Pentecost, God Within and Among Us – Acts 2:1-12

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Pentecost, God Within and Among Us – Acts 2:1-12

Pentecost is about seeing God’s presence in our lives. As you start each day, ask God to help you notice the Holy Spirit in and around you. If it helps, ask God to help you see the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). And when you think you’ve seen, heard, or felt God, tell someone so we can celebrate with you!

By recognizing Pentecost-type moments in our lives, we open ourselves to experiencing a deeper personal relationship with God. And the fruit of that will be more love, more joy, and more peace in ourselves, in our homes, and in our community.

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Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something! – Acts 1:1-14

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Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something! – Acts 1:1-14

Each of us has our own experience of God’s presence in our lives. Each of us has our own story to tell. Our faith journeys are as unique as we are.

Like the gospel writers, when we share our faith stories, we give other people the opportunity to say, “Hey, I had the same experience!” OR people might say, “Wow, I never noticed God in that way; you’ve given me a new way to look for or understand God in my life.” OR even, “I’ve never thought about my faith like that; I’ll have to ponder that.”

Any of those are great. This is how we, as a community of believers, grow our faith and continue on our faith journeys rather than getting complacent or stuck and staring up at the clouds saying halfheartedly, “OK God, what next?”

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A Radical Change of Thought and Life – Luke 24:28-53

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A Radical Change of Thought and Life – Luke 24:28-53

In Luke’s story, Jesus tells us what He wants us to do in 24:47: “a radical change of thought and life should be proclaimed, and that in His name the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed…”. But what does it means to proclaim in the sense of sharing our faith and/or faith experiences with others? People of ALL ages can proclaim their faith in numerous ways, perhaps most importantly in how we treat others.

And just what are we supposed to be proclaiming? The Voice translation offers us wording that beautifully conveys what repentance means: “a radical change of thought and life.” What radical changes in your life can you proclaim with joy?

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Peace and Forgiveness – John 20:19-31

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Peace and Forgiveness – John 20:19-31

Forgiveness is the path that gets us to wholeness… to shalom (peace with God, ourselves, and others). In these handful of verses, Jesus lays out both the power we have and the opportunity at our fingertips to create peace… or not.

If we can do the culturally hard work of embracing the forgiveness that God so freely offers us and encourages us to share with others, we will naturally be happier, healthier people who will, as a consequence, naturally bring joy and peace to others. Forgiveness is a critical way we expand the Kingdom of God and bring life-giving change into our homes and our community. Isn’t it worth the effort?

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May I Have Your Attention? – Mark 16:9-19

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May I Have Your Attention? – Mark 16:9-19

So WHY did Mark’s editors include these five incredible claims: cast out demons, speak in new languages, handle snakes, drink poison, and heal the sick? As Nef put it: for shock value. ALL of these miraculous signs had one goal: to get people’s attention so that you could then tell them about God’s even MORE incredible love.

If we create a culture where we look forward to moments when we can spontaneously and joyfully share God’s love with others – and then celebrate those moments together – we will continue to expand the Kingdom of God and shock our community with our faith.

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Go! I Will Always Be With You – Matthew 28:8-10, 16-20

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Go! I Will Always Be With You – Matthew 28:8-10, 16-20

Several questions are worth pondering as we seek to be better disciples of our faith’s beliefs and values.

  • Who are we following – both religious and non-religious – and what are we learning from them?

  • Who are we leading and what are we teaching them?

  • How can we be better students and teachers of the Good News of God’s love?

Much like Jesus’ disciples, the Kingdom of God is filled with people from all backgrounds. Let’s work on inviting others to walk with us in this unique and amazing community as we all learn and grow together.

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Palm Sunday – Our Faith in Dark Days

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Palm Sunday – Our Faith in Dark Days

The legendary stories of Jesus’ birth and death serve as mirrored bookends to Jesus’ unique life. Jesus’ birth story challenges us to look for God’s presence in unexpected places and people. Jesus’ death story reminds us that we are imperfect creatures, prone to fear and putting our own safety and comfort first.

May we always be open to God’s presence, and may we develop a faith so bold that the stones don’t have to shout praises to God.

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Virtue #7 – Ask Questions & Love Skeptics – 8 Short Verses

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Virtue #7 – Ask Questions & Love Skeptics – 8 Short Verses

Curiosity and skepticism are closely related. God is fine with skepticism in the sense of genuine, sincere questioning.

Here’s the great news: God is fine with skepticism in the sense of genuine, sincere questioning. When Thomas doubted Jesus was really back from the dead, Jesus neither rejected nor berated Thomas. Instead, Jesus said intimately welcomed him, “Thomas, I understand why you have doubts. Put your hands in my wounds (wow!) so your experience with Me will transform your relationship with Me in a way that you can never doubt.” God welcomes our wonders and our worries and invites us into life-changing, faith-changing experiences.

