“For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

It is so easy to fall into bitterness and self-pity in this time. We experience limitations on our activities, the feeling of constant scrutiny and judgement, and a general weariness from constantly having to do things in a new way.

I find myself reaching out to friends to gripe and complain. Of course, as friends, we take turns sharing our frustrations. I suppose we could just wallow in our pain, but inevitably the grace of God intercedes. One of us will remember that we care about the other, and will start sharing words of encouragement. I am not talking about meaningless praise; instead these are words acknowledging gifts in the other and noticing the difference the other is making in the world. Soon we are taking turns encouraging each other.

When we encourage others we find encouragement for ourselves. It isn’t just because the other will say nice things in return, but because the act of looking for the good in the other allows us to see it in ourselves. Lifting up another’s abilities shines a light on our own. Bringing courage to another swells our own hearts as well. Reminding the other that we are not alone in our struggle reminds us that we, too are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses!
So when you are frustrated, reach out to a friend in faith. Listen to their struggle and share your words of encouragement. In that way, as the Apostle Paul tells us, we will build-up one another.

Loving God, we thank you for raising us from the dust of our lives. Open our ears and our hearts to the hurt of others, and in our words of encouragement, help us find encouragement from you. Come, Holy Spirit, our comforter and our strength. In Jesus we pray. Amen.

Pastor George

“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…”

“Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…”

Philippians 2:1-5, 12

I mentor a young person who is in the first year of pastoring.  I try not to give directions, but rather to ask clarifying questions. The truth is, in a time such as this, I am so busy trying to figure things out for myself that I have no directions to give! This week we talked about our role as leaders in this confluence of crises. I found myself reflecting on previous times of crisis when a congregant would ask me to make a public statement. On occasion I have asked. “Do you want me to make my statement, or are you looking for me to amplify YOUR statement? I am pretty sure that my statement would not please you.”

My job, as a shepherd, is to guide people to the places where they can find spiritual sustenance. I will certainly point out dangers, and celebrate both the good gifts of God and the accomplishments of others. In this particular time, I find that I am at my best when I am listening, learning, and inviting others to listen and learn for themselves.  So I have made some statements, but I spend much more of my time listening to the life experiences of others, and inviting you to take this seriously and work it through for yourself. I want you to own your thoughts, not mine.

As believers and as human beings our responsibility and joy is to help others. Yes, we feel frustrated by all of the restrictions placed upon us. Yes, we feel pressure to do everything which is allowed, whether or not it is wise or safe.  Yes, we personalize any challenge to structures we perceive to bring us benefit. The Apostle Paul asks the Philippians and us to look to the interests of others first. He invites us to have the mind of Christ (in modern terms, to ask “what would Jesus do?”)

We have total freedom in Christ. With that freedom comes an awesome responsibility. We are no longer bound by the law, but we submit ourselves one to another. So we don’t wear a mask because it is the rule, and we don’t stop wearing a mask because the law is changed to a “strong suggestion.” We wear a mask because wise leaders tell us that it is one way of caring – of thinking of the other first.

What a gift we have been given in Christ! We can have a personal relationship with God, which is not dependent upon the whims of any other! But with that freedom comes the awesome responsibility to work out our own salvation. We understand that we are made right with God so that we can live rightly with others. We are justified so we can be workers of justice. We are healed so that we may be healers. We love because Jesus first loved us.

Gracious God, may we indeed have the mind of Christ. May each of us, like Jacob, wrestle with the great challenges of our day. May we hear the voices of the hurting and may we have the indwelling of the Spirit which helps us respond. We pray this in Christ’s holy name. Amen.

Pastor George

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 New International Version (NIV)

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

I wrote about this verse way back when this self-isolation/quarantine started, and it spoke to me in a quite different way.  Now, it is speaking to me to look for blessings in this constantly changing situation we call life in 2020. There are still so many reasons to rejoice and give thanks if you just have a mindset to look for reasons.  One saying that I have been using a lot lately is take your blessings when you can get it.

God is with us in this chaos that we call life in 2020 and can help us through this if we just let the Holy Spirit do just that.  And no, I do not think I am being Pollyanna about it.

Here are some examples; at church we are being pushed to use technology in different ways and use it more often then we were doing.  We use Zoom for meeting and studies. Because we are using Zoom for studies, we now have Karen Sufana joining us from Florida! She used to be in the group but moved away. It has been so cool to have her with us again. So, now if you move away you can still participate in our studies and keep into touch with your church family here.  Since we are now streaming our services, we have people that have moved all over the country joining us in worship.  The are times when we have had people from Oregon, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida watching the live stream and they have even requested prayers.  What a blessing it is to worship together like that.  Streaming our services will help us to reach new people in new places. We had always talked about doing it, COVID just made pushed us to do it faster.

