tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46983314693836948012024-03-20T19:37:31.398-04:00Discovering DiscipleshipPamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-5674654754417621072014-05-04T14:37:00.000-04:002014-05-04T14:37:03.421-04:00On the road again<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">From Pastor Randy's Sermon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Though our lives are sometimes
shattered, The Gospel event of Christ can bring us back together again. It may not be in the same way it was before,
it may not always be how we think it should be, but yet it comes. Sometimes, God is at work in our lives and we
don’t even know it. Sometimes our eyes
don’t recognize it at the time.
Sometimes we too are blind like the two traveling on the road to Emmaus.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">What do the two
disciples do in response to discovering the risen Lord? </span><span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">They got on that same road.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">The road that
had been marked by defeat,</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 48px;">
<span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUJTy9FAWYKHGyoPxOdMW9vJ2tiZ2Peprh_lJVwNPlkAG7mIap4A6N_V3FPYYr8m4Ap0oNYLssmqdNXM-UYW7H0RbcrQ1zt_ZMv3UvTmySGg74JsxN_NnnUcoiwKge3JC1WUS0LMO7J8/s1600/desolate+road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUJTy9FAWYKHGyoPxOdMW9vJ2tiZ2Peprh_lJVwNPlkAG7mIap4A6N_V3FPYYr8m4Ap0oNYLssmqdNXM-UYW7H0RbcrQ1zt_ZMv3UvTmySGg74JsxN_NnnUcoiwKge3JC1WUS0LMO7J8/s1600/desolate+road.jpg" /></a></div>
</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> marked by shattered hopes, had been transformed. The road was full of possibilities.</span><span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Hope was alive.</span><span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKPHt4uJgzZ1QPUqMxCx4Q1O-ShPgYWRK7_O5nq2yxerHqzmCJaJux8h0TuyhOk7IjDleU36UqiA6m3XbrYt3eJyqkyau7ELDcdlnuqbKPZTQa6qhfg1-neL_Z3us31jWjE3GYoRdhVE/s1600/forested+road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKPHt4uJgzZ1QPUqMxCx4Q1O-ShPgYWRK7_O5nq2yxerHqzmCJaJux8h0TuyhOk7IjDleU36UqiA6m3XbrYt3eJyqkyau7ELDcdlnuqbKPZTQa6qhfg1-neL_Z3us31jWjE3GYoRdhVE/s1600/forested+road.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">It was the same
road – but a different destination; the same road – but a different
conversation; the same road – but different observations; the same road –but a
different realization.</span><span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Hope was
restored. Their dream had come true.</span><span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">He
was alive! They went back to </span><st1:city style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;" w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:city><span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">
to be witnesses to the resurrection – to tell everybody the good news.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">From Pamela: </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">I have known several friends who walked gracefully and faithfully to their last mortal breath. Although the situations varied and the rate of their walk to death was according to each one's terminal condition, there was a similarity. They ALL became more excited about what God was about to do as they came closer and closer to death. Their faith told them that God's final surprise for them was that death would not have the final say in their life. </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">It can be very difficult to wrap the head around that reality -- whether we are talking about physical death or the death of a dream, hope, relationship or life chapter. We don't know "how" God will rebuild life in the midst of the rubble of death; and people often feel most secure in the presence of facts. People are more likely to be convinced by the details of what is to come than by the faith statement that God WILL bring new life from death. </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;">I wonder, can we get excited in the midst of sorrow about something that is dying? We don't need to ignore or discount grief about what is lost -- but can we gather around the hope that what God has promised (life!) God will accomplish? </span><br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-49621846540853112772014-04-30T11:19:00.001-04:002014-04-30T11:19:17.507-04:00Thank you, Thomas! From Pastor Randy's Sermon-Sunday, April 27, 2014<br />
<br />
<i>The problem Thomas had was believing the good news of Easter. Thomas was having trouble with the idea of life beyond the grave. Thomas was having difficulty believing that death can be conquered, even by Christ. </i><br />
<i>We all have our moments of questioning, of rationalizing, of making sense of it all. We all have our times of doubting, of wondering if the church even comes close to proclaiming what is real or what happened. </i><br />
<i>We too are Thomas. We were not there at Calvary when they crucified the Lord. We were not there on the first day of the week, when Jesus appeared to the disciples. We can't go to Jesus, but Jesus does come to us. May we rise each day with the presence of the resurrected Christ in our lives, A presence that reminds us that even when we doubt (and we will doubt); even when we mistrust and misjudge (and we will mistrust and misjudge) God is more powerful than our thoughts and minds. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
From Pamela: Pastor Randy went on to talk about the high level of trust required to step from the firm ground of reason into the unknown territory of what our mind says is "impossible." One theologian once said that the opposite of faith is NOT doubt, but the opposite of faith IS MISTRUST. <br />
<br />
Time and time again faithful living requires us to step away from the black and white thinking that flows from analysis or judgement. Faithful living requires us to step into the mist of the unknown, to stay alert, and activated. We will not be disappointed. As long as we trust the presence of Christ our pace will be established in both direction and tempo. <br />
<br />Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-62304845026376546572014-02-04T14:44:00.001-05:002014-02-05T09:36:14.359-05:001 Corinthians1:25 For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If we search for God - and we all do at one time
or another, if we search for God in
special times and places -- Where does God search for us? Where does God meet us? Many people do not think they have met God
unless they emotionally feel that they have encountered something. They
sometimes gauge the success of their search for God, their meeting God, by
whether or not they feel certain things.
They judge whether or not they have met the Creator or the Holy Spirit,
by whether or not they gain a sense of peace, by whether or not they have an
emotional high - an emotional rush, by whether or not they have the Spirit send
those chills and tingles up and down their backs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">However, life is not, completely full of special times,
full of special moments. Life is full of other stuff, it is full of routines,
of ordinary things: we work, we eat, we sleep, we play and relax, we suffer and
feel pain, we sorrow and grieve, we are insulted and injured, we struggle and
fight against trials and tribulations.
