Rev. Chip Hunter, our new DS, brings our message this Sunday while your pastor “rehabs” his knee out West! I am better and I missed being with the people of God last Sunday. Your former DS LeNoir was kind to fill in and reports have been positive! And laity step up every Sunday to lead in worship, education, fellowship, and service.

It is good when “whoever” steps up to help out in worship and church life. I imagine that Bro. Chip will address the scripture emphasis on “whoever.” The context has to do with each one believing Jesus as the bread of Life. And each of us can bear testimony to God calling us each as specific individuals with detailed unique personal histories. And then bringing the “called whoevers” together to do the mission of the church. Such a reality brings our fascinating personal faith stories into the combined Big Story, the Story of God and all Creation.

You are a “whoever” and you are part of the Body of Christ fed by He who is the Bread of Life.

Pray for the Body this week, this Sunday. We need each other and we miss each other when we are apart. And we also welcome more “whoevers” to the Body wherever they and we come together at worship, fellowship, work, play, community. Nourish yourselves and others in worship this Sunday.

Blessings from the Road~~!

Pastor Barry

It wasn’t uncommon in my childhood to be fed “comfort food” if I seemed to be sad or not feeling well. “How about a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup?” Mother might say. Or here would come a cake fresh out of the oven! And some comfort foods ARE nutritious, yes?! Some build up a growing body, yes?!

The scriptures for Sunday are both full of sorrow and trouble AND a source of comfort and “nutrition.” Few would not read about David’s sin and not recoil from the consequences. Few would not be drawn positively toward Paul’s grand affirmation of the people of God, the body of Christ “full of love.” Few would not welcome the bread of Jesus when hungry in both body and spirit.

As usual, we read and hear the Word in all its wide range of human/divine interaction. We hear and see about the “ancients” and yet learn much about ourselves today! The human condition is pretty awful, prone to misery, but full of potential to grow and mature with the “proper feeding” and sitting at table with “all the other students (disciples).”

Make it so this Sunday as we worship!

Blessings!

Pastor Barry

2 Samuel 11:1-18, Ephesians 3:14-21 and John 6:1-21

The Lectionary gives scripture to work with each Sunday. We should have reason to rejoice and smile when we read in John and Ephesians about hope, miracle food for body and soul, the power of God in us and over the threats which come at us, and finally being the beloved people of God. Those are great.

But the Samuel text is in glaring contrast since it’s about the sordid matters of adultery and murder committed by a “man of God.” It doesn’t take long to see we are caught between Sin and Salvation! I suppose that’s a big part of actually showing up for worship together and hearing all this together! We need reminding of our weakness and God’s power and knowing we all are in this together! And maybe we can help each other through the good and the bad times because we can be honest with other just as the Scriptures are honest with us!

King David gets it, but sadly after the fact of his horrid behavior. Still better to “get it” than to never pay attention at all.

Brace yourself for the contrast this Sunday! But, I still believe that before the hour (or so) is over…. Good News will win out!

Pastor Barry

2 Samuel 7:1-14, Ephesians 2:11-22 and Mark 6:30-34.

The passages in Samuel and Ephesians touch upon the images of “temple, house of God, buildings, foundations, and where God dwells.” Mark is about the ongoing picture of Jesus with his band of disciples on the move. Not much about where they would stay or rest or abide although the need for such is apparent! They are a “house on the move.”

The overarching question is “where does God dwell?!” David said that he himself as King had a good cedar house to live in but God only had a tent(!). David sets out to build a Temple for God. By the time we arrive in Ephesians, God clearly has a “different building to live in!”

God as Spirit is everywhere we affirm but there is just something about the human creature that is made for God to inhabit! Jesus and the church of Jesus fit the bill perfectly.

We will go exploring what the scriptures say about this Presence of God in us. We may take a side trip “up” into God’s universe since Friday July 20 is the anniversary of the moon landing and moon walk in 1969! 49 years ago! And we might go more family oriented as a special place for God since this Sunday is also recognized as Parents’ Day!

Before we are all said and done, God is going to be shown to be with us….wherever we are, wherever the Creation exists!

