Summer worship series - you are invited to the conversation

An invitation from your pastors. 

"What if Jesus meant what he said?” asks Shane Claiborne. Yes indeed, what if? Do you think Jesus meant everything he said?

Does the challenge to follow Jesus frighten you? It should. Here’s why. You have only one life. Jesus wants it. He wants it all. He wants it completely. How much room is there for Jesus in your life?

Your pastors are inviting you to read the book ‘One. Life: Jesus Calls We Follow” by Scott McKnight. We believe that McKnight challenges us to allow the Gospel to hit us head on, overpower us, own us, and then direct our lives each day.

Are you/we up to the challenge?

Want another reason to read this book? We’re going to use each of the fourteen chapters as a springboard for our sermons beginning May 29 and through the end of August. In addition we are inviting you to attend either a Wednesday brown bag lunch time (12-1 p.m.) or Wednesday evening (7-8:30 p.m.) to study with us. We hope to move through two chapters per session with the evening being a repeat of the noon study. We’ll begin these sessions on May 18th and following Wednesday noons and evenings.

Another reason for reading this book? Scot McKnight has a heart for young people. He teaches college level theology, has taught at a seminary and is considered an exceptional teacher. One reviewer remarked, “In chapters with names like Kingdom.Life, Love.Life, Peace.Life, Sex.Life, Vocation.Life, and Eternity.Life, his (McKnight’s) approach both stylistically and narratively seems geared toward a youthful audience. He tells stories about his students and then proceeds to answer the questions these stories pose or advocate the big living they demonstrate.”

Another chapter centers on “Eternity.Life” and engages a discussion of hell. Anyone who has read Time Magazine knows how current that discussion is.

Rev. Tim Keller in a recent interview stated that the Gospel will question every culture at its root. We take this to mean that Jesus questions us at the root of who we are. Jesus wants to lead us into the life we were created to live, the life Jesus died for us to have. The life the Holy Spirit empowers us to live.

So, will you read the book, join us for discussion and then come on Sunday ready to hear how we engage the Scriptures and discuss the subjects McKnight raises?

Good! We’re looking forward to it.

Pastors Ryan and John

p.s. if you would like to order the book let us know. It retails for $14.99, we can put it in your hands for $10:25.

Happy Easter!

Jesus is risen. Christ is risen indeed!

Spend an Evening with People You Love

Spend this Holy Saturday with people you love. Share stories, share a meal, share life. And, get ready for Sunday.

Good Friday: Meditate for 10 minutes in silence thinking about Jesus' gift.

I don't often enough take significant time to simply quiet my heart. I invited you to take time today whether in the car, or on a walk, or as you fold clothes to remember how much God loves you. Maybe this poem by George MacLeod could remind us how immense God's love and sacrifice is.

Thanks to JR Woodward for sharing this poem at jrwoodward.net  


From the introduction to a book of prayers by George published by Iona: "George Fielden MacLeod is perhaps best known as a prophetic figure. His passionate calls for political and social justice, his tireless campaigning for nuclear disarmament and his action for the rebuilding of community – sym- bolised by the prophetic sign of the rebuilding of Iona Abbey – deservedly made him one of the most noted churchmen of the twentieth century."

Maundy Thursday: Putting others first will help our world a lot. Try it.

I remain grateful for the gift of grace given me by one of my professors in seminary who gave me his valuable time.  In his busy schedule he had time to talk, show an interest in my work and who I was. 

I admire the mentors who take the time to put others first.  I think of the big brothers and big sisters who put a young boy or girl on their calendars and in their hearts every week.  I think of the teachers who stay late to put a few minutes into the life of student.  I remember an older man who employed a young man, showed him how to cut stone, lay brick, seed a lawn, and build a retaining wall.  The young man now has his own business.  There are untold numbers of wives, mothers, husbands, fathers, siblings, who put others first.  The good in this world, for a large part, owes its genesis to such people. 

I think of a man in his thirties who told his friends that the greatest gift a person can give another is to give one’s life for his friends.  And he did.  Jesus put us first. 

Who can you put first today, not in a trade off of time or for any good you receive, but for the good of the other?  It is a gift.  Great than you know or can calculate.  It’s what makes the world work.  It’s God’s way.  Yes, you will receive.  In ways you probably can’t conceive.  The joy of seeing someone else thrive because of the life you gave them is immense.  Yes, mentoring, putting others first, is a way God works through you to bless his world.  Your savior knows that joy.  You were one of those he put first.  You have received the gift he died to create for you. 

Plant something to replant outside when it get's warmer

This is the last week in Lent. In a few more days we will celebrate Resurrection. But today it is still Lent. A time of reflection, anticipation and sobriety. A time when, in our climate, there begins to be a re-birth. Spring begins to awaken from the slumber of winter. White and brown and gray give way to blue and green. The color of many flowers begin to appear.

