Hello Church Family,
This weekend will look a little different for us.
Rather than gathering at our usual place on Sunday morning, many of us will spend the weekend together at Cove Valley Camp for our annual church retreat. Our theme this year is… Love Your Neighbor
It’s a familiar phrase.
Maybe too familiar.
Jesus was once asked, “Who is my neighbor?”
And rather than giving a simple definition, Jesus told a story; a story that challenged people’s assumptions about who was worthy of their attention, compassion, time, and care.
As we prepare for this weekend, I wonder if we might carry a slightly different question with us…
What does it actually look like to love the people God has placed around me?
Sometimes loving our neighbor looks significant and costly.
But often it looks remarkably ordinary.
Sitting beside someone we don’t normally talk with.
Listening to someone’s story.
Sharing a meal.
Playing a game.
Making room for someone else.
Helping someone who needs it.
Laughing together.
Simply being present.
Our retreat schedule has plenty to keep us busy… pickleball, a scavenger hunt, fishing, boating, soccer, cardmaking, supporting the children’s and youth Mission & Service Adventure ideas, s’mores, guessing games, a movie, and certainly plenty of food.
But perhaps some of the most meaningful moments this weekend won’t be on the schedule.
Maybe they’ll happen across a table.
On the porch.
Walking between activities.
Sitting on a rocking chair, around a campfire, or during a conversation with someone from our church family whom we’ve known for years; but perhaps have never really gotten to know.
So, as we head Towards Sunday, I invite you to carry a few questions with you…
Who has God placed around me that I sometimes fail to notice?
Am I willing to move beyond the people I naturally gravitate toward and make room for someone else?
What might it look like for me to receive another person’s presence as a gift rather than simply thinking about what I can offer them?
And perhaps most simply…
Who might God be inviting me to love well this weekend?
On Sunday morning we’ll gather and Sapjah Westoo will be our guest speaker, and she will speak to us about loving our neighbor. Many of our youth already know Sapjah through Kingdom Teams and their winter retreat, and I’m looking forward to the rest of us getting to know her as well. Remember this will be our time together on Sunday, we will not be meeting at the building on Molly Pitcher Highway.
Whether you’re able to spend the whole weekend at Cove Valley or simply join us for part of it, my hope is that this retreat gives us more than a break from our normal routine.
May it give us an opportunity to practice being the community Jesus is forming us to become.
I look forward to being together this weekend.
~ Pastor Dustin