“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep God’s love is.” — Ephesians 3:17–18

When we have a baptism in our church, we as the congregation are asked if we will nurture the person being baptized in the Christian faith and life. We respond together as a faith community with these words… 

With God’s help we will proclaim the good news and live according to the example of Christ. We will surround them 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.

This past Saturday at our 3rd grade Bible presentation in the parking lot, you lived up to those vows.  What made this time even more special was that people took time out of their day and made a special trip to the church to come support these 3rd graders. Receiving a Bible is a special time and a rite of passage for children growing up in a faith community. But for Jack, Olivia and Caige theirs will be even more special. After all, not every 3rd grader receives their Bible in a parking lot with horns honking. 

The community of love and forgiveness this church creates is not limited to a parking lot Bible presentation. The continuous support all the youth and children here at CUMC receive allows them opportunities to serve others and to grow into being true disciples that they will carry on into their life.  Jack, Olivia, Caige and all of our youth and children were, and will continue to be, embraced by your love.

Marty Drake

Dear God,

Thank you for those that support, encourage and uplift our youth. Thank you for those who know your love and want to share their faith with them. Help us to remember to continue to be in relationship with these children who will one day share the stories of their faith to the generations to come. May our youth  feel the embracement of our love. 

Amen

Rejoice always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19

When this pandemic began, I started seeing posts about everything people were going to accomplish while they were quarantined at home, unable to work – clean out all the closets, finally get rid of those old clothes, learn a new language, pick up a new hobby. I admittedly got mad. While everyone was beginning to find respite at home, my world was picking up steam. Everyone else was finding rest, and time off was nowhere on my radar. I became jealous of all those getting to take a break and plotted with other “essential workers” about “our turn.” I wasn’t really thoughtful of the anxiety, stress, and restlessness those out of work were facing, seeing only the good in someone else’s situation.

Traditionally, my company offers four in-person trainings per year in Bakersfield, CA. About 100 IT business owners from around the world fly in to learn how to better sell IT, market for new customers, and operate their businesses more profitably. Our last in-person event concluded March 15, right before shut down recommendations when we all thought this would be a blip in the radar.

I stood in the hallway and told my boss that I could get maybe 40 people at the next in-person event scheduled for May because people were beginning to be afraid to fly, and we didn’t know what was next. Instead, I suggested that we pivot to a virtual event. I anticipated maybe 300 people. He begrudgingly agreed, and we set to work. Hundreds of hours of work.

1,500 registrations, a brand-new training platform, and a successful 5-day event later, we were so proud of what we were able to accomplish. At first, I was still mad. I felt like there was really no rest for the weary. Then I got to thinking. I am truly blessed. My work was deemed essential. We created and proved out a concept for events in roughly 6 weeks that was infinitely more profitable and revenue-generating than our in-person events. I didn’t have to spend 16 hours a day with a grin plastered to my face being the “hostess with the mostest” (those involved in events, I’m sure you get this). When put in the right perspective, all this work was really the best thing that could have ever happened for us. It was all a matter of shifting gears.

Some call it making lemonade out of lemons. Others can quote this scripture from Thessalonians. I say, “find the good.” My mom says, “choose happiness.” Yep, there’s certainly days when it feels like the grass is greener for other people; but we are all blessed in unique ways. As we’re continuing to plow forward into the unknown every day, let’s seek that blessing.

Emalee Sugano

Lord, May we find the good in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Sometimes, that good is buried deep; but may we ever put our trust in you. Even if the moment is miserable, there will be Your good, Your presence, and Your peace with us always. Amen.

The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.’ Moses said, ‘Show me your glory, I pray.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, “The Lord”; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But’, he said, ‘you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.’ – Exodus 33:17-20 NRSV

Moses has come down from Sinai having received the commandments and was preparing to lead the people again on the journey to the promised land. God had declared that an angel would lead them. But Moses again argued and bargained with God; insisting that the Almighty be visibly present with the people. “For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us?” He is also asking to see God face-to-face.

Here God responds that no human is capable of comprehending all that God is. We can catch glimpses and gain insight, but the totality of God cannot be contained, even in our vast imagination and intellect. So God allows Moses to see His back as he passes.

The point God is making is this: God cannot be constrained, nor will God be put in a box. We must not  use God for our own limited purposes. God is saying “If you want me to lead you, then let me lead!” and “I love you and will be with you, but I am going to do things my way.”

In this time of ongoing crisis, it is right and good to call upon our God. God will respond and be with us. And then we must be prepare to allow God to lead us into new ways of being.

Two songs are running through my mind right now. The first is “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent. The second will be today’s prayer:

Perhaps you have seen the meme – “If God is your co-pilot, change seats.” 