So in this last week of Lent, maybe it would be good to plant something to celebrate. Flowers, vegetables, herbs.
These plants can help us mark what we confess on Easter. That there is new life! There is new Creation. God is still working in this world!
What can we plant to celebrate?

Walk somewhere instead of driving.

I suppose this could say "take the bus..." or "carpool..." or "take your bike..." Have you heard of people choosing to fast from carbon during Lent? A bit out of the ordinary, but reminds me of Ann Arbor singer/songwriter Dick Siegel's lyrics from Mother's Plaint (Mother Planet Rap):

WELL YOU BETTER WALK SOFTER …

SO THE EARTH DOESN’T HATE YA .. . .

AND REMEMBER, MIND YOUR MANNERS

AND BE KIND TO MOTHER NATURE

YOU BETTER WALK A LITTLE SOFTER

JUST A LITTLE BIT SOFTER

JUST A LITTLE BIT SOFTER

Copyright 1994, Dick Siegel, Brother Al Music.

God gave us a marvelously complex world to inhabit, sent his son Jesus to redeem the world, and sent the Spirit to remain with us. What amazing love!

How are we reflecting God's gifts back as we "walk" our path here? We have been gifted with so much. Do we need to "walk a little softer"?

A large city can be turned around with a few words from God. Ask Jonah.

We know words are powerful.  Gandhi turned a whole nation onto a path of non-violent resistance against powerful empire.  Martin Luther King spoke of a dream and ignited the imaginations of many. Words count.  It’s for good reason we have the proverb, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” 

“Why” can be a very strategic word.  We just have to know when to use it.  The Bible’s book of Proverbs encourages us to know what to ask when and how.  A friendship can be saved with the right word spoken at a timely moment.  Read a story to a young child and a whole new world opens up, never to be lost.  

Jonah spoke five Hebrew words and a whole city turned away from evil and toward the God whose mercy was showered over them.  Jesus spoke beatitudes that still find their way deed inside the souls of those who need to hear them. 

Find a word or two of Jesus today.  The Gospels are full of them.  Let them resonant in you.  Then sometime this week speak them.  You will know when and to whom.

Read Jonah 1-4 and then spend at least one hour doing something you enjoy.

Have a blessed Palm Sunday Sabbath and a blessed Holy Week.

You are invited to Holy Week devotions and worship:
Morning devotions - 6:30 am in the sanctuary Monday through Friday, followed by a simple breakfast in the Fellowship Hall.  
Maundy Thursday Worship - 7:30 pm communion
Good Friday Worship - 7:30 pm Tenebrae Worship
Easter Worship Celebration - 8:45 and 11:15 am (no evening worship on Easter).

God's Kingdom is Larger than we Can Imagine--Explore!

I am always amazed by the rebirth of spring. Everyday it seems that there are more buds, new flowers, greener grass and more bird songs in the air. And, even as the rain falls on this Saturday morning in South East Michigan, it is a reminder of God's continued governing of creation. The rain will nourish and work with the sun to give us the color and warmth that comes with the season.

This spring let us take the time to find something new. Take a walk in a park that you never have been before. Take in a new scene that your eyes have never beheld. Explore God's Kingdom and let us be renewed with awe for our wonderful creator.

Go for a walk in your neighborhood & pick up the trash you see.

During Lent this year I've been fasting from negative habits and working towards positive actions. I like this challenge:

FAST from lethargy; Feast on enthusiasm.

So, how can I leave lethargy behind? I can find positive ways to be the change I want to see in my world. The snow is finally gone, and yard work calls. Why not take a moment to do a small task in your neighborhood? Pick up trash.  Move some branches. Fix a sign. Help out an elderly neighbor with cleanup. (My neighborhood has plenty of trash that needs collecting as you can see below!) Why not say a prayer for your neighbors as you go?

Thinking and acting for good helps us live into God's expansive love for us and for the world.

Remember God loves you! Live in that love.

“I love you Dad”, these words, spoken by our son years ago, still resonate with me.  When they were spoken by him a few weeks ago they filled me again.  Here our son, now a father himself, spoke of his love for me.  I was filled with an emotion and a knowledge that was deep and beautiful.  When the love of others for us is expressed in word and deed our lives are filled to the brim and overflow.  We live in that love.

The Creator of all that is speaks of his love for us throughout the Bible.  We are told that the deepest expression of this love is shown to us in Jesus, God in the flesh.  As followers of Jesus we affirm without a doubt that God is love.  We affirm this because this is what the Bible teaches in 1 John 4:16.  There we also read that all those who live in love live in God, and God lives them. (New Living Translation).  

Each day in Lent we draw closer to the day when we remember Jesus' death for us.  A person who dies for another gives the deepest expression of his or her love for us.  A person who loves gives expression to that love in concrete action. Jesus walk to the cross is his walk of love for us.

