I am damaged and I don’t want you to know
Under bandages are wounds I’ll never show
I dress them well before you come around
And they’re wrapped up till you go
Cause I am damaged and I don’t want you to know

There are many pictures hung up on my wall
And I have let you think that you have seen them all
But I take some down before you come around
It’s propaganda, yeah I know
But I am damaged and I don’t want you to go

Read the inside and you’ll find some rotten boards
So I paint the outside with only major chords
And I won’t lie, but I’ll hide things
In the basement down below
Cause I am damaged and I don’t want you to know
Yes I am damaged and I don’t want you to know

As the Gospel reading from Sunday points out, “Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.”  This truth is both terrifying and relieving – terrifying because I am still afraid of letting people down yet relieving because deception is both hard and loveless work.

Almighty God, to you our hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.  Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit that we may worship you and worthily magnify your holy name through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

(lyrics by Fiction Family…go to the blog on the church’s website to hear the actual song)

Put the God badge down
And love someone
Put your God badge down
And love someone
Let it free your soul
The world never was and never will be in your control
Put your God badge down
And love someone

Unlock your heart
And love someone
Unlock your heart
And love someone
There is no us or them
There’s only folks that you do or don’t understand
Unlock your heart
And love someone

You’re not your own idea
And neither was this town
Love alone was yours to carry
You could lay your gavel down
You could lay your gavel down

Let Him light your path
And love someone, yeah
Let Him light your path
And love someone
You’re not the jury or the judge
Quit acting out the fear that you call love
Put your God badge down
And love someone

I have struggled to the point of tears with this song, and I have kept wanting to pick up my gavel so that I could control something.  But I have not yet figured out how to love well enough to have my justice for the average person be an extension of God’s love.

Lord, help me to love others the way you have loved me…with mercy and wisdom beyond my ability.

- matt

(song by Fiction Family)

Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart…

I was so excited on Sunday by the picture of God sending us into the world.  God is raising up and developing leaders for His church and leaders for His Kingdom.  Sunday gave me so many tangible things for which to say, ‘thanks!’

• Clay’s ordination was a fantastic celebration of our dependence on God.  Tommy Hinson exhorted us to pray and to trust God for the growth of His church.  The Bishop gave this word to Clay as he prepared to ordain him:  ’Be mindful that you cannot do this on your own…  therefore you ought, and need, to pray earnestly for His Holy Spirit.’  We all walked away feeling like we want to spend more time studying the Bible and more time praying for our friends and family and more time waiting for God to fill us.
• I loved seeing Jesse, Sarah, and Clara Blaine who were back in the US for a bit from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  They gave us a quick report and then they prayed for our church.  We are all so proud of the work they are doing and the work that God is doing IN them.
• We prayed, blessed, and sent Kate Raymond to Bolivia for 6 months to be in a spanish immersion school.  Kate has worked as an ER nurse in DC for several years.  Now she is exploring how God might use her nursing skills in a spanish-speaking context.  We love how her heart is open to God’s direction and she is courageously walking in the opportunities that He provides.
• At the 4pm prayer service, I saw 20 or so volunteers plus another 10 or so people who were praying for the service and praying for God’s Kingdom to come in Arlington and asking that joy would rain down in the sanctuary and longing for people to be set free.  If you have not prayed with us at 4, you are missing something!!
• I have watched a great team of people plan and prepare for our PartyAuction on Saturday at 6:30pm.  They have used their administration and hospitality gifts to create an environment where we can give thanks and celebrate all that God has done here.

I love that God is stirring people to follow Jesus to new places.  Maybe God is doing something new in you, too?  We would love to hear about it and pray with you.  Hang on.  It’s never a dull ride.

-David

Hey Restoration,

On Sunday I’m going to be ordained as a priest (10am on N. Quincy St.).  My ordination will be a culmination of a roughly six-year process that I’ve been going through involving probably hundreds of conversations, a seminary degree, multiple internships and an extensive examination process by the church.  It will also be the final service in the building on N. Quincy St., which I think is pretty special.  In the days leading up to it, I’ve felt a range of emotions, from excitement and gratitude to an awareness of the gravity of the vows I’ll be taking.

So what does all this mean?  Well, ordination can be described in different ways, depending on your perspective, but at its most basic level, it’s the church commissioning someone to lead: in worship, teaching, discipleship and the direction of the church or a given ministry.

