Dear Friends,
It’s back to school time.  Either the children in your family or neighborhood already have, or they are about to next week.  These are important times in the lives of children and youth, teachers and parents.  At the church, we value marking important times in your lives and being able to see them through the lens of faith.  That’s why this weekend we will be Blessing the Backpacks.  If you are in town this weekend, please join us for worship on Sunday and bring your bags with!  Bring your backpack or diaper bag, your briefcase or knitting bag, your gym bag or your shopping bag, and come for a blessing on these bags and the activities they represent.  Come for a blessing on you as you enter this “back to school” season with fresh eyes of faith and an encouragement to be the presence of the Holy One wherever you go.
 
I know some of you are squeezing out a last bit of summer this weekend, and who can blame you.  I’ll be doing that at the State Fair on Saturday with family, something like 9 of us going together!  I love the ability to sample food and pass it on to others in my tribe.  And being with my tribe makes the day the biggest blessing of the summer to me.  I love spending time with adult children and my mother as we, in child-like joy, ooh and ahh at the wonders of the State Fair.  And if there is a tilt-a-whirl, I’m on it!
 
The same joy of being with my tribe that I experience with the family at the fair, is possible in our family of faith.  It’s so fun to see the family return from busy summer schedules to gather as our tribe and grow together in our love of God and our love of God’s people.  The oohs and ahhs will come on Promotion Sunday (formerly Rally Sunday) on September 8th and at the first Wednesday Night Live on September 11th.  Mark your calendars now so you don’t miss out!
 
See you at church for all the family fun, all the growing in faith, all the unexpected blessings of being with our tribe!
 





Pastor Becky Jo Messenbrink

Dear Friends in Faith,
 
Tuesday morning I was putting away the clean dishes from the dishwasher.  Because I bring my lunch to work many days, and for a variety of reasons, we have a lot of plastic storage containers in the dishwasher.  I leave them until the end to put away.  Why? Have you seen the cabinet they are supposed to go in?  It's ridiculous, honestly.  I have so many that my best effort in putting them away is to open the door, throw them in, and push the door shut fast before they all come tumbling out.
 
Excess is just that, isn't it?  Excess!  More than we need.  More than we can actually manage or take care of in our lives.  
 
Sometimes our excess is as simple as plastic storage containers.  Sometimes it’s schedules that leave no breathing and being room.  Sometimes it’s toys we were able to buy as adults that we now have to care for, not just enjoy.  Sometimes it’s the food we eat and the health concerns associated with that excess. 
 
Maturing spiritually sometimes involves acknowledging our places of excess and growing in our relationship to those things.  When we live in excess, we live with a broken relationship with God, who wants us to rely on God for the things we need in life.  When we hold on to excess because we live in scarcity, we live with the need to feel important, or we live with the reality of over-indulging, we say to God, “No thank you, I’ll take care of this without you.”
 
I know it’s just plastic storage containers, but it represents so much more.  So as part of my maturing spiritually, I’m tackling the plastic storage containers this weekend!  What are you going to tackle in order to mature in your faith and grow closer to God in Jesus?
 
In worship this weekend we are going to explore how the decision to mature can change our lives.  If you are in town, I’ll see you in worship!