to enter into God’s story

and find our own stories transformed 

and to invite the Spirit to shape our hearts and minds 

into the way of Christ,
that we might come alongside the work of God in the world
with our whole lives.  

amen

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me --and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 

So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 

What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" 

And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, `What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' 

Then he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' 

But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

Prayer

God, we come to you bearing the grief of yesterday’s act of terror in El Paso.

We come to you grieving the loss of life—the stopped hearts and the scarred hearts.

We grieve the anti-Christ poison of white nationalism, and that those who harbor it within themselves feel emboldened by our public discourse about immigration in general, and the rhetoric of the president in particular.

We grieve that black and brown bodies are sacrificed at the altar of inaction as this hate perpetuates itself.

We bear also the grief of this morning’s shooting in Ohio. We grieve the stopped hearts and the scarred hearts.

And we grieve that something so unthinkable has become so commonplace.

We grieve that a country so self confident in its own power is seemingly impotent to deal meaningfully with gun violence.

We grieve that so many lives have been sacrificed at the altar of inaction as this violence perpetuates itself.

We ask that you would continue to be present in both of these newly grieving communities, that you would bring comfort, peace, and healing to all those who are learning what it’s like to live in a world without some of the people they love in it.

And we ask that you would bring this same comfort, peace, and healing to all those who are learning what it’s like to live in a world where someone they love has done a terrible thing.

We ask also that you would be with the countless hospital workers and neighbors who are becoming the agents of that comfort, peace, and healing, that you would give them strength.

We confess that the scope of this evil in our culture is overwhelming, and there are days where we feel helpless. But we cling to the hope that you are emphatically not helpless. And so, we ask that you would bless us with the foolishness to think we can make a difference in the world, and that your Spirit would drive us to do just that.

And so in these next few moments of silence, we ask that the Spirit would intercede for us with groans too deep for words, as we grieve with our brothers and sisters. And that the Spirit would begin to shape our imaginations to build a world where the unthinkable isn’t a daily or weekly occurrence.

Amen.

Setlist 8-4-2019

This past Sunday was the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, and 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.   If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

Come Thou Fount

Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light

For Those Tears I Died by Jameson McGregor (adapted from Marsha Stevens)

Be Thou My Vision

Fever by Jameson McGregor

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. 

Come Thou Fount: We sang this song to set our attention on God’s activity in our lives.

Wayward Ones: This is our communion hymn, and it contemplates Christ's self-giving love that is displayed and remembered in the eucharist.

For Those Tears I Died: This song is a part of our mass shooting liturgy. It is a lament that asks how long things will be this way.

Be Thou My Vision: We sang this song to petition God to be our vision, wisdom, security, and hope, as we navigate an uncertain world.

Fever: This song is about the ways in which we try to self-regulate our lives into status quos that should be otherwise, and imagines the work of God as a pathogen that overpowers our defenses.

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: We sang this song to linger on the spirit of the Our Father.

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

ITLOTC 8-2-2019

ITLOC (In The Life Of The Church)

Reflection on Taylor’s Questions

I’ve been thinking about Taylor’s questions from Sunday. Though I wasn’t present to hear her sermon, the Spirit has been moving these questions into my life and listening to Taylor’s words this morning pushed them back into the forefront of my mind.

1.    How might you live a life that more fully relies on God?

I have a lot of pride. I think I know the right things to do, the right order to do them in, and scoff through my thoughts when people do them a way that I wouldn’t do. I have pride in my achievements like when I bake a pie that everyone loves, or sequence a yoga class that people thank me for, or even when I dress myself a little nicer than usual. I have pride in my failures, that I have messed up so much that I must be terrible—even when these are tiny mishaps. And this pride is present because somewhere along the way I forgot that this strange reality exists where Christ lives in me and where the Holy Spirit guides me. I forgot that life is not about my will, not about my successes or failures, but about God. The Christian life is a life that follows and listens and, dare I say it, submits to God. My pride gets in the way of this. My pride needs to go. Here are some practical ways I’m working on this (because I know I won’t grow unless I have a plan):
-      Pray every day. Pray the Lord’s Prayer and take time to think about what these words mean. Lift up my offences against God and others, and actively imagine Christ taking them from me.
-      Remember the Spirit lives in me. Like actually lives in me, moves in me, breathes in me. 
-      Calm down. Instead of reacting right away to perceived successes and failures, focus on what actually happened. Be aware and mindful. 

2.    How might you live more deeply in community with these brothers and sisters in Christ?

I am an introvert. Give me 6/7 nights out of the week alone, and I will be good to go wherever and do whatever on the 7th night. If I’m being honest, I don’t need this much time alone. I want it and crave it and think I need it. But I don’t. I need community, even when it’s hard and tiring. I need to reach out to people, to remind them I love them and to be reminded that I am loved fully and deeply not only by those in the Church but by those who I spend my life with outside of the Church. Living deeply means living broken next to broken people who are all seeking to mend and be mended together. Practical steps for this:
-      Reach out to people via text or in person and say “I love you” more. Not shying away from culture’s embarrassment to love friends and be affectionate toward them in words. 
-      Take less time for myself when it’s not self-care. Binge-watch shows less, and watch shows with people more. Read in bed less, and read in a coffee shop or in the living room more. 
-      No more being on my phone around friends. Boredom may come, but listen to them as I desire them to listen to me. Be invested in their life. 

These aren’t revelatory things, but to learn them you have to pay attention to your life. What are your patterns in certain situations? When do you feel emotions welling up? What have your thoughts been like towards others? And then how do you think God wants those things to be… the same, or redeemed?

Church, may we be redeemed. Not only in our thoughts, but in our words. In what we do, and what we fail to do. And may we grow closer together in glory through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Kim, kim@ubcwaco.org

End of Summer Picnic, August 7th @ 5:30PM

We are going to celebrate the end of summer by taking time for community this Wednesday. Bring your favored side dish or dessert to share, and UBC will proved fried chicken and drinks. Come hang out one more time before school begins!

