Sometimes life feels like it is out of control. No matter how much you plan, prepare, or set goals at one point or another your life is going to feel like it has gone a little crazy.

Now I hope you have taken some times this summer to rest, relax and renew yourself mentally, physically and spiritually. Hopefully you have gotten a chance to get away and spend time with your family and friends. My prayer is that at this point you are not feeling like your life is out of control. If you are it’s okay, and it is going to happen.

As I look at my calendar, school is starting in less than a month! It is a time during the year when stress is at an all time high…..school starts, community programs start, in a way it seems like September is more of a “New Year” than January.

A friend told me one time that if you want to change something about yourself, start it in September because our natural rhythms for change occurs more during September rather in January……food for thought.

At this point may feel prepared for the fall to come. You may feel like you have things under control – but then “it” happens. “It” could be an unexpected car repair, an unexpected medical bill, an earthquake, hurricane, tornado, or any number of things that puts you back to square one. Suddenly you feel as if you’re completely off course, and it seems like it is almost impossible to recover.

At times like this, there are a few things it may help you to remember. First of all, no one can control every aspect of his or her life, and adversity comes to all of us at one point or another. It doesn’t matter how happy we try and make ourselves be, it doesn’t matter how many spreadsheets we make or how good our attitude is. Bad things happen to good people all the time.

Second, I would like to suggest two things that you can do when you feel like things are starting to get out of control. The first is to pray about it, to ask God for help and strength when things are troubling you. Granted that might not be a short term solution but it is something that I feel is a big help when you are feeling bad.

The second thing is to think about what your response is going to be. When you find yourself overcome with feelings of fear, helplessness, and overall chaos, you can choosing to shift the focus of the thoughts that are running through your mind. Our mental image of ourselves greatly determines the path that our lives go down. So mentally choose good feelings and sooner or later they will come.

Your feelings are a direct result of the thoughts you think, and one of the ways we can try and prevent feelings of lost of control is to set aside some time every morning and evening for positive affirmation, or prayer which can be an effective way of getting these thoughts back under your control again.

When I worked at Camp Calumet, I would host  youth weekends.  About 5-6 small youth groups would come to the camp to participate in Calumet run youth weekend.  I, as the retreat host would use Friday night and Saturday morning as an opportunity for group building….I would plan activities that enabled the kids to feel comfortable with one another, to strengthen their current relationships in their groups and establish new relationships with the other churches.

On Saturday morning I would take a big piece of chalk and draw a line on the floor.  I challenged the kids to cross that line and take a risk.  I would say “you are one of 80 teenagers at this retreat, you might know 10 others, I challenge you this morning to take a risk, cross this line and meet someone you don’t know.”  You know what?  Almost everyone of the kids did cross the line, they took a risk and it worked out well for them.

So my question for you today is…..Do you consider yourself a risk-taker?

In one of his books, Leo Buscaglia wrote that,”To laugh is to risk appearing a fool, to weep is to risk appearing too sentimental, to reach out for another is to risk involvement, and to expose feelings is to risk exposing one’s true self.  To place your ideas and dreams before the crowd is to risk their loss, to love is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying, to hope is to risk despair, to try is to risk failure.  But all risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.”

So much in our life is based on risk.  I know that I have opted out of certain opportunities in my life because I did not want to take the risk of hurt, failure, embarrassment or despair.  But I have also taken risks and I have been successful, happy and satisfied.

I also agree with Leo Buscaglia.  If, out of our fears, we refuse to risk, we also forfeit our freedom because only a person who risks is truly free. And, only a person who risks can grow, because all personal growth involves risk.

Where in your personal life are you drawing lines?  How can you cross them and take a risk?

This week, take a risk…..see what happens……

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”

Do you pray? I have to admit I don’t always have the best prayer life. Everyday things seem to get in the way of my devotional time. Something may come up and I push off my devotional reading and time I spend with God.

So I sat down the other day to think about my prayer life and things that I could do to improve my prayer life. God lead me to the above verses in 1 Thessalonians….In this letter Paul is telling the Thessalonians (and us) what the will of God is, and that is to pray without ceasing. So how do we do that? This does not mean that we need to be talking with God 24/7 – but what we can do is to thank God for all the little things that happen in our daily life.

For example, if we get up in the morning, we can say “thank you God for another day” – if we are not feeling well we can pray for help “Oh God, help me through the day” If someone cuts us off while we are diving to work, the store, or to school we can pray “God please protect them as they drive today and give them what they need to be a safe driver.” These are short prayers to God that can happen a number of times throughout the day. These are Twitter prayers!!!

For those who might not know Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers who are known as followers.

So our prayers could be like tweets to God – short, to the point and we can say a number of things: “Here I am send me” – “You are the potter, I am the clay” – “The Lord is my Shepherd” – Most of these prayers can be said in one breath and said over and over again. They can be there to help us with whatever we are going through – to focus our life and our energy on the one who created us and who loves us. Hopefully God then will tweet back.

Good Monday Morning!!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! I hope that you are ready to take on whatever life may throw at you this week!!  I have a feeling it is going to be a great week.

