“The angel said to the shepherd, “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you,

a message that will fill everyone with joy.” ~Luke 2:10

 I find myself thinking about ‘angels’ a lot lately.

That’s probably due to a couple of reasons; one is our Advent Bible Study: The Angels of Christmas: Hearing God’s Voice in Advent. The other comes as we draw closer to Christmas Eve and its greatest declaration for all time that we see in the above Bible passage from Luke.

My childhood version of angels was typical Hollywood; shimmering beings lighter than air with feathery wings that existed somewhere well outside my earthly life.

However, as I grew older I knew there was more to angels than this…but just what those details were was pretty vague. What did that “more” look like? Act like? Do?

Trying to get a better sense of ‘angels’ I went to the Anchor Bible Dictionary where under the subject ‘angels’ it has: “In modern usage the term angels refers to heavenly beings whose function it is to serve God and to execute God’s will.”

Hmmm…if we’re all given the gift of God’s Holy Spirit doesn’t that bring us within the definition of heavenly beings? And as Jesus Christ followers, aren’t we to function by serving God and executing God’s will?

Because if so…does this suggest God might possibly consider me to be an angel? 

And as I try to understand how this works for myself, then Hebrews 13:2 comes to mind: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

Would this then mean that our first approach to everybody should begin with us looking for the angel in them too? Starting with kindness and generosity; making sure their needs are met?

Because as Advent prepares us for a Christmas that celebrates the birth of the Christ child, just maybe this will be the first step in bringing the true meaning of Christmas - and not the Hollywood or advertiser’s version - to life in those around us.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

 

^“…4but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land,                    a sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.”

~ Leviticus 25:4

 

I imagine that about the time you’re reading this, Kathleen and I will be in the midst of my  sabbatical. (I’ll be back in the office Monday, October 24^th).

In our Presbyterian denomination ‘sabbatical’ is part of a pastor’s “terms of call.” 

My sabbatical had been scheduled for 2020 – until COVID. Quickly it became very clear that a sabbatical then (or 2021 as the pandemic lingered) would not have been beneficial for either PPC or me. However, as PPC finds its post-pandemic rhythm we’re good to go. So ‘go’ we shall.

While Kathleen and I will randomly be in and out quite often; during our times away we’ll be camping by ourselves, and at other times we'll be with friends. Plus, we’ll spend some non-camping time with family as well.

All of this is right in line with what Lifeway Research suggests in its: 6 Reasons to Take a Sabbatical: “rest, release burdens, reconnect with loved ones, disconnect from tech, travel, and tinker.”

While I appreciate these 6 points, as I weave them all together -- I come to a ‘ruach’ recharge.

Ruach is the Hebrew word for God’s breath, wind, spirit that we find at the beginning of creation, and that is still on the move today.

In doing some reading about sabbaticals I came across a comment that won’t let go of me: “Don’t let a sabbatical be a cheap excuse for a vacation.”  

So while there will be many vacation-like elements to my sabbatical…

…to keep this as more than a vacation…

…we’ll start our day with a devotional and end with a daily examen (reflecting on the day’s events to sense God's presence and direction). I expect I’ll have another book or two I’ll be reading as well.

Bringing all of this together; the recharge comes in the reminder that the weight of the world (or PPC) is not on my shoulders (nor is it on yours)...

...and neither is my value and identity found in what I produce (nor is your value and identity found in this either).  

Instead, as I catch my breath-in-God, this recharge comes to me with God in control - the One whom I can trust and who holds the whole world.

The world that God created. In six days. Right before God took a sabbatical.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

 [Jesus said] ”I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!” ~ Luke 12:50

It’s kind of odd to think about Jesus feeling stressed out.

Looking closer at the Greek word translated as stress or distressed, it emphasizes how totally absorbed Jesus was with the mission He had come to complete.

It’s not anxiety nor is it nervousness or fretfulness or worry…

…Jesus was feeling an all-consuming sense of urgency in God’s eager work of love to bring people together.

However as we find our footing with COVID as something to live with…

…COVID only added to divisions that were already fracturing our communities…

…and as those divisions opened up wider and deeper cracks…

…all these things that take the rough edges off of life we see in the radical love of God with grace and compassion are falling through those cracks.