While COVID took many things away from us, it has also pushed us into using technology faster than we would normally have.  This is helping us stay connected with each other currently and will help us reach new people in new places and ways in the near future and beyond.  That is extremely exciting news.  

Change can be difficult, and everything is changing extremely fast right now.  Know that your church is here for you now and in the future.  We will be here to help you on your spiritual journey, connect with God, connect with fellow church members, and to care for others.  In others words, we will be here to help you live into the life you are called to live by Christ.  Our church is living into it’s mission to be the church of today by helping others and looking at the future with hope knowing that God is with us through all of this, and we can give thanks and praise for that.

Gracious and Loving God, even when we are weary, and feeling small, help us to know that you are there for us.  Create in us eyes to see your blessings in nature, friends, and family.  Help us to be a blessing to others and to be the hope that we wish to see in the world.  Help us to give ourselves grace when we just feel like doing so many things and get absolutely nothing done.  Help us to listen to others and to learn new ways of being in community with others.  Amen

Grace & Peace, Suzanne

34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jn 13:34-35

Right before Jesus said this, he had shown what love looked like by washing the feet of 12 of his closest friends. Jesus humbled himself, knelt down before each of them and washed their feet.  Jesus, by his actions showed us to lay aside our self, our ego, our privilege, to see the need of another, to listen, to be open to changing our ways when we see it brings pain to another. It’s caring for and restoring the brokenness of one another, in our community and in the world.

An old Rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell when the night ended and the day began. “Could it be,” asked one of the students, “when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it’s a sheep or a dog?” “No,” answered the Rabbi. Another asked, “Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell whether it’s a fig tree or a peach tree?” “No,” answered the Rabbi. “Then when is it?” the pupils demanded. “It’s when you can look on the face of any man or any woman and see that it is your sister or brother. Because if you cannot see this, it is still night.”

We really are all ordinary people with ordinary needs, each with ordinary gifts and talents. Yet, each and every one of us has been created in the image of God … all different … all the same… created in God’s image of love. If we woke each day in wonder, gratitude and awe for God’s extravagant love within us, we will begin to see that same extravagant love in one another, the stranger will become our neighbor and our world and all who inhabit it will be renewed, restored and transformed.

St. Teresa of Alvila said, “Christ has not body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

Faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love.

May the peace of God go before you and the love of God forever hold you tight. May the Spirit of God flow through your life and the joy God uphold you day and night. Amen.

Brenda

I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other. John 13:34-35

Watching the reality of the pandemic settle on my high school students expectations for how they would celebrate the culmination of their 4 years of high school was hard.  They had already experienced a great amount of loss and were grieving the experiences they had dreamed of.  I knew our church community would be able to give them an experience that would be meaningful for them and help them regain some of the excitement they had been anticipating.

CUMC stepped up in a big way on Sunday evening when we gathered safely in our cars and cheered our seniors on with signs, and car horns as they walked through the parking lot to “Pomp and Circumstance”. They got to experience a graduation ceremony complete with moving their tassels from right to left and throwing their caps in the air.  They beamed, they giggled, they blushed, and they felt the love and support that this congregation has continually given them. 

When our youth are confirmed we as a congregation are asked if we will…        “nurture one another in the Christian faith and life and include these          persons now before you in your care?” 

We profess that… 

“With God’s help we will proclaim the good news and live according to the example of Christ. We will surround these persons with a community of love and forgiveness, that they may grow in their trust of God, and be found faithful in their service to others. We will pray for them, that they may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life.” 

You have nurtured them as they have grown up and grown in their faith. Everyone of these graduates have participated in our youth mission trips and some have gone on to teach Sunday school or have been in service to the church as ushers and acolytes. 

Sunday evening we surrounded these youth in a community of love when we came together to support them and celebrate this milestone with them. In doing this we lived out our profession of faith… “We will surround these persons with a community of love and forgiveness, that they may grow in their trust of God, and be found faithful in their service to others. We will pray for them, that they may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life.”

Dear God, We thank you for all the people who have shared their faith with our youth, for those that have nurtured them and given them a safe place to discover, learn and trust in you. We ask that you guide them as they begin this new chapter in their lives and we pray that they stay close to you. Amen 

With much gratitude,

Marty