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Blog Post | Raleigh Kincaid

A Prayer for Hope

Raleigh offered this prayer in worship on January 24, 2021. As we move through this pandemic, may we find the grace to bear witness to the struggles and injustices that harm our communities and also find a way to hope and work for better days. Dear God, This pandemic has done a job on us. It seems that every time we tried to pin down the coming of a better day, that day would come and go, leaving us still to wonder how long, O Lord, how long. And yet over and over, your word and the proclaimers of your word invite us to remain in and live in hopefulness. So again, dearest God, I pray that you find the cracks in our fear and cynicism and inject a fresh dose of the kind of hope that does not deny what is but is there in spite of what is.

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Blog Post | Aaron Austin

Advent at Central 2020

Join us as we celebrate Advent this year in new ways, remembering the presence of Christ who continues to lead us into hope, peace, joy, and love.

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Blog Post | Aaron Austin

The Slow Work of God

Sometimes I find great quotes for the beginning of our worship services, but they are just a bit too long to view (or digest) in a slide show.  Today, I found a quote from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (one of Dr. Glenn Hinson's favorite persons to quote), and it seemed to fit this strange coalescence of liminalities we find ourselves in.

01.01.70
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Blog Post | Mark Johnson

A Prayer for Politicians and Public Officeholders

Last week we spoke with Dennis Johnson who shared this prayer form Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist pastor and founder of the Social Gospel movement.  Here's a prayer from this Baptist prophet as we move through this season of election.

 

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Blog Post | Carol Martin

Love Offering for Jess and Beth

As many of you know, this past Friday, August 7, was the final day of operation of our Childcare for the foreseeable future.  We cannot predict the length of our shutdown.  However, the pandemic conditions that prompted the shutdown will have to improve significantly before we can realistically consider re-opening.

01.01.70
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Blog Post | Aaron Austin

Anti-racism Resources

Many white people would like to help and support movements for equality and justice for our black and brown siblings.  Especially in the midst of a global pandemic, we all may not be able to march in protests.  Some of us may have little extra money to spare.  However, there are ways that we can all offer support, from educating ourselves on systemic racism to having tough conversations.  Guilt will do very little for our neighbors, and sometimes trying to figure out the "best" thing to do can lead to inaction.  Here are a few ideas that we've compiled from various places, along with links to other  resources for people who want to support.

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Blog Post | Aaron Austin

Cooking with the Wallaces - Polenta 2 Ways

Join the Wallaces as they cook 2 different polenta recipes.

01.01.70
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Blog Post | Aaron Austin

Behind the Scenes by Aaron Austin

Moving our Sunday services completely online has been an adventure.  Even though we've been streaming our services for over a year, we never envisioned that this would be our primary means of worshipping together.  We've had to make quick adjustments and troubleshoot last-minute technical malfunctions, but we've managed to be on the air by eleven o'clock (or pretty close) every Sunday. 

01.01.70
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Blog Post | Jan Fischer

My Choir Chair by Jan Fischer

A few weeks ago during our virtual Sunday service, Aaron led us through a time of meditation. As a prompt he asked us to visualize a place where we felt most comfortable and where we could be most like ourselves and where we felt loved. Pictures of family and childhood raced through my mind but the picture that kept coming back to me was the image of my choir chair. Hard as I tried to refocus my thoughts the image of that chair kept coming back to me.

01.01.70
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Blog Post | Mark Johnson

My Prayer for You by Mark Johnson

A prayer offered by Mark Johnson on April 12, 2020.

In prayer we discover the space between our hopes and our worries. It fills up the distance between the new creation promised by the Risen Christ and this decaying creation that we must content with, even while we are am assured it is passing away.

Here is what I pray for you:
I pray for you: a faith that can sustain you through these difficult times and the shaking of the foundations,
I pray for you: a song to sing or a poem to recite that can fill with so much love and joy that you feel as if your heart will burst out of its chest,
I prayer for you: a dance to remember (with appropriate Baptist distancing ;)) to train your feet to help chase this virus away and never come back,
I pray for you: a purpose, so rewarding that it makes getting up in the morning worth it,
I pray for you: plenty of friends and family members to love and hug on, even if for a while, it must be done virtually,
I pray for you: peace and health in your home, and rest from your labors.

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Central Baptist Church