In the Now

Post date: Jan 31, 2020 3:17:20 PM

Grace and peace to you in this season of Epiphany light!

Yesterday, Ms. Judy (our Director of Music) and I met to discuss the rest of Epiphany worship along with Lent and Holy Week. That’s correct . . . Lent begins on February 26th! We had a joyous time as we planned new and creative ways to worship during the Lenten season, and we can’t wait to share them with the Worship Committee. As our discussion took us up through April, I found myself longing for spring time. Indeed, green shoots of daffodils are already starting to peek out around the church property. Lost in our worship planning, for me spring had already arrived.

But when Ms. Judy left, I was suddenly brought out of my reverie and remembered it was still January and we had another two months of winter yet to come. Planning Lent and Holy Week had to wait, as the urgency of the now flooded back. I had a sermon to write and edit; I had a bulletin to finish; I had people to check in with. I had to be present in the here.

Realizing this, I recalled what my therapist had said to me many years ago. If we have one foot in the past — rehashing what we should have said or could have done, and one foot in the future — worrying about what may come or how we can control the outcome, we will not be fully in the present. We will miss the opportunity — really the blessing — to see, feel, hear, and experience what God is trying to say to us today. Certainly, we are to plan for the future; it would be unwise not to do so. But the sage advice from my therapist, which has been life-giving for me in many ways, was a call not to be so fretful about our past errors (put down the stick, please), or anxious about the future that it hindered the possibility and promise for abundant living in the now.

So, come this Sunday at 10:30 AM and be present and in the presence of God and your church family. Our Joyful Noise Adult Choir will be singing the anthem, “Offertory.” I will be preaching from Micah 6.1-8 and 1 Corinthians 1.18-31, and my sermon title is God’s Foolishness. As it is the First Sunday of the month, we will gather around God’s table of welcome and grace as we celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Please note we will NOT have our First Sunday Brunch this Sunday, but, we will be back at “brunching” in March.

Beloved one of God, I invite you to the Now.  

Now. Be present to whomever and whatever God has put in front of you. 

Now. Listen to whomever and whatever God has put in front of you.

Live, in the Now.

In gratitude for the privilege of being your Pastor and the holy call of loving you,

Pastor Trish