Together In Mission

Monthly Reflections from BCC

Colossians: Living out the Implications of Resurrection

By Phil Rushton
Lead Pastor

The theologian and spiritual director Janet Ruffing names one of the biggest challenges we face on the spiritual journey. She argues that we need to narrow the gap between our espoused theology and our operative theology. Our espoused theology is what we say we believe. As Christians, we espouse the great hope that Jesus overcame the power of sin and death and rose from the dead. Our operative theology is what we communicate based on how we operate or live our lives. The reality is we often live as if the great hope of the gospel is not really true. While we espouse that Jesus is our savior, we are actually trying to save ourselves through our work ethic, our wealth, or the affirmation of others. While we espouse that Jesus is our Lord, we are often mastered by fear and anxiety.

This Easter season, we are going to explore how we might bridge the gap between what we profess to be true and what we live to be true. To facilitate this journey, we will be spending the next couple of months working through the book of Colossians. In this letter, Paul explores how life can be radically different because of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross.

In Colossians 1:19-20 Paul writes:

Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.

Paul recognizes that we have a tendency to drift away from the hope of the gospel. The Colossians are tempted to drift in two directions. Some are tempted to revert back to pagan idolatry, while others are tempted to lose sight of God’s grace and drift towards a legalistic spirituality. By contrast, Paul seeks to awaken their hearts and minds to the great hope that life can be different when life is rooted in the grace and power of God.

Easter Sunday has come and gone, but the implications of Easter need some time to work themselves into our lives and our world. I think this is why the early church celebrated Easter for 40 days. Easter is a season that balances out Lent. Whereas Lent is historically a time of repentance and turning back to God, Easter is a time to live into the implications of the resurrection. It is a season of growth, newness, and hope. My prayer is that we might discover again the way life can be radically different because of what Jesus has accomplished through his death and resurrection. My prayer is that these great truths of Christianity would not simply be espoused on Sunday through our prayers and our worship, but would be worked into the ways we operate our daily life.

God Bless,
Pastor Phil

Easter Baptisms

FROM YOUR BCC LIBRARY

By Nancy Henderson

You never know what new items may show up in your beautiful Bellingham Covenant Church library! A very few of the many items we’ve received from BCC members over the past few months are as varied as all-in-one editions of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy, Glenn P. Anderson’s Covenant Roots, Sources and Affirmations, and three brand-new 300-piece jigsaw puzzles.

We also received a special gift of a boxed set of books about the history and work of the China Inland Mission and its founder, Hudson Taylor, from Faith and Stuart Imbach. (The boxed set is located between the Biography and History sections, and the books may be checked out individually.) CIM was founded in 1865 and, as you might assume, focused its work in China until that country was closed to foreign missionaries in 1950. Then it focused its work in surrounding southeast Asian countries, and now is active in 30 countries.

The Imbachs served with CIM for thirty-seven years in Thailand, Singapore, South Africa, and recruiting in the U.S. They continue to be involved as they are able. You may have seen Faith’s painting of a Chinese mother and daughter on the Art Wall during Lent. (By the way, this painting is available for sale; the proceeds will go to World Relief Western Washington. Contact Pastor Adria for information.)

We welcome donations of suitable library materials, but we do ask that they be in like-new or gently-used condition and that you let us know if you want them returned to you if we can’t use them. Otherwise, we donate anything we can’t use to BCC’s Shop for a Cause sale and/or to Love Packages, which ships Christian materials to areas around the world that don’t have access to or ability to pay for such.

Creation Care Happenings

By Heather and Michael Merchant

Recycling Drive

On April 19 we partnered again with the City of Bellingham to offer a recycling drive-through event. This year the event was held at Civic Field, rather than in our church parking lot, but it was still a successful event. And we were delighted to see BCC’s participation! It was great to see your smiling faces as you drove through the event dropping off your items for recycling. Also, it was gratifying to hear your comments about how you appreciated having the opportunity to take care of some hard-to-recycle things in a creation-honoring, responsible way.

