The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’ – Acts 15:6-11

As you know, there continues to be debate over who can be a part of the church. The debate continues in our United Methodist Denomination. Because of the pandemic our regular meetings of the denomination have been postponed again and again. While most of us have been staying at home to keep everyone safe, the forces of divisiveness continued their work, and have gathered to plot their actions to leave, whether or not they get their way. Some of you have written or spoken to me, asking about these events.  I recently received a copy of a paper describing some of the fault lines in the church, and (perhaps remembering the Revelation to John) suggesting that today there are “Seven United Methodist Churches.”

Here is my reflection on the church they term “centrists.”

I think that “Church #2” might be better understood as like the earliest church, of James in the Book of Acts. Times were changing, and while there were plenty of folks who were interested in declaring who did and didn’t belong. James and the first council looked instead at the work of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t understand these gentiles, or their ways, and understood that they couldn’t make them be just like themselves. So they boiled down all of the laws they followed into just a few, and James said “We think if you do these few things, you should be well.”  Even so, James and the apostles still followed the law according to their conscience. It isn’t that those in “Church 2” are wishy-washy, or are destined to become polarized. They are genuinely welcoming of people who are different, even when they can’t completely comprehend them. Indeed, they seek to understand and learn from these people! “Church 2” has a high view of Scripture – of all of Scripture in context. They are traditional, picking up the oldest traditions of the church: of offering Christ to those who are seeking, and of adapting their community to respond to the needs of a new day.  They are a people who say that the love of Jesus and the movement of the Holy Spirit are greater than those passages of scripture which happen to affirm their biases. They aren’t “live and let live;” they are “thrive and encourage others to thrive.”

While too far for some of you, and not nearly far enough for others, I think the model of the early church is one that bears consideration.

As we look to re/build the post-pandemic church, let us remember what drew us in the first place: the love of Christ made real in our lives, and through us into the world.

Pastor George

Wooer of our souls, we hear your love-call. You draw us from the shadows of hatred, fear, and shame into the light of your amazing grace. Help us to reflect that light and echo your call to all the world. Move in our words and deeds to live your love. This we pray in the name of Jesus, our light and our life. Amen.
Sunday is MOTHERS DAY! Thank you, moms!

…Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  Matthew 24:42 

It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” Matthew 13:32

Over the past several weeks, in the Orange Room at preschool, we’ve been exploring the season of Spring.  We’ve been learning about bugs, their life cycles and the transformations they make through the different stages.  We’ve talked about how even though bugs are small they have some really big jobs to do in our world.  We’ve celebrated Earth Day and talked about how we can all be good stewards of our Earth by making small changes every day that can make a big impact in our world.  We have started to explore all the different flowers we see in Spring…and the variety of colors and shapes.  Each is unique.  Last Monday as we read a book about Spring that touched on all these topics an idea came to me that instead of just reading about flowers in a book, we could go to the front of the church and see many beautiful flowers in our own garden. 

So off we went for a quick look at the flowers. We started at the far end towards Edwards Street and found poppies and many other purple, red and yellow flowers.  We smelled the different flowers and noticed similarities and differences in their leaves, colors and looks.  We saw ladybugs and bees and even stopped to watch a lizard climbing on the stone wall.  As we moved down Heil toward Goldenwest Street, we saw vibrant purple bushes full of bees and one child happily exclaimed, “We are helping the Earth by planting flowers that attract bees!”.   We headed toward the courtyard and noticed more flowers and some litter that another child quickly picked up to take to a garbage can.  As we were admiring the flowers, we heard birds which led us on a hunt through all the trees in the courtyard in search of a nest.  Everything we had talked and read about became real and the kids in my class felt some ownership of, and pride in, the gardens and nature at their school. 

Sometimes I feel that “God Moments” have to be the big, obvious, life-changing moments. What I’m coming to realize more and more, however, is that “God Moments” are all moments…small moments, quiet moments, afraid moments, excited moments, hard moments…because God is always with us waiting for us to be open and present in these moments.  These small moments can also be big and life-changing in their impact.  This simple walk was full of awe and wonder as the children explored and connected with God and each other.  Not even the cars rushing down Heil distracted us.  We were fully open.   We were fully present in the moment.  

This experience impacted my class in big ways as they requested to take the walk again every day last week. What a blessing Laird Park will be because we will be able to bring more of the natural world into the classroom – or the classroom out into the natural world.   As we spend more time with screens and less time outdoors we are experiencing a disconnect with nature and that disconnect is collectively impacting our overall health and wellbeing in negative ways.  Spending time in and with nature can help us heal. It is a blessing that we have places on our campus where we can connect with God’s natural world and experience “God Moments”.

Blessings,
Leyla Wagner

Dear loving God, we give thanks for all that you have given us, yet we are so easily distracted and take so much for granted, that we miss opportunities to connect with you and the world around us. Help us to keep our eyes and our hearts open to all moments, even and especially embracing those small moments, where we can see your work in our world and where we can help do your work in the world.  Amen

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” – 1 John 4:7-12

I know of Joe Rogan from his days on the TV show Newsradio. Many, MANY others now know him from his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Spotify doesn’t list the number of times his podcasts are downloaded, but they paid $100,000,000 for the exclusive rights to stream them. He has replaced print, radio, TV and the rest of the internet as a source of infotainment and commentary for many young people.  So it was a big deal when he recently said about the COVID-19 vaccine, “If you’re a healthy person, and you’re exercising all the time, and you’re young, and you’re eating well…like, I don’t think you need to worry about this.”*

Yesterday he shared a remarkably humble… clarification (it wasn’t really an apology).He recognized that his previous statement was selfish, and noted that it makes sense that young people should get vaccinated for the sake of other people. He didn’t acknowledge that young healthy people do also need the vaccine for themselves, but he did say “I’m not a doctor… I’m not a respected source of information, even for me.”*

The Bible’s Letter of John are all about God’s love for the world. Specifically they are about how we in our lives can continue to share the love that Jesus embodied. In the passage above he makes it abundantly clear that our love for God is not shown in our words to God, but in how we care for one another. In this is love: not that we have received it, but that it is perfected through us to others.

