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Last night I held my fifth cottage meeting since last Saturday. I am grateful for our deacons for organizing and hosting these gatherings and for those of you who have participated. We have another three weeks of meetings as we will wrap them up just as Holy Week begins. If you haven’t participated yet, please make the effort to come as we want to hear from you in regards to the future of Mechanic Grove Church of the Brethren.

Today we say farewell to our dear brother Loren Bucher. What a blessing he was to so many and oh how he loved the Lord and the Mechanic Grove Church. Service is at 11:00 am today as we gather to celebrate his life. As a reminder, next Friday at 11:00, we will be gathering to celebrate the life of Frances Kreider. We also learned this week that the service for Betty Zerphy will be May 2nd at 10:00 am at the church. Please keep each of these families in your prayers.

I am still working on the Taking Up Lent challenge for this week, and I am running out of week. That doesn’t surprise me. One of the books that was recommended to read while Janae and I were in Florida is “The Ruthless Elimination of Worry” by John Mark Comer. I read this book this week and was challenged in many ways to slow down. The book is written by a pastor, and his argument was that Jesus never seemed in a hurry and we are in a hurry all the time. If our goal is to be like Jesus, then this is a growing edge for me…and perhaps you too!

I was able to visit Anna Jane Glisson for a few minutes this week. She is recovering at QPRC and has a way to go, so please consider blessing her with an encouragement card. Her room number is 181. 

We had a big Roots Night on Wednesday evening. Our adult bible study was digging deeper in God’s word by looking at three stewardship passages. Interestingly, the first was in Genesis 1:26-28. To think that the idea of stewardship begins in creation is amazing. We also looked at two stories in the Gospels (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 16:1-13) as we sought to learn even more about what it means to be a faithful steward of all of God’s blessings.

This week we will be looking at the biblical truth of eternity. Our key passage will be John 14:1-6. In addition, we will have a Moment for Missions and Aliza will be sharing about our COM ministry. It is an exciting year for COM, and I am excited Aliza can be with us to let us know how God is blessing the ministry.

I have been blessed by the puzzle exchange, and I believe I completed four puzzles from the table. The puzzle exchange concludes March 15 so you may want to start bringing your borrowed puzzles back. My thanks to those who volunteered puzzles for this year’s exchange.

Be sure and check the coming events as March will be busy with an Oaks event next Saturday, Men’s Banquet later in the month and the Branches/Roots ministry beginning this week with the brunch coming on March 22nd. Plan as well to participate in the Holy Week events as we remember our Savior’s final days. Easter is only four weeks from Sunday!

Don’t forget to spring forward tomorrow as we move our clocks ahead one hour before turning in. We will have more daylight in the evenings, but the sun will be rising a bit later. That’s fine with me as that means that spring (and baseball!) are coming. More importantly, it reminds me that our celebration of resurrection Sunday is just weeks away.

Let me close with this. I am grateful for those who participated in our zoom prayer meeting Monday and those who were praying for me. I am blessed that my head cold is all but gone and I was able to be fully engaged in a very busy week. But the one verse that struck me in reading “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” this week is from I Thessalonians 4:10 where Paul commands believers to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” Most of us wouldn’t put “ambition” and “quiet life” in the same sentence, but God’s word does. So, if you are like me and always in a hurry, remember the example of Jesus who never hurried anywhere and make it your ambition as well to lead a quiet life.

Well, I am looking forward to some quiet time this weekend. Since Saturday is my Sabbath, I find it a blessing to simply slow down, seek the quiet life, and sit at the feet of Jesus. In this season of Lent, God keeps reminding of the importance of Psalm 46:10 - “Be still and know that I am God.” 

Have a blessed weekend and let’s continue our Lenten journey together as we focus on eternity as we seek to think, act and be just like Jesus. Remember it is Friday…but Sunday is coming!

Pastor Kevin