The City of Bellingham reported that 102 cars drove through the event with about 10 percent of them being from BCC. Our Creation Care team collected 97 pairs of shoes for recycling, and 50 percent of those came from BCC families! Thank you for caring about our Father's creation, and for your participation and support of this event.

Discovery Trail

A big thank you to all those who helped with the Discovery Trail project on Saturday, April 26! We were able to accomplish everything we hoped for, including installing a new bench at the fire pit, removing invasive mint and other weeds encroaching on the trail, cleaning the interpretive signs, and hauling cedar wood chips from one end of the property to the other.

We want to extend a special thanks to Wes Taylor for all his work measuring, sealing, painting, cutting, and joining the wood for a new bench to replace one destroyed by a fallen birch tree this past winter. Not to mention doing most of the digging of new post holes (the hardest task) for the repositioned bench. It looks better than ever, Wes!

Your hard work should keep the trail looking loved and cared for for another year. Thank you all for making this possible, and for showing your love for God's creation in our little corner of the world.

Global 6K for Water — Neighborhood Walks

By Ruth Mitchell

Imagine living in a developing country where most of the women and girls walk an average of 6K (3.7 miles) every day to collect dirty water for drinking and household use. The good news is that each one of us can make a difference by providing clean water to a child for life. Now this child is free to walk to school to learn and play.

Once again this May, instead of gathering at BCC to walk our 6K together, you are invited to participate in a neighborhood Global 6K for Water in a location of your choosing! So far we have 6K Walks planned on Saturday, May 17, in Lynden, Ferndale, and Bellingham. Pick up a map with locations, dates, and times at the BCC Next Steps Kiosk in the lobby on Sunday.

There are several ways you can participate, whether you can walk or not, and whether you can give or not!

1. Register to walk with the BCC Team at Global6K.WorldVision.org/team/39379 and click “Join Our Team.” Then pick up a map on Sunday (or contact Pastor Adria) and walk at one of the BCC locations on Saturday, May 17.

2. Donate what you can to the BCC Team by going to Global6K.WorldVision.org/team/39379 and click “Support Us.” You are welcome to walk (some or all) the 6K with us! We will have extra T-shirts and bibs!

3. If you can’t make it on Saturday, May 17, you can walk at a location and date of your choice. You will still need to register (or donate another amount) with the BCC Team by May 17, but then choose a route, day, and time that works for you.

** Use discount code for G6K Registration is "EMPOWERMOMS"... for $10 off each registration from Saturday, May 3, until Monday, May 12!

Up Next:

Pacific Northwest Conference Worship Service
Friday, May 2
7:00 pm in the Sanctuary

CoWork Corner
Every Tuesday
12:00 pm-3:00 pm in Cafe Fika
*This is a shared workspace for those who work or study from home

Prime Timers Brunch
Thursday, May 8
12:30 pm in the Dining Room
*Prime Timers is a ministry for those who are 60(ish) and above. Join us this month for our guest speaker Ed Goebel who wrote a story about his moose-hunting experience.

Second Cup of Coffee
Saturday, May 10
10:00 am in Cafe Fika
*Ladies, join us for coffee and fellowship! If you are new to BCC, this is a great way to get to know other ladies in our church!

BCC Writer’s Forum
Saturday, May 10
10:00 –11:30 in the Dining Room
*For all writers, beginners to pros, this is a time for encouragement and mentoring. Read-alouds, sharing projects and ideas, a brief mentoring session with writing tips, and for those who want to stay a bit longer, we’ll demo some editing software. Hosts: Roy and Nancy Taylor Questions? taynancy@comcast.net

One Spirit Worship Service
Sunday, May 25
Location and Time TBA

Looking beyond May…

Shop for a Cause Garage Sale
Friday & Saturday, June 6 & 7, 9:00-3:00.
*Drop off donations following 1st service, Sunday, June 1

All Church Campout
June 19-22
Register Here

School Readiness Program
August 5-8