Your Custom Text Here
A message from our Pastor:
William C. Martin writes this:
“Try this experiment. Don’t talk for a whole day. Don’t read anything for that same day. Don’t listen to radio or watch television. Don’t attempt to think great thoughts. Just dull all your senses and see if you can get a glimpse of who you are without these things. Here is where the Word dwells. No wonder it seems hard to find.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
One writer on spirituality offers this: “How do we wait for God? We wait with patience. But patience does not mean passivity. Waiting patiently is not like waiting for the bus to come, the rain to stop, or the sun to rise. It is an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the full in order to find there the signs of the One we are waiting for. The word patience comes from the Latin verb patior, which means ‘to suffer.’ Waiting patiently is suffering through the present moment, tasting it to the full, and letting the seeds that are sown in the ground on which we stand grown into strong plants. Waiting patiently always means paying attention to what is happening right before our eyes and seeing there the first rays of God’s glorious coming.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
In advance of Father’s Day here are some words from Leroy Brownlow: “Being a father is a schooling. It is an education to bear a child, provide for, train and educate him or her, and with anxiety of soul take the boy or girl into your heart, watching with eyes that never sleep and with a foresight that never slumbers. The father’s verbal teaching and careful example, his living hope and sharing of that expectation, his dauntless courage and the instilling of that grit in the heart of a youngster- these teach the child, but also the father. For there is nothing that educates the parent like the child.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A message from our Pastor:
One writer offers this: “How can someone ever trust in the existence of an unconditional divine love when most, if not all, of what he or she has experienced is the opposite of love- fear, hatred, violence, and abuse? They are not condemned to be victims! There remains within them, hidden as it may seem, the possibility to choose love. Many people who have suffered the most horrible rejections and been subject to the most cruel torture have been able to choose love. By choosing love they become witnesses not only to human resiliency but also to the divine love that transcends all human loves. Those who choose, even on a small scale, to love in the midst of hatred and fear are the people who offer true hope to our world.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
Don’t forget to catch us on Facebook if you are unable to attend services in person, or go to YouTube to watch past services and special performances (just type in our name and city/state).
You can watch our service live on the following Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/presbyterian.church.336 (Again, copy and paste this link to your web browser)
A weekly message from our Pastor:
One writer on spirituality shares this: “We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another. There is so much separation and segregation: between black people and white people, between gay people and straight people, between old people and young people, between sick people and healthy people, between prisoners and free people, between Jews and Gentiles, between Muslims and Christians, Protestants and Catholics, Greek Catholics and Latin Catholics. There is a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the road once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might indeed become neighbors.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
Henri Nouwen writes this: “It is important to know when we should give attention and when we need attention. Often we are inclined to give, give, and give without asking anything in return. We may think that this is a sign of generosity or even heroism. But it might be little more than a proud attitude that says, ‘I don’t need help from others. I only want to give.’ When we keep giving without receiving we burn out quickly. Only when we pay careful attention to our own physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs can we be, and remain, joyful givers. There is a time to give and a time to receive. We need equal time for both if we want to live healthy lives.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
One author on spirituality offers this: “No two friends are the same. Each has his or her own gift for us. When we expect one friend to have all we need, we will always be hypercritical, never completely happy with what he or she does have. One friend may offer us affection, another may stimulate our minds, another may strengthen our souls. The more able we are to receive the different gifts our friends have to give us, the more we will be able to offer our own unique but limited gifts. Thus, friendships create a beautiful tapestry of love.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
Leroy Brownlow writes this: “At times all of us are lonely. It brings an emptiness within. A feeling of inadequacy and a lack of direction overwhelm us. We should not, however, allow loneliness to cheat us out of a single day. And here are some ways to overcome it:
-Like yourself enough that you can be happy alone.
-Have something to do and do it.
-Make good books interesting companions
-Put down any selfish walls you may have built around yourself.
-Make your presence desired, and the best way to do this is to find emptier hearts and fill them with love.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
Henri Nouwen writes this: “How do we know that we are infinitely loved by God when our immediate surroundings keep telling us that we better prove our right to exist? The knowledge of being loved in an unconditional way, before the world presents us with its conditions, cannot come from books, lectures, television programs, or workshops. This spiritual knowledge comes from people who witness to God’s love for us through their words and deeds. These people can be close to us, but they can also live far away or may even have lived long ago. Their witness announces the truth of God’s love and calls us to act in accordance with it.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
One theologian offers this Easter prayer: “The Day of Resurrection has dawned upon us, the day of true light and life, wherein Christ, the life of believers arose from the dead. Let us give abundant thanks and praise to God, that while we solemnly celebrate the day of our Lord’s resurrection, He may be pleased to bestow on us quiet peace and special gladness; so that being protected from morning to night by His favoring mercy, we may rejoice in the gift of our Redeemer. Amen.”
