Excerpt from sermon on 01/25/2015:

"Wherever you are in your journey with God, I pray that, like the original disciples, when you hear Jesus’ call you answer it and follow him. Even though you may not understand everything about him or his mission, even though you may end up on a journey that perplexes and confuses you, and even though you may not know where Jesus is leading you, I pray that you respond to him out of faith, faith that you will be walking in the way of truth and of life, faith that there is no greater project in which you can be involved than working to make the kingdom of God present here and now. And, remember, it’s okay to have second thoughts, as long as you continue on the journey and keep putting one foot in front of the other."


FULL SERMON HERE

I listen to the series, "A Different Perspective," whenever I can on my way to work on WIHS radio, 104.9 fm in Connecticut. This morning's program really spoke to me. The program is on at 7:40 -7:50 am, Monday through Friday. I could feel an energy shift after taking the words in the program to heart.

Who's life are you living for? Are your circumstances blessings in disguise?

CLICK TO CONNECT TO "CHANGING YOUR ATTITUDE" IN THE SERIES

Yesterday, January 11, 2015, we celebrated Epiphany Stargift Sunday.  Four people shared about their journeys with their 2014 Stargifts.  One shared about serenity; another about leadership; another about innocence; and another about patience.  Each of them gave us the precious gift of holy intimacy when they shared, openly, about their journey with God this past year, and we thank them for the courage and grace they displayed.  Holy intimacy in a community mirrors the intimate life of the God that is three-in-one:  Father, Son, and Spirit in communion with one another at all times.  We, as a congregation, were blessed yesterday to experience being made "in the image of God" as we shared with one another.

We begin a year, now, with new Stargifts!  May God bless us with insight and understanding as we seek to grow "in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church" (Ephesians 4:15).  I look forward to hearing about your 2015 Stargift journeys in 2016! 

* The image used in this blog includes a haiku that was shared yesterday by Stephen Sarfaty while he was sharing about his Stargift "serenity."  It is from www.kamere.com.

Excerpt from sermon on 01/04/2015:

Accceptance of what is, submission to the inevitable, letting go and letting God are the beginnings of being made whole.  When I surrender all my scrambling and am at peace with what is already present I make a space for God to work in my life and to bring it to wholeness.  The apostle Paul said this beautifully in the passage from 2 Corinthians that was read today.  Here is a translation of the passage from Eugene Petersen’s The Message:  

"Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations.  Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees.  No danger then of walking around high and mighty!  At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it.  Three times I did that, and then he told me, 'My grace is enough; it’s all you need.  My strength comes into it’s own in your weakness.'  Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen.  I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift.  It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness.  Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size . . .  I just let Christ take over!  And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.”  (12:7-10)

I have experienced the wholeness that comes from submitting to my limitations and allowing God’s grace and strength to come into it’s own in my weakness.  But I know that I will forget what I know and fall into striving for perfection again and again.  Donna in all her perfection will beckon to me and I will follow her.  And I will fail to catch up with her.  I will fall short and be reminded that perfection as we human beings understand it is an illusion, that I can’t become whole on my own, and that I have to let God have some room to do God’s thing.  I will look at my somewhat messy house, at the leaves that didn’t get raked before the snow came, at the boxes of old papers waiting to be organized in my home office, and I will remember that God’s grace and strength are made perfect in my weakness.  Perhaps someone will feel better about himself or herself when he or she sees that there’s another imperfect person in the world!  Perhaps my children will be better off because I spent a little more time with them than with my vacuum cleaner.  Perhaps I will write an inspiring sermon or make a beautiful blanket for a newborn child because I didn’t put the laundry away right away.  Who knows what grace and strength will reveal itself when I submit to being me?  And who knows what grace and strength will reveal itself when you submit to being you?  Who knows?  God knows.  Amen.


FULL SERMON HERE

What better way to ring in the new year than having some fun and fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ?  That's what we did at Canton Community Baptist Church!

Our Children's Christmas Pageant took place on Sunday, December 21, during our worship service.  Thank you to Melaney Case for organizing the pageant!