O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.
O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; Psalm 136:1-3

What are you thankful for this morning?  What blessing have you seen?  Was it someone who did a nice gesture, waved or said hello?  Did you have a good breakfast?  Did you see the beautiful clouds this morning? 

Every day is a blessing, even Monday mornings when we are struggling to get up, get the kids to school and ourselves to work! 

Sometime today, and throughout this week, consider all the little blessings and give thanks to the Lord.

Peace,

Pastor Bill

²Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul. 3 John:2

This morning I was looking at a lot of scriptures, trying to find the right inspiration for this post.  Nothing was speaking to me today until I came upon John’s third letter.  Verse 2 hit me as a wonderful prayer for our families and friends.  It is complete in its simplicity and says a lot of what we are asking for our loved ones in prayer. It is also very wholistic – body, mind and spirit.

So today I give you a short meditation and leave you with this prayer:

I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.

Pastor Bill

Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.  1 Peter 4:8

There is a legend that John, in his older years, would only say to the congregation “Little children, love one another.”  When asked why that was his only teaching he replied “for it is enough.”

Jesus gave us a new commandment Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (John 13:34)”.  He also summed up the law of the prophets this way; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39).

Love does cover a multitude of sins.  We are all imperfect, we all do things that are wrong, or hurtful (even unintentionally).  Yet when we love one another, we can overcome these things and still remain in harmony and fellowship.

Imagine how powerful your place of work, or school, or church or any organization can be if everyone really cared for each other.  We would all be more productive, more compassionate and more like Jesus.

As you go through this week, practice love.  If there is someone around you who is hard to love, pray for them and extend them more grace.  Be more loving.

Peace,

Pastor Bill

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. ² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. ³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. ⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. ⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. ⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.  Psalm 23

This past weekend my daughter was in her high school musical, “Little Shop of Horrors”, a parody of a budget science fiction movie.

Her big song is “Somewhere That’s Green” a ballad of desire for something better than the life lived in “skid row”.  While filled with humorous lyrics about the wish for a washer, dryer and iron, it is also a plea for a better place “somewhere that’s green.”

Look at what David says in Psalm 23; “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. ³ He restoreth my soul…”

God’s creation, this beautiful green earth, is truly soul restoring.  The more we get outside and see the flowers and trees blooming, the fields returning to the growth state, the more restoration we can experience.  The more we lean on God, the more God will lead us to those places of restoration.

As you journey through this week, get outside, get away from whatever routine you have, experience the beauty of God’s creation and be restored.

Peace,

Pastor Bill

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…1 Peter 1:3

We have traveled together through the long Lenten season.

We have celebrated the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem.

We have received Holy Communion on Thursday.

We witnessed the Crucifixion on Friday.

Then, finally, we celebrated the Resurrection on Sunday with grandeur.

Now it is Monday.  How are you doing? 

While Monday is back to work or school filled with more things to do, are we holding onto that incredible news?  He is Risen (He is Risen, Indeed!).  What does this mean for your upcoming week?  What does it mean as you sit in a doctor’s office or at the shop as the car is being fixed?  How does the resurrection of Jesus impact you?

We should be people of the resurrection.  It is more than what happens to us when we die, the resurrection is God’s promise that not even death can hold us back.  We have a living hope.

As you travel through this new week, go with the joy and promise of Sunday. 

Peace,

Pastor Bill

Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. Psalm 119:7-74

Today has not started off well.  It was hard to wake up this morning, we were running late and I’m struggling to get things going. The list of projects to be done over the weekend remain (well, I am 99% finished with one of them) which are now added to the already over scheduled day.  Tensions were running high as we all left, and I’ve said things that were hardly helpful.  In plain words, it is Monday.

As I contemplate these verses from Psalm 119, I wonder “does anyone who believes in God rejoice when they see me?”  Because of his belief, the Psalmist declares that others will rejoice.  I’m lucky if the dog is happy to see me this morning. 

But then I consider verse 77:  Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight. 

