Welcome to MPC Connected! With our church family separated, we will be communicating with you throughout the week in a more intentional way, including emails from Max and Jeff, opportunities to serve others, and more. Enjoy!
MPC Family,
We've presented many ways for you all to serve over the last several weeks. We've mentioned giving blood, drawing pictures, calling and texting other members, and so on. We do want to remind you of one that we would still love help on, but first, a word of encouragement -
I think, for many of us, when all of this started, there was a lot of energy to "do" things. We asked ourselves how we could be creative and flourish in the midst of extraordinary times. Those are still valid questions to ask and consider, but we are also aware that, for many of us, some of that energy feels harder to come by. We know that this has been tiring. It can be hard to simply make it through the day right now.
For that reason, when you hear from us on Wednesdays with suggested ways to serve - take them as just that - suggestions we are offering to you. We know that the last thing most of us need right now is another "to-do." We just want to make you aware of these tangible opportunities to care for others. Some may fit for you, some may not.
Of course, our desire is that all of us continue to serve the Lord, the church, and our community - but even more fundamental than serving Jesus is resting in Jesus. Max and I (by happy coincidence) are both reading a book called Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. Referencing Matthew 11:28-30, Ortlund reminds us:
His yoke is kind and his burden is light. That is, his yoke is a nonyoke, and his burden is a nonburden. What helium does to a balloon, Jesus’s yoke does to his followers. We are buoyed along in life by his endless gentleness and supremely accessible lowliness. He doesn’t simply meet us at our place of need; he lives in our place of need. He never tires of sweeping us into his tender embrace.
We love you very much!
Jeff
Though we are separated during this unique season, we want you to know we are available. We will be doing our best to stay in touch in many ways, but if you need prayer or just need someone to talk to, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. You can always send a prayer request to Donna (mpcadminteam@gmail.com). You can also email or call Max or Jeff or any of our elders. Max's email is mbenfer@meadowcroftchurch.org and his phone number is 484-886-7726. Jeff's email is jeff@meadowcroftchurch.org and his phone number is 540-818-6215.