Today, live in God’s love for you.  There you and I will discover quantities of love that will fill our lives to the  brim and they will overflow.  Those we live with will know.  God will rejoice.  Be blessed. 

Today, be the person God thinks you are.

The other day I was on my commute to church from my parent's house north of Detroit to Ann Arbor. I was on westbound 696 right by the Detroit Zoo water tower that is painted to look like an African Savannah at sunset. I was attempting to change lanes to avoid the semi in my lane when a horn blared on the driver's side of my car. I was startled because the car that was two lanes over was now right next to me. We had both attempted to merge into the same lane, at the same time. As our eyes met I will never forget the name that he shot me though his car window. I didn't need sound, I heard him. And the letters the put together created an identity for me in his mind. For the rest of that day he would have thought of me, and thought of that name.

Now that traffic encounter did not end up to be serious and it was probably my fault, but as I walked though my day I could not shake the name he called me. I moved slowly through my tasks, every so often thinking back to that name. I spent my whole day thinking of myself the way that other driver did.

We all know what that's like. We have all been called names or been the one who calls the names. Fat, Lazy, Stupid, worthless, and worse than these.

All of them create an identity for us that is someone's perspective. Yet, it hurts. Sometimes we even begin to behave like those identities are true. It's like the class clown that everyone thinks is funny so he tries harder and harder until it's not funny anymore, and that just makes him try even harder because he believe that he is the class clown and he is "supposed" to be funny.

With all the perceptions within ourselves and outside of ourselves it can be hard to get a clear vision of who we really are. It can be even harder to think that God might have something to say about who you are.

That's right, God has an opinion on the matter.

Check this out:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen,having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory."

Those were the opening lines of Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus. forgiven, adopted, blessed, included, loved, sealed with the Holy Spirit, lavished with grace. And Paul is just getting warmed up. He goes on to say we are the fullness of him who fills everything in every way, raised to life in Christ, the "artwork" of God.

What would happen if we started to replace what the "other drivers" in our lives say and think of us with what God thinks of us?

May you know what God thinks of you today and live your life accordingly. May you know that you are God's Artwork.

Pray today for the children of our city, especially those in the hospital.

In Jonah 4:11 we read as God says to Jonah "And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

We read of God's care for the vulnerable over and over again in the Bible. Nineveh is only one example.

Pray for the children in your neighborhood and city today. God loves them. Remember those in the hospital and those who care for them. Lift up thanks that Rachel is celebrating the 1st year anniversary of her heart surgery! Are you praying for a young person in our congregation this year or have children on your prayer list? And don't forget those children closest to you: children, grandchildren, friends .....

It’s Lent. Are you hopeful? For what?

A grandfather is welding in his work shop.  His granddaughter is outside looking in.  She watches him take a piece of steel and fasten it with hot iron to the frame of the bike.  She is filled with hope.  Maybe this is the fix that will allow her to ride again.  She had ridden the bike down a path that suddenly dropped off and she lost control going down the steep incline.  She had to push the bike home.  Her Dad placed the bike in the back of his pickup truck and drove her and it to granddad’s place.  "Leave it with me", he said.  He invited her to stay and watch.  She had to be careful of the glare of the hot welder spurting sparks all over. 

The sparks gave her hope.  They spoke of something happening.  Something she knew nothing about.  Something that promised a new bike.  It promised more rides.  It promised fun

In Lent we see Jesus headed toward a cross.  We know the story.  We know.  We have heard about the resurrection.  It was that place where sparks flew.  Where something was happening that we don’t really understand.  But we know it happened.  We know because Jesus was involved.  God was involved.  The Spirit was involved.  We know because like grandfather fixing the bike, we trust the hands and mind and heart and love of the God whom Jesus trusts to make all things new.  We know that with God and Jesus we always get more than we hope for. 

As you watch Jesus moving toward the final days of his life, as the shadow of cross looms larger and larger, as the sparks fly up and outward, what are you hoping for? 

I’m hoping for a larger heart, filled with what I struggle to contain at the moment.  I’m hoping for a love beyond what I can imagine to live in me and in all people.  I’m hoping for peace, joy, wonder, awe, grace, and mercy to break out. 

I’m hoping.  And I’m sure.  It’s coming.  Like the granddaughter who heard the words, "Leave it with me.  It will be alright." We have heard the same words spoken over creation.  I've heard.  I believe.  Believe it with me.   

Read Jonah 4 & Matthew 6:9-15 and then spend at least one hour doing something you enjoy.

Have a blessed Sabbath, knowing that God's grace goes with you.

Spend Time with Someone Under Five or Over Seventy

This may seem like an odd thing to do for lent. Why would we ask that someone spends time from a different generation than them for a time of reflection? Why would we be so specific about it? The idea is that sometimes when we spend time with those of different ages, it calls to mind different perspectives on God.

