August

Alone on a balcony in Paris. I hear a man sing of a broken heart, a woman laughs, a couple saunter hand in hand down the road. As I sat at a cafe on the Champs-Élysées I thought about the beauty in all the people who passed by—the big and small, elegantly clad or outrageously dressed, all carrying with them their hopes and their despair. People who look so different—the businessman and the
hippie, the grandmother and the little child, they all carry the secret of life within them. They carry the vibrancy that God breathed into them and they all have or will walk through joy and pain, celebration and suffering. It is being alive. They all get to choose what will rule their lives—goodness and kindness, or anger and bitterness, God's peace or the world's anxiety, love or hate.

I had the amazing opportunity to see magnificent churches. Cathedrals that took hundreds of years to build. Westminster Abbey is the final resting place for 17 monarchs and many beloved authors. Notre Dame, likewise can take your breath away with its extraoridinary beauty. I worshipped in a small village church in Langcroft and the lovely Anglican church was about 700 years old.

However equally moving to me was worshipping in the beautiful victorian chapel we lovingly call home, Bon Air Christian Church. It has its own extraordinary beauty and warmth. I was also blessed to be able to go to my home congregation in Midway Kentucky. It was so meaningful to sit in that sanctuary and remember how God began tugging at my heart and calling me into ministry in that place with those kind people.

As I admired the church wooden beams that were cured for generations and thought about the creation of the beautiful stained glass I thought about the vision and foresight of these people who yearned to be part of making a place where people would worship God long after them. They birthed beauty for others to enjoy. What are we creating for generations to follow? What legacy shall we leave? These lovely spaces were created to be holy spaces. But no matter how lovely the building, the church is and always has been the people. We are God's beautiful church. The measure of consecration we give and the devotion we show will in large part determine the legacy that we leave. As one of my favorite Christina Rosetti songs says, "What can I give him, poor as I am,… I can give my heart."

I miss you and love you and pray for you, dear beautiful church.

Shalom,

Cindy     

Vacation Bible School - “Shipwrecked”

July 30th – August 3rd
5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Dinner is served every night

Venture onto an uncharted island where kids survive and thrive. Anchoring kids in the truth that Jesus carries them through life’s storms.

Registration is open for children ages 3 years to rising 6th graders. Children must be potty trained. Nursery is provided for children up to age 2.

For more information please contact the church at 272-6228.

To register, please fill out the BACC VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL ONLINE FORM. Registration is free.