1 Samuel 3:1-10, 18-20 – Samuel's Call Story

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1 Samuel 3:1-10, 18-20 – Samuel's Call Story

From Hannah, we learn that God may respond to our prayers through the words and actions of people around us as Eli did for Hannah. And we learn to patiently await the fulfillment of answered prayers.
From Samuel, we learn to be active listeners, and we learn that neither our age nor our qualifications or accomplishments – OR lack thereof – prevent God from speaking to us directly.
From Eli, we learn the value of the wisdom we’ve acquired throughout our lives and the importance of nurturing younger generations despite our own failings. We are never Unqualified for God to use us.

As we, individually and collectively, look to our future, let us all pray with Hannah’s deep passion, let us all listen with Samuel’s attentiveness, and let us all serve those around us with Eli’s nurturing wisdom. As much as we are able to explore and express our faith in these ways, we will continue to create moments where God’s love is able to irrupt in our homes and in our community.

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Genesis 12:1-9; 15:1-6 – Abraham’s Call Story

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Genesis 12:1-9; 15:1-6 – Abraham’s Call Story

firmly believe that God has positioned and equipped us with everything we need to get to the next step. We need to be using all of our senses to detect God’s leadings. We need to trust that, as a loving creator, God wants the best for us and for our community. We need to share our life and faith stories with each other so that we can be encouraged, we can encourage others, and we – working and talking together – can more clearly understand where God is leading us next.

Two weeks ago, we sang Amy Grant’s, Thy Word, a song inspired by Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” We can take only one step at a time. Even the great Jesse Owens ran and jumped one step at a time. When we make ourselves available to God and seek God’s leading, we also need to muster the courage to trust God’s leading light and take that next step. If we do so, if we emulate Abram’s unwavering faith in and commitment to God, then we allow God’s life-changing, world-changing Spirit to move in us and through us. When God’s Spirit is freely moving, our lives and our community will be forever transformed and thus better able to accept the Good News of God’s love and experience the Kingdom of God here and now.

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1 John 3:16-24 – Debbie Abbott – Love: The Act of Receiving and Giving

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1 John 3:16-24 – Debbie Abbott – Love: The Act of Receiving and Giving

We cannot bring about change in our community only by what we preach. Our actions must portray what we say and believe. Doing good, by its definition, is never complete. God’s love is a never-ending stream that we can tap every day. All of us have a role in both receiving and giving love. It’s ironic that when dealing with these positive commandments, we don’t ever come to a point when we can say, “I’m done.”

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Psalm 4 – Passionate Prayers, Peaceful Sleep

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Psalm 4 – Passionate Prayers, Peaceful Sleep

We can and should be God’s compassionate, loving, caring presence to everyone – especially those in need. We can be shoulders to cry on. We can offer the psalmist’s advice to not let anger drive any of us to sin, but rather let God work on our anger and worries overnight. We can remind ourselves and each other that the greatest joys come from our relationships with God and each other, not from our accumulations of material goods and wealth.

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John 20:19-31 and Acts 4:32-35 – Rev. Blake Busick – Awaken to Life

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John 20:19-31 and Acts 4:32-35 – Rev. Blake Busick – Awaken to Life

You are made in the image of God, and you are completely and eternally loved, and therefore have great value and worth. And God is a God of of perfect love and eternal joy that overcomes evil and shatters our illusions. These are the realities to base our life on. And it changes everything when we do that.
The only weapons that really defeat evil, injustice and oppression, in whatever forms they present themselves are love, and joy. That’s what Jesus showed us in His death and resurrection, in His crucifixion, and in His rising from the grave is that those are God’s weapons to defeat evil: love and joy.
And so, this season I invite you to join me and Thomas to awaken, awaken to Jesus, awaken to love, awaken to joy.

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Mark 16:1-8 – Jesus has Risen! What’s Next?

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Mark 16:1-8 – Jesus has Risen! What’s Next?

The Good News of Easter is that the rolled stone and the empty tomb tells us that God is at work in our lives doing what we cannot do. God is actively working for us and with us to create new possibilities beyond our imaginations. Rather than worry about possible problems, we can look to our future with joy and hope.
Today, how will we – individually and as a church – respond to the empty tomb, to the risen Jesus? As we strive to follow God’s lead and expand the Kingdom of God within ourselves and throughout our communities, we must ask, what’s next?