I love to tell bible stories to my daughter Aspen. She listens so intently because it is all so new to her. When she learns prayers, when she sings songs, she does so with a freshness that is good for me to experience.

Likewise, I remember when I first began to learn how to play the guitar. My first guitar was my grandfather's. So when I began to play I would bring the guitar over and hew would play these old hymns and belt out baritone notes praise to his God. He taught me a lot in those songs. They were songs of faithfulness, songs of perseverance, songs of a love that had grown through his years.

May we experience newness and hope; faithfulness and steadfastness today. May we spend time with those who can help us learn timeless lessons through their freshness and experience.

Notice the change in seasons and discuss how change is renewing.

I love watching the seasons change: textures, colors, smells, plants, animals, birds, insects. A whole new palette of colors emerges to freshly paint everyday things ... a sign of hope to me.

Like the cranes returning and spring flowers sprouting, God's kingdom of love continues to emerge here on earth.

Eugene Peterson makes this come alive in his translation of Revelations 21:3-5. 'I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone." The Enthroned continued, "Look! I'm making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate."'

We aren't there yet. But, living in the hope brought through Jesus' resurrection, we are to be agents of this renewal here on earth. What is becoming new for you today? How are you changing and emerging into the beloved person and love-filled community that God is calling you to?

We are free to love. Everything else is secondary - a far second at that..

Free to LOVE.  What a thought!  Free to love!  The God who created us in love, who created us to love, loves us.  The love we show is love that is rooted in God.  The responsibility is awesome.  God loves through us.

But why, in a world of anger, hatred, evil, are we showered with love and enabled to love?

Because there is nothing else in this world that can combat, negate, or remove them.  God is love. The divine trinity is love.  Love is the essential characteristic of God. When we love we are simply being and doing who we were created to be and do. Love conquers evil.  We see this happen on the cross of Christ.

Some of us have seen love in action.  A wife forgives a husband for betraying the love they committed to each other.  A victim of abuse forgives his abuser.  A man on a cross asks God to forgive his tormentors and murderers. Love so amazing is divine.

Jesus' teaching guides us in our lives.  Jesus' death frees us to love.  Truly, everything else is secondary to the love we extend to our families, friends and beyond.  It all points to the God Jonah said abounded in love, even to the point of loving the sworn enemies of his people.  This love has touched even a person like myself.  And you.  It is ours to show to others today.  God bless and empower us to do so.

Pray for the Homeless in our Community

Praying for the Homeless in our community is a great thing. It is a needed thing. Taking a minute to remember those who do not have and, trying to put the love of God into life changing action is part of what it means to follow Jesus. This is why Jesus said about the homeless and hungry, "what you have done for the least of these you have done for me."
If you are like me though, sometimes the words are hard to come by. Sometimes the words are hard to form because, "i just don't know what to say." It is an overwhelming task to call to mind words that properly express our outrage at the injustice of homelessness. Therefore, today I would ask that you join me in saying a short prayer from the CRC's office of social justice.


Pray with me...

Christ our Lord,
your light shines into the shadows,
and shows us
where the obstacles to change lie.
We know that often
they are in our own hearts,
in the way we live,
and in our daily choices and actions.

We pray that we may accept
the light of your love
as a challenge to change
ourselves and our world.

We pray that, each day,
we make the choices and
take the actions
that will bring an end to poverty and hunger,
and lead us all
towards a fairer world.

Be with us, Lord,
as we face your challenge
and learn how to live
our lives in love.

Amen

© Linda Jones

Forgive? Who? You know.

"Forgiving does not mean forgetting. When we forgive a person, the memory of the wound might stay with us for a long time, even throughout our lives. Sometimes we carry the memory in our bodies as a visible sign. But forgiveness changes the way we remember. It converts the curse into a blessing. When we forgive our parents for their divorce, our children for their lack of attention, our friends for their unfaithfulness in crisis, our doctors for their ill advice, we no longer have to experience ourselves as the victims of events we had no control over.

Forgiveness allows us to claim our own power and not let these events destroy us; it enables them to become events that deepen the wisdom of our hearts. Forgiveness indeed heals memories."

(Henri J.M. Nowen, in "Bread for the Journey")

Jonah found that forgiveness was hard work ... in fact, as I read Jonah, my sense is that he is still working on forgiveness at the end of the story. When someone has wronged you, forgiveness takes immense amounts of grace along with being able to acknowledge the hurt.

Who do you need to forgive? You know.

My prayer for you today is that God's Spirit will fill you and open your heart to move into a healing place of forgiveness.

Tell someone they impress you – enjoy the smile.

We tend to remember the people who encouraged us, supported us, urged us to keep doing what we are doing, and even attempt new things they believed we were capable of.  I know I do.  I have an uncle who has been a constant encouraging presence in my life.  I smile when I see him.  We were able to be together for a few minutes at his brother’s (my other uncle's) funeral in January.  I thanked him for what he means in my life.  I had worked for both of these men for a number of years and cherish the experience. They encouraged. I learned the value of collaboration from them. 

