The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.      Isaiah 9:2

Yesterday while working in my garden I realized that 2 conversations  I have had over the course of the last 7 months were neatly tied together with Pastor George’s sermon on Sunday. The themes of these conversations were patience, being in a tunnel and restoration. You’re probably wondering how they all wrap up neatly?

My sister and I had a conversation where we talked about how we entered a tunnel in March. We could see the light behind us, and we yearned to go back to the light but we were forced to keep moving deeper into the tunnel. We now are in the middle and we can’t see the light behind us or the light in front of us.  So here we sit in the middle of the tunnel in the dark. What do you do when you’re in the dark?  Are you fearful? Are you trusting? Are you curious? Are you anxious? Maybe you’re patient?

In a conversation with Nicole Reilley, the senior pastor at Valencia UMC, she suggested patience was not just waiting for something that we know is coming. She suggested we look at patience as a practice of learning to make space for something new to happen with the intention while in this space we open ourselves to what is next even though we might not know what that is.

Sunday’s sermon was about being restored. We have this opportunity while in the tunnel to be open, to be patient, to reflect and to restore so that whatever comes next we will be ready. Are you open to hearing God calling you in new and different ways? Are there things that are draining you of your energy that you can leave behind in the tunnel? While we are in the dark let’s remember that new life is born out of the darkness.

Perhaps we have been given this dark time in the tunnel as the space to fill our cup up so that we can do the work in the world that God asks us to do.

Gracious and loving God,
Thank you for this opportunity of this time in this space that we can turn towards You and be restored. It can be scary in the dark. We know that You are with us and that when we emerge from the darkness we will be ready to take on this new world as restored beings. We ask for your help to be open to hearing what new and different things you hope for us. Your love is steadfast and never ending. For this we are grateful.
Amen

Marty

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. -Colossians 4:6

Every year in Pre-K, as part of “A” week, we make applesauce.  This year, we spent a lot of time in conversation around how we could keep this fun preschool experience while following COVID-19 guidelines. We moved forward and while making applesauce was a bit different than in years past, it was still fun for the kids to use the apple peeler, slicer and corer tool. We were feeling quite successful and things were going great until we realized that we had poured salt, instead of sugar, into our applesauce. 

Worried that our already different experience was going to be more of a disappointment to the kids we quickly went into “how can we fix this” mode. To make matters worse, the other classroom also got salt instead of sugar so now we had two batches of salty applesauce.  Expecting an upset teacher, I was pleasantly surprised when checking in and apologizing for the mix-up,  I was greeted with a giant smile and a response from the teacher saying…”Don’t worry about it.  This is great!  It’s an adventure.”  

What a refreshing response, especially during this time, when it feels like collectively we are quick to point fingers and assign blame. This was a grace filled response that immediately put the brakes on this being a negative experience and turned it into a positive one.  That moment of grace given and received has stuck with me.  I felt God’s love in that teacher’s response.  I wonder what our world would look like if we viewed more mistakes, disruptions and inconveniences as adventures?   If we looked first for the positive in situations?  If we offered a smile and grace-filled response, the same kind of grace that God offers to us, to others… and then moved forward working together to solve problems? 

On this particular day, in our world of preschool, no one was blaming anyone, we were having an adventure! Instead of having ruined applesauce, we had salty sauce!  We could still taste it.  We could still compare it to the store bought applesauce we were having for a snack later.  We were even able to make another batch of applesauce, with sugar, using our leftover apples.  And guess what?  There wasn’t as much laughter and joy in tasting applesauce made the “right” way.  It just wasn’t quite as fun…or adventurous. 

It is amazing, and a true blessing to see how a moment of grace – freely offered – changed the course of things so quickly.

Prayer:
God, we give thanks for the abundant grace you freely offer each of us.  Forgive us for those times when we fail to love others in the same way and respond with judgement and blame instead of mercy and grace. May your presence in our lives remind us of how much our words and actions impact others and may your grace flow through us so that we can bring your love, compassion and healing to all of our conversations and interactions. Amen.

Leyla

The power of RE-

Bless God, O my soul,
   and all that is within me,
   bless God’s holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
   and do not forget all God’s benefits—
who forgives all your iniquity,
   who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
   who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
— Psalm 103:1-5

Even as the kids get older, there are still days when , in the midst of a melt-down, I will hear Kathy calmly saying, “Would you like a do-over? OK, let’s stand quietly for a moment and breathe… Now, let’s turn around a few times… stop… take another deep breath… and we will start again.”

Our faith is based on such do-overs. We hear the Bible stories of beginning and beginning again. We understand that in God’s great compassion and grace there is always room for forgiveness, and a second chance. Jesus teaches us to forgive even more than 70 X 7 times.

And our Christian vocabulary is full of words which recognize this. In English, many of these words start with RE: Repent, Renew, Restore, Remember, Recover, Recompense… In our church work we receive, reflect, re-imagine, and re-establish. I caring for God’s world, we recycle and reclaim. God never gives up on us. The “Re-” words serve as the, well, reminder of this.  Come Christmas we will once again “repeat the sounding joy!”

If only it would be that easy to start 2020 over again! Most of us would like a series of do-overs! Yet even now in the midst of everything, God is re-forming us, re-freshing us, re-newing us!

For this reason, the focus of our Stewardship Campaign this year will be “REVIVAL!” God is bringing us back to life and God is doing a new thing in us. Over the next few weeks we will be focusing on how God has been, is, and will be at work through Community UMC.

Bless, O God, our hearts and minds, that we may be open to what you are doing through us. Open us to new possibilities. Grant us imagination and vision. Strengthen our relationship with Christ and with each other, that we may see and serve Jesus in all that we do. We pray this in His precious name. Amen.

Questions for this Sunday’s worship services:

1. What is the difference between being restored and being reformed?
2. When have you experienced restoration?
3. How can God use you in the ministry of restoration?

George

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:16

As we are now in the fall season and temperatures have started to cool down a bit, we start thinking about Thanksgiving.  This Thanksgiving will be like none that we have experienced before, and families are having to make difficult decisions about how they will celebrate Thanksgiving.  It is easy to get incredibly stressed out, depressed, and frustrated at trying to figure out how do we get together with our families during a pandemic.  Or do we make the decision not to get together in person and perhaps meet on Zoom. That stress can change our attitude and we start feeling less grateful for our many blessings.

While we are getting ready for the Thanksgiving season, we need to have the attitude of gratitude, and right now one of the groups that we are most grateful for are our healthcare workers. We have been praying for health care workers since the very beginning of this pandemic.  Thanking God for their service and praying for their strength and health during this time.  We are going to step that up and collect handwritten or handmade thank you cards for the workers at Orange Coast Hospital.  We would love to have 100s of cards to give them to show our gratitude for their hard work and dedication. 

We will collect cards in the church office on Monday, November 2 – Thursday, November 19.  That way I can deliver them to the hospital on the 23^rd, right before Thanksgiving.  Often, when we start focusing on others, it creates a change in our attitudes.  It can help us to realize how blessed we are and thankful we are to God and others and that can help put our hearts and spirits in a better place. It is my hope that this will help create an attitude of gratitude in our hearts and help us to put life into perspective and remember that we have so many blessings, and people in our lives to be grateful to and to remember them in our prayers.

I have some small blessing cards you can color and write a note on the back if you need a little push to get your creative juices flowing.  They will be on the counter in the church office for pick one and take home to color and bring back.

Stay safe and be the hope you wish to see in the world.

Suzanne

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² Then he called a little child over to sit among the disciples, ³ and said, “I assure you that if you don’t turn your lives around and become like this little child, you will definitely not enter the kingdom of heaven.  ⁴ Those who humble themselves like this little child will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:1-5 

Becoming a grandma 6 years ago has been an extraordinary experience. Steve and I have 2 sons who have given us 3 grandchildren.  Not lessening the blessing and joy of becoming a mother, but becoming a grandma has been nothing short of magical.

I have been amazed that shortly after birth how their unique personalities emerged and watching how strong and beautiful those personalities are. Hannah, our 6 year old is a nurturer with an empathic heart. She is always making sure everyone is being fair and that all her friends are being included. Her brother, William is 3 ½ years old and is total boy who becomes a super hero to help people and stop the bad guys and has a belly laugh that can knock your socks off. Lily is 5 years old and is an active free spirit. She loves to create with her hands and to make new friends, she reminds us to embrace life with all the gusto and energy we might possess.

At these ages their love is so pure, their thoughts and feelings are transparent, untarnished or subdued. They are amazed at the creation of bugs, beauty of nature, stars and the moon. A child says things the way they see things through unfiltered lens. They accept others and themselves as God had intended it all to be, through the lens of love and a pure heart.

May we be reminded and reclaim our child-like love, joy and amazement for life and others no matter how old we may be.

Peace,
Brenda

Loving God, open our hearts to see with child-like eyes. To embrace the gifts and beauty of life that you graciously created for us and to love others as you intended. In the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.