September 30

It's finally here! Tomorrow we will be going to Anatevka to see Tevye, Golde, and their family and friends. They will be sharing their lives, their songs, and their faith with us, and we in turn will be blessed. I've known Tevye and his friends for a long, long time. They have much to share with us, and I promise that they will help us all be renewed, fulfilled, and challenged. You don't want to miss this experience. And I hope you will help others have the experience also. Please spend much of today inviting people to church tomorrow. What they experience can possibly be life changing for them. So please invite, invite, invite!

P.S. Last night I handed a promo card for the GOB Services to a gentleman who often helps me at a Chinese Take-Out Restaurant. He has handed me my food out of his window for about 5 years. When I handed him the promo card a couple of days ago, he acted like I had given him a million dollars. He was so excited — he says he's coming!

Invite! Invite! Invite! People are hungry for this kind of experience!

We are expecting a good crowd of folks at church tomorrow, and it's BIG Coffee Hour Sunday. If you are able, please try to bring more food than usual to share with others. We want to show hospitality to our visitors by having something good for them to eat. You can drop your food items off in the kitchen when you arrive tomorrow morning.

If you're familiar with Fiddler On the Roof, you know that the play ends sadly. The townspeople of Anatevka are forced to leave their home and become refugees. This past year, members of our congregation have been assisting a refugee family through an organization called Inspiritus. After the worship service tomorrow, Lindsey Grovenstein will be telling us more about this ministry and how it impacts lives. Lindsey is on staff at Inspiritus and will be speaking in the sanctuary...along with a refugee neighbor. So, after the service, go to the BIG Coffee Hour and get some goodies. Then make your way back to the sanctuary for the presentation. 

Our youth are sponsoring a Food Drive through the month of October. Please be sure to take note of emails we send specifically about this mission-project, so you have all the details. The food raised will go to support P.A.C.K. (People of Action Caring for Kids). 

We'd love for you to participate in a group conversation that can impact the work of JUST (Justice Unites Savannah Together). We would love your input. Here are the opportunities to participate:

*Monday, October 2nd at 12:30 pm on ZOOM
Meeting: 864 8291 0310, Passcode: Asbury

*Tuesday. October 3rd at 2:00 pm on ZOOM
Meeting: 859 6514 4089, Passcode: Asbury

*Sunday, October 8th at 9:45 a.m. In Person
Holliday Hall with coffee and pastries

*Thursday, October 12th at 7:00 pm on ZOOM
Meeting: 844 3633 5506, Passcode: Asbury

You can sign up in Holliday Hall or call the church office or just show up. All are welcome...including your friends and neighbors.

We'll have two special guests with us for our service tomorrow. Violinist, Ricardo Ochoa, will be our fiddler. Born in Venezuela, Ricardo was the youngest professional musician to be accepted in the Venezuela Philharmonic at age 15. Ricardo moved to Savannah in 2000 and he played the fiddler for us when we used Fiddler in 2005 and 2010.

Rabbi Robert Haas of Congregation Mickve Israel is a longtime friend of the people of Asbury. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that Rabbi Haas will be playing the rabbi in the town of Anatevka. He'll also be offering us our morning prayer. It's always good to have Rabbi Haas with us!

Asbury member, Warren Heilman, will be our guest pianist tomorrow. We appreciate Warren, who has played the piano for a production of Fiddler On the Roof, for sharing his talents with his Asbury family and with those visiting us.

This week, my good friend, A.L. Addington, sent me an article by Franciscan priest Richard Rohr. A.L. said that it seems as though Rohr is endorsing God On Broadway with the following words. Enjoy!

In mature religion, the secular becomes sacred. There are no longer two worlds. We no longer have to leave the secular world to find sacred space because they’ve come together. That was the significance of the temple veil rending when Jesus died. The temple divided reality into the holy world inside and the unholy world outside. That’s why Jesus said the temple had to fall: “Not a stone shall stand on a stone” (Matthew 24:2). Our word “profane” comes from the Latin words pro and fanum meaning“outside the temple.” Teilhard de Chardin said, “Nothing here below is profane for those who know how to see.” [1] There is only one world, and it’s the supernatural one. There is no “natural” world where God is not. It is all supernatural. All the bushes burn now if we’ve seen one burn. Only one tree has to fill up with light and angels, and then we never again see trees the same way. That’s the true seeing we call contemplation.

We need to refresh our seeing through contemplation because we forget. We start clinging and protecting. Unless there is a readiness to let go, we will not see the vision of the whole. God cannot be seen through such a small lens.

Love & Blessings,
Billy