Jesus, Savior, pilot me
over life’s tempestuous sea;
unknown waves before me roll,
hiding rock and treacherous shoal.
Chart and compass came from thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

As a mother stills her child,
Thou canst hush the ocean wild;
Boisterous waves obey Thy will
When Thou sayest to them, “Be still!”
Wondrous Sovereign of the sea,
Jesus, Savior, pilot me!

Though the sea be calm and bright,
sparkling with the stars of night,
and my ship’s path be ablaze
with the light of halcyon days,
still I know my need of thee,
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

–Edward Hopper, 1871

Your questions for Sunday’ s message:

1. What is the difference between human justice and divine justice?
2. When have you used Caesar’s methods for God’s work?
3. How can you show that you bear the image of God?

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate,a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

This past Monday I was blessed to participate in the Mourning into Unity virtual event that was held here and then streamed on Zoom and on our Facebook page.  It was such a blessing to come together and mourn as an interfaith community the people and things that we have lost during this pandemic.  It felt good to name people, businesses, and situations that we need mourn.  We have needed to do this, and it was wonderful to come together even if it was online and grieve together so that we can move on in hope. The event is taped and is available to view on our Facebook page, which is Community United Methodist Church Huntington Beach, if you haven’t seen it.  We have lost a lot, and we need to acknowledge that loss, even while we are still in the midst of grieving.  If you haven’t given yourself the opportunity to grieve over the loses that we have all suffered, please take that time to do that it is important and necessary in order to move on.

When the vigil was over, and we were leaving through the sanctuary I was walking through the short hall to go out and hearing happy noises coming from our courtyard.  I was hearing sounds of our scout troop who was having a court of honor outside in our courtyard.  It was so wonderful to hear and see signs of life!  Precautions and safety protocols being followed of course, however seeing the lights on the trees, and our beautiful courtyard being used, took my breath away and brought a tear to my eye.  It was such a blessing to see and talk to parents who have scouts in our troop.  Yes, there is a time to mourn and then to dance!  May we always remember that and take the time to do both.

Gracious and Loving God, help us to create time to deal with the stress and emotions that we are feeling during this difficult time.  Help us to be able to deal with our stress and anxiety in health ways and to reach out to others who care for us when we need help.  Let us be there for others who need to express their own grief or joy.  Help us to remember that life does go on and will go on.  That there is a time and a season everything under heaven. Thank you for being with us through all the seasons.
Amen

Stay well, stay safe and be the hope you wish to see in the world.
Suzanne

^“ I tell you this: whenever you saw a brother or sister hungry or cold, whatever you did to the least of these, so you did to me.” Matthew 25:40 (The Voice)

Back in 2012, I was attending Garden Grove UMC as was Pastor Ginny Wheeler. On a fun filled day where I was wedding dress shopping with one of my future daughter-in-laws, Pastor Ginny gave me a call and asked me if I would meet with a man who wanted to begin a homeless lunch program with the area churches. I really wasn’t looking to do something like this; I was in wedding mode but yes, I agreed to meet with Larry.

Larry had a kind soul, he was doing the mission work of delivering Meals on Wheels to those who needed a meal brought to them. It was during his deliveries that he came to realize that there were many homeless people in the parks in Garden Grove who needed food, and he wanted to do something to change that. So Larry met with all the area churches wanting to get a couple or group of people who would take one Friday a month to make and hand out sack lunches to the homeless.

Larry showed me the ropes on my first time out to do this. We began by going under a freeway overpass and calling to those who had tucked themselves away at the very top. I will admit it was an uncomfortable feeling, not something I had ever done before or anything I would recommend on your own, but the people already knew Larry and they trusted him. They came down from on high and we gave them simple lunches that also had a pair of tube socks inside. The genuine graciousness and gratitude was emotionally overwhelming. We continued to make the rounds to behind store buildings and many parks.

I never went alone. There were always one or two others with me, and we had many life experiences along the way. We got to know them and they knew and trusted us, at least momentarily. One time we met a man who had once been in the NFL and now homeless, One time a lady, who was a regular, had had her shoes stolen and was very upset. She was about my size, so I gave her my sneakers. she was shocked and overwhelmed someone would do that for her and began to cry. I was taken back and humbled by her reaction, and I simply finished our route barefoot. There were turf wars and some crazy situations that we encountered, and a lot of people who had simply lost their way. But for two years my group never missed our Friday.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d be doing anything like that, but sometimes God calls us in a way that stretches us beyond our way of thinking, beyond what we see as our limited ability. The moment I asked God to show me, to stretch me, to use me, I found God continually braking the box of security that I would like to comfortably stay in. What I did was a moment in time and was not something everyone is call to do in that way. The outreach ministries that Community UMC offers, the Food Pantry, the Shower Ministry and all the others, are a beautiful testament to what Jesus calls us to do, “If you love me…feed my lambs.” 

Loving God, new every morning is your love, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you in small and genuine ways, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to sharing your love. In the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.

Blessings,

Brenda