“No Greater Love Than This”

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Meditation on John 15:9-17

Feb. 27, 2013

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           “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

      “‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” John 15:9-17

***

     Jolanta Staron grew up in a tiny village in Poland. Growing up, she heard that her mother and grandmother had saved their “friends.”

    Jolanta and her brother and sister received Christmas packages from some of these “friends” for many years—boxes filled with M&M’s, toys, clothing, and other goodies—without Jolanta and her brother and sister ever meeting the “friends” face to face.  Every year, the packages came, and bits of the story were told again.  But important details were left out until Jolanta was older.  Details waited until she and her brother and sister could understand the full significance of what her Polish Catholic grandmother, Francisca, and their mother, Helena, had done when they lived in Sokal, Poland, during WWII. How they had quietly risked their lives so that others who were despised and rejected might live.

    When Jolanta was a child, she didn’t know the “friends” were Jewish.  Those who hid Jews during the war didn’t talk about it when so much prejudice against Jews lingered even after the war.  Jolanta grew up in a tiny apartment crowded with extended family and was shocked to learn that her grandmother and mother, who barely had enough food for themselves during the war, had hidden, fed, and cared for 16 men, women, and children for 20 months as the Nazis terrorized their city.  Six thousand Jews lived in Sokal before the Nazi occupation in 1939; only 30 survived by 1944; 13 of them had been hidden in Francisca’s tiny hayloft above her pigsty; three more (a man, his wife, and their young son) were hidden in a hole dug beneath her kitchen floor.

       Judy Maltz grew up in New Jersey. Every year she helped her parents and grandparents prepare packages for Francisca’s family at Christmas time.  She enjoyed filling the boxes with M&M’s, toys, clothing and other goodies.  Judy had never met Francisca or her family. And she never questioned why her family sent Christmas presents when Judy’s family didn’t celebrate Christmas.  They were Jewish!

       Every year, bits of the story were told again.  Some details waited until Judy was old enough to understand the enormity of what Francisca and her daughter Helena had done, how they had risked their lives so others who were despised and rejected might live.

***

        The cross awaits Jesus as our Lord speaks in John of what it means to love as God loves.  Jesus tells His disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.”  But love without obedience to God’s commands, is not the love of Jesus. Christ says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”  Abiding in His love will bring the blessing of Christ’s joy for Jesus says, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

        Those who confess Christ as Lord and Savior, but do not have Christ’s love for others and do not live in love, are not keeping His commandments or abiding in Him.  

      Christ’s love is one that is willing to take risks and lose everything.  A love that holds nothing back.  That has no fear.  That seeks to gain nothing for oneself, but only to do what God requires.

     This kind of love is rare in a world that tells us we don’t have to love everybody all the time.  Some people don’t deserve our love.  And love doesn’t have to last.  We can choose to love with certain conditions or for only a little while, when loving is beneficial for us. Most of us would hesitate to love if it meant putting our own families in danger.

      Yet Christ commands us to love as He has loved us. This love He speaks of is possible if we abide in Him.  If we cling to Him heart, mind, and soul and seek the Spirit’s power to follow in His footsteps. This love requires faith.

      Jesus tells us there is no greater love than the love he has shown us—a love that led him to the cross.  Christ became for us the one despised and rejected, so we, who deserved God’s wrath, might live.

     

*** 

     

      As Judy’s family prepared the packages for Francisca’s family every year, her grandfather would take from his wallet the picture he always carried of her.  She was the “angel,” he said, who saved the entire family.

       Francisca’s granddaughters, however, remember her as no “angel” in the traditional sense. She wasn’t overtly religious. She was tough, didn’t “take any punches from anybody,” and liked to sniff tobacco. But she was a woman with compassion and the courage to live by her convictions.

     Why did she do what she did—when so many of her Christian neighbors assisted the Nazis? The key is in the word Francisca used to describe those she helped. She called them simply her “friends.”

