In Person Service Coming Up

As Jay mentioned last week, we are planning on an outdoor service on Sunday, July 26th. Space will be limited, so we will have an online registration form starting next week, so be on the look out for that.

Here are some initial details:

• Initially we’ll meet outside on the back lot of grass at Central Lutheran.

• We plan to meet in the morning, and the service will be shorter in length to accommodate the heat

• Limited numbers to allow for social distancing (you will register ahead of time)

• Eucharistic: we will safely celebrate Holy Communion

Here is a brief mediation on a prayer that has been encouraging/challenging me the last few days. 

“Grant us brave and enduring hearts that we may strengthen one another, until the disciplines and testing of these days are ended, and you again give peace in our time; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

These words come from a collect in the back of the new 2019 version of the Book of Common Prayer. I love these topical and seasonal prayers because they so often condense (or collect) profound thoughts into a few words and enable me to pray things it might not otherwise occur to me pray. 

Here is the full prayer:

In times of social conflict or distress

“Increase, O God, the spirit of neighborliness among us, that
in peril we may uphold one another, in suffering tend to one another, and in homelessness, loneliness, or exile befriend one another. Grant us brave and enduring hearts that we may strengthen one another, until the disciplines and testing of these days are ended, and you again give peace in our time; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

I want you to reflect on the word neighborliness for a moment. It’s a hard word to wrap your mouth around, and it might seem a bit abstract, but it points to the second of the two great commandments, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We might have a lot of questions right now about what it means to love our neighbor. Or we might find ourselves asking amid all the “disciplines and testing of these days” the question a lawyer once asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” In response Jesus tells the ever famous and ever relevant story of the Good Samaritan. After he tells the story, Jesus asks a probing question of his own—“Who proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

Jesus, who is almost never abstract, sums up the spirit of neighborliness in that brilliant phrase, proved to be a neighbor, so I have taken that as a short hand version of the prayer, “Lord God, help me to prove to be a neighbor today."

(I mentioned this prayer in an Instagram post earlier this week, but I wanted to share it here as well, so if you don’t already follow us on social media, you should start! During the past few months, we’ve been posting something almost every day.) 

Chris+

Time Flies and Regathering

Two years ago we officially became St. Bart’s! We’ve been having a lot of fun and time has flown! I’m so grateful to God for His faithfulness then, now, and in the future as we have seen Him work clearly and compellingly in our midst. The latest iteration of His faithfulness makes its appearance in each of you as I hear from you, see you participating as you’re able, and as St. Bart’s plans for the road ahead. Thanks be to God!

Speaking of planning, I want you to know we are planning ahead for our first re-gathered worship service on July 26. We’re ironing out details as we form a Re-Gathering Team to help plan and execute this important next step, but here is what I can tell you for sure: 

• Initially we’ll meet outside on the back lot of grass at Central Lutheran.

• The service will be shorter in length to accommodate the heat

• Limited numbers to allow for social distancing (you will register ahead of time)

• Eucharistic: we will safely celebrate Holy Communion

So, save the date for July 26 and say your prayers as we prepare. If you are interested in serving on the Re-Gathering Team, please tell us at contact@stbartsdallas.org.

I’m looking forward to another year of beholding and becoming alongside each of you. God bless!


Jay+

Wholeness & Healing: For the Life of the World

We’re six months into 2020, and I am positive that no one saw ’this’ coming. Global pandemic? Nah, stuff of movies. And if there really was a pandemic, we’d be fine - we’re America! And yet the coronavirus crisis continues apace and in fact increases in magnitude. Lord, have mercy. 

In addition, the national conversation about racial equality has reached a new inflection point. And while there is hope for a positive change from this energy, there is also confusion and deep divisions regrettably persist. Lord, have mercy. 

It seems as though politically, socially, and in terms of public health, tumultuous waves crash about us. Where is the church? The Church fathers likened Her to the ark that saved Noah and his kindred, the righteous, from the destroying waters. The Church has also been likened to the ship that navigates the terrible and chaotic waters of this world by God's grace, a place of refuge from the enveloping storm. 

We might even feel like the apostles who, when they found themselves in a terrible storm on the sea of Galilee, woke their sleeping master in outrage. “We are dying and you’re asleep!?“ Jesus calmly rebuked the storm and all was well. 

Where is the church in the midst of the current tumult, fear, uncertainty and unprecedented isolation? The church is gathered around Christ. When the people of God can abide in stillness and attentiveness before the Crucified and Risen One, then the Church can be present to the world in a way that is true to her nature, in a way that brings wholeness and healing to the world around us. St. Paul says the Church is Christ's body, and that much like husband and wife are one flesh in holy matrimony, so also Christ and his Bride are one flesh. This is a mystery, but it is one we abide in, are nurtured in, and seek to share with the people of East Dallas.

