During the month of April our sermons have focused on ‘playing in God’s garden.’ We have been challenged to sow seeds of God’s love and justice wherever we go in the world. We have also been encouraged to look at the weeds in our lives differently – to find the value that they might bring to our lives and community. Finally, we were challenged to dream of what God’s vision for our community might look like.
What dream has God planted in your mind? Is it ending violence? Protecting children? Stopping hunger? Ending homelessness? Growing mature, spiritual youth and children? Do these dreams seem too big? Do they seem too impossible? The truth is that with God all things are possible.
We are in the midst of creating a community garden with McKinley Classical Leadership Academy. (The big school located on Russell Blvd. between Missouri and Mississippi) In the days and weeks to come, we will be tilling ground at the school, building raised bed gardens, and planting plants with the students, staff, and neighbors of McKinley. We will also create container gardens at Centenary that will be used for food at the Bridge and possibly even start a social entrepreneurship from our garden. Everyone is invited to participate in this exciting adventure.
This is only the beginning. We have been invited to sow seeds of tutoring in each of the schools we are connected to McKinley, Sigel, and Hodgens. There are construction projects we will be doing this summer in our various schools to create more nurturing learning environments.
Most importantly, we have been invited to sow life changing seeds through the process of mentoring one child at a time for a school year (or longer) if it is a good match. Just imagine meeting with a boy or girl for a year and building trust with them. Think about the power of cultivating dreams in young people who may have had their dreams crushed out of them.
It is exciting and great fun to play in God’s garden. So, roll up your shirt sleeves, and dig in! The harvest is great, and laborers are needed.
See you at the Harvest Party!
Pastor Kathleen
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Time With Sharon - May 2010
On May 24th, 1738, John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, felt something remarkable happening to him as he attended a worship service in London. He later wrote in his journal:
“In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate-Street…and I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation: and an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine…”
Together with his many brothers and sisters, John Wesley has been involved in church his whole life. His father was an Anglican priest in the Church of England, and his mother, a strong, caring Christian whose stalwart faith greatly influenced her 10 surviving children. John studied at Christ Church College in Oxford, and at the age of 25, was ordained as a priest in the Church. But it wasn’t until that evening on May 24th that he experienced the power of God’s Holy Spirit stirring within him, affirming God’s love for him as a beloved child of God. It was that service to others, it increases the probability of experiencing God’s stirring in our souls. To some it feels like the flutter of butterfly movement of God’s Spirit that propelled his ministry to re-vitalize the church with greater zeal and dedication.
This month, we will celebrate the 272nd year since John wrote about the occasion of his warm heart. Maybe you have your own heart-warming experience. I’d sure love to hear about it. Or maybe you are still waiting.
God’s Spirit can move anyone at anytime, under any circumstance. But it seems that when we place ourselves in service to others, it increases the probability of experiencing God’s stirring in our souls. To some it feels like the flutter of butterfly wings, and to others, like being hit with a brick (in a nice way). But most certainly, it leaves the recipient amazed and craving another encounter.
So I invite you to find a way to serve others with your gifts and graces. Cook a meal, offer a ride, participate in a Hands in Mission event, sit with someone at Fellowship Time after church that is sitting alone. Give of yourself. And while you’re busy, and least expecting it, may God stir your soul, and your heart be strangely warmed.
See you Sunday,
Pastor Sharon
“In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate-Street…and I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation: and an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine…”
Together with his many brothers and sisters, John Wesley has been involved in church his whole life. His father was an Anglican priest in the Church of England, and his mother, a strong, caring Christian whose stalwart faith greatly influenced her 10 surviving children. John studied at Christ Church College in Oxford, and at the age of 25, was ordained as a priest in the Church. But it wasn’t until that evening on May 24th that he experienced the power of God’s Holy Spirit stirring within him, affirming God’s love for him as a beloved child of God. It was that service to others, it increases the probability of experiencing God’s stirring in our souls. To some it feels like the flutter of butterfly movement of God’s Spirit that propelled his ministry to re-vitalize the church with greater zeal and dedication.
This month, we will celebrate the 272nd year since John wrote about the occasion of his warm heart. Maybe you have your own heart-warming experience. I’d sure love to hear about it. Or maybe you are still waiting.
God’s Spirit can move anyone at anytime, under any circumstance. But it seems that when we place ourselves in service to others, it increases the probability of experiencing God’s stirring in our souls. To some it feels like the flutter of butterfly wings, and to others, like being hit with a brick (in a nice way). But most certainly, it leaves the recipient amazed and craving another encounter.
So I invite you to find a way to serve others with your gifts and graces. Cook a meal, offer a ride, participate in a Hands in Mission event, sit with someone at Fellowship Time after church that is sitting alone. Give of yourself. And while you’re busy, and least expecting it, may God stir your soul, and your heart be strangely warmed.
See you Sunday,
Pastor Sharon
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