Good morning…
As the sun sets on summer, every August I am given the opportunity to speak in all three worship services at Northside Church. Northside is a welcoming place, offering two traditional services at 8:30 and 11:15 am and a contemporary service at 9:00 am, with a designated Sunday school hour for adults and for kids at 10:10 am.
Yesterday was my day to speak, and I loved connecting with friends of all ages and stages. Here is the message God spurred me to share.
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Good morning. My name is Sue Allen, and for 18 years I’ve been the Women’s Ministry Director at Northside Church.
“The Way It Is” by William Safford is a perfect poem for the beginning of this new semester. Safford writes:
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
I envision the thread being God’s tangible presence running through our ministry to women here at Northside. Semester by semester, our class topics change. The authors writing our studies change. The names on our rosters change. Yet together we follow the sturdy thread of the Eternal in our midst. As Jesus promises in Matthew 18:20: “Whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you.” (CEV)
We, in the women’s ministry, invite you to hold onto God’s thread. It’s extended through daily, weekly, and monthly opportunities. We gather mornings, afternoons and evenings, every day of the week. We meet at church, in private homes, and in the community. We welcome newcomers as we grow with old friends. We partner in prayer. We serve together. We walk and talk through the ups and downs of life.
God offers each of us the unchanging thread of his presence. “He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us,” says Acts 17:28 in the Message translation. “He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him!”
Each semester, tragedies will happen. People will get hurt or die. We will suffer and get older. Nothing we do can stop time’s unfolding. Yet, gathering as women, we continually remind each other, “Hold onto God’s thread. Don’t ever let go.” Experiencing God’s presence together, we feel less lost.
As we inch toward September when most of our offerings begin, please check out the class descriptions and the registration link for our fall opportunities: https://www.northsideumc.org/womensclasses
Semester after semester, God’s thread binds together the women of Northside – that’s just the way it is. Lean in and grab hold.
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Through Northside Church, God builds with us a firm foundation, just as we sang in yesterday’s 9:00 am service.
…Sue…
