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Through Christ, Through Each Other

5/26/2020

Listen: Matthew West, Strong Enough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knuHDPbE5es&feature=fvwp&NR=1

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13)

"What we have to remember is that we can still do anything," Marina Keegan wrote to fellow graduates. "... We can't, we must not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it's all we have."

Not too long after writing those lines for her school newspaper, Marina died in a car accident. Before her death, she was planning to move to Brooklyn, to continue her life as a writer and play-write.

Thanks to the internet, Marina's last words were read, as far away as Asia.
Marina's words to her fellow students can apply to us as well: "We're in this together, 2020. Let's make something happen to this world."

We all have heavy crosses to bear, from time to time. The last 2 1/2 months we have been reeling from COVID19, forced to stay home, we have lost jobs. Some of us have caught this virus, or know loved ones who have been sick. Dear ones have died. We have had heavy responsibilities at work -- church -- deadlines that are looming and we don't know how we're going to get there with all that is going on. Conflicts we don't know how to resolve.

Scripture teaches us over and over again, that we can't do things on our own. It is God's strength that carries us through the changes, hardships and transitions of life. God is present to us in spirit. God is also present to us through the love and support of our friends and family.

Before the corona virus hit, I had to attend a difficult meeting. My stomach was in knots over it. A friend of mine dropped everything, and insisted on going with me. She waited in the lobby, hungry and thirsty as the meeting wore on. It was a painful meeting, but I got through it, because of the love of God that worked through her actions. I knew I wasn't alone. It made all the difference in the world.

That's the kind of faith we are called to, to be present for each other. That's the possibility we are called to reach for. That's what we can make happen in the world. Through Christ, through each other.

We have many heavy burdens to face as a church, as we discern how to reopen the building and onsite worship and resume programs. Let us be Christ for each other and carry this burden together.
We can do this.
We got it!
We are in this together!
It is Christ who gives us strength.

PRAY: "God, help me to lean on your strength in whatever I face. Help me to give strength to others who need extra help."

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Even More Change!

5/19/2020

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"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8)

Listen to:  Francesca Battistelli  "Holy Spirit ' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoZd7ZXh9yY

You know you might be Presbyterian if you can name some or all of the following:

PCA, PCUS, PCUSA, PC(USA), PC(U.S.A.), PCUSA(NS), PCUSA(OS), RPCES, RPCNA-GS, RPCNA, EPC, OPC, ARP, NAPARC, CRC, RCA, BPC, BPC-Collingswood, BPC-Columbus, CPC, TE, RE, WCF, WLC, WSC, BCO, UPC, UPCNA, UPCUSA, NPC, COM, CLP, CPM, NFoG, ECOP.

Presbyterians. We even do change "decently and in order!" Think of all the change in denominations and committees this list represents over time.

We are a world in flux, in a denomination facing enormous change, a congregation in time of significant transition, each of us is facing change in some area of our lives. The Conronavirus has turned our world upside down, and seems to have taken away everything that gives us stability. We are in a "new normal" but we are still groping around in the dark. Life seems to be falling apart, when in reality it is reconfiguring,beckoning us to move forward to a more alive, more whole, more vibrant place.  Thank God we have a God who is eternal, and can change us, mold us in the image of Christ, loving and serving others. Thank God we can turn to Christ as our rock. His example and help will hold us steadfast and guide us through whatever we face.

The Bible is a change document. It teaches us how to embrace change (and sometimes how not to!) with discernment, trust, faith and hope in God, the author of the future. Think of, for example: Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, Moses, Joseph, Ester, Ruth, Peter, Mary, Paul -- and the change they lived through following the Lord. So pick your favorite character this week, study it, and you will find some challenge to grow and change. Name the choices and actions that made a difference. So what is your challenge? How can you change, and help the church to change in a spiritually healthy manner?

Remember Charles Darwin's observation: "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."

PRAY:  "God, show me where I need to change"

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More Change!

5/13/2020

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Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3)
Listen to:  Change,  by Tracy Chapman,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bukXKdzyGEY

This guy gets a parrot but it's got a bad attitude and foul vocabulary. He tries everything to change the bird's attitude and clean up its talk but nothing works. Finally, in a moment of desperation, he puts the parrot in the freezer. For a few moments he hears the bird squawking, kicking and screaming and then, suddenly, all is quiet. He opens the freezer door. The parrot steps out and says, "I'm sorry that I offended you with my language and actions. I ask for your forgiveness. The guy's astounded at the bird's change in attitude and was about to ask what changed him when the parrot continued, "By the way, may I ask - what did the chicken do?"

We've been talking about change, how life is a process of change and growth particularly i the time of COVID-19, when we are forced to reexamine our assumptions and choices.

One of my favorite characters in the Bible who is asked to change is Jonah. God asks Jonah to go to Nineveh (Assyria), and call them to repentance, or face the consequences.  But Jonah doesn't want to do this --- he hates Nineveh, and would love nothing more than see God overthrow the Ninevites. Jonah runs away -- as far as he can go. He causes the ship he's traveling on to almost break apart. He's thrown overboard. He's swallowed by a big fish. He finally begrudging does what God asks, and the Ninevites repent. This angers Jonah even more! And he throws another hissy fit. The story ends, and Jonah's attitude hasn't changed. But God' s did. God changed his mind about destroying Nineveh when they repented. God cares for all people -- even the people we don't care too much about. People who have hurt us. So change is messy!

We often fight change, like Jonah. Even when we resist God's call to change, God is persistent. God loves us too much to let us be less than we can be. God will even work through our our time of self-sheltering, our resistance, our rebellion, to help us see the bigger picture. We may struggle like Jonah. But thank God -- God uses us, and doesn't give up on us even when we have a bad attitude! God knows, change is a choice. Will we accept it?

PRAY:  "Help me to with my resistance to change "

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!

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Change

5/5/2020

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"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, s/he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Corinth. 5:17)

Steven Curtis Chapman, "Together, We'll Get Through This"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-U7X2DR2C4

What did the Dalai Lama say to the hot dog vendor?

Make me one with everything.

The hot dog vendor said "that will be $2.50" and the Dalai Lama handed him a five.

And waited. The Dalia Lama said "Hey where's my change?"

The hot dog vendor said "ah, change must come from within....!ust come from within"

The Christian life is a life of transformation and change. Change is written on each page of the bible. It is written in the fabric of our bodies: While we are sitting here we are changing. During this message about ½ million cells in our body are going to die and be replaced with a half a million new cells. Our skin replaces itself every month. Change is natural. Our families change. our societies change. Our churches change. Everyone changes.

Ideally as we change, our emotional and spiritual responses begin to change too. We learn to know God is in charge. We learn to trust. We respond to change in more healthy ways. We learn to handle the sadness and fear that can come with change, and through it, learn to hope.

Because of the pandemic of the coronavirus, church is entering a time of accelerated change. We have been forced into a time of digital worship, and learning, and called to be creative with our fellowship. What will we look like when this is all over? So it's important that we reflect together on change; understanding and recognizing it, responding in healthy ways to it, supporting each other and growing in faith together. Saying goodbye and letting go to what is now past. So think about your changes around you, in you, and in the church. Begin to name them, make a list. Think and pray about how change is affecting you.

For now it is good for us to remember the prayer of change from the great Reformer, Martin Luther:

"This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”

PRAY: "Show us to embrace and manage the changes of life with grace, courage and trust in you. Help us be sensitive and caring to others in the midst of their changes."

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!

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Through Christ, Through Each Other

Even More Change!

More Change!

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