Stanford neuroscientist Jamil Zaki’ spent his career researching the neuroscience of empathy and writes:

“People empathize most easily when they can see others’ suffering with their own eyes or when their actions are visible to others. But the modern world has stripped them away. We see more people than ever but know fewer of them.”

Join us Sundays at 10AM as we get to know our neighbors – all of them. 

If you’d like to join us virtually send us your email: prinevillepc@gmail.com.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

 

We took a deep dive into Jesus’ teaching called the ‘Good Samaritan’ recently. It gets going as Jesus asked a lawyer (then they were considered experts-in-knowing-the-nature-of-God):

"…what does the law say?"

The lawyer began with:

“…love the Lord your God with all your heart…and with all your soul…

…and with all your strength…and with all your mind."

Then the lawyer followed that repeating something Jesus had earlier added: “…and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus had taken two different parts of the Old Testament Law and wove them together which was repeated in the lawyer’s response.

Then the lawyer essentially asked for an example…

…and in using the ‘Good Samaritan’ Jesus made a hero out of someone they had historically been taught to treat with contempt.

Well that suddenly and certainly casts doubts on notions of them being an enemy…

…and prompts even more questions about who we’ve told who our enemy is?

…and why?

Part of this is prompted by a sense that media attention today is mainly on churches that define themselves by who they keep out…

...who they hold in contempt…

…rather than those churches striving to show that Jesus wants to welcome them in.

May the ‘Good Samaritan’ keep prompting questions throughout Jesus’ church.

May those question keep pushing us to better love our neighbors.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

p.s We meet in-person and online 10AM Sunday. Email prinevillepc@gmail.com for a link to our livestream.

 “When I gaze to the skies and meditate on Your creation - on the moon, stars, and all You have made; I can’t help but wonder why You care about mortals - sons and daughters of men” ~Psalm 8:3-4 (The Voice)

We recently used Trinity Sunday to talk a bit about The Trinity. Traditionally it is understood and Father (God), Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit (God’s Spirit working in us). Other definitions include Creator and Redeemer and Sustainer, and also Creator and Savior and Life-Renewer.

The concept was developed several generations into the life of the early Christian church through two church conferences 60 years apart.

Since then some scholars have made it their life’s work to explain what it is and is not – taking that all the way down the smallest detail.

I do appreciate their discipline and passion…

…however…

…being more of a ‘billboard’ theologian (i.e. can we say it using no more than 10 words?)…

…can we instead look at this as our psalm writer does?

Let that open-ended question invite us to marvel and bask in the love of our God of all Creation…

…and as we let that wash over us…

…we find our peace knowing that with all of that everything God’s is…

…God is only too glad to have that include you…me…us.

We wonder and marvel and bask Sundays at 10AM in-person and virtually too (email prinevillepc@gmail.com and we’ll send the invite).

Together We Serve (and wonder),

Pastor Mike

 

William Barclay was a well-known minister and Bible scholar who wrote that there are two great days our lives…

…the day we are born…

…and…

…the day we discover ‘why.’

The first Sunday of June we celebrated 'Pentecost.'

It’s considered the birthday for the Christian church as God’s Holy Spirit landed upon those first Christ-followers who empowered by that launched the Christian church.

From that start, the Spirit has continually led the church in constantly discovering its reason why.

And it remains on the loose today.

Broadly speaking the Holy Spirit is active and at work in each of us for the good of all of God’s creation.

As for how that may look in each of our individual lives?

We gather at 10AM on Sundays to sort out “the why?” 

We’d love to have you come sit and sort with us.

Pastor Mike  

 

“Arise! Arise! Arise and shine! May Christ’s message of eternal life fill your heart with everlasting love, hope, happiness and new dreams.” ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

 

Upon returning from vacation recently I unlocked the office door, breathed deeply, and prepared to wade in to texts and emails and phone calls. Even from outside the office I could hear the phone message alert going off. 

Well, that seemed like as good a place as any to start so I hit the message button -- and chuckled upon hearing a message from Bruce Smith. He writes for the Cascades Presbytery (our regional group of 96 Presbyterian churches mostly in Oregon) newsletter and covers Central Oregon churches.

He wanted to know how PPC’s building program was going. In thinking about my response the first thought that came to mind was a single word: ‘COVID.’ Our Future Facilities teams had interviewed two general contractors when – COVID.