Have a blessed Holy week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
A group of nuns was having a discussion about how you can be “always joyful” when there is so much sorrow in life. One in the group offered this: “We can experience both joy and sorrow, even at the same time, for joy and sorrow are not opposites. It is not joy and sorrow, but their opposites, that cause damage- for the opposite of joy is cynicism and the opposite of sorrow is callousness. Cynicism is rooted in the assumption that everyone is always in control. Callousness is the inability to feel that follows from the fear of losing control.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
Henri Nouwen writes this: “Receiving is often harder than giving. Giving is very important: giving insight, giving hope, giving courage, giving advice, giving support, giving money, and most of all, giving ourselves. Without giving there is no brotherhood and sisterhood. But receiving is just as important, because by receiving we reveal to the givers that they have gifts to offer. When we say, ‘Thank you, you gave me hope; thank you, you gave me a reason to live; thank you, you allowed me to realize my dream,’ we make givers aware of their unique and precious gifts. Sometimes it is only in the eyes of the receivers that givers discover their gifts.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
Marjorie J. Thompson writes this: “There are countless ways we can make a difference in the balance of justice in this world. Our imaginations and will are the only limits. We have tremendous resources at our disposal! And we have the freedom to use them, to exercise our conscience and put belief into practice. What a privilege and what a responsibility God has given us.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
Norman Shawchuck offers this prayer: “O God, thank you for your patience. Help me to be whole- of one word and deed. I cannot be this on my own will or strength, so I pray for your will to be done and your strength to be given. Help me to attend to my daily disciplines; to have a clear witness of word, character and action; to always look for your coming and to live as though you had already arrived.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
Dear Friends,
Last night at our Session meeting I announced that I will be retiring in September. After eighteen years here it is time to turn over the leadership as pastor to someone new. It has been such a privilege to be here all this time and I am so grateful to all of you.
The Session will be making some decisions about future leadership for the congregation. Last night, Rev. Gail Doering, transitional executive presbyter for our presbytery, and Rev. Laura Frazey, moderator of the Church Orders Ministry Team, began the process of walking the Session through what the different options may be. We started this process early so that hopefully there won’t be a big gap between the time I leave and the time a new person begins.
My last Sunday will be September 18. Please keep the Session in your prayers as they will have a lot to do in the next six months. Many difficult decisions will need to be made. It will be a time when you lean on one another for support and encouragement. That, as I have witnessed, is something you do very well.
Sarah and I are currently house hunting. Since Sarah won’t retire for several more years, we will continue to live in Independence. Our involvement with this congregation, though, will come to an end when I retire. Again, I want to express my appreciation to all the members of the congregation. I will certainly miss being your pastor.
In Christ,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
E. Glenn Hinson writes this: “Jesus, Paul thought, has modeled humility for us. Humility is the product of love, God’s love. As the fourteenth century classic The Cloud of Unknowing interpreted it, humility means to have a proper self-estimate. There are two dimensions to that: We are aware of our humanity, our finiteness, and our sinfulness. We look at ourselves in light of God’s overwhelming love manifested in the cross of Jesus Christ. These leave us no ground for boasting.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
Francis of Assisi wrote this: “Our Lord says in the Gospel, ‘Love your enemies.’ One who truly loves his enemy does not bear malice for any injury that he has received from him. Because he loves God, he grieves for the sin on the other’s soul and shows his love by his actions.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
Reuben P. Job writes this: “To remember that God’s will shall be accomplished completely and that we are invited to be a part of the fulfillment of that will gives a new perspective to life. We lose some of our fear of the risk of seeking and doing God’s will. We know that sometimes doing God’s will does get us into trouble, and at other times it saves us from trouble. Most of all we know that, when we seek to know and do God’s will, we have set our feet upon a pathway of companionship, joy, and fulfillment.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
Robert Corin Morris writes this: “’Wisdom’ in scripture isn’t abstract philosophy, but practical, down-to-earth know-how to pursue the good in the midst of challenge, temptation, and difficulty. The price of wisdom, in the biblical sense, is the willingness to learn…The price of such learning sometimes involves unlearning- having our illusions exploded.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
A mid-week message from the Pastor:
Linda J. Vogel writes this: “The Spirit’s teaching enables us to discern our God-given gifts. In the meeting of our gifts and the world’s need, we discover our Christian vocation. The Spirit’s teachings speak to our hearts of things spiritual. Having the mind of Christ enables us to use our senses and our minds in disciplined and faithful ways; we are open to discern God’s justice and God’s compassion. Having the mind of Christ means thinking, loving, and caring beyond the boundaries of human time and understanding. Discerning goes beyond using our minds to figure things out. It goes beyond what our senses convey to us. Discerning is opening our hearts and minds to God’s Spirit so that we may understand the gifts that God bestows on us.”
Have a blessed week,
Pastor John
