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Advent Devotion: My Grace is Sufficient

written by Fred and Ginny Karnas narrated by Woody Jenkins

Scripture:  … I was given a painful physical ailment . . . Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked Him to take it away.  But His answer was “My grace is all you need, for my power is strongest when You are weak.”  (II Corinthians 12: 7b, 8, & 9a).

And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:7)

Meditation:  I have known many dear friends who live or lived with a “thorn in the flesh” which God, for reasons known only to Himself, chose not to remove, giving each of these dear people grace and peace instead.

Victor suffers from severe insulin-dependent diabetes and painful spasms in his legs.  He prayed that God would save his right leg from amputation, but instead God graced him with a wonderful attitude; a determination that gave him the ability  to walk with a prosthesis; a terrific smile and sense of humor; and a peace and a gratitude to God for life that caused staff members and other patients at Christ House to try harder, too.

Raul, another patient, was not delivered of the “thorn” of terminal cancer, but God gave him the gracious gifts of reunion with estranged family members; renewal of his faith; the assurance of forgiveness of his past sins; and a place he came to know as home where he peacefully departed this world with caring medical staff and family at his side.

Carolyn was not to win her battle with cancer, either, but that did not stop her from spreading her love.  Despite her terminal cancer and her bipolar disorder, God’s grace, peace, and love shone through her.  She would always be the first person at Christ House to buy and circulate a greeting card for anyone’s birthday.  And she helped out in the dining hall there until a day or two before she died.  She departed this world in peace and victory.

Our friends Kathy from Richmond and Becky from Phoenix, and Ethel from Fredericksburg all fought their terminal illnesses so valiantly.  Each prayed earnestly for healing.  Friends and family and sometimes just acquaintances and total strangers prayed fervently for healing, but in the end God took them to their heavenly home.  And yet, in their relatively short lives God’s very-evident grace and peace produced so much love in action.  Kathy, Becky, and Ethel were “doers of the Word, not hearers only.”  All three were doing for others nearly up to the day they passed into an everlasting life of joy and peace.

Before Ethel departed, it was my great privilege on several occasions to sit at her bedside and sing softly to her.  When she could she would join me, singing in a faint voice.  One hymn we sang was “For All the Saints [Who From Their Labors Rest],” with words by William W. How set to the beautiful music by Ralph Vaughan Williams.  Verses 2, 5, and 6 go like this:

Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;

Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;

Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,

And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,

Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,

Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:

Alleluia, Alleluia!

Prayer:  Lord God, often we do not understand Your ways.  Nevertheless, help us to be ever-growing in Your grace this Christmas season and all our lives, for You in Your peace-giving grace are sufficient for all our needs.  Amen.

Introduction to Ginny and Fred’s Devotion Series

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Advent Devotion: For us…

Written by Ginny Karnas Narrated by Cole Severns

Scripture:  Peace is what I leave with you; it is My own peace that I give you.  I do not give it as the world does.  Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

Meditation:  When we moved to Fredericksburg in 1991 our two daughters were in the middle of fourth and seventh grades.  After a few days in their new school it became very apparent that our younger daughter was having great difficulty adjusting.  There were many tears and a real dread of going to school.  Despite the fact that my husband and I had prayed about and felt a definite calling to move to Virginia, I began to be upset regarding our daughter’s distress and to feel somehow that God was asking us to sacrifice our children’s well-being for this calling we had answered.  Each morning I practically begged God to give each of them a good day at school.

Then came my peace.  I had a devotional book that contained a passage about Abraham who, of course, was asked by God to take his precious and only son, Isaac, up the mountain to be offered up as a sacrifice to God.  The author of the passage, Carlo Carretto, writes that:

God,  wrapt round the colossal figure of this patriarch alone in the desert, . . . wants to communicate with the depths of Abraham’s being and tear him from himself and his involvement with his own  problems, which are like self-centered possessions; He wants to make this creature of His “more His,”  this man who is destined not for the tents of earth, but for those of Heaven.  So God asks of him an absurd trial, as love is absurd for anyone who does not live it, but as true and relentless as love for anyone who possesses it. . ..  What a drama was in the poor heart of that man!  God had asked the supreme sacrifice. If Abraham had had to turn the knife on himself it would have been easier!