As Oxford Dictionary defines it, COVID is a noun: “a statement, fact, or situation that tells you why something happened;“ yet how COVID has changed our lives and related actions during these past two years makes it feel more like a verb (action-word).

COVID has become this broadly ambiguous yet clearly understood umbrella term to explain all things odd and changing and suspended and undone over the last two years.

However now with Easter having provided an end-date to COVID (at least currently) and our lives once again find stability, we want to remember that while the Cross brought an end to Jesus’ earthly life, His resurrection signaled the start of God’s new season.

And on that first Easter, as the disciples’ joy and astonishment was quickly replaced by anxiety and doubt -- they retreated…until Jesus reminded them that there was more to His story…and in commissioning the disciples Jesus was counting on them to step up and step out in telling it.

So how will we respond? We hope you would  join our response.

As we look to the rest of the ‘post-COVID’ year ahead, and PPC’s future long beyond that; I pray that we all will step up in faith and consider stepping out into new roles in telling all about God’s unfolding story.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

 “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” ~Luke 4:1

3 times Jesus was tempted, each time with the ‘rewards’ subsequently growing.

Looking at this the through lens of my previous sales career, it’s easy to make the case that the devil was probing; what’s the least it had to invest in this?

As we move into Lent and this period of tuning up our relationship with God – is there a caution here for us?

Are we trying to get the full and abundant life promised by Jesus…

…while clinging to our fistful of coupons?

We’re working for that rock bottom discount while seeking the richness of life with Christ...

…and doing so while at the end of Lent, Easter shows us that God goes all in with God’s abundant gift of grace for all of us.

So with Lent still ahead of us are we willing to declare that complete faithfulness to God is the best investment we can make with our lives?

And when we say yes…meaning that at the very least we’ll really try every day to match this grace…

…dare we even imagine what God’s return on our investment looks like...for us...and for our community...for our world?

Together We Serve, 

Pastor Mike

“…built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.” Ephesians 2:20

Returning home from vacation recently my wife and I took a side trip to the Abbey of Our Lady of New Clairvaux. It’s a Trappist monastery.

15 years earlier we had stumbled across it and learned about “its sacred stones.”

While archeologists have thousands of years of history about who had previously used the land, specific to the monastery its history started in the mid-1800’s.

The stones are from a 12th century monastery in Spain…

…10,000 stones painstakingly dismantled and abandoned in Golden Gate Park where they laid until the monastery’s abbot who arranged to get 13 hundred of those stones to the monastery not quite 30 years ago.

That’s where we first saw them, laid out on a warehouse floor where those old stones gave shape to something new.

And recently we saw that ‘new’ church built from those 800 year old stones.

I find this inspiring and informative as PPC – as part of the larger Christian church - steps into the year 2022.

As our time in the larger span of history continues between pre-pandemic…

…and…well…we’re still waiting to see where post pandemic leads us.

Those 13 hundred stones brought over were used for the arches and corners - the ‘distinctive’ arches and corners of the church building.

The other stones form the more ‘ordinary’ flat wall sections; built into the overall design to meet current day earthquake needs.

Our “teachable moment” comes as we make our way to the post-pandemic church…

…with its shape and form built on the pre-pandemic church it will look a lot like the pre-pandemic church…

…yet we must remain alert to making the church attractive by meeting modern day needs.

With Christ as our cornerstone, with the distinguishing marks of His unconditional love…His boundless grace…His ever present hope…and .His steadfast compassion...

…we use His distinctive and timeless cornerstones to bring about new life.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike
 

“What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.” ~Agnes M. Pharo

As we come to the ‘backside’ of Christmas, it’s good that we remember Christmas is but a day on the calendar.

Certainly it’s a day worthy of our admiration and celebrations, yet the ‘hope’ that comes with Christmas is on-going every bit as much as it is ever-needed.

And depending upon our life’s circumstances, that hope can be an ethereal concept for us to ponder every bit as much as the concrete need for a warm place to sleep or something to eat.

Over roughly a 2 1/2 week period Prineville Presbyterian Church found itself in a position where we got to nurture hope directly and indirectly by putting 170 food boxes into our community.

Some of these food boxes were taken by PPC folks directly to individuals, and, we also supported the hope-filled work done by a larger organization.

Join us at 10AM on Sundays - with a New Year ahead of us there are plenty more ways to make hope happen.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike