Louder Than Words | Mournful
Good morning, my friends!
Thanks for joining us digitally for a the sermon this week! Hopefully you’re also able to get outside with us today for a picnic in Eden Park. Everyone is bringing their own lunch and spreading out for some fellowship and fun — and maybe a song?? It’s been too long since we’ve sang together and I can’t tell you how much I miss it!!
See below the video for details on the picnic as well as an announcement for our next outdoor gathering!
At any rate, let’s worship together; whether here digitally, or in person!
Dillon
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BRING-YOUR-OWN PICNIC TODAY
This Sunday at 11am (remember that used to be church time?) we're going to meet and fellowship in Eden Park. Food is always a good partner with fellowship, but let's be safe and each household bring our own food and drinks.
There are picnic tables, but you can bring your own blankets and chairs if you'd like. Feel free to also bring a ball to kick or some other distanced type of activity.
FIND DETAILS HERE for maps and other updates .
Echo Turns 15: Save THe DATE
We've got another outside event coming up. On Sunday, October 18 we'll have an all-church worship service to celebrate Echo's 15th birthday. Likely in Eden Park. Details to come.
WAYS TO GIVE
Visit echochurch.org/give any time to worship through giving and support our ministry together — both locally and globally. Of course, you can always snail mail to: Echo Church, PO Box 6067, Cincinnati, OH 45206
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ECHO KIDS
Parents,
We want all the best for our kids. If I could have things my way, the kids in my life would not have to experience pain, loss, or grief. But in Matthew 5:4, Jesus presents a strange paradox: that of blessing coming from mourning.
I don’t think I’ve ever looked at my daughter as she sat crying over the loss of a beloved toy and said, “Consider yourself blessed, daughter! Your balloon flew away and I can’t get you another!” Now that is a silly example, but we all know of children who have dealt with profound loss of family members, friends or means of security at a very young age. To witness a child suffering and try to figure out how to best respond is a difficult task indeed.
So how do we walk with children through loss and guide them out the other side of the tunnel with the insight that their mourning can be viewed in the light of God’s blessing?
I believe we can do this well by leaning on the Holy Spirit to bring the kind of comfort Jesus promises in Matthew 5.
Shortly before his disciples were to experience the deep grief of his death, Jesus comforted them with the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit in His absence (John 14.) And we can trust and believe in the power of the Spirit to work through us as followers of Christ.
Galatians 5 describes what it will look like if we are comforting in the power of the Spirit. Such comfort will be rooted in love; joyful in perspective; a bringer of peace; loaded with patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness; gentle in approach; and not lacking in control over the words and actions chosen to bring support.
May we allow the Spirit of truth to usher in the blessings God brings through grief as we comfort our children well and assure them of God’s provision through it all.
Idea for Application:
Help your child think of a time they’ve experienced a loss. (Ex.- Missing out on a fun event; the death of a pet; a balloon flying away into the sky.)
Use whatever material you’d like to create the image of a sunflower growing up from a buried seed. Using words or a picture, you or your child can add a description of that grief next to the seed. (See example below!)
Remind your child that Jesus promises renewed comfort and peace through the losses they face, just as a beautiful sunflower grows from the burying of a seed. Assure your child that you care when they are sad, scared or upset and want to bring comfort to them in those times.
-Kendra
