A Better Life

 Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Colossians 4:1-3 (The Message) 

It's criminal to ignore a neighbor in need, but compassion for the poor-what a blessing! Proverbs 14:21 (The Message)

And then take on an entirely new way of life-a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you. Ephesians 4:19-21 (The Message)

In Christ's body we're all connected to each other, after all. Ephesians 4:24 (The Message)

I recently heard a speaker who suggested four components that can help each of us live a better life. First, live with gratitude. Second, live with compassion. Third, try to do something in a new or novel way. And fourth, connect deeply.

All of these concepts are included in the Bible, as noted above. And they're all ideas that can help make us better Christians. If we live with gratitude, we become more aware of all the blessings we have received from God. And if we focus on the things we can be grateful for, maybe we can turn away from some of the negative thinking we often carry with us.

Living with compassion means caring for others around us. Just as Jesus did. There are a number of ways we can demonstrate compassion--by donating money to charities or by volunteering to help those in need. But we can also show concern in our everyday interactions with those around us. It only requires that we stop to listen to a friend's problem or that we say hello to a stranger on the street.

Taking action in a new way can also be simple. Read a nonfiction book rather than a mystery. Attend a documentary instead of a violent action movie. Talk to someone new at church. Or it can be more involved: like learning to speak a different language.

The most important, but also the most difficult, of the suggestions for how to live a better life may be the final one: connect deeply. We need human interaction, but it needs to be more than just saying "How are you?" Friendships are vital to good mental and physical health. And faith can help us develop deeper connections with others. Sharing our faith with friends builds stronger friendships. And as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:20 of The Message, we should become friends with God because he's already a friend with us. We can lead better lives with God's help.

Prayer: Dear God, we're often looking for ways to make our lives better. These four notions may help us. But we know, Lord, that our lives will definitely be improved if we strive to be your friend, as you are our friend. Please be with us as we try to be grateful, compassionate, brave enough to try new things, and connected. Amen.

Robin Hadfield (reprinted from 2016)

The Month of May

The month of May is a long one. It stretches 31 days but oh how wonderful it is. The sun shines, the rains come and the world we have been given wakes to late spring and the coming of warmth and beauty. Birthdays, graduations, marathons, and at the end of the month memories of the past for Memorial Day. Yes, it does stretch out and we get very busy in our own happy way. We plant flowers, pull rhubarb, greet neighbors and give up monthly meetings until fall. 

But as I write this, I am reminded of a hymn we sang when I was young that had a stanza that went “In the rustling grass, I hear him pass, he speaks to me everywhere”. The ground on which we walk, the water that we carelessly use but also so badly need for sustaining life, the trees that blow in the wind, the birds that sing are all a gift from God. Even the storms remind us that we are not really in charge. His land we must tend, and while tending, make time to stop and listen so we can hear him pass and hear him speak.  Amen. 

Carolyn F Olsen

Pentecost

Pentecost is the birthday of the church as recorded in Acts 2:1-21. One way to celebrate the birthday of ‘CHURCH’ is to spell it out as an acrostic as follows:

 

C – Charis

 

H – Healing, Hope and Healthy

 

U – United

 

R – Radical

 

C – Compassionate

 

H - Hospitable    

C–Charis is a Greek word usually translated “grace.” It emphasizes goodwill, kindness and favor. Not only is this a gift extended to us by God, but it is a quality that the church offers to the world. It is the mark of a Christian. Charis refers to that which offers joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness and the grace of speech that is seasoned and moderate, thus provoking harmonious fellowship.

H - Healing, Hope, and Health –

·         Healing is a ministry of the Church that we see in our denomination through the many hospitals that we have started around the world.  But it also is a witness to the medical missionaries that have been serving the Lord in those same hospitals.

·         Hope – is a sense of seeing something of faith that could be tangible, but also an idea or vision that motivates one to serve the Lord.  Church is a sanctuary of Hope.

·         Health – is descriptive of a Church that is able to function with room for a difference of opinion and preference, but still open to discuss things in good faith.  Yes, there will be disagreements, but the healing, hopeful, health of the Spirit’s working can resolve and reconcile.

U -United – The Church is united. Paul uses the Body as an illustration of how a church functions like a Body.  Yes, there are many parts, but if one is hurt, the whole body suffers, and if one is functioning well – the whole body is well.  Pray for the wellness of a United Church in Jesus Christ.

