Wales' Tales 061014

The weather was stunning

With days warm and clear,

The seas were like glass

For the time we were there.

The people were friendly

And welcoming, too.

We even had time to spend

At the zoo.

But as we sailed northward

To see the fjords

It’s hard to explain

All the magical chords

That God has created

With ice, wind and rain,

A land of great beauty

That long will remain.

The cliff sides were awesome,

As waterfalls fell,

A place so breathtaking,

Creating a spell

That held us in awe

With every new turn,

We quickly discovered

How much we could learn.

To sit with our coffee,

And watch the land pass,

To consume our breakfast

As the magic was cast.

We truly enjoyed all our time

Way up north,

Exploring a place that would

Always come forth

With brilliant new vistas

And a very short night,

For even at midnight

The sky was still bright.

We long will remember

Though our trip, it did cease,

Our time as a family

Enjoying God’s…

                                Peace,

                                           Alex

What a great vacation! But it's good to be back.

 

Breaking Out

What was the last great story you told? Was it about the latest clever thing your grandchild accomplished? Was it a classic fairytale? Was it a slightly embellished ‘big fish’ story? Or a completely real story? Was it a Bible story, or an embarrassing story of what happened to you at work?

Read Psalm 104:24-34, 35b and Acts 2:1-21.

Often people think of the Bible as a collection of stories. But if we look for the work of the Holy Spirit, we will start to see all the stories as connected – part of one larger story. The story from Acts is no different, as it follows the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. The disciples huddle together, worrying about the future. Will they be arrested? Who will believe what has happened to them? Where will money and food come from? How on earth can anything they do compare to the divine ministry of Jesus?

They sit together, consumed and paralyzed by their problems, until the Holy Spirit enters their very midst and breaks them out of that upper room. The Pentecost story echoes the Genesis story, where the wind/breath/spirit swept over the water at creation. Just as the spirit moved then, so too does the Spirit sweep over the disciples and the crowd at Pentecost, making them a new creation.

In the darkness of their fear, the Holy Spirit pushes the disciples out of the upper room and forces them to tell the story. Like the first creation, the Holy Spirit moves them from darkness to light once more, from death to life, breaking them out from their comfort zones and prisons of anxiety.

As the Holy Spirit shows up, She doesn’t bring any quick fixes or instant solutions to the problems of the disciples. But the Holy Spirit does push the disciples out into the world, reminding them of Jesus’ command to be disciples to the ends of the earth – and conveniently, She pushes them into a crowd filled with people from the ends of the earth!

From where do you need breaking out? What prisons have you created for yourself – prisons of fear, anxiety, guilt, resentment, envy? What is holding our church back from leaving the building and sharing the Good News with everyone we meet, from telling them that “MY CHURCH IS” inviting, witnessing, welcoming, serving, teaching, uniting, and loving?

Look around – how can you break out from the old creation and into the new? How can the Holy Spirit rush over you and give you the courage and ability to speak of God’s deeds of power? This is our story, the story that we can’t help but tell. Our story is tied into the Story that starts with the beginning of time. Our story is that we are empowered to continue the story, to continue the new creation. May it be so.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate

The End is the Beginning

Having recently seen the latest X-Men movie, Days of Future Past, I’ve been trying to reconcile the various space and time dimensions we experience in that movie. So one character sends his consciousness to the past, so the past is the present, but he is also still in the future. And the present continues until he changes the past, which also changes the future. And when he arrives in the future which is now the present, he can't remember the past. Got that? So where is Wolverine – the past, the present, or the future? 

Read Psalm 68 and Acts 1:6-14.

As we read through the Gospels, we learned that Jesus was the Word made flesh, the Word that was with God from the beginning. So Jesus, the Son of God, entered our present world through a stable birth, and lived as fully human – teaching, healing, feeding, laughing, crying. He is betrayed, convicted, and crucified, only to be risen from the grave. Jesus is somehow at once in the past, present, and the future.

The disciples, as they learned from Jesus, must have thought they were on the cusp of a new beginning. With his death, they concluded that it was the end, only to discover a whole new beginning on Easter morning. They then spent forty days together with Jesus, eating and learning – which brings us to today’s reading.

