July 14, 2021

July 14, 2021

Written by David Petty

For you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.  So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
—First Thessalonians 5:5-6

For everything that becomes visible is light.  Therefore it says, “Sleeper awake!  Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you,” —Ephesians 5:14

Images of light and dark are used often in the Bible.  Occasionally this is taken a step further to talk about sleep and wakefulness.  In Ephesians Paul quotes what is probably an early Christians hymn; it might refer to baptism, but he uses it for a different purpose: to elaborate the idea he used much earlier in First Thessalonians.  Jesus says something similar in Mark 13:33-36.

One way to think of the past year is as a sort of sleep. Now, I hope, we are coming out of that.  We know that sleep can be healthy, and it gives us an opportunity to dream.  I don’t see anything wrong with that.  The Lenten season can function somewhat the same way.

When you first wake up, there’s often a brief bit of confusion.  Perhaps we are passing through that now, and that’s alright too.  But it’s getting to be time to focus on waking up. 

Two things about wakefulness might be worth recalling.  First, to be awake means to have all our faculties engaged.  All of us have limited gifts, but to the extent that we do have abilities we should be prepared to use them right away.

Second, to be awake means to be aware of our surroundings.  It’s easy for me to think of religion as just something between God and myself.  That won’t do.  Christianity in a vacuum isn’t Christianity.  It has to be practiced in relation to others, both inside and outside our church family.

Gracefully submitted,
David Petty

July 11, 2021

July 11, 2021

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And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…” – Matthew 28:18

Today marks the beginning of vacation bible school (VBS). It might seem a common thing, here in the middle of the summer to host VBS, like something we would normally do, but this year I think things are a little different. Last year, we didn’t get to hold a VBS, and as we began hoping and praying that we would hold one this year, it was initially unclear that would be reality.

Even as we began to put dates on the calendar, it was still unclear as to whether we would have to ask participants to wear a facemask, or if we would be able to do our rotations. We were unclear if we would have willing volunteers, given the risks that might be associated with the ongoing pandemic.  We needed to trust that God would see things through, and our trust and faith paved a way for Jesus power to be revealed.  It might seem like a strange way to look at the way restrictions began to be dropped and the world started to move back into its normal rhythms. Yet, as our students will learn this week, “Jesus Power Pulls Us Through.”

The truth of this year’s theme is to help us trust in the authority and power of Christ, given to all who believe, but more importantly is ever leading us forward. After the resurrection, Jesus appears to his disciples, and in Matthew 28, Jesus prepared his disciples to carry on the work of building the kingdom of God until Christ would one day return.

Jesus tells them that all authority in heave and on earth have been given to him. In the resurrection, God has given all to Jesus, and by his resurrection, now all can be saved. He commissions the disciples to share the power of his name, giving them the Holy Spirit, and the task that was passed from them to the next generation of disciples, to the next, and so on down to us.  Now, it is us, we are the ones to continue to share this message, knowing we have the same power, to preach and teach the love of Jesus and build the kingdom. We can do this because Jesus power will pull us through, no matter how bad things might look at times, we know that Jesus will pull us through.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

July 7, 2021

July 7, 2021

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. – 1 Peter 1:3-5

You might have heard the old saying “where there’s life, there’s hope”. That saying tells us how important hope is to people, because if we reverse it, it says “where there’s hope, there’s life” – which means that where there’s no hope, there may only be death. As humans, we live on hope. It feeds us, it keeps us going from day to day. It gives us something, some possibility to look forward to, something better to grasp hold of. When we hear of tragedy in life, we might find some who have lost hope. They can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing’s going to get any better in their minds. Without hope, there’s death – emotional death, spiritual death, physical death. We need hope.

The quest is, in what should we hope? Peter teaches the churches of his day that as God’s people, chosen through Christ we all have something better in which to look forward. Peter is excited about the future, it may not happen for him in this life, but he hold to a future that is amazing with God the Father, and Jesus His Lord. God had given him, and all of us new birth, and now we have a living hope. A hope that will never perish, spoil or fade, a hope that is kept secure, that is in God, and with God.

