“…and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.” ~Jeremiah 18:4

In early July life was headed back to the rhythms we like, we planned to use September 12th as a ‘Welcome Back to Worship’ Sunday.

But then the delta variant erupted and the bottom fell out of things.

That previously planned celebration only the latest of other habits and traditions that have once again been replaced with more question marks.

Questions that are becoming more open ended right now…

…while our call as Christ-followers remains.

The prophet Jeremiah brought God’s word to people at a time when the bottom had fallen out of things while using the image of God as a potter shaping a lump of clay.

At work with every turn of the potter's wheel...reshaping as needed…which can be messy work.

Yet here’s God up to the elbows even in this mess of a pandemic…

…working out of God’s commitment to care for us and love on us.

As we continue through the rest of this year let us draw comfort from knowing that this process is never ever done without God working to shape us into the people that God desires us to be.

And maybe find comfort as we imagine ourselves on that potter’s wheel...

...with God’s hands tenderly...coaxing a little bit more of us here...

…God’s fingers shaping us ever so gently and solidifying us there…

…reshaping us with a new awareness of how to better be compassionate and grace-filled in spite of the questions.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

 

^“31Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, ³²and be kind to one another, tender-hearted…” ~Ephesians 4:31-32

 

The above verses lies in the middle of a longer passage calling the Christian faithful to unity and harmony. And because it was important enough to write down, apparently there was little of either at that time. It remains a work in progress now.

Unity does not mean uniformity.

There is tremendous diversity known in the generosity of God’s gift giving to build up the church.

Diversity that works hand in hand with harmony as we read in Oxford Languages online dictionary:

“harmony: the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressions having a pleasing effect.”

Think Beach Boys or The Drifters or One Direction; or as the photo suggests among an orchestra.

And there’s a 2nd definition for harmony…

“An arrangement of the four Gospels or of any parallel narratives which presents a single continuous narrative text.”

As there’s diversity that brings the harmony in music…

…there’s tremendous diversity across this part of the Bible that zeroes in on Jesus.

Diversity among His first 12 disciples, plus the several dozen more disciples Jesus sent out.

Even more among the named and unnamed people who are prominently featured in Jesus’ ministry…

…plus the countless scores of many more people who are not so prominent.

All from different societies and cultures, with different dress, languages, attitudes, etc, who we may not be quick to count…

…but each one of them did count to God and God’s Kingdom building plans and that continues forward today.

And if we -- as the collective Christian church -- would work at the above over and over until we could actually live it…

…imagine the life changing power this unity could bring.

There’s an Ethiopian proverb that helps us understand this:

“When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion.”

 TOGETHER We Serve,

Pastor Mike

 “…and he [Jesus] had compassion for them.” ~ Mark 6:34

Have we ever thought about the difference between ‘compassion’ and ‘pity?’

Even some English translation of the Bible use ‘pity’ in the above verse.

‘Pity’ allows us to keep our distance from whatever might be the object of our attention.

We can toss out a casual “…bless their heart…” and be on our way.

Compassion though is defined as concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.

As the language experts trace this development of this word over the generations, its origins begin with 'the inward parts,' especially the nobler entrails – the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. These gradually came to denote the seat of the affections."

Compassion is the best place from where our real care about somebody else starts -- just like Jesus showed throughout His ministry.

So instead of “bless their hearts,” that becomes “what breaks their hearts breaks our hearts too.”

Maybe we ought to think more about reclaiming compassion – and less about casual pity?

Perhaps this might the first best step in healing the divides across our communities?

We step out as we gather Sundays at 10AM.

Together We Serve,
Pastor Mike

 

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” ~Hebrews 13:8

 

While it’s been said before, it’s easy to understand “church” only as a building. 

As we get dressed Sundays, hustle out the door, and once inside look around to see who’s sitting where – we can lose sight of the fact that church isn’t something we go to, church is something we are: we - you and me - are the church.

Now as we return to our pre-pandemic style of worship it provides us a moment to pause and reflect.

Shortly after the pandemic erupted, in my first Mike’s Musings I wrote:

“The way we do church has changed for the time being, yet the way we be church continues.”