In these </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ordinary times we are as well in ordinary places, at home, at work, in hospital, visiting with a friend, driving in our cars, standing in elevators, or sitting in a lobby or a meeting room. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">These ordinary times, and these ordinary places, these times when we are not taking time to be "holy", and those places where we do not expect to meet God but are actually getting on - or trying to get on - with living our lives, those are the times and the places where God often meets us.<span style="font-size: 19px;"> (</span>From Pastor Randy's Sermon on 2/1-2, 2014)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From Pamela</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So many times I have heard people say "that's an answer to prayer" when something good, or hoped for, or even expected happens. I won't argue that the "good" development may well be an answer -- However, for most of us there are chapters when it is almost impossible to see anything "good" happening. For most of us there are at least some hopes or expectations that do not come to fruition. There is no sense of peace or contentment. No happiness. No foreseeable end to pain. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">That is when we surrender -- "God help me -- as only you can."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And then, eventually, the consolation and tender mercy of God will emerge. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The answer to prayer that emerges is that in our suffering there is an awareness that something "more" is happening. We may not recognize it at first. And it may be revealed in a surprise, or some foolish notion. But, amazingly, it gains momentum and begins to bear the fruit of wisdom. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The beatitudes (read Matthew 5:1-12 again) sound like foolishness to some. Yet they are the statements of wisdom about what God is often up to in our dangerous world. </span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">These ordinary times, and these ordinary places, these times when we are
not taking time to be </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">"</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">holy</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">"</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">, and those places
where we do not expect to meet God but are actually getting on - or trying to
get on - with living our lives, those are the times and the places where God
often meets us. </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">ordinary times we
are as well in ordinary places, at home, at work, in hospital, visiting with a
friend, driving in our cars, standin</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">g in elevators, or sitting in a</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;"> lobby or a meeting room. </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">These ordinary times, and these ordinary places, these times when we are
not taking time to be </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">"</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">holy</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">"</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">, and those places
where we do not expect to meet God but are actually getting on - or trying to
get on - with living our lives, those are the times and the places where God
often meets us. </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">ordinary times we
are as well in ordinary places, at home, at work, in hospital, visiting with a
friend, driving in our cars, standin</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">g in elevators, or sitting in a</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;"> lobby or a meeting room. </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">These ordinary times, and these ordinary places, these times when we are
not taking time to be </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">"</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">holy</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">"</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">, and those places
where we do not expect to meet God but are actually getting on - or trying to
get on - with living our lives, those are the times and the places where God
often meets us. </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">ordinary times we
are as well in ordinary places, at home, at work, in hospital, visiting with a
friend, driving in our cars, standin</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">g in elevators, or sitting in a</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;"> lobby or a meeting room. </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">These ordinary times, and these ordinary places, these times when we are
not taking time to be </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">"</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">holy</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">"</span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;">, and those places
where we do not expect to meet God but are actually getting on - or trying to
get on - with living our lives, those are the times and the places where God
often meets us. </span><span style="color: windowtext; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: 0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hide: special; mso-text-raise: 0pt; position: relative; top: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-54831762536755712432014-01-17T08:04:00.001-05:002014-01-17T08:04:14.495-05:00Let it be<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Last week we heard the story about Jesus' baptism. When Jesus walked up to John the Baptist, John hesitated to proceed with the baptism -- John had some ideas about Jesus' identity, and about Jesus' role in the future. They could have stood there in that moment and debated about what course of action to take, but Jesus responded with a statement about "now" (the present moment they both occupied</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i> “‘Let it be so
now<b>;</b>
for it is proper for us to in this way to fulfill all righteousness.’” Then
John consented. “Let it be so now,” is
the mark of the new beginning. Similar
to January first, similar to that new year’s resolution, similar to that
dreaming or thinking about change or starting over, nothing happens until we
say: “Let is be so now.” It is the move
toward a new future. For Jesus it would
mean his baptism into his reason for coming, to be the Messiah for the world. (From Pastor Randy's sermon 2/11-12)</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From Pamela: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Those words-- Let it be--unleash power. Whether they are spoken by God, or by Mary, Mother of God, or Jesus or John the Baptist or by you or by me, "Let it be so" says that we are willing to acknowledge what is going on right now. Sometimes we can't move forward along the path of transformation unless we state our awareness of what is really happening NOW. Oh, sure, we can move forward with our own set of expectations. We can manipulate our understanding and try to create our own future according to our own agenda. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">However -- God invites us to let God be God and to let God guide and support us as we move along the path which is God's intention for our future. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And it all begins with looking honestly at where we are and what is going on around and within us and saying "Let it be so". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Nothing will happen (in terms of ongoing transformation) until you say those words. They acknowledge your willingness to move from where you are (with God) to where God can take you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Let it be. </span>Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-58534330405137485222014-01-05T15:45:00.001-05:002014-01-05T15:45:06.157-05:00<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-indent: 36px;">Consider the power of the Christmas story: the amazing depths and breadth and heights to which God's love for us will go. We feel the echoes of that love every time we peer into that dimly lit stable. And, sometimes in the process, the Light of the World is born again in us. Then we have the joy of being granted the right to become the children of God. (From Pastor Randy's Sermon on January 4-5 2014)</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-indent: 36px;">From Pamela: I have spent the last couple of days beginning to take down my Christmas decorations. I still love having a "real" Christmas tree and "real" flowers and greenery. These real decorations need to be watered regularly and lavishly whenever they are inside. (Otherwise they become fire hazards). Even with care, they only last for a few weeks, at most. Finally they wilt, dry out and need to be discarded. They require more fuss, and they create much more muss than artificial decorations, but the fragrance they emit has never been replicated by aroma therapy. Furthermore, I have just enough of a stubborn streak in me that I resist the convenience of the artificial Christmas decor. </span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-indent: 36px;">I am reminded by Pastor Randy's words of the stubborn nature of God's love for us. Nomatter how life wears us down throughout the year, the emergence (anew) of God's love in Christ effectively meets our every need. On the other hand, some of us may have had a year of abundance -- we may have entered December rooted in sophistication or the complexity of what we are "able" to do with our intellect, energy and sense of control. Even then, the simple gift of God's love in Christ trumps and transcends any abundance that the world or our human power produced since Christmas 2012. </span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-indent: 36px;">As children of God, we are filled to the brim of our being. We are saturated with everything we need to know about what is true and lasting. God's gift is REAL, and ABIDING. Everything that we accumulate on our own is in some way artificial. Even if our accumulations seem to enhance the quality of our life, they will eventually become worn out, used up or discarded. </span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-indent: 36px;">What did you receive this Christmas that is real? What did you receive that is artificial? How will you respond? How will you stay close to the source of life so that what is REAL can be nourished and protected? </span></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-73781093872305139282013-12-17T14:55:00.001-05:002013-12-17T14:55:19.705-05:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Expectation. Maybe during this time of the year,
expectation runs at one of its highest given the season. Children are bouncing off the walls to see
what will appear under the tree in a matter of ten days; others are excited for
this major snowfall; some have great anticipation as they are going to
experience that first Christmas with a newlywed or a new born. Maybe it is the first Christmas in a new
house, or you perhaps are even celebrating it in a new way. Whatever situation people find themselves in;
there is a level of hopeful expectation.