Leadership Team Nominations

We are looking for new folks to serve on the leadership team.  Here is some information for you to consider from the bylaws.  We have 4 positions open, two of which are students.

Section 1.  Leadership Team

(A) Purpose.  The Leadership Team shall be the primary decision-making body of UBC.  The Leadership Team will oversee all the business and property of the church, as well as make the final decisions regarding hiring and dismissal of staff and the acquisition and selling of assets that are beyond budgetary provisions. 

(C) Qualifications.  Each member of Leadership Team shall have been a member of UBC for at least one year, exhibited an understanding and commitment to the mission and values of the church, and be willing to fulfill all responsibilities in the Leadership Team job description.

(E) Term.  Members of Leadership Team may serve for a duration lasting up to three years.  While they are encouraged to remain the full three years, members may voluntarily remove themselves from their position at any time.  Members serving as student member commit to a year with the chance to renew up to three years. 

Nominations begin now.  So if you'd like to nominate yourself or anyone else, please use this link.

Announcements

• Preacher: Bri, Luke 12:13-21

• End of Summer Party: 8/7

• Kindergarten Commission: 8/18

• Welcome Back Lunch: 8/25

• Mi Casa Leader Training: 8/25, 9:30AM

• UBCYP cookout: 9/7

• Sunday school Starts: 9/8

Work is Worship

Coffee: Carlsons

Mugs: Burns

Money Counter: George Thornton

Greeters: Hariss

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. 

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu

Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com

Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com

Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com

Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.

JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu 

Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com

Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com

Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com

George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

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

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 7-28-2019

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 Eternal One 

the One who draws near to the lowly
and defends the weak

with our songs, our prayers, our listening

to enter the story of God and the people of God,
and find our own stories there 

hoping that the Spirit of God will form our hearts and minds
in the way of Christ

 and draw the full complexity of our lives 
into God’s work in the world 

amen

Scripture

Psalm 138

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.

On the day I called, you answered me,
you increased my strength of soul.
All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.

For though the Lord is high, the Lord regards the lowly;
but the haughty the Lord perceives from far away.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.

The Lord will fulfill the Lord’s purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Luke 11:1-13

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial."

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' 

And he answers from within, `Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 

Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Prayer

This week’s prayer is from The Iona Community Worship Book (81):

O Christ, your cross speaks both to us and tour world.

In your dying for us you accepted the pain and hurt
Of the whole of creation.

The arms of your cross stretch out across the
Broken world in reconciliation.

You have made peace with us.
Help us to make peace with you by sharing in your
Reconciling work.

May we recognize your spirit disturbing and
Challenging us to care for creation and for the
Poor who most feel the effects of its abuse.

O Christ, the whole of creation groans,
Set us free and make us whole.

Setlist 7-28-2019

This past Sunday was the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, and 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.   If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

How Great Thou Art

Your Love Is Strong by Jon Foreman

Rise Up by BiFrost Arts

Shadow by Jameson McGregor

There 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. 

How Great Thou Art: We sang this song to celebrate God’s activity in creation.

Your Love Is Strong: We sang this song to linger on the spirit of the Our Father, which featured in Taylor’s sermon text.

Rise Up: We sang this song to petition God to rise to the defense of the trampled in our world, and to remind ourselves that we are called to do the same.

Shadow: This song is about the difficulty and nigh impossibility of being formed in the way of Christ, and about God’s work of transformation in our lives in spite of this.

There: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week’s songs. This is what we said about There then: We sang this song to proclaim God as an anchor beyond our struggles, drawing us toward Godself.

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

ITLOTC 7-26-2019

ITLOC (In The Life Of The Church)

Chance the Rapper and Reminders

Today Chance the Rapper dropped a new album. I love Chance so this is exciting news for me personally – although I recognize that it might be less exciting for some of you. Music is funny like that. It connects with each of us in such different and specific ways.

I’ve loved Chance for a few years now. My brother played Sunday Candy for me one time a few summers ago and that was all I needed. And then I saw him in concert in Houston a couple summers ago (which is really saying something about my affection – because Houston is horrible) and my obsession was pretty much cemented. And THEN – a real nail in the coffin situation – Chance played this song with Daniel Cesar on Stephen Colbert (which is a real triple whammy of a situation as far as wins are concerned – here’s a link if you want to watch it).

The song is called First World Problems. And there are a couple of lines in the third verse that punched me in the heart so hard that I don’t know that I’ve ever stopped thinking about them. You have anything like that? (I think we have a whole Sunday School class devoted to that idea so I feel pretty certain that you probably do.) Do you have anything that has just grabbed you in such a way that you find yourself thinking about it regularly for forever? Well that’s what this song – and particularly these lines in the third verse - were like for me. Here are the lines:

I hear the scene snappin', and I'm the team captain
No more knee slappin' or shoe shinin' or shoe signin' 'til the dream happens
I'm just gon' keep rappin'
And y'all just keep clappin' and keep actin'
Like Flint got clean water and y'all don't got teen daughters and black friends and gay cousins
Y'all just gon' say nothin'
Know that the day comin'
Knees bowed, tongues confessin'
The last ones gettin' first dibs on blessings

These lyrics hit me in a way that is two fold: 1) how often am I walking around ignoring the pain and oppression of others? How often am I doing nothing to work towards justice for the people of Flint? For our collective teen daughters and black friends and gay cousins? How often am I saying nothing? I want to be the type of person who says something. And 2) it reminds me that there is a day coming when the last ones will be the first among us to be blessed. It is easy to wallow in the pain that is happening all around us in the world. But we don’t believe that this is the end – and I am reminded here (by Chance) of the good news that helps me to continue to work for justice. And to constantly ask myself - where am I looking to be first in line? Am I looking to be first in line now? In the reality of my every day life? Or do I really believe in the idea that there is a day coming when the last ones will get first dibs on blessings? Do I really believe and live a life that supports the idea that there is a day coming when all things will be reconciled in Christ? Because there is no better news.