Looking back over the past 15 months, how we’ve done church has evolved.

From recording ‘empty building’ worship services Thursdays onto a tablet then uploading to YouTube for sharing Sunday mornings, then doing ‘empty building’ services ‘live’ on Sundays, followed by replacing the tablet with a camera and microphone feed in front of a couple dozen folks, and, from there adding Zoom virtual worship also available on YouTube with more people returning…

…to do church has required adaptation and sometimes that came with struggles we didn’t know were there until we came up against them…

…struggles made even more difficult as it temporarily scattered our community.

In spite of this, Prineville Presbyterian has continued to be church with random acts of generosity, through our ongoing support of numerous local ministries plus supporting our denomination’s national and global ministries, and, most recently in providing needed assistance to our neighbors at Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

Through the pandemic we’ve kept the ministry of Jesus Christ alive outside the building in spite of our reduced finances due to the pandemic.

Also, every bit as importantly we’ve continued to be church in creative ways by keeping relationships among us vibrant while providing support in times of tears and need.

In moving forward, I return to my prayer from 15 months ago which is “the newly-changed-normal has us re-set our priorities and learn (or return to) ways of being better as a community of God’s people.”

Together We Serve – and move forward,

Pastor Mike

 

“Watch for the new thing I am going to do.

It is happening already - you can see it now!” Isaiah 43:19

 

The recent CDC decision allowing optional masking for the fully vaccinated is a noteworthy waypoint in our return to the next normal following this pandemic.

 As history shows us, we’ve weathered many of the same issues that churches faced during the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919. You’ll find the comparisons laid out from the blogsite THINK (the link to the specific article is below). 

While the parallels are fascinating, it got me wondering: what can we learn from that time to better advance the ministry of Jesus Christ?

About the only thing a quick Google search turned up is: “church will be different.”

Maybe it’s best for us to think of this time ‘between the shutdowns of the pandemic but not yet at the next normal’ as a kind of Sabbath?

This was written by Rev. Fletcher Parrish nearly 100 years ago during the Spanish flu:

“…the rush of the world is so great at present that very little time is given to cogitation and reflection…

However, we have a God-given opportunity for this helpful indulgence by reason of this unique Sabbath which has dawned upon us. Out of necessity our churches are closed, and all public gatherings must be discontinued. We cannot go motoring, and we would not go to business if we could, and even the fields are dangerous…

But we can sit by the fire and give ourselves to thought and reflection which will bring great profit to us.”

Whether that post-pandemic difference is small or big is unknown, and I suspect it also depends upon each particular church. Perhaps more will come out over the coming weeks and months? 

In the face of the unanswered question; might this be a God-given role for us to shape the story of God?

Together We Serve,                                                                                          Pastor Mike

article link: https://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/weve_been_here_before_lessons_from_the_churchs_responses_to_the_spanish_flu 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower.” ~John 15:1-6

 A few weeks ago as Kathleen and I were on vacation we spent a lovely afternoon with our twins and their spouses at a winery in Guerneville.

As we enjoyed a lovely Spring afternoon, there were a couple of workers pruning the grapevines.

It’s a common sight in the wine country this time of year…

…yet what I only just learned was that the April 2021 pruning was done with the Fall 2022 harvest in mind.

As this pruning is regularly done over and over, there’s nothing arbitrary about it.

Overlapping that with the above Bible verse: this is done intentionally with a forward looking view as part of a long term investment where God is in control as the vine grower.

Now…the power of God is love…

…love made known in Jesus’ resurrection.

Which makes this love uncontainable and inescapable.

For us to be forward looking insists the church is not to escape the realities of the world…

…anymore than the church can draw a circle around love by deciding who’s in and who’s out.

For us to remain faithful in love can require regular pruning…

…which may mean we need to think long and hard about traditionally held perspectives.

Or how we react when those are challenged.

Our work crew gathers ‘virtually’ Sundays at 10AM. Send us your email (prinevillepc@gmail.com) and we’ll send the invite.

Together We Serve,

Pastor Mike

Please note: We have resumed optional in-person worship. Following COVID19 guidelines by national, state, and local agencies:

·         For fully vaccinated people masking is optional during worship

·         Otherwise masking is required during worship.

