Devotional 4-1-09

Psalm 51:10-12

Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation and uphold me with They free spirit.

It may seem strange to begin a Lenten devotional with a commercial of sorts but here goes. Stay with me and you will see the connection. On April 25th and 26th the Musical Arts Guild will present concerts on the theme "Praises Through the Ages". The music chosen is uplifting with songs from different faiths and denominations. One of the numbers to be presented is based upon the scripture quote above, "Create in me a clean heart, O God" by Carl Mueller.

Our Director for the performances, Dale Capehart, has rehearsed us vigorously on what some might consider a simple four-part anthem. Perhaps that is why the word of the psalmist resonates so strongly with me particularly during Lent.

Lent is a time for reflection, a time to beseech our Heavenly Father to give us the strength, the desire and the grace to follow His way. CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART, O GOD, AND RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME.

Lent is a time to examine our lives, a time when we realize how far short we fall and how gracious is God in His dealings with us. CAST ME NOT AWAY FROM THEY PRESENCE AND TAKE NOT THEY HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME.

Lent is when we experience the highs and the lows of Holy Week from Palm Sunday and Good Friday to the Glory of Easter, a time when we know the joy of salvation and God's infinite grace. RESTORE UNTO ME THE JOY OF THEY SALVATION AND UPHOLD ME WITH THEY FREE SPIRIT.

PRAISE THE LORD.

Jean Dean

Mission Reponse and Prayer Focus
March 31: SRSH encourages creativity in its children's development center. Agree? Then give a dime for every coloring book you have at home.

Devotional 3-31-09

During this time of Lent, in a quest for renewing the spirit, my husband Phil and I, headed to one of our favorite spots, Hocking Hills State Park. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this picturesque 2,000 acre region in S.E. Ohio, it is an area with deep gorges, towering hemlocks, glistening waterfalls, and pristine sandstone cliffs. Phil and I have visited Hocking Hills two other times, but this trip touched us in a way, which none other has.

After two short days of hiking, picnics, and relaxing by the fire in our cabin, unfortunately, we were both called back to reality early. Our companies both needed us to return to Cincinnati to address timely issues at work. Reluctantly, we packed the car and headed down the hill toward home. About 10 minutes into the trip, Phil passed a small sign to ‘Conkle’s Hollow,’ and said, ‘Kelley, let’s take an hour and walk one more trail before we head back.’ You see, both of our jobs are stressful, as most are these days, and we find such comfort in seeing the beauty of God’s work. I was reluctant, as I was consumed with corporate issues now, but Phil turned the car around to Conkle’s Hollow…a place we have never been, and now one, we will never forget.
As we began the Conkle’s Hollow hike, we had to quickly decide whether to take the ½ mile bottom trail that led through the base of the gorge, or the 2.5 mile trail that led around the top rim of the Hollow. Despite warnings about the condition of the upper trail (black ice and a thin layer of snow) we opted for the longer hike, thinking the view would be much more picturesque. It certainly was ‘the Lord’s doing; it was marvelous in our eyes.’ (Psalm 118:23) Phil and I stopped several times to take in the wonder. We even discussed our loved ones who have passed before us, wondering what magnificence they are seeing in Heaven. It undoubtedly pales in comparison. The hike was a bit treacherous in places, but with walking stick in hand, hiking boots, and deliberate steps, we safely made our way around the top rim.

We then headed to the car, but were somehow drawn back toward taking the ½ mile bottom trail before we left. Once again, we turned around. It certainly would not be as beautiful, but it was only a short walk and we both felt a need to take ‘the road less traveled.’ About ¾ of the way through the gorge, there was a sign warning us of a more challenging/hazardous walk ahead. I was reluctant and wanted to head back, but Phil, the adventurous one, convinced me to walk on. Unlike the upper rim, where we continually ‘looked down’ through the gorge, this trail forced us to continually ‘look up.’ As we took a left turn around a large fallen, sandstone rock, about 60 feet up, on the sandstone wall, was the most perfect image of a face; one we both knew well. Neither one of us spoke; we were just mesmerized by the sight. Not painted, not sculpted, non man-made, but nature’s own marking in the sandstone was what we believe, was the face of Jesus. Neither one of us questioned the image, but instead, was taken by the fact, that there were markings like tears, coming from the eyes. ‘A weeping Jesus,’ were the only words Phil spoke to me. The image broke my heart.

After taking in the sight we looked to the opposite side of the gorge, where we saw another breathtaking formation. Were they connected? Two large trees had fallen below a frozen waterfall and they formed the most perfect cross…approximately 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide. We wouldn’t have noticed the trees, if the waterfall had not frozen over them, perfectly outlining the edges. The interior of the cross was relatively water-free, creating a space where Jesus would hang, if seen in a church. To add to its beauty, sunlight was glistening on the ice, resulting in a seemingly glowing cross. My husband, who is much more realistic, and skeptical of things like this, never questioned this sight either. When I asked him if this was just a coincidence, he said, ‘I don’t see how it could be. They are what they are.’

Was Jesus crying opposite the cross, where he was continually reminded of his crucifixion? We were so overwhelmed by it all. We both decided, no matter how rough life becomes, no matter how stressful our lives, we will keep ‘looking up’ remembering the sacrifice of Jesus. Those tears will be with me forever.

To our surprise, our journey was not over yet. On our return hike, approaching from the opposite side of the cross and face, we could see the rear side of the fallen sandstone rock at our feet. Proving that others had also stopped to revel in the sights, the words, ‘God,’ ‘God is Love,’ and ‘Jesus,’ were written in the snow on the stone. But, overshadowing those markings were two words that stopped us in our tracks. ‘SATAN RULES,’ was also written in the snow on that rock. Immediately I was taken back to the crucifixion and the resurrection. I thought of the stone that was rolled away three days after the crucifixion. I thought of those who mocked Jesus….and ‘Satan Rules’ prove they continue to do so today. The tears took on another meaning to me now. It wasn’t just the cross on the opposite wall of the gorge, but also the continued crucifying that God endures every day.

Our spirits were renewed on this trip. If we return in summer, I’m sure that the icy, glowing cross will not be there, and I wonder if the face of Jesus will be weathered and gone. Surely, the writings in the snow will have melted away. But, I believe we were led to that lonely trail on that winter day, even though we should have been headed home, we should have honored the warning signs regarding the treacherous nature of the trail, and we should have stopped after the upper rim walk. But, instead, we kept ‘turning around.’

What began as a trek back home to work, ended as a revelation to me. ‘It was a day the Lord had made; we rejoiced and were glad in it.’ (Psalm 118:23) When choosing other walks in life, I will choose the ones that force my head ‘up,’ remembering the sacrifice Jesus made for me. It may be the road less traveled…it may be a treacherous walk…I may even have to turn around a few times…but I will be guided to a place where my spirit is renewed…a place where I will find Jesus.

Prayer: Dear Jesus:
Walk by my side through this earthly life,
lifting my eyes so I might see,
And in those times of joy and strife,
strengthen my faith, for eternity.
Amen.

Kelley Allison Weber

Mission Reponse and Prayer Focus
March 31: If you think you and yours are sweet, give fifty cents for every bag or box of sugar in your pantry

Devotional 3-30-09

Mark 11:1-11

This text tells of Jesus entry into Jerusalem. Jesus tells his disciples to go and bring a colt for him to ride. When they tell the colt’s owner they are taking it for Jesus, he agrees. When Jesus rides into town the crowds call “Praise God for the return of our father David’s kingdom”. “Hail to the King of the universe”. A few days later these people are calling “Crucify him”.

People are fickle. Today we like vanilla tomorrow it’s chocolate. We can’t seem to remember what our favorites are. Aren’t we glad that God isn’t fickle? He makes us his own and loves us into eternity. We disappoint Him, we deny Him, we even curse Him, but he loves us all the same.

One of my favorite hymns is “The Summons.”

Will you come and follow me
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
Will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown
In you and you in me?

In this season of Lent with the beauty of Easter and all of it’s promise, will we come as He calls our name and never be the same?

Debbie McGinnis

Mission Response and prayer focus
March 30: Having a good hair day? Please give a nickel for every bottle of shampoo in your house

Devotional 3-29-09

Matthew 25:31-45 In as much as you have done it for the least of My brothers, you have done it unto Me.


Piece Be With You
And it begins, an age old tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation through father to son, mother to daughter, friend to family.

I turn and look at my friend to my left and find her gazing back. She opens her arms and moves toward me as I perform the same gesture. We embrace for at least three seconds, her love and warmth passes to me and warms me instantly. Her comforting smile and cheery personality immediately makes me smile. “Peace be with you.”

