Oh, what a foretaste of glory Divine!

Dear First Pres SLO Family,

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus the Messiah, the one who sustains us in struggles, and restores us to his shalom.

As I write this the temperature outside is warm enough to make me think of shorts and flipflops…and it’s only February. It’s life on the Central Coast, I know, but still—75 degrees and it’s not even 10am yet? The warmth today is a little glimpse of the seasons to come. Spring and summer lie ahead, and we get a little taste of that future on glorious winter days like this one.

What’s the line from the old hymn, “Oh, what a foretaste of glory Divine!”

That’s a big part of Jesus’ message during his earthly ministry. So many of his parables begin with “This is what the Kingdom of God is like…”. So much of his teaching about himself focuses on how we’re meant to see something about God in the ways Jesus lived and loved and shared. In Christ we get a glimpse of God and heaven and the fulfillment of the promises that give us hope—that’s part of the point.

This Sunday we’ll get a glimpse of something, too.

As I announced at the end of the service, this Sunday we’ll resume saying our prayers and creeds out loud again. I announced it at the end so that people who might not feel safe with a large group speaking would have fair warning. We’ll still be masked and we’ll still try to keep some distance, but we’ll begin the service with a Morning Prayer, we’ll say the Prayer of Confession and the Lord’s Prayer, and we’ll say the Apostles’ Creed…all of it together, out loud. It’s not back to what it used to be, but it’s a good-sized step—it’s a glimpse of how it will be when we’re able to shed these protective measures.

“Oh, what a foretaste of glory Divine!”

OK, so maybe that’s a bit much, but I’m still counting the days until Sunday, looking forward to hearing our shared voices speaking these prayers and affirmations together again.

Here’s our plan—all of it is based on only vaccinated people worshipping in-person, and the other measures (masks and moderate distance) still in place.Over these next four Sundays we’ll say our spoken prayers and readings out loud with masks on as before. We’re going to pay close attention to whether this relaxing of restrictions leads to any infections or illnesses. If it does, well, you know what will happen. But if it does not, we’ll look ahead to singing together on Palm Sunday and Easter—won’t that be wonderful?

And so keep us in your prayers as we make these changes. Continue to be careful during the week, and get an occasional COVID test. If we all do our part, we’ll be able to experience more of what we’ve been missing in our Sunday services.

Blessings to you all—stay safe and healthy,

Pastor John

Upcoming Preaching Texts for the Bible in Community groups.

February

13 Genesis 12:1-3

20 Matthew 9:9-13

27 Mark 6:45-52