Be ready to set up a house and a home!

See you in “a” house of the Lord on Sunday!

Pastor Barry

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19, Acts 13:16-23 and Mark 6:14-29

The preacher’s temptation is to take the easy way out and go on about the pros and cons of dancing. Perhaps we will touch on that since these dances in scripture are so vivid and have painful consequences.

The better choice is to see what is being said about kingly power, presence, and leadership. Both David and Herod are leaders in troubled times. Both have opportunities to set examples for their people and both succeed and both fail, miserably at times.

What our scriptures, especially the Acts text, want us to see and hear and point toward is that “Great David’s Greater Son” is the Final and Fully Righteous Victorious King! And works in kingly ways decidedly unlike David or Herod or Caesar for that matter!

Leadership is not for everyone, or certainly not leadership on the grand scale of a nation…..or that of the entire Universe! But this is the bold claim we offer in worship and in our daily walk with the Lord. We follow a different kind of King than ones we usually elect or those who force their way to power over others.

This truly sets us apart and asks us to consider ALL leadership in light of Jesus Christ. We always have to settle for imperfect leaders in the world but we have an ultimate standard by which we can watch and discern leadership and make judgments about following or not following earthly leaders where they lead us.

So in worship we proclaim who is our King and King for all! Citizens of a heavenly King take that kind of citizenship with them through the rest of their week!

Blessed be Great David’s Greater Son!

On toward Sunday and the Kingdom!

Blessings ~~†

Pastor Barry

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10, 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 and Mark 6:1-13.

We will see David off to a great start as King! Verse 9 declared that “he became more and more powerful.” In contrast, Jesus gets off to a very rough beginning in ministry in his hometown! “They rejected him,” and he can do only a few healings. By the time we are reading about Paul in 2 Corinthians, we see that the greatest of Apostles cannot be rid of “a thorn in the flesh.” And he speaks of being “strongest when he is weak.” Such wide ranging expressions of living the faith give us pause! “Did I read that correctly?” “What about MY thorn in the flesh?”

It’s a good thing to be together in worship so we can be reminded, as we look around the pews, that most everyone has had moments of power like King David and moments that just seem like unrelenting “thorns” stuck in either the body, the mind, or the spirit!

Worship doesn’t always give us power or explanations for pain, but surely points us toward the Person who can and will provide both of those needs! Jesus had an unbelieving hometown turn away from him but by the end of the Mark passage his disciples ARE doing the ministry of preaching and healing!

So, the final word for us, in spite of the “thorns” and “weakness” is that we can expect (fully hope) to make it through and in doing so….we do the work of God. What a King, an Apostle, and Disciples of the Master actually do when “all is said and done!”

All good reasons to worship and be together this Sunday! See you soon! Blessings!

Pastor Barry

2 Samuel 1:1, 16-27, 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 and Mark 5:21-43.

In these passages we see a number of experiences common to all: grief over death, illness and it’s healing and being generous with your resources. Needless to say, these experiences come during national times of crisis, e.g. war, epidemics, economic hard times, as well as to all of us throughout our life span.

Christ’s church is not immune from any yet leads the way in responding to all these human conditions. Where would we be without the church?! I suppose we would depend solely on the goodness of the state (!). If history teaches us anything, the human institution of the state is a very mixed bag! As we acknowledge July 4th we recall that a government became oppressive to the original 13 colonies. Governments can wage war and death on its people! And governments can, at their best, care for its citizens.

The church, however, heals not kills, gives and rarely receives in kind, and is not an instrument of death whether for evil or for justice. Jesus sets the example time and time again. Render unto God….render unto Caesar…..know the difference.

As we receive and celebrate the Lords Supper, Holy Communion we are reminded to do this in memory of the One Crucified, Dead, yet Alive! No force of nature, state, or fallen people can overcome God’s Righteous One who lives for others.

Come this Sunday for Word and Sacrament believing that Jesus is the generous, merciful Lord of life, conqueror of death, and Ruler of all nations!

Be blessed in this knowledge and in this faith!