    As we continue our Lenten journey together, seeking to draw nearer to God and walk in Christ’s footsteps toward the cross, Francisca’s story reminds us of the extraordinary love and grace God has shown us.

     Francisca died in 1960 without ever having revealed her secret. Jolanta did not hear about the courageous thing her mother and grandmother had done until she and her family moved to the United States in the 1980s. The Israeli government contacted them when they recognized Francisca and Helena in 1986 as “Righteous Among the Nations.”  

    

      Jolanta and her sister finally met Judy Maltz and those who had survived because of their grandmother’s bravery. A few years ago Judy decided to make the documentary film, “No. 4 Street of Our Lady,” so the world would know.  They traveled together to Francisca’s former home in Poland. Jolanta and her sister were seeing it for the first time. The “friends” wiped away tears when they saw the tiny, dark, smelly loft above the pigsty and the hole dug beneath the kitchen floor. Sixteen people had huddled, trembling in silent fear for nearly 2 years as the woman who was their angel risked her life so they who were despised and rejected might live. 

 

      “For there is no greater love than this—to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

     My friends, let us pray.

Holy God, we thank you for your amazing love that led you to provide the sacrifice for our sins through your only Son.  During Lent and always, move our hearts to gratitude for what you have done for us who do not deserve your love.  Remind us that we are saved not by our works but by Your grace through faith, which is also a gift from you.  Move us to cling to you heart, mind and soul, and abide in Christ, so we might keep your commandments. Build up our faith and give us courage to take risks and love those who are despised and rejected as you have loved us.  In Christ we pray.  Amen!

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem!”

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Meditation on Luke 13:31-35

Feb. 24, 2013

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       “At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.”

      ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’   Luke 13:31-35

***

      It is good to be back!  Although I only missed one Sunday in the pulpit, it still felt like a long time away from my church.

      Being sick is a humbling experience, isn’t it? Illness is a reminder that we are not as strong and independent as we think we are or would like to be. It reminds us that we are weak and vulnerable and need one another. It reminds us that we need the Lord—and that’s a good thing—and that in our weakness, He is strong. 

   When I was away taking my seminary course, I was asked questions about my church.  Where it is located, what it looks like, how many attend.  I showed them pictures I had posted on Facebook before we left—pictures as the sun was going down and the drifted snow glowed orange and looked like sand dunes on a beach.

    Everyone said it was beautiful.  And it is.

    Then they talked about their churches. One of the men attended a Presbyterian mega church— we actually have a few of those in our denomination—where thousands of people attend a variety of services.

     Those with large churches described wonderful live music, and a multi media stage with large screens and video playing in the background.  The multi-staff churches offer more luxurious facilities, and programs and groups for all ages.  Some have coffee shops, gift shops, bookstores and so on.

     I felt at a loss to describe my church—or any church—in this kind of language.  Don’t get me wrong – when I was in my 20s I attended a large, suburban nondenominational church for a few years, and I enjoyed it, but it was during college and I saw it as temporary. I planned to find a smaller church that would be my worship home after I graduated. I had no lasting relationships from my time there and no one I stayed in contact with after I left. 

   To me, one does not describe a church in terms of what it offers.  A church doesn’t need to have a parking lot the size of a shopping mall to be a good church.  It doesn’t need a live rock band to have good music and a rich worship experience. 

     But I couldn’t put my feelings—my convictions—into words without criticizing mega churches, which are obviously successful if success in a church is measured by membership, programs, and dollars generated.  How can I criticize mega churches when so many smaller churches have had to close their doors in the last 20 years as their aging membership dwindles and young people don’t crowd in to fill the pews? When the finances have declined with its membership?

    ***

       In today’s gospel, some Pharisees approach Jesus from behind and make threats. In Luke and Acts, whenever we read about scribes and Pharisees, they are always wicked and enemies of Christ. “Go away,” they say. “Leave this place! Herod wants to kill you.” 

