s our finance team met to plan for the New Year, the decision was made to put God First. What you may ask, does that mean? We always put God first don’t we?
In the simplest terms, for our church, it means that as a faith community we will begin by writing our tithe check of 10% of our budget gifts for God’s ministry beyond our walls (including apportionments). This check will be written first, each week, without fail. We will schedule our church building and activities with the focus of God First. Worship, faith development and small groups will be our first priorities. We will look for additional ways that we can give God the first of our time in service.
What might God First look like in our own home? Perhaps it might be that before we get out of bed we stop and give the day to God. “God, I want to put you first today. Show me ways that I can organize my time, and resources that put you first in my life. Help me to live so that others will see you active in my life.” It could be that you try a new spiritual discipline such as reading a devotional book each day, or reading a few verses of the Bible each day. It could be starting the day with a family devotion. It could also mean that when we get paid, the first check we write is for our tithe or pledge for God’s ministry.
I wonder what God First looks like in your life. I wonder what would happen if everyone in our church committed for one day, or one week, or one year in one way to put God First? Just imagine the impact we might have in our church and community.
I pray that 2010 is a great year for you. I pray that you encounter God’s presence and power in your life in dramatic and wonderful ways every day and I pray that you will join me in this adventure to put God First. God First,
Always In All Ways,
~Pastor Kathleen
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Time with Sharon: Like Jesus
January 2010
I joined an enthusiastic bunch of folks at The Bridge this past week to help cook and serve supper to about 200 men, women, and children of our city’s sojourners. These are folks who, for a bunch of different reasons, have found themselves gathering for shelter, camaraderie, and a hot, tasty meal at this warm facility, housed at our sister church, Centenary United Methodist Church at 16th and Olive. The Bridge serves three meals a day and is open from 6am to 6pm, providing warmth from the cold and a cool reprieve from the heat. LPUMC folk gather from 4pm-6pm to help prepare and serve supper there on the first Tuesday of each month.
It was a cold evening…with record freezing temps and snow expected the rest of the week. As the dining hall emptied out, I wondered, where will they all go now? My eye caught sight of a little boy, maybe 12-15 months old, bundled up in a stroller between his parents. I wondered about this little guy, and I’ve been wondering about him since.
I began pondering: what can I do for this little boy to keep him warm and safe? In a few years, will he go to school? What if he gets sick? My imagination has been concocting all kinds of dire circumstances for his fragile future. As a follower of Jesus, the One who fought for justice for “the least of these”, I went home thinking about what I could be doing for him, and those like him, facing a deep freeze in these uncertain times.
So I made phone calls. And I learned about emergency numbers to call for housing resources and warming shelters in our city. I learned about a blessed group of volunteers, called the Winter Outreach, who go out in the night armed with blankets, sleeping bags, and coats, seeking to help people who are cold. Yes, good people are doing much. Still, the thought tugged at me, what am I doing to love this little boy like Jesus?
Then, in prayer, God’s spirit reminded me that every time we pray for the children of our city, we are loving them. Every time we help a child read a little bit better, we are helping to pry open their potential so that they can be all that God wants for them. Providing new school supplies nurtures their intelligence and creativity. The donated coats, hats, and mittens we share help make these cold days and nights warmer. The hot meals we stir up and serve help them grow stronger. The financial gifts that we make to our collaborative United Methodist ministries help to provide training, housing, medical care, and spiritual support. At LPUMC, we are already part of God’s ongoing work to bring hope and wholeness to the children of our city.
A sense of peace covered me as I thought about how the little boy visiting The Bridge has been and still is in God’s care. And God will continue to provide for him and his family through the work of the many who share and care. I want to be part of that, and I bet you do too. May 2010 be a great year for him. And may 2010 be the year we reach out a little further to help make it so…for him, and for all the children of our city.
Can I get an AMEN?
~Pastor Sharon
I joined an enthusiastic bunch of folks at The Bridge this past week to help cook and serve supper to about 200 men, women, and children of our city’s sojourners. These are folks who, for a bunch of different reasons, have found themselves gathering for shelter, camaraderie, and a hot, tasty meal at this warm facility, housed at our sister church, Centenary United Methodist Church at 16th and Olive. The Bridge serves three meals a day and is open from 6am to 6pm, providing warmth from the cold and a cool reprieve from the heat. LPUMC folk gather from 4pm-6pm to help prepare and serve supper there on the first Tuesday of each month.
It was a cold evening…with record freezing temps and snow expected the rest of the week. As the dining hall emptied out, I wondered, where will they all go now? My eye caught sight of a little boy, maybe 12-15 months old, bundled up in a stroller between his parents. I wondered about this little guy, and I’ve been wondering about him since.
I began pondering: what can I do for this little boy to keep him warm and safe? In a few years, will he go to school? What if he gets sick? My imagination has been concocting all kinds of dire circumstances for his fragile future. As a follower of Jesus, the One who fought for justice for “the least of these”, I went home thinking about what I could be doing for him, and those like him, facing a deep freeze in these uncertain times.
