Dear Friends,

I read recently of a man who had been doing some personal research on caterpillars and butterflies.  Given his grounding in the Christian faith, he was well aware of how the butterfly is a metaphor not only for resurrection but also for transformation in the Christian life.  His reading on the insects led him to make the following testimony about his faith.  He said, “I don’t want to be a better caterpillar.  I want to be a butterfly.”

The purpose of our ministry is not to make better caterpillars.  It is about helping people to become like butterflies.  We believe that in the life of faith transformations happen.  We do not need to live trapped in our sadness or fear or malaise. Following Christ is an ongoing journey that leads us to wholeness in our relationship with God and each other.

The Scripture we turn to this Sunday carries that same message (Colossians 3:1-14). By virtue of our baptisms, Christ has changed us.  In a sense, he has given us new clothes to wear. What we used to use to cover ourselves – anger, wrath, malice, etc – can now be thrown off and discarded.  Christ has given us new clothes that represent our new selves. This spiritual clothing dresses us for the journey to become the people that God intends us to be.

See you Sunday, 

Rev. Martha

Dear Friends,

Of all the feel-good stories that we are apt to hear or read about, the most compelling feel-good stories of all are those that highlight the rare personal quality of persistence.  I am often inspired by people who refuse to give up or give in – people who, facing tremendous odds, accomplish their dreams; people who, after years and years of struggle, finally break through the obstacles and find success; or people who, after having been told that their efforts are hopeless or in vain, go on to do great things.  Persistence, while not one of St. Paul’s famous “fruits of the Spirit” (Galatians 5), is an essential Christian characteristic.  It is the ability of the believer to press on in faith, regardless of one’s feelings, toward a purpose or a vision larger than one’s self. 

In a world with so many large, complex, overwhelming issues and problems, it’s easy to grow weary of doing good and following in the footsteps of Jesus.  We do not always see the tangible results of our commitment to live generous, just, merciful lives.  How often do we work earnestly to repair our world, only to see it fall apart all over again?  How often have we reached out to others with help, only to see them fall back in the same patterns or troubles?  Like dishes in the kitchen sink, the problems we seek to fix seem often to reappear, piled higher and higher, so that it rarely feels like we’re making any progress at all.

The disciples had come to Jesus one day, asking him to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1-13).  Maybe they finally realized that the kingdom work to which Jesus had called them was more difficult than they had originally thought.  Their well of talent and energy and enthusiasm had run dry at last; they were running on fumes.  Meanwhile, there were still demons to cast out and bellies to feed and sins to forgive – day after day after day, with no end in sight.  Perhaps it finally caught up to them and they were desperate.  “Teach us to pray,” they said to Jesus.   I think it was their way of saying, “We need serious help.  We need God to do what we alone cannot do.” 

How else can one persist in the daily practice of faith, if not by prayer?  To do everything we can, at every opportunity, until we have nothing left to give, and then to leave it all at the feet of God, saying, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done….” – this, in the end, is how the world is changed.

See you Sunday,

 Rev. Mark

Order of Worship

Dear Friends,

One of the great mistakes many Christians make these days is assuming that the goal of following Christ is to become more religious – to think and speak in very spiritual ways, and to associate with spiritual people who think and speak similarly; to possess a faith that is invulnerable to doubt and a lifestyle that is irreproachable; to be preoccupied with matters of God and religion and eternity.  Becoming more “religious,” of course, is not necessarily a bad thing; however, it does not make us necessarily Christian, either. 

Jesus wasn’t much interested in religion – at least not that kind of religion.  Instead, he was interested in relationships – the kind of relationship we have with God, and those we have with others.  More specifically, Jesus concerned himself with the many ways that religion often separated people from God and from one another, by labeling people as good or bad, worthy or unworthy, insiders or outsiders.  He understood how religion can harden hearts just as easily as it can open them to the love of God and neighbor. 

So when he was asked by a religious man about how to inherit eternal life, Jesus told him a story about two very spiritual people who could not bring themselves to help a stranger in need, and one lowly Samaritan who did.  What the religious man wanted was a religious answer, but what Jesus gave him was a holy prescription – get out of your head and into the world.  Walk with your eyes open and your hands outstretched.  Be a neighbor to all.

It turns out that the way to eternal life is a very short journey from the head to the heart.  But it’s often the longest journey we will ever take, because it requires us to reject the assumption that our religion and our answers can save us.  In the end, Jesus prefers to keep it far simpler: love God, love the neighbor – even the stranger.  This is not a footnote to his teaching; this is his teaching.  “Do this and live.”

See you Sunday,

Rev. Mark

Dear Friends,

Annual Conference begins this week in Redlands for our lay and clergy delegates.   With Rev. Martha and I both away this Sunday, we’ve arranged for two familiar faces to lead the congregation in worship: Rev. Charles Hoffman, our former Sr. Minister for fifteen years, will return to the pulpit, while Rev. Melanie Silva will serve as Liturgist.  Rev. Chuck and Rev. Melanie’s leadership in worship this weekend will be yet another reminder of the strength of our past and the promise of our future together.