     The Pharisee are really expressing their own desires and not speaking for Herod. For when Jesus is brought before the king in Luke 23:11, he doesn’t kill him; he returns him to Pontius Pilate.

     Jesus responds by calling Herod a “fox,” an animal that was associated with craftiness and slyness. And this is where we learn our function as a church, both the people of God and the gathering of the people of God.

    “Tell that fox” he says, “that I am busy today, tomorrow, and the next healing the sick and casting out demons.  And on the third day, my work is finished.” 

    Jesus knows he has 3 days left to live on earth and he’s going to spend them doing the most important things that God has sent him to do. He is going to love, heal and forgive all those who seek His help. One person at a time.  He isn’t going to stand up in a crowd and declare everyone in that town healed and saved. He could have done that, but that isn’t His way.  When Jesus heals, it is an intimate, one-on-one experience that usually involves conversation and confession, a physical touch, and a declaration of faith, forgiveness and healing.

     What Jesus did in those last 3 days on earth is our job as a church, along with our call to love our enemies, as Jesus reaffirms with his lament for the holy city that would soon cry out for his crucifixion. ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

***

     On the plane ride back to Minnesota, I finally found the words that I had been looking for--a theological defense of the small church-- in a book I had bought from the seminary bookstore.  You see, I believe the small church that is Christ-centered and Spirit-led can better embody the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

     In Imagining the Small Church, Celebrating the Simpler Path, pastor Steve Willis says there is something compelling about what small churches seem to lack.  These churches may lack state of the art, even “updated” facilities and a “critical mass of people.”  They may lack skilled musicians or even a full time pastor.  They may lack comfortable pews and attractive pew covers.  They may lack contemporary music offerings and video screens; they may still use well-worn hymnals.  They may even lack “a sound system that actually helps one hear the sermon,” Willis says.  “Yet what is not here tends to highlight what is here. Small-church life strips away many nonessentials of being church… The lack becomes the opportunity to put on center stage people caring for one another and the experience of Sunday morning worship (p. 18).” 

      I have a feeling that ministers in mega churches don’t know many of the members and their children by name; nor have they been to their homes. They don’t know when someone is sick or has cancer. They may have other staff for hospital and nursing home visitation and weddings and funerals.  They don’t offer counseling.  They don’t have time. Some large church pastors do little else but preach and manage their executive staff.

    When I think of my church, I think of the individuals and families. I remember not just names and faces, but conversations, stories, and prayer needs. I think of the love we have for one another and how intimate we are with one another.  

   Some pastors would never let their parishioners know they were sick.  You would just come one Sunday and another member of staff would be preaching and you would think nothing of it because there would be a rotation in the pulpit.

    I received cards, phone calls, emails and notes on Facebook when I was sick.

    “Are you feeling better, Pastor Karen? We’ve been thinking of you.”

    They lifted my spirits and made me feel loved and whole.

    So, my question is again, what is “church”?  My answer is look around.

    We are a place to worship and serve the Lord.

     A place where the broken are made whole.

     

      Look around.

     We are vessels of God’s grace and forgiveness.

    

      We are instruments of God’s healing love.

      

      Look around.

      

      We are Jerusalem, Jerusalem!

      

      Gathered underneath Christ’s wings.

Will you pray with me?

      Heavenly Father, thank you for your self-giving love that led you to make the sacrifice for our sins so we could be reconciled with you and one another.  Thank you for never turning away from us, though we have turned away from you and forgotten, at times, just how much we need you.  Thank you for calling us to be your church and calling us by name, your Jerusalem, Jerusalem! For gathering us to yourself.  Forgive us when we have focused too much on the things we don’t have as a church—things that really don’t help us worship you better or love one another any more.  Forgive us when we have worried about being small—when we should have been worried only about reaching out with your healing love to a great big world that needs your salvation and healing desperately.  Empower us by your Spirit to hear Your voice and courageously do Your Will.  In Christ we pray.  Amen.  

