Posts from June 2020

This week we’ll see Paul call the Philippian church to shine like stars in the midst of a twisted and broken world. It seems an overwhelming task until we realize that it is God at work in us who provides both the desire and the ability to do so. The call is, therefore, to participate in the work that God is doing in and through us. So what would it look like for us to shine like stars in our…

When I was in high school I read a book called “Black Like Me”. The book is about a white journalist who temporarily has his skin darkened to experience the realities of what it was like to live a black man’s life in the segregated South. The book resonated with me recalling experiences I had as a young boy moving from a South Texas Hispanic community to the Bay Area. Looking back as a grown man, I can now see…

What comes up for you as you think about Father’s Day? Do you think about your relationship with your dad? As a father yourself, do you reflect on your relationships with your kids? As a wife, do you think about the kind of dad your kids have? Do you have someone you consider a spiritual father? Do you wonder who your biological father is, if you haven’t met him? There is much reason to celebrate on Father’s Day, and it’s…

We continue our studies this Sunday in the book of Philippians. And, we come to holy ground. In this text, known as a hymn to Christ, we find a different kind of God. Into a world where “gods” are expected to use absolute power, power to advance themselves and power to exploit others, we find these extraordinary words. Here, we find a God who seeks to not advantage himself, but to humble himself in obedient servanthood. This God becomes defined by a cradle, a cloth…

Light can devour the darkness but darkness cannot consume the light. Lately the world has been on fire. Darkness, sadness, pain is all around. Maybe God is just revealing what has always been? Maybe we have been lulled into believing, things are better; life is better; we are better. Not! Right now all is awry. The curtain is drawn, and we are seeing reality: a broken, fragile, hurting world. Pain, injustice and tragedy are front and center. You can’t escape…

As we return to Paul’s friendship letter to the Philippian church, we see Paul asking for just one thing from them – Unity! In an individualistic society, we highly value our right to our own opinion and we definitely don’t want to be brainwashed. So what is this Unity? Is it even possible? And if it is possible, is it even something we want?

I love backpacking around Lake Tahoe, especially in the Desolation Wilderness where this picture was taken (Aloha Lake).  I love this picture because it reminds me that God is our rock.  He is an unchanging, solid foundation with a proven track-record.  As he was faithful in the past, so he will be faithful today and on into the future.  “He is the rock eternal.” This is one thing I’m learning by studying the Gospel of John.  Jesus is revealing to…

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about helping. How do we help our kids understand and process what’s going on in their world today, (especially when the adults, myself included, don’t always know the right words to say)? In our “virtual” Sunday School class on Sunday, I asked the kids, “What is our job in the kingdom of Heaven?” and amidst the answers of “tell others about Jesus”, “be a good friend”, “help out around the house”, one student…

This week we come to one of John’s famous passages, where Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well.  She is an outcast, Samaritan and woman.  He is a rabbi (even God), Jew and man.  Throughout their conversation, we find that she is empty, her water pot symbolizing her emptiness.  In the same way she needs to continually fill her water pot with water, she is continually filling her life with relationships that ultimately do not satisfy.  And, what does…

Many things go into the production of a Sunday LiveStream service. Most of what is seen is the product of many hours of prayer, communication (on Zoom) and work in front of a video camera. If you have followed the Message from the Pastor’s, you may remember Sharon’s write up on a few things we’ve learned in a short amount of time. The biggest being, that our God is faithful every Sunday to speak to and through His people, a message…