My peace came as I believed that through this passage God was saying to me, “Remember, Ginny, that Abraham did not end up having to sacrifice his son, and neither will you be sacrificing your daughters.  Everything is going to be okay.”  And peace came, too, as the passage reminded me of God’s awesome presence always, but especially when He is asking us to do something that’s really hard for us to do.  There are times when God does ask us to complete other kinds of sacrifices, but this time God wanted Abraham’s trust, not his son.  That assurance gave me great peace.

The peace continued to flow as our Pastor Emeritus, Howard Cates, paid a visit with a deck of Uno cards and his loving support.  Soon he had our daughter talking and laughing again as she played Uno with a new friend she could trust in this new place.  And then Howard’s wife, Betty Jo, had us all over for dinner, and we played Uno again!  God had wrapped His arms around all of us through Howard and Betty Jo.  And God continued to show His presence throughout our future years in Fredericksburg, giving both our girls a true home, and blessing us in countless ways.

Abraham was spared the sacrifice of his son, but God willingly gave the ultimate sacrifice of His precious and only Son for us.  What will we give Him in return this Christmas?

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him:  give my heart.      (Christina G. Rossetti)

Prayer:  Holy God and Giver of peace and salvation, thank You for the very intimate ways You care for us and give us Your peace.  May we in turn be instruments of Your peace, spreading it to others as we journey onward.  Amen.

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Advent Devotion: Christmas and Grief

Written by Fred & Ginny Karnas

Scripture reading:   A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of bitter weeping.  Rachel is crying for her children; she refuses to be comforted, for they are dead. (Matthew 2:18)

Meditation:  This prophecy of Jeremiah is repeated in Matthew as part of the Christmas story. We often quickly slip over the story of Herod’s effort to protect his kingdom from the new Messiah by calling for the killing of all Hebrew boys, “who had lived in or near Bethlehem and were under two.”   It is a hard story which seems to take us on an unwelcome path of sadness and fear in this season of joy. But the journey to Christmas is like all journeys; there are likely to be tears and hard places along the way.   

During the 1990s I spent a significant period of time working with people living with HIV/AIDS.  Even though I had spent a good portion of my working life until that time working among the poor and homeless, I had little experience in the world of those suffering from this awful disease.  I listened as a mother told the story of nursing her dying son in his final days, his frail body ravaged by the sores and disease that had consumed it.  I watched a friend waste away before my eyes as the disease, long in remission, cruelly reemerged and recaptured his body.  And I sat in stunned silence after hearing the news of another friend’s death from AIDS, knowing that the fear of revealing he was gay had forced him into a lonely and painful death.  He had not shared his diagnosis even with us, his friends.

I heard tragic story after story of lost loves and friends, of funeral after funeral, until even the healthy were so exhausted they no longer wanted to go on.  We seldom stop to think about the inconsolable grief some segments of our society have endured, and the strength they have shown in the face of this awful scourge.  And we seldom contemplate what this nation has lost in the young men and women that AIDS has taken from us. I grieve for the teachers, doctors, artists, dancers, athletes, engineers, and musicians whose life works would have made this world a better place.  I grieve for their partners and friends who have been left alone.  And I grieve that so many of us did not reach out to them.

Yes, the journey to Christmas requires us to share the grief that only God can relieve, and the hope of Christmas calls us to reach out to those who suffer and seek comfort and peace.  

Prayer:  Lord, give us the strength to journey with those who are marginalized, and those who struggle with sickness and the ever-present specter of death.  Help us to know what to do, what to say, and how to share your gift of peace. Amen

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Advent Devotion Introduction

The Christmas story is about journeys.  It is the story of a young expectant mother traveling to Bethlehem with her husband to pay taxes.  It is the story of the Magi following the stars in search of a King, and of humble shepherds taking leave of their sheep to find a Savior wrapped in cloth in a manger.