Last Sunday we celebrated the culmination of our “From Strength to Strength” Capital Campaign.  To date, we have received pledges of nearly $1.2 million dollars.  We anticipate that in the coming weeks we will see that total rise as pledge cards continue to be returned.  If you have yet to submit your pledge to this important campaign, you may bring your cards to worship this Sunday and include them in the offering plate (cards will be available in the pew pockets on Sunday); if you are unable to attend worship, you can always mail your card to the church office at any time.  A heartfelt thanks to all who have submitted pledges to date, and especially to Rodney Lappe, our campaign chair, and the entire campaign team!

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Mark

Dear Friends,

The TLC Network used to broadcast a regular show called, “In a Fix.” The show would stage dramatic “interventions” on the family handyman or woman whose do-it-yourself home repair project had gone terribly wrong.  Whenever the best home improvement intentions lead to disastrous results – such as gaping holes in ceilings, gutted kitchens, three alarm fires (and strained marriages) – the “In A Fix” team would sweep in for the weekend and turn a small repair job into a major renovation.  By the end of the weekend, the remorseful, repentant homeowner would return to his home amazed and grateful to have been rescued from the mess he had created. 

According to Luke, Jesus stages a little home intervention of his own one day, sweeping into Simon’s house for more than a few minor repairs.  While having dinner with Simon the Pharisee, he undertakes an extraordinary remodeling and restoration project on a nameless street woman – “a sinner,” as Simon calls her – granting her forgiveness while she anoints his feet with tears of joy and fragrant ointment.  Meanwhile, Simon, in all his self-righteousness, is in a serious fix of his own – unable to comprehend such reckless, unconditional, undeserved love, and unable to perceive that his own proud, self-sufficient life is fraught with serious defects.

This Sunday, as we culminate our “From Strength to Strength” Capital Campaign, we are reminded by Luke that the church exists to rescue and restore all of God’s people – not only the nameless sinners whom no one knows, but also the Simons among us who, by all appearances, have no need to be rescued.  Together, these make up that eclectic collection of people we call the church which, from what I can tell, is the only place in the world where both are welcomed, and both are healed.

See you Sunday,

Rev. Mark

Dear Friends,

If someone were to ask you where God is to be found, how would you respond?  Would you send them to a particular place, with a specific address?  Or would you point to a particular group of people and say, “You’ll find God among them.”  Would you send them to a quiet stretch along Moonlight beach, or to a long set of steps that lead high up into the Himalayas, or to the wide-open solitude of the desert, or to the crowded Western Wall of Jerusalem.?  Where is God to be found?

The truth, of course, is that God can be found in all such places.  Each of us can likely name a place, or a circumstance from our past, in which we experienced the presence of God in real and powerful ways.  Maybe it was at church, or on a retreat, or in your living room, or in a distant, unfamiliar place. 

This Sunday, Luke tells us a story about the day Jesus showed up in a powerful and memorable way.  In a little town called Nain, Jesus raised a young man from the dead.  To the casual reader it might sound like just another miracle story in the Bible, but for Luke, it was not the miracle itself that caught his attention.  Rather, it was what all the people of Nain were saying afterwards: “God has visited us.”

Sometimes the real miracle is not that God chooses to visit us, in both extraordinary and ordinary ways, but that we actually recognize it when it does indeed happen.

I’ll see you Sunday. 

Rev. Mark

On the first Sunday after Pentecost, the church celebrates Trinity Sunday (John 16:12-15). This is the day when we ponder the “three-in-one” nature of God. It is not high up on our list of feast days – not because it is not important – but because it is so hard to talk about and understand.  For ultimately, the doctrine of the Trinity – the relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is a mystery.

 Now, I am a fan of mysteries. Reading a mystery novel is one of my favorite vacation activities because not only can I can relax but I can get something done at the same time.  With a good mystery, at the end of the book, you’ve figured out the plot.  You now know who is who and what happened.  You get it.  You have solved something.

Well, the doctrine of the Trinity is not really that kind of mystery.  It is the kind of mystery that unfolds only to leave you realizing how little you still don’t know. The reason for this is that God is so much grander than our ability to comprehend or describe who God is. In our limited human capacity to think and feel and even love, we can never fully know all there is to know about God. There are not enough words to describe the totality of God. With every attempt to define God, we realize how much more we have yet to experience and embrace. And it is that infinite character of God that makes the life of faith all the more exciting. There is the opportunity for newness of life and experience of God’s love at every turn.

Nevertheless, in the midst of this great mystery, God loves us and wants us to be with him and so we need some means of expressing that relationship. Through the stories of the Bible, we come to see a pattern of how God relates to people in three distinct ways: as creator in the person of God; as friend and teacher and savior in the person of Jesus; and as “ever present with us” in the person of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity gives us three ways to know and experience and talk and sing about God in relationship to us. 

So, come to church this Sunday and share in the mystery as we worship the God who loves us all.

See you Sunday, 

 Rev. Martha