What Do We Do While We Wait to See God?

Earlier this week, I prayed the scripture about Zacchaeus waiting in the sycamore tree to see Jesus, and about his conversation with Jesus (Luke 19:1-10).  

Putting myself in the story, I had a conversation with Jesus that went like this: 

Jesus said, “I found you!  I see you!  I love you! Will you let me restore you?”

“How?” I asked.

“Follow me.” Jesus said. “Do what I do.” 

On Sunday, Rev. Donna is going to say more about what we Christians do while we wait to see God.  Here's a bit of what we'll be reading together:

from  I Corinthians 13 MSG

We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. 

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Ephesians 5 1-2 MSG

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

So while we wait, we receive God's love. We keep company with Jesus. We observe how Christ loved us…not cautiously but extravagantly.   And we love like that.  Worth repeating.

I hope to see you on Sunday.

Susan

When Have You Felt the Shattering, Unforeseen Love of God?

Charlie Mackesy, from his book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse 

Or maybe you felt the gentle help of a fellow human being, an angel sent by God, which brought tears to your eyes.  Could they be the same thing?

I felt this earlier in the week, on a day when I felt like I needed a dose of courage to face the road ahead.  

Rev. Donna sent me this YouTube song and it immediately boosted my spirits, reminding me of the goodness of God, running after me.

 

CeCe Winans - Goodness of God (Official Lyric Video)

Because His mercy never fails us, and his goodness is running after us.  Always.  It ran after me that day, until I stopped, paused, and let the realization of the goodness of God wash over me.

I hope you can join us on Sunday for communion, as he gathers us in, the lost and forsaken, the blind and the lame, the rich and the haughty, the proud and the strong.

May you have the courage to ask for help when you need it and may God's goodness catch you today. 

Nor is it only the joy of God and the comfort of God that come at unforeseen times.  God’s coming is always unforeseen, I think, and the reason, if I had to guess, is that if he gave us anything much in the way of advance warning, more often than not we would have made ourselves scarce long before he got there.  -  Frederich Buechner

 

           

Do You Know What Your Gifts Are?

“Pictured is a Mexican Talavera Wall Cross which is hand made and hand painted by the talented pottery craftsman. Only natural clays are used, rather than chemically treated and dyed clays and the handcrafting process takes three to four months. The process is risky because a piece can break at any point. 

The Cross represents the bright, warm, lively, vitality of One’s Faith and Love as represented in Mexican culture.” - Glenn Wong

We are delighted this week to have Glenn share with us a presentation about his missionary work in Mexico.

As you prepare for worship, I invite you to consider this passage from Isaiah:  

 

Isaiah 42.1-4 MSG

“Take a good look at my servant.

    I’m backing him to the hilt.

He’s the one I chose,

    and I couldn’t be more pleased with him.

I’ve bathed him with my Spirit, my life.

    He’ll set everything right among the nations.

He won’t call attention to what he does

    with loud speeches or gaudy parades.

He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt

    and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant,

    but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right.

He won’t tire out and quit. He won’t be stopped

    until he’s finished his work—to set things right on earth.

Far-flung ocean islands

    wait expectantly for his teaching.”

If I consider the fruits of the spirit named in Paul's letter to the Galatians, I would say that Glenn, by God's grace, has been given the gift of love. We have seen him show love here in Vancouver in the Homeless Outreach Project and we will learn about his work in Mexico this Sunday. 

He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt

    and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant,

    but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right.

Sounds like love to me! 

I'm sure Glenn has other gifts too…what are your gifts?

In celebration and wonder,

Susan

May the wellsprings of compassion flow deep within you, until you can taste the tears

of your brothers and sisters.  (2 Cor 1:3-7) - Joyce Rupp

Galatians 5:22-23

NIV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

MSG

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

What Do Our Prayer Postures Tell Us?

 What did you hear during our Joys and Concerns praying last week?  What did you notice?

I noticed our postures…we didn't bow our heads like we usually do in church when we pray.  And didn’t Jesus often look up when he prayed?  I wonder what our postures can tell us?

Our postures last week were similar to our postures during circle conversation - postures of listening.

“Just as love to God begins with listening to his Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is learning to listen to them.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I’ve been thinking a lot about love this week.  I joined the CVC Advisory to serve the church, but now it has evolved into a committee that is surrounded and immersed in so much love that I can’t imagine my life without it.  It reminds me of Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus.  In his letter to them we read:

And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

The Advisory Committee prays for each other often.  We hold each other up and we bear each other’s burdens.  We pray for each other because we love each other. 

And that love involves as much listening as it does praying. In order to pray for each other we need to invite confession of problems and weaknesses and then listen. 

That invitation and listening was what I noticed during our Joys and Concerns prayers last week.  It was a joy to see and to hear.  

This week, we will stay with Romans 8:20-28:

All around us we observe a pregnant creation.  The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

I know that Rev. Donna will be listening as well as speaking.  

Image by wayhomestudio on Freepik

LoveYou2.org

This is another story about spreading love one piece at a time:  http://www.loveyou2.org/.

"What began as a fun love note for my kids has turned into a passion for finding, documenting, installing and sharing love notes.  You can join me changing the world one love note at a time."

Shannon has been going at it since 2010 and it has expanded into other things, including a Ted Talk.

Thanks for sharing this, Janice!

Singing in the Shower

A friend (who wants to remain anonymous) has got her own "Pay it in kindness" project going and has started a new blog.

Her project is to leave notecards around town for people to "send to someone you know who needs a lift".  The cards are all ready to mail, complete with envelope and stamp.

What a great project!

Love One Another

 

 

"A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another".  - John 13:34

 

Like most, I've been pondering the horrific hatred demonstrated in Orlando this week.  And now in London, England, with the brutal murder of an MP.  This passage is the answer God gave me when I asked Him, "What can I do?"

 

A few minutes later He led me here.  Laure has it right, I think.  "Maybe, just maybe, if we fill the world with kindness, we'll begin to crowd out the hate that drives someone to harm others."  I encourage you to check out Laure's project and spread the love!