Pastor’s Corner

A Prayer a Day: Good day, Holy God. Today we returned to public worship. It was great to see friends in person and to have the opportunity to share music, scripture, sermon, and prayer together. I began writing these daily prayers on March 17, 2020, when we closed public worship. I hope these prayers have blessed readers, in some small way, as they have blessed me in the writing and sharing of them. I have felt closer to God, and to you during this time of sharing faith. I have written 83 daily prayers and shared them here on Facebook. I so enjoyed praying today during our services. Lord, please help each of us, to spend time with you each day, so that we can go deeper in our faith. We thank you, Lord, for bringing us to this place and time together. As we return to public worship, and focus increasingly on restarting our ministry with acts of service for others, keep us filled with your Spirit of love and grace. Come Holy Spirit and make us faithful: amen.

A Prayer a Day: Compassionate, merciful, and empathetic God, we come asking you to spread your Spirit throughout the world. Your world is in turmoil; people are in the streets protesting across the USA, and the whole world. Protesters are out in the thousands in Berlin, Germany, Great Britain, and most of the European countries. These overseas protests were triggered by the killing of George Floyd, but in every interview the Europeans say their countries are also struggling with police brutality. The videos are graphic, a 75 year old man knocked forcefully to the ground by police, left with blood pouring out of his ears, and a small, young woman thrown through the air striking a cement curb. Facebook is flooded with images of violence by police, and with posts about supporting our police men and women. We do support our police and understand that all police cannot be rightly judged by the worst behavior of some. It is a totally false choice we are being given.The choice is between protesters, of all colors, and the police officers charged with keeping order. God, you give us a different chice.You, Lord, invite us to chose between good and bad, between righteous and unrighteous. With your wisdom, Holy God, we see that sometimes the good and righteous is evident in the actions of the police department, but, sometimes the bad and unrighteous is obvious in the behavior of the police.Likewise, sometimes the protesters’ behavior is good and righteous, and sometimes, it is bad and unrighteous.Lord, I point out the obvious, but obviously, it isn’t obvious: so I will say it clearly; no group of people are any one thing. The protesters are rich and poor, black, white, Asian, and Native American.They are well-educated and illiterate, Democrats, Libertarians, Republicans, anarcists, and white supremists. Lord, you are the creator God, maker of heaven and earth, dispenser of wisdom and discernment, help us to be like you, who sees beyond the externals and labels, and who judges the hearts of us all. Help us, Holy God, to chose good not bad; to chose righteousness not unrighteousness. Help us to be open to all people, giving each person an equal opportunity to reveal their heart through their actions. Come Holy Spirit and give us a discerning spirit: amen.

A Prayer a Day: Good afternoon, Heavenly Father. Today I was watching news reports about protesters and rioters. I looked at four different channels and sure enough, each channel was reporting on protests and riots around the country. I started wondering if the Bible has much to say about riots; I found Jesus himself was accused of causing riots. When the Jewish Council went before Pilate complaining about Jesus, they said his ministry had to be stopped because Jesus, “Had been causing riots everywhere.” The Jewish Council gave no specific examples, and no video was available to support their charges. In my opinion, the closest example of Jesus causing a riot would be his cleansing the temple of the money changers.This story is recorded in all four Gospels. ITurning over tables, whipping the bird sellers, breaking cages, and releasing birds, may have constituted a riot of sorts. Mostly, Jesus drew large crowds, caused people to be filled with wonder, and sent many home healed.Today, we say people are rioting, when they break windows, steal things, and set things on fire. Jesus didn’t set any buildings ablaze, but he did set hearts on fire with love for you, Lord. Jesus may have caused a riot of emotions in the people he met, by healing the blind, deaf, lame,and by raising the dead. Surely, these actions caused a stir, but I think of riots as negative, and I never think of Jesus as negative. Lord, please come and heal our land of these destructive riots. We repent of all the ways, that we have sinned against you,Lord, and against our brothers and sisters, because of our lack of love. Fill us with your Spirit, so that we may share your peace in our troubled world. Come Holy Spirit and make us peaceful: amen.