So I made phone calls. And I learned about emergency numbers to call for housing resources and warming shelters in our city. I learned about a blessed group of volunteers, called the Winter Outreach, who go out in the night armed with blankets, sleeping bags, and coats, seeking to help people who are cold. Yes, good people are doing much. Still, the thought tugged at me, what am I doing to love this little boy like Jesus?
Then, in prayer, God’s spirit reminded me that every time we pray for the children of our city, we are loving them. Every time we help a child read a little bit better, we are helping to pry open their potential so that they can be all that God wants for them. Providing new school supplies nurtures their intelligence and creativity. The donated coats, hats, and mittens we share help make these cold days and nights warmer. The hot meals we stir up and serve help them grow stronger. The financial gifts that we make to our collaborative United Methodist ministries help to provide training, housing, medical care, and spiritual support. At LPUMC, we are already part of God’s ongoing work to bring hope and wholeness to the children of our city.
A sense of peace covered me as I thought about how the little boy visiting The Bridge has been and still is in God’s care. And God will continue to provide for him and his family through the work of the many who share and care. I want to be part of that, and I bet you do too. May 2010 be a great year for him. And may 2010 be the year we reach out a little further to help make it so…for him, and for all the children of our city.
Can I get an AMEN?
~Pastor Sharon
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wilder View - December 2009
Luke 2:7 …and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
It wasn’t a special day. I was living out my normal schedule. Running from one meeting to another, making phone calls as I traveled, and thinking about the things I needed to do in the free moments at stop lights. I pulled up to the church. Really quick now, I told myself, “you need to get in, get out, pick up ____, ____, ___, and get to the next place. Hurry!”
Then this verse came to my head. “…there was no room for them in the inn.” Wow, what an odd verse to run through my head when I am thinking about getting things accomplished. After all it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet! Why am I already thinking about Christmas? (maybe because it was getting close to the deadline for this article?)
“…there was no room for them in the inn.” The words came to me again. Hmm, I wonder… no, gotta fly, people are waiting on me. I need to get in, get out, and go.
“…there was no room for them in the inn.” Once again, these words floated through my mind. Finally I realized that it was probably the Holy Spirit working on me. So I stopped just a moment and wondered… could it be possible that there was no room in my inn? Well at least in my day? Wait a minute, I already had my personal devotional and prayer time, God; I made room for you this morning…what do you mean, there is no room?
Yet those words swirled around me once again.
My friends, we are entering a time when the world just gets faster and faster. Our calendars are getting fuller and fuller. Our commitments are becoming greater and greater, and maybe, just maybe, we are not making room for the real meaning of Christmas. Maybe the ‘inn’ is the place in our daily lives that we stop to invite the Christ child to help us see the world from the perspective of innocence and fun. How much room have we set aside in our calendar to experience the wonder of birth and life? How much room do we have in our day to be quiet and reflect upon the joy of God’s greatest gift?
This advent, I invite you to stop and intentionally make room…make room in your day; make room in your schedule, and in your life to encounter Emmanuel, God with us!
Happy Advent!
~Pastor Kathleen
Time with Sharon: Finding Hope
December 2009
Said the night wind to the little lamb, “Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb, do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night, with a tail as big as a kite.”
It was back in October, 1962, and the Soviet Union and the United States were involved in a crisis centered on missiles the Russians had installed in Cuba. The United States threatened military action if the missiles were not removed. The world trembled and prayed as these two nuclear powers stood eyeball-to-eyeball.
That October, as Noel Regney walked through the streets of New York, a sense of despair was everywhere. No one smiled. Everybody hung on the words of the radio newscasters, waiting, waiting, waiting, to learn if the security that they had known was on the verge of being obliterated.
Noel knew something about war and fear of death. Forced to serve in the German army during WWII, he secretly also served the French resistance, risking his life many times as he shared German plans for harm with the French freedom fighters.
Years later, he and his wife, Gloria, living in New York, worked as a song-writing team. Christmas was approaching, and Noel had been asked to write a holiday song. In this time of thick tension and cold fear, he could not muster any enthusiasm or inspiration.
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, “Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song, high above the tree with a voice as big as the sea.”
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song, high above the tree with a voice as big as the sea.”
But then one day walking home, he saw two mothers with their babies giggling at each other from their strollers. Their joy transformed him, and filled his heart with poetry. The little ones reminded him of newborn lambs, and he began to muss, “Said the night wind to the little lamb....”As soon as Noel arrived home, he jotted down the lyrics, and Gloria set them to music.
I am struck how this story pivots on a peek into the world of God’s reign of tenderness and goodness, even in the midst of external fear and turmoil. While the East coast sat in the sights of a belligerent world power, God was revealed in the goofy, gurgling delight of children. Hope sprung forth for this songwriter, even as it did 2000 years ago for those who, beleaguered by their lives of poverty and oppression, gazed upon the Messiah child.
