Words from Hebrews

Grace blooms like spring, therefore let's approach the throne of grace with confidence. Hebrews 4:16 

Words from the book of John

 

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:19-31

What's Your Story? (Part 3): Sharing Bread or Eating Humble Pie?

They met constantly to hear the apostles teach, and to share the common life, to break bread and to pray. Acts 2:46 NEB

My husband’s funeral was on December 31, 1999, so on New Year’s Day I started the new Millennium as a brand-new widow. Those of you who have lost a spouse know that being alone after a long marriage means not only grieving but making both big and small changes in your lifestyle. 

One of those small changes for me was learning to eat alone. The evening meal was a real challenge for me. After two or three weeks, I realized that if I was going to continue to bake my homemade bread, that both Gary and I loved, I’d have to share half a loaf with someone. A 2-lb. loaf was too big a loaf for me. The first week I found I’d failed to put half the loaf in the freezer. Without preservatives mold began to form. The next week I put half in the freezer but found I preferred the fresh baked loaf. The third week, I called my friend, Beryl, who was also a widow, and I took her half a loaf of bread and promised to bring her name before the Lord for as many days as the slices of bread I gave her. The fourth week I shared bread and prayers with another friend, also a widow, named Peggy. 

After sharing bread with these two friends for a few weeks, they began to suggest the names of some of their friends who were also widows that might like to receive both the bread and the prayers. So, my list of “Bread Friends” just kept growing. Since all of my “Bread Friends” so far had been Christians, I was feeling pretty complacent about sharing my bread and my Christian prayers. I considered it to be my personal bread ministry. 

Then I took a whole loaf of bread to a woman in my water aerobics class who had become a friend, and who had lost her husband suddenly to a heart attack. She still had children to raise so when she came back to class, I took the whole loaf (promising prayers for her family, too). I added the mom’s name to my list of “Bread Friends.”

That was the day I got myself in trouble without even knowing it. Our water aerobics class was fairly large. There were more women than men in the class, but among the men were two men named, Bob. The gals in the class were, shall I say, fun loving and they decided that in order to tell the two of them apart we’d call them “young” Bob and “old” Bob. It was only humorous because “young” Bob was 89 and “old” Bob was 90. They accepted it good naturedly. 

It was “old” Bob who came to me and asked if I would be willing to bake a loaf of bread for him, too, even though he was not grieving. He was getting quite feeble and immediately used a walker after exiting the pool. So, he asked if I would bring the bread to his house because he didn’t think he could get it home safely after class. He lived close to Eastridge Church and was known to a friend of mine, so I felt safe in delivering the bread. I agreed to drop it off after church the next Sunday. Later, Bob told me he really enjoyed the bread and wondered if I could bring him another loaf sometime. I told him I would, but it might be a little while because it was December and I had a rather full calendar. 

By the time I went back to Bob’s, it was Christmas week, so I stuck a few Christmas cookies in the bag with the bread. That’s when he told me he was Jewish! So I offered to take the cookies back home because I thought he probably didn’t want Christian symbols in his house while celebrating his own holiday. He said, “Oh, no I’ll eat them. They won’t be in here long!” (I had learned in previous situations of cookie sharing that there’s just something about old men and homemade cookies, but that’s another story).

We really only know our classmates at the gym by their first names. I didn’t know Bob outside of class, and I had no way of knowing which faith Bob practiced. However, I was so embarrassed and humiliated because I had just assumed he was a Christian like me!

While I was in Bob’s home, he gave me a recipe on a piece of scrap paper saying it was his mother’s rye bread recipe and would I please try to bake it for him. I declined and explained that I had tried so many recipes for rye bread and none of them had produced a loaf I judged to edible. I told him I really didn’t want to have another failure so I probably wouldn’t bake it. He said, “Well, just keep the recipe in case you ever decide you might want to try it someday."  

That was when he told me that when he was a boy, his parents ran a “Little Corner Deli” in New York City where he grew up and his mother baked that rye bread for the deli, so he knew it was a good recipe. I did bring the recipe home but I’ve never tried to bake it, and I really have no idea where I put it! More's the pity.

I’m not sure of the exact time frame, but a few months after that encounter, Bob passed away. Our class decided to go to the funeral as a group. That’s where I learned some things about Bob. He had been a UNL professor with many honors to his name. His last name was Katz. That “Little Corner Deli” in New York that Bob mentioned so off handedly is now one of the most famous delis in America.  So, somewhere in my house, I do not even know where to look, is a very good Jewish rye bread recipe I foolishly declined to try. 

Several months ago, just out of curiosity, I "googled" Katz Deli and looked at their menu. The average price of a sandwich there is $30! When I look back, I think that Bob giving me that recipe was his way of saying, “Thank you” knowing that someday I’d figure out what a special gift it was that he had given me. 

I’ve never been more embarrassed or humbled while trying to share my faith than I was that day in December, but more than 20 years later, I continue to share bread and prayers with my “Bread Friends.” After 26 years of making “Bread Friends” I have never regretted sharing my bread with anyone irrespective of their faith. To me, sharing bread is a sacred act of Christian love, and in the book of Acts Chapter 2 in the Bible we learn that sharing bread isn’t just for Christians. In Paul’s day, sharing bread was responsible for converting many souls to our Christian faith. 