In the end, it is God’s mercy that we seek, that we need.  No matter what happens in this day, I need to seek God’s mercy, and extend it to others.  Even if I don’t get my work completed.

As you journey through this Holy Week, contemplate on God’s mercy for you, and the mercy you can give to others.

Peace,

Pastor Bill

Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Mark 3:1-5

Sometimes the rules get in the way of doing good.  Upon a strict interpretation, the Sabbath law prohibited Jesus from healing that man.  Yet Jesus asks the question “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” Jesus heals the man, in the synagogue on the Sabbath, for that is the greater good. 

When we enter the sanctuary on Sunday morning, we should come expecting to meet Jesus and be healed.  Maybe it is not the healing of a physical issue, perhaps it is a healing of our soul, but one way or another we should find healing in worship. It is there, we only need, like the man with the withered hand, to show up.

As you journey through this week, I pray you meet Jesus and find healing, and I invite you to attend worship, for He can be found there.

Peace,

Pastor Bill

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”  He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”  Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”  Mark 2:23-28

Sabbath rest is important.  It is so important that God made a rule about it (see the fourth commandment).  Yet God did not do this to be cruel and harsh (follow the rules and regulations or you perish), rather God understands that we humans need to stop.  We need to take a break.  We need rest. 

Over the past week I was on Study Leave.  I spent time in prayer and meditation, I wrote, I planned and I rested.  I did not set an alarm, got up when my body said “wake”, spent the mornings in study and work, spent the afternoons in nature and the evenings reading.  It was a wonderful rhythm and one sorely needed.

As I got back to the grind on Monday, I began my normal routine (except for the Monday Morning Meditation!), and realized something important.  I need to follow Sabbath.

Taking this important time is precisely for the reason Jesus stated, The Sabbath was made for us.  It was created precisely because we need that time away from work and time with each other and God.

If you do not practice Sabbath-taking, do so.  If your Sabbath is rule infested (don’t do this, don’t do that), relax it.  Spend time with God, with family, with friends.  Go for a long walk, ponder the mysteries of the universe, get some rest.

And do it routinely.

Peace,

Pastor Bill

We are well into the season of Lent.  This week’s meditation is on the discipline of study.  When we study scripture and theology, we learn more of God, and most important, we grow closer to God. 

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Romans 15:4

Studying scripture to learn the “who, what, when, where and why” of scripture is important.  Knowing what happened “way back then” is great knowledge, but our study must be more than book knowledge of the scriptures.  The two biggest questions about any scripture are these: What was God telling the original hearers of the word?  What is God telling us today?  These two questions might be answered with the same answer, and sometimes it can be different.  The great thing about the scriptures are that they can speak to us in our situation today even if the original writing was to an ancient situation.

Studying the word takes us beyond the face value and into the depths of God’s connection with us.

This week, take some time to study a passage.  Get a commentary, ask your pastor about it, try to go deeper with one passage and ask yourself the two questions.

Peace,

Pastor Bill

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall laud your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness. They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. Psalm 145:1-7

The Psalmist has it right.  We are to tell others of the greatness of the Lord as much as we are to meditate upon God’s word.  We are to extol the glories of creation as we ponder the scriptures.  We are to be outward in our praise of God, as we are inward with our thoughts. 

Meditation on the word is just as important as our outward praise of God for meditating upon the word is a way of internalizing rather than memorizing scripture.

If you truly want to know God, if you really want to grow in your spiritual life, meditate.  Take a passage, read it and then spend time in quiet, rather than reading it quickly to get the daily reading in.  Take a few verses of a favorite psalm as your breath prayer (one line while breathing in, one line while breathing out) and it will instantly calm your spirit.  Read a complex passage slowly and deliberately and allow time for more than the words on the page.

Meditating on the word can be one of the healthiest things we can do for our body, mind and spirit.  As you travel through this Lenten season, meditate.  Allow the Holy Spirit to bring the word into your heart. 

Peace,

Pastor Bill