God’s kingdom needs citizens who are impressed with what God is doing through others.  There is much happening around us in this kingdom that is impressive.  Sometimes those doing the impressive work, i.e. helping others, listening to others, giving time to sit with the lonely, preparing Sunday School lessons, etc., need us to say we are impressed.  Their smile of response usually means they intend to keep on doing what they’re doing.  Jesus is pleased. 

Live Well Today. Help Someone

The other day I was in the Walgreen's parking lot, getting ready to drive back to the church when I noticed a woman having difficulty with her cart. It was a cold, blustery day and the wind seemed to be against her. I got out of my car and helped her pull her cart to her car. She thanked me, although she insisted that she could have done it herself, and then drove away. I drove away too--I was feeling rather good. Why is this?

I don't think it is an accident that when we help people we feel good ourselves. I don't believe that it comes from the pride of helping and thinking that we are great. I believe it is deeper than that.
When we help others we are doing what we were created to do. When we serve we are bringing an act of resurrection into our current world. We were created to participate in God's good work of creation. That is why we pair the idea of living well and helping someone. This can be big or small, a service project or part of your day, it can be anything. Just live well and try it today.

Place notes with encouraging messages for your family to find.

God loves us. Knowing we are loved, we can spill out the love to those around us, starting with our family. A small thing, but big things come from small seeds.

Who will you encourage today?

Nobody can do what you need to do. What do you need to do?

“I don’t do that, sorry.”  If the only reason we don’t do what we’ve been asked is fear, we have a problem. There are things in life only we can do, and fear should not keep us from engaging in the task.  Sometimes others tell us we’re not good enough for the task, not qualified, not worthy.  If we listen to them we are shortchanging ourselves.  It may very well be that we are also shortchanging God by not engaging in a task he created us to perform. 

We make a difference for God in our households, schools, work environment, when we find time to have God speak to us in prayer, when we ask for guidance, and then live uniquely like Jesus in our own unique environments.  Each of us was created to be what God created us to be.  I was created, among other things,  to be a father and father-in-law and now grandfather to eight awesome people.  What I can bring into their lives no one else can?

What you can bring into my life only you can bring.  There is no other like you.  So, what must we bring to our world today?  What message?  What gift?  What question?  What answer?  What parable?  What good news?  It is in you.  It is in me.  God put it there.  It must come out. 

Let’s do what only we can do today. 

May whatever resistance or acceptance we encounter be received by us as something only we can receive in the way we receive it.  Jonah had a five word (in the Hebrew) message for the Ninevites.  It was God’s gift to them through the man who came up from the bottom of the sea.  A unique man with a five word gift.  And what a gift it was. May peace be ours today. 

Encourage Your Mom Today

For all her gifts and talents. For all her dedication. For everything she's continues to do. For the fact that Mother's day isn't enough of a reminder to have appreciation for our Mothers.

May today be a day when we encourage, not just give things. May today be a day that we respond, not with chocolate or flowers, but with genuine belief in who our Mothers are. Take a minute and call, write, or visit your Mom and encourage how God has gifted her.

Think about the potential God has invested in you.

We've all heard the story: the call from God, the "No thanks!", a boat, the storm, sailors, prayers, a BIG fish, 3 days, a beach, a desert and a reluctant mission. Are you Jonah? a sailor? a Ninevite?

What do they all have in common? God LOVES them. God cares.

God loves me too, no matter who I am. God cares. And God has given me a life and a unique set of gifts. Maybe I'm not a super business executive. Maybe I haven't painted the world's greatest painting. But, every day, I have the chance to use my own gifts for good. Maybe I listen. Maybe encourage. Maybe speak grace without judgement. Maybe I have the energy to accomplish tough tasks. Maybe my courage inspires.  Maybe .... (you fill in the blank because we each have beautiful potential)

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5 NLT)

God has invested you with potential. Rooted in God's love, how are you going to live into that potential today?

Pray for someone who needs healing.

There is not a week goes by that I don’t pray for healing for someone.  I expect the same goes for you.  We pray for God’s healing grace to touch a friend’s depression, a young child’s fever to break, a marriage falling apart to be whole and well, that a person looking for a job is enabled to provide for her family, and we that our own dis-ease is healed.   

Sanjay Gupta, CNN Medical Reporter tells us “I was never formally trained in the interplay between the type of healing we think of in hospitals and the type of healing that takes place in the private recesses of our minds. Yet over time I've come to deeply appreciate the role of prayer in the healing process. Often patients or their loved ones have prayed with me before surgery.”

Jesus’ healing ministry is often an embarrassment for us sophisticated, modern Western people, as William Willimon reminds us.  We can take Jesus as a teacher, but Jesus the healer is something else for us who have modern medicine, the beneficent side of science. 

