My fifteen year old son Desmond is not impressed; in fact he is sadly cynical about the political process in the United States of America, the nation his adoptive parents brought him to from his native nation, South Africa, back in 2002. I believe that frustration and cynicism oppress a lot of Americans.
The other morning I asked myself, when I was fifteen years old, what was the political tenor of our country? I thought about it for a moment and mumbled, “Oh my goodness!” I entered my fifteenth year on June 9, 1968. As in 1968! America was teetering on the edge of chaos. Sixty-six days before I blew out my birthday candles, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee. Four days prior to my birthday, a 24 year old Palestinian/Jordanian immigrant named Sirhan Sirhan gunned down the charismatic US Senator and candidate for President Robert “Bobbie” Kennedy. Rioting rocked over 150 cities across America. The Democratic Convention teetered on the edge of collapse. Wow. Our contemporary political climate is poisonous. Anger and stress seethe. Things are not as violent as they were in 1968, but it is a scary time. I recommend a three-point plan for the month of November: PRAY. VOTE. PRAY. PRAY WITH US on the evening of November 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the lounge. That is the night before the election. I will lead a service of worship, song, and prayer for our country on Election Day and beyond. This will be a non-partisan service. When it comes to my political predilections as a pastor, I follow in the footsteps of one of my mentors who served my hometown church in the ‘70’s. When asked for whom he would vote, Dr. George Parkinson smiled mischievously and said, “I am voting for the best candidate….and I’m sure you are, too.” CAST YOUR VOTE on Tuesday, November 8. I believe that the disciples of Jesus are called to take part in the political process by voting, at the very least. True, Jesus did not aspire to political office. He ran away when people wanted to make him king (John 6:15: Perceiving that (the crowds) were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.) Jesus had no desire for political leadership. My kingship is not of this world. He said to Pontus Pilate before he was condemned to crucifixion. John 18:36.) Yet, Jesus did say to his enemies and disciples (Matthew 22:21: Render therefore the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. The Apostle Paul urged the early church to Let every person be subject to the governing authorities….they are instituted by God…respect to whom respect is due, and honor to whom honor is due. (from Romans 13.) By the way, the sanctuary will be open on election day from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, for prayer and meditation. LEFT UP PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING. On the evening before Thanksgiving, Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the Gathering Place, we will have an of giving thanks. Again, it will be a casual, not-very-long service of scripture reading, prayer, and music. The election will be over, the nation will begin to hesitantly move forward, but I expect the anxiety of the election process to linger. We will remember the urgings of the Apostle Paul: Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication – WITH THANKSGIVING – let your requests be known to God. (Philippians 4:4). I believe there is one thing we can all agree on. These are unsettling and unsettled days. Lean on that most lovely of all Psalms (Psalm 23): let the Lord be our Shepherd and we will not want. We will be made to lie down in green pastures and led beside still waters. Our souls will be restored. May the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Pastor Michael Good afternoon brothers, sisters, and friends of FPCE,
Tomorrow morning’s service will include the Sacrament of Baptism. Winter Rae Somma, grand- niece to Mary Hartman and Diane Kemmerer is the child who will receive the sacrament. In addition to this celebration, I will walk us through the well-known story about Jesus healing 10 lepers. If is found in Luke 17: 11-19. Here is a question for you think about– what did Jesus say the story that he never said to anyone else. I am sure all of us are in prayer for the hundreds of thousands of people in the Caribbean and along the southeast coast of our country. The natural disaster we have named Hurricane Matthew has unleashed immense destruction and caused unfathomable grief to all the lives Matthew has struck. Obviously a lot of help will be needed for a very long time. If you would like to contribute to relief efforts, the Presbyterian Church Disaster Assistance program has made this appeal. Cut and paste https line into search box. I just visited the site, it is easy to do and easy to give. Presbyterian Disaster Relief organized to help in the wake of the destructive Hurricane Matthew. Assistance? Paste in address bar: https://pma.pcusa.org/donate/make-a-gift/gift-info/DR000148/ God bless! See you in church! Pastor Michael What a fascinating Sunday lies ahead of us!
