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Mutual Care Resources

Arvin Engelson

 
Mutual-Care | Life in God
For millennia our ancestors left caves and huts to venture into danger to procure food. These strange days reacquaint us with their risk taking. We are being required to learn new ways. We must take more initiative. We must seek nourishment for our minds and hearts as well as our bodies. When we are alive spiritually we take better care of others and ourselves. So, how can we enrich our souls and minister to others from our caves and huts?

First, I urge you to join our online worship service each Sunday at 9:30. It offers a surprising sense of connection. Pastor Bill is being most resourceful in his design of engaging services that allow us to participate in place. It is easier to join us than you might think. Go to our website: www.saratogafederated.org. Click on: Watch This Week’s Online Service. We look forward to being with you in those moments.

Second, our new Lead Pastor, Sean Miller, is teaching thought provoking messages. During Lent, he taught on Psalm 23. At the outset of that series, Sean provided a discovery journal for each of us. Many of us are using it to track the insights most relevant to our own lives. I suggest you add the practice of journaling so your shelter-in-place experience may be a time of sustained personal growth.

Third, when designing this guide, I thought you might be inspired in your life with God by fresh resources for independent study, meditation and prayer. So, I asked Sally, our Pastor of Adult Ministries, if she would select some online and in print guides to deeper faith. Find her selections here: Spiritual Growth Resources.
 
Mutual-Care | Life with Others
Our present experience of social isolation is not altogether new. We have had a taste of it when friends and family have gone off to college or moved away from us. The phrase  “away from us” captures the feeling. We experience a new physical distance from those we delight in. Yet, we’ve learned, if we take initiative––acquire new digital products and the skill to use them––than we can enjoy their real-time face-to-face company half way around the world.
Our 40 Life Groups are experiencing a similar growth curve. They are embracing the technology that allows them to gather and engage. Hear this reflection and report from Sally.

We are made for connection and community. We see this clearly in the Trinity, the three-in-one, existing in perfect union; and we see it in the metaphor used by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians, where he reminds us we are each part of one body, the body of Christ. We need one another! So, as we shelter in place, let’s find new ways to stay connected with our family, friends and Life Groups.

Technology is your friend! Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, Google Hangouts, WhatsApp can all help you stay in touch. While it’s good to hear a loved one’s voice, it is wonderful to see them.  Several of our Life Groups are meeting via conference call and Zoom and report that it’s a wonderful way to stay connected. If you are new to Zoom, click here for instructions or contact our Tech Helpline for assistance.
 
Mutual-Care | Life for Others
You are on the front lines in our battle against despair, sorrow, fear and loneliness. I know because friends and neighbors report your kindness. I know because you’ve asked me to deliver you generosity so you can remain anonymous. I know because we are frequently loving the same lives. Clearly, you are the nervous system in this Body of Christ. Reports of your spontaneous creative heartfelt engagement of needs is an extreme pleasure to hear. Do what the Spirit asks you to do––no more, no less.

Some of you asked if we have a channel to help members with a stressful loss of income. The short answer is yes. I oversee the Sustenance Fund, an account separate from the church budget, funded by direct donation. It provides case-by-case one time grants for relief from temporary cash-flow difficulties.

When the pastors and ministers meet weekly, we take turns leading a devotion. I have often found Sally’s selection of sources rich. I especially enjoyed a prayer she found in the writings of Douglas McKelvey. In difficult days, when sorrows overwhelm, this prayer can order a troubled mind. I encourage you to go to a quiet place and own this prayer as you take your thoughts to God.

A LITURGY FOR THOSE FLOODED BY
Too Much Information

In a world so wired and interconnected,
our anxious hearts are pummeled by
an endless barrage of troubling news.
We are daily aware of more grief, O Lord,
than we can rightly consider,
of more suffering and scandal
than we can respond to, of more
hostility, hatred, horror, and injustice
than we can engage with compassion.
But you, O Jesus, are not disquieted
by such news of cruelty and terror and war.
You are neither anxious nor overwhelmed.
You carried the full weight of the suffering
 of a broken world when you hung upon
the cross, and you carry it still.
When the cacophony of universal distress
unsettles us, remind us that we are but small
and finite creatures, never designed to carry
the vast abstractions of great burdens,
for our arms are too short and our strength
is too small. Justice and mercy, healing and
redemption, are your great labors.
And yes, it is your good pleasure to accomplish
such works through your people,
but you have never asked any one of us
to undertake more than your grace
will enable us to fulfill.



Guard us then from shutting down our empathy
or walling off our hearts because of the glut of
unactionable misery that floods our awareness.
You have many children in many places
around this globe. Move each of our hearts
to compassionately respond to those needs
that intersect our actual lives, that in all places
your body might be actively addressing
the pain and brokenness of this world,
each of us liberated and empowered by
your Spirit to fulfill the small part
of your redemptive work assigned to us.
Give us discernment
in the face of troubling news reports.
Give us discernment
to know when to pray,
when to speak out,
when to act,
and when to simply
shut off our screens
and our devices,
and to sit quietly
in your presence,
casting the burdens of this world
upon the strong shoulders
of the one who
alone
is able to bear them up.
Amen.
*Copyright © 2017 Douglas McKelvey

SERVICE TIMES

Temporary Sunday Service Times
Pre-Recorded Gathering posted by 9:30 am HERE
Saratoga Federated Church
20390 Park Place
Saratoga, CA 95070
​
Hours: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Office: (408) 867-1000
Fax: (408) 867-6012
info@saratogafederated.org

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Copyright 2020 Saratoga Federated Church
  • Home
  • Teaching
  • Events
    • Centennial >
      • Get Involved with the Centennial
      • Centennial Moments
      • Heritage and History
    • Pandemic Parenting
    • Christmas >
      • Christmas Eve Service
      • Past Christmas Shows
    • Village Forum
    • Events Videos
  • Connect
    • Adults >
      • Daily Prayer
      • Membership Class
      • Life Groups >
        • Life Groups Blog
      • Women's Ministry
      • Singles Ministry
      • Adult Education
    • College & 20's
    • Youth >
      • Middle School Ministry
      • High School Ministry
      • Parents of Youth
      • Mexico Trip
    • Children >
      • Children's Home Page
      • Sunday Fun & Learning
      • MOPS
      • Village Preschool >
        • Open House
        • Program
        • Program Options & Fees
      • Kid's Choir
    • Special Needs Ministry
    • Care >
      • Care Staff
      • Care in the Virus Crisis >
        • Care and Support Request
        • New Ministries for Virus Crisis
        • Medical | Professional Resources
        • Self-Care
        • Mutual Care
        • Spiritual Growth Resources
        • Local Grocery Stores
        • Restaurants Open for Takeout Delivery
      • Care Resources >
        • Support and Recovery Groups
        • Local Agencies and Services
      • Care Events
      • Healing Resources
      • Grief Ministry
      • About Care
      • How Is Care Arranged
    • Worship >
      • Celebration Choir, Orchestra & Handbells
      • Contemporary Worship Team
      • Kid's Choir
      • Worship Technicians
      • Sunday Teams
    • Calendar
  • Give
  • Outreach
    • Outreach >
      • Global Outreach
      • Local Outreach
    • SERVE
    • Mexico Trip
  • About Us
    • Staff Members
    • What We Believe
    • Elders
    • Foundation
    • Annual Meeting
    • Jobs
    • Parking
    • Hearing Aid Assistance