Join us for online worship this Sunday, October 25, at 10:15 a.m. at https://vimeo.com/channels/1547852.

You can view and download the bulletin here.

Last month The New York Times printed the responses people sent in when asked to describe the pandemic in six words. Some examples:

Messy hair, messy room, messy thoughts.\
I regret saying, “I hate school.”
Read every book in the house.

Cleaned Lysol container with Lysol wipe.

Social distancing myself from the fridge.

Avoiding death, but certainly not living.

The five-hundred-year-old lyrics of Martin Luther that we sang this morning, however, seem to describe the pandemic—and the whole of these days in three words: “Mortal ills prevailing.”

That’s pretty much it.

We don’t have to pretend that all is well. It’s OK—especially now—it’s OK to not be OK. Instead of toxic positivity we can affirm with the Psalmist, even when beset and besieged, “God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble.”

SCRIPTURE LESSONS: Habakkuk 2:1-4; Psalm 46; Romans 8:31-39

SERMON       “A Very Present Help”

The Rev. Bill Lovin preaching

ANTHEM       “Thee, Lord, Would I Serve”     Mark Bender

                        Wen Chin Liu, Avery Nabholz, Josh Ramseyer, Colin Wilson

No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome to join us online.