And so it is for all of us.  The birth of Christ marks the beginning of the journey to Easter and our personal journey from brokenness to wholeness.  For those who choose to listen, the Christmas story transforms each of us into a traveler on the road to reconciliation, redemption and hope.

Our personal journey has taken us to many places only God could have imagined, from the windswept plains of a North Dakota reservation to the sugar cane fields of south Florida; from a barrio in the desert Southwest to the hollows of Appalachia, and the streets of inner-city Washington, D.C.  Along the way we were blessed with a decade at Fredericksburg Baptist Church where we were nurtured, supported, challenged and uplifted.

In 2002, we were humbled to have been asked to share some stories of our journey with our fellow parishioners during Advent season.  And, this year, we are equally humbled to share these stories with our friends at Tabernacle Baptist Church. In the pages of this devotional you will hear the stories of those we have come to know as we have traveled…stories from our work with Native Americans, migrant farm workers, elderly persons and the homeless men, women and children.

Many of the people we will introduce to you in the pages ahead have led very difficult lives.  Most have overcome incredible odds and openly share their stories.  Others are more reticent, desiring to put the past behind them and grasp their new futures of hope.  In order to ensure that we did not compromise anyone’s privacy we have changed some of the details.

Additionally, to make it easier for readers (and the writers), we have chosen to refer to God as He, even though it our belief that God encompasses both masculinity and femininity.  All scripture references, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Bible in Today’s English Version, commonly know as the “Good News Bible.” 

A number of the readings make reference to Christ House, a medical recovery facility with 24–hour nursing coverage for homeless and formerly homeless men and women.  Christ House is an all-encompassing ministry with a social work department, a substance abuse recovery program, a worshipping congregation, and a staff who live in community on site.  Kairos House is a companion ministry nearby where former Christ House patients committed to recovery live in community. Christ House is located in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC, and was part of the Church of the Saviour’s family of ministries. The Church of the Saviour is now a scattered community of independent churches.

As we journey toward the destination of Christmas, we must recognize that this journey is only preparation for a longer one.  Christ invites you on a longer journey into the life of your community to tell the story of Jesus and reach out to a hurting world.

It is our prayer that through our stories you will hear the Christmas story in a different way this year, and the people we introduce to you will challenge you to invest yourselves even more in ministry at Tabernacle Baptist Church and in the community.   As we begin our journey remember these words of Jean Vanier:

We are called to drink deeply from the heart of Christ, so that we, the church, can become a home for the lonely and the crushed of this earth. Christ puts into the arms of His church the suffering and the hungry of this world so that they may heal us, call us down from our pedestals of power and wealth and lead us into the wisdom of the beatitudes.

Please come with us as we travel to Christmas.

Fred and Ginny Karnas

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Lifting up Richard’s family in their grieving and celebrating.

RICHARD MYRON ANTHONY SR.

December 18, 1929 – November 13, 2023

Richard Myron Anthony, Sr., 93, of Oklahoma City, OK, passed away on Monday, November 13, 2023.  He was born on December 18, 1929, in Patrick Springs, Virginia, to the late John Virgil Anthony, Jr. and Hallie Ethel Foster Anthony. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Cora Lee Hiatt Anthony; seven brothers, John Virgil Anthony, III, Douglas Anthony, Clarence Anthony, Charles Graves Anthony, William Penn Anthony, James Maxwell Anthony, and Thomas Anthony; and two sisters, Nancy Elizabeth Anthony and Hallie Anthony Slagle. 

Richard was a member for 40 years of the First Baptist Church of Martinsville and a member for 22 years of the Tabernacle Baptist Church of Richmond.  Richard was a business owner; he owned R.M. Anthony Construction Corporation, Brookshire Apartments, Sherwood Manor, and Fairway Apartments. He was the co-owner of Anthony Brothers Lumber Company.  Richard graduated from the University of Richmond, and while attending, he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, where he was a chapter president. He served as the president of the Bassett Kiwanis. 