Friends – I would love to hear from you. How does this verse hit you? Or maybe this doesn’t do it for you – tell me what does! What strikes you in ways that are both encouraging and convicting? If you have any thoughts or questions you can email me here.

Summerside - July 26th at 7pm

TONIGHT! It’s Backside, but in the summer.

Leadership Team Nominations

We are looking for new folks to serve on the leadership team.  Here is some information for you to consider from the bylaws.  We have 4 positions open, two of which are students.

Section 1.  Leadership Team

(A) Purpose.  The Leadership Team shall be the primary decision-making body of UBC.  The Leadership Team will oversee all the business and property of the church, as well as make the final decisions regarding hiring and dismissal of staff and the acquisition and selling of assets that are beyond budgetary provisions. 

(C) Qualifications.  Each member of Leadership Team shall have been a member of UBC for at least one year, exhibited an understanding and commitment to the mission and values of the church, and be willing to fulfill all responsibilities in the Leadership Team job description.

(E) Term.  Members of Leadership Team may serve for a duration lasting up to three years.  While they are encouraged to remain the full three years, members may voluntarily remove themselves from their position at any time.  Members serving as student member commit to a year with the chance to renew up to three years. 

Nominations begin now.  So if you'd like to nominate yourself or anyone else, please use this link. (this is the link to put in - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeiBWA_LjB7dwfVwEMn4aEUvJ7iRPMFWz8-jzTAWC34GmcQ8Q/viewform

Announcements

• Preacher: Taylor, Luke 11:1-13

• End of Summer Party: 8/7

• UBCYP cookout: 9/7

Work is Worship

Coffee: Craig

Mugs: Ron and Rissé Miller

Money Counter: Mike D

Greeters: Blaylocks

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. 

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu

Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com

Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com

Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com

Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.

JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu 

Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com

Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com

Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com

George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

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

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 7-21-2019

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

the Rest moving to pierce our busyness
the Holding-Together surrounding our brokenness 

to enter into the story of God and the people of God

with our songs, our prayers, and our listening 

hoping the Spirit of God would form 
our hearts and minds in the way of Christ

teaching us to love God
and love our neighbor
with our whole lives. 

Amen

Scripture

Psalm 15

O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
    Who may dwell on your holy hill?

Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
    and speak the truth from their heart;
who do not slander with their tongue,
    and do no evil to their friends,
    nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;

in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
    but who honor those who fear the Lord;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
who do not lend money at interest,
    and do not take a bribe against the innocent.

Those who do these things shall never be moved.

Luke 10:38-42

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 

But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." 

But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

Prayer

This week’s prayer was from An Iona Prayer Book (98):

Lord of Life
we celebrate your countless gifts,
in days and nights,
in rainbows and rain,
in touch, dream and smile,
in partners who love,
in kids who cuddle,
in grannies who listen,
in friends who care,
in dogs that lick,
in hands that sew,
in food on the table;
yet above all,
in your coming among us,
walking our roads,
calling our names,
enfolding our lives,
inviting us home.

Setlist 7-21-2019

This past Sunday was the sixth Sunday after Pentecost, and 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.   If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

Rescue Is Coming by David Crowder* Band

Waking Life by Jameson McGregor

Mother by Jameson McGregor

There by Jameson McGregor

Chasing the Wind by Jameson McGregor

Come Alive by ubcmusic

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. 

Rescue Is Coming: We sang this song to begin our time together proclaiming the hope that God is actively working to redeem the cosmos.

Waking Life: This song is about God’s transforming presence in our lives, setting fires in us for justice and opening our hearts to love our neighbors.

Mother: This song celebrates God as Mother, embracing us with a love beyond our understanding.

There: We sang this song to proclaim God as an anchor beyond our struggles, drawing us toward Godself.

Chasing the Wind: This song offers a piercing word of hope through the layers of noise we pile upon ourselves to feel whole and complete.

Come Alive: This song is about God drawing us into God’s dance of love, gradually bringing us to life.

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

ITLOTC 7-19-19

ITLOC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Backside (by jamie)

Greetings.  

I hope this finds you well.

If you don’t already know, we have a Backside scheduled for one week from today (7/26) at 7.

If you don’t know what Backside is, it’s an open mic event that we host in the Backside.

If you don’t know what THE Backside is, it’s the large room on the back side of the church.

But also, this one is taking place in the Summer, so we call it Summerside.

Anyway.

These nights are times for us to gather and engage in art together. 

Some of that engagement happens in the form of individuals singing songs, reading poems, telling stories, showing visual art, etc.

And some of that engagement happens in the form of individuals bearing witness to what is being shared.

It’s an important space to share.

Because art lets us grasp at things that might otherwise evade us.

Those ideas that never quite seem to come out right when we try to speak them straight away.

The Bible seems to be in on this.

When Jesus talks about the Kingdom, he tells stories to get at the reality he’s establishing rather than just saying what he’s trying to say.

As if that was the best way to get it across.

Or take your pick from the 1/3 of Scripture that’s poetry.

Engaging God, joy, pain, love, existence, etc., is done well (best, in my experience) through the realm of art.

And even more so when done together.

So you should come.

And if you create things, I would encourage you to share something.

Even if you think you’re not good at it.

Because for most people, this sort of thing requires practice.

And I have found ubc to be a safe place to practice.

And if you don’t create things, I would encourage you to come and engage.

Even if you think you’re not good at it.

Because it’s good to be together.

