¹I look up at the vast size of the mountains – from where will my help come in times of trouble?
² The Eternal Creator of heaven and earth and these mountains will send the help I need. ³ He holds you firmly in place; He will not let you fall. He who keeps you will never take His eyes off you and never drift off to sleep. ⁴ What a relief! The One who watches over Israel never leaves for rest or sleep. ⁵ The Eternal keeps you safe, so close to Him that His shadow is a cooling shade to you. ⁶ Neither bright light of sun nor dim light of moon will harm you. ⁷ The Eternal will keep you safe from all of life’s evils, ⁸ From your first breath to the last breath you breathe, from this day and forever. Psalm 121 (The Voice)

So, I have decided to begin another paint-by-number painting. It’s a delightful picture of daisies (one of my favorite flowers) against a blue sky. As I was setting up, I was reminded of what was said to me once.
This person was a Presbyterian Minister, nice guy, very self-assured and witty. I had met him at a 2-year program I was attending. After having a couple of sessions (each a week long) we all were told that this pastor had had a stroke.  As sad and tragic as that is, we heard that he planned on finishing the 6 sessions that were left. When he came back, it was clear that his right side had been affected by the stroke. His joy for life, wit, humor was still very clear, what had changed was there was no holding back on what he said to you, and I remember that with a smile on my face. I am giving you this background to lead up to what he said to me.

While we were in class listening to the speakers he would sit in the back of the room water color painting as therapy. One morning he was painting a picture that I really liked. I told him so and then said I can’t seem to paint with watercolors, I just get this watery mess. He looked straight in my eyes and said “you have to give up control!” Whomp there it is! After I swallowed hard I began to laugh, I said “ok God, I’m listening.” And I haven’t forgotten. 

There is so much that we all wish we could control right now and we can’t, but what we can do is our part to help. At the end of the day we can offer up all our anxiety, our worries, our fears to the God who made heaven and earth. I pray to the One who placed the stars in the cosmos and who keeps the planets spinning around the sun and holds all my loved ones close. I am comforted each night and in the morning when I start each day by knowing that God is in control and I am not. Thanks be to God!  Hope is the ability to hear the melody of the future. Faith is the courage to dance to it today.

Holy God, thank for being in control of all the unknown. Comforting God, thank you for loving us beyond our deepest and wildest imagination. May we find comfort and rest in your arms each day until the end of time. Amen.

Blessings,
Brenda

Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father, the creator of the heavenly lights, in whose character there is no change at all.  James 1:17

You often hear people talk about God’s timing and how it is different from our timing.  I was recently having a conversation with a friend about this exact subject – God’s timing. We often get impatient when things are moving slowly for our likes. At times, we aren’t able to understand why things are changing or moving and sometimes we can’t see how events that are happening right now in our lives are good things or good for us. But in God’s time it becomes much clearer.

This pandemic has shaken us up and shifted our routines in our personal life as well as here at the church. One huge shift has been the way we are able to gather with others.  To lower our risk, we gather in small groups and outside in the open air. God’s timing is perfect because we now have a courtyard that is the perfect place where we can gather safely.  Just this past week, the preschool was able to hold their parent orientations in our courtyard under the trees which have had enough time to grow to produce enough shade for all attending. Because our courtyard is enclosed this will allow our preschool teachers to use the courtyard throughout the school year for more time outside. The courtyard offers a refuge, twice a week, for those who live on our streets and in our parks.  This past summer the Boy Scouts were able to meet in small groups on our courtyard to work on merit badges. It will be a long time before Messy Church will be able to be together in one place but when that time comes it will be because we have a large enough outside space in which we can gather. And what a blessing this courtyard will be this Sunday as we will be able to worship, socially distanced in a beautiful space.  Our courtyard is truly an outdoor sanctuary.

Who would have known that when we began the construction of the courtyard in 2016 that we were going to need a place that we could gather to be in community with each other under the shade of willow trees and with the sound of life-giving water rolling down a fountain wall?  God knew because God has a plan and God’s timing is perfect!

