Ben’s May 2023 update

Dear friends in Christ,

On Sunday I preached from the Book of Acts—that strange, exciting part of the Bible right after the Gospels, and before Paul’s letters. I mentioned in my sermon that we don’t read Acts much in Presbyterian churches, maybe because the chaos, enthusiasm, and constant change don’t feel much like how we want church to feel. And that makes sense—established churches don’t look much like ones starting from scratch.

Within a few hours of preaching that sermon, it occurred to me that we aren’t as removed from Acts as we might wish we were. Chaos and constant change describe the look of my desk at the moment (more than usual, which wasn’t orderly in the first place). Enthusiasm is close to the feeling I had after our first Sunday together, when I felt a sense of hope and direction that I can only attribute to the Holy Spirit in our midst. We’re now doing something that our forbearers did in the time of Acts—we are making a new church.

The whole section of the Bible from the end of John to the beginning of Revelation is about making a new church. Acts tells us about the communities of Christians that form, and the apostles found these communities around the world. Paul’s letters encourage, correct, and

educate some of these communities—churches in Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica, Galatia, etc. The pastoral epistles focus less on communities, but instead on the individuals helping establish and lead them. It is easy to wonder at times whether the Bible speaks to us and our context. But as we make Evergreen Presbyterian Church together, the answer is a clear “yes”—the last part of the Bible is all about figuring this out together.

If you are sitting inside on a disappointingly cool May morning like I am, you could do worse than to open your Bible to Acts or Romans or 1 Corinthians. See what can emerge from that blend of chaos, enthusiasm, and constant change. I’ll give you a hint— it’s pretty exciting.

In Christ, Rev. Ben