pastor’s column (Page 7)
Some thoughts
My dear Grace UCC family, What a year this has been… one filled with grace and love, one filled with compassion and wonder, one filled with faith and growth, one filled with God. I was called by God many years ago to ordained ministry, as Pastor and Teacher. For a while I didn’t listen to God’s call on my life, I didn’t want to. I wanted to do something else, be something else, live something else. But God is a…
Wonder
I wonder as I wander out under the sky, How Jesus the Savior did come for to die. For poor on’ry people like you and like I… I wonder as I wander out under the sky. … .written by American folklorist and singer John Jacob Niles. I have been doing a lot of wondering this season of Advent, Christmas time and as we move into 2016. Wondering about the world in which we live, wondering about peace and love, wondering…
From the Pastor…
A Note from Pastor Mindy…. 200 years ago, Grace United Church of Christ was formed…so what does that mean? For me it means…. Covenant and Commitment…words in the thesaurus that are used as synonyms are: Promise Pledge Vow Obligation Assurance Dedication All are very strong words that say that when we are committed to something we give our trust to it, when we are in covenant we follow through. When we are committed to God, we give God our all.…
From the pastor
From the pastor…. 200 years ago, people got together and Grace United Church of Christ was formed. It wasn’t United Church of Christ at that point, and it wasn’t in English, but the people that gathered were listening to and for God, to and for the Spirit. What a blessing those people were, our ancestors in faith. Just like today, they were listening and learning what it means to be the church in that time and place. Today we are…
From the pastor…
Welcoming community, Fun/Joy, Faith, Leadership, Love From the Pastor…. Today, I have lots on my mind…. What does it mean to inspire generosity, Stewardship, discussions and conversations that we need to be having and when we have them will we be kind, Grace UCC’s mission statement, Mission, outward looking instead of inward, completely welcoming, how are we being compassionate, are we living our core values, how can I be challenging and leading better…. A year ago I was packing up…
From the pastor
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith…. By faith…. By faith… therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us…” Hebrews 11-12 You see as we immerse ourselves in the faith that we have been taught, and the faith…
From the pastor….
Love, Welcoming Community, Leadership, Fun/Joy, Faith As we move into the July, can you believe it, July, …we are called to live together in “Hesed” Loving kindness, steadfast love… When asked in worship a few weeks ago to share where you saw hesed, here is how you replied.. Helping with things, being happy, singing praises, in a spouse or partner, church family, children, Pastor Mindy, things we do in the community, fellowship, Bible school, search committee, at work, family. What…
From the pastor…
From the pastor…. Love, Welcoming Community, Leadership, Fun/Joy, Faith The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22 Abundance—comes from the word abundant, which means: present in great quality, more than adequate, as in, we are richly supplied by God. We are overflowing in fullness and generosity. When we look at our abundance, and give out of our abundance, we don’t need to wring our hands, we need to offer thanksgiving.…
Pastors time
From the Pastor… Love, Leadership, Fun/Joy, Faith, Welcoming community Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! What wonderful good news for us. We live, love, be and have faith because we know that Christ lives with us. We can ask questions, doubt, be together, and grow because the women found the tomb empty, because God keeps God’s promises. Now this doesn’t mean that everything is status quo or stays the same. No it means that we have to live and…
Spring is coming
From the pastor… Spring is coming.. the time has changed, we sprang ahead, the daffodils and crocus are popping out of ground, the grass is greening up, the trees are budding, and Easter is right around the corner. For the last few weeks we have been experiencing Lent. Lent is a time where we seriously take a look as who we are as disciples of Jesus Christ, and work at changing those things about ourselves that separate us from God.…