Peter has a great hope that this new life is being revealed every day, and that soon we will see it in completion. We know that soon is a difficult word, but still today, as Christians who have faith in God’s salvation we must hold to the hope that soon we will know the joy and glory of the heavenly kingdom. Until then, we wait with patient hope, knowing that day by day Jesus is with us, leading us forward in life, in love, in faith.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

 

July 4, 2021

July 4, 2021

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1For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery… 4 You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love. Galatians 5:1; 4-6

Happy Independence Day! Today marks 245 years since our founding fathers signed the declaration of independence starting a new nation, and choosing to no longer be under the rule of another. The story of our independence which we learn in elementary school, seems pretty heroic and simplistic, and even makes it sound as if from this one document truly all would be considered equal in our new nations. However, we know this is not really the truth. The past of our nation isn’t always pretty, and things have been messy at times, and some could argue that it’s always been messy. Ideals have benefited some, while harming others. Freedom in some aspects has meant subjugation of others. Freedom isn’t always cut and dry.

Paul, long before our nation was founded, long before England was established, even before the formation of the Catholic Church in Rome, wrote about true freedom, and shows us that it isn’t as neat as we would like. In the letter to the Galatians, we hear the words that Christ has set us free, and it is simply for freedom’s sake. As someone who was an expert in the law of God passed down from the time of Moses, Paul, after receiving salvation from Christ, feels as though he better understands how oppressive the law was. When someone is trying to follow a set of regulation and rules rather than understanding the point, they scrutinize too much the daily life, and are slave to trying to do the right thing.  Instead, Paul understands and tries to teach the church that we have been justified by Christ. God knows we can’t get it right by focusing on doing right all the time, we have to back up and see the bigger picture. “The only thing that counts is faith working through love.”

By this, Paul is saying that there are going to be moral rules, there are going to be those who decide that people should be, or act, or behave in a particular way to please God, but that isn’t the gospel. The gospel is that freedom from Christ is freedom to be who you are, and what matters is that you are allowing your faith in God to lead you to better love God and the people you encounter in your life (your neighbor). This is the foundation of true freedom, to know that you are loved in order to love, that you are accepted in order to accept, that you are free that you might share your freedom to help others be free.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

 

June 30, 2021

June 30, 2021

The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9

From the time of his forgiveness and restoration (John 21), the apostle Peter spent the rest of his life sharing the gospel of His Lord. The great promise from Peter is that the day of the Lord will soon be with us. Peter’s sermon on Pentecost starts a revolution of people who want a new kind of kingdom, they are tired of the tyranny of which they have been a part, and now hope in something better.

As the message spreads, it’s Peter who initially takes the gospel to the gentiles (Acts 10), to those who were not Jewish, or a promise of the prophets. In doing so, Peter then has to defend his actions to the rest of the community in Jerusalem who didn’t understand the broadness of the gospel that could go to those who were on the outside (Acts 11). As the church broadens and expands to places all over the known world, those who are already in continue to question who should be in and who should be out. Who is accepted and loved by the Lord, what must be changed, who can be saved.  Yet, all of these questions arise from human origin, and human interpretation, and not from God. 

In his second letter to the churches dispersed across the known world, Peter’s hope was that this letter would be shared from church to church, as was done with other letters from the apostles. He shares again the wonder of being an apostle of the Lord, witness to God’s true messiah, and calling to those who have heard this message to remain faithful in the midst of what could be coming in the future.

Peter, at this point is near the end of his time, he knows that soon persecution will remove him from this earth, yet he remains faithful to his Lord, and knows that the Lord will come with great glory, but patience and endurance is needed in our faith; to grow a disciples, and to continue the work of sharing the gospel of peace.

Peter, I believe, after all he had seen in the broadness of the Lord’s forgiveness, reconciliation, and love saw that the work had not yet been complete. That God would not stop until all had the opportunity to hear and accept the grace and life God is freely giving. Therefore, he speaks to those who have heard him and throughout the ages, that if the Lord’s coming is delayed, it is because the work of the believers is not yet complete. The Lord is being patient with humanity, with all people, and even with you and me. The lord is being patient so that we can finally understand that the kingdom of heaven is big enough for all, that all have access to God’s grace, mercy and love. As the lord is patient in his coming, it is for our own opportunity of salvation. As Peter ends this letter he reminds us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, who did not shun anyone, but called all to be loved, to worship in spirit and truth, to receive life and forgiveness of sin, and go forward rejoicing at what God has done. I hope the Lord finds us rejoicing at the glory of God for what he is doing even now, and may our hearts look to who we can offer the love of Christ to continue to build the kingdom of heaven.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

June 30, 2021

June 30, 2021

The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9

From the time of his forgiveness and restoration (John 21), the apostle Peter spent the rest of his life sharing the gospel of His Lord. The great promise from Peter is that the day of the Lord will soon be with us. Peter’s sermon on Pentecost starts a revolution of people who want a new kind of kingdom, they are tired of the tyranny of which they have been a part, and now hope in something better.