<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>However, as we know
and often experience, sometimes our expectations are not met. Sometimes things do not turn out the way we
think they should. Sometimes we are
expecting happiness and we overlook joy....</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What are your expectations? How do you expect God to come to you this
season? Where are you looking? Do we sometimes look in the wrong places? Do we miss it when it happens? Are we caught up in seeking happiness and
missing joy? </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(From Pastor Randy's Sermon) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From Pamela -- My life has rarely been filled with expectations that are met. For some reason my greatest sorrows and my greatest joys have generally been unanticipated and unbidden. There has generally been a balance of loss/gain, pain/pleasure, brokenness/reconciliation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Just recently I experienced a situation that seemed that it would be, at best, "positive" -- My younger brother is seriously ill. My older brother arrived from out of town and we were debating about going to the hospital. Why debate? Because these two men have not spoken for nearly a decade, and have not seen each other for 7 years. What was always a strained relationship had become totally alienated. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet, as is so often the case, with grave illness hitting my younger brother, the older man felt that he "should" see his younger brother while he could. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I did not see how the visit could be anything but painful -- my younger brother is very skilled at cutting himself off from others without ever looking back. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet we went to the hospital room. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Upon seeing my face, my "little" brother's face lit up as it so often does. Then I announced: "There is somebody else here to see you!"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When my older brother came around the corner, my younger brother's face was, literally, like the young boy seeing Christmas Morning miracles. Then he said: "Oh my God, I have missed you, brother!"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
No words can contain the abundant joy in that moment -- totally unprecedented. unexpected and mysterious. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
With the grave illness still raging, happiness is still elusive when it comes to my younger brother. However, JOY is very much alive, well, and vibrant! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-62265423723480059862013-12-11T16:44:00.002-05:002013-12-11T16:44:11.760-05:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Preaching judgment is the easy part. Sometimes we know other Christians who are
ready to announce this judgment on people or other faith denominations;
sometimes those people are us too. When people
talk to others who aren't interested in the church, it's almost always because
they believe that the church is more interested in judgment than it is in peace,
acceptance, grace and salvation. Sometimes, we have communicated really clearly
about sin but not so clearly about the love of Christ. What an indictment of our core message! Perhaps Christianity has given the impression
that our sinfulness is more powerful than the saving One, Jesus Christ, who is
the heart of God beating in the world. The one who is coming is more powerful
than me, even more powerful than my brokenness. It is only the relentless and ongoing
announcement of love and peace coming that will inspire us to change and to
live from its power.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Jesus is the one who enters into the
heart of human life, takes into himself all those things that separate us from
God. He steps into the gap between our
inner life and our external behavior. His
work ends, not in self-righteous satisfaction of letting sinners have it. It ends at the cross. And then, on Easter
morning, what the broken get is new life.
Judgment may burn us up, but grace ignites us to be alive again. </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
(From Pastor Randy's Sermon)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
From Pamela: Lutheran homiletics (the art of preaching) always teaches a balance of "Law" and "Gospel". The Law part impresses upon us the high priority God's will should have as we make choices about behavior and relationships and priorities. (That part usually makes us squirm, because we feel judged, yet we know we really can't effectively ALWAYS toe the line -- at least I can't). Then there is the Gospel that says, you know what? God knows you can never fully abide by God's Law, so therefore God sent His unconditional Love and Acceptance (in Christ) to complete the gap between God's Law and God's fulfilled promise that we are utterly forgiven and eternally reunited with God. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
I think about the flow of any given worship service -- greeting, confession, forgiveness, scripture, sermon, prayer, offering and then Holy Communion. Lots of Law and Gospel stuff.... and the Gospel wins! We are sent out as Gospel People, children of God free to love abundantly and serve others with lavish generosity. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
Yet, even before we walk out of the sanctuary we often kick into judgement of some sort -- and often the worship leaders are the worst -- </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
(That didn't work, won't do it that way again, note to self: next year ...... ) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
Let's promise to let the Glorious Gospel of Christmas linger, at least for a while, this year. Let's resist the temptation to pay attention to anything that disappoints, annoys or (in worst case) offends. Let us not be ones who gather around critique or analysis of a better way to do Christmas! Let us hear the amazing news -- the reign of Love has broken in -- no more judgement, no more bondage. </div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-35022148380113238342013-11-19T07:05:00.001-05:002013-11-19T07:05:27.188-05:00The Last WordFrom Pastor Randy's Sermon: <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Jesus' words pointed to a future that he knew would be
rough for his disciples. He wanted his disciples to be prepared, but also to
know that their allegiance and faith in what he was doing would be the final
marker to all events that would and could occur. This can also be the message for us today as
well. Jesus doesn't sugarcoat what lies
ahead, but he gives meaning to it. All
of us in our journeys, in one way or another, to one degree or another, will
feel persecuted, will feel cheated, will feel great despair, and though our
faith does not promise that these things can be avoided, it does tell us that
in the end our future is guaranteed. The
last word of God to us and to the world, will be a good word. A time when all questions are answered, a
time of hope and joy that we perhaps cannot even begin to imagine.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">From Pamela: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">Do you know anybody who seems to always want the last word in a conversation (or argument)? You know, the person who comes up with just one more comment or question or gripe? Or the one who can't leave the space just blank -- </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">I can remember how one of my family members would often stomp from the room if he didn't get his way. We would begin to breathe more freely, and then we would hear him come out of his bedroom, back into the living room with an angry: "Oh, and just one more thing ...."(and the negativity would begin all over again). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">I must confess, it got to the point where we would laughingly wager on how many minutes would pass between stomp out and re-entry. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">The last say is the speakers effort to control the situation and have lasting impact. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">Jesus proclaimed to the people of his day and to us today that God will have the last say, and that say is a resounding "YES!" to life.... </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">When disappointment, suffering and loss of any kind seem to close the door of possibilities we are called to stay alert, watching and waiting -- and proclaiming to one another boldly the YES which is God's last word to us. </span></span>Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-53456334423729944082013-11-05T16:04:00.000-05:002013-11-05T16:04:55.185-05:00Blessed are they From Pamela: <br />
<br />
Pastor Randy proclaimed the good news on Sunday: Blessed are you when you mourn! Blessed are you when you are cursed or abused. What? <br />
And then he proclaimed our part in setting things right by praying for our abusers or enemies or those who persecute us. What? <br />
<br />
From Pastor Randy's Sermon: <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today’s text really gets at the core of some of the more
difficult things of life, some of the things that we may agree or desire
mentally, but yet are much more difficult to live out</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. How do we do good to those who
hate us – as Jesus advises us to too?
How are we loving our enemies? How
many of us when we have been struck, hurt or injured, have simply offered up
our other cheek? How many of us, as
Jesus literally requests, give to everyone who begs from you? How do we make
sense of this? These are the very words
that come out of Jesus’ mouth, how do we deal with them – ignore them, skip
over them, soften them, or even sidetrack them?