And sometimes togetherness requires practice.
If you have any questions, or want to sign up, email jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Kid’s Camp Meeting! - July 21 after church (THIS SUNDAY):

We will be having a Kid’s Camp Info meeting for all of our kids and parents of kids who are going to Passport Kid’s Camp with us at the end of July. If you or your child are going to Kid’s Camp please plan to be at this meeting after church on July 21st. If you have any questions please contact Taylor at taylor@ubcwaco.org

Summerside - July 26th at 7pm

It’s Backside, but in the summer. See article above.

Leadership Team Nominations

We are looking for new folks to serve on the leadership team.  Here is some information for you to consider from the bylaws.  We have 4 positions open, two of which are students.

Section 1.  Leadership Team

(A) Purpose.  The Leadership Team shall be the primary decision-making body of UBC.  The Leadership Team will oversee all the business and property of the church, as well as make the final decisions regarding hiring and dismissal of staff and the acquisition and selling of assets that are beyond budgetary provisions. 

(C) Qualifications.  Each member of Leadership Team shall have been a member of UBC for at least one year, exhibited an understanding and commitment to the mission and values of the church, and be willing to fulfill all responsibilities in the Leadership Team job description.

(E) Term.  Members of Leadership Team may serve for a duration lasting up to three years.  While they are encouraged to remain the full three years, members may voluntarily remove themselves from their position at any time.  Members serving as student member commit to a year with the chance to renew up to three years. 

Nominations begin now.  So if you'd like to nominate yourself or anyone else, please use this link. (this is the link to put in - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeiBWA_LjB7dwfVwEMn4aEUvJ7iRPMFWz8-jzTAWC34GmcQ8Q/viewform

Riddle to Generate Clickbait

Announcements

• Preacher: Toph, Luke 10:38-42

• Waco Dive - 7/24 - noon - Rufi’s Cocina - 1801 N 25th St

• SWCC summer movie days - 7/24 - 1pm-4pm

• UBCYP cookout - 9/7

Work is Worship

Coffee: Craig

Mugs: Sandvall + Glover

Money Counter: Ballas

Greeters:

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. 

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu

Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com

Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com

Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com

Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.

JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu 

Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com

Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com

Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com

George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

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

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Liturgy 7-14-2019

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 Eternal One 

the Refuge of the weary
the defender of the weak 

to enter the story of God with our songs, 
our prayers, our silence, and our attention 

and find our own stories changed

hoping the Spirit of God will transform our hearts and minds

that we might learn to love God,
 and to love our neighbors,
to be formed in the way of Christ
in our time and place 

Amen

Scripture

Psalm 82

God takes God’s stand in the council of heaven; 
God gives judgment in the midst of the gods:

"How long will you judge unjustly, 
and show favor to the wicked?

Save the weak and the orphan; 
defend the humble and needy;
Rescue the weak and the poor; 
deliver them from the power of the wicked.

They do not know, neither do they understand;
they go about in darkness; 
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Now I say to you, 'You are gods, 
and all of you children of the Most High;
Nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, 
and fall like any prince.'"

Arise, O God, and rule the earth, 
for you shall take all nations for your own.

Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" 

He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 

So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 

But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. 

Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' 

Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 

He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Prayer

O Christ, kindle in our hearts within
A flame of love to our neighbor,
To our foes, to our friends, to our kindred all

O Christ of the poor and the yearning,
From the humblest thing that lives
To the name that is highest of all,
Kindle in our hearts within
A flame of love

Amen

Setlist 7-14-2019

This past Sunday was the fifth Sunday after Pentecost, and 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.   If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

Come Alive by ubcmusic

Rise Up by BiFrost Arts

Pulse by ubcmusic

Anthem by ubcmusic (adapted from Leonard Cohen)

Wideness by ubcmusic

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 Alive: This song is about God drawing us into God’s dance of love, gradually bringing us to life.

Rise Up: We sang this song to focus our attention on the vulnerable among us, to orient our concern there, to petition God to come to the defense of the the oppressed, and to form our hearts to do the same.

Pulse: We sang this song to ask the Spirit to remind us of our interconnectivity and to teach us to love one another.

Anthem: This song grasps for hope in despair. Hope for justice to come to governments who trample the weak. Hope for hearts to find their way to love. Hope that light will find its way through the cracks in our fractured world.

Wideness: We sang this song to celebrate the breadth of the mercy of God and to remind ourselves of our tendency to have narrow ideas 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.

ITLOTC 7-12-19

ITLOC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Listening

As I have been going about my summer routine, I have started listening more and more to podcasts. I have always been a podcast fan, but as my traveling has increased, so has my podcast listening. The group of 2-3 podcasts I frequent are very similar insofar as they usually have two people just having a conversation. I am so drawn to these podcasts that I will even find myself taking longer routes to my destination while driving. The stories and experiences of these people begs me to have an ear to listen. In the midst of this, I have realized there are plenty of people in my bubble with stories and experiences that are waiting to be heard. The podcasts I have listened to have heightened my awareness of this reality. Is it possible that God has created humanity to be in relationship with one another? Is Beloved Community a possibility in the place and season you are in?

UBC, we are a body made up of unique and diverse people. God beckons us to come near to each other. How can you be listening to the stories and experiences of people around you? And how can you grow from being in community with those around you? The stories and experiences of people around you are just waiting to be heard.

Let it be so in your life, Amen.

- Adam Thompson

Kid’s Camp Meeting! - July 21 after church:

We will be having a Kid’s Camp Info meeting for all of our kids and parents of kids who are going to Passport Kid’s Camp with us at the end of July. If you or your child are going to Kid’s Camp please plan to be at this meeting after church on July 21st. If you have any questions please contact Taylor at taylor@ubcwaco.org

Waco Dives 7/17 - Ocean Buffet

Join Toph and the UBC staff on an adventure with no culinary bounds to the Ocean Buffet (505 N Valley Mills Dr). Stir Fry, Lo Mein, Sushi, and Pizza are all available to you next Wednesday at noon. See you there!

