Getting Involved, Life Together, restoration 2
My Dear Restoration, Back in 2008, early in our life together, we gathered once a month to pray and ask what sort of church God might be calling us to plant in Arlington. Over an 8 month period, Restoration was born with a mission to connect people to God, to others, and to the needs […]
Sunday Corporate Worship, Thoughts 1
Yesterday was a great day at Restoration. Abundant sunshine, some awesome banjo playing, daylight saving time-related sleep deprivation… Great stuff! Since yesterday morning, I’ve found myself coming back over and over to one image in David’s sermon: the Sanhedrin’s semi-circle. The Sanhedrin were the council of Jewish leaders to whom the Romans had given extraordinary […]
Hide and Seek You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13) The other day I saw Jesus in the cellophane wrapped around my loaf of bread. Not His face or anything like that, but I saw Him in the shape of a heart. I was reminded […]
Anglican, Christian Calendar 6
What a glorious day of worship we had yesterday. 3 Ash Wednesday services at 6:30, Noon, and 7:30. I loved the fact that I got to be at all 3. It made the day so rich. The Ash Wednesday liturgy captures some of what I love best about Anglicanism— beauty, intentional words, silence, kneeling, sacrament, […]
Christian Calendar, Sunday Corporate Worship 1
Yesterday I went for a long run and listened to this story. I love the way they tell a story. The premise is the consequence to a man who is wrongfully accused because of a confession that is wrongfully dragged out of someone. I just read a book by John Grisham with the same plot, […]
A few weeks ago, Restoration member Liz Gray sent me this reflection. It’s beautiful. With her permission, I’m sharing it here. Thanks, Liz! This week I got a very unexpected package in the mail. My mom died about 17 years ago, and sometime shortly before she died she must have sat down one day and […]
Community, Loving Arlington, Outreach 0
Did you know that you help minister to, build relationships with, and care for the immigrant community in Arlandria? (That’s the Arlington/Alexandria border area.) You do, because through your giving to Restoration, you help support Casa Chirilagua, an organization working in Arlandria and dedicated to “learning together to love our neighbors as ourselves.” That’s not […]
Community, Getting Involved, Membership 3
Was Sunday your first visit to Restoration? Have you been coming for a few months and gotten interested in learning more and getting more involved? Have you been here for two years but have never been able to make it to one of those “newcomer dinners”? Have you ever even thought about setting foot in […]
Loving Arlington, Sunday Corporate Worship 0
In addition to trying to wrap my head around the fact that we’re supposed to get multiple inches of snow tonight, today I’ve been thinking about some of the key moments of yesterday’s worship: Being back! I’d been gone the previous two Sundays, and I missed you all. It felt good to be home. Are […]
A post from Matt Hoppe: How can life be so phenomenal in one breath and so frustrating with the next? How are we to respond with both mourning and laughter while recognizing pain and beauty? Sometimes the vastly different seasons happen simultaneously leaving us with the difficulty of lamenting someone’s hardship while being ecstatic about […]