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Virtue #2: Flourishing Churches Integrate New People – Ruth 1:16–17 and Matt. 4:18–22, 25:31-40

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Virtue #2: Flourishing Churches Integrate New People – Ruth 1:16–17 and Matt. 4:18–22, 25:31-40

Virtue #2 is integration. Flourishing churches quickly integrate new people into the life of the church. Churches flourish when they are personal – when they have a genuine interest in and compassion for each other.

Integrating people into the LIFE of our church family means welcoming them into our family, ensuring they feel welcomed, and finding places where their talents and interests become interwoven with our church life. Integrating people means we flourish together. We include others by loving them. We include others as an expression of how each of us feels loved by God. And we include others as an act of worship by letting God’s love, grace, and mercy for them flow through us.

The Good News of God’s love for us is that all of us – with our great diversity of talents, interests, and wisdom – we are ALL welcomed into and needed in the Kingdom of God. THAT is Good News the world needs to hear.

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Virtue #1: Flourishing Churches Believe in Miracles and Act Accordingly – Exodus 14:21-31, Acts 2:42-43

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Virtue #1: Flourishing Churches Believe in Miracles and Act Accordingly – Exodus 14:21-31, Acts 2:42-43

Virtue # 1 is a belief in miracles. Flourishing churches believe that God has worked in the life of their church in miraculous ways, they celebrate how God is currently working in miraculous ways, and they act in a way that expects God will continue blessing and guiding them in ways they cannot anticipate or explain.

“Acting as if we believe that the Holy Spirit is up to something in our midst is the single greatest game-changing decision a church leadership team [or a Christian] can make.” (Eight Virtues, Kindle 214).

Let’s name our wants, our concerns, our joys and burdens. Let’s discuss these. Let’s pray about these so that God can lead us and give us wisdom that may cause us to adjust our wants and our prayers. And when God answers our prayers, let us act in faith, receive the miraculous blessings God sends us, and celebrate God moving among and through us.

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John 20 – The Breath of Life

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John 20 – The Breath of Life

Jesus shared His life-giving breath with the surprised, confused, and perhaps terrified disciples in that locked room. Recalling God breathing the breath of life into the first humans (Genesis 2:7), Jesus literally breathed His active, resurrected, life-giving breath into the disciples so that His life force – the Holy Spirit – would be in them. As an act of intense love, Jesus gave them “Spiritual CPR” so that they could, in turn, be empowered to go out and give this new life to others.

Equipped with God’s mysterious presence within them, Jesus sent the disciples out of their protective, locked rooms so that they could share the Good News of God’s love. As Jesus’ disciples today, God is asking us, urging us, drawing us to GO into a hungry, hurting world with the best news of all: the Creator of the Universe created you, knows you, loves you, and welcomes you into the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of peace.

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John 17 – One Last Prayer / Knowing God

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John 17 – One Last Prayer / Knowing God

Jesus does not describe eternal life as knowing about God, but actually knowing God. So how do we do that? How do we personally “know” the Creator of the Universe?!? We start by having interactions with God. So how do we do that?!? Everyone has their own path, their own journey.

Eternal life – being in relationship with God – and “becoming holy” are blessings we can enjoy now AND look forward to enjoying in new, different, and greater ways in the future. Eternal life is a way of living in love and in hope with ourselves and with others. It is part of what Jesus meant when He said “the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” The Kingdom of Heaven is near indeed and there is plenty of room for everyone!

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John 16 – Joy?? We Don’t Understand

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John 16 – Joy?? We Don’t Understand

Like Jesus modeled for the disciples, we need to acknowledge and deal with the past and present stresses and traumas in our lives WHILE we look to our future. Often that’s easier said than done... which is why we believe it is so important to be connected with God and each other in our faith community – our church family.

We don’t have to wait until we die to experience the Kingdom of God. Every single moment that we are able to love God, love ourselves, and love others, we make the Kingdom of God real, we make it practical, and we make it personal. This was and is the Good News Jesus and His disciples proclaimed. And this continues to be the Good News for us, for our families, and for our community.

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John 13 – Washing Feet / Communion at a Small Country Church

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John 13 – Washing Feet / Communion at a Small Country Church

The disciple Peter plays a prominent role in today’s story. He is almost comically imperfect as he responds to Jesus’ expression of love – first by saying he wants none of this, then saying he wants it all, and later overestimates his loyalty to Jesus. It’s easy to criticize Peter’s lack of understanding and allegiance. But as someone said, “Peter is there to give the rest of us mere mortals courage.”