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Mark 11:1-11 – A Donkey and Palm Sunday

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Mark 11:1-11 – A Donkey and Palm Sunday

One of my favorite ways to approach stories like this is to put myself into each character’s role and ponder how I might have felt or reacted in the moment. Today’s short story gives us several options. I invite you to ask yourselves the same questions I’ve been pondering this week.

As we end our season of Lent, as we spend the next five days traveling with Jesus to the cross, let us wait on God. And as God leads us, may we step bravely, one dusty hoof in front of the other, forward with hope.

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Mark 8:27-30 – “Who do you say I am?”

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Mark 8:27-30 – “Who do you say I am?”

As modern-day disciples of Jesus continuing 2,000 years of the Christian tradition, our faith calls us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Once we have our answer – individually and as a church – to Jesus’ question, then our bodies (and our church as the Body of Christ) open ourselves afresh to God’s Spirit moving within us and through us. Once we have our answer, we have the foundation required to survive life’s storms and launch new ministries. Like the disciples, once we have our answer, nothing can stop us from being Jesus’ hands and feet, sharing God’s love with a broken, hurting, waiting world. This is how the Kingdom of Heaven becomes a living, breathing, life-giving reality around us.

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Mark 7:24-30 – The Power of Persistence and Compassion

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Mark 7:24-30 – The Power of Persistence and Compassion

From the Torah through the Gospels, our faith is rich with stories of an infinitely wise and powerful God who loves us so much that we can argue for mercy and blessings. These stories show, time and again, that our persistence draws out God’s compassion. That’s a powerful connection.

The question to us today is how can each of us invite others into God’s loving, welcoming presence – regardless of their circumstances? Every time we make an effort to be the hands and feet of Jesus, we answer that question – one person at a time. And that, my friends, is how we grow the Kingdom of God!

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Mark 6:30-44 – Driven by Compassion

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Mark 6:30-44 – Driven by Compassion

Jesus’ overwhelming compassion for others was a core, driving element of His entire ministry. To those who came to Him with sincere hearts, He always responded with open arms, endless mercy, and unexpected generosity. If we allow ourselves to receive God’s embrace, compassion, and generosity, our lives will be forever changed. If we in turn offer the same to others, both our lives and theirs will be changed all the more.
This is the interactive, hands-on dynamic of God’s Kingdom. And this is how we change lives.

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Mark 5:21-43 – “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”

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Mark 5:21-43 – “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”

The beauty of the Good News of God’s love is that Jesus shared it so freely and in so many different ways. The Kingdom of God is not about increasing what we have, not even for the church we love. The Kingdom of God is about being present, with ourselves and with others, and helping others connect with and experience God’s creative, loving, healing presence. When we’re able to create those moments, everyone can celebrate renewed life.

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Seedlings in the Kingdom of God – Mark 4:24-41

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Seedlings in the Kingdom of God – Mark 4:24-41

Whether it’s within you, in your home, your office, your classroom, or anywhere else, know that each one of you is an important part of God’s active and ongoing creation. We all have our own roles to play in God’s garden. We can take great relief knowing that – by design – we do not have total control and success does not depend on any one of us. Thank God! And we can take great joy knowing that God is working alongside us as we, together, help the Kingdom of God grow in magnificent ways that bless us and the people in our community.

It may be cold today, but spring is coming, and I hope that you, like me, are looking forward to seeing what God grows around us.

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Reaching Out for Healing – Mark 3:1-6, 31-35

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Reaching Out for Healing – Mark 3:1-6, 31-35

God offers us love, acceptance and healing with no strings attached. All we have to do is respond to the Holy Spirit’s invitations.
When we ask God to lead us, we need to actively listen for God to respond to our prayers. And when God asks us to do something, we need to have faith that God can act in mighty ways through the most routine actions.

Where else is God calling us to step forward and hold out our hands?
Where else is God leading us – individually and as a faith community?
Are we listening? Are we looking? Are we ready and willing to say, “Yes Lord, if You lead us, we’ll follow. We may be a bit nervous, so be patient with us.

