News
This week, we are going to do the same thing as last week for TGKids. Joy is going to teach the Learners Class LIVE from Ramble Creek at 10:00am!
If you would like coloring sheets for the lesson, you can download it here.
If you would like sheets to take notes from home, you can download them here:
For younger kids.
For older kids.
We need more songs that celebrate the greatness of God!
As Psalm 145:3 says, Great is the LORD, & greatly to be praised, & his greatness is unsearchable.
This Sunday, we are going to introduce a new song. You can watch Ben play it right here!
Watch it over a few times. Sing along. And be ready to join in this Sunday morning!
I’ll bless your name, O God, each day that I awake
From dawn until the setting sun your greatness I’ll proclaim
Your glory far exceeds the highest human thought
And so with every breath I breathe I’ll bless your name O God
And You will be revered by children not yet born
As every generation hears of wonders You have done
Like waves upon the shore new mercies shall appear
For you are good and just, O Lord, and You will be revered
How great is the Lord and greatly to be praised! How great, is the Lord our God!
How great, is the Lord and greatly to be praised!
And greatly to be praised!
The saints that You’ve redeemed will hail your righteous ways
That called us out of barren streams to rivers of your grace
You raise the ones who fail and satisfy our needs
You pour Your kindness over all the saints that You’ve redeemed
Forever without end, creation will rejoice
When all the works of wicked men You finally destroy
Your kingdom we'll proclaim until the Lord descends
And we will bless Your holy name forever without end
Mrs. Lauren is going to teach the Learners Class LIVE from Ramble Creek at 10:00am!
These teachers are doing a wonderful job serving us during this season & we hope this will make the class even more interactive & helpful!
If you would like coloring sheets for the lesson, you can download it here.
If you would like sheets to take notes from home, you can download them here:
For younger kids.
For older kids.
This past Sunday, we reopened as a church at Ramble Creek & all of us wore masks!
One of the questions my kids have repeatedly asked since then is: Why do we have to wear masks?
The UPS guy doesn’t wear a mask. Folks go to the grocery story without wearing a mask. Everybody (it seems) goes to Lowe’s & most don’t wear masks!
Let me try to answer this question carefully.
Governor Lee & the State of Tennessee have been very generous towards churches & have asked for us to wear masks.
All public leaders are positioned by God (Rom. 13:1) & gifts from God. But, public leaders who work hard to promote good & punish evil are especially good gifts from God to citizens & churches.
Governor Lee has consistently called churches “essential businesses” & has sought to defend religious liberty. All the guidance he has proposed to churches in reopening are not mandates; they are suggestions & recommendations. They are explicitly called “suggestions,” because Governor Lee wants to protect religious liberty & encourage churches to exercise liberty & wisdom in how to apply them. In addition, in providing this guidance & these recommendations, Governor Lee gathered 7 pastors from throughout the state of Tennessee—as well as government leaders & health professionals—to form them.
What a good governor!
Governor Lee is leading our state wisely & courageously. And I especially appreciate his generous posture towards churches, especially when I know pastors in other parts of the country who are having a very different experience.
All that said, Governor Lee recommends we wear masks when we gather together &, knowing his continued support of churches, I want us to follow him!
But, wait . . . I don’t wear masks anywhere right now?
Whether or not you wear a mask has become a symbol for how you are responding to COVID-19.
If you’re concerned, you wear one; if not, you don’t. If you’re anxious or fearful, you wear one; if not, you don’t. If you’re liberal, you wear one; if you are conservative, you don’t.
Whether you wear a mask when you go to the store, gym, or restaurant is probably a decision you have carefully made & that is great.
That’s exactly the way it should be. You should make the best decision for yourself or your family.
However, when we gather together, wearing masks may be the best way to love our neighbors & potentially prevent COVID-19 from spreading unknowingly.
We don’t wear masks to protect ourselves.
We wear masks to protect our neighbor & prevent COVID-19 from potentially spreading from us to them unknowingly.
Oddly enough, people have often accused church-goers of wearing masks. We hide our sins. We cover up our failures. We tell everyone, “Everything’s okay!,” when it isn’t.
It may be a bit uncomfortable & may not be our preference, but putting on a mask right now may be the best way for us to love our neighbors & community when we gather.