This is both a great honor and a great responsibility.  Not surprisingly, as I’ve grown into this role over the last several months, I’ve become acutely aware of some of areas where I need to grow.   At the same time, though, I’ve been surprised to discover some gifts that I didn’t realize I had.  All along, it’s been amazing to be part of a community where I’ve found both grace and affirmation, and I’ve seen growth in my relationship with and reliance upon God in ways that I had never experienced before.

One thing that has particularly struck me in preparing for ordination is that Christian leadership always takes the form of service.  It’s no accident that priests in our tradition are first ordained as deacons (the Greek word for servant), and  I won’t cease to be a deacon on Sunday.  I’ll be given greater authority, especially with regard to the sacraments, but service will continue to be the heart of my ministry as a priest.

• This means that my job will be to serve you, which is a huge privilege.
• It also means that, as I’m commissioned to lead, I will be leading you and partnering with you to do the same, to serve each other and the world around us.  I get really excited when I dream about what our story will look like as Christ’s sacrificial love continues to take shape in our lives!

So, as I get ready to take on this role, I want to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone at Restoration.  Thank you for both your encouragement and challenging words as I continue to grow as a leader.  Thank you for the privilege of serving alongside of you.  And thank you for the way that you have welcomed Rachel and me into this community.  We truly feel that Restoration has become our home over the last nine months.  I ask you to keep us in your prayers, and I look forward to this next chapter of our lives together.

-Clay

Would you let us know how you’re experiencing Restoration life these days?

We’ve put together a short survey. It shouldn’t take you longer than three minutes. (We timed it.) Your response will help us know how best to serve and lead our congregation in the weeks and months ahead.

Just click here to take the survey.

Thanks so much. I love being on this journey with you all.

- Erin

It’s got to be the best read in the whole Bible.  I love it.

In chapter 35, the action comes to a stop.  Moses gives God’s instruction about Sabbath-keeping.  This is what you are NOT to do.  This is how you withdraw from your daily work in order to give God the time and space to do God’s work IN you.

The final 6 chapters of Exodus narrate the preparations for how worship will happen among God’s people.  These are the structures and rhythms that will assimilate the salvation and deliverance they experienced in the first 34 chapters into their common life–  week after week, month after month.  This is where you will do what you do on the Sabbath.

It is here, in chapter 35, that we meet Bezalel.  Bezalel the artist.  Bezalel the architect.

35:30  Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;  31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship,  32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze,  33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft…

36:1   “Bezalel and Oholiab and  every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded.”

The next three chapters are all about what Bezalel and his team do.  God GIFTS them to be the ones who construct a PLACE where God’s people can meet with him in worship.

I have been very grateful for our Bezalel(s):  Art Lohsen and Michael Francke.  These architects have done a great job listening to our story, to our needs and hopes and wants, and drawing a building where our people can meet with God in worship.  I believe God has filled Art and Michael with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship.  Thanks be to God.

We have sent their Bezalel plans to a few places and I would like to invite your prayer for the next few weeks:

• We have applied for our building permit and Arlington County has been reviewing the plans for almost 4 weeks now.  We should be getting some formal feedback soon.  Would you pray that the next month would go smoothly and that we would get the permit ‘right on time’.
• We have sent the plans to 3 general contractors.  They will be finishing their bids in the next 2 weeks and hopefully appearing before our Facility Team for interviews the week of May 20th.  Please pray now that we would choose another ‘Bezalel’ who would have the gifts and talents to build the vision that Frank and Lohsen have drawn.
• We have also received bids from 3 banks who would like to provide financing during our construction.  Please pray for the vestry next week as they choose one of these institutions.

I am grateful for the practicality of Scripture.  God has brought His people through building projects for thousands of years.  Because the Holy Spirit lives in us, we don’t NEED a place to go meet God.  But God delights when we gather in a spot to learn, pray, sing, and celebrate.  in fact it is such a delight to God that He gave us Bezalel(s) to imagine, draw, and construct what that place would be.

While I have ya…

We will be back at our old spot on Quincy Street 3 more times in May.  Our last hurrah.  Hope you will join us for all of it!

May 12 at 10am we will celebrate the ordination of Clay Morrison to the presbyterate with a reception to follow.