What did Christ do with his flesh? He offered it for the life of the world. This is why St. Bart’s exists. Christ seeks to offer himself for the life of the world through us. We do this by connecting the people of East Dallas with God and his people so we might behold and become more like God together.

This Sunday we’ll continue our sermon series on our Vision and Values and will be looking at the value of Wholeness and Healing, of how God brings Wholeness and Healing to us, his Church, and seeks to bring Wholeness and Healing to the world through us.

Jay+

Mystery

We are taking this month to talk about our vision and values, and this Sunday I will be preaching on our value of mystery. 

Each of our values begins with a statement about who God is and then moves into our response. By valuing mystery, we are simply valuing God as God is, and saying that though we can never plumb the depths of all that God is, we can know him, and we can through his good gifts participate in the abundance of the divine life. 

MYSTERY - Through the redeeming love of the Son and the life-giving power of the Spirit, the Father calls us deeper into the divine life. We participate in this holy mystery through worship and community, through word and sacrament, and through the grace-charged gift of creation itself.

Each of our values also includes a collect which helps us pray into and out of the reality each of our values hopes to convey. I would encourage you to pray this collect which speaks to mystery and to meditate on the means God has given us to know him, his ways, and his people:

Almighty God, Whose Son Our Savior Jesus Christ Is The Light Of The World: Grant That Your People, Illumined By Your Word And Sacraments, May Shine With The Radiance Of Christ's Glory, That He May Be Known, Worshiped, And Obeyed To The Ends Of The Earth; Through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who With You And The Holy Spirit Lives And Reigns, One God, Now And For Ever. Amen.

(From BCP, Second Sunday After The Epiphany)

Even though we are not yet meeting face to face, June is a busy month for us, so I also want to mention a couple of housekeeping things:

1) June marks the end of our fiscal year. We want to thank all of you who have faithfully given to St. Bart's over the past year and to especially thank you for your faithful giving during this pandemic and the economic uncertainty it brings. If you are not yet participating in giving, I want to encourage to pray about giving this month and to remind everyone that in the month of June we will set aside 10% of all giving for our Benevolence and Relief Fund. If you have a need, we now have an online form for applying for money from the fund. 

2) We are partnering with All Saints Dallas in an online version of the Alpha Marriage Course. It will start this coming Monday, June 22 at 7:45. If you like some sense of what to except, check out this promotional video.

Here is some info on how to sign up. 

"The Marriage Course is a series of seven sessions designed for couples seeking practical support to strengthen their relationships, to keep the spark alive, and to stay connected. This virtual course will start Monday, June 22 at 7:45. Please email marriagecourse@ascdallas.org to register.

Chris+

Hospitality

“Our operative way of doing mission is hospitality.” I heard one of our vision team members share this thought almost two years ago, and it has stuck with me ever since.  As this group weighed the different values that each member had experienced, Hospitality kept coming up to the top of the list. When visitors come to St. Bart’s, one of the first pieces of feedback I hear is how welcome everyone feels, how they experience this church like it’s their home already.  One of my seminary professors, Bob Webber, used to say “hospitality is a gift of the Spirit.” It’s easy to make this connection with the Spirit, Hospitality and St. Bart’s when we think of Christ on the cross and especially our daily prayer for mission:


Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love
On the hard wood of the cross that everyone might
Come within the reach of your saving embrace. 
So clothe us in your Spirit, that we, reaching forth
Our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you
To the knowledge and love of you, for the honor of your name. Amen.


Our hope and vision at St. Bart’s is to build a people and place that connect the people of East Dallas with God so that together we may behold God and become more like him. 

In this final month of our fiscal year, we see a distinct opportunity to do just that. First, as you have done so well through this calendar year, please continue to remember your tithes to the Lord. It cannot be overstated how this pandemic has affected us all in unique and varied ways. And one reality I return to time and again is that God always provides for his people. I hope you have seen that reality at work in your lives.

Secondly, one specific way we are attempting to extend the hospitality of Christ into East Dallas - and the people of St. Bart’s in particular - is with the Covid Relief Fund. The purpose of the fund is to assist those members of the St. Bart’s family who have been adversely affected economically by the pandemic. So, in this last month of our fiscal year, 10% of June’s contributions will be diverted to this fund. Thank you for your generous giving that enable us to help those in our midst. 

The word hospitality has a particular sting to it these days. Our ability to gather is hindered, our ability to welcome our friends and neighbors into our homes and church is hindered. But remember, the core and character of who we are - the things we value - do not change. We remain a hospitable people centered around the crucified and risen Christ. We remain St. Bart’s. 