 

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” ~Hebrews 10:24-25

It’s easy to forget that there’s so much more to history than the lived experiences each of us personally knows. We can pick pretty much any subject and quickly realize that just because some thing is the way it is right now does not mean it’s always been that way, nor will it stay this way forever.

And something this pandemic has done is to change the way we now “do worship.” Where once we had only physically joined together in worshipping on Sundays, and then moved to virtual in response to the pandemic; we’re now doing more of both.

This may also change the way we define ‘community.’

As the saying goes: “necessity is the mother of invention;” and this dates back to Aesop’s Fables from the mid-6th century BCE – long before Jesus walked the earth and the Christian church got its start.

Starting before then even we see changes in the way people gathered for worship. In the Old Testament we find the tabernacle; worship “on the go” for God’s people during their desert wanderings. That led to the temple; for a time the belief was that was where God dwelled. Furthermore there were synagogues for smaller gatherings, and lacking the number of people needed for a synagogue, people gathered outdoors.

Moving into the New Testament, the early Christian church also met in catacombs and upper rooms, and the first Christian church building didn’t come until the last half of the 3^rd century.

The important thing to keep in mind is that throughout these different times, God’s people kept figuring out new ways to be in community.

Which is continuing as the COVID vaccines are more widely used thereby allowing faith communities to think about how to safely return to indoor worship - yet - virtual worshipping is expected to continue.

While this allows us a greater reach (evangelism), how do we foster strong community bonds (ecclesia) with this emerging hybrid of virtual worship added to the in-person worship?

I don’t know what the future holds – but I’m excited to see what comes from it.

Together We Serve,                                                                                                                  Pastor Mike

 “Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;” (Exodus 20:1-2).

So even if you haven’t been around church a lot, you may recognize the above from the introduction to the 10 commandments.

Generally we think about the commandments coming as part God’s people having left t Egypt and in the wilderness or desert on their long journey to the Promised Land.

 And even if you have been around church a while – you may not know when they were issued.

Right around 100 days in or so; 3^rd morning after the 3^rd new moon after they left their dismal future filled with oppression and hardship.

It’s easy to imagine their first steps were filled with so much excitement…

“…we have been saved from…”

Which shifts as God shows them what God has saved them for.

And honestly sprinkled throughout those in-between steps are God’s people feeling their freedom has taken a back seat to God’s foolishness…

…as that apparent foolishness made them grumble…and gripe…and belly-ache…and complain.

As we make our way through Lent; through the wilderness with its very honest distractions…

...we give God our thanks for what we have been saved from…

…yet are we foolish enough to ask: what has God saved us for?

We’re livestreaming 10AM. Send us your email (prinevillepc@gmail.com) and we’ll be glad to have you join the journey.

Together We Serve,
Pastor Mike

 We live-stream our 10AM Sunday worship via YouTube. To join put the date (example: 1.3.2021) into the YouTube search bar followed by "Prineville Presbyterian Church worship." Or email the church (prinevillepc@gmail.com) and we'll send each Sunday's link.  

Nearly a year into this pandemic that’s throttled back our church activities, and I’ve noticed a pattern as people stop by to drop things off, or, to pick something up.

As though they’re drawn by an unseen force…they wander toward the sanctuary…and somewhere around the glass double doors they pause…look around… and say – “I sure do miss this place.”

It’s not the building they miss…rather…it’s the special space the building holds in our lives…

…its particular preciousness.

In our quiet moments through this pandemic I believe this question of “what’s precious” has emerged in everybody’s minds.

Good people who have known a lot of good things, yet now recognize that there are fewer things they hold onto much more tightly.

Yet even at that… there is still something more...and whatever that is...has turned out be very elusive.

Looking to the year ahead, as the lines that organize our lives have been blurred and smudged…

…our traditional paint-by-numbers ways of explaining the Good News of Jesus Christ might not fit so well…

...meaning we might find ourselves having to ‘color outside the lines’ to make the Good News of Jesus Christ effective and real.

Grab your crayons and join us – we livestream Sundays at 10AM using YouTube.

Together We Serve,                                                                                                            Pastor Mike