"I Have Good News!"

You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deedsand praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

The news is full of non-encouragement lately. Have you noticed? But, the news never has the whole story! The television story has to fit into a sound bite. The radio is even tighter in what it can do. The newspapers only get a snapshot of the story. Stories always change with time. We could put it in a “Anti-Attitude” (the opposite of a Beatitude).

“Unhappy are those who listen to sound bites and think they are getting the truth - for they shall ever be on a downhill roller-coaster ride!!!”

But I have good news for you! When times are tough look to tough, honest people. Nancy Jo King is an example of someone who lives as salt and light. She drives shuttle for the church, leads in the 12-Step, befriends and helps so many people in our community that she deserves a national honor for meritorious service. And she always seems to be there with a strong faith attitude; the kind of attitude which is the bedrock of our church. Yes, she has suffered tragedy in her life, but she follows a God who is so much bigger than any tragedy, setback or crisis. Her faith is unwavering.

Dr. Ray and Joanne Vath are like that as well. I wonder how many thousands of people in our community they have helped? How many people have been helped by those they have trained to help? And how many people their wonderful family has helped because they are in the people-helping profession? They are a light on the hill. Last week, when I was on a run, Dr. Vath called my wife Jackie. He said, “I wanted to give Tim some good news – I know that in times like this – good news is precious.” When Jackie gave me that message I thought, “Blessed are those who not only bear good news in a season when people are gripped by unease, but are the embodiment of good news because they are sweet followers of Jesus Christ.” The good news I have for you is: Our church is full of people like Nancy Jo King and Dr. Ray & Joanne Vath.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Tim White

"The Amazing Power and Joy of the Pliable!!!!"

Blessed are those who are meek because they shall inherit the earth! Matthew 5:5

The Message Bible - Remix is a paraphrase written by notable Bible Scholar, Eugene Pederson. It translates this beatitude like this: You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are – no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that cannot be bought.

People have been asking me, “When are we going to get to move into the ReCreation Center?” I know that we have announced several dates that we thought we would have occupancy. And (now) I know that we were wrong each one of those times. As far as the question “When do we get to move in?” – I cannot say right now. I am waiting and staying pliable. Meanwhile, the church is continuing to grow and each of us is growing in our relationship with God. Be assured, when I hear the words “You have occupancy” then – I will give you a date. In the meantime my dad, Dr. Dale White (the Cathedral Canon) has prepared a plan where through word of mouth, thousands of people can learn about the incredible good news of this new concept - a church community center… A ReCreation Center! And we are planning and preparing to turn on a dime and move in with all our ministries and others from the community as soon as we get the word. I believe that the current unsteady economy makes this Redmond-focused, community-minded center even more essential than ever. When the city gives us the word that we can move in - the blessings will begin to flow. Until then, we have so much to do – so much joy to experience. Remember, “We should never miss the glorious adventure of the now because we are impatient for the future!”

Please pray for the office staff while we are operating remotely with our offices. Pray for good weather and for all the volunteers who are saving us millions of dollars in labor. Pray for the City of Redmond and those placed in authority over us. Pray for the Positive Christian Singles and all their ministries; M.A.J.E.S.T.Y. Arts; the Youth Ministry; for Washington Seminary; the Women's Ministry; the Men's Ministry; New Life Recovery and the many facets of Children's Ministries. The whole church needs an outpouring of God’s grace and strength and so does our community and our world. So lets be pliable… And remember that God is blessing us now- - - let’s make sure we are part of the adventure!

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Tim White

The Love of God’s People

It is good and pleasant when God’s people live together in peace!
It is like perfumed oil poured on the priest’s head and running down his beard.
It ran down Aaron’s beard and onto the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Mount Hermon falling on the hills of Jerusalem.
There the Lord gives his blessing of life forever.
Psalm 133

My phone rang at 10:10 Saturday night. It was Pastor Lee Bennett, explaining to me that he and the leaders of Northwest Community Church felt nudged by God to give their October 5th offering to Washington Cathedral. It was a complete surprise and I couldn’t stop smiling.

I immediately phoned Pastor Tim with the news, and asked him if it would be okay for Pastor Lee & Sue and NCC’s leaders to present their gift to us in the middle of our 11:00 service. I didn’t know the entire church would be coming!

Our building project has been a challenge. Pastor Tim predicted it would be harder than any of us could foresee, but the difficulty of the journey at every turn has surprised even him. Pastor Naomi captured it beautifully:

I don't think we realized just how tough this project has been for us. We've been putting one foot in front of the other, continuing in our ministries, working endless hours, praying for volunteers to help, enduring delay afterdelay, blessed by those in the congregation who have given every penny they could, refreshed by new people who have joined our vision....but still very, very tired and worn out.