Brother….sister….. come, be part of our fellowship on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. in the sanctuary (adult Sunday School at 9:45 a.m. in the lounge.) See you in church! Pastor Michael Good morning people,
I hope very much that you are able to join us for worship tomorrow. 11:00 am in the sanctuary. We will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper. We will be remembering the event that shook America to the core. Where were you on September 11, 2001? That day will be etched in my mind forever. It was the “Pearl Harbor” of the war on terror. The lives of millions of people in America and around the world have been forever changed. The theme of “Remembrance and Hope” will be woven through service. I sincerely hope you will be part of our worshiping community tomorrow. See you in church! Pastor Michael ![]() What has become our signature summer outreach program, our monthly community dinners, ends this month. Weather dependent, we will always try to be out on the side lawn to show our hospitality to the community. Dinners run from 6:00-8:00PM, and each time we welcome help for set-up, donations of side dishes, and clean-up. This month we could use some extra help, so everyone come!!! Please join us for this last meal on Wednesday, September 7. ![]() Hi all, Where my head is headed. I usually know the passages from scripture that will be the basis of my sermons weeks in advance. I normally start thinking about next Sunday’s sermon the evening of the previous Sunday. I read and research early in the week. Then I pray, watch life unfold, and listen. Most weeks, thanks be to God, a sermon emerges. I write the sermon Friday through Saturday. It is not really as zen-like as it might sound. Sermon preparation is a practice of meditation. All to say, a couple of questions are emerging as I begin to put my sermon thoughts on paper. Does God evolve? Or is that in contradiction to God’s very being? Does our understanding of God evolve? If it does, were our previous understandings of God wrong? Can we really ever understand God? (“He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters And thick clouds of the skies. Psalm 18:11) Though these questions are deeply theological in nature, the sermon will not be a boring, twenty minute academic treatise….I promise. The Bible is full of stories, not propositional truths. If you want to look ahead, see if you can find the story behind Jeremiah 2: 4-13 and John 4: 7-15. See you in church. Pastor Michael If anyone wants to share any thoughts on the questions I ask in this email – go ahead. I’d love to hear from you. Hi brothers and sisters of the FPCE fellowship,
I gaze upon a bright sun, sky blue sky, puffy clouds, and proud, forest green cedars through the window of my den as I write. This is the day the Lord has made (it is a characteristic of God to shower us with loveliness) let us rejoice and be glad in it! It has taken me decades to uncover the blessing of God’s creation. (Sadly, I thought I always had more important things to do.) Inspiring music…a cooled room…warm fellowship await your presence. Come to worship this Sunday at 10:00 a.m. in the Gathering Place. We are going to talk about the times God has turned to the millennials to fulfill his will. For a sneak preview, read Jeremiah 1: 4-10. See you in church, Pastor Michael Thank you Jeff Nine for your worship leadership and preaching while I was on vacation these past two weeks. Pastor Michael You don't want to miss this Sunday's service! It will be a blockbuster that makes Jason Bourne look like a chump and Indiana Jones like a weekend warrior.
CAUTION: Rated PG-13 for Intense sequences of action and peril. Oh, and there is a good measure of faith thrown in. So come, bring your Bible, your friends and family to enjoy a time of fun and fellowship. See you Sunday. Dear FPCE Family -
We are planning a great celebration on Sunday morning. It will be the first in a two-part sermon series on the life, faith and hope of Abraham and the "cloud of witnesses" that surrounds us. I assure you it will be an exciting journey with our Old Testament ancestors and saints (as well as our New Testament apostles). This Sunday we will also be celebrating the Eucharist. So come and join us, and bring along a friend or two. The Adult Sunday School class will be finishing up our series on Gifts from God with the second part of Spiritual Gifts. Those that are in the know - make sure you do your homework! Grace and peace, Jeff Hello all,
Greetings on this gray, drippy Friday morning. I don’t know what the weather will be like outside this coming Sunday at 10:00 a.m. But we will be celebrating our faith in the Emerging Worship style. Great music. A cool and newly painted Gathering Place. A scripture reading that I hope sheds a little bit of light on an important question.: what to do when our prayer life becomes dry and uninspired….when deeply felt prayers bounce off the ceiling and echo hollowly through our souls? We’ve all been there. Read Luke 11: 1-13. How do those verses help…or do they? Plus, one additional, intriguing question: when it comes to dealing with God – could bargaining work? See Genesis 18: 20-32. Very interesting. See you Sunday! Pastor Michael |
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