You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ Not Far From the Kingdom of God ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ Getting On the Road; Not Waiting Beside It ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ The Last Love and Testament ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ Good News About Possessions, and the Eternal Life-Heaven-Kingdom of God ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ Our Old Nemesis, Cardiosclerosis ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ Salted with Fire ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
Dear Believers,
Fall is my favorite time of the year.
Along with cooler temperatures, a change in seasons, college football,
and harvest …should be “rest.” In the
fall and winter, earth gets a kind of sabbath rest. The land and soils literally rest, having
given themselves in growing produce. And
I love the celebratory festivals and the gratitude that comes with the
penultimate celebration of this season—Thanksgiving.
But before we get to the “rest,” there’ll be a lot going on! October begins with World Communion Sunday—a
celebration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper that spans the globe, a sign
and practice of our Christian understanding that we are all made one in
Christ.
The second Sunday in October will be marked by a congregational
meeting to elect a new class of Session members, who will join session to lead
our congregation next year. It’s also
the Sunday when we will gather following worship, to share a meal provided by
“Chef” Martin, and receive the challenge budget for 2025.
The first Sunday will be a reminder of how God offers God’s self to
sustain us and our world. God, we might
say, gives the entirety of heaven to ensure human salvation—that God so loves
the world, that God gives us Jesus. The
second Sunday is a reminder about how we can give in ways that help give God’s
kingdom a foothold on earth. We should
be encouraged that we have many ways to support the life of faith—in what we
have to give, or even in our own service—and that each of them, or all of them make
a difference in transforming the world, in building the Kingdom of God.
God gives.
We respond.
God
calls.
We
act.
God
loves.
We
love.
The rest of the weeks of October won’t have special observances, but
each Sunday is the constant reminder that is calling us out of nothingness and
insisting we are loved and valued. …It’s
a message I wish the world understood, and would hear, better! That we are loved and valued even when the
world seems to be on fire with all the things not of God—greed, violence, oppression,
worldly power and glory.
That’s right. We live in a
world on fire with all the wrong kind of things, and we are still loved and
valued by God who insists and invites us to claim other ways of living. A God who gives us Jesus, who loves us, and
whom we’re invited to share with others.
Something we share sacramentally, and something we share in the ritual
of breaking bread with one another.
This season in which we share warm meals, remind one another about the
hard work we’ve participated in and given, we share not only the promise of
God’s love, but also the grace that there’s more work to do. So join us in celebrating God’s love in the
next few weeks, and then being mindful of sharing the celebration with those
around you!
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ Teaching A Not-so-Secret, Yet Subtle, Campaign for the Kingdom of God ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
You can hear an audio recording of the second scripture reading and my sermon entitled, “ Astounded Beyond Measure ” being preached, by CLICKING HERE.
Dear Believers,
I’m returning this month to one of my favorite places! Not really a “place,” but more of a
“reality.” The “place” moves each year,
so it’s never the same “space” even. I
could say, “it must be the people,” but each time, many of the people change,
too. Yes …one of my favorite places is
Stewardship Kaleidoscope—an annual conference grounded in stewardship education
and generosity, giving and fundraising, where the topics almost always come
closely akin to the difficult financial realities churches and church leaders
are facing …but each conference always traffics in unmitigated joy!
Most of the time, when someone says, “stewardship,” most people
(especially church people) think, “money” or “conservation"—or sometimes,
the conservation of money! Which leads
church people to thinking about the lack of members …and decline …and sadness
or even shame. Put a bunch of these
folks in the room and you can’t imagine there’d be much joy—but you’d be
wrong! Because stewardship is God calling to us to share in what God
provides; where there’s no lack of resources, no shortage of love, no
absence in the face of need, where we’re met with an abundance rather than
enough. For conference-goers, who may
register for and show up all down in the mouth, worried and scared, afraid of
not having what they need for their congregations, the conference becomes a
lived in promise of the Psalmist decree—“weeping may endure for the night, but
JOY comes in the morning.” For most,
simply showing up will end long nights of worry and anxiety!
Most of us often think we know “JOY.”
But I’ve found over the years that JOY—born of gratitude—often goes
missing in our lives. Yes, most of us
would say we experience times of joy; but I’ve learned by experience and with
others, that these are like puddles after a rain, arriving and departing again,
leaving us …wanting. That even though we
maintain lives rooted in worship and spiritual practices among a supportive
community of fellow believers, our Joy is not always deep or abiding …and I’ve
been shocked to find you may not even notice it! You won’t even wonder where all your joy
went; then, you’re hanging out with people who understand gratitude …when you
realize your lack.
Stewardship people know that JOY is almost always born of
gratitude. And gratitude is like a
muscle that needs to be built up and exercised.
One of the easiest ways to begin is adopting language of gratitude—asking
yourself: “What am I most grateful for?”
And “What am I lease grateful for?”
Simply talking “gratitude” begins to reveal the reliably JOYFILLED
crevasses in every day. But when you
begin talking about gratitude, you more easily discover how to live IN gratitude;
and when you LIVE IN gratitude, you can have different responses. Like, having car trouble—you can be “least
grateful” for the trouble, but “grateful” for a friend who can give you a
ride. “Least grateful” about having to
find money for a repair; but grateful your store of riches includes someone who
can give you a ride to Wal-Mart. Stewardship
people see differently, somehow knowing a deep, abiding sense of God’s
presence, love, and joy.
Stewardship people realize the whole economy of gratitude works the
other way, too. You hear stories like,
“I didn’t want the waitress to be happy with a 15% tip for good service; I
wanted her to feel ecstatic and know the joy of real appreciation.” Or “That man might have been just fine with a
$20 bonus for going out of his way, I just wanted to see the look on his face
when it was a $50 bill instead!” And …it’s
never about the money; it’s always about passing around JOY! …Joy that somehow always finds a way back to
the one who gives it.
It’s been one of the great privileges (and joys) of my life to serve
on the planning team for the conference for nearly a decade. It’s taught me that joy is almost always
right in front of me. And that’s surely
been true, at First Presbyterian Church in Camden, too! I’m so incredibly grateful for your
witness and all that God’s love has provided for us!
