pastor’s column (Page 3)
Pastor’s Column – Apr 2023
“Then know, there is no hide-and-seek with the divine that doesn’t end in you being found.” I don’t know about you but I can’t read that line enough. Even though I am a reverend, there are days when God’s grace and love seem so unbelievable to me. When I fail to live out the best version of myself… when I feel like I am not doing enough… when I feel like I don’t deserve God’s love, I am reminded that…
Pastor’s Column – Feb 2023
“Seek the Lord while God may be found, call upon God while God is near.”God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:6,8-9 NRSV Jessica and I will be married 9 years this coming June, however we have been together for 13. After 13 years I feel…
Pastor’s Column – Jan 2023
Every year our church, our families, our communities hype Christmas with get-togethers and special events that bring us all a little closer to one another. I truly hope you were able to experience this on some level. While we get tangled in the mixed messages of Christmas being about gifts, or about movies, or that cookie we always eat, I hope once the dust settles you are able to reflect and see what makes it truly special…. and that is…
Pastor’s Column – Oct 2022
“He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow.” Deuteronomy 10:18 For the past couple years my grandmother has been going through her things and offering sentimental items to any grandkid that wants them. Knowing my love for history and being a pastor she has passed on a number of daily devotionals from my Great Grandpa Weller (b. 1889). The verse I shared above comes from the month of October in one such devotional. The teeny tiny book measures…
Pastor’s Column – Sep 2022
In times of despairTania Yadira Martinez Tadeo The time will come when your path will turn abrupt, In which the fog will be so dense That you won’t be able to see beyond the next step.Desperate you will scream and hear only the echo of your voice. You will try to continue as usual,Focused on everything you need to do;A futile race against timeThat will only leave you exhausted.You will feel confused,You will think you have lost your way,And you’ll…
Pastor’s Column – Aug 2022
Oxford Dictionary defines play…as “an activity engaged in for enjoyment and recreation, especially by children.” And then there’s the sea, wide and deep, with its countless creatures – living things, both small and large. There got the ships on it, and Leviathan, which you made, plays in it. Psalm 104:25-26 (CEB) As I write this article we are gearing up for the first day of vacation bible school. Knowing the adults who are helping and the kids who are signed…
Pastor’s Column – July 2022
She began her sermon with a question, “What is the address of the church?” Those in the pews did not know whether they should respond or not. To be honest, her question felt like a trap and they did not want to fall for it. She asked the question again, “what is the address of the church?” One congregation member who found the silence unsettling raised his hand and gave the mailing address of the church. She said, “Very good.…
Pastor’s Column – May 2022
New Life is Right Here Maybe todaywe can take a moment.Maybe todaywe can silence the inner critic.Maybe todaywe can leave perfection at the door.Maybe today we can allow ourselves to behere.Maybe that’s all that matter.Maybe this sunrise is for you.Maybe these Hallelujahs are for us.Maybe the hope blooming in my chestis for us.Maybe the resurrection was not just about God’s body,but is about our body.Maybe this new life reaches all the way to the edges.Maybe we are free to live…
Pastor’s Column – Apr 2022
Water Marks Jesus probably kneeled down.He probably took Peter’s heelin his handsto wash his feet.And I wonder if they both thought of Jacob—the heel-grabber,the trickster who wrestledwith God.I wonder if it felt like a do-over,a fresh start for creation.I wonder if the basin overflowedwhen Jesus poured the water out.I wonder if it splashed,leaving water marks on the floor—proof that love was really there.I wonder if I would have let Jesus do the same.Would I have been like Peter and said,“Not…
Pastor’s Column – Mar 2022
God of compassion, you know how we rebel against you. You know how we doubtand fear and hold back, when you call us to freedom and to partnership in Jesus Christ. God forgive us. Free us by the power of the cross, that we may serve you without fear.Grant us your peace through Jesus Christ who was faithful to the end. Amen. I have gotten it wrong. I… Rev. Pastor Keith have done what was not pleasing in God’s eyes.…