...sleep in Heavenly Peace

The theme this week is peace. And the text is Luke 1:26-38.

This is the story of Gabriel telling Mary that she will give birth to the Son of God. It is not exactly a peaceful story. (Especially, if you are Mary!)

But, if we look deeper at this story, we find there is much to be learned. The fact that God chose Mary, says that the lowly and the forgotten people from small towns and forgotten places really are important. The story also emphasizes the fact that "all things are possible with God." Regardless of how strange and unsettling this announcement may have been to Mary, she accepts the news and the knowledge that ALL things are possible with God.

And really, if you think about it, there is something peaceful about knowing that God has a plan, and you are part of that plan. "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answers, "May it be to me as you have said." That is the statement of one whose trust fully rested on God. And with her trust firmly placed with God, she found peace.

I pray you may also find that peace.

Questions for reflection:
What about Christmas brings you peace?
Which character from the Christmas stories do you most identify with? How does that character(s) eventually find his/her/their place in God's plan?
How can we be witnesses to God's peace in this busy season?

Where is your Joy?

This Sunday is the third Sunday in Advent and the the theme is Joy. The candle is even pink to set it apart, and say "Be JOYful! And so, in thinking through what it means to be joyful I thought of an old VBS song that goes...

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. (Where?)
Down in my heart, (Where?)
Down in my heart, (Where?)
Down in my heart to stay.

It's a funny little repetitive song, that in spite of it's potentially annoying character, always seems to bring me joy as I sing it. It reminds me that in spite of all of my present circumstances, my happiness does not depend upon circumstances. Instead of relying on fickle happiness, I have JOY. I have a joy that comes from way down in my heart. AND it's down in my heart to STAY.

I don't think that it is good, fair, or right to expect Christians to be people who are happy all the time. But, I do think that when talking about joy, we can have a joy deep in our hearts to stay, because our joy is not dependent upon our circumstances. Our joy comes from the fact that God loves us and came to us.

Christmas brings us joy for more than just presents and decorations, and for more than just happy songs, and good food, and even for more than our families and friends. Christmas brings us joy because it reminds us that when we were a lost and broken people, God came to us, and lived among us, and through the Holy Spirit is with us today. That is the source of our Christmas joy, and it is a joy that is down in our hearts to stay!

The Scripture passages this week are:
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
John 1:6-8, 19-28

Look at them and ask yourself:

Where do you see joy in these passages?
Where do you see joy in your daily life?
What verses or songs bring you joy?
How can we transform our perspectives so that our joy is the kind of joy that God gives, which is down in our heart to stay?

May God bring you joy during this Christmas season!

Finding our way

The sermon this coming Sunday focuses on the idea that Christ is the Way.

Surely all of you have been lost at one time or another. We know that getting lost and feeling lost happens not only in physical ways but also in emotional and spiritual ways.

The texts for this week are: Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8.

These texts both have the image of a "voice crying out: 'in the desert prepare the way of the Lord."

I guess it's a good thing that we already established Advent is like the waiting desert. So, the good news this week is that when you are lost in the desert, God can still bring guidance and help us find our way.

The birth of Christ did not happen completely out of the blue. It was something that the prophets had discussed. God had prepared the timing perfectly. Through Jesus' ministry on earth, we can see, understand, and know God's love. Jesus is fully God and fully human ("hail the incarnate deity"), and through his work on earth, we see the full extent of God's love for us.

When we are lost in the deserts of our life, Jesus helps us find our way, and makes our paths straight. May you find the Way to God this Advent season.

Finding Hope in the Desert

The sermon last sunday talked about how the dormant desert is a great picture for Advent. Advent is the season of waiting. We wait not only for Christmas to come, but we wait for Christ to return. Advent reminds us that we live in an "already/not yet" world. God has come to us as Jesus, and we are promised that some day Jesus will return and we will see the final fulfillment of all God's promises.

Sometimes we look at our lives and see only a dormant desolate desert:

But, even in the midst of the desert, we need not despair. First, we need to recognize there is much life even in the desert. And, second, we recognize that God brings color and beauty to the desert in the spring, and so God has promised to renew and restore our desert-like souls so that they shine with the color and light of Christ.