Things are hoping around here with our Vacation Bible School program. We have around 50 kids signed up and a lot of volunteers. We are working hard to make this the best week possible for all of the young kids that are attending the program. To my surprise (and a good surprise) we have alot of 3-5th graders!!

On Sunday we announced in church that we wanted to have some reptiles come to the VBS program. After all it is Discovery Canyon!!! The problem was funding the event, as you know we do not charge for our VBS program. Well thanks to some generous people we were able to fully fund the visit.

“MaxMan Reptile Rescue” will be coming to St. Mark’s on Wednesday 10-11am, as a special treat. For more information please visit their website. http://www.maxmanreptilerescue.com/id34.html

The past few weeks I have seen many signs of Hope. I have seen it in the different activities that I have been involved with and in the church.

Last week I recieved an email from Lou Tice called “What is Hope?” I would like to share that with you today.

I think everyone would agree that a hopeful attitude is a good thing. But what exactly is hope? Can it be learned? Centuries of folk wisdom and religious teaching have taught the benefits of a hopeful attitude. These days, researchers believe that hope may be associated with good health and greater success, both personally and professionally. But what exactly is hope? Well, according to Dr. Rick Snyder while at the University of Kansas, hope is a practical, goal-oriented attitude – a stance people assume in the face of difficulty. It combines a goal-directed determination with the ability to generate the means of reaching the goals. Dr. Snyder developed a test to measure hopefulness, and he found that college students who scored high in hope also turn in the best academic performance, regardless of high school grades or SAT scores. Folks who are injured or seriously ill do better when they have high hopes, too. Actor Christopher Reeve had every intention of walking again, and had he lived, I would not have been surprised to see him do so. Hope was a very large part of his being. The research also suggested that – all other things being equal – a hopeful attitude helps people overcome obstacles like poverty, lack of education and even lack of social support. In this latest economic downturn, it is those people with hope, who can express that hope, who will best weather their circumstances. Can you learn to be hopeful? You bet you can! See failure as an opportunity to learn rather than a flaw in your character, and make a habit of remembering your past successes. Break down your long-term goals into short-term sub-goals, and reward yourself for reaching them. Visualize a positive outcome for every situation, affirm yourself for all your good qualities, and no matter what happens, hang on to your hope.

Lou Tice

The Pacific Institute

What give you hope? My hope rests on the one who came to save us – Jesus Christ. In Christ I know that all things are possible. I hope that you can find that assurance as well.

Good Monday Morning!
It feels good to be someones personal hero. There are many kinds of hero’s out there both real and fictional.  What kind of hero are you?

I have been thinking about personal hero’s today and what it means to be one to someone, or to think about my personal hero’s.  I believe in some ways we are all personal hero’s to someone weather we know it or not.  But more importantly — who are our personal hero’s?  Who do we look up too in life?

There may be different people that we look up too in different areas of our lives.  For example, I would consider both of my parents personal hero’s especially when it comes to raising my children.  If I can be half the parent that my parents were for me I would be happy.  I have more personal hero’s or people that I look up too when it comes to music, writing, sports ect.

The question I would like to put before you today is who is your spiritual personal hero?  It might be easy to say Jesus – of course we would like to look to Jesus as our model for our Christian faith, but the reality is that no matter how much we might “try” to formulate our faith life like Jesus we will always fall short.  My question is, who can you go up too and say to someone “you are my spiritual personal hero” -  Who might we look toward to help us in our faith journey?

This question might be hard for some of us, including myself.  I have never really thought of a spiritual or faith journey personal hero but it might help me in my journey.  It might help me focus more on my faith and look at my faith in ways I never did before.

That is my challenge to you this week and my prayer for you this week.  To think about your faith in ways that you have not before, to in some ways find a personal hero for your faith life, your spiritual side and to let the personal hero’s in your life know that they are special in your life.

Prayer
Lord God, you are more of a hero to us than we could ever imagine.  Help us Lord to get to know the other hero’s here on Earth.  Guide us in our faith journey that we can find the spiritual hero’s among us.  Lead us in the directions that we need to go in.  Open our eyes to the world around us that we can see clearly the places that you are calling us too.  Amen.

Good Monday Morning!!

Transitions….

I have had transitions on my mind the past few weeks.  This might not be a surprise to many of you – life is full of transitions, we experience them all the time.  Here are some of the transitions in my life right now…..

1. We are moving this upcoming weekend so once again we will pack up our lives in boxes and move into a new home, but it will be a home we hope   to be at for many, many years.
2. New ministry partner, as many of you know this upcoming Sunday is Allison Henry’s last Sunday at St. Mark’s.  We will begin a search for a new Minister of Music (a transition).
3. We have been making the transition for Logan from being a regular kid to becoming a School-Age kid as he beings kindergarten in the fall.

These are only a few of the transitions in my life right now – I am sure that you are experiencing your own transitions in your lives.

Good Monday Morning!!

