UNIVERSITY BAPTIST CHURCH
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Pastor Annette's Blog

"OF ALL THE THINGS GOD HAS SHOWN ME, I CAN SPEAK BUT A LITTLE WORD . . . NOT MORE THAN A HONEYBEE CAN CARRY AWAY ON ITS FOOT FROM AN OVERFLOWING JAR."
~ MECHTHILD OF MAGDEBURG, 13TH CENTURY MYSTIC

November 28, 2017

11/28/2017

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Beloved ~

        The Briggs-Mescher Thanksgiving of 2017 was delightful in almost every way.  The newest addition was a six-week-old golden retriever named Watson, whose feet hardly hit the floor the whole four days as we took turns letting him nap in our laps.  We had lots of FaceTime with our son Ben who is studying in Taiwan this year, and we can’t wait to see him in just nineteen more days!

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Thanksgiving Week

11/21/2017

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​Beloved:

        Thanksgiving Week -- when being a pastor is shaved down to the skinniest to-do list ever:  Tuesday column, sermon outline, urgent emails, dogs to kennel, pack the car, drive to Cincinnati.  Everything else will have to wait, while me and mine assemble for the puzzles, movies, food and joy of being together for too few perfect days.
        I’ll roll back into town late Saturday night and meet you at church ready to worship next Sunday!  I pray the week is altogether wonderful for you and yours.  

~ peace & prayers,
pastor annette

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November 14th, 2017

11/14/2017

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Beloved,
​       I was pleased as punch with our “Shattered Masks” program on Sunday.  A million thank you’s to everyone who helped provide the radical hospitality of Christ I imagined for the evening.  Carl, Deborah and crew fed fifty people and made take-home for quite a few.  Around seventy attended the program, a wonderful mix of community folks and students, with a few from neighboring towns.  The spirit was joyful, generous and welcoming all around.  Of course everyone loved Laura Beth best.  Lucas remains one of my favorite pastors anywhere ever.  He was too humble to tell you he is also an amazing designer and a stand-up comedian.  
       A student emailed me later to say she was glad she came, that she hadn’t felt so safe in church in a really long time.  Which reminded me of my last week’s column, talking about how we aren’t supposed to come to church for the purpose of feeling safe.
       Safe in an unsafe world -- my exact words, I think, in reference to ducking worldly dangers like crime and cancer.  But certain worldly dangers ought never find their way inside the church:  autocratic leadership, theocracy, discrimination and sexual predation.  Yet not only do such dangers get in, they too often find safe haven and are rebranded as ministry, God’s will, biblical interpretation, and pastoral care - respectively.
      To walk in faith instead of fear is so much more difficult sometimes.  Having someone promise to protect and lead us well, in exchange for thinking as they think, may seem not so big a deal, especially if they are kind and appear trustworthy.  But if we are ever afraid of hurting them by being different or by wanting to go a different way, then we are no longer free.  I was a long time admitting one could be enslaved by someone kind; that spiritual abuse is still abuse even though it’s not illegal.  But when Christian human beings can admit that we are as weak as all the rest, that we need Jesus just as much as all the rest, I have found we are more careful with each other.  If we can take what we need of Christ from Him, we are free to be more gentle, more respectful of one another’s personhood.
      Which is to say that I was humbled and amazed at the people who took a chance to come to church again last Sunday night and I prayed for the ones who almost came.  When you are ready, we’ll be here.  

~ peace & prayers,
pastor annette



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god is our refuge...still

11/7/2017

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Picture
Beloved: 
             This world hardly needs another commentary on gun violence in America.  Needed even less is another preacher coddling the notion that Christians come to church to feel safe in an unsafe world.  We come to church for strength and training for the work of the gospel in a world still unaware of its redemption in Jesus Christ.  God is our refuge.  Church is our first aid and resupply station.  Church is where we eat and rest and pick up our new marching orders.
             The longing to feel safe in this world is not wrong.  It is simply human.  To shape our life together around our fear would be wrong.  There is no danger, no principality or power, that can separate us from God.  In life or in death, we belong to the Lord, and therein is all the safety we are guaranteed.  Learning to live in joyful peace with that is the greater part of faith.  
             Of course, just as we always wear our seatbelts in the car, we always practice common sense when we are together.  But we shall not shape our life together according to the fear and anger of this world.  We shall shape our life together according to the love and joy we have in Jesus.  We will continue to welcome the stranger and pray for those who would do us harm.  In obedience to Him.  In imitation of Him.  And in the desire to live at peace in this world.  Fear is a feeling, friends, and faith is a choice, a way of life that overcomes fear.  For brothers and sisters, friends and enemies alike this day, we pray, O God.  


~ peace & prayers,
pastor annette

A Most Important PS ~ This coming Sunday is our Shattering Masks Program.  As a reminder - here is last week’s Tuesday devotional.  Please do plan to attend and invite a friend.  

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    I write a Tuesday morning devotional to members and friends of UBC.  It is also posted here. 
     
    Enjoy!  
    Pastor Annette

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3740 East 3rd Street
Bloomington, IN 47401
812-339-1404
[email protected]

Photo from TheReptilarium
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Staff
    • Annette Hill Briggs, Pastor
    • Rob Drummond ~ Music Minister
  • Listen & Read
    • Sermons
    • Pastor's Blog
    • #ITSYOURCHURCHTOO >
      • About >
        • When & Where?
        • Ministries >
          • Worship >
            • Music
            • Worship Arts
            • Worship Resources
          • Fellowship >
            • Wednesday Night Supper
            • Church Recipes
          • Service >
            • MCUM Collections
            • Habitat for Humanity Project
          • Vacation Bible School
        • Our Story >
          • Denomination
          • Who We Are
        • Contact
        • Calendar
    • Social Media Feed
  • Give
  • Newsletter
  • Recommended Reading