This is our 26th Sunday of online services. Each week I count that number, then I count it again because it seems that it cannot be true. This week I checked three times to be sure. 26 weeks! Through that time, there have been ups and downs, moments of creativity and moments of tired despair. Will we ever get back to our sanctuary?

This week, reading from Exodus I realized the Israelites were in their wilderness for 40 years (and then another 40 more). I wonder if they knew from the outset it would take so long?

In the middle of waiting, without knowing when the journey will end, it can be hard to keep the faith. It can be hard to keep going through the ritual motions of personal devotional and prayer time, participating in corporate worship, and even taking communion. I wonder if we stick to it though, if we set our tables and go through the liturgy again this morning, will God meet us at the table with a bit of hope?

Today our scripture reading contains one of the earliest professions of faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the son of the Living God. With this bold proclamation, Peter becomes one of the first disciples to share a testimony, to bear witness to the work of God unfolding in the world through Jesus of Nazareth. That bold statement of faith becomes the rock upon which the church can be built. Peter is a living stone and his testimony a building block for all that is to come.

At Greystone, we often say that we are a church of living stones. That each of us has a story of faith and a testimony to share about how God is working in our lives. This morning, we will hear one of those stories from our sister in Christ, Susan Gardner. Susan has a miraculous story to tell about how God has been made known to her in a very real way.

As you listen to Susan’s words and hear her response to that same question that Peter answered, I wonder how each one of us might respond as well: Who do you say that I am?

Part 3 of a discussion of the book “Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism” by Drew G. I. Hart between Pastor Chrissy Tatum Williamson and Greystone member Bill Baxley

Good Morning! What an exciting weekend this has been as we have been able to spend some time getting to know our Candidate for the Minister of Worship, Music, and the Arts position. In worship today, we read from Leviticus 25. While the whole chapter would be excellent reading for your personal spiritual practice this week, in worship we will focus on the first seven verses.

This scripture reminds us of God’s commandment to take Sabbath seriously, for ourselves and for all of God’s creation. What I have found is that this means so much more than simply remembering to “go to church” (whatever that looks like in COVID times). Taking Sabbath seriously means recognizing our humanity, releasing control, and trusting God enough to take a break from our work in order to delight in God’s creation and God’s presence with us. This is a challenge, especially in these days when the work seems to be never-ending.

In planning today’s service, Christian selected music that mirrors the text calling us to a healthy rhythm of work, rest, and the celebration of new life that is possible only after Sabbath.

Through music, prayer, scripture and the sermon today, let us draw near to the Spirit of God who invites us into the holy delight of Sabbath rest.

Good Morning! Welcome to worship on this warm and sunny day. It is hard to believe it’s nearing the middle of August isn’t it? It’s hard to believe so many weeks have passed since we last gathered in our Sanctuary for Sunday morning worship. Did you know this is the twenty-second week of online church? Hard to believe, isn’t it?

As I think about all that time, I realize that so much is happening in our personal lives and spiritual lives. Things that we would normally share with one another in hallways, classrooms, and pews. It makes me wonder how God is at work among us this day? How are we being transformed into God’s new creation, even now? And what kind of church will emerge on the other side of this pandemic?

Sometimes questions like this can seem daunting. We don’t really want to re-imagine things, we just want to get back to normal. Sometimes these kinds of questions are a life-line to a new and bright future.

In today’s scripture, I find great hope in the story of Naomi as she endures a long journey – perhaps one she didn’t want or ask for. Nevertheless she journeys onward, and the Lord does indeed bring her home. Join us in worship today so we can listen and learn from scripture together. Welcome, let’s worship our Lord with all that we have, wherever we are.

-Pastor Chrissy

Good Morning! Welcome to worship on this warm and sunny day. Today starts the third week of our children’s Compassion Camp, a 5-week exploration of scripture that teaches us about showing the love and compassion of Christ with our whole lives. Last week we read a story from Mark’s Gospel about a man whose friends carried him up onto a roof and then lowered him down so that he could be healed by Jesus. As we read this familiar story, we remembered that sometimes showing compassion means having courage and being willing to overcome obstacles. This week we hear another familiar text, one in which Jesus challenges us to love God, love our neighbors, and love ourselves. Which one do you think is the most difficult?

Good Morning! Today we welcome Rev. Courtney Young Hickman as our guest preacher. This week starts the second week of our children’s Compassion Camp, a 5-week exploration of scripture that teaches us about showing the love and compassion of Christ with our whole lives. Last week, we talked about expanding the table to make sure all are invited. This week we read a story from Mark’s Gospel about a man whose friends carried him up onto a roof and then lowered him down so that he could be healed by Jesus. Reading the story reminds us of what compassion looks like when we show it to our neighbors – sometimes at great risk. Being a person of compassion takes courage!

Part 2 of a discussion of the book “Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism” by Drew G. I. Hart between Pastor Chrissy Tatum Williamson and Greystone member Bill Baxley

The Scripture reading this morning is one most of us have read over and over again. Sometimes our familiarity can prevent us from seeing and hearing something new. When this happens, I find that art can help shed some new light on my own tired interpretations. This week as I prepared for our time together in worship, I found that to be true.

Dutch artist, Rembrandt, painted this piece called The Return of the Prodigal Son. Some have called it the mark of his own spiritual homecoming. He was fascinated by the hands of the father as they laid upon the back of the son who was returning home.

Spiritual writer, Henri Nouwen wrote a whole book about the parable (Luke’s Gospel) and the painting (Rembrandt), which also helps us find new ways to enter into the story. In that book he writes, “Rembrandt is as much the elder son of the parable as he is the younger. When, during the last years of his life, he painted both sons in his Return of the Prodigal Son, he had lived a life in which neither the lostness of the younger son nor the lostness of the elder son was alien to him. Both needed healing and forgiveness. Both needed to come home. Both needed the embrace of a forgiving father. But from the story itself, as well as from Rembrandt’s painting, it is clear that the hardest conversion to go through is the conversion of the one who stayed home.” (Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, 65-66)

As we study scripture together today and consider how God is speaking to us through this oh so familiar parable, I wonder which child we are… and what kind of conversion awaits?

-Pastor Chrissy