I turn to the front to a girl who seems to affect me in a different way. When I see her, butterflies are born within my heart as it beats all aflutter. She smiles, I blush, and I open my arms to embrace her. I feel her energy and love for people kindle within me, the only girl whose jokes, at which no matter how dumb I still laugh. She makes me giddy like a school boy, wrapping her arms around me, I want to stay longer. “Peace be with you.”

I walk to the other side, across the aisle, to find a whole row of friends. I turn to one whose shares my name. His infectious smile causes a shake of my head and a hardy laugh because we realize how close we are going to become. We will have lunch another day, we will become truly amazing friends another day, very soon. Right now we embrace, for a longer time than most. “Peace be with you.”

I see a friend; he is hurting with frustration and pain. He is angry and insulted, confused and heartbroken. Our eyes never meet, he knows who it is and we embrace. His arms fold around me with love and care, warming me with his compassion. He holds tight in fear of letting go, he needs someone to hold onto. Everything has changed and it seems nothing will stay the same. Everyone is shifting and moving and changing, but right then I will stay the same. I will always love him and I will always be there whenever he decides to come to me. This is spoken solely through human contact, through a hug. He happens to be about three times my size so I was the one being squished, but the love I felt in that moment nearly brought me to tears, in this moment, I was the support, I was the optimism, and I was the ear to listen, I was the future friend. I had received so many gifts from so many before that I was able to pass those gifts to another who not only needed them more than I but needed them much sooner. I had received love and support, passion and happiness, friendship and future confidence, and now I pass these on in seven simple words, "I love you, Peace be with you."

The sign of peace is not to be calm or to give tranquility, we, in performing this ancient gesture are saying, "I love you and I care for your happiness." We look into the hearts of another and give and receive the gifts God has placed there. We are not saying, "Peace be with you." We are saying "May the piece of me that God wants you to have be with you." This is what truly happens when we completely give ourselves to the sign of peace and this is what truly happens when you fully give yourself to another. Love.

Each of us finishes the puzzle that God wants to create by lending ourselves to others...

Ryan Lavalley,
Xavier University freshman

Devotional 3-28-09

John 12: 20-23

SUFFERING AND GLORY

The important role which the above-stated verses of John's Gospel play in the human dynamics of our Lord's Passion cannot be overstated. Chronologically, these verses arise between the time of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and the Last Supper. In Verse 23, Jesus says "the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified.” He observes that a grain of wheat serves its purpose when it falls to earth and dies: only then can it bear fruit. He is telling us that, while His death is eminent, it is not final. Human death will be conquered by eternal life. But, first, He must die willingly, and His thoughts about that reality are troublesome. .. "what shall I say, Father save me from this hour? No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify thy name". At verse 28, God Himself says out loud, "I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.”

What is actually being reported here by Saint John? Why would Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity, only be glorified in His suffering and death, and why would God glorify His name in those events? Wouldn't God Incarnate already be crowned with glory upon His birth into this world, or at a minimum, during the course of His adult ministry? How can it be said, therefore, that Jesus is only now being glorified upon the simultaneous arrival of the time for His suffering and death? The exegesis of Verse 23 is difficult, in my opinion, but the answers to all of the above questions come to us in two parts.

The first part is to be found in our understanding or His humanity. Robert Wilken, in his book entitled The Spirit of Early Christian Thought, tells us that during the 1st through the 5th centuries, the early church was hopelessly mired in disagreement about the doctrine of incarnation. The docetists, one Christian sect for example, believed that Jesus was so absolutely divine that He only seemed to be human and, therefore, not really human at all while others, such as the Ebonites, denied His divinity but affirmed the prophetic nature of His teachings. By the time of the second Counsel of Nicaea in 787 AD, the central tradition of Christian thought affirmed that Christ was fully divine and fully human, but this outcome only occurred because, in the 5th century, a genuine effort was made by churchmen to clarity the relation between the divine and the human within the person of Jesus. Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria, was one of the most persuasive theologians who advocated the fully divine/fully human composition of Jesus. By the 5th century, Cyril was writing that the fully human side of Jesus' identity is best understood when we realize that suffering was not an unfortunate interlude in the life of Jesus. Rather, it was and remains an integral part of God's plan and was necessary to fulfill the Incarnation. Cyril further writes that Verse 23 of John's 12th Chapter means that after Jesus had done all He could to bring humankind to faith, He sought to lead us to the crowning point of hope, namely the destruction of death. This result could only be achieved by life undergoing death to be followed by the ability to live again. For Cyril, Jesus' cross of suffering was the BEGINNING of His glorification upon earth.

For modern Christians like you and me, the power of Cyril's thinking and of Jesus' suffering really becomes meaningful when we consider the second part of the analysis: Jesus' humanity in our contemporary world. Simply put, you and I would have no problem accepting that God could have easily endured the beating and crucifixion which Jesus had to endure. The omnipotent cannot be constrained or even impacted by such human restrictions. So, for the divine to suffer as Jesus suffered is not a transforming event. But for a man to willingly endure cross and crucifixion is an altogether different issue. I could not do it. Likely you could not either. But the man Jesus could do it, and did do it. In His suffering, therefore, He and God are glorified for the first time... exalted in a manner never before achieved until Jesus, the man, willingly climbed upon the cross. Christ's glory is, for all time, inextricably bound to His suffering.

Tom Craig

Mission Response and Prayer focus
March 28: In Project CAPE helps parents finish their education. Give a quarter for every high school graduate in your home.

Devotional 3-27-09

Psalm 51:1-12, 2 Samuel 12

This psalm, an earnest plea from David, was, according to the text, written when Nathan came to him because his conscience was apparently malfunctioning or buried too far beneath his ego. Recall that David had selfishly taken Bathsheba while her husband, Uriah, was away at war and then arranged for him to be killed so that David could have Bathsheba for himself. Is it possible that, even though he had committed adultery and murder, he didn't realize how much these acts had displeased God? Or was he too ashamed to acknowledge what he had done and to ask for forgiveness? While God had undoubtedly tried to communicate his displeasure to David, the latter had failed to detect it, perhaps because of his self-centeredness or maybe because of shame. God felt compelled to send Nathan to open David's eyes and ears. Nathan initially confronts David without being accusatory; rather, he politely uses a parable to get his point across. David, however, again doesn't get or acknowledge the message. Nathan then has to be blunt and spell it out for him, recounting all the wonderful things God had done for him and conveying God's hurt and disappointment that David had "despised the word of the Lord." Finally, David owns up to the rotten things he has done and pleads with God to be merciful and to forgive him.

Though David's actions may have rated lower on the morality scale than the sins you or I generally commit, don't get too comfortable! There are times when we do find ourselves caught up in David's position of being blinded to, or in denial of, our wrongdoings. In these times, do we ignore or shut out God's attempts to realign our actions and our relationship with him via our conscience? Sometimes we leave God no choice but to find other, more direct ways to get our attention. Thank God for the Nathans of the world who will step out of their comfort zones to confront us with the truth.

Psalm 51 is a wonderful prayer of confession and acknowledgment of how we need God's help to get back to and stay on the right course, and is a good aid for us in this Lenten season when we are trying to focus on those things that put distance between us and God. The imagery created by the repeated references to washing and cleansing in these verses reminds us that God is in the soul washing business. His life-giving water reaches every part of us, even those we keep completely hidden from others, and provides healing, wholeness, peace and joy in the realization that the faucet of God's love and grace wasn't opened by anything we did and, because of the blood of Jesus which was poured out for us, will not be closed by anything we do.

O for a heart to praise my God, a heart from sin set free,
a heart that always feels thy blood so freely shed for me.
A humble, lowly, contrite heart, believing, true, and clean,
which neither life nor death can part from Christ who dwells within.
(Verses 1 and 3 of Charles Wesley's hymn "O For a Heart to Praise My God," inspired by Psalm 51 and found at page 417 in The United Methodist Hymnal.)
Amen.

Mary Taylor

Mission Response and Prayer focus
March 27: In honor of the food panty ministry, give a nickel for every "TV dinner" in your freezer.

Devotional 3-26-09

Psalm 119:9-16

How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments. I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes. With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth. I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

How can young people keep their way pure? Growing up, I remember going to church and learning about Jesus. In Sunday school we learned many stories about the Ten Commandments and the miracles of Jesus. We learned of the “golden rule”, and that we are to love the Lord with all our heart, strength and mind.

Now that I am a little older, I find myself looking back. “Have I learned from the mistakes of my past?” Have I learned to fix my eyes on the way of the Lord? I can find only one answer, and that is I continue to try each and every day. Being an imperfect being, I know that there have been times I looked away. I find myself looking at the mistakes I have made, the lessons I have learned, then meditating and praying to God for help to know the right path.

