Dear Friends,
This past October, on the way to my 50th high school reunion, Mary Ann and I took a detour. Traveling up US Highway 67, just north of Fredericktown and south of Farmington, we took a right turn and drove onto a piece of property where I had camped out way back in the early ’70s.
I was a Boy Scout growing up. And I spent two summers as a scout at the S Bar F Boy Scout Camp. It was there I earned some of the merit badges that eventually propelled me to the rank of Eagle Scout. It was there I was tapped out for the Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s National Honor Society.
And it was there that I decided at a pretty early age that I much prefer sleeping in an air-conditioned hotel room with indoor plumbing a few feet from your bed than sleeping in in a bag on the ground with a tent over my head.
The Apostle Paul made tents for a living to support his work as a missionary. He didn’t want his own financial needs to be burden on anyone or an impediment to the spread of the gospel. So it’s no surprise that when he thought about our transition from our earthly home to our heavenly home, the metaphor that came to his mind first involved trading in a tent for a permanent structure, what he called “a building from God” and what Jesus called a “dwelling place” or in some translations, “a mansion.”
Writing to the Corinthians, Paul talked about the superiority of our future heavenly home to our earthly “tent.”
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. (2 Cor. 5:1-9)
Just after 5:00 this morning, Kelly Rackley traded in her earthly tent for a heavenly dwelling. She died at home, in her bed, with Scott next to her, keeping vigil. She is more alive tonight than she was 24 hours ago. Her pain is gone. She knows a kind of joy tonight that makes her previous experience of joy feel like an imitation. Her faith has become sight. The One whom her soul loves, who she had only ever seen in a mirror dimly, she now sees clearly, face to face.
Those who knew and loved Kelly grieve our loss. The loss is most profound of course for her family – for Scott, for her children, for her parents and siblings, all of whom have a hole in their hearts that will never completely heal. Grief will come for them – and for many of us – in waves, in those moments when we are used to having her nearby or available and we’re confronted again with the reality of her absence.
But as the Apostle Paul reminds us, we are people who grieve, but not as those who have no hope. Our very real grief is tempered by our belief that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, for all who know and love Him, death has lost its final sting.
Back when contemporary Christian music was just beginning, there were two songs that Mary Ann and I talked about being played at our funerals. One was called “It’s Jesus I Really Want To See (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=a1a8bc6763&e=fbb0a4052b)” by Gordon Jensen. We both loved the chorus: “The more I see of this world, the less it means to me, It’s Jesus I really want to see.”
The other was a song called “I Can’t Wait To See Jesus (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=b13f476f4b&e=fbb0a4052b)” by the Pat Terry Group. The line in that song that Mary Ann liked the most was “I can’t wait to check into my mansion and get my sleeping bag unrolled.” I kept thinking I’d prefer a nice memory foam mattress.
But the song that’s stuck with us through the years is one that a number of artists recorded, including Glen Campbell. It’s a song called No More Night, and it points to what the book of Revelation tells us will be true of our eventual eternal dwelling.
No more night, no more pain
No more tears, never crying again
And praises to the great, "I am"
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=2186abf442&e=fbb0a4052b)
As he faced the reality of his own death, the Apostle Paul said “to live is Christ. To die is gain.” Kelly Rackley has gained what the Bible tells us is far better than this earthly life. The afflictions of her disease were momentary. They were producing in her an eternal weight of glory, which she is right now experiencing.
Kelly’s memorial service will happen later this spring at a date to be determined. I know you have been in prayer for Scott and Kelly and the family. They have all been so grateful for your concern, your love and your prayers on their behalf. Please continue to pray for them and for the hard days that follow the loss of a loved one.
But you can stop praying for Kelly now.
She is healed.
She is home.
With local temps remaining below freezing for the next few days and patches of ice on our streets (and in our church parking lot), we made the decision today to postpone this Friday’s Couples Date Night for two weeks.
Our new date for the event is Friday, March 7.