Leadership Team Nominations

We are looking for new folks to serve on the leadership team.  Here is some information for you to consider from the bylaws.  We have 4 positions open, two of which are students.

Section 1.  Leadership Team

(A) Purpose.  The Leadership Team shall be the primary decision-making body of UBC.  The Leadership Team will oversee all the business and property of the church, as well as make the final decisions regarding hiring and dismissal of staff and the acquisition and selling of assets that are beyond budgetary provisions. 

(C) Qualifications.  Each member of Leadership Team shall have been a member of UBC for at least one year, exhibited an understanding and commitment to the mission and values of the church, and be willing to fulfill all responsibilities in the Leadership Team job description.

(E) Term.  Members of Leadership Team may serve for a duration lasting up to three years.  While they are encouraged to remain the full three years, members may voluntarily remove themselves from their position at any time.  Members serving as student member commit to a year with the chance to renew up to three years. 

Nominations begin now.  So if you'd like to nominate yourself or anyone else, please use this link. (this is the link to put in - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeiBWA_LjB7dwfVwEMn4aEUvJ7iRPMFWz8-jzTAWC34GmcQ8Q/viewform

Riddle to Generate Clickbait

Last weeks answer “E”

Announcements

• Preacher: Dilan Braddock & text is Psalm 82

• SWCC summer movie days - 7/24

• Young Adult/College Lake Retreat 7/12-14

Work is Worship

Coffee: Craig

Mugs: Sandvall + Glover

Money Counter: Ballas

Greeters: Ricky + Rose 

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. 

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu

Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com

Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com

Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com

Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.

JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu 

Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com

Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com

Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com

George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

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

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

ITLOTC 7-7-19

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Summer Poem

Everywhere I’ve gone this summer, I’ve seen so many children. During school seasons, I forget that children exist until Sunday mornings at church. I think this is what “Summer Magic” is for me—hearing the sounds of babies cooing, giggling boys and girls at the park, seeing infant after infant in their parents’ arms blinking with sheer wonder at me as I smile. I forget how amazing children are, and I love that summer is a reminder.

As I’m in awe of children during the summer, I’d like to share this poem titled, The Children by Mark Jarman.

The children are hiding among the raspberry canes.
They look big to one another, the garden small.
Already in their mouths this soft fruit
That lasts so briefly in the supermarket
Tastes like the past. The gritty wall,
Behind the veil of leaves, is hollow.
There are yellow wasps inside it. The children know.
They know the wall is hard, although it hums.
They know a lot and will not forget it soon.

When did we forget? But we were never
Children, never found where they were hiding
And hid with them, never followed
The wasp down into its nest
With a fingertip that still tingles.
We lie in bed at night, thinking about
The future, always the future, always forgetting
That it will be the past, hard and hollow,
Veiled and humming, soon enough.

Grace and peace to you all,
Kim

Kid’s Camp Meeting! - July 21 after church:

We will be having a Kid’s Camp Info meeting for all of our kids and parents of kids who are going to Passport Kid’s Camp with us at the end of July. If you or your child are going to Kid’s Camp please plan to be at this meeting after church on July 21st. If you have any questions please contact Taylor at taylor@ubcwaco.org

UBC Summer Book Club

There is still time to pick up a copy of Understanding God’s Will by Kyle Lake, and join us for our book club discussion.  There will be copies available to grab in the office on Sunday.  If you have any questions, contact toph@ubcwaco.org

Parishioner(s) of the week

Special shout out to Brett and Emily Mills for leading us in worship last Sunday. It was a blessing!

Image to Generate Clickbait Traffic

Announcements

• Preacher: Sharyl West Loeung

• SWCC summer movie days 6-26, 7-10, 7-24

• Young Adult/College Lake Retreat 7/12-14

Work is Worship

Coffee: Craig

Mugs: Dilan Braddock & Jessica Martin

Money Counter: JD Newman

Greeters: Harris

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. 

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu

Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com

Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com

Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com

Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.

JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu 

Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com

Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com

Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com

George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

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

Josh Blake: joshnblake@gmail.com

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Setlist 6-23-2019

This past Sunday was the second Sunday after Pentecost, and 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:

Future/Past by John Mark McMillan

Where God Has Always Been by Jameson McGregor

Rise Up by BiFrost Arts

Heart With No Companion by Leonard Cohen

Eternal Anchor by ubcmusic

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 celebrate God’s drawing near to us.

Where God Has Always Been: We sang this song to proclaim God’s care for the weary and cast aside.

Rise Up: This song offered us language to petition God to rise to the defense of the vulnerable, and also served to challenge ourselves to live lives in defense of the vulnerable.

Heart With No Companion: This song is about God’s love breaking into desperation.

Eternal Anchor: This song is about God’s grafting of the seemingly least likely into the family of God.

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

ITLOTC 6-21-19

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Saint John’s Eve (by jamie)

Greetings.  Hope this finds you well.  You might have heard that we are doing our first ever Saint John’s Eve potluck on Sunday at 5pm, so I thought I’d use my newsletter week to talk about that.

So.  Aside from the big points on the Church calendar (Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, etc.), there are a bunch of feast days for different saints or events.  For example, we observe the feast day of Saint Francis, as well as All Saints Day.  Monday is a day known as the Nativity of John the Baptist.  Why?  That’s a long story, but he’s about 6 months younger than Jesus, so if we celebrate Jesus’ birthday on December 25th, naturally we’d want to celebrate John the Baptist’s birthday about 6 months earlier in the year.  

Simple enough.  

