Welcome to the New Week

“It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?”  Galatians 5:13-15 (MSG)

WELCOME TO THE NEW WEEK

“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.” Colossians 3:12-14 (MSG)

WELCOME TO THE NEW WEEK

^“As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.”  James 4:16-17 (MSG)

WELCOME TO THE NEW WEEK

“Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.”  James 3:13-16  The Message

WELCOME TO THE NEW WEEK

“Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.” James 2:12-13

WELCOME TO THE NEW WEEK

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”  James 1:2-4 (MSG)

WELCOME TO THE NEW WEEK

“The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.” James 2:26 (MSG)

This Sunday  we will share via live stream and Facebook live with First Christian Church of Decatur “World Communion” Sunday and then after the worship service:

“Ring Them Bells” 

In Memory of Covid-19 Deaths, Churches to Ring Bells 200 Times on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 12 Noon 

At 12 Noon, on Sunday, October 4, 2020, communities of faith across Decatur and DeKalb County, Georgia are invited to ring bells 200 times in loving memory of the 200,000 Americans and approximately one million brothers and sisters around the world who have perished from Covid-19 in 2020.

In 1989, Bob Dylan recorded “Ring Them Bells.”

“Ring them bells, ye heathen
From the city that dreams,
Ring them bells from the sanctuaries
Cross the valleys and streams,
For they’re deep and they’re wide
And the world’s on its side…”

• Church Steeples with Carillon or Bells will resound 200 times.
• First Christian Church has HandBells.  GSCC will join with them and we are asking you to  join us as we stand in front of Christ’s church and ring them in unison 200 times.
• May the pealing of our bells reverberate our collective witness – from our many unique and sacred holy spaces – to the promise of God’s saving grace, tender mercies, and abiding presence.

We join our wider community in our deep grief for the sudden and sad loss of so many neighbors, friends, family members, and souls across the nation and around the earth.  We are undergoing what can best be described as collective trauma.  We are not alone; God is nigh.