If you were signed up for this Friday and are not able to attend on March 7 for some reason, let us know and we can provide you with a refund. Or you can scholarship your dinner to another couple who otherwise would not be able to attend.
And if you had hoped to come but couldn’t make the February date work, check your calendar and add your name to the reservation list! Click here for more info (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=875fbe666e&e=fbb0a4052b)and to register for the new date!
If you’re ready to brave the roads this weekend, there is an event being hosted by our friends and River City Reformed Church that you might want to check out. It’s a weekend theology conference where Nick Bullock from Christ Presbyterian Church in New Braunfels TX will be lecturing on the subject of John Murray’s classic book Redemption: Accomplished and Applied. The conference is free. Details can be found here (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=e3b8e7fe31&e=fbb0a4052b).
Next weekend, our students will be taking part in our D-Now discipleship weekend event.
Register your student by clicking here. And if you have any questions about D-Now, email coleperkins.rcc@gmail.com (mailto:coleperkins.rcc@gmail.com).
The D-Now Weekend will wrap up with a bake sale after church on Sunday, March 2. Plan now to take home some baked goods and support the Roots ministry with a donation that morning.
And students – once the D-Now weekend is over, you can start looking forward to a hang out at the Perkins’ house in mid-March.
Also next weekend, the NxtGen young adult group will meet at the Gurney’s on Saturday night to continue interacting on what the book of Philippians says about discipleship. Should you attend? Yes. Do you have questions? Reach out to Pastor Matt at mattgurney.rcc@gmail.com (mailto:mattgurney.rcc@gmail.com).
The next Redeemer Men’s Institute get together will happen on Thursday night March 6. Our discussion will center on what Spirit-led decision making looks like, and how we can make wise decisions for our own lives and for our families.
Also men – if you haven’t blocked out the weekend of March 28-29 on your calendar yet, do it now. Our Men’s Spring Retreat happens that weekend at the Cross Heirs Retreat Center, with our special guest speaker, Jared Wilson.
Registration is now open (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=a8791bd7c3&e=fbb0a4052b). Space is limited. The cost is $100 which includes four meals and one night’s lodging. We’ll start on Friday night at dinner time and wrap up after dinner on Saturday. We’ll be back home in time for church on Sunday.
Scholarships are available. Please don’t let the cost keep you from coming.
If you have questions, email Matt Gurney at mattgurney.rcc@gmail.com (mailto:mattgurney.rcc@gmail.com).
Also coming in March. Our annual Church Business Meeting. Complete with cheesecake.
Okay, full disclosure. It’s not Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake. But it’s still cheesecake. And it’s a great time for an update on what’s happening at Redeemer this year and where we believe God is leading us as in 2025 and beyond.
Sunday, March 9 at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome!
Here’s our New City Catechism questions for this week.
Question: What is the law of God stated in the Ten Commandments?
Answer: You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below—you shall not bow down to them or worship them. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Honor your father and your mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. You shall not covet.
Here’s a link (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=ec321f8c43&e=fbb0a4052b) to a three and a half minute video where John Yates talks about this week’s question and answer.
(https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=de2c17f6f1&e=fbb0a4052b)
And here’s the link (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=51c4e1c885&e=fbb0a4052b) to the song for families based on this week’s question and answer.
(https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=75e7d639a8&e=fbb0a4052b)
And again this week, here’s a link (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=3ad530d100&e=fbb0a4052b) that will take you to a Spotify playlist of the songs we’ll be singing together this Sunday!
We’ll pause our study of Revelation this week to look at one of the Psalms God’s people would sing regularly as they traveled to Jerusalem for the Jewish feasts and festivals. Burdened down by the weight of sin, they longed to know and experience God’s mercy as they offered an animal sacrifice for their sins. But once the sacrifice had been offered, they soon found themselves in need of fresh mercy for new transgressions of God’s holy law. As Kendall White will show us this week, what God’s people in the Old Testament found themselves waiting for year in and year out we can now know and experience every new morning.
See you in church.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Pastor Bob
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