The NCC visit, prayer and gift just brought so many emotions out into the open. My husband Bruce and I were just overwhelmed with emotion. It was hard to stop crying. Thank you, Jesus, for working through this amazing church to encourage and bless us. I can see now that we needed it. I think we had become so numb to the struggle. Thank you for bringing your life back into us. You refreshed us, Lord Jesus. Thank you.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 5:3

Could there have been a more soul-stirring way to launch our Beatitudes series? We used this paraphrase at our Sunday 5 service: Those with a deficit of hope experience God's favor as they find themselves within His rule and reign.

While preparing our Sunday 5 homily, an image from my childhood kept coming to mind. I loved to dig trenches around our campsite whenever the hard rain came. In fact, I thought it was one of the best parts of our family camping vacations! The trench was ready to receive water …it was the emptiness that could be filled …the nothing awaiting the something. That seems to be part of what Jesus meant by "poor in spirit".

My wife, Hilary, pointed out that this was exactly what had happened Sunday morning. The people of Northwest Community Church poured in among us and filled Washington Cathedral like rain from heaven. And now the stories of our two churches are intermingled forever.

This is what Pastor Lee said:

We’re from Northwest Community Church. We’ve had our backs against the wall for the last five years, so we know what it means to attempt to fulfill the vision and calling that God has on your life and to find yourself in a place of difficulty and crisis, as it were. God put your church on our hearts. So we want to give you our morning offering as a token of God’s love for you and an affirmation that he sees you. He sees your vision; he knows your hearts. You have no idea how much he loves you. And he does not want you to go forward in fear, but wants you to go forward inconfidence, believing in him – that he’s going to provide …that he’s going to provide. The Lord loves you. You have no idea how much he loves you …how much he is going to provide.

We’re not a really big church – we don’t have a lot of money. So we’re not going make you well with this. But we want to give you this token of God’s grace, and we want to speak over you grace.

II Corinthians 9:8 ‘May God give you all grace.’
…Grace with the City of Redmond …Grace with the Mayor …Grace with the Planning Commission …Grace with the Fire Department …Grace with every agency that walks on this property and determines whether or not you can go forward …Grace in the kind of weather you need to finish your site …Grace in the money you need to get in this building and get on with what God has given you to do. Because it’s not about the building: it’s about you. But you need to get in there! And God be glorified in this. May this be a season of blessing and victory for you of Washington Cathedral, and for you, Tim. May the Lord sustain you at this time. God bless you.

And this was Pastor Tim’s response:

Pastor Lee and Northwest Community Church, I’ve been a student of church history and I don’t remember anything like this since the times of the New Testament. You have blessed us and God has used you as a blessing in this community. So let us return the favor by saying a prayer for you.

Let us all raise our hands as blessing to the people of Northwest Community Church. Lord Jesus, we’re overwhelmed by your grace. We can’t put into words the feeling of being part of a larger kingdom than any of us can imagine. We ask your blessings on Pastor Lee and this great church that has ministered in this community for so many years – on every member and every leader – that you would make your grace overflow in their lives too. That the wall they stand against would fall down just like the walls of Jericho as we believe and know that the gates of hell cannot prevail against you, Jesus. And God, we thank you for this moment of unity with them. We’ll spend the rest of our lives overwhelmed by this historic moment. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Pastor Scott Burnett

Join Us As We Learn The Conversation of Hope

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:4-6

Hi Linda!

I thought I should relay this to you –

When I got home from discipleship, we had a flurry of young adults (plus Bill!) in the house.Jackson, Whitney (the 19-year-old co-guardian of her brother), and Bill were grilling meat and cooking pasta, and there were homemade cream puffs on the bar. Jonathon and Brett (18-year-old buddies of Jackson’s) were upstairs. I started visiting with Whitney and explained to her that I had just been to discipleship class, and that whenever I feel stressed out and overwhelmed on a “discipleship day”, I find that rather than adding to my stress, discipleship always seems to relieve my stress and realign my priorities. I sat with all of them in the kitchen while they had their dinner, then we went out to Bill’s shop to see the new caboose he just got for his electric train. It was a very nice evening and I just wrote to thank you for taking the time to teach discipleship. It put me in the mood to appreciate my family and friends when I got home. It’s the one thing in my life that I am not “responsible” for, and I find it very rewarding.

Of course, I’m on track for a near all-nighter this evening, but at least I have a relaxing start!

Thanks again,
Elaine