Latest News

There are seasons of our collective lives when we realize that it is all just a bit too much.  Right now, there is a bit too much stress, there is a bit too much negativity, there is a bit too much polarization. And surely, this is a product of our life politic. We are surrounded by messages telling us we must think in a certain way. It tells us who we should be mad at, what we should be afraid of, and who then we should put into power.

If we live our lives oriented towards the Holy Spirit, we will recognize that fear and manipulation are tools of the very power structure that Jesus came to flip on its head. We are looking for the fruits of the Spirit, in our actions, and in the actions of those we wish to align ourselves with. And what are those? From Galatians 5:22-23 the list says they are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

To cultivate these fruits this season, you may need to do a few things, like muting the commercials and turning off the 24-hour news cycle.  And recognize that you may be feeling some kind of way about the state of the world, about your own life, your own health, your relationships. But rather than giving in to the pain, rather than surrendering yourself and handing your power over to the pain, become a revolutionary. Joy can be a revolutionary act in the face of despair. Give yourself permission to recognize its fingerprints and hold onto it, even if it’s momentary.

When you finally realize that joy

is less fireworks

more firefly

less orchestra

more birdsong

she will come back much more often

for joy will not fight

with the fast pace of this life

she is not in the shiny or the new

she breathes in the basic

shimmers in the simple

and dances in the daily to and fro

joy has been beckoning you

for many a year my friend

you were just too busy doing, to see

the very next time joy wraps

her quiet warmth around you

as the garden embraces your weary body

in its wildness

tip her a nod

you cannot force her to stay

but if you are a gracious host

joy comes back.

Donna Ashworth

Save the date: Thursday, December 5th 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Join us this fall for our Sunday education time. Below, you will find the schedule that includes our second Sundays, which are whole-church faith formation events that include a fellowship meal. For the other Sundays this fall, we will be starting a class focusing on World War 2. This series is called “Theologians Under Hitler.”  This will be in preparation for a new film about Dietrich Bonhoeffer that will be released in November. As details about this film become available, we will share viewing possibilities.

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

That’s a saying that I’ve been hearing a lot of lately. My friends from Tanzania were the first to introduce that phrase to me. We stood in front of their congregation and the exchange went like this:

Pastor:  “God is Good!”

Congregation: “All the time! All the Time”

Pastor: “God is Good!”

It sounds so wonderful when you hear an entire audience declare God’s goodness. But what about when there’s not a crowd around? What are we declaring then?

When the chips are down and the enemy is hot on our heels, that’s when what we really believe comes out. In the middle of the night when your child is sick with a fever or when you have more bills than money at the end of the month, it may be more difficult to recall God’s goodness. In those times we have to reach down into what we know, not what we feel, and on purpose declare that no matter what, GOD IS GOOD. 

There is a source of light in being able to declare the goodness of God in the pit of despair. To be able to say this as punctuation on a glorious day is to create the muscle memory that we will need for the days that feel like h. e. double hockey sticks. It reminds me of 5^th Century monastic Christians called the Desert Father’s and Desert Mothers who prayed ceaselessly with the words of the Jesus Prayer. “Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me.” This ceaseless prayer would be a constant companion day and night that at some point the one who prayed would merge with the words of the prayer and understand themselves as being completely loved, fully in grace, and one with Christ. They became the prayer.

I see a growing desire in many of you to develop this muscle memory. Worship is a wonderful place to do this with intentionality. Allow yourself time to center yourself before worship and during communion. Try the words of the Jesus prayer or the declaration of God’s goodness. Use these prayers in quiet moments when you are alone like when you are driving in your car or doing house chores. Perhaps you want to intentionally focus on the Jesus prayer when you notice negative thoughts or feelings creeping into your consciousness.

These prayers are the cognitive tools that we use to remind our very complex brain something that we know deep down in the recesses. You are deeply loved by God and there is nothing that can separate you from that love. This does not mean that you will not have hardship and pain in this life. But it does mean that none of those things can separate you from God’s love. 

We hope you plan to join us after worship on Sunday, Sept. 15, for this fun event. If you are planning to donate an item for auction, please complete this form and put it in the offering plate at church or mail it to the church office. This could be home crafted items, home baked goods, home grown items from your garden, services, whatever you think someone would purchase. Be creative!  With your help, we will have a successful and profitable day. A portion of our profits will be sent to our sister congregation in Tanzania.