Meditation on Matthew 6:1-7 and 16-21

Ash Wednesday 2013

***

       ‘Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

      ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

     ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 ‘When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.

     ‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

     ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart shall also be.  (Matthew 6:1-7, 16-21)

***

      Jim and I got back from our trip to Georgia on Monday night, driving about 90 miles west on highway 212 on what some would call a white-knuckled journey.  Our return had already been delayed a day because of the snowstorm on Sunday when our plane touched down at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. Blowing snow and ice made roads slick and driving conditions “difficult.”  The forecast was for more snow, wind, and falling temperatures. 

     But we needed to get back. So we set out from the Cities late Monday morning. Jim was driving. Snowplows were working to clear the main roads, and a light snow was gently falling.  All seemed to be well. As we traveled west, however, the wind picked up and road conditions worsened. 

    When we reached Renville County, visibility had gradually lessened until it was impossible, at times, to see beyond the front of our vehicle.  Our Santa Fe shuddered as wind gusts pushed snow and ice against our car. We were engulfed in a fierce white cloud.

       Then, suddenly, a slow-moving snowplow appeared in the road ahead. Jim had to make a decision.  He could attempt to speed up and pass the snowplow in the icy, slushy mess, but without being able to see if there were cars or trucks coming toward us in the left lane.

     Or he could blindly follow slowly in the white cloud, hoping he would not misjudge the snowplow’s position and crash, but also taking a chance that someone might suddenly come upon us from behind and not be able to see us—until it was too late. 

     What we couldn’t do was what I wanted to do—stop and go back.  We had to keep on going, hoping and believing that God would protect us, guide us, and lead us safely home.

      The rest of the world went dim and nothing else mattered as I lifted up silent prayers for His help. They were cries that came from deep within the heart. I strained to hear God’s reassuring voice and feel His comforting presence in the storm.  And then, just as suddenly as the white cloud had come over us, it lifted enough to allow Jim to see to pass the snowplow and we continued on.

        I silently thanked God for being with us, watching over us, and showing us the way He wanted us to go.          

        The journey back home was truly a journey of faith.

***

        And that is how it is with our spiritual lives, especially during Lent. This is when we seek to allow the rest of the world to go dim; nothing else matters as we make time and space to draw closer to the Lord each day—to humbly cry out to Him in our need, to listen for His voice, and feel His comforting presence. 

      We see only dimly, traveling through this world in our earthly bodies like vehicles in a Minnesota snowstorm.  We don’t know what lies ahead or what trouble may be whirling around us. And we certainly don’t know God’s thoughts or plans.  We can only trust in the Spirit to be our strength and guide—until He leads us safely to our heavenly home.

        We look forward to when we can finally see everything clearly—and fully understand. When we are no longer living in these perishable bodies that were created from dust and someday will return to the dust of the earth. We look forward to when we are living in resurrected, God-perfected bodies. When we see our Savior face to face!

     During this Holy Season, though we see our risen Christ only through the eyes of faith, we will seek to engage fully our hearts and minds as we gather for worship on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. We are not just going through the motions of rituals and liturgical responses.  We are not gathering for our entertainment or to impress anyone with how religious we are. We come to worship, to hear from God, and be pleasing to God alone. 

    This is what Jesus is talking about when in Matthew he says, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them.”

    He warns us not to be like the hypocrites whose religious practices of giving to the poor, praying, and fasting are done solely as a performance—so that others will think they are good.  They are meaningless practices because they do not come from a grateful heart that loves the Lord and wants to serve Him. 

      When we gather to worship and pray in our churches and when we go to a private place to pray by ourselves or when we engage in acts of kindness and compassion without anyone but God knowing, then we are building up our treasure in Heaven, as Jesus calls us to do. 