May 18 at 6:30pm we will have a PartyAuction!!  We have rented the District Taco Truck.  We’ll have a tango demonstration.  The WV team will be on hand [taking donations] with a U-Haul to deliver the pews [and doors and lights and books] that you buy!

May 21 at 7:30pm we will have our last New to Restoration Dinner in this space.  If you are new (we are somewhat obvious in our naming…).  If you want to be a member…  If you want to hear our story…   Let us buy you dinner and tell you where we’ve been and where we are going.  Sign up here.

Let’s pray for Bezalel and all of the folks on His team.  Thank you God for delighting in beauty and coherence.

-David

Like many of you, I have ways of keeping track of what needs prayer:  my journal, some cards that I keep by a prayer kneeler in my study, my memory, whatever gets my attention when I sit down to pray…  One of the items that has been front and center for a while has been asking God to make our new space ‘feel’ like our old space–  that it would quickly become familiar to us.

Now that we are 3 weeks in, I know that we have all had a range of emotions:  we are genuinely excited to be ‘all together’, we are stretching our Sundays to include prayer before the service and eating after the service, at times we feel lost–  literally and figuratively, we miss the old place, we love the the new place, we wonder about the next place.

We have all looked around that room and wondered, ‘who are these people?’.  We have all felt the unsettledness of going from 150 people in the room to 450 people in the room.  It’s exciting, but it’s different.

So if you’ve gone from Wow! to Yay! to I’m nervous! to I don’t know anybody! to I wish it was smaller! to I wish it was bigger! to ‘Call me when you move back to Quincy street and I can attend in the morning’….  You are not alone.  Change is.  Period.

So a couple thoughts as we all move through this new season:

• Pray.  For your church.  For your staff and leaders.  For yourself as you think about gathering for worship.  Pray that God would connect your head and heart to what He is doing in that room.
• Come EARLY.  It is extra hard to feel connected when you get there after the service has begun and you are scrambling to get a seat in the back and to get your child checked in.
• Sit as close to the front as possible.  It is harder to hear under the balcony.  You will feel more disconnected at the back and up in the balcony.
• Put on a name tag–  as soon as you enter the building.  They are so helpful to us.  No one knows everyone’s name.  So let’s all tag up.
• Come early and pray at 4pm.  I am so thankful for this time to settle my heart and to focus my mind on who I will be with and who I am worshiping.
• Plan on parking at Nottingham Elementary School or on Little Falls ROAD and walking.  Build in extra time to walk to the church.  Don’t assume there will be parking at LFPC and then be disappointed.
• Make sure you are in a small group.  As our worship gets bigger, small groups become even more critical.  Sunday is the last day to register.  Ask your small group to sit together so that you know the people who are worshiping around you.  Pick out a spot in that sanctuary that is ‘yours’.
• Make yourself stay for the after-service food.  Plan before you go to say hi to someone new and to stick around for a few minutes.  We are providing these opportunities to eat so that people can have the opportunity to connect and get to know others.

I am working on slowing down, looking around, focusing on people so I can see who is there, walking slowly, listening.

I am so grateful for our church and for this new place and for God’s work among us.  What are your ideas for adjusting to the new space?

-David

I was struggling with this recently, when David shared a quote with our church staff from Ruth Haley Barton regarding intercessory prayer:

“[I]ntercessory prayer is not primarily about thinking that I know what someone else needs and trying to wrestle it from God. Rather, it is being present to God on another’s behalf, listening for the prayer of the Holy Spirit that is already being prayed for that person before the throne of grace, and being willing to join God in that prayer.”1

Talk about a refreshing perspective on what it means to pray for someone. It is so liberating not to have to come up with all these great things to say. But perhaps more importantly for me, personally, I realized what the missing piece was in my prayer life. I had slipped into the trap of my prayer life becoming an exercise, rather than fundamentally being a time of communion with God. I was talking about people and things I cared about, but not really thinking a whole lot about the one I was talking to. I wanted to listen for that prayer without learning how to listen to the one who was doing the praying.

It’s funny how such a basic concept can fade to the background of our hearts and minds. I was so focused on “praying right” that I was kind of missing the point of prayer (it makes me thankful that the one I was pretty much tuning out is the God who sits on the throne of grace). But what a difference it makes to structure my prayer by first spending time meditating on and praising God for an aspect of who he is. Having been refreshed with the beauty of God, I can intercede for someone so much more effectively since I’ve caught a glimpse of what this kind of God would desire for that person’s life.