Do we catch a glimpse of why people of Jesus’ time reacted harshly to
what Jesus was saying, so much so that the religious among them, plotted to
kill him?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From Pamela: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't know, Pastor.... can it be true, as you said, that praying for our enemies gives us strength? Praying in our weakness moves us to see how we have been blessed? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh, that is right.... praying constantly, fervently, and trying to discover God praying with us doesn't change the situation or take away the pain we have suffered or caused. Praying brings us closer to God, the source of all blessing. Even when I hurt, or am ashamed, or enraged, praying brings me into the heart of God -- where all is "blessed." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
That's the good news! </div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-75268649974437206962013-10-24T09:21:00.000-04:002013-10-24T09:21:28.630-04:00Becoming nimble wrestlers<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The world floods in on us all the time. We seek to find avenues to cope with it in a
positive manner. When things are going
great, good things buoy us even more, and when things are going sour, favorable
weather can serve to bring in some rain to relieve an emotional drought. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Sometimes life is great and we feel so
fortunate to be alive, other times the world can be an appalling place. We can look around us and see the suffering
and devastation that occurs and have our disposition sink fast. When those issues hit close to home, whether
they are within our community, our neighborhood, our family or even ourselves
it often can cause us to deflate emotionally, spiritually, mentally, socially,
and even physically. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It is then that we often find ourselves
wrestling with issues of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">(From Pastor Randy's Sermon 10/20)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">From Pamela: One of the things I have noticed about skilled wrestlers (I am not talking about the sensational WWF style) is that they are nimble. Whether they are looking into the eyes of their adversary or if they are entangled on the wrestling mat, they are fully engaged. The rhythm of one wrestler helps to guide the action of the other. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">A pressure hold can be broken, sometimes by a complete relaxation followed quickly by a sudden withdrawal. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">An offensive move can sometimes be dodged, at other times countered. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">When one is "pinned" the moment is "called".... but then the one who has been pinned can spring back up and engage once agin. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">Nimble. Flexible. Alert. and persistent. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">One more aspect seems to be an ability to regain balance, even when being knocked or twisted around. No balance--no more ability to wrestle. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">How do you regain your balance? How do you practice flexibility? How do you enhance your alertness? How do you act with persistence -- staying with the issues for the long haul? </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-16869052345294615802013-09-12T13:13:00.002-04:002013-09-12T13:13:47.351-04:00Commitments-- blessing and privilege
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
When we talk about commitment in
our faith to discipleship, an author writes that there are certain patterns
that seem to always appear in scripture, and very much to our own lives both as
individuals and a community of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First of all, there is a call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
are a called people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each of us in our
own unique gift of life has been called by God to play a role that enhances our
own faith journey and demonstrates God’s love of this creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second of all, there is always fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has an inextinguishable habit of asking
people to do things that are scary to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We can remember stories of Moses and Jonah and their response to
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of us can also relate to
taking those fears as we have embarked on new paths, often all we have is our
faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, there is also a third
pattern to commitment in our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is always reassurance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God
promises to be with us always.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God does
not guarantee that there will not be storms, but does promise to walk, and even
in some cases, carry us through those times of challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fourth, there is a decision, a
commitment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a point in our
lives, in our faith journey where we come to forks in the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We often do not have the luxury of coming
back and picking the other if one path does not pan out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have to trust and make decisions in
faithful discipleship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally,
scripture demonstrates to us that when we understand our call, recognize our
fear, recall God’s continued presence; make a commitment, lives will be changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We, and others, will not remain the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have opportunities to grow deeper into
understanding God active in our midst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is what it means to become a committed disciple of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
From Pastor Randy's Sermon last weekend<br />
<br />
From Pamela: In Christian Discipleship, total dependence upon God is a requirement. Oh sure, we can always take a safe path, doing what we know we can do, what works well, and what we have always done. But even it that path was new to us "once upon a time", God's call is so dynamic that it is rare that we are continually called to go upon the same path in the same way year after year <br />
<br />
God is creative, always making things new, always taking what is there are reforming it. Part of the reformation process builds upon what is there and continues what has begun. But another component of Christian Life is <em>transformation -- </em>We are changed, in ways that are sometimes minute and at other times huge, whenever we active, alert, and obedient in response to God's call. With every consent to serve others, we are also offering our consent to God to use us as God wills, and as God knows best. <br />
<br />
I think that is where the "fear" comes in for many of us -- we hesitate to step out if we can't know in advance the outcome of our commitment. The outcome includes results that are external as well as internal. <br />
<br />
Perhaps we need to take all of those jokes about Lutherans resisting change and flush them down the toilet. Perhaps we need to halt our pert quips about "we have never done it that way before." Perhaps our tendency to hunker down and protect what always "was" our way is thumbing our noses at God saying: We know more about our "call" than God does. <br />
<br />
This past week we did something we never did before. We changed the time and place of worship. We abbreviated the worship service and dedicated our morning to a couple of hours serving others. Had we gotten up on concern about the logistics and details and possible repercussions of taking such risks, we never would have done it. Yet most people said the change was "good".... <br />
<br />
Our commitment to discipleship needs to be one that is firmly rooted as well as open to the ongoing formation and transformation that God works in our midst while we are at work. <br />
<br />
And we need not fear -- God will not take us anywhere where God will not be with us guiding and supporting us through the love of Christ! <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-84661160033707590682013-08-23T10:11:00.001-04:002013-08-23T10:11:51.150-04:00Who has your back (and side and front???)<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">An author writes: “One day I was walking with a couple of
friends in front of a bar, when all the sudden a bar fight, like an old
Western, spilled on to the street right in from of us. Three men were beating up one lone
opponent. Being Christians, and feeling
the need to stand up to stop the violence, I took a risk to yell at the men to
stop fighting. Preparing for my first
fistfight in years, the thugs suddenly looked up at us, and with fear in their
eyes they started to slink away. This
caught me by surprise, and I almost ran after them to ask them why they were
running away. Then I looked behind
me. There standing behind us was a huge
man. He was the bouncer at the
barroom. The man stood about six seven
and weighed probably 250 pounds. If
Hercules had married Xena the warrior princess, this would have been their
child. We later called this man: Mongo,
though of course not to his face. He
just stood there with his muscles bulging.
He looked as though he hoped that the fighting men would take him on. In that moment, I wanted to yell to the
fleeing fighters: “You better not let us catch you hanging around here
again.” I was now ready to confront with
resolve and firmness. I was released
from anxiety and fear. I was ready to serve
someone who needed help. Why? Because I had “Mongo” standing behind
me. I was convinced that I was not
alone. The middle of a barroom fight was
perfectly safe for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If I
were convinced that Mongo were with me 24 hours a day, seven days a week, I
could take a different approach to life; I could face many fears. The reality is that as Christians we already
do, he is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. He is the one who has promised to be with
us. Yet all too often our lives do not
reflect it. All too often we shrink back
when we should confront; we worry when we can pray; we cling when we could
generously share. “Therefore, since we
are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every
weight and the sin the clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the
race that is set before us…” Perhaps, it
is so easy to get caught up in our own particular paths of challenges as we
live today that we forget that we are not on this path alone. For not only is God present with, and
sometimes carrying us through things, but also we have a family of faith that
surrounds us. This family of faith is
our own devoted family members, those who have witnessed the Gospel to us
through the years, whether they are physically here or not, and this particular
community of faith, Christ the Redeemer Lutheran. Sometimes it is about sharing each other’s
burdens, celebrating each other’s joys, beyond the high importance of coming
together for worship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">From Pastor Randy's Sermon on 8/18</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-34337297503808706692013-08-12T16:00:00.002-04:002013-08-12T16:00:52.354-04:00Announcement
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 26.65pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The meaning of our lives is always bigger than our
experience. And </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">because the meaning of
our lives is always bigger than our own life </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">experience,
we hold to a promise that points beyond our mental <span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt;">capabilities. In holding to our faith, we then can take risks in our
beliefs,</span> <span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;">we can dare to think another
way. We can be challenged by the Gospel so </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.5pt;">that we may be enriched further in faith.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 26.65pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: 0.3pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">"We're
announcing the future with the way we live." Because we have faith we can
make those transitions in our faith, have it grow deeper as the Spirit
penetrates into our lives. "Faith gives substance to our hopes and
convinces us of realities we do not see..."</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
(From Pastor Randy's Sermon 8/11)<br />
<br />
From Pamela <br />
<br />
I am glad that there is always more going on than meets my eye. I am glad, too, that I can't always see the results of my actions (done or left undone). My prayer at the beginning of the day is usually "help me stay out of the way of what you are trying to do through me, gracious God." and my prayer at the end of the day is often: "I am sorry I got in the way." <br />
<br />
So I know that I will never announce that I am infallible or that I will ever get "it" perfect ("it" being the Christian life). However, I want to announce the hope that if I keep trying, and if I keep saying "use me as you wish, gracious God" I will leave behind me a wake of experiences that are for the "good" of the world and other people. <br />
<br />
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-80569991567492704602013-07-30T14:36:00.000-04:002013-07-30T14:36:18.460-04:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As Christians, the
oneness we seek is the oneness of living in Christ‑‑being an incarnational
presence of God. Paul asks that we live in Christ, be rooted and built up in
Christ, abounding in thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a prayer without boundaries,
for prayers of thanksgiving do not seek to control or manipulate, only celebrate. Paul cautions us to allow ourselves not to be
taken captive through "philosophy or empty deceit, according to human
tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe..." In other
words, whatever binds and controls and limits - keeps us from being fully
embodied in Christ. The mystery is that being embodied in Christ is a boundary‑less
experience. Our point of entry into oneness with Christ is our baptism, which
is a time of dying to the old and the beginning of living into the new. To achieve this, like Jesus, we seek the
guidance of the Holy Spirit. This, as our Gospel passage for today points out, can
be the thrust of our persistence in prayer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Because
the human will is so strong and there are so many pitfalls, we can seek each
other's help, and coming together for worship and hearing again the core of our
life and faith goals, helps us to get at that.