As we follow God’s lead, we can take GREAT comfort in Jesus’ final words from today’s reading: “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

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Join Us for Dinner! – Mark 2:1-17

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Join Us for Dinner! – Mark 2:1-17

As God’s children, we are ALL warmly invited and declared worthy of celebrating our loving relationship with God through the elements of bread and juice, symbolically connecting us to the table where Jesus shared a meal with Levi and his very imperfect friends.

There is space for everyone: those who have been miraculously healed, those who are skeptical of healings; those who are curious; those who have been rejected by communities of faith, and those who have never before shared in this meal.

This is what the Kingdom of God looks like, everyone equally welcomed, equally accepted, equally embraced. This is a diverse Kingdom that we can ALL call home!

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Nurturing Our Childlike Faith – Mark 1:21-39

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Nurturing Our Childlike Faith – Mark 1:21-39

Whatever Jesus preached, He backed up with undeniable demonstrations of His message put into action. Today, our actions of service should reflect our words of faith. As our faith grows deeper, we can expect our actions to grow bolder as we share the Good News that EVERYONE is a precious child of the living God created in God’s loving image, designed to serve as God calls each of us.
Today’s story presents us several challenging questions.

  • First, listen: are we listening for God to speak to us in new ways and, perhaps, through unlikely people?

  • Second, grow: are we open to letting God’s activity in our lives increase our childlike faith – our willingness and capacity to believe in the mysterious?

  • Third, share: when we do experience God’s activity in our lives, are we willing to share that to encourage each other and attract others?

  • Fourth, reconnect: as much as we believe we are called to put our faith into the actions of serving others, are we willing to disconnect from everything so that we can reconnect with God through intentional one-on-one time?

  • Finally, clarify: are we willing to let the lure of God’s Spirit guide our lives rather than the lure of what our culture seeks from us?

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Accepting God’s Invitations – Mark 1:16-20

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Accepting God’s Invitations – Mark 1:16-20

When God calls us, it’s an invitation to become a more active participant with God as we, together, strive to live into Jesus’ command for us to love God, love ourselves, and love each other (Matthew 22:34-40). Every time we answer yes to God, we grow the Kingdom of God in our hearts and in our communities. In the coming days and weeks, I encourage each of you to pray, “Lord, I am available and willing. What do you have in mind for me?” With that as our prayer and God as our partner, our future is filled with incredible possibilities!

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Tempted and Moving On – Mark 1:12-15

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Tempted and Moving On – Mark 1:12-15

As individuals and as a faith community, I encourage all of us to address whatever tempts us. And I encourage us to do this with each other. By doing so, we can genuinely look out for and support each other.

With Jesus as our role model and with God actively supporting us, let us bravely address whatever tempts us so that we can confidently move on and move into new seasons of loving God, loving ourselves, and loving others.

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Our Mysterious and Intimately Loving God – Mark 1:1-11

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Our Mysterious and Intimately Loving God – Mark 1:1-11

We can use today’s last two verses to remind ourselves that…
1) God is not way out there; God is intimately close to us and has gone to great lengths throughout history to demonstrate that.
2) God’s presence is mysterious, and that’s ok. We must learn to embrace what we can’t capture, control, or fully explain. Nevertheless, we must explain our faith and our spiritual experiences (as best we can) so that others may be drawn to God through us.
3) God loves passionately, and we can learn how to love others by seeing how God loved Jesus – Himself in the flesh.

When we keep these verses in the forefront of our hearts and minds, we are FAR more likely to deeply experience God’s love and peace within ourselves. These verses ALSO push us to follow God’s example and make God’s love – through us – up close and personal to the people around us. That is how we create Kingdom of God moments in our homes and in our communities!

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The Advent of LOVE – John 1:1-9, 14

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The Advent of LOVE – John 1:1-9, 14

John’s story tells us that the essence of Jesus has always existed and plays an ongoing role in the creation of the universe, our planet, and every person who has ever lived.
John describes Jesus as being light in darkness. John’s words challenge us to acknowledge the darkness in our own lives and in the lives of others AND find ways to bring a helpful light into those dark places.
No matter who or where we are; no matter what we have or have not done, we fundamentally believe that the light of God’s love IS with us through it all helping us see hope in the midst of despair, helping us see faith in the midst of uncertainty.
What price are we willing to pay to be light in darkness, to bring God’s love to people who desperately need it?

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