Rest and Guests :)
First off, THANK YOU for the way you responded last week in transforming our sanctuary and ACE rooms back to the normal set-ups. The rooms look great and are ready to be used by our guest ministries during the week.
“ Then he said to them, ‘Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’”
Our potluck was a success and a great application of Nehemiah 8:10 (see verse below). I also am grateful for your willingness to sit at tables for the summer. Seeing the visual of the “gates” as our tables during the service was a powerful way to learn!
I really enjoyed teaching in that set-up and I trust there were good conversations and connections. I’m grateful for how much we learned by walking through the book of Nehemiah together and I hope the Lord uses it in our future as well.
Next, as you know, I’m pausing to take some vacation time as has been my rhythm here at HSCC.
I will visit friends and family in Southern California, staycation in Santa Cruz and then a mini trip up the Mendocino Coast to celebrate our 30th anniversary in our honeymoon location.
I’m grateful to have rest built into my role here and hope you’ll pray for us as we rest and renew.
In the meantime, each week we will have a guest speaker on Sunday.
I’ve decided this year that instead of surprising you on Sunday that I would write a small introduction and reflection on each speaker before they come and preach.
They’ve all preached here before and done excellent work. I’m expectant of the Lord to use each one in your lives and the life of our church.
This coming Sunday we don’t really have a “guest speaker”—Dave Lippman is preaching!
Yes he’s our office manager and co-leader of our college and young adults ministry with his wife Keri…but so much more.
Dave is an author (As Steam Rises & Wordless Place), Co-Director of Soul Care (a non-profit ministry anchored at our church where he and Keri offer Spiritual Direction a one on one ministry for care and flourishing in the Christian life, as well as mentoring, pre-martial counseling, group discernment, and retreats—discover more at their website: www.soul-care.com ) and is a manager a few vacation rentals in Mount Hermon as a side hustle.
Dave graduated from the same college and seminary as I did—Biola University and Talbot Seminary.
As I think of who Dave is and what he is interested in I have a few reflection questions for you to consider:
Have you ever written a poem or short story?
What is stopping you? Give it a try.
Or what about pausing to ask yourself what are some of the major themes that God is bringing up in your heart?
Have you processed that with God, or anyone else? (If not, then a great place to start is with Soul-Care)
If it were the winter time, I’d encourage you to sit by a cozy fire, with a blanket and a cup of tea and dive into a good book.
Since it’s August, so perhaps under a redwood tree by a creek would be more appropriate.
Enjoy Dave this Sunday as he brings God’s Word to our church community.