A Prayer a Day: Good morning, Lord. Today when I woke up I was thinking about my life, and people’s lives in general. Our days are made up of what we think about, talk about, and the actions we take. Since I am a Christian, trying to follow Jesus, I frequently think about Jesus’ life. Jesus’ life is recorded for us in the Bible. Of course, many things that Jesus said and did are not recorded, but the Bible gives us a lot of information about Jesus’ life. I have heard a number of pastors say, Jesus talked more about money than any other subject.That’s not exactly accurate, Jesus talked about money in 11 of his 39 parables, but he talked about food in 18 of the 39 parables.The subject he talked about more than money and food is your Kingdom, God. Jesus’ primary message about the Kingdom of God is that everything else is to be centered around your Kingdom, Holy God. Jesus said your Kingdom is different than the world’s kingdoms; that your Kingdom has a totally different set of rules than worldly kingdoms. The main point of talking about your Kingdom is to encourage us to build your Kingdom, and find a way to live by your Kingdom rules. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” and he can show us how to enter it. Holy God, as we pray your Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Help us to work to bring your Kingdom more fully into existence in the world through our every thought, word, and deed. Come Holy Spirit and make is Kingdom builders: amen.

A Prayer a Day: Good day, Holy God. Today when I left the Grace Church, the sun was shining brightly on the Grace shepherd. A few years ago, the tree in front of the church was infected with Emerald Ash Borer. It was basically dead. Instead of cutting it down, we found a talented, local artist, Greg Henry, who carved our dead tree into a shepherd, with a staff, and a smiling lamb in his arms. The shepherd tree is a special monument in front, reminding everyone who passes by that you, God, are our good shepherd, and that you can take, that which is dead and make it beautiful. As a child I remember memorizing Psalm 100, “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us and not we ourselves.We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.” Holy God, we thank you for the image of you, as our shepherd. We like to think of you keeping track of us, taking us to cool water, and watching over us to keep us safe from harm. We know we are like all sheep and wander off. We are grateful, that you know us by name and do whatever you must to bring us home, when we are lost. Lord, help us to demonstrate the kind of love for others, that you have consistently shown us. Come Holy Spirit and make us more protective: amen.

A Prayer a Day: Good afternoon, Lord. If you had a phone this would be your dinner call. It’s June 1st, 2020; it seems like May was six weeks long, but I know that’s not right. I like the first anything: June 1st marks a new month, which makes me wonder about my ability to make things new. I would like to make things new. I don’t seem to have that ability at all. But, you, God, have the ability to make all things new. Revelation 21:5, you, Lord, said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” The whole Bible is full of stories of ordinary people, that you made new, from Saul being knocked off his donkey and getting a new name, to Mary Madeline, whose total life changed. You, Lord, are in the making new business. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” I see in both these scriptures the word, “Behold,” which means look here! You, God, are always making something happen worth seeing. Lord, we count on you to keep us going when we feel old and tired. We know you can make us new, that you can give us new eyes to see, new ears to hear, and new strength to embrace each other with love. Come Holy Spirit and make us new: amen.

A Prayer a Day: Good morning, Holy God. It’s Pentecost Sunday, the symbols of Pentecost are front in my mind; the symbols of the firey flames and the dove of peace. Flames are nice on candles held high Christmas Eve, while we smile into each other’s faces and sing, “Silent Night.” The last five nights have not been silent nights in large cities across our country. Sadly, instead of candles held high, with smiling and singing, we have seen images of tears, cries of anguish, anger, frustration, and destruction.That’s the thing about fire, in itself fire is not good or bad. If it warms you on a winter’s night or cooks your food, it’s good. If it is an explosion a fire bomb destroying businesses and people’s livelihoods, its bad. We have seen many bad fires over the years.A vivid memory of bad fire was the California fire in 2018, that destroyed everything for miles and miles. Lord God, I imagine you are deeply saddened by the images you are seeing here on the earth, you created. It must pain you, as our Heavenly Father, as it pains us, as earthly parents, to see your children fighting and hurting each other. I know you love us all as your precious children. I know that you, Lord, value variety and beauty in your creation.There is not one flower, but .4 million flowers.There is not one bird, but 10,000 species of birds.There is not one language on earth, but 6,700 languages and 5,000 different cultures. Lord, all of us upon your earth are human beings.We are one species.God, you make us one giant human family. We are all created by you, loved by you, and valued by you. Our differences are all totally superficial, like flowers, some of us have more color, some less.This thinking reminds me of a song we sang in Vacation Bible School and Sunday School, “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” Do you remember the words? “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world; red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” I want to be like Jesus: God, you call us to be like Jesus. You show us how to value variety and beauty by making our world rich in color, contrast, and diversity. Help us, Holy God, to see each other with love and grace, as you see us. Help us, to stop hurting and killing each other. Lord, we have never needed the power of your Holy Spirit more than now. Come Holy Spirit and make us unified in your love: amen.

