Nov 9, 2024
Breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
This time of year has the capacity to make us feel as though we are being pulled along as though decisions concerning our time and activities have been made for us, leaving us only to show up and move on to the next event. This year, the hurricane and response combined with the election have increased the pressure on our time and consciousness.
In times like these, it can be important to remember that we need to breathe – not that we can survive if we do not. However, there is something about just taking a moment to concentrate on our breathing that helps to refocus our ability to be intentional with our breathing. And if we can be intentional with our breathing, we can be intentional with decisions around our time. And if we can be intentional with decisions about our time, then we can be intentional with our daily comings and goings.
“Be still, and know that I am God!” writes the Psalmist. Be still. Be. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
When the world around you begins (or continues) to push for more of your time, to pressure you to act, to consume your consciousness, take a moment to breathe. Focus on your breathing. Think on these words from Psalm 46. Be still before God.
Breathe and choose to be intentional with your time, with your energy, with your life.
Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
Oct 6, 2024
This is always a fun and festive time for our church and community. We hope you’ll bring friends, family, and neighbors to celebrate!
Want to help? Here’s what we need…
TRUNKS: It’s our goal to have 20 trunks this year. Decorate your trunk and hand out candy!
Game runners: Volunteer to run a game and hand out prizes!
Candy: Drop off your candy donations in the bins by the covered
entrance or in the foyer.
Volunteers: It’s always helpful to have extra hands during the event.
Volunteer to greet guests, refill trunks with candy, take pictures, etc!
Contact Bethany or anyone on the Children and Youth Team with your
questions!
Oct 6, 2024
“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and
unto God the things that are God’s.”
These familiar words from Jesus were first spoken in
response to a question about paying taxes. But they seem
a good reminder to keep us grounded in the month of
October. Though it may be hard to imagine, October is
set to be marked by even more political advertising and reporting than we
have yet seen, all leading to election day.
And this is where Jesus’ comment regarding what is Caesar’s and what is
God’s can help us. We can consider our resources (finances, time, energy,
effort) and how we might appropriately render unto Caesar and God that
which belongs to each. We might also consider how our political
engagement fits in – up to and including our votes.
However, as we consider our faith, we do not need to render it to the
coming election, no matter how many commercials, billboards, yard signs,
and bumper stickers might try to convince us otherwise.
That is not to say that the coming election is not important. It is. And we
should give it its due. Yet, no candidate on the ballot is our God. And this I
think is the point of how Jesus responded to those asking about taxes.
Yes, taxes and elections are important. Give them the attention and energy
they deserve. They are also not all that is important. In the month ahead,
let’s be mindful of our attention, our time, our energy, and our resources.
Let’s try to ensure that in all these things, and in all the others, we render
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and render unto God the things that
are God’s.
Sep 1, 2024
Sep 1, 2024
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the disciples to “pray like this,” before he offers the most well-known prayer in the world – the Lord’s Prayer. This summer, on Wednesday nights, we looked at this prayer in depth and considered it line by line. Once we were done, we returned to these three preceding words.
One way to read these words is that we are to pray the words of Jesus (translated into a language we understand). Congregations and individuals pray like this every day. Another way to read these words is that we should use our own words to pray in a similar manner to the one which Jesus taught.
This summer, after several weeks of studying Jesus’ prayer, we took a few weeks to consider, converse, and compile the following words as one expression of what it might mean to “pray like this.”
Our omnipresent ideal parent, heavenly father, in your holy place – more vast than we can conceive – may we see you as holy, so holy that we are in awe of even speaking your name.
May your purpose and intention (which we know to be justice, mercy, and humility) and not our own (and not that of any culture or government) be done on earth and match the ideal of heaven.
Help us to depend on you for the sustenance to get through the day, ensuring that everyone has what they need to get through the day, sharing your abundance and remembering that all sustenance is a gift.
May we forgive as we have been forgiven, for it is in our offering of forgiveness that we find your grace.
Grant that we may not fail in times of testing. Open our eyes to and protect us from the evil one, who would lure us away from you toward a way that is not yours – a way of destruction and havoc.
Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
When you pray, how do you make the Lord’s Prayer your prayer?