[[Side note you can skip if you’re just wanting to get straight to the point: these dates are also placed near the winter and summer solstices.  The why of that is an interesting story, and I’m sure if you look into that, you won’t feel like you’ve wasted your time.  To gloss over the story, but get to the point, the solstices have had great cultural significance for about as long as there has been culture, and these significant days had Christian holy days paired with them.  

Perhaps more interestingly, there’s some poetry at work in the placement of the nativities of Jesus and John the Baptist.  One line that you might know from the lips of John the Baptist is “he must increase, I must decrease” (he’s talking about Jesus).  It’s on bumper stickers and stuff now.  But it’s also on display in the world around us because the Summer solstice (that’s today)  is the day after which the daylight begins to decrease, ever so slowly (2 minutes a day or something), for the year, while the Winter Solstice is the day after which the daylight begins to increase, ever so slowly.  So alongside these natural phenomena, we find our story breathing to life.]]

A more pressing question you might have is why we would take the time to mark the birth of John the Baptist, let alone by having it mirror the way we mark the birth of Jesus.  Here are a few reasons:

1)  Jesus straight up says John the Baptist is the greatest man to ever have lived (Mt. 11:11), so perhaps we should give his story more than a glance.

2) Luke’s gospel takes the time to narrate the story of John’s birth in detail.  You may or may not have noticed that, since we collectively spend more time in Luke 2 with little baby Jesus. But Luke starts with a 75 verse (!) narration of how John the Baptist came to be in the world as though that story had something to do with the Jesus story (and it definitely does).  John’s work of “preparing the way” started before he was yelling in the desert. 

3) John the Baptist is a figure that has a lot to offer us in this season of Ordinary Time.  This is the season where we’ve rolled through all the other movements of the liturgical calendar and are trying to embody what we’ve learned in some way.  We are living within the question of what it means to be people who are being formed in the way of Christ in our particular time and place.  With that comes a lot of trying to live meaningfully in the absence of certainty.  We want to get it right, we want to live and love well, but when it comes down to it, we don’t have Jesus in the flesh to give us a thumbs up or down.  John lived his entire life preparing the way for the Christ, and seemed to think that baptizing Jesus was some sort of culminating moment in his life’s work, yet the last we hear from John, he is in jail, soon to be executed, and he is wondering if Jesus really is the one everyone has been waiting for.  You will not find a great track record of certainty in the Bible, even among the figures characterized as the greatest.  So perhaps there is hope that God might be drawing us in to God’s work in the world in spite of our uncertainty.

Anyway, aside from all of this, sometimes is just nice to get together and eat.  So I hope you’ll come.  

If you have any questions or want to talk more about any of this, feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

St. John’s Eve Potluck (6/23)

On Sunday, June 23rd, at 5pm, we’ll gather for a potluck and short liturgy for St. John’s Eve. This is the eve of the nativity of John the Baptist, so this is a sort of Christmas in June. We’ve never done it before, but you should come because it’s going to be your new favorite thing.

MealBaby Need:

At UBC we put together meal calendars for our families who have just had babies or who might need a little extra help for one reason or another. We are currently running three different calendars for families with new babies and have several more starting very soon!! We could really use your help to make sure that we can serve our families during these transitional seasons! If you are interested in serving in this way please contact Taylor at taylor@ubcwaco.org

UBC Summer Book Club

There is still time to pick up a copy of Understanding God’s Will by Kyle Lake, and join us for our book club discussion on the 26th.  There will be copies available to grab in the office on Sunday.  If you have any questions, contact toph@ubcwaco.org

Parishioner(s) of the week

Jon Davis for setting up our new wifi network. It is very fancy and there is internet everywhere now.

Image to Generate Clickbait Traffic

answer: bookkeeper

Announcements

• Text: Luke 8:26-39 (Taylor is preaching!)

• SWCC summer movie days 6-26, 7-10, 7-24

• Feast of Saint John 6/23

• Youth Camp 6/29 - 7/1

• Young Adult/College Lake Retreat 7/12-14

Work is Worship

Coffee: Glovers

Mugs: Burns

Money Counter: Jen Carron

Greeters: Blaylock

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. 

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu

Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com

Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com

Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com

Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.

JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu 

Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com

Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com

Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com

George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

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

Josh Blake: joshnblake@gmail.com

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

Setlist 6-16-2019

This past Sunday was Trinity Sunday, and 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:

Holy, Holy, Holy

Wild One by Jameson McGregor

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go by ubcmusic

Eternal Anchor by ubcmusic

Heart Won’t Stop by John Mark and Sarah McMillan

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. 

Holy, Holy, Holy: We sang this song to begin our time together on Trinity Sunday by proclaiming the mystery of the Trinity.

Wild One: This song offered us language to celebrate God’s not being pinned down by our assumptions about who God is.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go: This song helped us proclaim the constancy of God’s love despite the contingency of the love we sometimes offer one another. Also, yesterday was Father’s Day, which, as we noted, is a difficult day for some of us; this song was to offer hope into that despair.

Eternal Anchor: This song is about God’s grafting of the seemingly least likely into the family of God.

Heart Won’t Stop: This song quotes at length Psalm 139, which was Toph’s sermon text. It celebrates the constancy of God’s love in the midst of the ebb and flow of our lives.

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

ITLOTC 6-14-19

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Vacation Bible School // UBC

Grow, Grow, Grow (Yes this song will be stuck in my head for the next month)

Growing up in the suburbs of Houston Texas, VBS was a BIG DEAL. Everyone summer I would count down the days until the children would get to take over the Church. If you didn’t grow up going to VBS, Vacation Bible School is a week-long day camp (or night in our case) where kids are able to learn a Bible story, sing and dance to catchy songs, and eat yummy snacks.  Starting in May every church in town would display massive banners exhibiting their outlandish themes. Churches would magically be transformed over night from boring sanctuaries to secret spy bases and African Safaris. As a kid VBS was one of the few times I felt like the Church was a place I belonged. It was a chance for me to hang out with my friends, be invested in by adults or cool youth workers, and use my imagination within the Church walls.

