Finding Community

Written Sabrina Gardner

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”-Psalm 133:1

During 2022, Adam and I found ourselves feeling quite lonely. Like many during that time, we were just starting to come out of the isolation of Covid and were trying to get to a “new normal” of post-Covid life. We had three young kids who were also adjusting to being back out in the world. On top of that, we were looking for a new church and were finding it hard to feel connected to a church community. In our past experiences, sometimes it took years for a new church to feel like home. At our previous church, we had a wonderful community group of friends that we met with often. We had spent 10 years living life together and growing from newly married couples into families with small children. It was daunting to even think about how to begin to have that type of community with a new church family.

Toward the end of 2022, we randomly heard about Waypoint Church and thought, let’s check it out. We immediately felt a connection to the church, the Gospel driven preaching, the diversity, and how everyone was so genuine and down to Earth. But we couldn’t help wondering, could we find true community here, and how long would it take to feel at home at this church? 

After just a few weeks visiting Waypoint, we ran into a family we knew from our neighborhood who have kids the same exact age as ours. They introduced us to other families who also lived nearby and had kids around the same age, and they invited us to their small group meetings. As it turns out, not only were there several families that live in our neighborhood that were in that group, but also one of Adam’s good friends from his UNC Crew days was also a part of that group. We had no idea they even went to Waypoint! After attending Waypoint for several months, another couple we knew from the neighborhood came to visit and joined our small group because they were watching the live-stream of church and saw us sitting up front. They eventually joined our small group too. Over the two years we’ve been going to Waypoint, another one of Adam’s old UNC Crew friends seemingly randomly joined Waypoint. It’s so beautiful to see this group of friends who started out as young college students now have young families and share in new special moments together.

There’s always some initial hesitance to put yourself out there and make the effort to get to know other people, but God made it so easy for us to push past that and have us jump into this church community. 

We have been so blessed by God for bringing us into this wonderful community of young families. In just a short time, we truly have felt bonded with this group and are living life together with them. With men and women alternating weeks, we meet each week for bible study and share our lives with each other and learn more about growing closer to God together. We’ve shared our joy and our grief. We’ve been able to serve each other by providing childcare needs, preparing meals when new babies are born or kids are sick, and by praying for each other. In addition, we’ve had camping trips, pool parties, birthday celebrations, playground trips, snow sledding days and of course tons of potluck meals. Our kids have friends at school who are also in the same class with them at Waypoint kids, and we envision how those relationships will continue to grow as they learn more about God and the world. When we drop our kids off at Waypoint kids, their teachers are often our community group friends, and it’s so easy to see how loved and taken care of our kids will continue to be at this church. These things have truly brought us so much joy, and we are so grateful that God put us in this place at this time. Thinking about this group reminds us of how gracious and faithful God is, and how blessed we are by Him.

Unsung Characters

Written Stephen Buckley

The Bible is a book of unsung characters, people who play seemingly small but important parts in Christ’s narrative. It’s easy to overlook them, but we shouldn’t. Their words and works play a singular role in his story, and in ours. 

Take a couple of events leading up to Christ’s death. 

In Mark 14, as Jesus visits Simon the leper, “a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly.” She pours it over him, anointing him for his burial. The disciples sneer, but Jesus defends her: “She has done this beautiful thing for me,” he says, and then promises that “wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

John’s Gospel tells us that Mary of Bethany (Martha’s sister) is the woman. In setting this example of lavish, sacrificial worship (the nard was probably a family heirloom), she inspires us to do the same. 

And each time we read this account, we recall Jesus’ promise to honor her “wherever the gospel is proclaimed.” We get to take part in his keeping that promise. And we are in turn reminded that he will keep his promises to us too.

Later in Mark 14, on the day of his final Passover meal, Jesus’ disciples ask, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” Jesus sends two of them into Jerusalem and tells them that “a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” In that upper room, Jesus establishes the sacrament of communion.

Many of us are like these characters—Mary, the man carrying water, and the master of the house. We toil in quiet efficiency at work, without flair or fanfare. We are good teammates and classmates, serving with unheralded humility and grace. We care for our children and our spouse, sometimes with weary devotion, often feeling invisible. 

Jesus saw these characters in Mark 14. He sees us too.  The narrative of his kingdom is not the same without them, and it’s not the same without us, as we each make a unique, important contribution to his work. He will fulfill his purpose for us. And, just as with Mary, God will honor our faithfulness into eternity. Promise.

Psalms Playlist

Written by Erika Castiglione

I used to love to make mix tapes. I can still remember getting my first dual tape player “boom box,” and a few years later, one with an actual CD player (I know I’m aging myself here). I used to make mix tapes for almost every occasion and for everyone I cared about (Danny still has the mix tape I made for him when we started dating). Since we are no longer back in the 1990s, I have traded mix tapes for playlists. I create playlists for seasons, for parties, for holidays, for times of joy, and times of lament, because as the Psalms series reminded us, music is an integral part of our lives and it weaves itself into our hearts and brains in a way that mere prose does not. While it may be hard to memorize the periodic table or a chapter of the Bible, it is almost effortless to learn the words of a song. 

Psalms were meant to be sung and I’m so thankful that many artists throughout the centuries have been setting our English-translated psalms to music. Here is a sampling of twenty songs inspired by the psalms, most of them part of larger collections, that I hope will encourage you as we continue to go back often to this book of the Bible that contains every human emotion and points us back to God. May this be one way we can anchor these truths in our minds and hearts.