Dear Church Family,

It is good to be back with you.

I'm grateful for the time away on sabbatical, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to return to the rhythms of worship, ministry, and life with our church family. Time away can be refreshing, but it can also remind us how much we need the steady gifts God gives us week after week: time in His Word, prayer, worship, community, and the encouragement of the body of Christ.

All of us experience interrupted rhythms in different ways. Sometimes the interruptions are good and needed. Sometimes they come through travel, rest, or a change of pace. Other times, they come through hardship, loss, uncertainty, or events we never would have chosen. But in every season, the Lord is faithful to anchor His people.

So, when things shift, worship still anchors us.

That is one of the reasons why worship matters. We don’t gather because life is always predictable; we gather because Christ is worthy. We come together to sing, pray, open God’s Word, encourage one another, and remember that our lives are built on something stronger than our circumstances.

This week, I want to ask you to pray for the people of Venezuela after the recent earthquakes that caused significant damage and interruption in and around Caracas. We do not minimize tragedy, and we do not pretend that suffering is easy to understand. But we do believe God is not absent in the midst of it. He often works through the faithful presence of His people, including local churches who are already serving their neighbors with compassion and the hope of Christ.

Through Send Relief, the International Mission Board is partnering with local churches and Baptist leaders in Venezuela to help provide food, medicine, blankets, shelter, and other critical assistance to those affected. Please pray for families who are grieving, injured, or displaced, for rescue and relief workers, for local leaders assessing needs, and for Venezuelan churches as they serve their communities in Jesus’ name.

If you would like to give toward this response, you can do so through Send Relief here.

While we’re thinking of those abroad, we also give thanks for those in our church family who have willingly stepped out of their regular rhythms for the sake of the gospel. In the next few days, teams will be wrapping up mission trips in Zambia and Belize and traveling home, and other teams will be leaving for South Africa, Germany, and London. Please pray for safe travels, unity among each team, lasting impact through their ministry, and the continued expansion of God’s kingdom.

I also want to remind you about an important opportunity coming in August: The AI Revolution: Four Nights with Global Experts on Technology, Mind, and Faith.

Artificial intelligence is already changing the rhythms of our daily lives in the ways we work, conduct business, communicate, learn, create, and lead. These conversations in this series are designed to help us think wisely and faithfully about this rapidly changing world. Each Monday night in August, we will hear from trusted voices—Drs. Jeff Frey, James Tour, and Laura Murray, and Peter and Misty Phillip—and consider how followers of Jesus can live, work, and be enterprising with wisdom, discernment, and courage in a technological age.

You can learn more at cityrise.org/ai.

Church Family, whether our rhythms are restful, busy, interrupted, or uncertain, our hope remains steady because Christ remains steady. May we continue to gather, worship, pray, give, learn, and serve with hearts anchored in Him.

We’ll see you on Sunday, Church Family!


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger