Come, see the glorious things God has done. What marvelous miracles happen to his people! Psalm 66:5

These last 7 months have been hard and we long to go back to the “good ole days” when we can get back to the places we like to go. We long for the time that we can connect back again with others without having to worry about our distance and if we are adhering to safe practices. Yes, these are difficult times we are in right now, and it is very easy to slip into the abyss of negativity.  But as difficult as these times have been, there have been some unexpected joys that have come out of the pandemic.

In many ways our lives have slowed down and given us time to take inventory with all the things that have cluttered our daily lives.  It has given us an opportunity to discard the things that aren’t serving us well. This pandemic has forced us out of our comfort zone where new growth happens. 

An unexpected joy for me was when the preschool opened their doors this September. Pre COVID the routine in the morning for the school has always been that the preschoolers and their parents gather outside. When the doors open they all pile into the hallway. I would station myself by my office door and would say a general hello to the masses.   But because of COVID-19, the preschool had to change how the children would be dropped off at the classes.  The parents were given a 30 minute period to drop off their child. This was to insure that families were able to keep a safe distance from other families.  This change has allowed me to greet each family individually and more intimately. I have been able to learn their names. I have heard about what they have had for breakfast. They have shown me their favorite character that is on their t-shirt or their mask.  When I showed up at the gate in the morning I came expecting to take temperatures, but what I get everyday is an opportunity to connect on a deeper level with the families of the preschool. 

This is where I see God at work…making something good out of something that we might, at first glance, perceive as bad.

Prayer:
Hey God help us to keep our eyes and minds open in all situations so that we can see the good even when we are surrounded by things that we perceive to be bad, hard or difficult. Thank you God, for the unexpected blessings in our lives that are waiting to be discovered. Amen.

 Marty

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” 1 Thess 5:16 – 18.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Phil 4:6

I love to read.  And during the quarantine, I’ve been able to read more.  I wish I could say I read new, political non-fiction books to stay informed, or more religious themed books. But to be honest, I enjoy a good mystery.  And earlier this year I saw some conversation on Lisa Brewer’s Facebook page where several people were talking about books.  There was a series by Louise Penney that was mentioned.  Several people said how they enjoyed it, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Well, I fell in love with the characters and their village in Canada.  The main character is Armand Gamache who is a chief inspector with the Quebec police department.  As he trains his officers, he has them remember four statements – “I’m sorry”; “I was wrong”; “I don’t know”; “I need help”.

I remember putting down my book and thinking – wow, those are strong words.  I need to put those in my vocabulary.  And then I thought, what a great prayer to God.  “I’m sorry” – I am sorry for missing the mark – again.  I am so very sorry if I let You down, Lord.  Please forgive me  “I was wrong” – I should have thought twice before I spoke.  I was wrong to say that, or think that.  Please help me with this.  “I don’t know” – I don’t know – but You do!  And thankfully You are in control.  Remind me to trust You at all times.  “I need help” – enough said.

It took me years to realize that when you pray, God just wants you to talk to Him.  Prayers don’t have to have fancy words.  He just wants to hear your heart.  Jesus gives us wonderful examples of how to pray.  The Psalms give us direction for our prayer life.  Traditional hymns and contemporary Christian music are heartfelt prayers.  I found a prayer in a mystery book!

And if you’re not sure what to pray, take heart and listen to this from “The Message” bible – Romans 8, 27- 28  “If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter.  He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.  He knows us far better than we know ourselves…and keeps us present before God”.  And don’t we all want to be present before God!

Gracious and Loving God, We praise You!  We give You thanks for the generous blessings and grace You give us.  Thank you for Your faithfulness and always listening to us – at all times.  And thank You for Your mercy that is new every morning.  In Jesus’ name we pray.

Vicki Compean

“I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
…
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”
— Philippians 4:2-3, 8-9

I must admit that I, too, was distracted by the fly at the Vice Presidential debate. It wasn’t just the fly: as soon as it showed up, friends began texting, “Is that what I think it is?” But I was pulled back in at the end with the question from Brecklynn Brown, the 8^th grader at Springville Junior High in Utah, who asked,

“When I watch the news, all I see is arguing between Democrats and Republicans. When I watch the news, all I see is citizen fighting against citizen. When I watch the news, all I see are two candidates from opposing parties trying to tear each other down. If our leaders can’t get along, how are the citizens supposed to get along?”

It struck me because we had just been looking at this very question in our Lectionary Lunch group earlier in the day! It appears that in the young church at Philippi, two of the leaders have been engaged in an ongoing dispute. Paul is wanting for the church to be united, but how can there be unity when there is such fighting? How can the people be expected to get along when the leaders can’t?
Many of us have commented on the polarization of the American people. It isn’t just about politics, but then everything has been politicized! We see the arguing of leaders, of pundits, of family members, on TV and online, and it is easy to give up and feel that this is the way we all should behave.

Paul’s advice is that they be “of one mind.”  This doesn’t mean that they agree on everything. Instead, it means that the leaders must remember their common history and reaffirm the basic truths and goals upon which they agree. Then they can recognize that where they differ is on means, not ends.

And Paul goes further. Then, as now, it isn’t just that there is dissension and dis-ease between people, there is angst and frustration, confusion and distraction within each person. THIS IS A CRISIS OF OUR DAY, AND THE APOSTLE PAUL IS WRITING TO YOU! Paul invites all of us to take time to remember the good. Focus on that which builds up and assures. Do what you know to be right. And then you will have peace.

This is one of the reasons that it is so important to vote. When you vote you are not only making your voice heard, but you are reaffirming our common goals. When you vote you lift up our common aspiration to make these cities, counties, states and the nation the best that they can be to serve our fellow residents and citizens.

And this is why your prayer life is so important right now. Remember that God is the source of love. Open yourself to that love as you reflect on the goodness of God and our common humanity. Then you can pray for those with whom you disagree. And you will be blessed.

Almighty God, we thank you that you have made each of us to be unique. We thank you that you have given us imaginations with which to solve the challenges which lie before us. We recognize that you call us to lead. Help us to disagree honestly. Help us to remember our common heritage as human beings. Help us always to think on your goodness and to put first those considered the least, the lost, and the last. Move in us, that we, in our diversity of thought, might at the same time be of one mind: the mind of Christ Jesus. It is in this name that we pray. Amen. 

Questions for Sunday’s worship and message:
1. When has someone given you an apology when you needed a confession?
2. When have you substituted words for deeds?
3. How can you remember and honor God’s welcome?

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11

I have been working on putting together pictures for the candid pages of our new Pictorial directory.  If you haven’t made an appointment yet with our photographer Steve Alfano, please do.  We need your picture.  It is such a blessing to be able to pull out the directory to put a name to a face, especially during this time of quarantine. We still have some appointments available for this Saturday evening.  The links to make an appointment is in this email in the announcement section, or you can call the church office and we can help you.  Anyway, I have been looking at pictures to put in our new directory. I always see the candid pages as a kind of a yearbook, as Cary Gray used to say.  It has been a walk down memory lane, with these pictures. From our saying thank you, blessings, and goodbye to Ginny and Jim, to us saying hello and welcome to George, Kathy, Ben & Lizzie.  From us saying goodbye and thank you to our old sanctuary, packing up and worshiping in Moore Hall, and when the new sanctuary was finished being told we needed to worship from home online.  Looking back and seeing God’s timing in all things. So much has happened over these past 15 months it really is kind of amazing. We added much needed tech in the sanctuary remodel because we knew would start streaming, little did we know how truly needed that was. We would be in a world of hurt today if we didn’t have the tech we have now.  God’s timing.  We are blessed. Looking at the ways we have innovated to continue serving and reaching people. Through Zoom meetings to Drive through Ashes for Ash Wednesday, to zooming and delivering pizza for our Messy church families. We have even used some good old fashioned no contact delivery of printed sermons and Daily blessings to reach those who don’t use tech.  Your church has been busy in ministry and we are blessed. 

