Sacred Space for Prayer and Meditation

In the links section of the church's website is a great website for prayer and meditation. It is www.sacredspace.ie

Below is the prayer and meditation for today. May you seek and find Christ's presence in your life today!

The Presence of God

Dear Jesus, I come to you today
longing for your presence.
I desire to love you as You love me.
May nothing ever separate me from You.

Freedom

Lord, grant me the grace to be free from the excesses of this life.
Let me not get caught up with the desire for wealth.
Keep my heart and mind free to love and serve you.

Consciousness

Help me Lord to be more conscious of your presence. Teach me to recognise your presence in others. Fill my heart with gratitude for the times Your love has been shown to me through the care of others.

The Word

Luke 11:29-32

When the crowds were increasing, Jesus began to say, "This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!"

What are you saying to me, Lord?

Some thoughts on today's scripture

• Jesus sees that the people looked for great signs of God's presence and action and missed noticing that God's spirit was among them. I acknowledge that I too am often easily distracted and take note of where I might attend to God's presence.
  
• Where have I often found consolation and encouragement? Do I value the nourishment that may be available?
  

Conversation

Jesus, you always welcomed little children when you walked on this earth. Teach me to have a childlike trust in you. To live in the knowledge that you will never abandon me.

Conclusion

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen

Discernment:

click on the link below titled discernment and read about discerning God's will for your life. I found this helpful in focusing on how God fits into our decision making. The article is connected to the PCUSA website and is written by Kris Haig, who is, or was, in the Office of Spiritual Formation for the denomination.

Discernment:

Getting Angry with God

… the essentials of prayer are set in the mind

and heart, or rather that prayer itself is

properly an emotion of the heart within,

which is poured out and laid open before

God, the searcher of hearts.

John Calvin The Institutes III.20.29

 

An intimate relationship with God includes pouring out all emotions before God. Some of the most difficult prayers are when we feel abandoned by God. Yet, that may be the exact time that our relationship with God becomes the deepest. However that depth comes when we actually bring our doubts, resentments, and loneliness before God. That is no easy task. Most of us like to avoid dealing with negative feelings with people and that avoidance is no different when the negative feelings are with God.

 

This is where the bible can be helpful. It reminds us that feeling abandoned or hurt by God is not new, and it is not automatically sinful or harmful. Psalm 13 is short and shows how being honest to God with our anger or anguish helps to move us back into a relationship of trust. Read Psalm 13 when you get a chance.

 

Whatever you are feeling towards God, share in prayer. Your honesty and authenticity will help deepen your faith and relationship with the God of love who accepts you regardless of your emotions.

 

Snow Daze

Any shovelers with lower back soreness? Sometimes that is how life feels. Troubles and worries come floating down like snow and we have to dig out. There are different ways of dealing with our troubles. One is to go out by ourselves and have no help. When we have dug out of our troubles we can pat ourselves on the back for a job well done go back in the house or head out for work. Sometimes I go out shoveling when all my neighbors are out. We nod at each other and occasionally joke about the snow or tell snow stories from the past. Being out there together is lightens the load. On rare occasions we will not shovel our own area alone, but team up. We each do what we can at the pace we can. When the job is done we feel like teammates that defeated a tough enemy. For a few minutes we move from being acquaintances into being friends.

How do you deal with your "snow"? Sharing our troubles with one another is a part of being Christian. I hope each of us as a few people to go to when it really starts snowing. Let me know if there is any "shoveling" I can help out with.

Peace,

Pastor Keith

It's A Start

After searching various church websites I concluded that ours needed to be more dynamic. So here is my start at blogging.

Faith is an act of a finite being who is grasped by, and turned to, the infinite. - theologian Paul Tillich

Peace, Keith