I also shared what I learned about the Saguaro Cactus. They grow very slowly. It takes 70 or more years for them to grow a single arm. They grow slowly, and like this picture, sometimes strangely. But, they are beautiful. Similarly, when we are faithful about our spiritual disciplines God grows us. We may not always see the growth right away, and it may seem like the growth is slow but it is happening. So, continue to be faithful to your prayers and your devotions. Remember that God is working, even in the desert.

Catching Up...

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated things. But, here's what's been happening here in the meantime:

The sermons this Advent are all titled "All I Want for Christmas Is ..." The blanks are filled in by the words "hope," "guidance," "joy," and "peace." Coinicidentally, those words also describe the meaning of the Advent candles for that week.

The idea behind this series is to move beyond the commercialism that so often plauges December, and focus on the things we really want for Christmas.

Even better, is the news that these deep and true qualities of hope, joy, peace, guidance, are all gifts that God gives to us. We can rejoice that we see these gifts in Jesus.

Being Thankful for What God Will Do

The texts for this Sunday are:

Jeremiah 31:3-14
Revelation 21:1-4

Here are the verses that caught my attention:
"...He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd. For the Lord will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion: they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord. ..." (Jeremiah 31:10-12)

"...Now he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:3-4)

Some of my thoughts:
We talked about being thankful for what God has done. "We have been brought up out of Egypt." We talked about being thankful for what God is doing. "Be thankful even for fleas." These are both reason enough to give thanks in all circumstances, but as Christians we have one more reason to give thanks. And that is that this world is not all there is. We can and should give thanks for all that we have. But, we also hold the promise that there is "a louder shout to come." We hold the promise that one day God will come and be our God and death and mourning and crying and pain will be no more. And for this promise, we are thankful.

Questions to ponder:
How does it change your day to day living, knowing that you hold these promises? What part of these passages gives you the most hope?

How do we hold onto the promises we have, without getting too caught up in them? We want to look to the future, without it becoming our only focus. How can we maintain balance?

Finishing the story...

Just in case you missed it on Sunday... here's the rest of the story:

Corrie and her sister Betsie did manage to "settle in" at this new concentration camp. They had prayer meetings in the back of the room every night. They were always very nervous about being caught by the guards, but it never seemed to happen. Each night, they had more and more women join their group. Each night, they got a bit louder. Corrie and her sister tried to keep everyone quiet, but it proved difficult. Everyone was so glad to have the chance to come and pray. They were worried about the guards patroling their barracks. They did not want the guards to stop the prayer meetings.

But, oddly enough, the gaurds never patrolled that room. The other rooms were thouroughly patrolled. But not the Ten Boom's barracks.

The reason?

They later found out that the gaurds never came by, because they were afraid of the fleas!

So, it turned out that there really was a good reason to be thankful for fleas!

I pray that God may show you the reasons that you can give thanks for the "fleas" in your life.

Being Thankful For What God IS Doing

One of my all-time favorite stories that illustrates the idea of being continually thankful comes from the book The Hiding Place by Corrie TenBoom.

Corrie and her sister Betsie get put in a Concentration camp for hiding and protecting Jewish people during World War II. They endure many hardships and suffering during thier imprisonment. At the climax of the conflict they are transfered to a new camp. When they arrive in their new barracks, they are horrified to discover that their beds are infested with fleas and lice. This discovery pushes both sisters to the breaking point. How can they possibly survive this new place?!?

Betsie insists that they pray. She reminds Corrie that they should "give thanks continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Corrie looks at her sister in disbelief. What is there to be thankful for in this horrible place? By the looks of things... not much.

But, Betsie is thankful for the fact they are together. And Corrie responds, "yes, God, thank-you."
Betsie is thankful they were able to bring their Bible, and Corrie responds, "yes, God, thank-you."
And then, Betsie says, "thank-you God for the fleas." And Corrie again looks up in horror and disbelief. HOW can she be thankful for fleas?!? But, Betsie is insistent. The scripture says to give thanks in ALL circumstances. And, that means, giving thanks for fleas. So, finally, Corrie gives in and says, "thank-you God for the fleas."

