Words from the Pastor
Thank You!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your prayers for my husband and for me. Barry is recovering nicely from his January 4th hip replacement surgery. Whenever anyone would wish him “Happy New Year, he would respond, “I’m going to have a “hip-py new year”. And surely, a new hip in the New Year is a good thing.
Thank you also for all your cards. One in particular has been especially inspiring. It reads: “If you want to get well fast...You’ve got to take it slow!” Indeed, the healing process is a slow one, but each day Barry is able to do a little more. In fact on one of the physical therapist’s recent visits, he asked her to show him how to unload the dishwasher. Sounds simple enough. The trick is not to bend or twist in ways that would interfere with his healing.
A Sacred Trust
We give thee but thine own, whate’er the gift may be;
all that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord from thee.
We sing that response each Sunday as our offerings are brought forward. I wonder, what does it mean to live those words, to live our lives believing with every fiber of our being that “all that we have is thine alone, a trust O Lord from thee”? A sacred trust.
I am reminded of the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism.
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul—
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
Encouraging One Another
Going through the mail recently—a job I never relish; you know the drill, bills, insurance promotions, requests for donations, ads, newsletters, etc, etc—I came upon the mailing for Continuing Education Offerings at Moravian Seminary, my alma mater. As I glanced through the brochure, my eyes caught a glimpse of an offering that warmed my heart. Rev. Dr. Kay Ward, now a bishop in the Moravian Church, who had been one of my seminary professors, is leading a workshop the first Saturday in December. My initial response: “It doesn't matter what it is, I'm going, just to be with Kay.” Usually I put events like that on my calendar, and then on or after the deadline, send in my registration. This time I went right down to my computer and registered immediately. That’s got to be a record.
Holy Manners
Recently I was working with one of our youth on her God & Church award for Girl Scouts. The assignment was to draw a diagram of the structure of this congregation. Organizational diagrams can be a bit intimidating. Instead of trying to develop the typical top-down flow chart, I knew instinctively that the structure of Pennsburg Untied Church of Christ needed a center. As a congregation of God’s people, how can our life together be centered on anything but God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
The Fields of Our Hearts
In a recent sermon on The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23) I focused on the generosity of the sower, who flings seed everywhere, and the abundance of the harvest, as much as one hundredfold
In the words of preacher Barbara Brown Taylor …the sower…is confident that there is enough seed to go around, that there is plenty, and that when the harvest comes in at last it will fill every barn in the neighborhood to the rafters?”
Modeling Generosity
“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift. is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17 NRSV
Four times a year we send a payment to the United Church of Christ to cover health insurance and pension expenses for your pastor. About a month ago we received a letter from our denomination with great news. The letter explained that the United Church of Christ’s investments did very well in the first quarter of 2011. In fact they did so well, that the denomination decided to share the windfall by reducing the health insurance bill of all participating congregations. The bill we received for the second quarter health insurance payment reflects a savings of 33%. What a blessing that we are part of a denomination that not only encourages our generosity, but at the same time models it.