I believe that in my search for the right path, I am helping “young people” to find their way to God. I try share the lessons I have learned through my interactions with friends, family, and even strangers. Sometimes this is as simple as offering a smile. Many times it takes little more than a kind word or a loving touch. People can feel that God is in our heart through these interactions.

How can young people keep their way pure? As the scripture says, by guarding is according to God’s word, but it takes all of us to help provide the love and support needed for people that are “young” in Christ’s eyes to find their path.

Lord, thank you for each and every day. Show us the way to guide “young” people to you. Come into our hearts that we will know your way and be able to declare your message to others. Amen

Hulse Budd

Mission Response and Prayer Focus:
March 26: One important ministry is the summer camping program. Give a nickel for every person in your household who went to a camp last summer.

Devotional 3-25-09

Please Read:
Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm119:9-16, Hebrews 5:5-10, John 12:20-33

God has a plan. You’ve heard that before but have you seen his plan? Of course you haven’t; only God knows what is in store for people. But we do see, through the scripture, how his plan has unfolded throughout the past. Look at Jeremiah. God is telling us that we will have him in our hearts, that our sins will be forgiven. Today we, as Christians, have God in our hearts. God’s plan for our salvation was revealed to us through the sacrifice of his Son, our Christ.

During this time of Lent, spend time speaking with God, confessing and repenting of transgressions. Seek his guidance so that his plan for you may be fulfilled. Give all of your concerns to Him, and he will lift those burdens from you. Then go into the world and share your story with others so they too will know our God.

The words below are from a hymn that was sung during my Walk to Emmaus. At that time I only knew the refrain. And it spoke volumes to be me. As I was writing this devotion I was led to use those words. While searching for the song I came across the whole hymn. It even speaks more to me now, as tears stream down my face.

For those that would like to hear the hymn here is a link to Alan Jackson’s rendition on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp_ry0RBsnk

TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS
Words and Music by Helen H. Lemmel
1922

O soul are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free.

Refrain
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His Glory and Grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion -
For more than conquerors we are!

Refrain

His Word shall not fail you - He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell.

Refrain

Fred Herr

Mission Response and Prayer focus
March 25: HC needs pens for their school supply kits. Give a penny for every pen in your house.

Devotional 3-24-09

“He touched Me”
Today’s lectionary readings are Jeremiah 31: 31-34, Psalm 51: 1-12, Hebrews 5: 5-10, and John 12: 20-33.

In Jeremiah, God mentions the new contract that he will make with the people of Israel and Judah. It will be different than the old contract. He said that He would inscribe His laws in their hearts so that they will want to honor Him. For everyone both great and small shall know me and I will forgive and forget his or her sins. This particular reading always reminds me of the hymn, “Just as I Am”. I always think of my mother and I can still hear her singing it. Many years ago when I was younger than my grandson, Joshua, my mother sang in a trio. They were quite good, singing in church and on the radio. She sang alto.

In Psalm, King David is pleading with God to have mercy on him. He asks God to wash him, to cleanse him. He wanted to be pure again. David does not want the people of Israel to be punished because of his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah, her husband. David wants to be punished but begs God not to kill him. He promises to be an example to the people when his heart is again pure. He begs God not to take the Holy Spirit from him. David’s mentioning washing and cleansing, reminds me of baptism and my mother. She did not take it lightly, but when she was ready, she was ready. The minister baptized her by immersion. It was in February and was done in a coal mine water pool. I was the only one with her besides the minister. God had cleansed and restored her as David had prayed to God wash and cleanse him.

In Hebrews, God had chosen Jesus to be the Priest forever. Yet Jesus pleaded while he was on earth to God who was the only one to save Him from a premature death. Jesus had to learn from experience what it was like to obey. Obeying meant suffering. It was after He proved himself perfect in this experience that Jesus became the giver of salvation for all those who obeyed Him.

In John, Philip came to see Jesus during the Passover. Jesus said that if they wanted to see the disciples, he should follow Him because they must be where He was. Jesus talks about what lies ahead of Him. He now has accepted what is to happen, knowing that He will soon die. Those with Philip heard a Voice from the sky about God’s promise; some thought it was an angel or thunder. Jesus said the voice was for their benefit, not His.
Then He mentioned how he would be lifted on the Cross to die. He had learned from experience and accepted his role.

In 2005 I went on a tour of Israel and Egypt. I had always wanted to visit the Holy Land because I felt that there was something I needed to experience. I needed to be emotionally moved closer to God. We visited all the places He had been. I climbed the stairs with all the stations where He fell as He carried the cross. I visited the Church that is built over the place where Jesus was crucified. There was a hole under the a table, that was in front of the statue of Jesus on the cross, where one could actually feel one of the original large stones that had been at the foot of the cross. It was a very crowded room with long lines of people in wheel chairs who would lie flat on the floor to put their hands on the rock. It was very hot and crowded. We visited the Wailing Wall and many other places that are mentioned in the bible. Everything was so commercialized and loud.

The one place that emotionally touched my heart and soul was the Garden of Gethsemane. Our tour guide said the some olive trees are over 2000 years old. The garden was perfectly quite and peaceful. I could imagine Jesus praying alone and could feel His fear of knowing what was about to happen. Then in the distance, I could hear my mother singing, “I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses, He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own.” This was my emotional experience. Jesus had really died on that cross and had risen so that I will see my dear mother again. That is what Easter means to me.

Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we take your love for granted without considering the price you paid and the reason you paid that price. Fill our hearts, our minds, and our lives with belief in your son, our crucified Savior, that we may receive eternal blessing of your love.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Carol Brown

Mission Response and Prayer focus
March 24: Enjoy sprucing up you house? Give a dime for every saw you have.

Devotional 3-23-09

ORIGIN OF "TAPS”
Claim - Fighting on opposite sides, father and son meet one last time on a Civil War Battlefield. Found in the dying boy's pocket is a melody now known as 'Taps' - however, this account is incorrect.

'Taps' was composed in July 1862 at Harrison's Landing in Virginia. It was Brig. Gen. Daniel Butterfield, Commander of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, V Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, during the American Civil War. Dissatisfied with the customary firing of three rifle volleys at the conclusion of burials during battle and also needing a method of ceremonially imparting meaning to the end of a soldier's day, he likely altered an older piece known as "Tattoo" - a French Bugle Call used to signal "lights-out", into the call we now know as "Taps". (Alternatively, he wrote the whole thing from scratch, a possibility not at all supported by his lack of musical background and ability.)

Whether he wrote it straight from the cuff or improvised something new by rearranging an older work, Butterfield brought 'Taps' into being. With the help of his Bugler - Oliver W. Norton of Chicago, the concept was transformed into its present form. 'Taps' was quickly taken up by both sides of the conflict, and within months was being sounded by Buglers in both Union and Confederate Forces.

Then as now, "Taps" serves as a vital component honoring military dead. It is also understood by American Servicemen as an end - of - day "lights-out" signal.

When "Taps" is played at a Military Funeral, it is customary to salute if in uniform, or place your hand over your heart, if not.

Paul Riggs

Mission Response and Prayer focus
March 23: Remember the people who use the free clinic. Give a quarter for every visit someone in your household made to the doctor today.

Devotional 3-22-09

Forgiving God -
I praise you for the covering of my sin
in soft folds of your garment of love.
I praise you for not accounting to me my iniquity,
nor letting me reckon my value by sin-lists.
I praise you for your hand heavy on me
with gentle urging to draw me out of the toxic silence
that was wasting my very body with guilt.

Forgiving God -
Empty me of my self-sufficient ways and hopes
and pour into me your spirit of repentance.
Create within me the unquenchable desire to forgive
even as I have been forgiven by you.
Lead me to the depths of my heart,
where I can ponder the nature of your holy love
and the unbelievable happiness of freedom from sin.

Forgiving God -
Teach me the simplicity of confession
and the peace of forgiveness as a way
of living among others.
Bridle me against the stubborn willingness
to listen to your guidance.
And help me always choose a posture
of prayer, reconciliation, and trust in
my relationship with others and my joyful
response to you.

~From An Improbable Gift of Blessing: Prayers and Affirmations to Nurture the Spirit

Submitted by Rev . David Johnson

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:
March 22: Pray for the Ministry of the House of the Carpenter
March 22-28: We celebrate the ministry of the House of the Carpenter in Wheeling, Gary Beale director
They seek to provide services for people who are hungry, poor, disadvantaged, or oppressed. They have developed long range programs to address the root causes of these conditions. They have a food bank, clothing center which sees hundred of people every day and a free clinic. Home repairs are an important part of this mission.

Devotional 3-21-09

We stand on the opposite side of the fence a hundred yards or so from and facing what looks to be a small dumping ground for garbage. Black bags vomit broken white cups, stray papers, and more items hard to make out from our distance. Obvious though is that the area is a jumble of filth and trash surrounding a large flat black object resting on the cold concrete floor. My eighteen-year-old son yells, “Pokemon!” Before my mind can comprehend and adjust to what my eyes are witnessing he yells again. “Pokey…Pokey! Are you home?” My son had only told us we were going to visit Pokemon. He obviously had become used to seeing how this man lived and did not see the need to share more with us. As I watched the black mass on the ground start to rise, I felt a cold penetrate my soul that had nothing to do with the snow and ice around me. A figure struggled to sit up and shouted, “Give me a minute” as we stood mutely waiting. I have seen television programs depicting the homeless and I have seen my share of men and women walking the streets, but I was in no way prepared for the shock I felt watching this man rise from a mound of trash, waving his hand in greeting, while telling us he would be right there. I heard the crunch and pop of his shoes going through the icy snow as he limped awkwardly toward us with a huge smile on his worn face. He was layered in clothes with a hoodie on last, covering his head. He leaned over the fence to hug each of us and proceeded to tell us how glad he was to see us. He had met our son but had no idea who we were and it did not seem to matter. We were friends who cared enough to find him.

The back story on this homeless gentleman in short is that he has been living on the streets for several years by choice since the day his wife was killed. He will not go to a shelter. He will not go by his real name. He will accept food but not always. He keeps a Bible with him, and has a bike, but not much else. I guess some would say that he must be mentally ill, but it might also be called a broken heart. Some people just don't have the ability to mend for some reason. I think some of us truly are more fragile than others, and that is why we have to look out for each other.
Many people judge others for the messes that they have gotten themselves into and so do not think they should be helped. Mental illness, alcohol and drug addictions, and life changing circumstances are only a few of the reasons we have a homeless society. There is a big debate out there between those who know and those who think they know the right way to help the homeless. However, the fact remains that some can work on the root of the problem at the head of the river to discover why the homeless are falling into the water while others work on catching those who are already coming down stream and drowning.

Enabling and helping to me are two different things. There is a difference. I don't think it is our job to judge why they are in the situation they are in but only to love them. Giving someone an immediate smile, hug, pair of gloves or sandwich is saying, "Someone cares about you right now, here and now." No it doesn’t solve their problem, but it falls in line with I Corinthians 13:13 “…but the greatest of these is love.” We can show everyone love in some small fashion if only for a moment of time. We can give it freely with an open heart that does not judge but does what we are asked to do which is to love our neighbor whether he lives in a house or not.

“It doesn't matter whether we are doing great things for God but whether we are doing small things with great love." Mother Teresa

Barbara Lavalley
JM Preschool Teacher)

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:
March 20: Babies need lots of TLC, so give a nickel for every package of disposable diapers you have.

Devotional 3-20-09

“Rich in Mercy”
Ephesians 2: 1-10

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was written while he was in prison. Yet- we do not read of his lamenting on his situation in life or his current condition. Indeed, when we read this scripture Paul is exclaiming the good news of being saved thru grace and not by good works!
In today’s world, this belief of saving grace gets pushed to the side by the secular world. Books, newspapers, TV shows and pundits all extol self-reliance and hard work to get a reward! The idea being that we must improve our productivity, our technology, our GDP, etc.

Paul reminds us that no amount of good work can help us achieve eternal life. It is because God is rich in his mercy toward us that we can be saved. This is not a type of “Rich” that the world can understand. In this time of economic hardship, financial loss and world-wide market upheaval let us be thankful to God knowing he is rich in his mercy toward us.

Verse 10 states “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Let us go forward in the certain knowledge that by his richness of grace we can do his work wherever he needs us!.

Marv Jones

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:
March 20: If you have little ones, give a quarter for every car seat you have.

Devotional 3-18-09

We may fail, but God’s grace is sufficient

Scripture: “but God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much. Though we are spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace…You did not save yourselves; it was a gift form God.” Ephesians 2:4, 8b.
Paul’s message to the Ephesians is one of hope. God, in his mercy had changed them from being spiritually dead to new life in Christ. This is our hope as well. Max Lucado put it this way: “God’s mercy plucks us up from the destruction of our countless sins and places us in Jesus Christ’s righteousness.”

As we prepare ourselves for the resurrection of Christ in this season of Lent, it seems important for us to examine the multifaceted concept of grace and remember the ways it changed us from who we were to whom we are becoming in Christ.

Prevenient grace comes before we are saved. It is the love of God wooing us, drawing us, pursuing us, freeing us, empowering us much like a magnet draws a piece of metal. God’s plan is that we will be in relationship with him. Justifying grace saves us and makes us as if we had never sinned. It takes a sinner like me and brings salvation and healing. I did not save myself, but it was a gift from God. Sanctifying grace is growing and sustaining grace that gives us a desire and power to give God our undivided attention and whole heart and to be Christ in the world. As I look back during this season of Lent I am grateful for the grace that has sustained me and provided leadership in how to be Christ’s representative here in this place.

Prayer: God we thank you for your grace that pull us to you, saves us, and enables us to produce fruit in your vineyard. Give us the strength and will to be your hands on the earth. Amen.

Maudie Karickhoff

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:
March 18: HHH provides after school tutoring. Give a dime for each person you have in elementary school.

Devotional 3-19-09

*FOR THE LOVE OF IT ALL*

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, who visited Jesus at night to engage Him in a conversation concerning His teaching. Imagine the confusion and bewilderment as Jesus tells him,

“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be save through him...And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world...” (John 3:14-17, 19a)

No doubt Nicodemus has lived his life adhering to Jewish laws, believing strict obedience to Jewish tradition would be the way to please God. Perhaps he has been harsh in his relationships with those who don’t follow a similar life of rigorous self-discipline. He has put his faith in his own ability to follow the rules, to tithe, to fast, to pray, to settle disputes and render judgments.
Now this man Nicodemus believes to be a “teacher Who has come from God” is in essence telling him he just doesn’t “get it.” Where is God, the Source of Love, in the living of his life? Perhaps Nicodemus begins to realize he has somehow lost the light of love God wants His Creation to know, to embrace and to offer to one another.

God’s purpose, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, is to demonstrate to everyone His redeeming love for us all. He understands our confusion, our questions, our doubts, our failures, and still offers us the promise of eternal life with Him if we will simply believe. Isn’t that the best news – the best reassurance – the best gift we could ever hope for?

*For the Love of It All
by Noel Paul Stookey

In the beginning, as life became form,
The oceans heaved, the mountains were cleaved,
The firmament stormed.
At the center of being, immensely small
Was the master of now, don't ask me how
The Love of it all

And the seasons were many.
Creation was new.
And there on a tree (deceptively free)
A forbidden fruit
Upon leaving the garden, after the fall,
One thing was clear; we chose not to hear
The Love of it all

But for the Love of it all
I would go anywhere.
To the ends of the earth,
What is it worth if Love would be there?
Walking the thin line between fear and the call
One learns to bend and finally depend
On the Love of it all

"Irresistible targets"
I heard someone say.
They were speaking of angels
Who are so courageous day after day
Gunned down on a highway (as we often recall)
I hear a scream; I have a dream
The Love of it all

Still the world is in labor,
She groans in travail.
She cries with the eagle, the dolphin,
She sighs in the song of the whale.
While the heart of her people
Prays at the wall.
A spirit inside is preparing a bride
For the Love of it all

For the Love of it all,
Like the stars and the sun,
We are hearts on the rise,
Separate eyes with the vision of one.
No valley too deep, no mountain too tall,
We can turn back the night with merely the light
From the Love of it all.

And so we are marching 'to give peace a chance'
Brother and sister as one in this mystery dance.
ong ago on a hilltop where now the curious crawl
A man on a cross paid the ultimate cost
For the Love of it all

For the Love of it all
We are gathered by grace
We have followed our hearts
To take up our partsIn this time and place.
Hands for the harvest,
Hear the centuries call:
It is still not too late to come celebrate
The Love of it all

"Eli, eli, lemana shabakthani"
The Love of it all

Linda Summers

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:
March 19: HHH Enjoy being outside in the summer? Give a nickel for every vegetable garden you have.

Devotional 3-17-09

Top of the mornin'!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, a day we have an excuse to wear our "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" T-shirts and say things like. "Top of the mornin." We know that Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland but why? Here's the short version:

Patrick was born around 385 AD, to a wealthy Christian family of Roman descent in Britain . In Irelan, King Niall, a warrior king, began raiding Britain , taking many captives, including Patrick, when he was about 16 years old.
Patrick was made to tend sheep, and learned the language and customs of his captors. Although he had every reason to be bitter and hate those who enslaved him, he turned to God, spending a lot of time in prayer during the six years he was held. God told him through a vision he'd make his escape by sea. He managed to reach the coast and found some sailors who took him home.
Patrick felt the call to serve God. He experienced another vision: the Irish people calling to him, "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more." Patrick went to France to study for the priesthood and was ordained. He was eventually ordained a bishop, then set sail for Ireland , to bring Christ to the land of his former captivity. By the time Patrick died, on March 17, 461, most of Ireland had converted from their pagan ways to Christianity.

What an incredible example of forgiveness! Patrick was able to love his enemies enough to go back and share his faith with them. Maybe while we're looking for something green to wear today, we can also think of someone we need to forgive and serve.

From Saint Patrick's Breastplate
Christ be with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ in me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me
Christ on my right
Christ on my left
Christ where I lie
Christ where I sit
Christ where I arise
Christ in the heart of every man
who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of every man
who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me
Salvation is of the Lord

Anita Farrell

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:
March 17: If you own your home, please give fifty cents.

Devotional 3-16-09

Religion and Politics
One of three subjects which should be avoided in normal day-to-day social conversation, so why have I chosen this as a subject for my devotional? Hardly proper some of you might say, so let me explain. I got my inspiration for this piece after seeing a bumper sticker with the words “God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat.” I like that idea, because it suggests that Christians have higher principles by which we should be measured and by which we should measure others in our judgment of those who might hold elective public office. We should choose candidates based on these principles and not on political party loyalty. There are several Biblical references, including the lectionary reading for today, that support this. John 3: 20-21 says: “For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

The word “true” in this context means honest, virtuous, faithful, and loyal; a true believer of Jesus Christ is a dedicated and faithful disciple of our Lord. So is this not a greater standard to follow in choosing a potential candidate for state or federal office than simply what party that person belongs? Has that person conducted his or her life in such a way that God’s blessings can be clearly seen in that individual’s actions?

The words “political” or “politicians” are often used in a derogatory sense to mean “those who seek personal or partisan gain; scheming, opportunism; or factional scheming for power.” This hardly meets Jesus’ admonition as to what is “true” and what will come to the light and be seen in the light by the deeds that are done. A word we often do not hear when referring to any state or federal representative unless that person has been dead for over 100 years is “statesman.” Such a person is defined as “showing wisdom, character (moral strength, self-discipline, fortitude) skill, and vision in conducting state affairs.” Technically speaking, a person does not become a statesman until that individual assumes a leadership position in conducting state affairs. However, individuals who have such qualities are certainly closer to being a “true” person as described by Jesus and at the same time on the road to being a statesman-like candidate for whom we can cast our ballot.

How then do we distinguish between the party politician who may have his or her own personal career and interests at heart and the potential statesman with visions and goals as to what is best for our nation? We of course can look at our own history in this regard, but Biblical passages provide us with some more reliable standards to follow. One of the central messages of both the old and new testaments is that men and women from all walks of life should by both their words and their deeds conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with God’s teachings. Hypocrisy is consistently condemned by God throughout the Bible. The prophet Nathan told King David the parable about the poor peasant who had his only lamb taken from him by a rich man because the rich man did not want to use any of his own herd as a meal for the rich man’s traveling guest. King David was outraged at such an act of selfishness. Yet, as Nathan soon informed David, it was the king himself who had done the same thing when he took one of his soldier’s wives (Bathsheba) and then arranged to have her husband killed in battle so he could hide his evil deed and take her for his own wife (2 Samuel 12:1-15). Psalm 26:4 (written by David himself) states that “I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites.”

One of the central themes of Jesus’ teachings and the focus of his criticism in many of his parables was hypocrisy, particularly when it was demonstrated by those who were in a position of power such as the rich, the rabbis or priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees. Examples of such included receiving forgiveness or mercy for a debt, but then being unmerciful toward another with a similar debt (Matt. 18:21-35); giving offerings and sacrifices to God, but ignoring the poor peasant on the street begging for food or refusing to allow that same beggar to enter the temple because of his or her position in life (Matt. 23; Luke 10: 25-37); and condemning such acts as healing on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17). Jesus’ words of rebuke to such acts are best found in Matthew 23: 23-28: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former...You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matt. 23:25-28). To avoid such acts of hypocrisy, Jesus taught us to consistently demonstrate acts of love, kindness and forgiveness to our neighbors.

So whether I am looking to vote for the President of the United States, a federal or local representative in Congress, or simply a local dog catcher, the issue I should look to before deciding how to caste my ballot is how consistently has the individual who is running for public office matched that individual’s promises with his or her acts or deeds performed at home, on the job, among friends, and in the community at large. To see not just a pretty face or eloquent speaker when I vote, but an individual who has consistently demonstrated a life that imitates as far as possible the examples and teachings of Jesus. Thus, I find it to be somewhat hypocritical for a person running for public office to advocate massive amounts of spending from the taxpayers wallets to help alleviate the plight of the poor, but then discover that this same individual gave a miniscule amount of money for charities or failed altogether to pay his or her own taxes. Or, someone who claims to be a pillar of the community when running for public office, but upon further inquiry one finds instances of adultery, bribery, and outright theft. Unfortunately, too many of us will excuse such acts if we believe that the policies advocated are for the ultimate good of the community or of the country at large. In addition, often times the hypocrisy is excused, ignored or even encouraged by fellow party members who want to regain their position or retain their power. Worse yet, the hypocrisy may be inflated by a news media which has so often in recent years been an advocate for one particular party or point of view to the point that it will level criticism at one individual or group for a particular action, yet remain silent if by chance a similar or even more serious misdeed is done by the “opposition.” Thus, hypocrisy breeds hypocrisy.

In conclusion, it is correct to say that God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, but before casting our ballots for either the big R or the big D, we must look more deeply into whether that person’s words and deeds closely follow the teachings of Jesus Christ or are those of a hypocrite, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." By doing so, perhaps we can choose our candidates more wisely and elect a statesman rather than a politician.

Dan Kemper

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:
March 16: Did you use deodorant today? Give a penny if you did (and five cents if you didn't!)

Devotional 3-15-09

THE CALL TO LENT
II Corinthians 5:2-6:2

Prayer—Lord, at the beginning of this Lenten Season, I sense my need of you. Yet, I’m not quite sure how to reach. I heard someone say, “Read your Bible,” but too often the words are like bullets that ricochet off my mind. I heard someone say, “Pray”, but my prayers, hurled heavenward, fall back to earth like lifeless stones. I heard someone say, “Meditate,” but my wandering mind was lost in a desert of random thoughts. Lord, speak to us through your Word, and let it penetrate our minds, and our hearts. Lord, speak to us through our prayers, and turn the lifeless stones to bread. Lord, speak to us in the midst of meditation, that we may see, amid life’s wilderness, the way, the truth and the life. Take us, God, take our bodies. Take these sins, these things we do when we try to take charge of our own life, and burn them. Return them to ashes, that the wind will blow—let the wind of the Spirit blow through and cleanse us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Lent is a time to take the time to let the power of our faith story take hold of us, a time to let the events get up and walk around in us,
a time to intensify our living unto Christ,
a time to hover over the thoughts of our hearts,
a time of place our feet in the street of Jerusalem or to walk along the sea and listen to his word,
a time touch his robe and feel the healing surge though us,
a time to ponder and a time to wonder…
Lent is a time to allow a fresh new taste of God’s spirit!

Lent is a time for the asking of hard questions and the facing of hard choices.

Lent is a time of bringing order out of our chaos.

Ash Wednesday and Lent are all about consecrating our lives anew to Christ. It is about taking that step that no one can take for us—the step of a deeper and more intense personal walk with Christ. Listen to these beautiful yet powerful word of St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians: “We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who know no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
LET’S BEGIN BY CENTERING OUR THOUGHTS ON THE IMMEDIACY OF WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US IN CHRIST. Recently a pastor surveyed a hundred members of various churches about the significance of the cross. This is the question he asked: “Would it make any difference in your life if Christ had not died on the cross?” Remember now, he asked this question of church members. Here are the results: 45% said they didn’t think it would make any difference.

25% said they thought so, but when asked what the difference would be, they weren’t sure, 20% said it make all the difference in how they lived and believed, 10% said they didn’t know, because they didn’t understand what the cross was all about.

The cross is the symbol of our salvation. It is a constant reminder of what God has done in our behalf. That’s the first thing we need to see—the immediacy of what Christ had done. BUT WE NEED TO ALSO CONSIDER THE INTIMACY OF WHAT HE HAS DONE. Paul says, “We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” AND FINALLY PAUL’S WORDS REMIND US OF THE URGENCYOFOUR RESPONSE. Now is the day of salvation. The Gospel confronts us with a decision that must be a declaration that must be voiced. Why? Because God has made an enormous investment in the outcome. Our response should be urgent. Now is the day of salvation. Now God is calling each of us to this Lenten Season. What will you do for God during the next 40 days? Jesus is going to speak to us during the Lenten Season. Those in darkness, He will be their light. Those in pain, He will be their healing. Those in sorrow, he will be a comforter. Those in anger, he will be love. Those is fear, he will calm. Those in hunger, he will be your bread. Those who thirst, he will give water. Those in need, he will fill. Those who are heavy laden, he will give you rest. God is calling us to the Lenten Season. Give someone some living water. Wash someone’s feet. Give someone in darkness a light. Give someone with no hope a vision. Be a witness for Jesus for someone in need to see and experience Jesus. Give someone having a bad day, an unexpected blessing. Give a former friend the gift of forgiveness. Give someone broken, shalom, real peace. Give someone fractured, your healing touch. Give someone sick, God’s anointing touch through your hands. Have and blessed Lenten season. Amen.

Rev. Jeremiah Jasper

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:
March 15: Pray for the ministry of Heart and Hand House
March 15-21: We celebrate Heart and Hand House in Philippi, Bob Wilkins, Director
They sponsor several programs that assist are a residents for maintain economic stability and independence. They support a farming ministry which emphasizes locally grown produce for the restaurant industry. They coordinate new home and home repair programs, They also provide after school care programs for children and youth. They provide items for new moms and babies. They have a giant food panty which constantly needs restocked.

Devotional 3-14-09

Scripture: Geneses 9:13

As I am writing this devotional, there are so many things going through my mind: the economy of our nation, jobs lost, family and friend’s health, etc. I must question, where does my faith come into this picture?

Several years ago I was seated on a plane by a gentleman, who was eager to share the story of his faith.

He and his wife had boarded a plane the day before, on their way home from a cruise. They had not been in the air, but a few minutes, when the pilot announced that they were returning to the airport. The plane was experiencing trouble with its landing gear. One set of wheels had not retracted. However, before they would attempt landing, the fuel needed to be dumped into the ocean. This procedure would take at least an hour before they could land. In the mean time while the plane circled in a pattern, they would be preparing for an emergency landing. The man retelling the story was not naïve. He knew why they were dumping the gas. A plane full of gas was not good, if the landing gear malfunctioned, and the plane tore apart.

He told me of their shock at first, and then trying to prepare for what could be a crash landing. I’m sure the odds of survival were paramount in their minds. But, he also gave details of his wife writing a note to their children, and tucking it into her passport. She placed the passport under her blouse in hopes if the worst happened, she could be identified. They both prayed. There was much time to reflect, and in his case draw from the promises of God and his faith in those promises. In the mean time, the attendants were busy preparing the passengers.

As they were bracing for an impact, he drew his wife to the window. Perfectly placed on the horizon was the most beautiful rainbow. He told her that everything was going to be all right, because God had given his promise and they needed to have faith in that promise. The rainbow confirmed his belief.

The man closed his eyes, and held his wife close. He said, he had never felt closer to God.

It wasn’t an easy landing, but it was a safe one. The landing gear did not work, but the pilot landed the plane in a grassy area, and all aboard were okay. Naturally, there were some scratches, lost items, some broken bones, etc. The plane stayed in tact, and he was so thankful to be able to return home and tell his story to everyone who would listen. I listened and still draw from his faith, especially when things are out of my control.

I believe, I was sitting by that man for a reason. When times are tough, it reminds me that God has promised that he is always with us. We need to remind ourselves of that, and share it with others, especially during difficult times. All of us have had our share of “crashes, near misses, and rocky rides”. It’s not always a smooth landing, but our Father is there to cushion the impact. His promise and our faith will see us through.

The rainbow was a reminder to that gentleman passenger that there is a living God. He is there when things are difficult, and let’s not forget, when there are smooth landings.

Ironically, but perhaps not coincidentally, I saw the same rainbow the day before, but didn’t realize what it was saying to this total stranger. Today, I have a different feeling when I see the bow in the clouds. Indeed, my faith will always be strengthened by God’s promise.

Love and Peace,
Glenna B. Allison

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:

March 12: Reading is crucial. Please give a penny for every kid's book you have.
March 8-14: We celebrate Ebenezer Community Outreach Center in Huntington; Celes Sheffield, Executive Director.
They minister through their pre-school program, Youth Energized for Success; Family enrichment Center, Baby Bassinette, clothing closet, School supply programs, Christmas Angel program the Idus Jones Scholarship Program (awarded to a high school senior) 4-H and Girls Scouts

Devotional 3-13-09

"Be careful little mouth what you say, be careful little mouth what you say, for the Lord up above is looking down below, so be careful little mouth what you say."

There have been times that I have said words and did actions that I would most gladly take back. However, there they were, out there for any to hear and see. I prayed to be forgiven for saying and acting in such a manner. I certainly apologized where I felt it was needed.
My father was a gentle gentleman whom I loved very much and tried to emulate. But he had a side to him, that when he felt strongly about something or was angered about something, he would let it be known in no uncertain terms. Growing up, I was the instrument of this display many times, I am certain. But, I do not remember my father having a really unkind word to or about someone.

That part I am sorry I do not emulate. I try hard but I know I have said hurtful words in anger or frustration. Then I have regretted those words. March 2nd I read on a daily calendar these words, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil...." Psalm 141:34 NIV. I pray I can abide by those words.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen (Psalm 19:14)

Kay Lewis

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:
March 12: Enjoy games? How about a nickel for every deck of cards you have.

Devotional 3-12-09

Note from Kim: When people at Johnson Memorial sign up to write devotionals, I randomly assign them dates. Theo, who wrote the following devotional, was randomly assigned March 12 sometime during early February. I'm telling you this because Theo is having surgery today at Cleveland Clinic to remove a tumor. While I might have made the assignment in a random manner, I'm sure that God was involved. I'm sure it's not a coincidence that her devotional is being emailed for the day that she is having surgery and is in need of prayer. Please pray for Theo today. Praise to God whose hands surround us with his care and love. Grace, Kim

Attending elementary school during the Fifties, our classroom day always began with us reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, a scripture reading and discussion, and bowing our heads to pray the Lord's Prayer with our teacher. Also, many of my teachers required us to memorize Bible verses as part of our classroom assignments. As far back as second grade, I remember learning Bible verses for school, and my wise teacher, Miss Smith, using Psalm 19:14 as a springboard for a lesson on kindness. Today, all of us need to practice living the words of Psalm 19:14 in our daily lives.

“May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."

How many times do we use sharp and hurtful words when speaking to others?How many times do we have unkind feelings in our hearts?Are these words and thoughts acceptable to our Lord? God is our strength and our redeemer. He hears and knows our every word and thought.

Theo Tippett

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:
March 12: ECOC needs bean bag chairs. Give 25 cents for each bean bag chair in yourhouse.

Devotional 3-11-09

God of One and God of Many

“Which commandment is the first of all?...”You shall love the Lord your god with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Mark 12:28, 30-31

Conversion to God means simultaneous conversion to the other persons who live with you on this earth. The farmer, the worker, the student, the prisoner, the sick, the wealthy, the poor, the black man, the white man, the weak, the strong, the oppressed, and the oppressor, the patient, the healer, the tortured, the torturer, the boss, the flunky, not only are they people like you, but they are also called to make themselves heard and to give God a chance to be the God of all. Thus compassion removes pretensions, just as it removes false modesty. It invites you to understand everything, to see yourself in the light of God and to joyfully tell everyone you meet that there is no reason to fear; the land is free to be cultivated.

Your greatest commandments, dear God, are loving you and loving our neighbor. Make them a part of our everyday lives. Fill us with compassion, understanding and the trust that you are with us no matter where we are and what we are doing and that we are blessed by your grace. Amen.

Amy Inghram

Mission Prayer and Response:

March 11: Education is a blessing. Give $1.00 for each High School Senior in your home.
March 8-14: We celebrate Ebenezer Community Outreach Center in Huntington, Celes Sheffield, Executive Director.
They minister through their pre-school program, Youth Energized for Success; Family enrichment Center, Baby Bassinette, clothing closet, School supply programs, Christmas Angel program the Idus Jones Scholarship Program (awarded to a high school senior) $-H and Girls Scouts

Devotional 3-10-09

The Law

When I was a little girl, Easter was a very special family holiday. My mom and dad, Ruby and John Wright, would make sure that Jimmy, Bert, and I had new or presentable clothing in celebration of the new season. They also made sure that the Easter bunny paid us a visit even when we no longer believed in her. Easter dinner consisted of pot roast with onions, potatoes, and carrots; my mom, a home-ec major, was the best cook this side of Heaven. My dad always had his Brownie ready for the traditional shot by the daffodils in the back yard. And even though there were probably some cloudy, cold Easters, the child in me only remembers the sun warming my newly exposed arms as I raced to the Pontiac that would carry me to Johnson Memorial Methodist Church.

My Easter outfits always came from one of two places, my mother’s sewing machine or “the box”. Even though there was no Ebay at that time, nor do I remember visiting any resale shops, I do know that moms and grandmas made sure that good used clothes were passed down to family and neighbors. A grandmother in my Wilson Court neighborhood purchased beautiful, well-made dresses, skirts, and play clothes for a granddaughter who was slightly older than I. As Sarah outgrew the clothes, they were carefully packed in a box and delivered to my house. I never knew if my mother purchased the clothes or if they were a gift. Either way, opening the box each season was as much fun as opening presents on Christmas morning.

To enhance my outfits, my parents would usually put a small gift in my Easter basket – a piece of jewelry or a toy. They weren’t extravagant or expensive gifts, but they were special to me. My favorites were a silver bracelet with a tiny mustard seed ornament attached, a delicate silver cross necklace, and a silver charm bracelet. My favorite charm, the one that came with the bracelet, was a tiny replica of the Ten Commandments. I could even read the Commandments on the charm! I quizzed my family on the way to church; I think that my parents knew that it would spark a good conversation about how we were supposed to act and what we were expected to do.

I was reminded of that bracelet when I read one of the lectionary readings for this week, Exodus 20: 1-17. You and I know this as the Ten Commandments. You may have these verses in your long-term memory, but for those of us who don’t, I’ve listed them below.

1. And God spake all these words, saying,
2. I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (Can’t you just hear Charlton Heston’s voice?
3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6. And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments,
7. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all they work:
10. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor they daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13. Thou shalt not kill.
14. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15. Thou shalt not steal.
16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
17. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.

As I look at these ancient laws again, I remember that the child in me saw nothing very difficult in following these laws. I imagine that my parents gave each other that knowing smile that means “Just you wait, little girl.”

I have waited for over fifty years, and I still think that God’s Commandments should not be hard to follow. But I also know that free will (my husband calls it obstinance) has led me away from God’s laws. It is during those time that I have called on Jesus Christ to intercede on my behalf – to save me from myself – to remind me how I’m supposed to act and what I’m expected to do as a child of God and a Christian. Only Easter has made that possible.

Dear Jesus, thank you for a love that surpasses all laws. Be with us as we make our Lenten journey to that glorious Easter Day when to save us, you break all laws of time and space. In Your name we pray. Amen

Becky Warren

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:

March 10: Give fifty cents for each person in your house who was in 4H. Give 1.00 for every animal you raised as part of your project!

Devotional 3-9-09

Scripture: Zechariah 7:4–10 (New International Version)
Then the word of the LORD Almighty came to me: "Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? Are these not the words the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?' "

And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah: "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'

(The same passage from The Message)
God-of-the-Angel-Armies gave me this Message for them, for all the people and for the priests: "When you held days of fasting every fifth and seventh month all these seventy years, were you doing it for me? And when you held feasts, was that for me? Hardly. You're interested in religion, I'm interested in people. There's nothing new to say on the subject. Don't you still have the message of the earlier prophets from the time when Jerusalem was still a thriving, bustling city and the outlying countryside, the Negev and Shephelah, was populated? Well, the message hasn't changed. God-of-the-Angel-Armies said then and says now: "'Treat one another justly. Love your neighbors. Be compassionate with each other. Don't take advantage of widows, orphans, visitors, and the poor. Don't plot and scheme against one another—that's evil.'


A Sacrifice for Lent

What to give up for Lent?

Give up chocolate
Give up meats
Give up soda
Give up sweets

Give up anger
Give up worrying
Give up grumbling
Give up hurrying

Give up a cold heart
In exchange for love
For one that belongs
To the Father above

Mary Beth Cordle
Advance United Methodist Church
Flatwood, KY

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:

March 8: Pray for the ministry provided by Ebenezer Community Outreach Center

Devotional 3-8-09

“WORDS”

Lectionary Readings for the week: Exodus 20:1-17, Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 and John 2:13-22
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

My father included this verse in many prayers and especially in the prayers that were a prelude to a sermon. I now know that many other ministers follow this same practice as a way to cleanse their thoughts so that what is spoken is “of God”. The words are a spoken reminder of a practice of centering on God, so that the Word spoken in a sermon will reach those who need to hear and understand the Word.

Words are powerful tools, but there are “rules of engagement”. God spoke the WORD and our world came into being. (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1) God gave Moses words for all of us in the form of commandments to become the “first” and most basic rules for behavior. Words have flowed through all the prophets to teach us how to behave/relate. Jesus spoke his Words to small groups and large crowds—in parables, healings and about radical ways to relate to each other like: “love your enemies”, “turn the other cheek”, “feed the poor”, “help those who are in prison”, etc. Jesus gave us Words so powerful that we still do not understand them all.

Words are meant to build up, to make us think, to support and comfort—to name only a few of the positive words. Words are meant to facilitate our living in this community called the world; in our families, in our workplaces, in schools and neighborhoods. And yet, too often the words that we share with each other tear down, destroy and harm one another.

Too often, I have spoken in haste or anger without heeding the words of the psalmist and have lived to regret the words that exited my mouth. Once spoken, the words, like toothpaste out of the tube, cannot be pushed back in their container, no matter how great the regret of the speaker. I have spoken without “having my brain in gear” as they say—without centering my thoughts on God. I’m sorry for my words, but they have already caused the harm.

I’m trying to form new habits of “word use” this Lenten season—to be more aware of the situation BEFORE a word is spoken, especially any word that would not be pleasing to God (or to my fellow humans, for that matter). I have realized that I use some words repeatedly that are harmful to my relationships with others and with God—those pesky expletives that seem to slip out of my mouth with too much ease. What Word is God sending to your heart today? Are you centering your thoughts on God? What words do you need to add to the conversation so that you are a blessing to others? What words should you avoid saying? Do you need a “heart cleansing” like I do to help find the right path?

Dear merciful and blessed Lord: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.” (Psalm 51:10-12) May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. AMEN.

Chryl Budd

Mission Prayer and Response calendar

March 8: Pray for the ministry provided by Ebenezer Community Outreach Center

March 8-14: We celebrate Ebenezer Community Outreach Center in Huntington, Celes Sheffield, Executive Director
They minister through their pre-school program, Youth Energized for Success; Family enrichment Center, Baby Bassinette, clothing closet, School supply programs, Christmas Angel program the Idus Jones Scholarship Program (awarded to a high school senior) $-H and Girls Scouts

Devotional 3-7-09

Psalms: 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

The following meditation was sent to me by my sister, and I would like to share it with others:

Ash Wednesday is a reminder that God’s justice is blinded by his mercy. The cross of ashes is God’s annual sign to us, like spring, that death does not have the last word. Under the protection of the cross, we believe that, out of the dead ashes of our past sins, we will come to live again. If we are going to “give up” something for Lent, why not consider fasting from anger, bitterness, despair, pessimism, fear, worry, self concern, negative thoughts and words, and judging others?

Perhaps we could commit to some “Lenten Rules”. Some issues in our lives we want to be intentional about doing something to correct them.

Lenten Rules: I will:

Not shriek at the children more than once a day.
Stop making a pig of myself.
Refrain from critical remarks.
Stop smoking. Stop drinking.
Let that poor driver pull into the line of traffic in front of me.
Be nice to that checker, cashier, clerk, attendant, relative, neighbor, pastor, wife, husband, mother-in-law, (circle one, several, or all).
Cook that dish which my spouse likes and I do not. Eat that dish which my spouse cooks and which I do not like.
Put down that trashy book and read something worthwhile.
Get out of the sack every single Sunday morning and go to church; modify my Saturday night routine so that I can get out of the sack on Sunday morning.
Give our Lord a little credit for the good things happening to me; blame our Lord a little less for the bad things that happen to me.
Blame my husband less. Blame my wife less. Blame everyone less.
Say “thank you” more often. Say “please” more often.
Talk less. Say more. Smile more. Try smiling even when I do not feel like it.
Ask our Lord Jesus Christ to help me to do all these things.
- The Anglican Digest -

Virginia Hensley

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:

March 7: Enjoy a hot shower or bath? Give a dime for every bathroom in your house

Devotional 3-6-09

GOD'S WINGS
"He will cover you with his feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge" - (Psalm 91-4)

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending danger, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast...because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live!!!

Being loved this much should make a difference in your life. Remember the One who loves you, and then be different because of it.

Paul S. Riggs

Mission Prayer and Response Focus:

March 6: Give 50 cents for every time you went to Wal-Mart this week.

Devotional 3-5-09

Like many people I dream at night while I sleep. My dreams, while in direct conflict with some studies, are in color. My dreams are not by any means prophetic or of startling revelation. Unless I have had way too much caffeine right before bed, they are not usually psychedelic or fit for the Twilight Zone. I will admit to having the occasional “showing up for class in my underwear” dream. Probably the caffeine. I did dream one night that my grandfather was alive. We were sitting at his kitchen table talking. This moment was not a flashback or memory. It was in real time, and it was as real to me as a puff of wind in my face or a hot cup of coffee in my hand. I was some 10 plus years older than when he passed away.

Questionnaires float around asking what is your favorite color, favorite food, favorite whatever? What is your favorite movie? Mine, hands down is Raiders of the Lost Ark. Not because up to that point it was the best movie I had ever seen nor even to this day, the best. It remains my favorite because for 115 minutes I battled bad guys, blew up a plane, swam in the ocean to board a submarine, and, in general, saved the world from being overtaken by the nasties. By the time Harrison Ford trotted down the marble steps in Washington, fired a parting shot about bureaucrats, and we saw ‘the crate’ safely tucked into its innocuous slot, I fell back into by seat, exhaled at last, and was exhausted. I remember, with great clarity, how I felt. I don’t remember what my grandfather and I talked about at the table – but I remember how I felt. It must be in the category with pure joy. He was gone and now he was back.

I lived with my grandparents for about three years -- my final year at Marshall and then for a couple more as I was getting started. It was added security and peace of mind for them and a welcome break from rent for me. It also gave me a chance to know them better. My grandfather, his name was George, was more patriarchal than ‘cuddly’. A bread winner rather than a changer of diapers. He saw the invention of the airplane, lived through World Wars I and II, Korea and Vietnam. Survived the Great Depression and watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. He used to sit on a small wooden box in the yard and dig dandelions with a flat blade screwdriver (He probably knew there was a spray to accomplish the same goal, but this was his time with nature.). When outdoors he always had on a hat. He wore a wrist watch but no rings – he told me stories of mishaps involving rings at INCO. The habit must have stuck. He shopped for groceries EVERY day. Every day but Sunday. On Sunday he rested. We were not allowed to cut the grass, wash the windows or paint a screen door. He was a hunter. Using the meat and the hide – never taking a trophy. And just before the decline in health that would lead to his death, he was working on his tenth time, cover to cover, through the Bible. His Bible was a small leather bound KJV. My dad gave me the tattered remains. I have them in a Zip Lock bag to keep the pages and the binding together. My grandfather was well versed in scripture. On the night he passed away I spent a considerable amount of time stooped by his chair. Our hands were locked – his left, my right, my left, his right. This was mainly to keep him from pulling at the tubes and wires. As we paused there he would recite Bible verses. He knew many more than me. We, he, seemed to zero in on the 23rd Psalm. Over and over again we would say it, The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want… he leads me beside the still waters. Before the night was to end, he would dwell in a different place. In the hospital room that night, my grandmother (his wife of 63 years), my mom, Kim (my soon to be wife), various medical personnel and me. His systems were shutting down and the science associated with an earthly existence told us that it was only a matter of time – a very short time. He breathed his last and all at once there seemed to be a void in the world, a hole in space that I wasn’t sure would not swallow me. “Wait, I have more questions. Don’t go”. At 87 years old he died the March before Kim and I were married in July. On that July day I got to be both groom and usher as I escorted my grandmother to her place in the church. I missed her husband terribly. Suffice it to say, the joy that filled me at finding him alive and sitting at the kitchen table was overwhelming.
In this world where some say you can’t have up without a down, a left without a right, top without a bottom or good without bad, let it also be noted that the dark cloud that covered me when I awoke to discover that it was only a dream, was of bone crushing weight. I never felt as though anything were left undone between us. He being alive was an opportunity for me, as an older adult, to learn.

This is Easter, the very core of our faith. The one who died is alive. We can dream with our eyes wide open and know that whether waking or sleeping, He will be there. He will walk with us and talk with us and sit at our kitchen tables. We will learn from Him about love and caring. He will teach us how to behave towards our brothers and sisters. May we always remember fondly the lessons and blessings of those that have gone before. And may we always keep our eyes focused and have the direction of our path laid before us as we follow the Son.

From the lectionary readings;
Psalm 22:29-30: 29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him. 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.

Steve Matthews

March 5: Hate to clean? Donate a nickel for each box or bottle of dish detergent in your house

Devotional 3-4-09

As I sit in church on Sunday morning and gaze at the beautiful surroundings of the stained glass windows it is so easy to have a thankful heart. The light shines on the windows and creates a variety of colors, the intensity of that light changing often during the worship service. As we share in a time of praise we share the joys of friends being healed, a new child or grandchild born, tests confirming no problems, families united. Do we stop to think that these are gifts that we are given?

Then there are days when the light in the windows is not as bright and shining. Days when we do not feel surrounded by this beauty. The days when friends share their fear in facing chemo or surgery, the days we share the loss of a member of our church family, the days we face losses that devastate.

In Genesis we read God’s word as he makes a covenant with Abraham, where he commits to be the God of Abraham and all of his descendants. This means we are assured that God is with us, and if we let go and let him he has wonderful gifts to give to each of us. Gifts like sun shine, rain, fresh air, a purpose in life, the colors of the glass, a smile, food to eat, knowing that there are those around us who care. As we look at the windows can we remember the gifts that we take for granted, the gifts that God gives us each day.

I am reminded of the words of a song written by Natalie Sleeth.

Hymn of Promise

In the bulb there is a flower;
in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise;
butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter
there’s a spring that waits to be,

There’s a song in every silence,
seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness,
bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future;
what it holds, a mystery,

In our end is our beginning;
in our time infinity;
In our doubt there is believing;
in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection;
at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.

Dear God, May we always be reminded of the gifts we are given, may we not take them for granted, but celebrate them as we celebrate your life. Amen

Marilyn Holleron

March 4: Like to make things? Give a penny for every hand made item displayed in your home.

Devotional 3-3-09

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
(from Sarai's perspective and in modern language)

I love surprises, particularly when I know exactly when they are going to happen and exactly how they're going to be. I might be a bit of a control freak. But who really likes uncertainty? Not me. Last night when my husband returned home, he told me the craziest thing. OK, I know he talks to God sometimes, and that's good. But apparently God has been talking to him, and I don't like what God had to say. We are in our nineties and we've never been blessed with children, but according to Abram (who is now insisting on being called Abraham) we are going to be parents. In fact we will be the ancestors of multitudes of nations. God says that I will have a son, and that over time, kings of nations will come from me. This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life, and I have lived a long one. It's just not possible. There is no way we can be parents. How is this going to take place? When is this going to take place? Why is Abraham (notice how I'm playing along) changing my name too, from Sarai to Sarah?

What's next? Moving? With my luck, the next time Abraham comes in from one of his talks with God, God will have told him to pack up all our belongings, our animals, our servants, everything we own and go somewhere else. We won't even know where we are supposed to go, how to get there or anything. I want to know exactly what the future is bringing and I want to know now.

Prayer

There is always uncertainty about the future, loving God, but it seems especially so now. People are losing their jobs and many wonder how they will provide for their families. Some have to relocate. Many don't know how certain their futures are in this economy and with the world the way it is. We thought we were safe. We liked our predictable lives. Help us to trust that you are present throughout the changes and in the midst of the uncertainties we all have. Help us to remember and find comfort and assurance in the words of Jesus when he told his followers that worrying does not decrease the size of the problem, whatever it is, and that we will be cared for even as the flower and birds are cared for. We pray in his name. Amen.

Rev. Dorcas Conrad
Dillon Chapel UMC

March 3 Mission Prayer/Response: Donate a dime for every can of food in your pantry. (But only if you like food)