I’ve decided to spend time these next few months sharing with you reflections on some of my favorite Bible passages – and I invite you to share with me some of your own (both the verses and your reflections).  It’s amazing, isn’t it, how certain verses in the Bible speak so powerfully, touch us so deeply, and sustain us so tenaciously?  

I am thankful for the reminder that all of us are bruised reeds AND that all of us, even in our bruised and sometimes battered state, have tremendous gifts to share for building our community of faith.

Have a blessed week!

Cliff

CHURCH NEWS:

Jesus said, “Feed My Sheep.”  (John 21: 15, 16, 17).

Three times Jesus says this to Peter.  “Do you love me?  Then feed my sheep.”

This will mean different things for each of us.  For some, it will mean feeding the homeless at The Source.  For others, it will mean creating jobs at their place of business so families can thrive.  For others, it will mean serving as a mentor.  One of you told me about being a mentor up north for a girl who was failing 7th grade.  After two years of sharing a lunch weekly and being present, she got a perfect score on her PSAT’s!!!  

Feed my sheep – it’s Jesus’ command to you and to me.  What will it mean for you today?

P.S. I will have a special gift from Israel for every person in worship this Sunday.

Cliff

CHURCH NEWS:

Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore.  It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many, the net was not torn (John 21: 11).

 CHURCH NEWS:

Dr. Henri Nouwen shares these words:

Jesus went to Jerusalem to announce the good news to the people of that city. And Jesus knew that he was going to put a choice before them: Will you be my disciple, or will you be my executioner? There is no middle ground here. Jesus went to Jerusalem to put people in a situation where they had to say “Yes” or “No”. That is the great drama of Jesus’ passion: he had to wait for their response. What would they do? Betray him or follow him? In a way, his agony is not simply the agony of approaching death. It is also the agony of being out of control and of having to wait. It is the agony of a God who depends on us to decide how to live out the divine presence among us. It is the agony of the God who, in a very mysterious way, allows us to decide how God will be God. Here we glimpse the mystery of God’s incarnation. God became human not only to act among us but also to be the recipient of our responses.. . . And that is the mystery of Jesus’ love. Jesus in his passion is the one who waits for our response. Precisely in that waiting, the intensity of God’s love is revealed to us. 

 Church News

“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves.” – PSALM 145:18-19
Many years ago when I was a teenager I was on vacation with my family at Daytona Beach. One afternoon a storm blew in quickly while I was still wading in the ocean. As I tried to quickly fight the waves to get out of the water, a big wave knocked me over. I was in shallow enough water that I knew I wasn’t in serious danger, but I was a little disoriented, having not seen the monster wave approaching me. In those brief moments I was struck by how calm it was just beneath the surface. Above the water, the wind was howling, enormous, angry waves and tides pulling me back and forth. Yet, for a moment, I found it almost peaceful just beneath the water’s surface. The angry tide turned to a gentle rocking, the howling wind turned to a soft whisper. I could float in equilibrium, gently massaged by the water all around me. How could there be such a drastic difference between the storm above and water below?

 It can sometimes be hard to imagine that God’s presence is there in times of terrible tragedy and grief. How could God be there amidst the pain and darkness? Yet the Psalmist tells us that God is near and God hears our cries. I think of it as the storm on the ocean that I was caught in. When we are in our world, our senses hear only the howling wind and angry waves. God invites us to immerse ourselves in prayer, moving from our troubled world to the comfort of the Spirit just beneath the surface. In this life we are not equipped to stay in the spiritual world forever, and we must breathe the air of our world. But when we emerge from prayer we can be renewed and comforted knowing that the safety of God’s spirit is right there with us, just beneath the surface.

 PRAYER: Dear Lord, help us to know our strength lies in you. AMEN.

 CHURCH NEWS:

All the brothers and sisters send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I Corinthians 16:20

Greetings from our brothers and sisters in Las Parras, Cuba! This past week this passage from I Corinthians was ringing in my mind every day as Marjorie Burnett and I were greeted with a holy kiss everywhere we went in the Christian community of Cuba. The church members at La Roca de Salvation asked me to tell you hello and how grateful they are for the most generous gift and our continued relationship.

The funds for the purchase of a new parsonage for our sister church were put in the bank in Cuba. They hope to complete the purchase by the end of April. Marjorie and I walked through the “new” parsonage. It is a MUCH nicer house with much more room. The best thing is that it is off the main corner of town and away from the bar, bus station, and truck stop! The constant noise at the “old” parsonage is unbelievable. Thank-you for making this a reality for our brothers and sisters in Cuba!

Don’t forget that this is “Match Sunday”. We have the opportunity to have our special gifts matched dollar for dollar this week. Just use one of the Match Sunday envelopes for your gift. This is how we have balanced our budget the past few years and we need all the help we can get this year!

SCRIPTURE: “God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him though he is not far from each one of us.” – ACTS 17:27