Still I pray.  For healing.  I’ve learned this from Moses in Exodus, from David in the Psalms, from the Prophets in exile, from Paul and the other Apostles.  I have learned this from Jesus our Lord whose three year ministry was populated with instances of healing.  Luke 4:40 tells us that people were brought to Jesus with various kinds of sickness, and “laying his hands on each one, he healed them.”

I invite you to pray today for someone who needs healing – physical, emotional, spiritual – healing.  If you have the opportunity, tell this person, maybe visit them.  Your presence could very well be part of the healing they need today.  May the grace, peace, and joy of being Jesus’ follower fill your life today. 

p.s.
Thoughts on healing are multifaceted.  Here is something sent from MINemergent.  A great thought on how we contribute to the healing of others. 

Service heals

Fundamentally, helping, fixing, and service are ways of seeing life. When you help you see life as weak, when you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Helping incurs debt. When you help someone they owe you one. But serving, like healing is mutual. There is no debt. Fixing and helping are the basis of curing, but not of healing. In 40 years of chronic illness I have been helped by many people and fixed by a great many others who did not recognize my wholeness. All that fixing and helping left me wounded in some important and fundamental ways. Only service heals.

Rachel Naomi Remen

Excerpts from the article "In the service of life"

Read Jonah 2 and Matthew 7:24-27 and then spend at least one hour doing something you enjoy.

May God's peace surround you today.

Invite Someone over for a Meal

I had an English professor in my undergraduate studies that was fascinated with how food was featured in books. Even the most passing of references got the wheels of his mind turning. He was of the opinion that you could tell a lot about the author and her intentions by how she used food.
Our stories about Jesus are like that too. The one thing you can say about Jesus was that he liked to eat. And, he liked to eat in community. Food features prominently in our gospels because it serves as a vehicle for conversation and relationship building. So many of our stories in the gospels feature Jesus, sitting around a table with others, eating. He was sharing a meal. In Revelation 3, Jesus even extends a cosmic invitation to the church in Laodicea. "Behold, I stand at the door knocking, anyone who hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them and they with me."
I believe Jesus should be our model for how we approach food and how we view eating with others. Because, sometimes it isn't about the food. Sometimes, it is about the meal itself. The ceremony, the place settings, the joke that you only break out when someone is at your table for the first time. It is about fellowship and hospitality. It is about creating a space for our Lord to speak an invitation of life together.

Who can you invite in for a meal?

Open the door, look out, say hello to the first person you see.

Sometimes I find myself caught in the web of our ME culture in America.  I don't necessarily want to be, I just am despite my best efforts.  When I read about Jesus though, I see a very different picture.

"Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:35-36 NLT)

Jesus saw people, not just the surface but to a person's thoughts and heart.  So when Jesus saw the crowd, he saw them through and through.

Most of us don't. Not really.

What would it take for us to see people today? Who do I need to look out and say hi to? Who will I encounter and can I remember to really look?

The imagery in John Donne's Meditation XVII echos these thoughts, although I'll admit I readily change the pronouns as needed. Reach out today - don't be an island!

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

John Donne (Meditation XVII) en.wikisource.org/wiki/Meditation_XVII

“Marvel at the amazing creatures God created (look closely at a bug or spider).”

The art of being a creature can be learned through observing one or more of God’s creatures.  Bugs and spiders can be a good place to begin.  Remember the proverbial wisdom of Proverbs 6:6 where lazy people are urged to become wise through the study of ants. 

Plants function is so many ways to provide God’s blessings to other creatures, including those created in his image.  Jonah loved the leafy plant God provided to ease the discomfort of sitting under a hot sun.  How are we blessing the other creatures, human and otherwise, we live with? 

 God loves all his creatures.  The leafy, bark covered, grassy, watery, creatures of creation form an array of beauty that creates a sense of humility at the wonderful mystery inherent in them all.  And we can’t forget that one of God’s reasons for showing mercy to Nineveh was his desire to spare all the animals living there. 

 In the season of Lent this verse from Romans 8 comes to my mind,

“But with eager hope, ²¹ the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.”

Go; take a moment or two to observe whatever of God creatures you see to see today.  Marvel!  Thank God.  Join and share the hope of creation renewed. 

Admit you were wrong about something today and ask for forgiveness

I don't want to do this. What if I admit that I am wrong and they don't forgive? What if I admit my part and they don't admit their part? Then they will think that they didn't do anything wrong. And they did. What if I look foolish for admitting that I was wrong about something? How will I ever be respected again? How do I ask them for forgiveness? Can't I just say "sorry" and be done with it? What if God's love and forgiveness are bigger than what I am comfortable with?