As the message spreads, it’s Peter who initially takes the gospel to the gentiles (Acts 10), to those who were not Jewish, or a promise of the prophets. In doing so, Peter then has to defend his actions to the rest of the community in Jerusalem who didn’t understand the broadness of the gospel that could go to those who were on the outside (Acts 11). As the church broadens and expands to places all over the known world, those who are already in continue to question who should be in and who should be out. Who is accepted and loved by the Lord, what must be changed, who can be saved.  Yet, all of these questions arise from human origin, and human interpretation, and not from God. 

In his second letter to the churches dispersed across the known world, Peter’s hope was that this letter would be shared from church to church, as was done with other letters from the apostles. He shares again the wonder of being an apostle of the Lord, witness to God’s true messiah, and calling to those who have heard this message to remain faithful in the midst of what could be coming in the future.

Peter, at this point is near the end of his time, he knows that soon persecution will remove him from this earth, yet he remains faithful to his Lord, and knows that the Lord will come with great glory, but patience and endurance is needed in our faith; to grow a disciples, and to continue the work of sharing the gospel of peace.

Peter, I believe, after all he had seen in the broadness of the Lord’s forgiveness, reconciliation, and love saw that the work had not yet been complete. That God would not stop until all had the opportunity to hear and accept the grace and life God is freely giving. Therefore, he speaks to those who have heard him and throughout the ages, that if the Lord’s coming is delayed, it is because the work of the believers is not yet complete. The Lord is being patient with humanity, with all people, and even with you and me. The lord is being patient so that we can finally understand that the kingdom of heaven is big enough for all, that all have access to God’s grace, mercy and love. As the lord is patient in his coming, it is for our own opportunity of salvation. As Peter ends this letter he reminds us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, who did not shun anyone, but called all to be loved, to worship in spirit and truth, to receive life and forgiveness of sin, and go forward rejoicing at what God has done. I hope the Lord finds us rejoicing at the glory of God for what he is doing even now, and may our hearts look to who we can offer the love of Christ to continue to build the kingdom of heaven.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

June 27, 2021

June 27, 2021

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I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope… - Psalm 130:5

Reading the messages to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, we should recognize that each of these churches are in a time of transition. It could be said that all churches, and all people, from the time of the resurrection are living in a time of transition.  We are living in the transition of the time that is already and yet to come.  We are living in the reality of the kingdom of heaven that is around us, but it not yet made perfect.

Transitional times are hard, and they call us, as the psalmists says, to wait and hope. The churches of revelation as with the church today we need to wait with patient hope, and hang on the words that come from our Lord. God can and does speak to each day, unfortunately, many refuse to listen, or aren’t attune to hear what God is saying. We get distracted by the many things in our current world that can lead us to be preoccupied here, and then we allow our selective hearing to only hear the things that align with our own desires.

When Jesus was on earth with his disciples, they were told about the time of transition, and to be ready, however, they did not understand his meaning. They refused to believe, or were scared of his words, until they saw it all happen. After Jesus transition from living prophet to resurrected Lord, the disciples became open to the work of the Holy Spirit in them and through them, from there the disciples began preparing the church, sharing the gospel, and sharing the love that Christ had shown them. 

Today, we still wait with patient endurance, and great hope for the Lord to make everything right and good, but in our waiting, we must continue to listen, to grow, to experience the love of Jesus, and offer it to those whom we share this life, as we await the life eternal that is still to come. The same Spirit that was working with Jesus and the disciples is now working with us, to lead us towards God’s perfect grace, mercy, and love.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

June 23, 2021

June 23, 2021

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south… they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress; he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, from his wonderful works to humankind. – Psalm 107:2-3; 28-31

This week marks the completion of 2 years of ministry as the pastor of St. Mark. Reflecting back sometimes it seems as though I have been among you much longer, and at other times I feel like I still have just arrived. We might all agree that the past two years have been quite the challenge, especially as we have navigated through a global pandemic. Through all we have encountered I’m reminded of the gathering hymn written by Charles Wesley, often sung at times of Christian conferencing; “And Are We Yet Alive.”

Wesley writes of how in the midst of all of life’s ebbs and flows we yet remain to see one another again, we know that there are some whom we have lost along the way, but by the wonderful grace of God, we are here on the other side, despite all previous trouble, trial, tribulation, to assemble for God’s glory here.