As each of us grows stronger in our relationship with God, the whole
community grows stronger in its relationship with God; and the realm of God,
which is in our midst, becomes ever more known to us and to others who walk
through this door, and to others we encounter through the week. How can we grow stronger as a community of
faith? <b><i>(From Pastor Randy's Sermon 7/27-28) </i></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From Pamela: I remember when the issue of "boundaries" was the current most necessary topic for workshops and inservices. Issues regarding time, space, personal intimacy, public interactions all factored into the discussion of boundary violation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I understand the importance of these considerations, and I also appreciate the freedom unleashed when we are securely rooted and built up in Christ. When we abound in thanksgiving we are in a mode of gratitude (and appreciation). We see others as gifts and blessings, and we are compelled to be a gift and a blessing to the other in all we do and say. No manipulation, no controlling, no violation, no judgement. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So here are my questions: Whenever we are with another -- where do we see Christ in the interaction? How did the encounter bringing us closer to one another and closer to Christ? </span>Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-81107210730429330402013-07-22T12:51:00.004-04:002013-07-22T12:51:46.441-04:00<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Martha was caught up
in what she had to do, and she was missing </span>what
was being done. Jesus tells her "you are worried and distracted by <span style="letter-spacing: .05pt;">many things; there is need of only one
thing." As Christians we can ask </span><span style="letter-spacing: .25pt;">ourselves
today: Where is our attention? Where is our focus? What is blocking our path?
What are our distractions? It is when we can step </span><span style="letter-spacing: .1pt;">back and take a look at our lives, that often we
open the door for the </span><span style="letter-spacing: .15pt;">comforting
presence of the Spirit. May each of sit at the Lord's feet and </span><span style="letter-spacing: .1pt;">listen to what is being said to us. </span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: .1pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: .1pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(From Pastor Randy's sermon last weekend)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="letter-spacing: .1pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From Pamela: I believe that sitting at the Lord's feet is, ultimately, activating. God's presence can be comforting, healing and transforming. It is also instructive; and once we have moved aside from our own preoccupations and received what God is offering, the next movement is often to "Go and do"(something) in the name of Christ in <i>response to the blessing </i>received from God. </span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I pray often and I pray, sometimes, for long periods of time. Yet it isn't about just sitting around enjoying the feel good feeling of being in God's presence. After praying (that is, sitting at the Lord's feet) I set about "doing" whatever is before me in a more clear (not distracted) fashion. I benefit from the way God helps me perceive people and places differently than if I am left to my own devices. Listening to God opens my ears to hear the requests or the opinions of others through a filter of God's love and wisdom. </span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sometimes that makes all the difference! </span></span>Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-55896839573469427822013-07-03T18:16:00.003-04:002013-07-03T18:16:29.682-04:00Powering through or sailing with the wind filling your sails? <i>The journey.
Author John Ortberg talks about our journey in life being a one of
piloting a motorboat or a sailboat. How
are you living your journey? In the
motorboat we become so goal minded, sometimes so obsessive that we are focused
only on gassing up the tank, and setting our course, that sometimes we miss
God’s gifts happening around us. We
start the motorboat engine and we live life being in control as much as
possible. But a sailboat is a different
story. We play a role in hoisting the sails and steering the rudder, to be
sure, but we are utterly dependent on the wind.
The wind does the work. I am not
simply speaking about being laid back assuming that God will do everything and
I have to do nothing. It is much more
complex than that. Our task is to be spiritually transformed by our course in
discipleship. And our spiritual growth
requires discernment. As our journey
continues we look for God’s spirit, which literally means wind, we look for
God’s wind to direct our sailboats. An
experienced sailor can simply look at a lake and tell where the wind is blowing
the strongest. The wise sailor knows
when to raise and lower the sails; so to it is for us as we mature in the
faith. We learn to respond to the fresh
wind of the Spirit, for God does provide them. </i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<i>Where is God’s wind in your life? What is the Spirit directing you toward? Are you going there? Or are you going the opposite way? And how many times in our lives when God
called us one direction, did we try to go another? How many times have we tried to flee
God? Have you ever had an experience
when you simply could not see God in your life and even rejected the whole
notion of faith? Perhaps sometimes we
become such a motorboat in our life thinking that we don’t even realize that we
are not stopping to let the wind of God direct and redirect us. </i></div>
<i><br /></i>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<i>Listening and watching for God’s wind, God’s Spirit,
is not a call to sit back and watch the world go by. It is not a call to let everyone else make
decisions and do all the work, it is not a directive to say we are not
influential in the direction of catching the wind in our sails, instead the
journey is about being wise enough, and faith filled enough to know that living
and sharing God’s grace, is bigger than my one boat, is bigger than my one
engine, and receives its power not by my own supplied gasoline, but by God’s
wind and Spirit. May we catch God’s wind
in our journeys, may we watch for signs of the times, that let us remain open
enough to have our life redirected along the way.</i></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
From Pastor Randy's Sermon 6/29-30, 2013</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
From Pamela: </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
Most of the readers know that I am an experienced sailor. Years ago, I would go out on the lake, often single handed, and sail for hours wherever the wind was blowing. If I had crew, I would go out on the edge of storms (the best wind is often on the edge of a storm) and press craft and crew to maximum capability. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
Now my boat is almost 40 years old. I am over 60. Although I am confident my boat could manage "sailing on the edge" of the storm, I am not sure my body or my psyche are interested. It is all about allowing life to provide lessons about taking risks, pressing one's resources and respecting the desire for longevity (that is, I would rather stay in port and sail into the future than confront a passing storm). </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
The boating metaphors relate well to the practice of spiritual discernment. In life and ministry (as well as in sailing) it is wise to check out the craft (ie, physical resources) the crew (ie, the people involved) and the wind (ie, the sense of God's inspiration) when making choices about vision and mission. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
It is true that passengers on my boat often are frustrated with the amount of time I spend checking my rigging, "ship shaping" the lines and the gear. But I always remind them that things happen very quickly in a high wind, and that is not the time to be working with fouled lines. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
In the same way, people may get frustrated or impatient with the amount of time we take to pray and discern God's will for our individual lives and our shared ministry. But time taken to prepare our hearts and minds to confront the hard facts and details of life in this world is time well spent. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
Prayerful discernment is a source of balance that enable me to travel safely through the changeable paths of life and ministry. When I am balanced I can navigate safely through all sorts of winds, with maximum effectiveness, by staying under the wings of God's sheltering wisdom. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<br /></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-55559844810089111832013-06-26T09:03:00.000-04:002013-06-26T09:03:01.562-04:00Fighting and screaming?<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-indent: 36px;"><i>Many times I have followed the devices of my own heart, and other opportunities to be brave, kind and honest, I have not followed at all. But the reality of it all is that, all of us, each with our own memories and past, have not given up, and that tells us that despite our weaknesses, despite our foolishness, enough wisdom, enough hope, enough faith has flickered in our lives that our hearts and selves have moved forward. </i>(from Pastor Randy's Sermon 6/23)</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 36px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: 36px;">