Now, there is an amazing (it really is amazing) part 2 to this story, but I'll make you wait until Sunday to hear the end.

In the mean time, here are some questions for reflection:
What are the "fleas" in your life?
What are the things you can be thankful for in spite of the "fleas"?
And, have you ever tried giving thanks for the "fleas"?

Challenge yourself this week to be thankful for the fleas.

Being thankful for what God HAS done

The Psalmists are great at giving thanks for things that God has done. I am amazed at the history that often pours forth in the midst of a psalm. God has been faithful, and even in hard times, the Psalmist clings to that hope that God will be faithful again.

Look at Psalm 136.

Over and over throughout this Psalm, the refrain echos "give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever."

In good times (like creation) and in bad times (like attacks from the enemy) Gods love endures forever.

So, now, it's your turn. If you were to write a new Psalm 136, what would it look like?
What are the highlights and lowlights in your life?
Where have you seen evidence that God's love truly does endure forever?

Being Thankful...

"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Over the next three weeks we will consider the topic of thankfulness. This verse in 1 Thessalonians is a challening one. In EVERYTHING give thanks.

The question is do you?

Do you give thanks for a bad hair day? For being stuck in traffic? For an empty bank account? For an argument with a friend or family member? For moments of embarrassment? For moments of humiliation?

I know that I don't. And yet, I know lots of stories, some that have happened to me, and some that I have heard of ways that awful situations turned into really great situations.

In the hard times, we cling to God more and more and our faith grows. And in the good times, we need to rejoice in answered prayers. God is certainly working in our lives, and being thankful helps us to see God at work in our world.

Surrounded By Saints

Tim’s message Sunday was a reminder that human vision is 20/20 in hindsight; we don’t recognize Saints until they’re gone. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not all around us. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t us! We have a choice. Are we going to be ill –fitting shoes cluttering the floor and tripping people up, or are we going to be strong shoulders for the present and future to stand on?

To help Tim develop as a lay preacher, please comment below. Did you at any time during the service feel the Spirit stir inside you; move you? If so when? Did you feel touched by the message or manipulated? Were you inspired to commit your life to continue Christ’s work? What does Tim need to improve upon?

Mirror of Erised

I shared with people at the Harry Potter study last night that the word Erised was desire spelled backwards. I wanted to let you know an additional piece of insight that my sister shared with me. According to the book, the words around the mirror are:

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on whohsi.

I always thought this was Latin or something, but I learned that if you read the words backwards (and ignore the spacing) it says:

I show you not your face but your hearts desire.

I think that the church (and maybe God's love) is often seen like this phrase. We see a bunch of strange words (justification, righteousness, grace, etc.) and think that God does not make sense. But then, when someone explains the words, we see them in a new light. We understand that the words of the church are not just foreign words we cannot decipher. Instead, they are words that help us understand what we are really seeing.

May God's love be made more clear to you this day, and always.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

This Sunday, we will be focusing on All Saints Day. Pastor Becky will be out of town, and Tim Good will be filling in. Here are some of his thoughts and questions for this Sunday...

What is a Saint? Are there still Saints? Why do we think a Saint is always someone else?

Our first reading will be from the Old Testament, Joshua 3:7-17. Ol’ Josh could have been intimidated by having to fill Moses’ giant shoes, but instead he stood on Moses’ giant shoulders. What does Moses have in common with other Saints? What does Joshua?

Our New Testament reading will be from the Gospel of Saint Matthew 5:1-12; part of the “beatitudes”. In the Catholic church, beatification is part of the process towards being canonized as a Saint. What is the relationship between Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and being a Saint?

Moses' Legacy

This week is our final sermon on Moses! We followed his story from the moment he was born. This week's text is Deuteronomy 34:1-12. It tells the story of Moses' death. This passage is a nice little obituary chronicling all that Moses accomplished. It also gives a nice little "epitaph" for Moses. The one "whom the LORD knew face to face."

