MASK UPDATE

On Thursday just before lunch, I received a text from a friend with an article attached announcing a new mask mandate for the city of Fayetteville. This mandate requires that masks be worn in indoor settings while not around those not in your immediate family. In light of this I called the other elders and as we discussed how we should respond. First, it was clear that none of us like wearing a mask and if you’d have asked us a few months ago, we thought we’d be done with all of this. But that is not the case and we cannot pretend that we are out of this quite yet.

The more we talked about this effort to help control the spread of this virus, the more we saw the mandate for masking indoors during the Sunday Gathering as a way we can serve others. We talked about Romans 13-14, Philippians 2, and the way of Jesus in serving others, putting their needs before his own.

In addition to all of this, the headmaster of FCA has since issued a statement to their staff encouraging voluntary compliance with the mask mandate for our city.

In order to love and serve FCA well, we will be encouraging the same. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we value the Sunday morning gathering of the church. Gathering for worship is an essential and irreplaceable means of discipleship, growth, and encouragement for all followers of Jesus. By choosing to wear a mask for another season, we can put the humility of Jesus on display for others by putting the needs of others above our own desires.

Church, throughout this pandemic we have been continually encouraged by your willingness to love and serve others like Christ has served us. See you all tomorrow for worship.

On behalf of the elders,
Jacob Warren | Lead Pastor

REFLECTIONS ON AFGHANISTAN FROM PSALM 63

Hey church,

I know that many of you have spent time in a foreign land at the behest of the government in the past, or are even there right now. There is also an incredible number of you that have had your close family go overseas while you manned the fort here at home. Those who have gone over and those who have stayed behind have sacrificed in many ways, almost all unseen and unknown by others to this day. There is much emotion tied to those far off lands that still sits deeply today.

When we say it is okay to not be okay, we mean that. As a result of the recent fall of Afghanistan I have found myself struggling with the same emotions of rage, hate, depression, and hopelessness that I first felt upon my return from that country more than a decade ago. I handled that return by hiding in a bottle, stuffing my emotions inside, and abandoning the faith. This time of trouble however, I have not gone to the bottle (although the temptation is strong) but to the only source of truth, and that is the Bible. No matter what the news says, or the opinions of others, it is only the words of Scripture that can be held to with utmost confidence.

In this time, I have just sat in Psalm 63 because I can tell myself these following truths when they are hard for me to see or believe right now as I wade through the returning emotions. I pray that they may be helpful to you, someone you know, or just a reminder about how awesome Jesus is.

V.1- O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. The recognition that He is not only God, but that He is MY God. He is the Transcendent God that is also interested in the lives and emotions of His creation, especially His Children. He is the only one I can run to find the satisfaction my soul needs, and the one I need to run to during hardship.

V.2- So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. While I have not seen God in His “sanctuary” I have seen the wonderous world He created. The power He has to have made the heavens and the earth is unfathomable, I can’t make anything and He made everything. And He continues to SUSTAIN His creation. While I see chaos and a waste of many things, He is still Sovereign over it all. The beauty all over His creation is just an indicator of how glorious He is.

V.3-4- Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. A reminder that His steadfast love IS better than life, because He is life and I have life in Him through Jesus. My lack of faith, or difficulty processing the events of this world does not reduce his love for me. Rather it amplifies His love because He, the creator God of the Universe, meets me where I am. Even in the midst of heartache and despair, I can and should praise Him because He is worthy. It is in and through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that I am spiritually alive to be able to praise Him.

V.5- My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,.. I have been through the deep, dark crevasses of despair, and I know the joy of coming through the other side because of the hope that I have in Jesus. He is the only one who can satisfy the deep longings within me. Just like my physical body is perfectly satisfied with a hearty medium-rare steak, a loaded baked potato, and a glass of sweet tea, my soul is perfectly satisfied as I turn to Jesus and His word and remind myself that the gospel is not just good news unto salvation, it is also good news for believers every day.

V.6-8- …when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. I am to think back and remember time and again all the things that Jesus has done for me and how it was Him that brought me out of hard times before. Jesus is the Good Shepherd that walks through the darkest valleys with me, and His word is there to comfort me with the truth when I can’t see. It is His guiding word that reminds me that I am not alone, and I am safe trusting in Him. I can sing for joy in the midst of darkness because I know that while there is light on the other side that I look forward to, Jesus is with me here and now. He is God in the good times, and He is God in the hard times. The more I cling to Him during dark periods, the more I learn that it is Him who holds me, sustains me, and cares for me.

V.9-11- But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped. Jesus wins. I am not being hunted like David was in this psalm, but I feel as though I am in an emotional wilderness. God is sovereign and just, compassionate and merciful, and as the Sovereign of the universe He has the final say. The Bible tells us that Jesus came to conquer sin and death through his life, death, and resurrection. His ascension to be at the right hand of the father to intercede for us until His return, and the peace I have through the Holy Spirit reminds me that this world is not my home. Jesus not only wins in the future, but He has already won. I can trust wholly in Him.

