Pastoral notes, from Garrett

Tonight at 5:30 p.m. is our first “Every Living Thing Family Fellowship Night.” We have over 50 signed up to come tonight. If you haven’t signed up, you are still welcome to show up. This is a 3-week series (June 1, 8, and 15). If you can’t make it tonight (say, for a swim meet or something), then catch us next Monday. 

Lee Prophitt and I are organizing a Theology on Tap on June 22. This is something many churches have done over the past decade or so. The plan is to pick a local bar and meet there to talk theology. We haven’t finalized the place yet. We hope to do so soon. 

At the CBF Texas meeting in April, Rex Foster from FBC Austin and Colin Kroll from CBF Global gave a presentation entitled, “Hope Beyond the Headlines: What National Research Says About Why People Leave Church—and Why They Might Return.” They drew on recent surveys and research involving nearly 2,000 adults aged 18-44 to explore what people are saying about faith, belonging, trust, and community today. They said that what emerges is not a rejection of Christianity but a longing for churches that embody credibility, care, service to the community, and spiritual depth in lived, relational ways. 

I found this information interesting and encouraging, and I thought you would too. So, I’m organizing a time on the evening of August 11 where all of us at Woodland can engage with Colin and Rex on this important topic. 

So what’s going on with the renovation? Lots of little things. That’s where we are right now. Things are looking finished over in the sanctuary building. But looks can be deceiving. There are still a lot of things that have to happen. For one, the utilities contractor has their SAWS permit, but they’re waiting on the Right-of-Way Permit to come through before they can finish installing the new water valve.  They are backed up by about 2-3 weeks because of the weather.  We can’t use the sanctuary or finish the Sprinklers and Fire Alarm until the valve is done, and the required inspections are passed.

In the meantime, San Antonio Sound and Light are working on plugs, speakers, wiring, and cameras. We are scheduled to have a punchlist walk-through on Thursday. There are several things still needing to be tweaked. 

Last week, the sanctuary building was open. You should be aware that it is not a safe space. There are open wires, tripping hazards, and wet paint. Word to the wise— the new spaces are not connected to the water line, so the bathrooms are not ready for use. 

Spurs in the Finals

The Spurs defeated the OKC Thunder in Game 7 on Saturday night to go to the NBA Finals. They truly were greater than the sum of their parts. You can tell that having a player like Wembanyama gives the entire team confidence. He only had 22 points in the game. But in the second half, multiple Spurs stepped up and played well (i.e., that block by Luke Kornet). 

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is Wednesday night— Spurs vs. the New York Knicks. Many of you are probably thinking, “What’s a knick?” I’m glad you asked: it’s short for knickerbocker, which were the short, knee-length pants worn by early Dutch settlers. So basically, they’re the New York Dutch Pants. This NBA Finals features two teams named after accessories. 

The Knicks’ best player is Jalen Brunson, who is a 6-foot-tall point guard drafted in the 2nd round. He has been underestimated at every point in his career. He won two national championships in college at Villanova. Everyone thought he would be a backup in the NBA. He has become one of the top ten players in the NBA. 

He has a herky-jerky style. Great shooter from three and the midrange. He’s one of the best players in the league at drawing fouls. At least once a game, he will run into someone setting a screen to try to draw an offensive foul. The Knicks have been a clutch team this year, and most of that comes down to Brunson. He can make incredibly difficult shots. They also tend to make huge comebacks in the 4th quarter. 

Wemby will be the best player in the series. Brunson is a close second. The question is, who will be the third-best player in this series? Karl Anthony Towns, aka KAT, is the Knicks’ enigmatic center. He’s a great shooter with a big body. Sometimes he looks like one of the best players in the league, and other nights he fouls out in the second quarter. 

The Knicks got hot in the playoffs when Mikal Bridges remembered he was actually good at basketball, and that it helps if you actually do cool stuff on the floor, like looking at the basket and shooting. Early in the playoffs, Bridges looked like a scared cat who got caught in the spotlight. He’s a pretty good defender, but he can be overpowered by larger guards— specifically someone like Dylan Harper. 

OG Anunoby is the Knicks’ best defender. He’s a 6-foot-8 forward. He might guard Wemby. It’ll be interesting to see how they use OG and whether or not he is healthy (he had an injury in the last series). Mitchell Robinson is a center who usually comes off the bench. He’s one of the best rebounders in the league, and one of the worst free-throw shooters in NBA history. He’ll get his chance to guard Wemby; it’s hard to get offensive rebounds when Mitchell is in the game. 

The heart of the Knicks is Josh Hart. He’s about 6-foot-3 but a great rebounder. Watch him when he’s in the lane fighting for offensive rebounds. When he makes three pointers, the Knicks are really hard to beat. He is streaky, and a lot of teams leave him open. But the Knicks have won a lot of games because teams have left him open. 

The Spurs need to be smarter about who they attack when they’re on offense in this series. Most teams try to make Jalen Brunson play on-ball defense as much as possible to tire him out. Look for Castle and Fox to try to get a defensive switch so that Brunson has to guard them. This is something they should have done more of against OKC to make Jared McCain play defense, but they weren’t patient enough. 

The Knicks are a tough, bruising team. Brunson will probably average 30 points in the series. The key is the other players. The Spurs need to make sure KAT and OG are limited. So far, the Spurs have not been intimidated by the spotlight. The lights are bright in NYC, but I think the pressure won’t cow them. They seem confident because they have Wemby. 

Fox and Harper need to be healthy and play. They need to limit offensive rebounds. Watch the rebounding edge between Castle and Hart— they’re both good rebounders for their size. 

I wouldn’t plan the parade yet, but I think the Spurs will win in 6 games. 

Grace and peace, 

Garrett Vickrey
Senior Pastor