Our own era has known some major turbulence this past year too. There is certainly fear, for shrinking saving accounts, another rent check due, and the potential of impending illness. People are still hurting each other in our neighborhoods, in our cities, even in our service bases. There is no shortage of bullies, big and small. But during this season, we are reminded that God is still with us…and will show up in the most amazing places in the least likely container. Who could have imagined that he would choose to present himself where the cows and donkeys were stabled, as the baby of politically and economically invisible parents?
Said the king to the people everywhere, “Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people, everywhere, listen to what I say!
The Child, The Child sleeping in the night, He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light.”
Pray for peace, people, everywhere, listen to what I say!
The Child, The Child sleeping in the night, He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light.”
As we await the celebration of the birth of Emmanuel, we are reminded that Hope is still alive through God’s presence with us. We are never alone, not ever. God’s purposes for healing and wholeness for us continue, even in the face of our present difficulties. Look into the sweet face of a child, and yet again, see the hope for tomorrow revealed. Find the truth on which we may take comfort…
“He will bring us goodness and light.”
May God’s peace and grace be upon you in this season of waiting,
Pastor Sharon
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wilder View - November 2009
It is the beginning of the holiday season…a time when people think about going home. Through our ministry at The Bridge, I find myself thinking about home, and what actually is home. I have had conversations with guests about home. For some, it is a physical place where their family lives. Others think of home as the community where they were raised, and some consider home to be where they are at the present moment. There is something really powerful about the feeling of being home. For most, it is a place that is safe, nurturing, and hopefully full of love.
One of the most joyful aspects of serving our ministry at The Bridge is being able to help many people go home. Whether through helping with transportation home, or providing referrals to places which provide transitional housing, or helping women escape a domestic violence situation and find safety in a new home, helping people go home is exciting!
This past month, our Juarez team built a new home for Jesus, Carmen, Jonathan, Candy, and Jose. I hope you hear some of the wonderful stories they have about how important it was to this family to help them build their home. Both Jesus and Carmen (husband and wife) worked along side of our team to build their home. Jesus took off two days of work. On the third day he worked from 8 am to 1 pm, dashed off to the factory where he worked a ten hour shift at his factory job. After returning home he mixed cement and put two more courses of block on top of his home and was waiting for our team when they arrived the next morning.
We have helped several families experience the joy of owning a home through our Juarez VIM teams. We have built 7 homes in Juarez in the last five years. Each year we visit the last year’s family (after all, they are now our friends.) It is always a great joy to see the improvements they have made over the ensuing year.
Back in the late 1980’s Lafayette Park was a home for people who had a strange illness, which was later named AIDS. People who were abandoned by their families of origin found deeply caring families and a home at Lafayette Park. The people of Lafayette Park adopted people who were struggling with AIDS, and lovingly cared for them as they lived and died with dignity.
I guess all these thoughts about home make me realize that I truly feel like I am at home at Lafayette Park. As I begin the season of Thanksgiving I am reminded of how thankful I am to be at home at Lafayette Park. Wherever your travels may take you this holiday season, I hope that you always feel the warmth and love of being home.
Grace and Peace,
~Pastor Kathleen
One of the most joyful aspects of serving our ministry at The Bridge is being able to help many people go home. Whether through helping with transportation home, or providing referrals to places which provide transitional housing, or helping women escape a domestic violence situation and find safety in a new home, helping people go home is exciting!
This past month, our Juarez team built a new home for Jesus, Carmen, Jonathan, Candy, and Jose. I hope you hear some of the wonderful stories they have about how important it was to this family to help them build their home. Both Jesus and Carmen (husband and wife) worked along side of our team to build their home. Jesus took off two days of work. On the third day he worked from 8 am to 1 pm, dashed off to the factory where he worked a ten hour shift at his factory job. After returning home he mixed cement and put two more courses of block on top of his home and was waiting for our team when they arrived the next morning.
We have helped several families experience the joy of owning a home through our Juarez VIM teams. We have built 7 homes in Juarez in the last five years. Each year we visit the last year’s family (after all, they are now our friends.) It is always a great joy to see the improvements they have made over the ensuing year.
Back in the late 1980’s Lafayette Park was a home for people who had a strange illness, which was later named AIDS. People who were abandoned by their families of origin found deeply caring families and a home at Lafayette Park. The people of Lafayette Park adopted people who were struggling with AIDS, and lovingly cared for them as they lived and died with dignity.
I guess all these thoughts about home make me realize that I truly feel like I am at home at Lafayette Park. As I begin the season of Thanksgiving I am reminded of how thankful I am to be at home at Lafayette Park. Wherever your travels may take you this holiday season, I hope that you always feel the warmth and love of being home.
Grace and Peace,
~Pastor Kathleen
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