Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I want to share something with you. I was driving with the radio on. I was hearing it but not really listening. Have you ever done that? It was just noise in the background. Then something caught my attention.
I heard the radio announcer say “You have to show yourself a little kindness and love and grace. That got my attention. As I was now listening, she talked about how we need to be easier on ourselves. She stated that we are so quick to show kindness and forgiveness to others but we don’t give ourselves the same. We are way too hard on ourselves. I seriously thought she was in the car and talking directly to me.. One of the comments my mentor said during my internship was to stop being so hard on myself. Probably a lesson I am still learning.
I know I make mistakes all the time. That doesn’t mean I like it. Two things I am probably too hard on myself are how I treat people sometimes and how sometimes I stumble over things during the worship service. With people, I wish I can have a giant do-over. I’m glad most of you are also quick to forgive.
The other part is the worship service. You may not notice (or maybe you do), but it is hard for me to let go sometimes. I am so glad we worship a God who not only is quick to forgive but also forget. Amen to that.
So, I beg you to relax a little. I will try to do the same. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I know it is easier said than done. Believe me when I say I do. How about if you are like me, we try. Show yourself some kindness, love and grace today.
Pretty busy next weekend. We will be making sausage again on Friday and Saturday. Friday evening, we will be cutting the meat. Saturday morning, we will be making sausage. Later on in the afternoon we will be selling it or you can pick up your orders. We will need volunteers on both days. I am sure there is a sign-up sheet in the narthex. Remember, all profits go to the Youth programs.
I remember I came in on Friday the last time we did this. There in the kitchen were 4 women with sharp knives. I quickly turned around and left. Made me sort of nervous.
Next Sunday, we will be installing our new Church Council members at the Sunday service. Charlotte Sneed-McCall is one of our new members and Don Anderson who is not new but decided to come back for another term. This year, he is also our Council President. We are still in need of another member. Is the Holy Spirit stirring in your heart? I pray that you listen to that stirring. If you have interest, please let me or other council members.
My daughter let me know that there is a new animated movie coming out on April 11. It is called the King of Kings. It is a story about the life of Jesus. You can go to YouTube and check out the trailer. This definitely sounds like a church event, especially those who have children. We will keep you posted.
I received a letter from our very own David Msseemmaa. He is a missionary in Tanzania. His letter was describing the effects of the freeze in foreign aid. He talked about the tremendous impact it is already having in the country he is working in as well as the countries around Tanzania. It is not only affecting the people he is working with directly. Everything has an effect. What we do and what our leaders do has an effect on people. If you want to see the whole letter, please let me know. Over 2000 verses in the Bible are directed to taking care of the poor. Over 400 verses deal with taking care of the most vulnerable including the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner in our midst. There is no clearer mandate in the Bible. This is why I talk about being believers in Jesus Christ is great but not enough. Being followers of Jesus Christ put hands and feet on our beliefs.
What can we do? Pray for sure. Pray for our leaders. Pray for us not to be callous about what is going on in our community and the world. Then, put our prayers and faith in action. Helping out with PADS, donating to the Blessing Box and the Good Samaritan Fund is a way our church obeys God’s mandate. Come and help make quilts or help build ramps. This is another way to help the vulnerable in our midst. Become knowledgeable about what is going on in our country and the policies that are created. Get your information from a variety of sources, not just one. CNN and Fox News are geared for one group of people. Expand your knowledge and the information you receive. Sometimes I can walk away from other people’s problems but when it happens especially to one of our own, David, it shakes me. You?
What God mostly does is love you. (excerpt from Mostly What God Does by Savannah Guthrie)
Pastor Tom
815-223-1144
Readings for 5th Weekend of Epiphany – February 8 & 9
Isaiah 6:1-6[9-13] Psalm 138 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Luke 5:1-11
Reading the Bible in a Year- Monday, February 3 to Sunday February 9
Day 2 Samuel Psalms Proverbs Acts
Monday Ch 3:22-Ch 5:5 69:13-28 Ch 1:1-22
Tuesday Ch 5:6-Ch 6 69:29-36 Ch 1:23-Ch 2:21
Wednesday Ch 7-Ch 8 14:4-14 Ch 2:22-47
Thursday Ch 9 – Ch 10 70:1-5 Ch 3
Friday Ch 11 – Ch 12 71:1-8 Ch 4:1-22
Saturday Ch 13 71:9-18 Ch 4:23- Ch 5:11
Sunday Ch 14-Ch 15:12 14:15-24 Ch 5:12-42
Acts – The book of Acts is sometimes called the book of the Holy Spirit. I think one of the best things you could do is see how many times you can see the Holy Spirit in action. In this section I think you will find out that the Holy Spirit is not a timid spirit.
Proverbs – I was going to write something about righteousness but I think this set of proverbs deal with taking care of the poor. You will find a couple of the over 2000 verses in the Bible that deal with the poor. How should we treat the poor? I think you will find out.
Psalms – I think 71 is a typical lament psalm. It asks God for help. Then the psalmist pleads with God to act. Then my favorite part of all lament psalms is they usually say “What the heck, I am going to praise you anyways.” Total trust in God, regardless of the circumstances.
2 Samuel – It is probably best to keep a scorecard. Who is with who, who then changes his mind and goes to the other side, etc. Gets a little confusing. Just keep reading. It seems to be going pretty well with King David and then he commits adultery with Bathsheba. He shouldn’t have been there. He should have gone out with his army like kings do. Be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then things start going downhill.