May 2023
By Phil Rushton
Lead Pastor
When I was pastoring down in Longview we had a tradition where people would place flowers on a cross outside the sanctuary on Easter Sunday. The day after Easter I would often watch our custodian take out the flowers and remove the cross. It was a bit anticlimactic. Easter had come and gone and it was time to pack things up. Now, to be sure, dead flowers on a cross would send the wrong message, so this installation needed to be removed soon after Easter. Nevertheless, the symbolism of packing up Easter the day after the big celebration caught my attention. It made me wonder if we pack up Easter too quickly in our life as well?
We often intentionally focus on the season of Advent and the season of Lent in the church. Easter, though, is often limited to a day. I think we need to extend Easter. In the church calendar, Easter is a 50-day season. It is a time for us to meditate on and reflect on the implications of the resurrection. As N.T. Wright puts it, “The fifty days of the Easter season, until the ascension, ought to be a time to balance out Lent by taking something up, some new task or venture, something wholesome and fruitful and outgoing and self-giving.”
To facilitate our Easter season, we are going to be meditating on the book of Ephesians. In this book, Paul seeks to awaken our hearts and minds to the new life that is possible for us individually and corporately because of the resurrection. Paul writes,
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” He goes on to celebrate that “God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ.”
I echo Paul’s prayer. My prayer for our church this season is that our hearts and minds would be awakened to the great hope we have because of what Christ has accomplished on the cross. While we know these things theologically, they often do not transfer from our minds to our hearts. While we espouse a faith in the resurrection, we operate out of a place of fear, scarcity, and personal striving.
During the first Easter, it took time for the hope of the resurrection to break through to the disciples. The post-resurrection scenes show the disciples overcome with grief, locked away in fear, struggling with doubt, and going back to life as usual. It took time for the implications of Easter to work out in their life and it takes time for us as well. This Easter season, I pray that we would rediscover the ways in which God has come to make us more fully alive in Christ!
In Christ,
Pastor Phil
By Marc Russell
If you’ve met Ivana Grace you know she always has a word of encouragement or praise on her lips. Despite her limited financial means, she is continually grateful to our loving God and she is ready to tell you about how He has blessed her.
Ivana owns a house in the Birchwood neighborhood. The property has a second small dwelling she calls “the Cottage”. To make ends meet, Ivana rents out part of her property. During Covid, she moved to the Cottage so that she could rent the larger house. Following her heart, she chose to rent to a couple in an addiction recovery program. It did not go well, either for the renters or for Ivana. The renters relapsed and began partying, inviting other friends to join them. The neighbors noticed suspected drug deals going down. Ivana tried to evict the renters and their friends but ran into many obstacles.
Long story short, Ivana, with the help of her neighbors, was finally able to evict the renters and the renters’ friends that were “squatting” at the house. But the house was a mess. Left behind was debris, ruined furniture, badly stained carpets – and drug residue on the walls, ceilings and flooring. The Whatcom County Health Department tested and recommended a remediation protocol: removal of all floor coverings, extensive scrubbing, and rinsing of the walls and ceiling, followed by a sealing coat of primer plus new paint and flooring.
This would cost tens of thousands of dollars, money Ivana did not have. Making matters worse, the loss of rental income meant she could not afford to pay the mortgage, let alone her other living expenses. Ivana reached out to many community agencies but found no relief.
When someone in the Bellingham Covenant community heard of her plight they moved into action. A team of volunteers was recruited and money from the church Benevolence Fund and other donations was secured to cover the cost of materials.
Over the course of the next two months, a team of more than a dozen BCC volunteers contributed 375 hours ripping out the carpeting, making trips to the dump, scrubbing walls and ceilings, priming, painting, and laying down new flooring. The house was transformed from a drug den to its former homey self.
Ivana has already moved in and is seeking housemates and tenants for the Cottage. She has a renewed hope that she will soon be in a viable financial situation. She has seen the Lord answer her prayers in a time of great need. And she would be happy to share how God has blessed her yet again, this time through her church family at BCC.
And the volunteers were blessed as well. Certainly by Ivana’s constant cheerfulness and gratitude. But also in knowing that their work was not just for Ivana. Many saints came together in a new way, making new friends along the journey; strengthening and growing in community. Their labors were in the service of our Lord. And when He looked upon the work He saw that “It was Good”.
Ivana shared her story and gratitude with these words:
“Coming out of 3 years of pandemic isolation was not going to be easy, especially considering the unexpected traumatic experience of my home being 'held hostage' by drug traffickers toward the end, but having spent much of that time praying for transformation into the image/likeness of GOD, I should not be surprised by His Amazing Grace way of reconnecting me with the community embodied by the followers of Christ at BCC.
Anyone wishing to know more about this miraculous journey of faith is welcome to ask, but for now, I would just like to share from a heart overflowing with gratefulness for everyone who heard and answered the Spirit's call to serve in any way in this 'mission project', inspired in redeeming this house that was rendered 'useless' but now made livable again!
To Him be the honor, glory, and praise for the loving labor of His good and faithful servants!
An 'Open House Blessing' is being prayerfully planned, to which all will be welcome.”
~Ivana
During the COVID Pandemic, we were looking for new ways to build community while we were apart. These short video segments (BCC | Faces) became one way for us to do that. Even though we are back together, we still create these videos because we think they are a great way for us to get to know one another! Meet Robin!
Whenever there is a 5th Sunday in a month, BCC church loves to gather all the generations together for a playful time of getting to know one another better. On April 29, we blended our talents together and created watercolor mosaics from nature. Special thanks to Sarah Lane, Joan Moline, and Lynn Broadhead for all their help!
Congregational Meeting
Sunday, May 7
10:30-10:45 AM
We will be sharing a vision and voting on a new staff position
*Meets in the sanctuary IMMEDIATELY following the worship service
Vespers Service
Sunday, May 7
6:00-7:00 PM
Vespers is a contemplative evening worship service of scripture, singing, and prayer
*Meets in the sanctuary
World Vision 6K
Sunday, May 21
10:30 AM-Noon:ish
Register HERE
*Meets On the back lawn with a barbeque to follow
One Spirit Combined Worships Service
Sunday, May 28
10:00 - 11:00 AM
This is a multi-church worship service from churches around Whatcom County
*Meets at Cordata Presbyterian Church
400 Meadowbrook Ct, Bellingham, WA 98226