We know the hardships this church has faced in recent years as well as years long gone by, at the same time we know that wonderful things that have occurred in this place, and among our people to bring glory to God in both the hard times as well as the good.  In all things, we can be reminded that God is working to gather us together, that we might give thanks for the steadfast love that leads us on.  God’s wonderful works keep us remembering that there is more wonder and beauty that is still to come as we work together to see His kingdom come.

I’m grateful for the love and support you have all given me over these past two years, and I’m looking forward to starting a third year knowing God will see even greater things happen among the people of St. Mark.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

June 20, 2021

June 20, 2021

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And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty
- 2 Corinthians 6:18

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. – Psalm 103:13

Happy Father’s Day to all out there who have had the joy and challenge of raising someone up in life and faith. We all can acknowledge that we are less than perfect in our up brining, and less than perfect as we impart knowledge and wisdom to the next generation. It is truly by the grace of God that each comes to know the life everlasting that we have found in our Lord Jesus as he is the only perfect love and gift from God our Father.

The idea of God being a Father to us all is challenging for those who didn’t know the love of an earthly father, and so many I have known through the years have struggled with this understanding. Even when we turn to the scriptures of God having compassion, we read words like “for those who fear him,” and wonder what kind of love requires fear.  In actuality there are two words in the Hebrew language that often get translated as “fear” the first is pahad which is generally used when someone sees something that causes fright, and to which the Angel of the Lord often responds “fear not.”

The other word that is used is yir’at which also means to have reverence or awe.  It is this word that we should understand within the context of a compassionate God who John would write in his first epistle, “God is love.” The God who is love is compassionate and kind, forgiving sins, and removing transgressions, we are in awe of him, because we do no deserve such love, yet God see fit to love us just as we are.

Today, the greatest gift any of us could receive is to understand and feel that we are loved for who we are, as we are. We need not to change to be worthy of love. If we are to change, it must be to become more like our Father in taking on the image of love that we know through his son, our Lord, Jesus the Christ.

May we all know God’s love more deeply today, and every day.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

June 16, 2021

June 16, 2021

Devotion by: David Petty

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.  He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years ... When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from prison and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle. —Revelation 20:1-2,7

Pastor Sam has begun a sermon series recently on Revelation.  When I think of this book I am reminded, as I’m sure others are, of the abuse of Revelation.  You know what I’m talking about — the people who use passages of the book to make arcane calculations to predict the date of the end of the world.  

Like many folks, I’ve ridiculed and reviled those individuals.    Recently, though, I’ve come to see them somewhat differently.  Although I’m sure some were scam artists whose motives were personal wealth, power, etc., I think most were simply seeking to know God.  That’s something we all are seeking, consciously or not, and most of us would not consider it a bad thing.

We are aware that to truly know God, we will have to work as hard as those false prophets, only using a different approach.  The basics are well known — one straightforward way to start is a list by John Wesley: prayer, scripture reading, communion, fasting, and small group meetings (“Christian conferencing”).  Wesley did not call these ways of knowing God; he called them “means of grace” (and it’s more complicated than that, since he listed another category of means as well).  But since he considered grace to be free, these were not means of obtaining grace, rather they were means of opening up to (knowing) it.

It’s good to be back together again after the closures.  May we all grow in grace and the knowledge of God.

Gracefully submitted,
David Petty

June 13, 2021

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Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his deliverance. – Psalm 35:9

One of the most popular and profound hymns of the last one hundred years would have to be How Great Thou Art. It has been performed by small church choirs to popular recording artists for decades.  The truth of this hymn is to see how amazing God is in the mist of everything.

The story is told that this hymn originated in Sweden when a priest by the name of Carl Boberg and some friends were returning home to Mönsterås from Kronobäck, where they had participated in an afternoon service. Presently a thundercloud appeared on the horizon, and soon lightning flashed across the sky. Strong winds swept over the meadows and billowing fields of grain. The thunder pealed in loud claps. Then rain came in cool fresh showers. In a little while the storm was over, and a rainbow appeared. When Boberg arrived home, he opened the window and saw the bay of Mönsterås like a mirror before him. From the woods on the other side of the bay, he heard the song of a thrush. the church bells were tolling in the quiet evening. It was this series of sights, sounds, and experiences that inspired the writing of the song.