A Prayer a Day: Good morning, God. This morning when I woke up the words of the song, “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” was running through my mind. It triggered a memory from the 1990’s. During the 1990’s there were a group of nuns and a priest, from Precious Blood Catholic Parish in Dayton, Ohio, who went out to places in the community, where people had been murdered to have prayer vigils. People came from all over the area, and from all kinds of religious traditions, to pray, sing, “Let There Be Peace on Earth”, and to ask you, God, to reconsecrate the ground, that had been desecrated by hatred, violence, and blood shed. I attended these vigils frequently, sometimes, more than once a week. The whole event probably lasted about 20 minutes total. The idea of asking you, God, to make holy the world, we have polluted with hatred and violence, seems to be a good one. Last night with the darkness came additional protests, riots, physical confrontations, violence, destruction of property, and expressions of hatred between groups. It isn’t racial division alone; indeed, an impressive number of protesters are white. It is a conflict of race, yes, but also class, financial status, and world view. Everything we are seeing is a result of change too slow in coming, and justice for all seeming never to be coming at all. Lord, only you can help us and save us, as we struggle to think, speak, and behave after the example of Jesus. Please, Holy God, step into this ugly scene and bring your peace, the peace that passes understanding. Come Holy Spirit and make us more Christ-like and more understanding of each other: amen.

A Prayer a Day: Good day, Lord. Please help us, Holy God, in our distress over the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. All over the USA, people are protesting the killings of unarmed African-American citizens. Last night, in Louisville seven people were shot dead, while protesting the killing of Breonna Taylor, the 26 year old EMT, killed in her own home at 1:30 A.M. by police serving a warrant at the wrong house. People protested last night in Georgia over the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, slain while jogging in broad daylight through a residential neighborhood. Heavenly Father, please help the grieving and broken-hearted deal with these situations. Please help each of us remember the Golden Rule to “Treat others as we would have them treat us.” Holy God, we remember the story in Genesis of Cain killing his brother Abel. Genesis 4:10 reads, “The Lord said, What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” We worry that justice will never come in this world, and perhaps it never will. But, there is a higher judge, Lord, and we know you care about the spilling of a brother’s blood. We know there is another judgment, that will come to each of us. We will all, eventually stand before your judgment seat, Lord, and we will all give an account of ourselves. Lord, we have all sinned, and all of us fall short of your glory, Lord. But where we have not yet walked the path of violence, hatred, and the spilling of blood, keep us from acting upon our worst impulses. Keep us from the influence of Satan, who is always at the core of all evil and murder. Help us, Lord, to learn Jesus’ way and to remember Jesus said, one’s neighbor is the righteous one who shows mercy. Come Holy Spirit and make us righteous: amen.

A Prayer a Day: Good morning, Heavenly Father. Today was my earthly father’s birthday. He was born May 28, 1932, died May 25, 1996, and was buried May 28,1996, his 64th birthday. If he were alive today, he would be turning 88 years old. It’s impossible for me to imagine him at 88. I loved my Dad, most people can truthfully say that. I have been a parent long enough now, to realize how frequently I disappointed my children over the years. That said, my evaluation of my father has changed with time. I don’t say this, Lord, to beat myself up. I say it to acknowledge the enormity of the task of raising children, and the human frailty and brokenness, that make parenting such a daunting job. I remember years ago, reading that June Carter Stapleton, Christian evangelist and Jimmy Carter’s sister, said she used to stand in the hallway outside her children’s bedrooms and pray that you, God, would bridge the gap between the love her children needed, and the love she had to give. Lord, help us to parent in a loving way. Heavenly Father, please do bridge the gap between the love others need, and the love we have to give. Holy God, forgive us for our failures and heal us, so that we may better love in your name. Come Holy Spirit and make us humble: amen.