Welcome to those of you who are new to Monday Morning Church.  I would like to welcome you to this weekly email.  My intent for this email is to bring church every Monday morning (actually afternoon) to help you think more about your faith life every day throughout the week.  I will also include prayer requests and happenings around the church.  If at any time you would like your email to be taken off this list please don’t hesitate to respond to this email you received.  Likewise if you have someone you would like to add on to this list (they do not have to be a member of St. Mark’s) please forward me their email address and I will add them.  For privacy reasons I do not share email addresses with anyone.

I think I mentioned in a previous Monday Morning Church that I am walking with reading from Detrich Bonhoeffer during Lent.  I would like to share with you what I read this morning.

“Costly grace is the hidden treasure in the field, for the sake of which people go and sell with joy everything they have.  It is the costly pearl for whose price the merchant sells all that he has; it is Christ’s sovereignty, for the sake of which you tear out an eye if it causeses  you to stumble.  It is the call of Jesus Christ which causes a disciple to leave his nets and follow him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which has to be asked for, the door that which one has to knock.  It is costly, because it calls to discipleship; it is grace, because it calls us to flow Jesus Christ.  It is costly, because it costs people their lives; it is grace, because it thereby makes them live.  it is costly, because it condemns sin; it is grace because it justifies the sinner.  Above all, grace is costly, because it was costly to God, because it cost God the life of God’s Son– “you were bought with a price”– and because nothing can be cheap to us which is costly to God.  Above all, it is grace because the life of God’s Son was not too costly for God to give in order to make us live…..

Biblical Wisdom
For you were bough with a price’ therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20

Questions to Ponder

• If costly grace means that God wants things from us as well as for us, what might those things be?
• What is the difference between following Jesus Christ (costly grace) and simply believe things about Jesus Christ (cheap grace)?

THIS WEEK AT ST. MARK’S

3/23/09       No Monday Night Worship During Lent
3/24/09       11:00am   Lectionary Bible Study @ St. Mark’s
No Evening Bible Study During Lent
3/25/09        6:00pm        Lenten Dinner
6:30pm     Praise Team Practice
7:00pm     Holden Evening Prayer
7:30pm     Choir
3/26/09
3/27/09
3/28/09       9:00-11:00am First Communion Instruction

3/29/09       8:00am Church
9:15 am Sunday School and Adult Forum
10:30am  Church

Looking Ahead

April 4th -     Church Spring Cleaning  8-12noon
Come and help make the church look its best
April 11th -    Easter Egg Hunt 2:00-4:00pm
Fun for the Whole family, come out and enjoy the fun
April 5th -      Palm Sunday
April 9th –     Maundy Thursday Service 7:00pm
April 10th –   Good Friday Service 7:00pm
April 12th -     Easter Sunday – Potluck Breakfast
April 26th –    Vanderkamp Sunday
April 30th –    Church Directory Picture Day 3:00pm – 9:30pm
May 3rd –      Seminary Sunday

Happy Monday Morning

It was different for me to log on to my computer this morning and hear from my friends about how much snow they are getting all up and down the East Coast.  I sat back in my chair and told them that here in Baldwinsville I did not see one flake fall from the sky.  The “Snow Capital” of the world did not get any snow!!

I think I am fully prepared for snow from Thanksgiving to Easter.  I tell myself that I do not have the right to complain about the snow between these times.  If it snows before Thanksgiving or after Easter you might hear a complaint from me.

I want to say thank you again to everyone who participated in the celebration/service last Saturday. It was a memorable evening and I am so glad that I was able to celebrate with everyone.  Just the idea of putting something together like that and have the reception that we did means alot to me and my family.

Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.  Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.  In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.  To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.  But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people.  All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;  “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver— let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”

⁹I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:  You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!  For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.  From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.  The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

²⁸For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.  To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.  Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Pastor’s Reflection

Pain

When I read this psalm all I can think about is pain.  I imagine Jesus hanging on the cross as these words come from his mouth.  I feel what he is feeling and it is hard to imagine.  Then I ask myself what does real pain feel like?

Too many of us have experienced true pain….emotional pain in the loss of a parent or child, physical pain from an injury….sometimes our pain is too much to bear alone.  Well the end of the psalm talks about two things that can take away our pain.  The first being the community that is gathered together.  If you are experiencing pain one of the best places to go is a gathering of a community, a community where people have experienced the same kinds of pain that you are feeling.(That is easier said than done)

The second place you can turn to is to God.  God is the one who can take away all our pain.  When it might not feel like it in the midst of our pain God resides, God is in the places we least expect to see God.  Times when we feel like we are further from God, God is there.

When I think of true pain I remember the 1997 Blockbuster Titanic.  I think of the storyline between Rose and Jack and what they went through.  Then I imagine them holding hands after the ship sank and Rose saying Goodbye to Jack after she realized he was gone.

It is so hard to say goodbye — To know that there is someone that we love that we will never see again.  But my hope is that through the love of the Christian community we can gather together and support one another through our tough times and celebrate with one another when times are good!

Prayer

Oh Lord, you know our hearts, you know what we long for and why we hurt.  We ask your presence be upon all who are hurt, all who mourn and all who need your comfort and grace.  Be with those people and strengthen them to reach out to you and their brothers and sisters in Christ.  Enable those who they reach out to, to give them strength and hope and love.  In Jesus Name  Amen.