    Let us, especially during this Holy Season of Lent, find time to allow the things of the world to grow dim—and let nothing else matter but hearing His voice, feeling His comforting presence, and following after Him.

    May it truly be for all a journey of faith that leads us to the foot of the cross where our Savior suffered and died for our sins.

    Let us build up a treasure that neither moth nor rust can destroy.  A treasure that no thief can break in and steal.

    And where our treasure is, there our hearts shall also be.

Let us pray.

Holy God, thank you for always being with us, watching over and protecting us, and leading us on the way you want us to go. Forgive us when we haven’t spent enough time with you alone in prayer and meditating on Your Word. Forgive us when we have been too busy for you and not grateful enough for all you have done for us through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Forgive us when we have sought the favor of human beings instead of seeking only to please You with the acts of kindness and compassion you lead us to do in secret.  Let us feel your comforting presence as we seek to humbly walk beside Your Son.  Take us to the foot of the cross, show us Your Will, and help us to obey. In Christ we pray. Amen.

“You Shall Go. You Shall Speak. Don’t Be Afraid!”

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Meditation on Jeremiah 1:4-10

February 3, 2013

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       Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

      Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”

       But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.”

      Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:4-10)

***

     Les and Cindy Morgan had three small children—7-year-old Laura, 4-year-old Everett, and 7-month-old Stewart—when God called them to be medical missionaries to Bangladesh in February 1990.  The Lord led them literally to the other side of the world from their home in Louisiana to serve Him in a country the size of Arkansas, but with half the population of the United States.

    About 144 million people live in Bangladesh today; an average of 2,758 people per square mile.

    Most of the people are poor and malnourished, living on a diet of rice mixed with curry.  More than ½ the adults cannot read or write. Three out of 4 children make it through the 5^th grade, but only 1 in 3 of those children go on to attend grades 6 through 10. More than 1/3 of the families in Bangladesh live on less than $1 per day. Children are needed to labor in factories to help support their families or at home to help with household tasks that must all be done by hand; there is no running water and rarely electricity, let alone appliances such as refrigerators or microwaves.  There are few flush toilets or toilets at all. People bathe in ponds.

      Les and Cindy, doctors educated in the United States, had a great deal to learn when they arrived.  They did not know the language.  They had to get used to the urban environment and the hot, humid climate with seasonal monsoons, annual floods, and cyclones. And they needed to learn about Islam because most people in Bangladesh are Muslims. Less than 1 percent of the total population is Christian.

      Les and Cindy, whom our church has helped to support for a number of years, have worked in a Christian mission hospital on the western border, just across the Ganges River from India. The hospital is one of the programs of the Church of Bangladesh, which the Morgans helped establish a formal relationship with the PC (USA) in 1992. Because so many of the poor lack transportation Les and Cindy also travel to the villages in a mobile medical unit. Les treats adults with tuberculosis, arthritis, typhoid fever and diabetes, among other illnesses and disease.  Cindy treats children with black fever, pneumonia, measles, and diarrhea caused by poor living conditions. Every day children die from diarrhea.

      The most difficult aspect of their mission work, Les says, is their daily witness of human suffering.  But it is the suffering and their faith that Christ calls the Church to a ministry of healing that helps them persevere through the hardest times.  This ministry of healing is an evangelical task.

      At the heart of human suffering, Les says, is a separation from God. True healing occurs not just when physical health is restored but when the relationship with God is restored through Jesus Christ.

     The Church proclaims the hope of this restoration not only through its preaching, but also through its compassion, sacrificial service, advocacy for the oppressed, and peacemaking.    

    

***

     

    Did Les and Cindy ever have doubts about God’s call?  Were they like Jeremiah who feared what might happen if he obeyed?

    And did the Lord answer Les and Cindy like he answered Jeremiah? “You shall go ....  You shall speak ...  Don’t be afraid!”