R - Radical/Reformed – The Church is radical/reformed which recalls the historical challenge of the Reformation with Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Knox and many other reformers.  It was the attempt to bring Church back to its roots of the early Church as recorded in Acts 2.  One description of the Presbyterian denomination is “Reformed and Always Reforming,” which keeps the witness and mission of Christ’s Church currently focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Pray for that constant vigilance of being reformed.

C – Compassionate – The essence of grace and wellness of healing is in the compassionate Spirit that shines like an aura over all the ministries done in Jesus’ name.  If there were not a compassionate Spirit, it would be just empty motions of service.  Pray that the Compassionate Spirit of Christ is ever present in the Church.

H – Hospitable – When I think of the hospitality of Christians, I think of a former member who selflessly opened her home to a family whose father was arrested and awaiting trial.  The family came to church right after worship and this member outright told the wife and family, “You can stay with me until your husband and father is free!”  Very unforgettable!  What hospitality!  It is the Spirit’s real presence in the life of the church when the community responds as openly and lovingly as did this blessed member.  May we be as open and hospitable to one who needs the presence of Christ in a very tangible, loving way.

This acrostic is my rendition of what the birthday of the Church can be today.  So, celebrate the Church’s birthday and serve the Lord with gladness.

Amen

Rev. Dr.  John J. Duling 

Words from John 8

 "...and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32

Psalm 92

 

It is good to praise the Lord

    and make music to your name, O Most High,

 proclaiming your love in the morning

    and your faithfulness at night,

 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre

    and the melody of the harp.

 For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;

    I sing for joy at what your hands have done.

 How great are your works, Lord,

    how profound your thoughts!

 Senseless people do not know,

    fools do not understand,

 that though the wicked spring up like grass

    and all evildoers flourish,

    they will be destroyed forever.

 But you, Lord, are forever exalted.

  For surely your enemies, Lord,

    surely your enemies will perish;

    all evildoers will be scattered.

  You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;

    fine oils have been poured on me.

  My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;

    my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.

  The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,

    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

  planted in the house of the Lord,

    they will flourish in the courts of our God.

  They will still bear fruit in old age,

    they will stay fresh and green,

  proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;

    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” Psalm 92

Rain

Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.  Zechariah 10:1

May he be like rain falling on a mown field; like showers watering the earth. Psalms 72:6

There is such delight in being able to listen to a gentle spring rain, with only faint grumbles of thunder. The sound of drops pattering on horizontal surfaces and trickling down vertical ones is like a soothing lullaby. Seeing the mistiness making lights waver and bright spring greens shimmer is like enjoying a moving work of art, shifting in the changing cloud light. Birds send out their most joyful songs and seem to chuckle softly to themselves. Puddles reflect the white sky and seem to boil with bubbles as drops bounce into them. The freshness of the air and the smells of the wet earth make everything feel clean and rinsed of dusty weariness.  Spring's growth is nourished just as the soul's thirst for comfort and healing is tended. Memories of other times and places in this hypnotic kind of soft rainfall arise and pull this moment into a thread of continuity.  

Rain has many associations for Christians; in the Bible - and in agricultural states like the one where I live - rain is an important part of the planting and growing seasons. Crops and livestock depend on adequate rain, and ultimately everyone's food supply is tied to it. God provides all this, and it is a testament of his care when the rain falls; it is a gift that feeds all people. 

The rain can be threatening, and floods are a fearful event in Biblical lore. Rain is sometimes symbolic of God's righteousness showering down on the earth.  

But the beneficial rain is inclusive; it falls on everyone and everything. If we choose to shower blessings like this, we share them without exception to all within reach. God is in the water that baptizes us, the water that cleans us and everything we use and touch and see, the water that is a habitat for countless amazing beings, the water that nourishes our food and the trees and plants that give us shade and joy.

The rain I am enjoying at this moment is one of the ways I can experience God's peace that surpasses understanding. This same rain is making someone else feel soggy and chilled, so I have to hope that somehow God's comfort is felt by that person in some way as well. I often work in the evenings, and I am fortunate enough to be home by an open door for this rainfall. Someone else who planned an outdoor event for this evening has had to make a change in plans and isn't feeling as fortunate.  

There is a Jewish prayer recited at the start of the rainy season in Israel. This is an excerpt.  

May He send rain from the heavenly towers,

To soften the earth with its crystal showers.

You have named water the symbol of Your might,

All that breathes life in its drops to delight. 

O revive those who praise Your powers of rain....

For you are God, who causes the wind to blow 

and the rain to fall; 

for a blessing and not for a curse - Amen!

For life, and not for death - Amen!

For plenty, and not for scarcity - Amen!

