Devotional 4-5-13

 Umbrellas at Easter

It was Easter morning.
The Sanctuary was holding its breath in anticipation.
It was prepared for the amazing.
Flowers perfumed the altar,
and God stood, waiting.

All of God’s Children entered in their finery,
Dressed in new clothes out of respect for where they were,
In celebration of the risen Lord.
They filled the pews, talking, chatting
Every age, from youngster to elder
Enjoyed the fellowship.

"What day is this?"
They answered, "A day the Lord has made."
"Let us rejoice and be glad in it."

The service began with a trumpet fanfare,
A choir processional;
Grace poured into the room,
raining down on the Children as a gift.
Abundant. Overflowing.
The living water of eternal life.

Some turned their faces to heaven
to enjoy the downpour.
Other put up their umbrellas.

One woman, sitting alone,
Sheltered herself under her flowered umbrella.
She tucked her purse closer to her side,
pulled back her high heels,
and hunkered under the cloth.
Dry, in the rain of grace.
She was a widow, her children had moved away.
She felt lonely, afraid, and not ready for redemption.
The choir sang, and she cleared her throat.
Parched.
The children sprinted forward for their moment.
Happy and joyful.
One said, "Jesus Christ is Risen Today,"
in a sing-song voice.
The woman peaked out from her umbrella.
"He lives!" said another.
She slowly reached up, and pulled the mechanism,
lowering her umbrella.

Rain fell.
Quenching her thirst.
Soaking her spirit with living water.
Her skin absorbed it as grace filled her.
Washing away her tears and loneliness.

A man sat in another pew, his golf umbrella held straight.
On his mind were taxes, paychecks, and dwindling supply lines.
He was not alone, but he might as well have been.
Dry, in the rain of grace.
The rain beat on his umbrella, but he held it powerfully still.
The trumpet blasted; the liturgy was read.
The wind started.
Some rain landed on his sleeve, but he brushed it away.
The voice of the minister swept through the room,
And the spirit of God blew.
It blew so hard and strong that the man lost his grip.
The umbrella flew out of his hands,
and somersaulted down the aisle.
A baby saw it bounce by, and giggled.
The man sat in the pew, getting drenched.
His clothes were ruined, his mind had lost his focus.

None of it mattered.
Grace filled his soul,
Enlivened his spirit.
The torrent plastered his hair to his face.
He laughed.
The minister joined in, joyful in the rain,
grateful for the laughter of a man
who had never laughed before.

Two teenagers sat together in the balcony.
One held up his black umbrella,
Not even looking toward the front of the church.
He was dry.
Bored.
The congregation stood up,
honoring the glory of the Hallelujah Chorus.
Because he knew his mother was watching,
the teenager stood up, too,
but stayed under his umbrella.
He leaned over to his friend,
whispering, "Are you going to watch the game tonight?"
The friend looked at him in exasperation,
"Just listen!"
She snatched the umbrella out of his hand,
and dropped it off the balcony.
It landed at the foot of an usher,
who calmly folded it up and put it away.
Sometimes this happened.
He had come to expect the extraordinary.

The teenager stood in awe
as the rain came down in buckets.
Soaking him.
Drenching him.
Filling his tender, new spirit with grace overflowing.
He reached over and held the hand of his friend,
Speechless for once.

God smiled,
One of those big, joyful smiles.
He loved to surprise his Children.
He rained grace and love down on them.
Giving in abundance.
He held nothing back.
He never did.

Dream for our church:
May God rain down his love and grace on us this Easter;
May we put away our umbrellas, and be drenched in the downpour;
May we be so certain of the coming rain that the women wear waterproof mascara,
and the men refrain from washing their cars.
May we be prepared for the rainbow,
And may our hearts be filled to overflowing.
Bring it on.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 2-8-13

Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness..." 2 Corinthians 3:12

What does it mean to act with boldness?

Have you ever thought of being bold in listening? One of the devotions I read this morning spoke about “bold listening.” Are you bold in your listening? Do you hear what people are telling you? I often say my husband has a face that encourages people to talk to him. He has a great face, but that's probably not why people tell him their stories. He's a bold listener.

Being a bold listener means opening your mind to hear what another person is saying. Bold listening requires that we set aside everything else, for just that moment, and give listening to the person in front of us our highest priority. Hearing that person’s words becomes the most important thing in that moment. It means we set aside judgement and self-righteousness in order to hear the heart of another person.

Bold listening creates a kind of vulnerability -- opening up oneself to the idea that someone else could change your mind -- or change your actions. It means opening up to the idea that someone else's story might prompt you into a response that could help the other person. Bold listening implies that the words spoken by someone else might ring with the truth of God. It requires allowing oneself to love that other person. It’s not easy, but it is bold.

Being bold for Christ means being vulnerable. Bold listening is bold because it places our own needs behind the call of God on our lives. God calls us to bold love. Bold love is patient and kind. It is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way.... Sound familiar?

Have the courage to love each other with boldness. You have a great hope, so you can act with great boldness.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Grace and love,
Kim Matthews

Devotional 2-1-13

Once in a long while the internet will cough up something that is a real treasure – and I believe that the following “Poem for Children” does, indeed, qualify as a treasure!  Keep in mind the unspeakable murder of the twenty little children in Newtown, Connecticut a few days before Christmas and imagine what is must have been like when those children reached heaven.  A scripture comes to mind:  Mark 10:14-16

“Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.  I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  Then he put his arms around them, laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing.

And here is a “Poem for Children.”  I hope that you treasure it as I have.

Poem for Children

"Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38

when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.

Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.
They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

They were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.

They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.

"Where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.

"This is heaven." declared a small boy. "We're spending Christmas at God's house."

When what to their wondering eyes did appear,
but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.
then He opened His arms, and He called them by name.

And in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring
those children all flew into the arms of their King,

and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,
one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.

 
And as if He could read all the questions she had,
He gently whispered to her, I’ll take care of mom and dad."

Then He looked down on earth, the world far below.
He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe.

Then He closed His eyes, and He outstretched His hand,
"Let My power and presence re-enter this land!"

"May this country be delivered from the hands of fools"
"I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!"

Then He and the children stood up without a sound.
"Come now my children, let me show you around."

Excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran.
All displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.

 
And I heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,
"In the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

Written by Cameo Smith, Mt. Wolf, PA

 

Thanks and God bless

 

Devotional 1-26-13

Sunday, a little late in the service, a young man came into our service. I noticed his back pack and his appearance. I knew that he was a "street person." He sat in the back. When we were taking up the collection of the money, I saw Lee Oxley pass the plate to him. The young man reached into his right pocket and pulled out a few coins and put them in Lee's offering plate. Lee patted him on the back to thank him for his meager offering. That touched my heart. On the way back from presenting our church’s offering, I stopped and told him my name and asked his. I shook his hand and noticed that his finger tips were black, probably from frost bite. I invited him to stay for lunch and told him to find me. I also noticed that Ann Ratcliff spoke to him several times, I assume to help him with our worship service.

After church, to my surprise, he was there for lunch. I immediately invited him to sit with me to eat. As luck would have it, Chuck Gruber sat near him too. I just started talking to him by telling him that I was glad he was with us and between Chuck and me, we gently got to know him a little bit.

He lived in Michigan and was headed to Florida to live with a friend (the friend died). He stated that he could not stay at the City Mission but was able to eat there. We talked about his family. He has a sister that he talks to and a grandmother that he was not able to see at Christmas (he bowed his head at this as he said he knew she may not see another Christmas). He probably could not stay at the Mission due to the alcohol that I smelled on his breath. He finally told me that he has been living in his tent on the river bank. He comes to Common Grounds. I invited him to come back next Sunday as we will have soup for him to eat.

Did he smell good? Not. He smelled of wood smoke from the river where he lives in a tent and a hint of alcohol. Did I go to church expecting to meet him? Not. Have I thought of him ever since I met him? Everyday.

His key statement to me was when I talked to him about his choices in his life. Simply he said it is freedom. It’s not up to me to make judgments but acknowledge having met him. Praying for him and others as it is very cold.

Jean Ramsey

Devotional 1-18-13

Name-Dropping

My eldest nephew currently works as a recruiter for a nonprofit agency which helps under-privileged children. Though it would be difficult to support himself in this job for the long term, he is perfectly content and I’m proud of him for it.