From Pamela: Once upon a time a long time ago somebody said to me: "Pamela, you can choose to ignore God's Will for your life, but you can't change it!" </div>
<div style="text-indent: 36px;">
That is wisdom! </div>
<div style="text-indent: 36px;">
And time after time I have noticed the difference between running away from God's call and leaning towards it. How awesome, that God's call applies not only to the big picture of my life, but also to those daily (or even hourly) nudges to either receive something from God or take action in Christ's name. </div>
<div style="text-indent: 36px;">
Here's another thing: Accepting God's call to do something that is not necessarily my preference provides an opportunity to be utterly dependent upon God. And as I am dependent upon God, I find joy, hope, and love that spill outward. </div>
<div style="text-indent: 36px;">
Amazing! </div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-61924200404380938472013-06-19T15:03:00.002-04:002013-06-19T15:03:47.118-04:00This Far By Faith In Pastor Randy's most recent sermon (part of the series, "This Far by Faith") he quoted the following from one of his favorite authors: <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> “In unexpected ways and at unexpected places and times people of all sorts, believers and unbelievers alike, make their way to
us, looking for something that often they themselves can’t name any more than
you can well name it to them.” But our
lives with our people and events continue to shape us. Perhaps that is why the early church, and
apostles like <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Saint Paul</st1:city></st1:place>,
continued to hold up the significance and impact of a community faith. All of us here, in a way, are merely
passengers on a journey, in a slower way we are sitting here together in this
building as passengers on a train. We
are co-riders together with our hopeful destination being a full life, a faith
filled life, and a grace filled life. We
are partners together on this journey, and people come in and out all the time,
and whether a newcomer, whether we move away to another train, whether our
mortal life ends, we are still impacted and affected by each others’
presence. And often times in life, “the
decisions that we think are most important turn out not to matter so much after
all, but whether or not you mail the letter, the way you say goodbye or decide
not to say it, the evening you toss everything aside and go and watch the
sunset, these are apt to be the life changing moments for ourselves and
others.”</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From Pamela: As Pastor Randy said, not all lasting moments come in spectacular packages. I experienced a formational moment long ago when words of one of my adult children reminded me of the importance of paying attention to what is TRULY lasting. The situation was pretty typical: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> My husband and I were preparing to paint the living and dining room. I was eager to try something "creative" with color. I wanted to paint the walls a couple of differing shades of the same color, and have the ceiling be something other than the predictable "white" it had always been. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My husband wanted it all the same (which would, of course, shorten the amount of time needed for the project). </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 150%;">At one point in the conversation (my child was also present,but wasn't saying anything) the voices were getting a little testy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 150%;"> My adult child sat there listening and finally said: "Can I offer an opinion?" Ah, I thought, now we will have a "tie breaker". But instead, this is what was said: "I really don't care what color(s) you choose, but this room will be less enjoyable for me from now on if the main thing I remember about this project is your raised voices." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 150%;"> Wow.... that event happened almost a decade ago, and I quite honestly don't remember how the color debate turned out. But I know the voices immediately lowered and some humor was interjected which changed the tone of the entire project. I think of that one sentence now when I am discussing plans or projects -- the words spoken and the tone of voice are what will echo long after the observable results take their place in history. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 150%;"> Spontaneous words can be life changing! </span></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-13174405656757467772013-06-10T08:54:00.000-04:002013-06-10T08:54:10.117-04:00<br />
<div class="s14">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i><span style="padding-left: 36px;"></span><span class="s3"> Who was it that said things to you that you continue to quote in your head? What experiences with people did you have that shaped, changed or molded you along the way? Part of this series intent is for each of us to remember, relive, and recall those moments, those events, those people that equipped you for your life confidences and direction and your ongoing spiritual formation.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="s14">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i><span style="padding-left: 36px;"></span><span class="s3"> </span><span class="s3">Who are those people,... chance or obscure encounters?....</span></i></span></div>
<div class="s14">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i><span class="s3"> .......</span><span style="padding-left: 36px;"></span></i><span class="s3"><i>The reality is that people enter into our lives all the time, and we never know what act or phrase they may make that will forever shape us no matter how old we are. Maybe that is the excitement of the new creation of each day, we are forever a work of clay in God’s hands, and God uses the ordinary places, people, and events in our lives to continue to direct and support us. It could be today that it happens, and rare are the times when we actually know that it is happening in the present – most of the time it is only with hindsight that we realize it. </i> </span></span></div>
<div class="s14">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"> (From Pastor Randy's sermon 6/9/2013)</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="s14">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;">From Pamela -- I love the statement "we are forever a work of clay in God's hands. The possibility of being molded or shaped or reshaped every day provides so much hope! </span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;">It is important, I think, to remember that each person is being molded every day. It is unfaithful to declare "that person can NEVER change", whether it is myself or someone else. </span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;">If God is always up to something new, then part of our job is to recognize and appreciate qualities that are sprouting within that make us "wonder". </span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;">One of my chance encounters was with a man I met at a Lenten Supper when I was "new" in the faith. He was near me only a few minutes. Our conversation was fleeting. He asked me "what do you do here at Pearl Road UMC?" I said: "I don't know. I am just starting to wonder about this church stuff and Jesus and all of that." </span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;">He held my hand for a moment. He looked into my eyes and said: "Stay close to the fire!" </span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="s3" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;">I have never forgotten that encounter or his words or his eyes. But I have no idea who he is or what he does or where he came from. I never saw him before or since. Yet it was a formative moment to which I return regularly. </span></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-51911314554139197492013-06-05T07:16:00.002-04:002013-06-05T07:16:34.969-04:00We Have Come This Far By Faith<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s19">Perhaps it is equally threatening and comforting to us to know that throughout our lives we are forever ending some type of journey only to begin another. But the reality of things that have occurred in our life and now have changed</span><span class="s19">,</span><span class="s19"> does not mean they still don’t shape us. We are forever turning a page in our own book of life and each page that is turned would be hollow if it were not for the pages before it. For though buildings,</span><span class="s19">groups</span><span class="s19">, and people have come and gone, if we are blessed to be of good mind, those memories can take us back in a flash. (From Pastor Randy's sermon 6/2)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s19"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s19">From Pamela: Here is one of my favorite memories about story telling: </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s19"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s19"><i>When my kids were little we had a night time ritual where I would begin the story: Once upon a time there was a girl named Jackie (or a boy named Benjamin). On a ______ in ______ </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s19"><i>she/he (fill in the blank with something that happened).... </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s19"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s19"><i>As the "story" progressed, I would recount some of the details --- my little listeners participated in the story telling, sometimes elaborating, sometimes correcting. Sometimes I threw in something totally imaginary and they would giggle with delight. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s19"><br /></span></span>