I need to do this. What if I never admit that I was wrong and it just festers? What if they do forgive? What if forgiveness has nothing to do with "sorry?" What if they admit wrongdoing too? What if we open the door for reconciliation? What if we open the door for God's love to take the lead? What if this is an opportunity to learn more about how God loves and forgives? What if God's love and forgiveness are bigger than what I am comfortable with?

I don't want to do this...I need to do this.

Pray the Lord's Prayer at least four times through the day.

Every Sunday at St. John's in Henley-in-Arden we prayed this prayer from Matthew 6. After almost three years as an expatriate the words soaked deeply into my memory, giving voice to otherwise unspoken yearnings: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come....."

Let the words sink into your thoughts as you pray it today, in whatever version is comfortable for you. (or look it up on Biblegateway.com in several different versions)  Which phrase is particularly meaningful today? How is God's kingdom coming into your world today? What needs will you trust God to fill today? Where is deliverance on order?

Know that God hears your prayers, spoken and unspoken.

“Become intoxicated with the idea that GOD loves YOU

There is a seat at God’s table with your name on it.  There’s a journey you are invited to embark on with God as your guide. There is a welcome to a party thrown in your honor. 
Once experienced, this love of God for us begins to fill us with joy, changes our view of the world and those who live in it with us.
John 3:16 is so familiar we can gloss over what John is telling us.  God loves the world! This is the essence of the Gospel, the Good News. 
God’s love is expressed most fully in Jesus who announced the coming of God’s kingdom.  God’s kingdom is a kingdom of love.  Those who enter it by following Jesus learn to love as Jesus loves.  God shares his love through us.  Find a person with whom you can share God’s love today. Spread the intoxication! God loves YOU.  May the peace and joy of God be ours today as this knowledge settles into every area of our lives.

Read Jonah 1:3-17 & Matthew 6:24-34 & spend at least one hour doing something you enjoy.

Have a blessed sabbath.

Remember whom God created you to be!

"I wonder if I'll every find my way?"
"Could a garden come up from this ground at all?"

Spinning through my head at odd moments, these lyrics are from a song by Gungor called 'Beautiful Things." The resounding answer in the refrain witnesses to God's ability for renewal:

"You make beautiful things.
You make beautiful things out of the dust.
You make beautiful things.
You make beautiful things out of us.

You make me new, You are making me new....."

The snowdrops and eranthis are peeking out their cheery white and yellow faces today along the creek that trickles through our yard, a reminder that when we walk with God in faith, he will continue to make us new. Jonah wasn't so sure about letting God in ... Do we dare to let God make us new?

Talk to or call someone you love and tell them what you love about them

Relationships are a process. On my wedding day I told my wife I loved her. But we would have a serious problem in our marriage if that was the last time I said anything. We speak words of love, because we declare a continuing relationship. Love is a whole-being event. It is something that takes words as well as actions, it takes sustaining as well as initiation.

In this season of Lent we take a posture of reflection. Part of this reflection deals with our relationships with other people. Lent is to speak love back into the world. The love we have that is rooted in Christ Jesus. Who, in your life, needs to hear that you love them? Who in your life needs to hear why you love them? Speak those words today.

Recycle Five Things Today

"I am making everything New!"

These are the words shouted by God in Revelation 21. God is in the process of making all things new. Note: it doesn't say all new things. It says all things new.
God restores,
redeems,
renews,
reconciles,
resurrects,
reconstructs.
God created the world good and he will set everything right again. God is in the business of putting things back together--of healing all of creation. If God cares that much about his creation to reclaim it from its current state, how much joy do you think it would bring to do the little things that show you care that much too?

Give up "anger" for a day. Don't invite it back.

Anger has a way of diminishing horizons, closing us off as we hoard our ill-feelings.

This Lent I am focusing on "living-towards" instead of "fasting-from," but anger is one of those things that I really do need to fast from ... and live instead towards forgiveness. 

Forgiveness opens the door to a heart that expands. When I live in a forgiving space, I lean into God's shalom. My world has seeds of wonder, awe, and possibility.

Now, giving up "anger" isn't exactly easy. Sometimes it takes praying to God every day (or even every hour) for a forgiving heart.  Are you ready for the hard work of releasing anger and living into God's shalom?

Make a card to send to a missionary or a person in a nursing home

Being a part of the Church is being a member of a community. The Church is a costly fellowship of those who share a new life in Christ Jesus and so, are connected at a level too deep to ever fully explore. We may sense this when we have communion, knowing that this links us through all time and space to others who are also being sustained by our Lord. We may sense this connection of community when we pray for those who are close to us in thought.

Because of this connection we should remember those who are either serving the Lord away from their home church or those who are older and are living in a place that does not afford them the opportunity to worship with their community. These can be lonely places and lonely times. They have joys but they also may miss their church family. They may miss the community they know deep within themselves that they are connected to through Jesus.

Let us today send a card. Maybe an e-mail would work too. Let our missionaries know they are being prayed for. Let our seniors know they are missed. Remind them and ourselves that we are connected. We are the family of God.