I think when observing someone's death, it is nice to look at all that he/she accomplished in life. And so, here's a record of the stories we've studied about Moses. I've also included that major "God verbs" or what God was doing during this time.

• Moses' Birth & rescue from the waters of the Nile: God works ahead and redeems that which was tossed into waters of chaos.
• Moses is called at the burning bush: God equips the called
• The first Passover: God protects the people, God demonstrates faithfulness to the people and God rescues us from the things that enslave us
• Parting of the Red Sea: God invites Moses and the Israelites (and us) to trust in impossible situations
• Sending of Bread from Heaven: God provides daily in the barren wilderness.
• Moses strikes the Rock and brings forth water: When we ask, "is the Lord among us or not?" we learn that the Lord is indeed among us.
• 10 Commandments: God provides us with help in learning to love God and love our neighbors. (Throughout the book of Deuteronomy, Moses urges the people to be faithful to God, as God has been very faithful to them.)
• Golden Calf: God listens to Moses and responds with forgiveness when the people are unfaithful.
• Seeing God's glory -- Moses gets to be a "shining" witness to God's presence in the people's midst: God helps the people have physical signs that God is with them.

And now we are back to the death of Moses, "whom the Lord knew face to face."

Questions for reflection:
If you were giving a eulogy for Moses, what events/details/characteristics would you include?

What events are important to include in a eulogy, what should be left out?

How do you see God working through Moses' life?

How do you see God working through your own life? Would others be able to describe you as one whom the Lord knew face to face?

Ministers of Christ's Righteousness

This Sunday is Laity Sunday. The sermon is going to center around a Prayer Litany that I found in the United Methodist Book of Worship.

From the begining, God entered into covenant with the human family;
with Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham and Sarah,
Moses, Hannah, Ruth and Jeremiah.
Through baptism, Jesus Christ calls us into the covenant
and makes us ministers of Christ's righteousness.

All Christian ministry is Christ's work of outreaching love.
It demonstrates a common life of gratitude and devotion,
witness and service, celebration and discipleship.
All Chrisitans are called to Christ's servanthood in the world,
to the glory of God and for human fulfillment.

The Church, as the communitiy of the new covenant,
participates in Christ's ministry of grace.
It stretches out to human needs
wherever service may convey God's love and ours.

In our ministry of servanthood is this ultimate concern:
that all may be renewed in the image of their Creator
and that all Chrisitans are called to minister
in deeds and words that heal and free. Amen.



Reflection Questions:
The beginning of the litany reminds us of God's story as it is woven through history. How does this list of people change/influence your opinion of what it means to be a Christian?

What is the life changing significance of the fact that God makes a covenant with us, in the same way that God made a covenant with them?

What does it mean to be ministers of Christ's righteousness?

The litany describes the essentials in Christian ministry as gratitude and devotion, witness and service, celebration and discipleship. Where are your strengths? Where are your weaknesses?

The litany ends by saing that our ultimate concern is that "all might be renewed in the image of our Creator." What does it look like to be "renewed in the image of our Creator"?

Who brought you out of Egypt?

The text for next week's sermon is Exodus 32:1-14. It is the story of how the Israelites made the Golden Calf.

Here's what I found interesting as I read the passage. No one seems to agree on how the Israelites got into the wilderness. Look at these verses:

v.1 "This Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."

v.4 After Aaron made them the golden calf, the people said "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."

v.7 "The LORD said to Moses, 'Go down at once your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt , have acted perversly.'"

v.11 "But Moses implord the Lord his God, and said, O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand.

v.14 "And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster he planned to bring on his people."

Moses? The Golden Calf? Yaweh? Moses? God? Who is responsible for bringing the people out of Egypt??

Being sophisticated modern readers who know the Bible, we know that God brought the people out of Egypt. We know that God will bring the people out of the Wilderness. We know that God will bring the people deliverance from their enemies. We know that God will bring them out of Exile.

But, in this passage the question hangs there, begging us to examine it closely. Who is responsible for bringing us out of "Egypt"?