So, I hope you’ll grab your mask & join us this Sunday,
Walt
Those who fear the Lord are blessed. Not because all their troubles are erased. Or because they never haunt any more.
Those who fear the Lord are blessed, because their troubles are placed in the hands of the Lord who loves them & is greater than all their fears.
Tune in to Buddy’s video above & let it fill your heart with joy of fearing God.
While we have much to be grateful for as a church, these past 6 weeks of isolation—& all of the ways COVID-19 has affected each one of us—have been difficult.
Last week the State of Tennessee began to gradually reopen, starting phase 1 of 3 phases to Reopen Tennessee Responsibly. Churches are permitted to resume in person meetings in a limited capacity in this first phase.
We desire to meet together in person as soon as it is possible & wise. Among other reasons, we take very seriously God’s command to not neglect gathering together (Heb. 10:25), the gathered church as the unique dwelling place of God by the Spirit (Eph. 2:22; 1 Cor. 3:16; etc.), & the refreshing up-building effect of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:7-11; Eph. 4:15-16).
In addition to general guidelines to Reopen Tennessee Responsibly, Governor Lee includes extensive, informed “Guidance for Gathering Together in Houses of Worship,” while at the same time affirming every Tennessean’s religious freedom & right to practice religion “according to the dictates of their own consciences.”
After reviewing these guidelines & getting counsel from members, health professionals, & other local pastors, we believe now is the time to reopen Trinity Grace in a limited capacity.
We will resume our Sunday morning worship service this coming Sunday, May 10, but we will do so in a limited way with the following changes.
We will not offer TGKids for at least 3 more weeks. Like always, the children are welcome to stay in the service. After enduring livestream, a little wiggling is a welcome change! We will have another room available for parents to go with their children during the service if necessary.
We will operate at 50% capacity of the building’s capacity. Since we are unable to meet at TWU for at least the next several weeks, we will be meeting at Ramble Creek & will be able to meet the state’s recommendation with our average attendance.
We will maintain 6 foot separate between rows. We will also encourage families to maintain similar separation from family groupings on each row.
We will ask each person to a wear a mask. While this is not our preference, it is consistent recommendation & an important way for us to love our neighbors. So, please bring your mask! We will some extra onsite for those in need.
We will ask the sick to stay home.
We encourage folks 65 years old or older or with pre-existing conditions to prayerfully consider staying home.
In addition, prior to the service, we will disinfect all handles, services, & restrooms.
Even with all those limitations, we believe now is the time to reopen Trinity Grace & resume worshipping our great God together each Sunday.
That said, we will continue to:
livestream our Sunday service on trinitygraceathens.com or our YouTube channel.
limit other in person meetings to under 10 (e.g., Men’s & Women’s Community Group meetings) & utilize Zoom for larger gatherings.
Since we are reopening in this limited capacity, you may feel uncomfortable about attending for a number of reasons.
As we talked about when we studied Acts 15, we must be close-fisted about some things & open fisted about others things.
We are close-fisted on the gospel & ready to defend the truths of the gospel & our calling to preach the gospel. We are open-fisted on many other things—nearly everything else. Given the real threat & broad uncertainty COVID-19 has introduced into our community, along with the wide-ranging views of combating it & reopening America, this is a moment where we should be open-fisted.
You are free to decide for yourself & your family when it would be appropriate to resume attending our Sunday morning worship service.
If you have any questions or would like more clarification, please don’t hesitate to talk with me (Walt) or one of the pastoral residents.
We will be unable to meet at TWU for at least 4 weeks.
Until we return there, we will be meeting each Sunday at 10:30am at:
Ramble Creek Wedding & Event Venue
277 County Road 437
Athens, TN 37303
What does a fish do outside of water? They flop around vainly. What do we do when we live as if everything depended upon us? We run around anxiously.
Watch the latest installment of our Songs to Sing in Seclusion with Taylor on Psalm 127.
Service starts at 10:30am.
You can watch on our home page or our YouTube channel.
Here some helpful PDF worksheets for upper elementary & middle school kids to take notes during the service.
Trust me.
You won’t want to miss Mrs. Mel, her gong, & dancers!
Here is a coloring sheet to go along with the lesson!
As of this afternoon, 58 patients have tested positive for COVID-19 & 2 residents have died due to the virus. Twelve staff members have also tested positive.
