Month: September 2018

All activities and events for the week of 17 September are cancelled or postponed. As we learn, we will post postponment dates.

We pray for those who experienced damage or loss during Hurricane Florence, and ask the Lord to aid and comfort them in the cleanup process.

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” –Luke 8:22-25

Our faith is in Jesus, and we are praying for everyone’s safety as Hurricane Florence heads into land.

If you have not made preparations for the storm, there still is a little time to get ready through today, before storm conditions worsen. It is likely that tornado action can occur, too, so be especially aware of the weather at all times.

If the location of your home is low, get to a shelter or to friends or family who live on higher ground.

Pray for the safety of all in the county, and hope that, on the other side of the storm, we all are safe and have had minimal damage.

Due to the approach of Hurricane Florence, events previously scheduled for this week are cancelled.

Saturday, 15 September, Rev. Torrie Osgood will try to send a One Call Now phone message update regarding the schedule for Sunday and beyond.

Bethanyarapahoe.org also will post updates as they become available to us.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!  For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in. –Psalm 27:7-10

There are people who have been abandoned, not necessarily intentionally. Think of old people who languish in nursing homes; those who are bound to their homes due to their infirmities; those who receive few visits. They are like old abandoned buildings that continue to stand, though no longer serving a useful purpose. Even when those buildings are structurally sound, because their facades show age and deferred maintenance, they are abandoned.

If you visit those in nursing homes, as elders do, you will find that, often, rather than blessing the one you visit, the one you visit blesses you. Elders frequently feel that, after their visits, they have been blessed far beyond what they have provided to those they visit.

Our Lord does not abandon us; He is with us through adversity, and provides us strength. He never forgets us. When our walls lack paint, our doors creak, our windows fail to block rain and cold, and no one seeks our shelter, the Lord becomes our shelter. “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.”