Nails

Would you like to be sent a half dozen nails? About a year ago, members of our congregation were involved in a restoration project on a stately but neglected old brick church in inner city Newark, New Jersey. One of our members, on a stepladder, working on framing for new Sunday School rooms reached into his nail apron for yet another nail. The nail he took hold of was slightly different from the others. In a moment he recognized it as one left over from an earlier mission trip to the rolling country hills of West Virginia. What a contrast of locales, the noisy, gritty heat of inner city Newark and the quiet hills and valleys of West Virginia.

There was a moment or two of reflection on nails and their purpose. They bond things together. There was also some thought of those nails that two thousand years ago held our Lord to that cruel cross on Calvary. It's amazing how instrumental those ugly nails have been in joining together the hearts of Christ's followers the world over through the ages.

Well, the nail from West Virginia was driven into the framework of the Sunday School room in Newark. It's hidden now behind the wallboard and fresh paint. But though unseen, its part of the supporting framework. Just like our faith!

Following is a letter that is set with a package of nails:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear friends, today followers of Christ and our core beliefs are under siege as much as any other time in history. From the murder and mutilation of our brothers and sisters in Sudan to the unrelenting efforts of many to take every trace of God from our historical documents, currency, schools, and anything of the public realm. There are many who would like nothing better than to see the Church just go away.

The ways in which we worship our Lord are varied and many, but the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ was for every last one of us. Please then take these nails, a visible symbol, for sure, and use then in any way you can to further God’s work here on earth. Use them for repairs or additions to your church building. Take a few along on your next mission trip. Use them for repairing the back porch steps of the elderly widow down the street. The nails are only a symbol, but they are a visible reminder of our prayers, which are very real indeed. These are our prayers for your entire congregation and all those you seek to help in the name of Jesus.

Too often we forget that we as individuals are part of the worldwide body of Jesus Christ and that His love in us and through us bonds us together for eternity.

You may want to mix these nails together with a larger quantity of your own and then send a few on to another group of fellow Christians in another neighborhood, state, or country. If you do, please tell them of our prayers of love and support for them also. If you can please let us know where your (and our) nails went, so we can include those particular congregations in our prayers. 

This is a whole new adventure for us here at Three Bridges, so these nails you receive initially are only from our congregation and Psalm 23 Camp in Gap Mills, West Virginia.

Feel free to send back a dozen or so 16-penny nails. Let us know if some may have come from churches other than your own. We will add them to our “nail keg of love and prayers” and send them elsewhere. We will be keeping track of where this all goes on our web site: 3brc.org. Be sure to set it as a favorite.

Yours in Christ,

Three Bridges Reformed Church

The nails travel in package as shown

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Our History
Inquirers/New Members
Worship
Music Ministries
Youth Ministries
Christian Education
Nursery School
Missions/Outreach
Opportunities of Interest
Directions

RECIPIENTS OF NAILS

Bunnvale Assembly of God
Calvary Chapel
Crystal Cathedral
Colts Neck
Croy of Iverness
Freie Christen-Gemeinde, Wetzikon
Frenchtown Presbyterian Church
Hope  College
Mission Valley United Methodist Church
Psalm 23 Camp
South Branch Reformed Church
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish