Sunday Worship November 10, 2024

Grace to you and peace, from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ!  I have titled this Sunday’s sermon “This Corner of the Realm of God,” as conversations and my own musings this week have often been about “what we can do.”  In Wednesday’s emailing, I wrote that the only thing over which we have control is our own actions and our own attitudes.  Perhaps, however, controlling our attitude is especially difficult in the midst of disappointment.  What falls to us, then, is to pay attention to our words and our actions, making certain that they are in the service of love and justice.  As we gather tomorrow, remembering “the widow’s mite” and a story of faithful generosity from First Kings, we may grow some trust in one another and in our loving God.  Isn’t that a large part of why we come together?

Blessings and peace, Lisa

Continue reading Sunday Worship November 10, 2024

Sunday Worship November 3, 2024

Grace to you and peace, from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ!  First, another reminder to set your clocks back tonight!  Secondly, a quick mention of the opportunity to gather in the sanctuary on Monday evening at 5:30, to pray for our nation.  On the eve of the election, we may pray for peace, for safety, comfort, liberty, and justice for all. 

During our worship tomorrow, we will remember all the saints that have come before us in our service of All Saints’ Sunday.  We will lift up the names of those we have loved and lost, and we will celebrate the sacrament of Communion, which reminds us that we are all united in spirit through Jesus Christ, and that we will meet again.  This is the good news and I look forward to worshipping with you. 

Blessings and peace, Lisa

Continue reading Sunday Worship November 3, 2024

Sunday Worship October 27, 2024

Grace to you and peace, from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ!  I am looking forward to being with you in worship very much!  We can know that this is a place and a people where we live into our best selves, trusting that we look with a similar vision.  Vision is at the core of our lessons for the weekend, with the story of Blind Bartimaeus and of God’s mercy.  How we understand the possibilities for our lives and how we enhance the possibilities for others’ lives is tied to our understanding of both–of vision and of God’s mercy.  So, in this season in which we too often are asked to look at the ways we see things differently, let’s come together in worship, celebrating the way we are seen as one by the One who made us. 

Blessings and peace, Lisa 

Continue reading Sunday Worship October 27, 2024

Sunday Worship October 20, 2024

This Sunday in worship we will explore how a change in perspective can change us – or at least change our understanding of who God is and how God is present and working in our lives and in this world. In our scriptures we hear first from the Hebrew Scriptures God’s response to Job’s searing questions concerning why, since he (Job) has done all he can to live a righteous life in accord with God’s commandments, he has suffered so much? In Mark’s Gospel from the New Testament we see how Jesus responds to James’ and John’s request to sit at Jesus’ side when he comes into his glory. What are our responses when we human beings come face to face with what we don’t know or don’t understand? Many of you know I’m never without questions! I’m looking forward to being with you and exploring together!
 
Blessings,
 
Deb Jenks

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Sunday Worship October 13, 2024

Grace and peace to you, from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ! Join in celebrating new members this weekend, with delight in that moment and hope the word of the day!  We can confidently say this, even when we pass through difficult times.  It was true for the Psalmist, and it was even true for Job, whose calamities are the stuff of legend.  So, too, is his faith.  Our relationship with God, perhaps like all our good relationships, allows for our questions and our occasional frustrations as we walk together through this gift of life.  In our worship together, we learn and grow in our faith, even as we wrestle with life’s challenges.  Join us, in celebration, in prayer and song, and in our asking the hard questions.

Blessings and peace, Lisa

Continue reading Sunday Worship October 13, 2024

Sunday Worship October 6, 2024

Grace and peace to you, from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ!  In a time of global unrest, it seems especially fitting that we recognize World Communion Sunday this weekend.  We will gather around a common table, celebrating our unity–with each other and with our neighbors, our family of God around the world.  Maren Tirabassi has written a helpful introduction to this “holiday,” which I share with you to include the same invitation.

“Those who are blessing and receiving the sacrament at home, please prepare a slice or small loaf of bread, corn tortilla, or rice cake or what is sacramental and joyful to share and a cup or small cups of juice — perhaps grape or cranberry — or wine, with or without alcohol, or coffee, or coconut water all of which are used in worship in different places.
In addition, you are invited to spend this week praying for a country in the world which is not your own. Often on this occasion we celebrate the “world” in a particularly generic “global” way rather than actually thinking about real places. For the days [following] World Communion Sunday choose one country to pray for – it may be in the news or may be one that you have visited or may be part of your ethnic heritage or may be one with a cuisine you find delicious or a writer or artist who inspires you. There is no right or wrong choice. Read an online article on this country – its history, its products, its religious heritage, the challenges it faces right now, certainly including how it stands in this [particularly fraught time.] Learn a word in one of its languages – maybe peace or gratitude or blessing. Google translate is a helpful resource and includes an audio pronunciation feature. You might even find a recipe to make sometime this week. This too will be communion.”

We also welcome to worship tomorrow guest musician Bill Schubeck to join our new Music Director, Tina Spencer Dreisbach and her husband, Paul. 

Blessings and peace, Lisa

Continue reading Sunday Worship October 6, 2024