If you are struggling, it does not matter whether it is the fall of Afghanistan or not, it could be depression, cancer, the loss of a baby, or any other cause for hurt. I want you to know you are not alone. There are men and women within this family that would love to come alongside you during this time, walk with you through your hurt, and help you see how the good news of the gospel of Jesus applies to your life in the midst of the hurt.

For the fame of Jesus,
Kyle McFarland | Pastor of Veritas Church

POMELOW FAMILY BLOOD DRIVE

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DON'T LIKE WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS

I have been following our Veritas Bible Reading Plan, and there have been several chapters that have popped up lately that were hard for me to process. Let’s be honest - we have all been there. I want to share a few things that I remind myself of when this happens. What do we do when we don’t like what the bible says?

1. Take inventory with yourself. Admit that you didn’t love that particular passage and commit to digging into it
   It is good and right for you to desire to spend time in the inspired word of God - spending any amount of time reading Scripture is beneficial to your walk with God! When you come across a difficult passage, it helps to remember that investing the time into understanding the text fully is always worth the return. It is also helpful to assume that the problem is with our understanding of the scripture rather than with the scripture itself.

2. Pray for the Spirit to illuminate this passage for you
   We get to be in relationship with an approachable, knowable God. What a miracle! If you are wrestling with something in His word, you can ask Him for help. Pray for clarity, understanding, and to walk away from your time of study with a deeper love and understanding for the heart of God.

3. Investigate
   What is the context of this passage? Who is talking? What is happening in this part of the world during this timeframe? Who is the audience? What did the chapters before/after this passage talk about? How does this particular passage fit in with the rest of scripture? You don’t have to be a bible scholar to be able to answer these questions easily - google it! The Bible Project is a free resource that provides many of the answers to the questions above for every single book of the Bible. Check them out! If you have the answers to those questions but still think it would be beneficial to read someone else’s commentary, check out Matthew Henry’s Commentary or John Calvin’s Commentary (both are free) for another perspective to help grow in your understanding.

4. Remember 1 Corinthians 13:12
   For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
   Remember that we may never get to fully understand every passage during our time on earth. This can be a hard reality to come to terms with when we are struggling through a difficult section of Scripture. Let your heart be encouraged by the truth that we will have answers to our questions when we meet our Savior face-to-face!

Every time I commit to digging in to a deeper understanding of part of the bible that I don’t like, I walk away from my time with more love and affection for the Lord than I had previously. God really does meet us where we are. I pray that this is also true for you today!

Sincerely,
Samantha Metheny
Executive Administrator
samantha@veritasfayetteville.com

LEADERSHIP ONRAMP FAQs

Are you looking for ways to grow as a leader at Veritas but don't know where to start? Leadership Onramp is an opportunity for you to come and share a meal with us and our leaders in order to learn more about leadership at Veritas and get plugged into one of our leadership development processes. I'm sure that you have more questions about this event, so let's dig into them!

• What motivated you to plan a leadership onramp?
  By the grace of God, our church is growing in a healthy way, but it will not continue growing in health unless there are structures to support that new growth. Have you ever seen an overgrown plant before? Vines need a trellis, tomato plants need support, and churches need easy ways to onboard potential leaders and provide clarity on what development opportunities would look like for them.

• Who is invited to attend?
  Literally everyone. Because Jesus has commissioned all followers of Jesus (men, women, young, and old alike) to make disciples, we are all called to first lead ourselves and bear a responsibility to help lead others to Jesus. Leadership expresses itself practically in the church in the form of elders serving the church by leading, deacons leading the church by serving, and all kinds of ministry leaders leading their teams and groups.

• What will we learn if we attend the leadership onramp?
  We will focus on discussing four main things:
  1 - Why leadership development is important to us as a church
  2 - The distinctives of leadership development at Veritas
  3 - The practicals of how we do leadership development as a church
  4 - How you can take the next step toward a development process that you are interested in

• Am I committed to leadership if I attend?
  No, this is not a bait and switch where we surprise you with a list of things you’re now responsible for once you attend. This is an opportunity for us to put our cards on the table and lay out the many opportunities for being developed and invited into leadership at Veritas.

• What are you most excited about sharing with us?
  That you are made for this. God has designed you, equipped you, and given you a story that gives you unique utility and gifting to serve his church. We are committed to equipping you even if you aren’t going to be here for long. We know that every investment we make in you as a leader we see as a missional investment, either in the future of Veritas or your leadership elsewhere. For most of us, there will never be a “more convenient time” to be developed as a leader.

Let’s take advantage of this opportunity to be developed to love God, love people, and advance the gospel together!

For the fame of Jesus,
Jacob Warren | Lead Pastor
Jacob@veritasfayetteville.com