Intersections

  Now that we are all about a month into this new year - let’s take a moment and assess: how are you doing? Have you gotten off track? I hope you don't feel like everything's gone off the rails! But this is only the second month of the year, let's get back on track and keep going together.   This year, I decided that I would come up with a word for the year - sort of a focus. Maybe you’d like to do that too, or you already have. The word I’ve chosen for 2023 is BALANCE. With the word, it coordinates with a Bible verse - 2 Peter 3:17 - which says, “My dear friends, you have been warned ahead of time! So don't let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance.”  We all have influences around us, and that’s what makes our community so great. But as we get out beyond our walls, there are wider ranges of what people believe. So to be true to your faith, make sure you are testing what you are hearing against what the Bible says. Dis...

  There was this giant tree in my parents’ backyard when I was growing up. It was probably the height of the two-story house we lived in, and I climbed that tree so much, although - not really ever very high. After I moved out for college, it was dying, and so they had to have it chopped down. When I came back, it was weird having this empty space where the mighty trunk with long branches stood. Then, after a couple of years, I saw a little shoot popping up out of the middle of it. I thought that was amazing! From this mighty tree, in its weakened state, there can be life coming out of it once again.   This is kind of what Isaiah is talking about in the scripture today. God promises that there will be new life given to a stump, representing the kingdom of Israel through Jesse, who is the father of King David. There are kind of two parts to this scripture today, verses one through five, and then six through ten make the other. The first part is about the reign of God and h...

  Last week, I talked about how our itchy ears can get in the way of the truth of salvation and how we can be distracted in our pursuit of holiness. Paul still encourages Timothy & even us now to “carry out your ministry fully”, in verse 5. But at the start of our excerpt today, the mood has changed. Paul seems weak and very convinced that death is coming soon.   This part of the letter has become amazingly personal, almost like it’s a little awkward for us to be reading it. Should we close the door to the hospital room that they’re conversing in, to give them a bit of privacy?  Although, we’d miss the lesson Paul has for us. He is continuing where he left off last week to his final words for Timothy. As we’ve gone through this letter, we’ve talked about rekindling the gift God has presented to us, showing up in service for God, staying encouraged and faithful when it’s difficult. But now, at least for Paul, it’s the end of the journey and we are the benefactors of ...

  Have you ever seen evangelism done poorly? Like… you witnessed maybe a street preacher on the corner with a bullhorn, or … less and less now, but the people with the sandwich board signs with the big letters “THE END IS NIGH”? Well - evangelism may not be one of my gifts but I do have a story for you of it going horribly bad. There  So I was in my later teens (you know, back in the late 1900s), and I had been talking to a friend online for a while and I wanted to share my faith. My friend didn’t have much of a background, and having grown up in a different area, it wasn’t really culturally relevant either. She knew I came from a Christian influence, but I hadn’t been really forthcoming about it. I knew it was something that I should do, because - you know, it’s exciting and I want more people to know about Jesus and the faith that helps sustain me.  Let me tell you: it did not go well. I don’t remember the specifics of it, but all I remember is that I thought it was goi...

One of my favorite months of the year is here! May is my birth month and after the turbulent weather throughout April, hopefully it will stabilize and just keep getting warmer! Since the weather is getting nice outside, I know I’ll be rising up out of my chair and trying to get outside more often.   Rising up could just be the act of changing from a sitting position to a standing one. It could also mean asserting one’s rights against injustice. A third definition is that it could be coming together to support one another in a time of crisis.  The verse that I chose this from is Acts 9:40, where Peter is bringing Tabitha back from the dead and he says to her, in the King James’ version, “Tabitha, arise!” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.  God wants us to be partners, not puppets. As much as our lives belong to God, we are working together for the glory of the Kingdom. We need to have a relationship to be partners though. Could you imagine h...

     Last week, we were with Peter while he and some other disciples are in court for preaching and teaching the Gospel. The Sanhedrin wanted to quash this new movement that has started with Jesus, so they are trying to root them out and silence them.       We come this week to a familiar passage, the conversion of Saul. The whole story continues from our passage today until verse 20, and I encourage for you to read the rest of it some time this week. It’s only another… fifteen verses or so, pretty easy.       Now, our main character this week is Saul. He’s what some may call a pretty bad hombre. He was a Pharisee, and was introduced in chapter 8 as the one who approved of the apostle Stephen’s killing, which he also witnessed. That’s kind of his background right now at the beginning when it says “STILL threatening and plotting against the disciples”, like a bull in a china shop, or a rabid animal after its prey. His story continues...

Last week, we ended our last series with the glorification of the Transfiguration of Jesus. But then, the disciples and the Christ came down from the mountain and found the struggling in the valley and where the people are. There were bright lights, and costume changes, and although it didn't say - I bet there may have been a show-stopping song and dance that got lost in the translation over the millennia.  But this week, not only have we gone through the valley and the people who are in need of Jesus, but he followed the Spirit - which is always with him - to the wilderness. Now, you think of wilderness, what comes to mind? I imagine it's like the middle of South Dakota near the Badlands, where there is just a void of humanity. My sister used to live in Saltillo, Mexico, about five hours by car from the Texas border. We flew in through Monterrey, and then it was another two hour drive through the Mexican desert. It was interesting scenery - mainly because it didn't loo...

  Ah... the good old days... back when everything was more simple, am I right? I’m sure each of you has a story or two about “back in my day...” that you could tell me about. It may even involve being thrown in a snowbank (my uncle’s favorite threat), or walking to school, uphill both ways in waist-high snow, barefoot. We have gained so much in the 60-odd years since this church was built, yet I believe its best days are still in front of us. Technologies have changed, improved, and re-evaluated modern life, but not everything can be the way it was when we began.  In 1959, when this church was started, a few other things were: the middle of the Cold War - that probably wasn’t difficult for anyone... Vice President Nixon met on LIVE TELEVISION with the Russian President and debated on the merits of each of their systems. Could you imagine something like that today? The Pioneer 4 unmanned spacecraft was supposed to do a fly-by of the Moon and photograph it. It failed to take any...