With all the change that’s going on in our church, there’s never been a better time to intercede for our brothers and sisters at Restoration. Let me to encourage you to sit before God and listen to the prayer that the Holy Spirit is praying for them. But first, allow yourself to be captivated by the character of this God who cares more deeply for you and for those you wish to pray for than you’ll ever know.

- Clay

1. Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, p. 146.

Hope you have had a great week.  I really enjoyed looking out over the lawn last Sunday evening and seeing so many of you munching and talking and chasing and laughing.  A beautiful sight.

This weekend, our bishop, John Guernsey, will join us to worship, to preach the Scriptures, and to lead us at the Lord’s Table.  Here is why I am thankful that God has given our church this particular shepherd:

• Bishop John is dependent on the Lord in prayer and has modeled for us what prayer-full leadership looks like.
• He loves the global Anglican church and always has stories of how God is working around the world.
• He is a thoughtful critic of culture and his insights help me to connect the dots between ‘stuff Jesus said’ and ‘stuff happening around me.’
• I really appreciated his blog post on the tragedy at the Boston Marathon.  His connection between people running towards the victims to help and our churches running towards those who are far from God was particularly inspiring.

On Sunday, Bishop John will be confirming a few Restoration people.  I love confirmation!  It is exactly what it says–  someone stands and says to their community, “I want to confirm the vows that were made on my behalf at baptism.  I want to confirm before my friends and ‘fellow followers of Jesus’ that I believe Jesus is the only one who can forgive me and He’s the best one to lead me.”  You will hear some of each person’s story.  These get me so fired up!  After they are done, Bishop John will put his hands on their head and pray these powerful words:

Strengthen, O Lord, your servant with your Holy Spirit; empower him/her for your service; and sustain him/her all the days of his/her life.

Don’t we ALL want someone praying these things for us?  That we would know God’s presence through His Spirit and that we would use our gifts to be a part of what He is doing.  Yep!

After the service ends, we’ll have dinner together.  The weather is supposed to be lovely, so we will eat out on the lawn–  lots of space!

Encouragement…

This has been an emotionally hard week for lots of us:  the tragedy in Boston, the tragedy in Texas, the hard fight about gun legislation (no matter where you fall, the fight took a lot of energy), the news about The Falls Church property, the challenges in our own vocational world, the complexity of relationship.  Over and over I have returned to these words from Peter:

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  [2Peter 1:3]

It is a comfort to know there are resources that are always available to me.  God has provided everything that I need to do the tasks and to be the kind of person that He wants me to be.

Thank you, God.  I’ll cling to you.

-David

Today, I had the privilege of visiting of the many ‘garbage cities’ on the outskirts of Cairo– of the 90 or so locations where the Stephen’s Children ministry runs schools for the poorest of the poor. This ‘city’, home to perhaps 900 people – predominantly Christians – is in a dusty, stony hollow away from the road. Nothing grows there – there is no soil. None of the buildings has more than one level: the materials they are made from would not really support more. There is no electricity. Running water was made available about a year ago (this has attracted more people to move in). In the school room perhaps 40 girls aged 6 to 15  sat in rows on benches, learning the alphabet with great excitement. Nearby, I visited a study group for boys. Half a dozen squatted in the shade of a rusty corrugated iron gate as myriad flies buzzed around, and listened to the story of the cripple who had sat by the pool for years, waiting for a miracle. The back yard was buried in rubbish – plastic bags mostly, which are burned down to produce a hard black mass that can be sold for recycling (an adult and four children scavenging can earn perhaps $1.50 a day doing this).

Stephen’s Children employs around 1,500 staff to run kindergartens, and now one school, for some 30,000 children, visiting them weekly in their homes to support a holistic ministry of education, teaching on basic health and hygiene, and the bible. Many of the children, and some of their parents, are not officially registered, through ignorance and discrimination.

This was not a miserable place to visit. The children were happy as they learned. A little girl smiled broadly as the teacher washed her feet (this is done to teach hygiene, and to check for cuts and infections in little feet that at best have flip-flops to wear). Adults were welcoming. The ‘motto’ of the ministry is: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (phil 4:13). The children and their families are being given hope, not just once or in theory, but day by day, week by week, year after year. I am lost for words, but full of admiration, and very blessed to have seen God at work through his people in such a way.

Simon G.