The original poem was written in 1885, published as “O Store Gud” in 1886, However, it wasn’t until 1949 when British Methodist missionary, Stuart K. Hine heard the German translation and created the English paraphrase “How Great Thou Art.” that this hymn rose to popularity among English speakers. It was Hine who gave us our third verse to the hymn, and his work with evangelist Charles Spurgeon that made this a popular hymn among the British and American churches. This popularity grew as the hymn became a “signature song” of the Billy Graham crusades in the 1950’s and 60’s.

Even to this day the familiar music and great refrain remind us of a truth known long ago, “then my soul shall rejoice…” or then sings my soul, my savior God to thee. How great thou art, How great thou Art!

May we rejoice in the Lord today, and always.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

June 9, 2021

June 9, 2021

But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. – Psalm 13:5

Have you ever danced in the rain? It seems a silly thing to do as an adult, but sometimes when the drought has been long, and the need for rain great, it’s nice to see a raining day. And maybe we rejoice enough to dance in the rain.

The journey towards salvation is paved in faith. It is our faith in God’s mercy, grace, and love that helps us through difficult times, and allows us to see a way that is beyond ourselves.  Yet, we would all be remise if we didn’t acknowledge that sometimes there is doubt. Days of doubt may seem like rainy days in our faith, but maybe we need to dance in the rain.

Doubt is often seen as the opposite of faith, or at odds with faith. We usually want to overcome our doubts, or try to ignore their existence. Why should we have doubt when we have seen how good the Lord has been to us, or how much we have been blessed? However, doubt is a very important part of our journey. Doubts allow us to ask questions we are afraid to ask. Doubt leads us to study and discern, and in many ways I think doubt can lead us to trust in things we cannot fully explain, and thus allowing our faith to increase because we find that trust resides directly between our doubt and our faith.

Our faith is the assurance of all that we hope for (Hebrews 11:1), yet when doubts arise, there is a need for us to trust in God’s leading, and love for us. In the psalms, like the one above, there are a number of times when the psalms attributed to King David show that there is doubt that Israel, or even David personally, will overcome the enemies advances around them.  We see these psalm prayers as a lament for what is happening in the life of God’s people. There are times when life is difficult, and we doubt there will be a victory, or we doubt we will make it through. However, as we come to the conclusion of these prayers what we find is that trust in the midst of doubt leads us back to the faith that our salvation is secure.

Even in the midst of doubts, we are reminded that we have reason to rejoice, because we trust God’s steadfast love. That trust helps us to dance even in the rain, so let us rejoice in all things that God is with us now and forever.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

June 6, 2021

June 6, 2021

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The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.
- Psalm 91:1

God the Almighty, the Most High, the Beginning and End. There are so many names for our Almighty God, yet within each of these names there is respect, honor, and praise given for we understand God supremacy over us. God is supreme, and God reigns supreme. The God who created could just as easily destroy, and for much of our lives we live in a respectful fear of God. After all it is God whom we will face for judgement right?

However, the greatest revelation we can come across in reading the Bible or being a part of a community of faith is that this same God who could easily be done with us, chooses to be in community with us. This God who is Almighty chooses to care for us a children, and even sent his one and only Son to be our salvation.

God makes a way for us to be one with Him forever. The almighty, through jealous for our love, is full of love, grace, and mercy. Gives us every good gift, and is constantly drawing us closer to the divine-self. 

The psalmist, in the language of his day, proclaims God as the Almighty, who gives us protection. It doesn’t mean no harm may come our way, but when it does God will be there with us. Verse 4 calls his faithfulness a “protective shield. And verse 10 responds that if we make the Lord our refuge; “no harm will come to you; no plague will come near your tent.”

All of this for the psalmist is proof of a loving God, who truly is for us, and who knows our name. This is God, the Father, whom we know through Jesus the Son, and who dwells with us in the Holy Spirit, for he is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  Let us no live, then in fear, but in honor and praise of the Most High now and forever.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

June 2, 2021

June 2, 2021

Sharing from the congregation: David Petty

Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast, boast in this, that they understand and know me that I am the Lord, I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord. —Jeremiah 9:23-24

Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. —Second Corinthians 10:27

Most of us would consider boasting a sin, though we would admit that it’s a useful talent in certain fields such advertising and politics.  Isaiah, other prophets, and psalms speak positively of a certain kind of boasting, and so does the New Testament, especially in Second Corinthians.  I find Isaiah’s discussion particularly meaningful.