Pastor Barry

Opposition.  Antagonists. Enemies. The Empire.

Even on a personal scale, whether it be illness or injury, grief and loss, debt or financial woes, interpersonal conflicts, there seems to be THAT which we are “up against.”

In these scriptures, you find the memorable David versus the giant Goliath, Jesus against the angry sea waves, Paul recounting those who have opposed his ministry of the Good News of Jesus the Christ. Struggle. How we wish we were “at ease in Zion!” Those days are, for most of us, few and far between. There will “always be something.” It might be low from day to day on a scale of 1-10 but invariably the “10s” will arrive in life!

Perhaps we should come to worship each time with struggle in mind but ultimate peace hoped for. And maybe hope for peace and reconciliation in the daily mix! The church worships because we have faithful examples, e.g., David, Paul, believers in every generation, family and friends with us indicating God is still at work in our midst “calming the angry waves!” Even worship can be a struggle when your day has been darkened by forces against you. But, avoidance of the faithful community at worship is not the answer. To be together in our struggles IS the answer. We are stronger together than alone.

Come together this coming day of worship and find our way forward against whatever “giant” you and I and we are facing on the field of life!

Peace and hope~~!

Pastor Barry

John Wesley, father of millions of Methodists, had no children, no offspring. His marriage was not particularly a happy one. Yet, he was a father. Just look around the world!

This Sunday we will give a measure of honor to those we call father, to those who were also “dads” of sorts to groups of children on ball fields, clubs, Scouts, schools, and churches. Men who cared and helped us grow up and grow in the Lord. Biological fathers, step-fathers, uncles, older brothers, coaches, teachers, others who appeared as mentors and guides. Like “Dads!”

Our Mark text is about growth. And how even the Kingdom of God takes time. It’s “in our midst” but not hardly complete….just yet! Growing! And in I Samuel, the Word for us is about sons who can be leaders, even kings with power and authority. And the act of calling, responding, growing into…..maturity and behavior that points to the Reign of God in our lives, our communities.

Just as these words and acts of God manifest themselves in our two congregations, in different ways with different histories, (yet all siblings of the One Lord) we accept that we are still seeing the Kingdom of God grow in our midst, like a small seed into a large bush, like children growing always into spiritual maturity even we “can’t always see the growth ahead, we continue by faith” II Corinthians 5:7.

So, we remember those who left us examples, tool kits, game plans, who took us to church, put up with our missteps, misadventures, and did it, hopefully, with patience and wisdom. When they inevitably failed at times we remember what they took us to hear about at church: forgiveness and hope!

For the “fathers” still with us and those of us called “father” we look to the Heavenly Father to be our guide and show us the Son who never “forsakes us, never leaves us!” Play ball, do the chores, walk that walk, keep that faith, learn the trade, listen to that call….to be that “somebody for somebody else!”

Bring that “inner child” and any other child with you to worship this Sunday!

Pastor Barry

Summer is time for back yard, camp, picnic fun. Kids will choose up and play games. Who gets to go first? Who gets to pitch? Who gets to take the lead on the hike? Youngest? Oldest? Strongest? Most athletic? Pick straws? Rock, paper, scissors? Somebody take the wheel!

In our Samuel text, leadership has been done poorly, so they want a king like other nations. God reluctantly grants their request through Samuel the prophet. In Mark, it’s clear that many disagree with the direction Jesus is heading and with his authority! Conflict arises! Paul, to the church at Corinth, where there was plenty of conflict and resistance to him, stays determined to not give up. God will come through for us.

Yes, as communities and families and tribes and institutions we invariably, in due time, will have conflict, need leadership to work through the troubles, and are called upon to believe God is with us in our struggles.

We value peace and harmony so much because we know how hard it is to get there! And when we are at peace, we are all glad! It is just hard to stay put in peace! Maybe we need a leader! Jesus has some things to say about that and steps up to the dismay of his family and the religious leaders.

Let’s listen in this Sunday to leadership troubles and look to Jesus for example and His and Paul’s words that lead to a better Way! See you soon!

Pastor Barry