Richard is survived by one son, Richard M. Anthony; two daughters, Kimberly Anthony, and Lisa Anthony; one chiweenie named Larry; and one pitweenie named Lucy.

The family will receive friends from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, at Bassett Funeral Service Chapel. The funeral service will start at 2:00 p.m. at the Bassett Funeral Service Chapel, with Rev. Mark Andrist officiating. A burial will follow immediately after the service at the Anthony Family Cemetery in Patrick Springs, Virgina.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association by mail to 225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl. 17, Chicago, IL 60601, or online at https://www.alz.org/. 

Online condolences may be made by visiting www.bassettfuneralservice.com. Bassett Funeral Service is serving the Anthony family.

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Follow-up: TBC Building Assessment

ex·cep·tion·al

unusually good; outstanding.

What a gift it was to come together on Sunday afternoon to hear the story of what God has done over these last three months, celebrate the faithfulness of those making ministry happen, and embrace the voices of those leading us.

What a gift it was to welcome Carson Dean back into the fold, grow in awareness of his exceptional giftedness and receive the generous gift of his time and expertise.  It was truly an exceptional meeting, a much needed gathering in an exceptional moment in the life of our church.  Thank you to all of those that served on both sides of the kitchen counter and also in front of computer monitors. Thank you to our leaders, and the larger community,  for the courage to see the bigger challenges and opportunities before us.

Click Here to read the Draft Report Cover Letter received from Carson
Click Here to read Carson’s Draft Copy of his Facility Management Assessment & Usage Visioning Report

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What might God do with the dust of our fallen structures?

In light of last week’s headline, World Health Organization declaring an end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency

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A word of encouragement to those (re)building, (re)viving, (re)missioning, and (re)forming institutions

All humans long for stability. Throughout time, Societies have built structures to protect stability. Call it covid, call it chaos, there’s been a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on. Rigid structures don’t tend to fare well when the ground starts shaking. No structure is meant to last forever and yet when history circles back around we’re surprised by its arrival. Anything we carve or build out of rock, bricks, steel, or glass, eventually falls. Travel to Greece, Rome, the site of the former World Trade Center in NYC, or, (dare I say it) down a long stretch of Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va, historical structures eventually and always buckle under the pressure of the passage of time.

Most any group of people that find themselves finally tasting the “good life” naturally want to build a structure that can maintain, expand, and protect that way of life (aka stability). Think about the destructive cycles that spin chaos into the world from there. If building, maintaining, expanding, and protecting our “good life” requires the diminishing, disqualifying or destruction of the lives of others, expect chaos and prepare to choke on the dust of fallen idols, fortresses, and structures.

I believe God is refashioning us, not only out of the dust of our fallen idols, fortresses, and structures, but also out of the dust being stirred up by the beautiful feet of those walking beside “God with Us”

There’s a moment in the Bible when the disciples of Jesus find themselves awestruck by the Temple structure,“Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what a wonderful structure!” Jesus responds, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” The temple is supposed to be the most stable place on earth, the one place where God’s finger touches the world, therefore the one place chaos can’t possibly exist.

Later in the story, those that arrested Jesus justify their actions based on the audacity of Jesus bringing chaos, the equivalent of kryptonite, into the temple. He doesn’t help his case when he predicts the temple’s destruction or in claiming he will rebuild the temple in three days. To add insult to injury, he claims the new Temple won’t be confined by geography or any other lines we might draw in the sand. No-one-corner of the world will be able to claim this One as their own. This One, is meant to travel. This One is a throwback to the original design. Anyone with institutional memory might call him “Tabernacle”, but most of his followers call him Savior.

Church, I know we’re all longing for stability, it’s natural to do so, especially in our grieving. I want you to know that I join you in deep grieving. So much more, I want you to know that we worship a God that brings order out of Chaos.

