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Children's Sermon: Let us journey to the cross; Pastor leaves on 12-mile trek

Good Wednesday morning, everyone,

I'll be filling in on Pastor Paul's blog today. He left at 9:37 this morning, bound for Martha and Mary, which I estimate he'll hit at around 3:30 this afternoon. He'll make stops along the way, and will chronicle that for us. Look here tomorrow and Friday for images and stories from the 12-mile trip. Below are three images I took just before Paul's departure.

- Rachel Pritchett, office administrator

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Children's sermon: Our spiritual home, and Pastor Paul's blog

Good Tuesday to Bethany's families. Here is Pastor Paul's children's sermon identifying things around our spiritual home:

Here is Pastor Paul's message for today:

Dear Bethanians,
The coronavirus pandemic at times seems to devolve into a numbers game.
     How many tests?
     How many cases, in WA/ U.S./globally?
     How many deaths?
     How many states are on shut-down?
     How many more days before physical schools can open?
     How much money to spend to offset the economic damages?
     How is the Dow?
     How many more days of quarantine?
     How many episodes in the latest TV drama?
     How many numbers does pastor want to cite to make his point…

This numbers game becomes a moment of confession for me, the tendency to reduce a crisis into raw numbers, running the danger of losing track of humanity in assigning numerical values.  Don’t get me wrong, such statistics are important as we seek to respond to this health crisis in a meaningful and honest way; they serve a critical purpose.  BUT, also see in every number a mother or father, a daughter or son, a sibling or friend…a child of God. Recognize in each number a neighbor, someone to love.

Stay home, stay connected, keep the faith.

Pastor Paul

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