The memory of these evenings spent with my little ones (who are now in their 30s) takes me to a tender time -- the minutes before bedtime, tucking them in: Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite. It was tender time that connected me to the memory of being "tucked in" by my own parents -- it transports me to my childhood bedroom, sleeping with my cat Mittens by my side. <br />
<br />
Revisiting our life story can be instructive, healing and (at the least/most) amusing. Looking at our life from a faith perspective is a meaningful and effective spiritual practice -- and it is not difficult. <br />
<br />
Take any event or phase of your life: <br />
<br />
Remember the physical details. What was going on? What people were involved? What were you doing? What were others doing? <br />
<br />
Here is the opener for the faith perspective: What was God doing? Do you recall anything in the event that offers comfort, or hope, or love or insight? What do you appreciate most about the memory? As you look "back" at the memory, do you see something you didn't see before? Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-39639938005123177122013-05-28T15:57:00.002-04:002013-05-28T15:57:20.570-04:00It is sufficient<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">At the very heart of the
Gospel, we are not saved by how much we know, and finding out the meaning of
life. We are saved by what God has done
in Christ in our behalf. We do not know
everything, but we know everything that is essential. What is our response to all of this? It is to acknowledge that we live by faith. Living by faith is not living without
question. Living by faith is not living
without struggle. Living by faith means
living with a proclamation. Living by
faith is staking our lives on the belief that what we know about God through
Christ and the Holy Spirit is enough to sustain us in this world and the world
to come. This is best summarized in our
second lesson from Romans, and the text is an important one for the Christian
life: “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this
grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of
God.” (From Pastor Randy's Sermon -- May 25-26 2013) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From Pamela: (previously posted on the Faith Formation Blog)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
The mystery of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit -- three in one all at once -- is one that stretches the imagination of the faithful. We use words to wonder about Trinity, but the words point to a meaning that goes deeper and beyond words. We sing about the concept: "Holy, Holy, Holy" in a familiar hymn. In our statements of faith, The Nicene, the Apostles', and the Athanasian Creeds, we declare our belief as a community in the various persons of the Trinity.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Lots of words that boggle the mind of the one who is rooted in rationality. Few of us have a mental understanding of how to explain the Trinity, and only the most courageous of preachers attempt to offer such an explanation in the context of a 12-17 minute long sermon.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Some simply tell a cute story:</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
A priest was in a public place where he witnessed a man who collapsed and was clearly in mortal danger. The priest (of course) ministered to the man, kneeling by his side: "My son, do you believe in God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit?" The man opened one eye partially and said...</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
"What... I'm dying.... and you're asking me a riddle?"</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
I suppose light humor can help us get around the frustration of our own inability to articulate the MEANING underlying our songs, our prayerful phrases, or our statements of faith.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Other teachers, preachers and theologians use images. C.S. Lewis pondered a cube as one way to get his mind around "Trinity". </div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
Consider the geometric figure of a cube. A cube is comprised of 6 squares joined in a three dimensional fashion, right? And squares are comprised of four lines of equal length... and lines are created by connecting two points (taken even further... the connecting lines are nothing other than a series of points)</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5oBwbVQOKkY/SC1oGg7NUqI/AAAAAAAAAGc/pYGq4jU6Il8/s1600-h/cube.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200927605809566370" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5oBwbVQOKkY/SC1oGg7NUqI/AAAAAAAAAGc/pYGq4jU6Il8/s200/cube.gif" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
So you are looking at the cube... and it is a matter of your focus or the intention (choice) of your mind as to whether you are looking most closely at a square, a line or a point, or the cube as a "whole" comprised of many parts. Also, as you look at various squares, look at what happens when you gaze at the bottom line. (do this for 5 seconds) Now look away from the figure (for 10 seconds) and look back, but focus upon the space above the TOP line. Then slowly move your focus to the space on the right of the cube (5-10 seconds or until you see the figure "flip")</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
It is amazing how we can see the points, lines and squares in so many ways all at once, simply by allowing our senses to be open to a variety of perspectives and places of full attention.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
So.... back to the idea of the Trinity. God's mystery of creation, compassion and abiding/eternal/infinite presence is one that we can experience "all at once in totality". Still, there are moments in our life when our spirit, heart or mind seem to be most fully aware of one aspect of the three in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
In closing, we are reminded, though, that we can never, ever fully comprehend the mystery of God through the limited vehicle of OUR understanding. We are reminded, too, that it is not at the moment of understanding Father, Son and Holy Spirit that we are activated in our mission as Christians: It is the moment when our hearts are ignited in belief!</div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-83219766757784800062013-05-23T18:12:00.002-04:002013-05-23T18:12:41.023-04:00Pastor Prepares For Trinity SundayLooking towards the <a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=262">scriptures for this week</a>, these questions are on Pastor Randy's mind: <br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The complexity of the Trinity stands next to the simplicity of Paul's statement in our second lesson.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"We are justified by faith" is a simple statement. And the faith we profess is faith in a mysterious God who is manifest as "One in Three persons" -- Blessed Trinity (and so complex) </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How do we live in the mystery and simplicity of it all? How do we accept the simplicity without losing the awe?</span>Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-85673269948837255962013-05-22T08:59:00.000-04:002013-05-23T18:05:40.710-04:00Mini death. Maximum life.<br />
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Mini-deaths are those situations, or significant
events, that occur in our lives that cause a part of us to feel as if it has
died. We experience mini-deaths
throughout our lifetime. A mini-death
can occur from something simple, to something major occurring in our
lives. When we experience a sort of
mini-death, we are often left with a kind of depressed feeling, which has been
described sometimes as a hollow feeling.
Something that was a part of you is now gone. Mini-deaths can include things like a son or
daughter getting married, for even though you might be caught up in the
excitement of that event, there still may be a part of you that feels hollow
inside. Or it might be that something in
house, something that has sentimental value to you is suddenly gone, and you
can't stop thinking about it. ..... The disciples must have certainly experienced a
mini-death as they watched the resurrected Jesus ascend away from their
immediate presence and into heaven. The
disciples most likely experienced that hollow feeling. However, it is what happens to the disciples
in the wake of the time period that begins the church season we celebrate
today, namely this day of Pentecost.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> ..... Pentecost,
as we might have heard many times in our lives, is the birthday of the Church.