This is sad news.
We will continue to pray for the patients & staff of the Life Care Center & for Sam who has a number of patients there.
However, we also have an opportunity to deliver snacks & drinks to bless the staff as they continue to care for patients through this situation.
Purchase snacks & drinks that you think will bless them.
Things like these would be great:
Individually-wrapped snacks (granola bars, crackers, etc.)
Soft drinks
Flavored water / energy drinks
Deliver them to our office (219 E. Madison Ave) anytime Thursday or before noon on Friday.
Think Saturday night, only better. Way better.
We will have a little competition, hear testimonies, celebrate grace, & hear some (very) exciting news!
If you are a member, you will receive an email tomorrow with all the details.
If you are not a member & want to join, fill out the form here & we’ll get you the details asap.
High Schoolers:
Mark your calendars for “Brinner” next Sunday night, May 3.
7pm on Zoom.
In lieu of our present book study, we are going to read & discuss John Piper’s newest book Coronavirus & Christ.
We have a FREE copy of you—as a gift from DesiringGod. We will get it to you.
Also, you can download a PDF version & an audiobook version (which John Piper reads himself!) here.
Psalm 126 is a most-encouraging, complaining prayer.
Sometimes life is good. Sometimes life is hard, with many tears. But the promise remains: A harvest of joy comes to those who keep sowing through tears.
Watch & learn from the video.
If you are wondering, the quote Walt shared from John Piper is below & from this post:
“When there are simple, straightforward jobs to be done, & you are full of sadness, and tears are flowing easily, go ahead & do the jobs with tears. Be realistic. Say to your tears: ‘Tears, I feel you. You make me want to quit life. B ut there is a field to be sown (dishes to be washed, car to be fixed, & so on). I know you will wet my face several times today, but I have work to do & you will just have to go with me. I intend to take the bag of seeds & sow. If you come along then you will just have to wet the rows.'
“Then say, on the basis of God’s word, ‘Tears, I know that you will not stay forever. The very fact that I just do my work (tears & all) will in the end bring a harvest of blessing. So go ahead & flow if you must. But I believe (I do not yet see it or feel it fully)—I believe that the simple work of my sowing will bring sheaves of harvest. And your tears will be turned to joy.’”
One of the highlights of this season has been Zoom calls with our Trinity Grace family.
So mark your calendars for next Thursday night, April 30.
If you been able to join us yet, think Saturday night Live, only better. Way better.
You can plan on laughing, crying, mocking (for fun!), celebrating, & testifying to how God has met us through this season.
If you are a member, you will receive an email next week with all the details. If you are not a member & want to join, fill out the form here & we’ll get you the details asap.
Jesus said, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you (John 16:23). James said, you do not have, because you do not ask (James 4:2).
The obvious takeaway: Prayer changes circumstances & situations in ways that would not change without prayer.
It may be tempting to conclude prayer doesn’t matter right now, since circumstances do not seem to be changing.
Author Tim Wise tweeted two weeks ago: “Heads up to Mike Pence & Ben Carson & the folks who think prayer will solve this thing, & whom i assume have been trying it, to no avail, daily: how about we stop relying on magic & go with science & lots of money? Thanks. Your God is pretty obviously napping…”
Sometimes it feels that way, doesn’t it?
But, we stand on the Word of God & remember the countless prayers God has answered. We will continue to pray to God & especially for our leaders.
No government leader—or any leader for that matter—is self-made or self-appointed. They have been appointed & positioned by God himself. They are “God’s servant” (Rom. 13:3).
Pray for President Trump, Governor Lee, & Mayor Gentry:
to lead with humility before God.
to acknowledge that all the responsibility & authority they possess is from the Lord.
to steward the people, resources, & land with an awareness that “the earth & the fullness thereof belongs to the Lord” (Ps. 24:1).
What the American people need right now is not more bravado or charisma. What we need is courage & conviction springing from the truth.
Pray for President Trump, Governor Lee, & Mayor Gentry:
to lead with courage, not to win votes or earn favor.
to lead with conviction about what is right & what is best.
Many of the decisions our leaders face in the days & weeks ahead are very significant & impactful. They need wisdom. And wisdom is God’s to give.