(If you want to send a missionary a card but do not know where to send it, please see the bulletin board in the fellowship hall. There is information on the missionaries and organizations we support there).

Pray for peace in the Middle East.

Praying for peace, justice, and healing in the Middle East can seem like a drop in a bucket. This opening of a prayer for healing come to mind: "Sometimes, heavenly Father, the answer has to be 'I don't know.'" I don't know why such unjust systems persist. I don't know why peaceful demonstrations end in violence.

I do know there is HOPE. Each person who prays, who stands for justice, who works for peace, is another ripple that can grow into a wave. Again and again I'm inspired by stories of people who have chosen to take a peaceful stand against injustice, by sitting in a city square or by refusing to use force. I want to join my prayers to these ripples widening in the Middle East.

Sometimes creativity helps me find a different space in which to reflect and pray - this is a quilt created several years ago as God grew the reality of hope within me, helping me to continue to pray and work, even in the midst of a challenging situation.

Is there a country or person or mission in the Middle East that God has laid upon your heart? How do you find the space to pray even when overwhelmed? Can we pray in hope?

Read Jonah 1:1-3 & Matthew 5:13-16 & spend at least one hour doing something you enjoy.

Did you know that Sundays are not counted in the 40 days of Lent? Have a blessed day.

Start Something You Have Been Avoiding

I never put off the easy things. I enjoy accomplishment too much. I never avoid small tasks that will take minimal energy; the bills, dusting, or walking the dog. I don't have a problem with avoidance when it comes to things I love either. You won't have to twist my arm to spend time with my family or finish a book I have been meaning to get to.

I would guess that this is true for most of us. Avoidance isn't an issue with the easy things or the things we love.

When avoidance presents itself in our lives is when things are hard. The issue of avoidance comes into play when we don't really want to do the thing that's required of us. Jonah reminds us of this. When presented with the task of going to Nineveh to proclaim God's message to it, Jonah went the other way. He avoided the task at hand. Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh and he knew going there would be hard. They were enemies, he could be in serious trouble. However, the hard thing in the story of Jonah was still the thing that God required.

So what is the hard thing that you have been avoiding? That conversation? That chore? That job? May God enable us to do the hard things however small they may be. May God give us the strength not to avoid what he has put in front of us to do.

Pray for someone you love. Tell them.

Prayer plays a significant part in the book of Jonah. As we read Jonah’s prayers, we find echos of the words of the Psalmist (3, 5, 18, 30, 42, 69, 120). Sometimes, when I don’t have words, words from scripture help me say what is in my heart.

“God, you knit _____ together in her mother’s womb. I praise you because she is fearfully and wonderfully made; you have done a wonderful work in her.” (paraphrased from Psalm 139)

“Lord, you are a shield around ______, his glory, the One who lifts his head high. You will answer when he calls. You will sustain him.  Deliver him from the enemy he is facing. May he know deep in his heart that from you comes deliverance. May he know that he is blessed.” (from Psalm 3)

“Lord, the cords of death are entangling ______; destruction is overwhelming her. Help her call out to you for help.  Hear her cries. Rescue her from the deep waters. Rescue her from the powerful enemy. Bring her into a spacious place because you delight in her.” (from Psalm 18)

Words and prayers can lift me up, helping me to move into a different space. I find it a little easier to let go of my own biases and preconceived notions, and God infuses my longings with a deeper grace, a wider love. Which Bible verses give voice to your prayers?

Love your enemies, all of them. Okay, one at a time. Start today.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Yes, this comes directly from Jesus our Lord in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:44). This is truly a hard saying, yet one which we know Jesus practiced. For instance, on the cross he asked God to forgive those responsible for his crucifixion. Forgiveness can be understood as an expression of love for those who have hurt you and whom you have categorized as an "enemy." What do you think? Is this too hard for you? If so, what do you make of Jesus' command?

Maybe the place to begin this difficult calling is in prayer....

Ash Wednesday

A cross-shaped smudge of ash is on order today.

Sound Schedule 8:45 March 2011

March 6: Jim K
March 13: George L
March 20: Dave VY
March 27: Jim S

March 13 eve: Jim S

Project Schedule Feb 2011

2/20 Mike
2/27 Larry
3/6 Mike
3/13 Larry
3/20 Mike
3/27 Larry
4/3 Mike
4/10 Mike
4/17 Larry

Sound Schedule February 2011 8:45

Feb. 6: Jim K
Feb. 13: Dave VY
Feb. 20: Jim S
Feb. 27: George L

Lent Experiential Calendar

Lent 2011 Experiential Calendar

Electronic version of the calendar for use by the congregation at AACRC throughout the Lenten season of 2011.

8:45 Sound Schedule, January 2011

January 9: George L
January 16: Jim K
January 23: Dave VY
January 30: Jim K