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May Newsletter

"Abide,"

That was the word the Lord gave me as I laid in a hospital bed three years ago after a bad cycling accident that left me with a broken vertebrae preparing for surgery. It comes from John 15 specifically verse 5 which says, 

An artist in our church recently 
designed this print and made copies
for everyone at Shalom! 

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

This accident also happened right around the time I was scheduled to preach my last sermon as the Lead Pastor of Seaside Church and so I chose to preach on John 15. Well, a few weeks ago this reading came around again in our three year lectionary cycle. I found myself feeling the weight again of the accident and all the losses I've experienced since then. It was a heavy week.

At the same time the Lord reminded me that this is still true! Apart from Jesus I can do nothing and his invitation is to continue to abide in him! I shared more of this story with Shalom in a sermon entitled, "Abide in Christ." And this time was a reminder to me and perhaps it can be to you as well that through all the wins and losses of life the invitation to abide in Jesus remains. Whatever you're going through, you can do nothing apart from Him. Let us abide in him today! 

Updates

  • Thank you for praying for our Catechism class! We continue to have rich conversations.
  • An entire family recently expressed their desire to be baptized! 
  • We welcomed the birth of a baby girl into our church and are prayerful for another mom expecting her second any day now. 
  • Our set up/breakdown team is growing with a few new volunteers. Anyone in church planting knows how appreciated this is!
  • There's some excitement and energy around the church. People are often telling me how much they appreciate Shalom. 
Prayer
  • We have a few folks going through really difficult things. Pray for the Lord to have his way in the lives of our people.
  • Our youngest son Asher is getting married in less than two weeks. Please pray for him and his fiancee Angel as they begin their life together.
  • A neighbor of one of our members visited Shalom recently and really connected with us. However she is experiencing some opposition from her family which is keeping her from attending. Pray for courage and protection. 
  • Prayer for some administrative help and the work of developing the ministries of the church. 
Thanks again!

For the Shalom of Kitsap,

Father Rob 

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