This week at UBC our story was the parable of the sower, and we discussed what it meant for God’s love to be a seed that grows inside of us. We planted pizza gardens, filtered dirty water, learned about being good stewards of our planet, and ate dirt and worms. It was a BLAST!

Make no mistake for Taylor to pull off something like this it took not only takes weeks of her time planning, but also the support of volunteers. This week we had roughly 30 volunteers who showed up and loved on these kiddos. We had youths, students, and parents step up and sacrifice 5:30 – 8:30 PM every night this week to make VBS a reality. So shout out to all of our Rockstar volunteers, because of you these kids were able to call UBC their Church this week and encounter God in a special way that they will talk about all summer!

St. John’s Eve Potluck (6/23)

On Sunday, June 23rd, at 5pm, we’ll gather for a potluck and short liturgy for St. John’s Eve. This is the eve of the nativity of John the Baptist, so this is a sort of Christmas in June. We’ve never done it before, but you should come because it’s going to be your new favorite thing.

MealBaby Need:

At UBC we put together meal calendars for our families who have just had babies or who might need a little extra help for one reason or another. We are currently running three different calendars for families with new babies and have several more starting very soon!! We could really use your help to make sure that we can serve our families during these transitional seasons! If you are interested in serving in this way please contact Taylor at taylor@ubcwaco.org

UBC Summer Book Club

There is still time to pick up a copy of Understanding God’s Will by Kyle Lake, and join us for our book club discussion on the 26th.  There will be copies available to grab in the office on Sunday.  If you have any questions, contact toph@ubcwaco.org

Parishioner(s) of the week

All the wonderful volunteers who made VBS a smashing success!

Announcements

• Text: Psalm 139

• SWCC summer movie days 6-26, 7-10, 7-24

• Feast of Saint John 6/23

• Youth Camp 6/29 - 7/1

• Young Adult/College Lake Retreat 7/12-14

Work is Worship

Greeters: Richardson’s

Coffee Makers: Newman’s

Mug Cleaners: Newman’s

Money Counter:  Mike D

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. 

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu

Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com

Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com

Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com

Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.

JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu 

Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com

Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com

Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com

George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

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

Josh Blake: joshnblake@gmail.com

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

ITLOTC 6-7-19

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

Many-become-one

I love Summer. I love being out in the sun. I love getting tan. I’m not sure what it is about tanning, but I really like the way I look. I feel more distinguished, and somehow more important. I felt the same way about my septum piercing. 

Side note, one thing that is both beautiful and difficult about marriage is that you each have a say in who you are. That two-become-one thing. I have thoughts about my husband, and he has thoughts about me. 

Ever since we were dating, he hated my septum piercing. He didn’t tell me that at the beginning but would mention occasionally that he thought I looked pretty without the ring. 

About 3 weeks ago I told him I thought he looked better with a shorter haircut and a trimmed beard. He brought up the septum ring, and we had a talk on the similarities. Then that day we both decided we loved the other person more than the perceptions we wanted to give out to the world. It was rough. He went to the barber; I went to the piercing parlor. We both let ourselves be okay with looking different and ultimately being more of who we already were.

UBC, you are a many-become-one. You are the church. You are unique. You are in a place that you’ve never been before. You’ve trimmed your beard; you’ve removed your piercing. May you find peace in your new identity, and may you find more love for each other through it. 

Vacation Bible School

Next week is VBS!! Starting on Tuesday evening (6/11) and going through Friday (6/14) our kids will be meeting at UBC from 6pm-8:30pm to learn about the Parable of the Sower! We’ll have fun activities for kids ranging from 3 years old to 5th grade! If you’re interested in reserving a place for your child or if you’re interested in helping to lead please email Taylor at ttaylor@ubcwaco.org!

MealBaby Need:

At UBC we put together meal calendars for our families who have just had babies or who might need a little extra help for one reason or another. We are currently running three different calendars for families with new babies and have several more starting very soon!! We could really use your help to make sure that we can serve our families during these transitional seasons! If you are interested in serving in this way please contact Taylor at taylor@ubcwaco.org

Summer Book Club

To kick off the summer, we are going to do a book study together.  The book for the month of June will be: Understanding Gods Will by Kyle Lake.  We will read the book during the month of June, then we will have a time to get together and discuss it at the end of month: June 26th.   We have copies of the book available, so if you don’t have the money to buy it, no worries.  If you have any questions, email toph@ubcwaco.org.

Youth Summer Schedule

Announcements

• Text: Acts 2:1-21, “It’s 9 o’clock somewhere”

• SWCC summer movie days 6-26, 7-10, 7-24

• UBC VBS 6/11-13

• Feast of Saint John 6/23

• Youth Camp 6/29 - 7/1

• Young Adult/College Lake Retreat 7/12-14

Work is Worship

Greeters: Ricky + Rose

Coffee Makers: Davis’s

Mug Cleaners: Davis’s

Money Counter:  Ballas

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. 

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu

Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com

Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com

Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com

Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.

JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu 

Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com

Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com

Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com

George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

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

Josh Blake: joshnblake@gmail.com

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com

ITLOTC 5-31-19

ITLOTC

(In The Life Of The Church)

There Is A Balm In Gilead

A thing you might not know about me is that my undergraduate degree is in music. I have a Bachelors of Music from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR. And after I graduated I spent three years teaching music at the elementary and middle school levels. And one of my favorite parts about teaching music and leading choirs was conducting. And while there were only certain pieces and certain songs that my choirs were ready to learn and perform I spent a lot of time dreaming about what kind of music I could use if I were ever to conduct at a high school or college level. And one song I came back to again and again was a version of There Is A Balm In Gilead by René Clausen. 