We are blessed to be able to continue to worship, serve and learn together through some of the most difficult circumstances.  We are blessed to be part of a church family who cares for each other and for the community.   We have continued doing ministry through our Food Closet, Shower Ministry, collections for Family Promise, American Family Housing and Mental Health Association and have had two blood drives all in quarantine!  Church Committees, Vacation Bible Camp, Youth Group, Wednesday Night Study and Tuesday morning Bible study along with some UMW events have all learned to be online. We can be the church that we are called to be! We can see how God is working in our mess if we stop, breathe, and look around us.  God is good all the time and all the time God is good.  We can adapt, take stock in what works in ministry and what doesn’t and move ahead in this new world and changing times.  The church has always had to adapt, and we will continue to learn and change and keep being in ministry with our church family and beyond.  I heard a person say on one of my Zoom conferences, that the church has left the building. That is true, we don’t have to be here on campus to worship or to minister to one another.  We do have a beautiful campus for when we can come back safely, we have a campus that can adapt in more ways than we ever dreamed of and we can reach people online in ways we never thought of. We are blessed to be able to adapt and to live out our calling to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Suzanne 

Gracious and Loving God, we thank you for the gifts of creativity, perseverance, knowledge, and faith.  We are blessed to be able to use all our gifts to help others and to bring a glimpse of your kingdom here on earth.  Help us to remember that you will always have the last word.  Help us to see the breath and to see the beauty that surrounds us, and to remember that you are God. Help us to remember that hold us in your hands and that we have the strength to get through this because of you and because of you we can help others as well. Amen. 

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him! Psalm 34:8

Today I wanted to share with you from one of the meditative sights I follow, Anam Cara Ministries. I loved the image of a tea bag being steeped in all the goodness of God’s love and presence. I hope you find comfort in these thoughts.

…Sit with the image of making tea today. Imagine yourself in it. You are the tea bag resting in the cup, dry, waiting for the life of God to fill it up. What happens when your insides and God’s life-water meet? It takes a little time, but the colors and aromas begin to emerge. Your unique blend of flavors begin to seep out and make themselves known, until at some point, you and the water become one. And not just *one* thing, but a *new* thing that didn’t exist before. Your unique insides steeped in the life of God becomes this one-of-a-kind tea.

But this infusion can’t happen unless there is permeability – vulnerability – between the tea bag and the water. If your unique flavors have not been well-received at any point in your life, the tendency can be to wall those things off, protect them, keep it all inside. But when we do this, all that good stuff stays inside – and the water can’t get in either. No one – not you, God, or other people – get to experience the fullness of *you* then.

As you sit with this image in your imagination, consider what walls you have up – to letting God’s life in, or your true self out. Are you trying to make tea through a solid steel ball instead of a mesh one? Can you feel the warmth of the water outside but aren’t quite sure how to let it in?

What step could you make toward vulnerability today? To letting your true colors and flavors emerge? To trusting that God’s water is life-giving? If you have a few minutes right now, stay with the image and see what comes up. Talk to God about what emerges. Do you have any sense of how God might be responding to you in this moment?

What would it be, to steep yourself in God today? Perhaps you experience God in creation – everything around us speaks of his heart. Perhaps you find life in Scripture, and want to spend a little extra time soaking that in today. Or maybe there is another spiritual practice that you have found opens you to God in a way that lets your soul steep in God’s presence, in God’s love. Take a little extra time today, this week, to intentionally immerse yourself in those places you have found life with God.

God who is good beyond imagination, fill our cups this day, this week with fresh life-giving water. Surround us to rest in the warmth of your love and mercy. Grace us with the eyes to see you anew, to see you in the presence of others. Lead us in your ways and fill our heart with your love and joy. In the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.
 
Peace, Brenda