A couple of years ago, Pastor Thomas asked me to join the Care Group here at our church and I teamed up with Berna Stading to share bread with our fellow members in need of prayers for various reasons. Before John Wolfe of our congregation went home to be with Our Lord, Berna and I visited him and took bread (and prayers). At John’s funeral, when Berna and I greeted Mrs. Wolfe she said, “I remember you two, you’re “The Bread Ladies”" and that name has stuck!  

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we praise and thank You for guiding us as we go through our days on earth. Sharing the gospel can be a daunting experience for us and sometimes we make mistakes that humble and teach us to be more careful in what we do and say, but somehow during the process You make it turn out alright so we can keep on sharing our love of Your Son, Jesus the Christ. Amen

Judy Welch

 * What’s Your Story? 

This summer, we invited members of our Eastridge community to explore ABCs of Faith: Simple Stories for Complex Times. In this series, we will be exploring stories from the Bible that tell us about God and God’s people. But our faith is also carried through our own stories.

When someone asks, “What’s your story?” they’re asking about the moments that shaped you: the people, experiences, challenges, and turning points that made you who you are. Scripture is full of such stories—and so are we.  

Throughout the series, we’ll offer prompts connected to the themes we’re exploring. You’re invited to share a brief reflection on any prompt that resonates with you—especially a moment that changed your mind, your heart, or your life. Selected stories may be shared (with your permission) in our newsletter, devotionals, or even during worship. 

Grow in Grace

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! 2 Peter 3:18 

What's Your Story? Do Others Need Me?

One evening the plans I had got cancelled. I am single and I was feeling lonely and bored. I felt sorry for myself for a while, sitting on the couch doing nothing.

But then I felt like God brought my niece and nephew into my mind. The last one had graduated from high school. I had enjoyed a good relationship with them, texting back and forth with them in West Virginia. I wondered now if they still needed me; I didn’t know what my role was now that they were older.

I decided to ask my niece, age 20, if there was anything I could pray about for her. She texted right back with a big concern. I said I would be happy to pray for her: she said thank you so much, so she still needed me.

On a roll, I texted my nephew. He was to enter college in the fall, moving into the dorm and playing in the marching band. I asked him questions and he confided that he was very nervous about all the new things that college would bring. I told him I would pray for him and he said thank you very much.

So I learned that they still needed me to love them, keep in touch with them, and to pray for them.

Nancy Brumbaugh

 * What’s Your Story? 

This summer, we invited members of our Eastridge community to explore ABCs of Faith: Simple Stories for Complex Times. In this series, we will be exploring stories from the Bible that tell us about God and God’s people. But our faith is also carried through our own stories.

When someone asks, “What’s your story?” they’re asking about the moments that shaped you: the people, experiences, challenges, and turning points that made you who you are. Scripture is full of such stories—and so are we.  

Throughout the series, we’ll offer prompts connected to the themes we’re exploring. You’re invited to share a brief reflection on any prompt that resonates with you—especially a moment that changed your mind, your heart, or your life. Selected stories may be shared (with your permission) in our newsletter, devotionals, or even during worship. 

Words from Second Corinthians

And he said to me, "my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 

What's Your Story? “A time when a child spoke or revealed a truth that others needed to hear”

A memory that still awes my wife and I was when we were reading from the book, Bambi, to 5-year-old son, Peter. I was reading a portion of the story when the Great Stag and the young deer, Bambi were going down a path and found a dead hunter. (Yes, not expected from a book about Bambi. The movie version was much more delicate about such things.) Meanwhile, the Great Stag, who is a mentor to the young Bambi sees this encounter as a teaching moment. So, the Great Stag acknowledges the fact that hunter was like a god who feared the deer. However, in front of them is a dead hunter. Bambi questions how this happens and why. The Great Stag just simply said that there is "Another" who cares for all of us. Now this is where the power of the story makes an impression on our 5-year-old son, Peter.  Peter just simply said to Cathy and me, "Bambi found God!" We were just silent and very moved by a simple observation that Peter made. For us, that was a moment of faith to which our son, Peter, years later finds true for him as an adult. Yes, Peter will admit that he has grown and matured in his faith, but that memory is very clear. 

Jesus said to let the little children come to him and to not deny them. And indeed, that memory has been quite real and awesome for Cathy and me today.

Pastor John J Duling

 * What’s Your Story? 

This summer, we invited members of our Eastridge community to explore ABCs of Faith: Simple Stories for Complex Times. In this series, we will be exploring stories from the Bible that tell us about God and God’s people. But our faith is also carried through our own stories.

When someone asks, “What’s your story?” they’re asking about the moments that shaped you: the people, experiences, challenges, and turning points that made you who you are. Scripture is full of such stories—and so are we.  

Throughout the series, we’ll offer prompts connected to the themes we’re exploring. You’re invited to share a brief reflection on any prompt that resonates with you—especially a moment that changed your mind, your heart, or your life. Selected stories may be shared (with your permission) in our newsletter, devotionals, or even during worship.