Amazing God whom all blessings flow, thank you for all the gifts that you have given us.  We give thanks for those who have shared their gifts so that we may continue to do your work in these ever-changing times. When we are amid chaos, it is hard to see what your plan is but when we come out the other side it becomes clear.  We give thanks for your wisdom and vision.  Amen

“The Lord bless him!”, Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.  “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.”   Ruth 2:20

I have always enjoyed reading the book of Ruth.  I like the relationships that develop, the love and kindness that Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz show each other.  I have two daughters-in-law and I hope I can be like Naomi.

One day in the Preschool office, I was feeling down.  I mean really down.  Talking with the staff, listening to the preschool parents, reading all this information coming down from the state agencies regarding COVID and reopening the school.  I felt like I was on a COVID roller coaster.  And then Suzanne popped by to say hello and she could see how I was feeling.  And we talked.

The next morning I was in the middle of a Zoom meeting with the staff and I noticed someone in the office.  There was Suzanne, not saying a word, just putting a jar of sunflowers on my desk.  I can’t tell you how that gesture lifted my spirits.  The flowers eventually died but the memory of that gift, and the kindness it showed, will stay with me for a long time.  I know Suzanne’s kindness has touched a lot of people here at CUMC.  We’re lucky to have her.

So, it makes me think what act of kindness have I done lately – or where did I miss an opportunity?  It does not take much to do a kind act for someone.  Just to smile at a stranger is difficult with a mask on your face.  I’m trying hard to make my eyes smile!  So I pray to God asking Him to help me see when someone could use a little kindness.  Hit me with your 2 x 4, Lord!!  I don’t want to miss an opportunity.

Be safe, stay healthy, and continue to be kind.   Vicki Compean

Gracious Lord, thank you for the kindness of your children who help others.  Open our eyes and heart to those hurting around us.  Help us to take every opportunity to share your love.

Please note:  The flag flew at the church today in honor of Patriot Day, when we remember to those who were injured or died during the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, and the first responders who rushed into the center of catastrophe to help others.

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well. Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Greet also the church in their house.”
— Romans 15:1-5a

This Sunday in worship we wrap up our series on Pauls’ letter to the divided church in Rome. When I teach Romans I always start with the ending. It often shakes up our assumptions about Paul to remember that at least in this instance he did not judge leaders on the basis of gender. It is also a reminder that Paul is writing to a church which he has not started. He is sharing his bona fides (or name-dropping, depending on your perspective).

What is most striking to me in these days is to remember that Paul is writing to a church which meets in people’s homes. “Greet also the church in their house.”  We know that Jesus and the disciples preached and taught, healed and fed, in whatever place they could find. This continued in the early church: sometimes the people gathered in synagogues and marketplaces, and often in the homes of believers or friends. This sometimes led to factionalism (as in Rome) and favoritism (as in Corinthians).

Of course, as the movement grew in numbers and wealth, believers began to seek and build spaces dedicated to worship, teaching, service and fellowship. This ideally helped ease factionalism and heresy, but it sometimes led to the professionalization of belief. (Much later the Christianity was central to the rise of centers of education in the Western hemisphere.) This hasn’t really prevented us from judging each other, we just do it on a larger scale.

Church buildings were never meant to supplant the center of worship, which is in the heart of the believer. They were never meant to replace the center of Christian formation, which is the home. They were never meant to be the sole place of service, which is the world beyond our buildings. The large gathering of the believers can never replace the one-to-one sharing of faith.

I was thinking of this as we sent our kids to school this week. On Wednesday morning Kathy led the kids outside for their “first day of school” pictures. Then they made their separate commutes to school: the children to their bedrooms, and Kathy to the dining room. Thus it is for many of us with school or work, and most of us with worship. Instead of going off to school, or to church, we stay at home. THEN, through individual reflection or family fellowship, bring home what we have learned and practiced.

Gracious God, with all that we have lost in this time apart, we still thank you for the blessing of our hearts for worship, our homes for learning and growth, the world for service, and one-to-one communication for true fellowship of believers. Help us to rejoice in these blessings, and make use of them to your glory. In the name and work of Jesus we pray. Amen.

I greet the church which is in your head, your heart, your home and your hands.

George

Your questions for Sunday’s message:
1. What distracts you from living out your purpose?
2. What are some of the ways Christians judge each other today?
3. Where is our next mission field?