This Is Fine—Nehemiah's Community

 

Good morning, friends!

Yet again we thank you so much for worshiping with us today in this digital place. It appears that we’ll be here for at least a little while longer.

Settle in. Perhaps go back to those cleansing breaths Kelly started us with in those first few weeks of quarantine. The same kind that, if you’re part of the Facebook group, Hillary shared with us in powerful, animated goodness last week.

Breathe in…

…and out.

Take a moment simply to thank God for another day on this beautiful blue ball hurtling through space at 67,000 miles per hour and spinning on axis at 1000 miles per hour. Feel yourself shrink amidst sheer size, wonder, and complexity of this universe.

Breathe again… Zoom back in. Feel the simultaneous truth: you are individually loved and called to be an integral part of this Kingdom — physically and spiritually. Though we are truly small, none of us are insignificant. We all have our place and part. We all have the ability to affect ourselves, each other, and this world for the better, together.

Let’s tap into that this morning. Open your ears to hear, and your eyes to see. Open your hearts to know, and your minds to understand. Throughout this time of worship, let’s sink our feet deeper into the love and goodness that God sees in us through Christ. Then, let’s reach out to freely give it away.

After watching the videos and reading this page — whether you’re brand new and have never actually worshiped with us in person or you’ve been here since day 1 — Join us at 11 on Zoom. We’ll take communion together, utilizing whatever juice, wine, bread, cracker, or “other” you have available and then spend some time catching up.

Friends, thanks for your time, talents, and faithful together-ness in these wild times.

-Dillon Hamilton, Worship Minister

 

MISSIONARY UPDATE FROM MYANMAR

This week, we'd like to update you on how Daniel and Buzi Mawyio are doing in Myanmar.

The Mawyios have 3 boys, ages 5 to 12, and their home also functions as a place for 8 teens to stay as they work on their education. All the kids in the house finished up their exams at the end of March and did very well in school this year. Gideon's health continues to improve since his stay at Cincinnati Children's several years back with emergency abdominal surgery. The Mawyios have also felt very blessed to have several friends visit in January and February.

Though Myanmar has been on lockdown for several weeks, the country has only seen a few COVID-related deaths so far. During lockdown, the Mawyios have spent much time in prayer together. They've been praying specifically for their friends and sponsors. 

We hear stories every month of how Daniel and Buzi figure out how to live on less and share the money they receive to help other church plants and ministers around the country, especially in Daniel's home region in the north. Every gift you give to Echo helps support missionaries like Daniel and Buzi. If you know of anyone who would like to support them directly or you'd like to learn more about their work in Myanmar, check out their missions blog here or feel free to send Daniel an email. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONNECT - In this time of physical distancing and isolation, it’s so important to stay connected to our friends and family. That includes our Echo family, and we are doing that in a few ways:

GIVE—Visit echochurch.org/give any time to worship through giving and support our ministry together. Or snail mail to: Echo Church, PO Box 6067, Cincinnati, OH 45206

ECHO KIDS

 

We continue this week with a retelling of one of Jesus' parables. This week's narration and illustration is brought to us by two sisters from the Echo Kids community. The story is based on the parable of the lost sheep from Luke 15:1-7.

“The Lost Sheep”

Narrated by Brinkli C. & Illustrated by Sunnie C.

 
 
Echo Church