What do you think of my nephew? Good kid, right? And how does my description of him make me look? In spite of my many shortcomings, it might shed a more positive light on me because I spent time praising someone else’s good attributes. Why don’t we make more of a conscious effort to talk about the good people around us? It seems that we frequently mention or speak highly of people because of their popularity more than because of their conduct. How often do we drop a name for a more positive purpose?

The first of Jesus’ recorded miracles was in John 2, verses 1-11. He, as well as his mother and the disciples, had been invited to a wedding in Cana of Galilee. In this familiar text, Jesus changes large jars of water into wine. I recently read a comment on this scripture saying that Jesus possibly attended this wedding because the hosts wanted the other guests to see that he and his disciples were a part of their lives.

Jesus may have been invited to that wedding to be a physical representation of the wedding family’s ideals. If your acquaintances were to describe your virtues based on others you seem to admire, how would you fare? I wonder about myself and now feel a need to look back through my Facebook history. From the books we are seen reading in waiting rooms to the bumper stickers on our cars, we are showing others who we might be. Add to that the way we act when trying to impress someone.

Without the physical, tangible Christ to invite to our homes, we need other ways to reveal our personal association with Him. An additional—and sometimes more effective—way to draw others to God is to tell others about the great people in our lives. In doing something this, I feel inner peace and see the meaningful relationships in my life. I hope that you are blessed in the same way.

Natalie Wray

Devotional 1-11-13

MAKING MELODY IN YOUR HEART TO THE LORD

I love to sing. In fact, I have been singing since I was seven or eight years old, mostly in church choirs and with groups such as the Musical Arts Guild (which will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary this year).

Frequently, just when I need some encouragement or comfort the words of a hymn will come to me. The music of a hymn gets our attention but it is the words that can mean so much.

This morning the words of the hymn, "O Jesus, I have promised..." came to me just when I needed help and guidance. It surprised me that I remembered the words since I have not sung that hymn in years. I am convinced that the remembrance of the words came from Jesus Himself. It was His blessing to me for this day..

What a wonderful source of help and encouragement we find in our hymnal and in Ephesians 5:19, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and making melody in your hearts to the Lord". Don't worry about "making melody", just speak to yourself in the words. What a blessing they can be.

Jean Dean

Devotional 11-26-12

Isaiah 30:18:Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.

This devotional is late. Have you been waiting for it?

This morning I picked up a book by Paula Gooder called The Meaning is in the Waiting. I haven’t started the book itself yet, but I did read the forward by Lauren F. Winner. She says this:

We are told, by advertisements and by our Blackberries, to squeeze time dry, to use it well, to maximize it. The church tells us a different story about it (time) -- it is God’s and there is enough of it, more than enough. The church’s narrative about time is never clearer than during Advent, when we are invited to spend our time very foolishly indeed. We are invited to wait. Just to wait.

Take a breath. Take some time. Waste it. Waste it during a season when everything around you demands that you make the most of your time. Wait on God.

Lauren Winner tells us that something amazing happens when we do. We find that God is waiting on us. The image that came to my mind was of a parent waiting up at night for a teenager to come home. God is waiting for us. “The Lord waits to be gracious to you.”

I find myself in a time that feels like limbo. Thanksgiving has come and gone; Advent has yet to come. We are waiting to begin waiting. My devotional challenge to you this week is to give some thought to Advent. What will you do as you wait for God? How will you prepare yourself to begin?

My commitment this Advent is to find some quiet time each day for devotionals and prayer. I commit to more spiritual reading during this month. Our pastor this Sunday said that “we belong to the Truth.” I want to draw closer to the Truth during this time of waiting, and I am going to be intentional about it.

It is God’s time, and there is enough of it. Do what seems wasteful, and wait for God.

Prayer:

Creator God, who stretches a hand across the heavens and spreads the stars in the sky,
meet us in our waiting.
Loving Son, who came and comes and will come,
come today and meet us in our waiting.
Abiding Spirit, who waits with us,
speak to us in our waiting.
Loving God, grant us the courage to wait for you
and the grace to realize you wait for us.
Amen.

Kim Matthews