Wednesday Wonderings by Pastor Rebecca
Good day to all who are reading! As we begin a new month this week, I’m introducing what I am titling “Wednesday Wonderings by Pastor Rebecca”. This is a weekly blog where I just share some thoughts.
What I cannot figure out is how we are already almost in July!? This year I feel is flying by! But there is so much joy with summer. I feel the grass is a little extra green, you hear the birds, and life is just abundant all around us. Often I find God’s presence most in nature. While creation is simple in the daily happenings of animals, birds, plants, etc… it is all so intricately balanced. God put everything they need in place.
Just as Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew “25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]? (Matt. 6:25-27 NIV).
Yet we are so wired as humans to worry. Especially when the times around us appear to be so divided, violent, and just plain ugly.
But, this is where we as Christians have the opportunity to offer the opposite for the world. We serve and worship a God who is Love.
I try to always be reading for spiritual leadership purposes just as I have my regular “fun” read. Right now I’m engaging in the book “Finding My Way Home: Pathways to Life and The Spirit by Henri J.W. Nouwen. A quote from my reading today that I think is an indeed relevant reminder of how Jesus lived. A reminder of Who we look to mimic; no matter how divisive the times.
“Jesus always looked at the human condition from above and tried to teach us to look as he did. ‘I come from above (Jesus) said, ‘and I want you to be reborn from above so that you will be able to see with new eyes. This is what theology is about. It is looking at reality with the eyes of God.”
Read that last sentence again.
We as a people are commissioned by Christ to show the world God’s, unconditional love. That omnipotent Being which entered this world not as a mighty king, but as an innocent baby. Vulnerable. Powerless. While still being the most Almighty and Powerful being in all creation. A part of the Triune God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I challenge us all to begin this new month with a sense of purpose to show love where there is hate or division or hostility. Look at others through the lens of God – people made in the Image of God.
As Ernest Gaines said:
“We all have much more in common than we have differences. I would say that about people all over the world. They don’t know how much in common that they have.” — Ernest Gaines
– Rebecca
To my Providence Family!
Hello! I’m so thrilled to join our Providence family as your Senior Pastor. Your warm welcome and generous hospitality have touched my heart. Thank you all so much! I am looking forward to working together as a church family to grow God’s kingdom here on earth.
Currently, we are in the middle of our sermon series “Praying in the Fields”. We are looking at how Jesus taught us what it means to pray. What it means to live a life of prayer. How do we incorporate prayer into our daily lives?
What I want you all to consider is what prayer in your life looks like. Where does our life of prayer begin? Often, the answer to that question is rooted in our childhood. Our parents or other adults in our lives taught us simple prayers. “Give us This Day Our Daily Prayer” to say before a meal. Bedtime prayers as we knelt by our beds prior to going to sleep, with prayer hands.
But when along the way did it become not simply repeating a prayer we were taught – but became personal conversations with God?
When we reflect on that question, we might start a journey of identifying our prayer life.
I hope you join us in our current sermon series on Sunday mornings! Whether you’ve been a member here for 50 years or are new to the community – you are welcome, loved, and already are a member of our church family!