God’s blessings are a gift to us, yes, but more importantly they are gifts to the world through us.

When the love of Christ enters our hearts, we break free of our limited selfish perspective, and begin to see others and the world through the eyes of God. We learn that we are a part of something beyond ourselves. We discover that God gives us the ability to make change, bring healing, and extend abundant life. It is quite humbling, because we face the reality of both our limitations and God’s limitless love.

* https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56948665

Eternal loving God, Author of Life and Giver of all Good Gifts, we open ourselves to the movement of your Holy Spirit. Allow us to see beyond ourselves. Help us to understand that we not only receive your love, but in your grace extend that to the world. We humbly acknowledge that we are not perfect; we joyfully discover that your love is perfected through us. We know this, show this, and lift this through Jesus. Amen.

Your questions for Sunday’s message:
1. When in the past year have you felt “boxed-in?”
2. What haven’t you missed and are ready to permanently let go?
3. What source of strength have you missed and want to restore?

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” Matthew 6:34 The Message

I follow many devotionals, as I’m sure you do too. Two have spoken to me and I continue to go back and reread them. Both of these devotions have resonated deeply to my soul and as a reminder that God is always with us, cares about what is happening in our life and cares how we handle it all. I hope they bring peace, understanding and meaning to your daily life as well.

~ There is a little story about a man who is desperation called out to God “let me see you” and a star shined brightly, but the man did not see.

The man shouted, “God show me a miracle” and a baby was born, but the man did not notice.

So the man cried out in despair “touch me God and let me know you are here” were upon God reached down and touched the man, but the man brushed the butterfly away from his shoulder and walked on.

As time goes by in our spiritual journey we will intuitively realize where isn’t God? God is in the breeze that cools you, in the sun that warms the body and gives nutrients we need, God calls you through the sweet song from a morning bird. God is in the friend that advises and comforts you, God’s in the smile from a strangers eyes that recognizes Godself in you.

St Francis de Sale reminds us, “There is no place or thing in this world where God id not truly present. Just as were birds fly they always encounter the air, so also wherever we go or wherever we are, we find ourselves in God’s presence.”  Conor Mc Court – Living An Easter Life

~ Grab onto this present moment right here before you, child, and then grab the next and the next. Let them carry you, usher you, into the peace and calm freedom of life right now. Be no slave to the past, no captive of the future. Be free in this moment in My presence, in My loving care. This is the only reality there is. All the rest is either past or not here yet. Why be troubled by either? Why subject yourself to living in unreality? Rein your mind in child, to all that is right before you. A challenge – can you do this for just today? Can you live today in the present? Moment by moment? See how it feels? When tomorrow arrives we will tackle it then. I long for you to know this peace and freedom!  Pamela Steinke – Contemplative Soul

Loving God, we come to you in solitude and silence. Waiting, waiting for Your whispered words to fill our hearts with love and desire to share all that we are and all that we have with your beloveds. May we gently rest this day and through the night within the consciousness that God is with us always. Amen.

Brenda

“Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.” – 1 John 3:18-22

My son is finishing up his final year of Middle School. Next Fall he will begin his High School career. Pretty soon I will be forced to acknowledge that I do not, in fact, know everything. I am certain both kids have already discovered this, but the admission will come in the way I help them with homework. I will have to go from teaching how I would get the answer to inviting them to teach me how to find the answer, and then using that understanding to check their answers. I will have to go from being the source of answers to being with them as they refine the questions and seek the sources necessary to develop their answers.

So many of us want to prove that we know the most. We want to have all of the right words, and be able to use them to prove that we are the smartest person in the room. And even more are ready to try to prove themselves smarter than the experts by exploiting any correction of information or development of understanding.  We see this frequently, but it has been intensified in the past year of pandemic. For example: this week the CDC will likely update their recommendations on wearing masks while outside and not in large groups. Watch what happens.

I continue the discipline of wearing a mask (except when I am speaking in worship). I do so, not because I have studied all of the research, not because I am afraid of getting in trouble, not because I am the smartest person, not because I worship any one virologist; I do so because it is a very simple action I can take to demonstrate my care for, and commitment to, the people I meet.

God is not afraid of science. God does not hate knowledge. God doesn’t want for us to be ignorant. Still, as important as it is to understand – to have the words – it is even more important to employ that understanding in our actions. Sometimes this means we have to humble ourselves to the truth God  reveals through scientific endeavor, even as it continues to develop. We do this so that we can act in this received truth.  And this gives us the boldness to act in truth and love. For each of us comes the time when we are forced to acknowledge that we don’t know everything; but there is no limit to God’s love working in and through us as we, in community, learn together.

Humble us, O God, that we might be aware of our own limitations. Then raise us up, O God, on the eagle-wings of your truth and love. Move in us that we can act in mercy, compassion, justice, and love. Help us to follow the example of Jesus, who humbled himself to walk with us, shows us the way of strong and gentle truth in action. As we continue to celebrate his victory over death, help us to continue to grow in grace and wisdom, that we might be your channels of light and life for the world. Amen.

Your questions for Sunday morning’s message:

1. What does it mean for your life that Jesus is the “Cornerstone.”
2. What seems “out of order” in your world?
3. What do you need in a community of faith?