Here are the Next Steps, that are normally printed in the church bulletin:
Read the four Resurrection accounts: Matthew 28. Mark 16. Luke 24. John 20-21.
Pray: Lord, today I will walk in the power of your resurrection.
Commit: the disciples followed Jesus every day, commit to do so moment by moment.
Give: What can you give away this week because Jesus loves you?
Hasn’t Easter changed this year? No nice clothes and celebrations and bands and a darkness to light experience! But has it changed? Really? Or have we been asked to experience an Easter closer to the first one -- when all was mystery, and people were locked in their homes due to fear, and disciples were separated from one another, and there was danger being in the streets. Could this Easter, as a blogger noted, be something similar not dissimilar to what Easter, that First Ever Resurrection Sunday may have felt?
With that in mind, let’s come to worship. Let’s reconnect to how it might have been for those first disciples to encounter the fact of the resurrection while feeling afraid. So many are afraid in this era and all of us need the encouragement to enter into the life promised in Jesus. Trust Him. Encounter Him. Walk with Him anew.
Perhaps we need to recall Paul’s words to the Christians in Rome: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-- not even the power of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). That definitely includes Covid-19!
Here’s the link: 9:00 am Sunday Come Westside and Worship!
Looking for something to do? Go camping (online). Here’s more from UMC Camps:
At United Methodist Camps, campers are always at the heart of what we do. We know that recent events have caused significant change in the lives of campers everywhere and we are here to support in the best way we know how. We would like to present Virtual Day Camp, the next best thing to being at camp!
Each day, campers can log in and follow a day camp session, exploring topics such as Spiritual Development, Nature Exploration, STEM, Music, Art, Social/Emotional Learning, Exercise, and more.
Oregon-Idaho Conference Camp and Retreat Ministries Director Todd Bartlett said a few camp directors are looking to contribute.
Visit the United Methodist Camps website for more information.
Dear Family --
I was reflecting this morning in my Facebook Live post from Lamentations 3:22-24. There Jeremiah the Prophet penned, “The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is His faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!’”
I love those verses. They are good reminders.
For me, I wish I could just live out of the first sentence, “The unfailing love of the Lord never ends!” Isn’t that a good reminder? But, I have to admit, I don’t always live from that verse day by day!
This quarantine is a strange season. It has hit everyone’s lives in different ways. For some, they have seen little change - they work from home regularly, and this has heightened that. For others, jobs have been lost temporarily or permanently! For others, work has increased with heightened demand for the services they render. Our health care workers are some of these, on the front lines. Then there are others, the many, many local, small business owners whose businesses might be threatened with closure due to this. And then there are others whose work has moved home, along with their children’s work, and the juggling required for work, homeschool, and life is immense!
For me, it has been a hard adjustment into a new normal which I was not ready to embrace. That’s why today it was a good day to return to these verses from Lamentations.
The reminder that the Lord’s goodness, that UNFAILING love never ends, no matter the season, and that the Lord’s mercies are new EVERY MORNING, no matter the challenge, can also be tough to recall.
Sometimes, it is difficult to remind ourselves that what we are going through is stress producing. It requires that we look at our days through a new lens. It mandates that we approach relationships with a new starting point. The idea yesterday that all I needed to do was walk from one room of the house to another to “get to work” was daunting to me. It felt depressing! Where were the drives, the coffee shops and the conversations with real people sitting across from me? It was tough and hit me as such.
Reminding ourselves that this is challenging is important. It is the beginning of health. If we remind ourselves of that, and remind ourselves that it is also challenging for those around us, then, we can offer ourselves and others more grace.
Reports are coming in that domestic violence has gone up in the past weeks with the quarantine in effect. That is no surprise either but so disheartening for those families and so difficult. Remember this when people 6’ feet away from you in the store seem to be having a tough day. The stress is real and high for everyone. It helps to give others the benefit of the doubt and to hold them in prayer and hold yourself in prayer in those moments.
It is by God’s mercies, Jeremiah reminds us, that we have been kept from complete destruction. That’s a stark word but true for those to whom he first wrote -- those dragged away into exile and those left behind -- they’d survived by God’s mercy. We are alive by God’s mercy. Maybe that is the place to begin our days -- “thank you that we are here, alive, by your mercy, O Lord.”
And then remind ourselves, that each day begins with a new dose of God’s mercy. Mercy here is a word that speaks of God’s deep, abiding, ongoing, overflowing love. It is a deep, powerful word that can be translated with what seems to be the entire list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. It is one of those rich, dynamic words that means so much more than our understanding of “mercy” as getting less than we deserve. It is not something less but his mercies are the force of HIS love pouring forth into our hearts and lives moment by moment.
And Great, Jeremiah wrote, is God’s faithfulness. God’s steadfastness. You know the old chorus, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases?” The words go like this,
“The Steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning;
Great is your faithfulness O Lord. Great is your faithfulness.”
Look it up. The link is above. It is an easy tune and I think Jeremiah got his words from that chorus. Ancient plagiarism, you know. :-)
So, with this kind of mercy and love and faithfulness offered into our lives, with the invitation for us to breathe it in, brand new, every day, let’s do it. On Sunday some of the words from life that people said were all kinds of positive ones -- “blessed, family, time, space, peace, rest, etc.” I was thrilled to hear how some are embracing this season. Indeed, embrace is our only choice, but some of us take a while to get there!