    Jeremiah preaches during Israel’s exile, in the aftermath of Babylon’s catastrophic destruction of the nation by three invasions of Judah and its chief city, Jerusalem, from 597 to 582 B.C.   Jeremiah calls the people to turn back to God; their faith has been shaken to the core.  He assures them that the Lord has not abandoned or forgotten them, though their losses are great.  He offers hope for the wounded in body and soul, assuring the people that they would survive, and that God had plans for them, still.

     Jeremiah experiences hardship and trials after obeying the Lord’s call. He is arrested, imprisoned, and left in a cistern to die, narrowly escaping with his life.  Like his compatriots, he loses everything but he survives because God is with Him and has promised to deliver him.  Jeremiah buys a plot of land to symbolize renewed life that will come in the future.  And though the community does not listen to him, the people gain hope from the stories about his faithfulness to the Lord as he copes with his suffering.

***

    Les and Cindy have also endured trials during their service to the Lord. The last few years have been the hardest, Les told me Friday night. He called to talk about coming to visit our church in April.  

     For the last 3½ years, Les and Cindy have lived in Dhaka, one of the most densely populated and polluted cities in the world. They lived there to be near the Church of Bangladesh’s social development programs serving slums in the area and to be close to St. Andrew’s Theological College, where Les has been helping to prepare future church leaders, teaching such courses as, “The Healing Ministry of the Church.”

      But the conversation soon turned to the most difficult personal challenge the couple has faced—dealing with the loss of their son Everett to bone cancer in 2008. They are still working through their grief, he says.

      Les and Cindy are back in the states for 6 months visiting churches to talk about the ministry, show a video they made, and thank us for our prayers and financial support. The prayers give them hope and strength to continue on, Les says. They plan to return to Bangladesh June 1.

      They are examples to us of Christians who put their faith into action by helping people with great needs with all the gifts, talents, and resources the Lord has given them. They are willing to go to whomever the Lord leads them, though it may be on the other side of the world, to a people with a different faith, culture and language. They are willing to go, though it means hardship and sacrifice—and living where they would rather not live.   

       Brothers and sisters, our church is in a good place right now—poised to listen for God’s call to serve with all the talents and resources He has given us.  But we have to be open to whom the Lord wants us to minister.  I encourage each one of us to be more faithful to pray for our PC (USA) missionaries, such as Les and Cindy Morgan, knowing that they draw strength and hope from our prayerful support. And let us also be more faithful and generous in our giving—because God has given us much so that we can be a blessing to others.

    And yes, we may have trials when we answer God’s call to serve and give. We may encounter hardship or even loss.  We will have to walk in faith that the Lord is guiding us on the right path.  We cannot place our trust in our money, property, or other material resources. We have to have faith that our power, authority, wealth, and security come from Jesus Christ! 

     Let us not allow fear for the future stop us from being the church the Lord wants us to be now—actively engaged in ministries of healing, prayerfully and financially supporting mission workers to our needy neighbors around the globe, and speaking the Gospel through words and acts of kindness and compassion.

    And whenever we are tempted to doubt or second guess ourselves, let us recall the Lord’s words to Jeremiah when he struggled to obey God’s call.

    “You shall go.  You shall speak.  Don’t be afraid!”

Let us pray.

 Holy God, we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who gives us all the power, authority, wealth, and security we need to engage in ministries of healing and reconciliation.  Forgive us if we have held on too tightly to what we have or when we have been fearful of our future as a church.  Let us act boldly and confidently, knowing that you are guiding our footsteps as we learn to walk in Christ’s self-giving ways.  Teach us to be more faithful in our prayers and more generous in our giving for mission workers such as our friends Les and Cindy Morgan.  We pray that your spirit would uplift them as they struggle with their grief. Bind their wounds, Lord.  Fill the empty spaces inside of them left by the loss of their son, Everett.  We ask that you give them strength and hope to continue on in their ministry of healing and teaching to the people of Bangladesh.  In Christ we pray.  Amen!