Even though we live in a modern world, we all have an "Egypt" in our past. (Or, maybe you are in an "Egypt" now.) Egypt stands not just for the geographical location where they were enslaved, but it also represents that spiritual and emotional place where you feel trapped, stuck, and unable to move forward. We pray, and pray, and pray. And somehow we are freed from our "Egypt," but then weeks, months, or years later, we have trouble remembering who brought us up out of Egypt.

Questions to ponder this week:
(for personal reflection) Where were the "Egypt" moments in my life? How did I survive them? Have I given God enough thanks?

Why do the people continually forget all that God has done?
How can we work as the church to remind one another of what God has done?
Where have we substituted the reality of God for a symbol?
How can we free ourselves from worshiping idols, and move back to true worship of God?

These are tough, but important questions. I pray that God's grace might surround you as you seek the answers.

10 Commandments & Such

The sermon text for this week is Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 AND Philippians 3:4b-14. AND, it is World Communion Sunday.

Now, on the outset, these seem like three very random and unconnected things. But, I think that there just might be some connections that can be made. When we talk about World Communion Sunday, or the World Day of Prayer, or other celebrations like that, we often talk about unity. We long to be able to put an end to fighting, and find avenues for peace. And, as I was thinking about this, I realized that the 10 Commandments are part of what provides us some unity. Unity happens when you find some common goal or belief to unite different people. And, it is the word of God that can bring us that common goal and belief. Regardless of our native country or our native language, all who bear the name Christian believe that the Bible is God's word. We all believe that God is holy and should be worshiped. We all believe that we are charged to love our neighbors.

Now, as you know, there is a great deal of controversy about how to interpret and apply these beliefs. There are some who long to hold tightly to the exact requirements and specifications, and there are others who take a broader interpretation. We can get easily lost in the debates about how to interpret and apply these sacred commands.

And this is where the Philippians passage proves helpful. Paul tells the people of Philippi that he followed the law flawlessly, and yet would throw away all of this perfection if it meant that he could know Christ better. "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (Phil 3:8)

The law brings some degree of unity. But it is only when we participate in the grace and love given to us by God the Father, through Christ the Son, in the Holy Spirit that we can truly find the peace and unity for which we are so desperately longing.

Questions to ponder:
Am I right, does the law bring unity? Or does it only bring more division as we interpret it?
What purpose did the 10 Commandments originally serve? How did they redefine the way the community of Israel functioned?
How does Jesus re-define the 10 Commandments for us?
How should we live in light of Paul's bold statements from Philippians?

Questioning God

The comments on this blog are so great! Your thoughts made me think more, and I love that! I realized today that Sunday's sermon did not fully capture this topic of "is it okay to question God." As I re-read your comments this morning, I wanted to address this issue a little more.

I agree with all of you who said it is good to question God. I think that our questions actually can bring us closer to God. One of you said, "our persistent questioning shows we know who our leader is and that we trust him and believe he will take care of us." I think that this is very perceptive. When we bring our questions to God, we show that we believe God can and will answer these questions.

Another comment was "God allows us to question him, but we need to be prepared to hear his answer when he is ready to respond." This can also be a challenge. Several of you mentioned the plethora of Scripture passages in which people bring those deep, honest, and often pain-filled questions to God. But, at the end of every story we see that the people yield to God's will. "We can and should question God's actions, but not his intent."

I think that there is great freedom in being able to question God. It makes Chrisitanity real, and not just a pretend religion. When we are afraid to ask the hard questions, we are afraid to make God real. When we are willing to ask God the hard questions, we allow our personal lives to intersect with our religious lives, and this is where real faith happens.

Fredrich Buechner wrote, "if there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me."

So, let us continue to question, doubt, and wonder about where God is and what our faith means. Because this is how we truly grow in our faith. And as we question, let us also remember that we are deeply loved and cared for by the God who created us and our abiltiy to question.

Is the Lord Among Us or Not?

The text for next week's sermon is Exodus 17:1-7.