Jesus instructs them to be witnesses to the ends of the earth and is lifted up on a cloud. The disciples stand there awestruck, until two men in white robes shake them up. Another ending – their rabbi and dear friend has now ascended into heaven. Their inner circle follows into an upper room, praying together.

Aren’t our lives full of endings and beginnings and beginning of endings and ending of beginnings? At Trinity, we experienced an ending when Pastor Shelley retired. As Pastor Alex guides us through this transition time, it feels a little like those disciples gathered in the upper room. Rather than going out and witnessing, we are stuck in a prayerful time, waiting for our next installed pastor who will start Trinity on a new beginning.

Where are you? Are you still processing the ending, or are you ready for a beginning? More importantly, where is Jesus? In the past, the present, or the future? Is Jesus up in heaven, removed from our daily lives? Or is Jesus in our hearts? Or is Jesus in the space between us, pulling us together, sending us out to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth? Maybe Jesus like Wolverine - the answer is YES to all of the above!

As we devote ourselves to prayer, let us brace ourselves for the new beginning that is just around the corner. Get ready for the house groups, where we will discuss the future of Trinity and what that means for our next leader. Continue to reach out through VBS, Let’s Help, the Rescue Mission, and our new day camp in July. Let us not forget our call to be witnesses NOW – not when Jesus comes again, not when our new pastor comes again, but TODAY. May this be so.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate

Day by Day

How would you define ‘church’? Is it our building? Is it a group of people who gather together in the name of God? Can it be a group of people who run together? Or a college student Bible study? Are we church when we work at Harvesters or the Rescue Mission? Are we church when we organize for justice, or knit together? 

Read Psalm 23 and Acts 2:42-47. 

This Sunday, 2 of our youth will be baptized, and 6 of them will profess their faith publicly as the last step in becoming a member of our congregation. You can read their faith statements here. It will be a joyful celebration of their journey this past year, as well as looking forward to the ways they will continue to contribute to Trinity's family. 

The passage from Acts describes the early church, a church that gathered around teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. Does that sound familiar? As they dedicated themselves to these four acts, the community was moved to a place of generosity and abundance, as they shared everything and made sure that no one was in need. And day by day, their community grew. Day by day, more people came to know of Jesus Christ and his saving grace. Day by day, our Shepherd God brought more people into Her flock. 

Day by day, Jesus is still at work at Trinity and in Topeka. Day by day, we are given opportunities to share what we have been given: forming new disciples with our Sunday School classes, telling strangers about ‘my church,’ studying the Bible in a doughnut shop or at R&R with the Word, volunteering at Harvesters, tithing, caring for the children in our nursery, ushering on Sunday morning, and delivering bread to new friends. 

The way that God is overflowing our cups does not mean that there are never any complications, or that our justice and mercy work never gets messy. Day by day, as more are welcomed into our family of Christ, we must make room, we must be willing to sacrifice our own comfort and security to make room for new members in our family. 

Timothy B. Hare writes that “The Christian life is about adjusting ourselves to the existence of a gracious God.” We adjust ourselves to abundance and graciousness as we share our lives together, day by day. Come join us on Sunday and witness to our gracious shepherd God as our family grows, day by day. 

Grace and peace, 
Pastor Kate

Wales' Tales 050714

The wind is blowing summer hot,

A furnace blast of air,        

Why, hardly had the spring arrived!

This really isn’t fair.

The springtime blossoms had begun

To fill my eye’s delight,

When suddenly, the summer sun

Is beaming strong and bright.

I really miss the time of year when

Kites sail in the sky,

When puffy clouds and gentle breeze

Dandelion seeds to fly.

The April rain, the greening grass,

Gives time to thaw and stretch,

But with the coming of the heat,

Too soon for summer catch.

Too soon are gone the tulip heads

All bobbing in a row,

And daffodils are just a thought

Since fighting through the snow.

For now in earnest heat arrives,

The grass begins to rise,

And mowing is the common task

To form the lawns we prize.

And summer brings it just rewards,

As corn and soybeans grow,

And cattle graze on rolling hill

As creeks and rivers flow.

They make their way to larger streams

And finally join the sea,

Reminding that’s the way of life,

The life God gives to me.

We may not always like the change,

We might prefer it cease,

But ours is not the fight to stay,

Instead, we find God’s…

                                                Peace,