During this service, we celebrated Holy Communion. The next time you participate in this ancient, sacred sacrament, I urge you to pray, “Lord, what would you like to share with me through today’s bread and juice?”

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John 12 – Mary Anoints Jesus (a $40,000 pedicure?!?)

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John 12 – Mary Anoints Jesus (a $40,000 pedicure?!?)

Mary’s actions were her way of honoring God’s presence in her life. Her extra-ordinary generosity celebrated Jesus’ life of extra-ordinary service to others AND symbolically prepared Jesus for His extra-ordinary execution and resurrection.
Two questions for us today should prod us to consider how we utilize the resources we have.

  • In what ways can we sacrificially give as an act of acknowledging and worshiping God’s presence among us?

  • In what ways can we serve those in need while we confront the systems that neglect and oppress others?

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John 9 – Seeing with New Eyes

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John 9 – Seeing with New Eyes

Awaken... It’s an action-oriented word. It’s a word focused on looking forward, not back. It’s a word that calls us to be intentionally mindful of our immediate surroundings. When Jesus healed the blind man, his newfound eyesight awakened him to new realities, new possibilities, and a new understanding of God’s presence and power.
To what is God trying to awaken each of us?

Make no mistake, this whole eye-opening, awakening stuff can feel overwhelming – much like seeing color for the first time. Once God reveals something to us, we can’t unsee it. This is when the power of a faith community is so important. We NEED to discuss what we hear and see (what God “puts on our hearts,” to use churchy language) so that, together, we can better understand the world around us and how we should respond to it.

Consider adding this simple request to your morning prayer, “Lord, help me SEE Your presence around me more clearly today. Help me SEE Your presence in other people. And help me BE Your presence to people who need to hear, see, and feel Your love, Your grace, and Your peace.”

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John 6:47-60 – Flesh & Blood, Power & Life

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John 6:47-60 – Flesh & Blood, Power & Life

If our sacred texts – the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament – provide the bones of our faith, and Jesus’ ministry of words and deeds provide the flesh, the Holy Spirit that ran through Jesus and runs through us today is the life-giving blood we all depend upon to live from one moment to the next. The skeleton gives structure; the flesh gives power; the blood give life.

Our Sunday worship services are a spiritual meal shared among friends, a time together meant to be savored and shared, like the steak and wine meal.

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John 6:14-35 – Peace in Storms

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John 6:14-35 – Peace in Storms

When we live into the Great Commandments of loving God, loving ourselves, and loving others (Matthew 22:36-40), we create space for Jesus to show up unexpectedly. Much like Jesus announced Himself and God’s presence to the disciples with “I am here,” we can announce ourselves and God’s presence – through word and deed – with “We are here for you. We are here with you in the middle of life’s storms. We’ll get through this together.”

We began this proclamation of God’s compassionate, healing presence this past Thursday when we gave hundreds of people smiles, laughs, and yes, food.

  • How will we continue our proclamation?

  • How will we share words of encouragement in checkout lines?

  • How will we show exceptional generosity to those in need?

  • How will we extend words of invitation to refugees who need to hear and know that they are welcome, wanted, and needed in the Kingdom of God?

These are not rhetorical questions; these are prayers to God. “Lord, show us how to be Your hands and feet! And give us the faith and trust to follow Your lead.”

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John 2:1-12 – Transfiguring the Common into the Amazing

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John 2:1-12 – Transfiguring the Common into the Amazing

Our lives are not just about us and what makes us happy or not, comfortable or not. God offers us opportunities to bless others, to solve other people’s problems as a continuation of how God blesses us and solves our life problems.

When God calls us into action, even if we don’t feel like it, even if we don’t understand why... we need to respond with obedience.

Wherever you are in life, no matter what you have or have not done, God can take you as you are – raw and unfiltered – and make you pure, healthy, and spectacular, NOT for your own benefit or glory, but so that you may be an abundant blessing to others.

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John 20:19-31 and Acts 4:32-35 – Rev. Blake Busick – Awaken to Life

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John 20:19-31 and Acts 4:32-35 – Rev. Blake Busick – Awaken to Life

You are made in the image of God, and you are completely and eternally loved, and therefore have great value and worth. And God is a God of of perfect love and eternal joy that overcomes evil and shatters our illusions. These are the realities to base our life on. And it changes everything when we do that.
The only weapons that really defeat evil, injustice and oppression, in whatever forms they present themselves are love, and joy. That’s what Jesus showed us in His death and resurrection, in His crucifixion, and in His rising from the grave is that those are God’s weapons to defeat evil: love and joy.
And so, this season I invite you to join me and Thomas to awaken, awaken to Jesus, awaken to love, awaken to joy.

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