Mollie Manner (reprinted from 2018)

God Created our Bodies and our Brains

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13-14

Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. Psalm 148:5

The word create is important in my family. Bryce, being an architect, created many designs over his career. You can see his talent in the buildings Hastings & Chivetta of St. Louis designed in Lincoln – the Sapp Pavilion at UNL and the Weary Center at Nebraska Wesleyan. He was also involved in the upgrading of Huxtable Lounge in Eastridge Church.

My son has a company named Creative Spaces Construction which works building homes, does work on golf courses and upgrading buildings. He put in our new fireplace.

My daughter has Creativity With Tracey and sells products in several cities in Kansas and Nebraska. She made me a t-shirt to wear to our granddaughter’s tennis matches for Southeast High School.

However, none of this could have been done without the bodies and brains God knitted for us. We praise him for these talents. God made everything we use and the world we get to live in today.

John 15:5 says, I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit.

Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, we praise you for your almighty works creating man and woman, and the heavens and earth with your great power. Forgive us when we struggle, get angry, hurt others, or use your name in vain. Help us to properly use the talents you gave us. Amen.

Sandra Hilsabeck (photos above shared by Sandy)

Celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” ... Proverbs 31:25-30 ESV

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 ESV

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12 ESV

As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. Isaiah 66:13 ESV

A Little Bush

Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Luke 12:27 

Last fall, my neighbor planted a small bush in one of her flower plots. From my bedroom window, I watched it struggle to survive its transplant and as fall progressed, watched it lose its leaves. In January, when I left for Texas, the twig stood nearly covered by snow. When I returned, the snow was gone but the twig with a few branches still just stood there. Then, it was April and soon May, and the warm sun and much needed rains fell. The twig suddenly had leaves and the beginning of new branches and as I opened my shades, there it stood proudly waving gently in the spring breeze. 

We are much like that twig. With God’s love, we blossom. We grow and branch out to others. With God’s love, we grow. In the warmth of blessings, we feel good about our fellow man. With the assurance of the risen Lord, we meet our days. It sometimes rains on us and dark clouds gather and winds buffet us, but we remain, bolstered by the promise of tomorrow and life here after. 

Prayer: Can we all really be like the little bush? Standing there proudly through bad and good.  Can we greet the sun and rain with pleasure? Grow each day and greet all that comes with pleasure anchored in God’s love.  Amen 

Carolyn Olsen

There’s Something About That Name

Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for God has been gracious to you; you shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall give him the name Jesus. Luke 1:30-31 NEB

I’m pretty sure many of you think gospel music and old hymns are passe’, but I still love to hear the old songs with their uplifting messages. So, I attend the once-a-month gospel concerts sponsored by Midwest Gospel Music which are held at the Piedmont Park Seventh-day Adventist Church here in Lincoln. Since I can no longer drive at night due to visual acuity problems, I am greatly blessed that my friend, Berna, also enjoys the music and she is willing to drive so that we can attend. 

Last week we went to a concert presented by The Guardian Quartet. They are an excellent male quartet who sing close “barbershop type” harmony. Each member is talented in his own way with singing, writing music, and playing instruments, etc. 

It was during the concert’s intermission while an offering was being taken that a unique happening took place. One of the members of the quartet started playing on the keyboard as the plates were being passed. When he began playing the song, “There’s Something About That Name,” a few people in the front of the church started to softly sing the words. A hush came over the room. The sound of just a few people softly singing in the midst of a large crowd was beautiful and ethereal. We could feel the holy spirit moving through the room, while slowly and softly section by section everyone joined in the singing. 

It was such a strong sensation that the rest of the members of the quartet hurried back to the stage and one of the members of the quartet started to pray for us. Then he thanked the audience for singing and honoring them in such a way before they started to sing again. 

These concerts are such a blessing in so many ways. Not only do we get to hear the songs sung in beautiful 4-part harmony, but we often hear the inspiring testimonies of the singers. Occasionally an audience member will also share his/her testimony. It is the one place I go where the joy in just being a Christian can be seen on the faces of those in attendance. 

Truly, “There’s Just Something about That Name!” 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You for these times of praise and worship when we so strongly feel Your presence through the Holy Spirit. Two thousand years after the Angel’s Annunciation to Mary, we still adore the name of Your Son, Jesus The Christ. Thank You for sending Him to us. It’s in His name we pray. Amen

Judy Welch

Our Identity in Christ

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Dancing Light

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A Prayer inspired by a Galatians passage

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Eternal God

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A Prayer

Over the next few days, I will share some of the prayers and thoughts from past liturgies and Eastridge studies. (as always, click on the photo to view larger).

Donna Gustafson