There is a version of the song performed by The Concordia Choir (conducted by Clausen!) that I particularly loved – I would listen to it over and over and over again. (Watch and listen to it here if you’re interested! You should. You definitely should go listen to it.) And part of the reason why I love this song is – of course – because of the beauty of the choir, but also it is because of the beautiful simplicity of the lyrics - which are as follows:

There is a balm in Gilead

To make the wounded whole;

There is a balm in Gilead

To heal the sin-sick soul.

Sometimes I feel discouraged,

And think my work’s in vain,

But then the Holy Spirit

Revives my soul again.

There is a balm in Gilead

To make the wounded whole;

There is a balm in Gilead

To heal the sin-sick soul.

If you cannot preach like Peter,

If you cannot pray like Paul,

Just tell the love of Jesus,

And say He died for all.

There is a balm in Gilead

To make the wounded whole;

There is a balm in Gilead

To heal the sin-sick soul.

Gilead was a mountainous part of the nation of Israel – and was in fact known for plants and herbs that were used to make healing balms. So the song is referencing this - but the song is also a response to the question posed in Jeremiah 8:22, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?”  And we now know and can say confidently – there is a balm in Gilead. There is a healing hope for our souls – and we find that balm and that hope in Jesus Christ.

A thing I know to be true about myself is that I am often focused on the present in a way that can sometimes be detrimental. Every single summer of my life I have thought, “I am never going to know what it feels like to be cool again. I am going to be hot forever.” And every single winter of my life (the majority of them relatively mild Texas winters!) I have thought, “I am never going to know what it feels like to be warm again. I am going to be cold forever.” Every time I have a sinus infection I’m sure that I’ll never breathe normally again. And every time I sprain my ankle I’m sure that I’ll never walk normally again. I know this is bizarre but it’s true. And it’s part of why this song is so meaningful to me. 

When I get discouraged and think my work is in vain – I have to trust with all of my heart that the Holy Spirit will one day revive my soul again. When it is too much to pray and too much to preach I have to remember that what I am really called to do is love – love people well and with the love of Christ that has already been given freely. And on the days when I am most aware of my own sin – the ways in which I am wounded and the ways in which I tend to wound others – on those days when I am tempted to throw in the towel, to call it a day, and give up – on the days when I am sure that a broken sinner like me is incapable of doing good in the world – those are the days when I have to cling hardest to the reminder that there is a balm in Gilead – and that balm is the saving work of Christ Jesus which has already been accomplished on my behalf and on the behalf of every person in this world. And that work is enough to make even the most wounded of us whole – and it is enough to heal this sin-sick soul.

I’d love to hear where you are finding hope lately. What is it that is helping you to remember to cling to hope? Email me here to let me know or if you have any questions at all!

Meet Our Newest UBCer:

Name:  May Wallace Mackey

Birthday: 5/4/19

Birth Weight:  9 lbs. 8 oz.

Birth Height:  21 inches 

Enneagram Number: 5

MealBaby Need:

At UBC we put together meal calendars for our families who have just had babies or who might need a little extra help for one reason or another. We are currently running three different calendars for families with new babies and have several more starting very soon!! We could really use your help to make sure that we can serve our families during these transitional seasons! If you are interested in serving in this way please contact Taylor at taylor@ubcwaco.org

Summer Lovefeast - June 2 - noon

It is finally summer!!!   To kick off the summer, we are having a lovefeast after church Sunday.  We will have some yard games set up, as well as a classic summer movie playing.  The theme for this lovefeast is a summer picnic, so bring your favorite picnic foods: fried chicken, potato salad, sandwiches, fruit salad, etc....  UBC will provide the drinks and a bunch of fried chicken (but we will need more).  If you have any questions email toph@ubcwaco.org

Summer Book Club

To kick off the summer, we are going to do a book study together.  The book for the month of June will be: Understanding Gods Will by Kyle Lake.  We will read the book during the month of June, then we will have a time to get together and discuss it at the end of month: June 26th.   We have copies of the book available, so if you don’t have the money to buy it, no worries.  If you have any questions, email toph@ubcwaco.org.

SWCC Movie Day - June 5th -1:30pm

We are hosting the first of four movie days this summer, and we would love for you to come.  The kids from the South Waco Community Center will be joining us, and we would love for you to bring your kids as well.  We will also need help passing out candy and drinks, so if you can help please sign up on Sunday in the foyer, or contact toph@ubcwaco.org

UBC Youth Summer Schedule

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Announcements

• Text: Acts 1, “Jesus Ascending”

• SWCC summer movie days 6-5, 6-26, 7-10, 7-24

• UBC VBS 6-11-13

• Young Adult/College Lake Retreat 7-1
  

Work is Worship

Greeters: Harris

Coffee Makers: Balks

Mug Cleaners: Balks

Money Counter:  JD Newman

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. 

Byron Griffin: byrontgriffin@gmail.com

Kerri Fisher: Kerri_Fisher@baylor.edu

Jeremy Nance: Jeremy.J.Nance@L3T.com

Joanna Sowards: jo.sowards@gmail.com

Kathy Krey: kathykrey@gmail.com

Student Position, Samuel Moore: samuel_moore2@baylor.edu

Student Position, Anna Carol Peery: anna_peery@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.

JD Newman: JD_Newman@baylor.edu 

Catherine Ballas: catherine@refitrev.com

Jen Carron: jen.carron78@gmail.com

Mike Dodson: financeteammike@gmail.com

George Thornton: GeorgecCT1982@gmail.com

UBC HR Team

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

Josh Blake: joshnblake@gmail.com

Ross Van Dyke: Ross_Vandyke@baylor.edu

Jared Gould: jared.gould1@gmail.com

Rebekah Powell: rpowell671@gmail.com

Kristen Richardson: wacorichardsons@gmail.com