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Pastoral Missive: Faith in Uncertain Times As of January of 2009, the beginning of the coming new year, the church office will no longer be sending out the Potpourri in its present form. The church's leadership wants to facilitate real interconnectivity within and beyond our community of faith - and this can be done much more effectively with an expanded use of the Internet, via shorter email updates sent out more often, with easy links to informational and inspirational websites, including our own. This will be for all of us just one small change in a large season of changes, both financial and political. There is much uncertainty in the winds these days, which fills the air with new opportunities as well - as days of uncertainty always call for increased measures of faith among the faithful. One opportunity that always presents itself to a gathering community of faith, in good times and bad, is to gather! Sometimes that is all that Christ seems to require of us, in order to experience the promise of his purposes in our midst. Gather together and start listening - to one another, to ourselves, to the world around us, and to God. This week, I want you to consider gathering with the leadership of the church on a couple of special occasions. First of all, we would love to have you join us down at the river's edge on the afternoon and evening of Saturday, November 1st, in the Jane Fliesbach Retreat Lodge at the Trails West YMCA Camp. If you alone or with your family simply come at 2:00 PM prepared for some fun conversation and enlightening musical revelations, a seriously casual time of meaningful worship (at 5:00PM), some great food provided by our Fellowship team, warm fellowship and exciting gridiron entertainment (Nebraska football at 6:00PM), you won't be disappointed! Watch your mail for more details. Secondly, immediately after the morning worship service the following morning, November 2nd, we want you to come join in on another conversation at the Faithfulness in Hard Times Café down in Fellowship Hall. This Café will be put on by our congregation's Stewardship and Finance team, who want to give you an opportunity to ask questions about the state of the church's finances in these uncertain times. They want you to hear from one another about where God might be leading us to move and to grow despite these present uncertainties. In a recent sermon, I quoted the hockey great Wayne Gretzky's explanation of his success on the ice: "I skate to where the puck is going to be," he said, "not to where it has already been." I cannot think of a better image for us to embrace as a community in this season of our common life of discipleship together. We may well be a bit uncertain about the precise location of the puck on the changing ice of our present circumstances. But by the grace of the Creator we can keep skating - as another great once said,"forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead...pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." - Brad
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