Us & Them: Suffering

Greetings, colleagues in Christ –

I’m writing today from the hills of western North Carolina, where we are enjoying the opportunity to visit my mother for the first time in 18 months. We had planned a visit on spring break for a year ago, but COVID-19 forced a change of plan. It’s such a relief to finally be able to see light at the end of the tunnel and a joy to witness how well she has managed during this long pandemic season! In that light, rest assured that our Visioning Council will continue to evaluate our ability to eventually begin gathering at Holy Trinity in as safe a manner as possible once the vaccination rate extends a bit further. Patience is indeed a necessary virtue!

Meanwhile, we’re returning to our “Us & Them” sermon series with unique elements on each theme every Sunday and Wednesday. This week, the focus will be on “The Victim story,” or “Us Better than Them because of our Suffering.”

“The Victim Story” takes a multitude of shapes and is prone to stereotyping. For our purposes, however, we will especially be exploring the ways in which we sometimes allow our pain to define our identity and how the “Seventh Story” exemplified by Jesus offers us a healthier alternative. While we would never want to deny or minimize another’s suffering nor offer them unsolicited advice in the face of it, Christ’s example reveals possibilities we might often fail to consider. Join us for worship on Facebook at 9:00 a.m. Sunday and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday or on-demand on our website anytime!

Let’s keep writing our “Seventh Story” together! I look forward to the opportunity.

Pastor Tim