Any version of life, built upon a structure that diminishes the potential for thriving in the lives of others, cannot be attributed to the goodness of God.

YHWH didn’t fashion us out of metaphorical dust, breathe air into our lungs, and put us on our feet, only for us to create our own versions of the “good life”. Any version of life, built upon a structure that diminishes the potential for thriving in the lives of others, cannot be attributed to the goodness of God. Any version of the “good life” that leads someone into isolation, separation, or even relational annihilation is a cheap counterfeit. God is good…all of the time. The good life Christ offers is the real deal….the Way, the Truth, and The Life. Walk in the knowledge that we follow a Savior that can take all of the fallenness, brokenness, and complexities of the stories of the past and present, all of the unintentional chaos we’ve unleashed into the world, and somehow bring profound goodness through it. Know that God can, and will, make ALL things for good.

As we move out of this global pandemic, it will be critical for us to understand that it’s not our job to rebuild our temples. God already did that, three days after his son was crucified. The news gets even better. The resurrected Savior is inviting us to tabernacle with him right smack into the middle of the chaos. He’s inviting us to join the search party for those who have stumbled into, or were pushed into, lostness and loneliness. He’s inviting us to join him in the reclamation of the abandoned, to participate in the healing of the brokenhearted, and even in the resuscitation of the hearts of the presumed “righteous”.

In this very moment, I believe God is refashioning us, not only out of the dust of our fallen idols, fortresses, and structures, but also out of the dust being stirred up by the beautiful feet of those walking beside “God with Us”. It’s an invitation to breathe again. It’s an invitation to life again. It’s the invitation of a lifetime!

Rev. Sterling W. Severns, Pastor

  • This is an adaptation of something first written in January 2022.

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Registration Deadline for this weekend’s: Re-Visioning Retreat, January 13-15, 2023

In decades past, previous generations at Tabernacle set aside time, often full weeks or weekends, to come together purposefully and expectantly. Long ago, these gatherings were called revivals and more recently spiritual renewal weekends.

 Though the format of those gatherings have changed, the longings and expectations of each generation, including our generation, have not wavered. For almost 150 years our local congregation has come together, often in our most vulnerable chapters of communal life, to express our yearning for revival, to pray for inspirited vision, to petition God to give us unity in the (re)discovery of purpose and call. 

The weekend of January 13-15, 2023, our generation will come together, in both the physical church building and in our virtual acre. Mark Tidsworth, our facilitator, will  help us explore the challenges and opportunities standing before the Universal Church and guide our local church in prayerful discernment/dialogue.

We will  introduce three questions as an invitation into  discernment.  

What might God do, in and through us,  if we were to shift away from __________________  and move toward _________________? 

  • member identity to disciple identity
  • attractional to missional church
  • consumer culture to sacred partnering

On Friday night, Mark will provide a format we’ll use for capturing our insights and we’ll continue to gather and glean throughout the entire weekend. This, plus the insights generated during multiple small group discussions, will be funneled to church leadership after this weekend. In turn, the leaders will determine how we can effectively continue to discern together as a congregation. 

The Holy Spirit is prompting our old church to embrace a new day in this new world we’re all living in and we offer our praise to God for what we’re about to see and hear.  Tabernacle, yet again, Christ is on the move, and, yet again, the revived, renewed, and re-missioned Church is called to follow.  


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Retreat Schedule:
Friday, January 13 6-9 pm (dinner provided)
Saturday, January 14, 9-12 pm 12-12:45 (lunch provided), 12:45 – 3 pm
Sunday, January 15, 9 – 10:30 am + worship

Cost: 
There is no registration fee. However, we do ask that each participant bring a pack of bottled waters or canned beverages + a sweet/salty snack to share.

Childcare: 
Whereas, we won’t be able to provide a nursery on-site,  we can help offset some of the expense of baby sitting in your homes and possibly identify babysitters.

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It will be helpful to us if each participating member of your household registers separately. Please REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE.

A greeting from our Retreat Facilitator