Page 1 - 2024 June-July Newsletter

Southern Pennsylvania District

Church of the Brethren

Trusting God When You’re Trapped in Uncertainty

Recently, the Nurture Commission held a meeting with the major portion of
the evening’s business focused on the beginnings of the budgeting process for
2025. If you have ever taken part in budget creation, you know this is a task that
is very rarely an easy one. This year, I felt even more uncertain about submit-
ting a budget with the uncertainty surrounding the district - its membership
and its leadership, specifically the District Executive role being up in the air.
For this meeting, I was scheduled to lead the devotion. As I thought and prayed
about a devotion that would be relevant and impactful, my mind kept returning
to that feeling of uncertainty. Shortly thereafter, God provided the perfect de-
votional for myself, and the other members of that commission on that very top-

ic: uncertainty. In true God fashion, this devotion was very impactful to the per-
CONTENTS sons on the Nurture Commission and we felt it needed to be shared with each
of you. The devotion is titled “Trusting God When You’re Trapped in Uncer-
Message…………..Pgs. 1-2 tainty” and was written by Daniel Henderson. May God bless you as you read.
———————————-

District Info………Pgs. 3-9 I used to say that we live in uncertain times. While I still believe this is true, I am
______________________ starting to conclude that we all live uncertain lives. While God’s truth and our eternal
destiny in Christ are certain, many other factors in our lives are a bit unpredictable and
Upcoming Events………… unclear at times. It is the nature of the journey.
………………….Pgs.10-14
______________________ I suppose today as you read this you face some measure of uncertainty. You may face
major questions about your health, your job, your finances, your children, your grand-
Church News…...Pg. 15-18
______________________ children, your church, or someone in your circle of friends. Clearly, we cannot avoid
uncertainty in this life, but we can respond to it in a Christ-honoring and soul-profiting
Learning Opportunities— fashion.
CEU’s…..……...Pgs.19-22
——–———————— Recently I read a profound interchange documented in a book by the renowned
ethicist John Kavanaugh. He tells of a time in his life when he went to Calcutta to work
Ministry News....Pgs. 23-24 for three months at “The House of the Dying”. This experience was part of his heartfelt
______________________
search for direction about his future. The first morning there, he met Mother Teresa. She
asked, “And what can I do for you?” Kavanaugh asked her to pray for him.

“What do you want me to pray for?” she asked. He responded by explaining that he
had come thousands of miles from the U.S. to find direction: “Pray that I have clarity.”

She said firmly, “No, I will not do that.” When asked why, she said, “Clarity is the
last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.” Kavanaugh commented that she al-
ways seemed to have the clarity he longed for. She laughed and said, “I have never had
clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God.”

June / July 2024