The disciples, the followers of Christ, receive Jesus’ gift of the Advocate,
the Holy Spirit. So in the midst of
their feelings of being down, depressed, and questioning their future, the
Advocate, the Spirit arrives to give them a new beginning, a new birth. That's
what the Pentecost season focuses our Christian lives upon. Pentecost is the season of growing, but in
order to have growth; we must have a new life, a new beginning. That is where
part two comes in from the mini-deaths, because for every time we experience a
mini-death, we also experience a new beginning, a kind of mini-birth. It is very much like the season of Easter, when part
of us dies; there also is a new part of us born. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(From Pastor Randy's Pentecost Sermon) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From Pamela</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Many people have experienced the "surprise" of something new and fresh peeking out from the debris of mini- death. Sadly our media has been replete with images of significant loss in the wake of this week's tornadoes. For many, the loss is permanent. Life and loved ones are gone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Happily, for many, the loss is material. Even more happily, for some, what was initially declared destroyed is being found -- pets, friends and family are being returned to the hands and hearts of those who endured hours or days of wondering "is he/she gone forever?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Across the board, those who testify to the experience of survival speak about the indelible lesson. It goes something like this: This miracle has taught me to value what is really important. Never, ever take love and life for granted. We can rebuild "stuff". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Life will always include mini-deaths. Grief and the hollowness of loss are a part of life, and there is no point in minimizing their impact. However, God's spirit always, always, always invites us to look through the rubble of what seems to have collapsed and see the glimmers of hope and life. When we can't see it individually, we gather in community to remind each other new life is most certainly present -- and we will welcome it even if it is dramatically different from the previous (precious) experiences. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the fundamental powers and privileges of the church is the capacity to live in hope! We lean towards new life even when we can't see it. Life becomes maximized in the midst of a mini death. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-1851444874801622692013-05-15T07:23:00.000-04:002013-05-15T07:23:39.029-04:00More than a makeover. Made new! <div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">Unlike the early Christians who lived in fear of being killed for their beliefs, today our challenge as faithful followers is how we live out our lives with our community, with our world, with other Christians, with our </span><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">mothers and fathers, and all our </span><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">family, and even at times with ourselves. For the truth of the matter is, that as broken but loved people, as humans who have been saved by the Gospel, we still maintain the capacity for messing up our lives. (from Pastor Randy's sermon 5/12/2013)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">From Pamela: </span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">Not long ago, reality shows about "makeovers" were very popular. Sometimes it was a home that was being made over, at other times a wardrobe. Sometimes it was a torso or a face. And sometimes it was a family. The episodes started with the mess and then step by step, enhanced by the dramatic flair of some narrator, the viewers were introduced to the miraculous result of some transformational process. We were welcomed into the understory of liposuction, closet purging or whole house deconstruction. We hung on the edge of what the new creation would be and then at the climax the host said, "and now, here it is!!!!" </span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">End of show. We see the glorious product. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">But we never see what happens in the months ahead. Not to be a skeptic, but I can't help but wonder how sustainable the result was, particularly if the people involved did not internalize the lifestyle needed to let the fruit of the transformation flourish. Even the most dramatic makeover will fade unless the life is made new! </span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">Consider now the sustainability of our new lives in Christ. We regularly get glimpses of the product -- we experience surges of joy or compassion. We spring into energetic service or we burst with understanding of how Christ redeems us each day. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">And then the muck and mire of our brokenness begins to accumulate again. Something is done to us. Or we do something to someone. Or we do nothing at all. The old way hovers in the corner, just like old eating or thinking or living habits hover at the perimeter of even the most extreme "makeover". </span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">The difference for Christians is that the love of God continually (and intentionally) surrounds us. To be sure, every day we face the risk of backsliding. We can't stay "in Christ" on our own. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;">But with every day God, who knows us better than we know ourselves, meets us and says "even now, I am making you new." The transformation from within expands daily, assuring us that what God has promised to accomplish for God's people, God does! And what God does, is done forever! </span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20" style="text-indent: 36px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698331469383694801.post-62474829667478303242013-05-07T09:19:00.001-04:002013-05-07T09:19:12.551-04:00The Story Continues<br />
<div class="s21">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="padding-left: 36px;"></span><span class="s20">40 years. </span><span class="s20">1973</span><span class="s20">. While work </span><span class="s20">went</span><span class="s20"> into this ministry well ahead of that time</span><span class="s20">, </span><span class="s20">on </span><span class="s20">May </span><span class="s20">27, </span><span class="s20">1973 the official beginning of this mission station, of this community of faith</span><span class="s20"> was celebrated</span><span class="s20">. </span><span class="s20">Did the group of disciples that gathered </span><span class="s20">there that</span><span class="s20"> day </span><span class="s20">even </span><span class="s20">envision that we would be </span><span class="s20">sitting</span><span class="s20"> here in this facility forty years later and talking about them</span><span class="s20">?</span><span class="s20"> </span><span class="s20">That this group of people here today would be about Praising God, Serving Others? </span><span class="s20">I think in many ways </span><span class="s20">the answer to that question is yes</span><span class="s20">. </span><span class="s20">Because</span><span class="s20"> all the work that went into </span><span class="s20">those moments were not just about those moments, it was more so for future</span><span class="s20"> moments, for </span><span class="s20">a people that had yet to encounter the Gospel of Jesus Christ. </span><span class="s20">I</span><span class="s20">t was about mission. It was about sharing the Good News. It was about the gift of the Holy Spirit, the </span><span class="s20">Advocate, which</span><span class="s20"> would come to the church</span><span class="s20">, as Jesus announced in our text</span><span class="s20">. It was about vision. </span></span></div>
<div class="s21">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20">(From Pastor Randy's Sermon on 5/5/2013)</span></span></div>
<div class="s21">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="s21">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20">From Pamela: I recall a statement of one of the Native American Indian principles of decision making. It went something like this: </span></span></div>
<div class="s21">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="s21">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20">"Everything we decide to do today should be for the good of the next 10 generations". </span></span></div>
<div class="s21">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="s21">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20">That is about vision. It is about standing in the present, looking at all that we have before us, and using everything that we have with the future in our minds. It is about trusting that what and who is beyond the horizon is in some way dependent upon us. </span></span></div>
<div class="s21">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s20"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="s21">
I know that many of those who were present 10 or 15 or 30 or 40 years ago are no longer with us in "fact". However, we are the way we are because of the way they were. We at CRLC represent the current sum of the hopes and dreams and prayers of everybody who has been in this place. </div>
<div class="s21">
<br /></div>
<div class="s21">
However, we are but a subtotal of what will ultimately unfold in our mission. </div>
<div class="s21">
<br /></div>
<div class="s21">
So we celebrate the subtotal of 40 years of shared ministry, knowing that our commitment to the good news of Jesus Christ will affect all of the others who will praise God and serve others here long after we are, in a word, history! </div>
<div>
<span class="s20" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
Pamela Czarnotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00440903336755009393noreply@blogger.com0