Isaiah lists three of the things we tend to boast about — if we aren’t richer or more powerful than others, at least we can claim we’re smarter.  In contrast to this “triad,” he presents the golden triad of the Old Testament: hesed, mispat, and tzedaqa (unchanging love, justice, and righteousness.)  It’s O.K. to boast as long as we boast about the right things.

It helps, of course, if reality backs up your boast.  On October 1, 1932, Babe Ruth stepped up to the plate and pointed with his bat in the direction of midfield.  After two strikes, he hit a home run in exactly the direction he had indicated.  There is still debate about what he meant by pointing — he never said —but the story (known as “the called shot”) is photographically documented and is part of baseball lore, and when it is told it usually is not interpreted as bragging.  Instead it’s considered an example of his athletic prowess.

We may not usually have photographic evidence of God’s love, justice, and righteousness, but I think we do have enough to make us confident in its truth.  If we (not just pastors, but all of us) are going to be spokespersons for the gospel, boasting can be a useful talent for us too.

Gracefully submitted,
David Petty

May 30, 2021

May 30, 2021

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16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. – 1 John 4:16

I have some good news for you this morning, and it is that you are loved by God. You are accepted through the grace of risen Lord, who has the authority to forgive wrongdoings, and who can make something new out of who you are.  You are offered the gift of the Holy Spirit to give you strength for today, and hope for tomorrow, and you can rest assure, that even if you fail, God is faithful to forgive.

I feel like we need to hear these words of encouragement this day.  This life gets difficult at times, and it seems as though all we hear is bad news, troubling news, and often news that makes us just want to be done with this wretched world.  But the beauty of the gospel is that we have a hope for a better world, one called the kingdom of God, and it is not only found after this life, but it is found here and now. And this is how we know. 

Today, in the church calendar year is the day called Trinity Sunday, where we acknowledge the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the divine understanding of God as three parts, yet one.  In the theology of the Holy Trinity we understand that Father is fully God, that the Son (Jesus) is fully God, and that the Holy Spirit is fully God.  This great mystery of communion invites us to live in communion with one another, in love and sharing: certain that wherever love is found, there we find God, or where we see God, there will be expressions of love.

Within each one of these expressions of God is the fullness of God, and here is the good news that was shared after the day of Pentecost, when you receive the Holy Spirit, you receive the fullness of God into yourself; you receive that which Jesus describes in John 4, God is Spirit, and those who worship, worship in Spirit and Truth. Or that John defines in his first epistle, the verse above, God is love.

You have the fullness of love in you, surrounding you, and pouring into you as you open yourself up to receive it. Yet, at the same time we are called to give it away as we commune with one another and love one another as Christ first loved us.  The greater beauty of God’s love is that as we give it away, we find we are still being filled, no matter how much we pour out, God is pouring into us.  This is the divine gift that we know we are loved by loving others, and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are continually blessing us along our life’s journey.

May you be abundantly blessed today and always.

Grace & Peace,
Sam

May 26, 2021

May 26, 2021

Sharing from the congregation – David Petty

Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.  So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
—1 Corinthians 9:25-27

We don’t know, of course, but it’s possible that the apostle Paul was a big sports fan.  Certainly there are many sports metaphors in his letters.  He spent a year and a half during his second missionary journey in the city of Corinth, which was the site of the Istmean games, at that time second in importance only to the Olympics.  Living in Corinth and having no interest in the games would have been as difficult as living in Knoxville and being uninterested in U. T. football.

So while Paul never used the following illustration, I believe he would agree with it.  Serious athletes usually don’t just take it easy during the “off season;” they continue at least some level exercise throughout.  Those who fail to that — either because of injury or some other legitimate reason, or because of laziness — find that they are in trouble when competition starts again.  But If they really want to be back in the game, they make that difficult effort to get back in shape.  Those who really want to play say that it is worth the pain.

This is where we are, I think, as a congregation.  Mostly through no fault of our own, St Mark finds itself out of practice.  Now, in order to do the things we want to do, we have to face the prospect of getting back in shape as a congregation.  It isn’t going to be easy.  Presumably, though, it’s worth the pain. 

How to we find the strength to get going again?  The scriptural answer, of course, is that our strength comes from the Lord.  “The Lord is the strength of his people,” says Psalm 28:8.  Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”  “Whoever serves,” says Peter in his first epistle, “must do so with the strength that the Lord supplies” (4:11).  As always, prayer helps to get in touch with that strength.

Gracefully submitted,
David Petty