Verses that intrigue me:
Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me, why do you test the Lord?" (v.2)
Moses cried out to the Lord, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me." (v.4)
The Lord said to Moses, "Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you…I will be standing there in front of the rock…" (v.5)
He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?" (v.7)

Questions I have:
When is it okay to question God? Shouldn't we be able to use our reason to question and ask "where is God in the midst of my pain?"

Why does this pattern of complaining to Moses continue? Wouldn't one such story have sufficed? Why is there story after story of problems in the desert, the people complaining, Moses praying, and God responding? What can we learn from the repetition?

Finally, and this is the hard one to answer in the midst of someone's pain, "Is the Lord among us or not?" If you were Moses, what would you have told the people? Or better, what do you tell friends, family, co-workers, etc. who do ask you this question?

More Bread...

There is so much to put in each sermon, that I often miss things. I loved all of your comments and wanted to put so much more in the sermon. One post connected "manna" to the Lord's Prayer with "our daily bread." I think that this is an important connection. Not only because bread is so often used as an image throughout Scripture, but also because we are asked to pray that God will give us daily provisions. It completely changes our perspective about who God is, if we know that we can trust God for our daily needs. Every day, every morning, God provides just what we need. If we really believe that, then not only does our personal worry and stress melt away, but we also begin to loose the greedy and selfish thoughts that so often clog our thinking.

Another important theme from this passage that my Commentary spent a lot of time on was the theme of transitioning from rule under Pharaoh to rule under God. The people were told to draw near to God, in order to get the manna. "In drawing near, however, Israel dramatically turns its face away from Egypt and looks again toward the wilderness. It sees there what it always thought to see in Egypt and what it never expected to see in the wilderness. It is not an empty, deathly place, but the locus of God's sovereign splendor. The wilderness is more brilliant than Egypt, because Yaweh has 'gotten glory over Pharaoh' (Ex. 14:4, 17) By God's rule the wilderness is completely redefined."

May your wilderness be completely redefined by God's rule, too.

Bread From Heaven

Next Week's Sermon is from Exodus 16:2-15. It is the story of how God provided bread for the people as they wandered in the Wilderness.

Verses I like:
"Then the Lord said to Moses, "I am going to rain bread from heaven for you" (Ex. 16:4)

"The Lord spoke to Moses and said, "I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God." (Ex. 16:12)

Questions I have:
How did the Israelites feel when they heard these words? How would I feel, if I were one of them?

What are modern-day parallels to "bread from heaven"?

The people were not allowed to hoard the bread, but were only allowed to take enough for that day. I sometimes feel that I/the church also fall prey to this hoarding mentality. How can we use God's gifts & resources more effectively?

Thus, That Day The Lord Saved Israel

This sermon began by exploring the extreme popularity of the story of the parting of the Red Sea. I was struck by how great it would have been to be one of those Israelites following Moses. How amazing it would have been to see the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, and know without a shadow of a doubt that God was with you! But then, as soon as the Israelites saw the Egyptians chasing them, they began to doubt God's presence. They complained to him, and wished that they were back in Egypt.

This made me wonder, how quickly do I turn on God. Certainly, there have been moments in my life when I have known beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was with me. But, there have also been moments when I struggle to find God in the midst of my troubles. How do we maintain that faith in the hard times?

Moses responds to the people's complaints with these words...
"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:13-4)

I learned in my resarch on this passage that the word "still" means both not moving and being silent. I realized in crisis moments that the one piece of advice most people give you is, "don't panic!" It is a difficult, but important concept, because in panic mode, we often say things we regret. If we are able instead, to "be still," we can often regain our focus, and listen again to what God is saying and where God is leading.

My prayer for you this week is that in your moments of crisis and panic, you will be able to be still and listen for God's voice.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog,

This is something new for me (and our church). I'm going to post notes and questions from my sermons. The idea is to provide another way to reflect on the sermon and thoughts about the Scripture passage, and in general just thoughts about God. I invite anyone who reads this to join in the conversation. Disagree, argue, question, affirm, and tell about your thoughts. God created us to be in community and conversation, and this blog is one more way to help us accomplish that goal. I hope that through this blog we can learn and grow together.