“God is good, and life is hard, and only when we are safely tucked under the shadow of His wings does that make sense. I grieve for the loss of my health and praise God for being with me in it. Because that’s the weird, beautiful thing about following a Suffering Servant who was well-acquainted with grief. You can pray for the Lord to use your suffering for good in your life, but you can also plead with Him to heal you from your pain. You can grieve and hope at the same time. They’re not mutually exclusive terms. They go together for the Christian. Grief and hope. Two sides of the same coin. One day hope will be fully realized, and grief will exist no more. Jesus made sure of that.” From a blog post by Glenna Marshal

That’s my reality and comfort for today. You can have grief in one hand and hope in the other. As I reflect on my cancer classroom that began on April 22, 2021, I find that the longer it goes, the deeper my suffering feels. As I say that, I realize that many of you suffer much more than me, and I want to let you know that God knows. God is near – an ever-present help in times of trouble. 

God has promised to shelter us in the shadow of His wings. I wish that meant we didn’t have to go through the classroom of suffering in this life, but that’s not what it means. You have to be willing to be honest with God, as I wrote about last week, and tell Him just what you feel. As one friend said to me recently, “When you express your feelings, you’re bringing them out of hiding so God can heal your emotions.” When you hold them down inside, you end up with deeper depression, anxiety, and hopelessness.

Another friend wrote me this week with a strong word of encouragement to have faith in the resurrected Jesus who lives within me. She wrote, “Do we fully comprehend that we have His power, His resurrection power, within us? He is our victory.” I loved that reminder, and later while in the shower, God spoke to me once again through the reminder of a song we’ve sung together at Twin Cities. It’s called Resurrecting by Elevation Church. The key line for me is this: “The resurrected ONE is resurrecting me.”

We can have hope in one hand, and it is not diminished by holding grief, loss, sadness, doubt, or pain in the other. In fact, it’s in acknowledging the reality of both that we can rest and quit fighting against the messages inside that say, “This shouldn’t be. God is not good. Where is God?” The answer is He is here with me, and I’m sheltered under His wings.

So, I don’t have to live in fear that the prolonged wait for the surgery to remove the remainder of my cancer is hurting my chances of healing. I don’t have to worry about my family as we wait arm in arm to move forward and out of the muck of delay after delay. I don’t have to fret over how I will accomplish everything on my to-do list for our church as we move into the holidays. Instead, I can choose to breathe and rest in God’s faithfulness to me. He is the great “I AM” who watches over me in all things. 

I have been cleared for surgery by the hepatologist from UCSF, and now I’m in the waiting room again as they try to fit me back into their busy schedules. I had a possibility for surgery this week, but after a false start, it was cancelled because both surgeons were not available. That was an emotional blow – Kim and I cried together. This classroom has so many lessons we didn’t quite know were in the curriculum, but in all of this, we’ve sensed God’s presence through our church family and friends.

Thank you for your consistent prayers for me in this season. So many others are going through their health, relational, financial, family, and work struggles. Let’s make it our goal to pray for them each day. May each of us live with faith as we hold our grief in one hand and our hope in the other. He will have the final word. All pain, suffering, sickness, and disease will be stamped out through the promise of His resurrection power. I love you.

Here are some upcoming opportunities to SPREAD HOPE to our community. 

First, let’s take a moment and give a huge SHOUT OUT for the amazing FALL FAMILY FESTIVAL. 1700 people came onto our campus to experience hospitality, creativity, and fun provided by so many of our willing volunteers. I’m grateful to John Fairchild and Mare Dibert for their vision to create this amazing event with freshness and passion each year. FFF is a high-impact investment as we get to have a personal touch with the families of our community. Let’s pray for each family who attended that they would want to check us out to see what makes us the kind of church who would provide this kind of event for free! We want them to know the love of Jesus that compels us to love like that.

Come connect with other families at FAMILY FILM NIGHT Friday, November 12 in the Student’s Multi-Purpose Room. We will be showing “Robots” and making our own robots! Popcorn, water, and robot-building supplies will be provided. Candy will also be available for purchase. Make sure to bring your pillows and blankets! 5:00pm – Bring your picnic dinner and start building your robot building. 5:30pm – Showtime!

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD has been a way we’ve engaged for years now that allows us to reach out in a global way to spread the hope of Jesus during the holiday season. If you’ve never participated or want a review of why this is so important, just watch this video, and you’ll see the impact a small shoe box can have on the lives of children around the world. We have OCC boxes available at the church on Sunday mornings at the Spread Hope kiosk. Stop by, get yours, make a box, and return it to Twin Cities by Sunday, November 14. 

SURVIVING THE HOLIDAYS GRIEFSHARE is a meaningful way to spread hope with your loved ones and friends who face the pain of loss during this season. The holidays have a way of turning up the heat under our pain, and we want to help you know that you are not alone. This one-time session offered Thursday, November 18, 5:30-7:30pm at Twin Cities, will help you find hope as you navigate the holidays without your loved one. You can guide people to our website for more information or to register.

Our next BAPTISM will be December 12. Let me encourage you if you’ve never been baptized, PLEASE consider following the example set by Jesus when He allowed Himself to be baptized in the Jordan River. This is the first step He took to signify the beginning of His mission to seek and save the world. If you want to express your faith in Jesus through baptism, send an email to Mare, and attend the class Sunday, November 28 or December 5 at 9:00am. She will help you know everything you need. 

THIS SUNDAY we will continue our RADIATE LOVE series based upon the New Testament book of 1 John. John writes to correct error that had seeped into some of the second-generation church teachers in the region of Ephesus. He writes to encourage the Followers of Jesus in that region to exemplify the words of Jesus when He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.” 

Sunday’s message is about Spreading Real Love. We’ll be in a section of 1 John that challenges us to be the kind of people who love others out of the love we’ve received from God. When we spread love like that, we stand out in a way that lifts Jesus up, and He said, “If you lift Me up, I will draw all people to Myself.” So, we want to be on mission and lift Him up by spreading His love.

Here are the links you’ll need to be fully prepared for Sunday’s Service:

• Message Notes and Study Guide
• Weekly Spotify Playlist
• Children's Ministry
• Student Ministry 

Joyfully living everyday life on mission in intimacy with Jesus and others,

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