Pray that we can see each other soon -

Jay+

Imago Dei and George Floyd

This Sunday’s feast of the Holy Trinity comes amidst not only a global pandemic - yes, that’s still happening - but also the latest in a string of killings of black men and women in the United States that has stretched back for centuries - George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery being among the most recent. We need to be broken for these deaths, and we need to pray for God’s mercy in light of the brokenness of our nation. 

Imago dei is Latin for “image of God,” like you’ll hear this Sunday in the readings: 
    
   "so God created man in his own image
        In the image of God he created him; 

    Male and female he created them."  Gen 1:27

The simple take away here is that all life, especially human life is invaluable. Indelibly stamped on our being is the image of the Holy Trinity, the only glorious One, the fountain of life in whose light we see light.  And so to assault any human, much less kill, is an assault on or murder committed against God’s own image. Thus, the events of the last few weeks should give us holy pause especially when we consider that so many of a particular skin color have been killed without cause over and over again. 

Holy God, holy mighty, holy immortal, have mercy on us. 

What we must call to mind is that when, “for us and for our salvation the [only-begotten] Son became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man,” He did not sit on a throne of power but was rather glorified by being “crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffering death, and being buried." The striking reality to remember in these grievous and lamentable days is that when God sent His own Son to show us His image in full - the same image we have been created in - the Son did not lord it over us. Rather, he poured Himself out for the life of the world. He showed us what it means to be fully human. 

Dear People of St. Bart’s, how can we be fully human in this moment? How can we behold the crucified and glorified Christ so that we may see the way of the cross is the way of life? That our lives by His uncreated grace, become the way of the cross? And how can we come alongside our neighbors of color - especially those who are black - to do just what the Prophet Micah said: “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God”? 

We need those three things - justice, mercy, and humility. They are not abstract, untethered from the life of God and measured by our society, our constitution, our political parties, or even our sordid past. Rather, these virtues are perfectly displayed in Christ. As we behold the same Christ, may we become image bearers in the full, pouring ourselves out for our neighbors for the life of the world in God’s justice, God’s mercy, and God’s humility.  Amen. 

Jay+

Pentecost and Giving "As Any Had Need"

Please join us for online worship this Sunday as we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost and remember the coming of the Holy Spirit.

From the tongues of fire to Peter’s bold proclamation of salvation in Christ, we know that the day of Pentecost itself was an auspicious and exciting day. But what did life in the church look like after the fireworks of Pentecost? What happened after the Spirit came? In a span of a few verses, the book of Acts gives us an evocative picture of the early church.

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.” (Acts 2:42–46 ESV)

The phrase “as any had need” sticks out to me as an exhortation to all of us to take care of each other in this difficult season. We do not yet know the full extent of the economic impact this pandemic will have, but in the spirit of the early church, we want to be ready to take care of each other’s needs as this crisis continues to unfold.

To that end we have set aside an initial $5,000 for a relief fund. The money is intended to help the people of St. Bart’s with needs arising from lost jobs, lost income, and other difficulties resulting from the pandemic. Additionally, in the month of June we will set aside 10% of all giving for the relief fund.

In the coming weeks, we will communicate the details of how to apply online, who qualifies, etc .In the meantime, if you have a need, please email contact@stbartsdallas.org.

Chris+

Not to Be Forgotten: Ascension Day

Today is Ascension. Tucked away 40 days after Easter is the Ascension of Christ. Easter we get. Pentecost we get. But the ascension is a little harder to grasp. Let God arise and his enemies be scattered? The Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool unto your feet? When he ascended on high he led a host of captives in his train and gave gifts to men….that he might fill all things? Yes! Yes to all of those things. 

The ascension of Christ is key because had Jesus not ascended to the Father, he could not send the Holy Spirit to be with us. He would not be reigning at the Father’s right hand. He would not be in that place of immediacy with the Father interceding on our behalf. As the theological maxim goes, because Jesus is absent from us, he can be truly present to us. 

These 40 days have been marked by the strangeness of the coronavirus. The virus and its effects have ravaged much of what we would call normal, and everyone of us is experiencing it differently. So much so, that there are vastly different opinions on what is actually happening right now in the world. To say this is a confusing time would be an understatement. 

Though the events of recent days may be equal parts disconcerting and confusing, the reality of Christ’s ascension and coming again in glory are not fuzzy at all. As Jesus disappeared into the clouds, angels appeared to announce that “this Jesus , who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). To be sure, friends, Christ is coming, and his enemies will be made a footstool to his feet. Those enemies include disease, devastation, and death. I pray this Ascension Day we will set our hope fully in Christ and the glorious hope we have in his sure return.   

Jay+