Pray for President Trump, Governor Lee, & Mayor Gentry:
to seek wisdom from God.
to discern the best ways to protect the vulnerable in our nation & community.
to make the best decision about when & how to “reopen” our economy.
Leaders have been put in place & given real authority “to punish those who do evil & to praise those who do good” (1 Peter 2:14). They are called to call evil evil & good good—it is a great tragedy when leaders fail to do so (Isa. 5:20).
Pray for President Trump, Governor Lee, & Mayor Gentry:
to continue to protect our rights & liberties, even as they steward their real responsibility & authority.
to cultivate what is good in the decisions they make & the way they enforce them.
to lead so that we can continue to live “a peaceful & quiet life, godly & dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:2).
to preserve religious liberty & encourage sinners to turn to Jesus Christ for forgiveness.
We long for an end to the spread of COVID-19 nationally & globally.
Pray for:
a vaccine to be developed & all the scientists working tirelessly to develop a vaccine.
the rate of infection to continue to decrease nationally & throughout the world, in a way that can only be explained by God’s power.
for a miracle & worldwide revival!
Circumstances seem to surround us & close around us. They seem to sideline us & leave us isolated & alone.
But the Lord is with us.
Buddy unpacks another one of the Psalms of Ascent—Psalm 125—& reminds us that it is the Lord who surrounds us & sustains us.
Watch Buddy’s video & rejoice in these truths.
Mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 22.
We plan to take the day to pray. Prayer is a primary way we acknowledge God’s sovereignty & our dependence upon him.
We plan to take that day to pray for our leaders—President Trump, Governor Lee, Mayor Gentry, & others. They are facing many difficult & impactful decisions. We pray for wisdom from above & help.
We also plan to pray for our frontline workers—healthcare workers, service industries, & more—as they continue to be in harm’s way to serve us.
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has disrupted every one of our lives.
We all need help in times like these.
We as a church want to come together & help one another. We want to love one another & bear one another’s burdens.
Is there anything we can do to help you?
Please don’t hesitate to let us know if & how we can help. It could be:
running errands for you
getting groceries for you
helping you pay your bills
or, something else?
What to folks songs, the Psalms, & us have in common?
Answer: the need to keep looking back.
Watch the video from Taylor below to unpack Psalm 124 & learn more.
As we mentioned during the service yesterday, we plan to provide lunch for Grace & Mercy Ministries THIS FRIDAY (April 17)!
If you are unfamiliar with Grace & Mercy, they are a ministry that regularly feeds the less fortunate in our community. Right now, each Monday & Friday lunch they are providing 110 to-go lunches for folks in our community.
The plan is to provide:
Spaghetti or Lasagna or Baked Ziti
Green Beans
Rolls
Little Debbie cakes or some other individually pre-packaged dessert
Food would need to be prepared & delivered to Grace & Mercy by 10:30am on Friday morning. Their address is 714 Walter St, Athens, TN 37303.
If you would like more information or to sign up:
Contact Sandra Swafford (two54-six44-eight44seven) directly.
Or, email Walt (walt[at]trinitygraceathens[dot]com).
it was a joy to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ “together” this morning!
**If you had technical difficulties, we are so sorry & will work to get things fixed before next week.**
You can listen to the message here or on Apple podcasts.
In addition, all the quotes & Scriptures from the message are below.
“Since they all [i.e., all four canonical Gospels] have the same object, to show Christ, the first three exhibit his body, if I may be permitted to put it like that, but John shows his soul.” John Calvin
What is God? God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, & unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, & truth. Westminster Shorter Catechism
He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Isaiah 40:11
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17
We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:16
“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” Robert Murray M’Cheyne
Jesus approached the grave of Lazarus, in a state, not of uncontrollable grief, but of irrepressible anger. He did respond to the spectacle of human sorrow abandoning itself to its unrestrained expression, with quiet, sympathetic tears: “Jesus wept.” But the emotion which tore his breast and clamored for utterance was just rage. B.B. Warfield
It is death that is the object of his wrath, and behind death him who has the power of death, and whom he has come into the world to destroy. Tears of sympathy may fill his eyes, but this is incidental. His soul is held by rage: and he advances to the tomb, in Calvin’s words, ‘as a Champion who prepares for conflict.’ B.B. Warfield
