January 20

I hope you've had a great week. I'm looking forward to being with you on Sunday. 

Rev. Claire Marich was planning to lead us in prayer in our worship service, but she has fallen ill, so please be praying for her. We hope to have Claire back with us soon when she is feeling better. Chris Kincade will be subbing for her on Sunday. 

Last week's sermon focused on listening for God's voice in silence and solitude. Since this is such an important part of our life and faith journey, I will be talking about it again this week. The title of the sermon is Silence and Contemplation. The biblical text is I Kings 19:8-13. It's the story of the prophet Elijah discovering God's voice — not in the wind or earthquake or fire — but in a whisper. 

I hope you've been able to hear God whispering to you this week. If you haven't, don't worry. We can fix that. We just need to learn how to turn up our hearing aids. I'll give a couple of tips about how to do that on Sunday.

Some of you may have heard about the opening of a new movie called Origin. It opened today. The film is based on the book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. It describes racism in our country as an aspect of a caste system. This could be a very important film at a very critical time in our country and history.

As I was watching the trailer for the film, something looked familiar in one of the scenes. I almost felt like I was watching a funeral at Asbury. And then it dawned on me, it IS Asbury! How blessed we are to be part of such an important film. Here is the trailer — see if you can spot your church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAweg5PaMuw

So far the reviews have been mostly favorable. Rotten Tomato's website consensus reads: "A moving drama that's unafraid to ask big questions. Origin honors its source material with powerful performances in service of a deeply emotional story."

Justice Unites Savannah Together (JUST) is an organization that unites people of different faiths to help with systemic change regarding core issues in our community — like education and affordable housing. On Saturday, the 20th, from 9:00–11:30 a.m., JUST will be sponsoring a workshop featuring Bishop La Fayette Scales, pastor of Rhema Christian Center in Columbus, Ohio. Bishop Scales is a dynamic speaker and is on the board of DART, the parent organization of JUST. This is an excellent opportunity to introduce the concept of JUST and its importance to people not familiar with it. It also is a good way for those of us who are already involved with JUST to be reminded of the impact it can have on people and society. The event will be held at St. Paul CME Church, 1601 Barnard Street All are welcomed, so please invite others to participate.

Candace Jenkins and I are looking forward to meeting with the participants in our next New Member Class. We have New Member Classes three times a year and the next time is now! We'll have our first class on Sunday after the worship service. Lunch is provided. If you are looking for a church home and would like to know more about Asbury and Wesley Oak and would like to participate in the classes on the 21st and 28th, please email Candace Jenkins at: cjenkins@asburymemorial.org or call the church office at 912-233-4351.

Love,
Billy