I’m praying for all of you daily. I miss you deeply. It is wonderful to see you on Sundays and during the other online gatherings that are occurring but it is not quite the same. You are all so brilliant in my heart and life.
So -- let’s live each day remembering that God’s mercies, that unfailing, steadfast, love, kindness, gentleness, and care from the Lord is NEW every day. And let’s embrace God’s unfailing love moment by moment as we live, play, work, do homeschool, “hear stories read through the door while our mom is in quarantine,” engage with the daily walk of life, and hug long distance.
“The Steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning;
Great is your faithfulness O Lord. Great is your faithfulness.”
In case you missed the Palm Sunday service on April 5, here is a recording: https://holtrich.my.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/holtrich.my/recording/255371311de9452881b630b63d5f1530
Easter! Join us this Sunday at
7:00 am: Sunrise Service live on Facebook!
9:00 am: Sunday Worship on Webex: https://holtrich.my.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/holtrich.my/recording/255371311de9452881b630b63d5f1530.
Meeting number (access code): 294 667 249
Meeting password: GodIsGood!
I don't know about you, but I need some regular pattern to help me in walking to Easter Sunday.
How about 45 minutes of worship every evening? MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY 5 pm on Zoom. This is the address: https://zoom.us/j/140606994
Hope to worship with you...
Brian
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 140 606 994
Dial by your location
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Our friends, the Revett family, are currently quarantining in Paraguay. Read their latest newsletter at http://tmrevett.blogspot.com/
Here are the Next Steps, that are normally printed in the church bulletin:
This week Read John 12-19. Walk Holy Week with Jesus.
This week pray the Lord’s Prayer daily.
Join District Superintendent Erin Martin for the Monday weekly connect and pray time here: district prayer
Join Tuesday 1 pm prayer and connect time here
We will meet together Sunday at 9 am (link here) to worship and seek God’s face together. The scripture this week is traditionally Palm Sunday. This time we will not be waving palm branches but sitting in our homes and connecting to the story together. I will enact part of the story for us to reflect upon together. We know the story -- we know how Jesus entered, the people rejoiced and the priests complained, but we don’t often slow down to go more deeply into the story. This week we will do that deeper dive. Did you know this story has connections back to Daniel? And just as it connects back, it connects forward to us, today. God has a message to place in our hearts as we walk together.
It was during troubling times that Jesus mounted that donkey and that colt of a donkey and rode into Jerusalem -- it was the week of Passover, there was an overflowing crowd of people in the city, and the Romans still occupied the area. The Jews felt under the Roman foot. The Jewish leaders felt a need to appease their rulers.
Sun, Apr 5, 9:00 am: Palm Sunday
Mon, Apr 6, 5:00 pm: Daily Prayer and Worship
Tue, Apr 7, 1:00 pm: Weekly Connection
Tue, Apr 7, 5:00 pm: Daily Prayer and Worship
Wed, Apr 8, 5:00 pm: Daily Prayer and Worship
Thu, Apr 9, 5:00 pm: Daily Prayer and Worship
Fri, Apr 10, 5:00 pm: Daily Prayer and Worship
Fri, Apr 10, 7:00 pm: Seven Last Words of Christ, presented by Vermont Hills UMC
Sun, Apr 12, 7:00 am: Easter Sunrise Service live on Facebook
Sun, Apr 12, 9:00: Easter Worship Service
Here’s a link to last Sunday’s worship service: https://holtrich.my.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/holtrich.my/recording/playback/74f17cfbb73241ef84ac44b586292d33
It will prompt you for a recording password - enter God1sGood! Yes, that is a “1” in the middle of the password.
Be sure to join us this Sunday at 9:00 am!
Please join Pastor Bo Sanders and Vermont Hills UMC as they present “The Last Seven Words of Christ.” This powerful, moving event will be on Friday, April 10, at 7:00 pm.
Join in on Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/935164728 or by dialing 669 900 6833 on your smart phone and entering meeting ID 935 164 728. Please remember to mute your device.
If you prefer, you may view it live (or later) at https://www.facebook.com/BoCSanders
For the safety of the families and the volunteers, Family Promise has decided to move their guests into a hotel for now. They will be providing them with food and other supplies. If you are able, please help with a financial gift here
Here are the Next Steps, that are normally printed in the church bulletin:
1. Read a passage a day or download the app "Pray as you Go" (pray-as-you-go.org) and follow
2. Start each day turning to Jesus. How does He want you to walk through the day?
3. Give a warm smile to someone every day - online, on your socially-distanced walk, or even through a window. The fruit of the Spirit is much stronger than the fear of the virus.
4. Join our online Pray & Connect group, every Tuesday at 1:00 pm, on Zoom
Dear Family —
As we daily need to remember that fear is not listed among the fruit of the Spirit, we need to remember that love is. “Love, joy, peace, patience, …”. Love is first in that list of what is titled not “fruits” but “fruit.” In other words, they all are part and parcel with the work of God’s Spirit. It is not like we have one of “them” but that we have this “fruit” and they are all there. That list in Galatians 5 is placed in contrast to the works of the flesh, which are obvious. Notice the fruit of God’s Spirit begins within -- it is made “obvious” by how we act, how we behave in this life.
Like Corrie Ten Boom wrote after WWII (she was a survivor of the Nazi regiem’s campaign of horror), “The world does not read the Bible -- it reads you and me. The godly man is the ungodly man’s Bible.” (quoted from her book Each New Day). And what people “read” is the Spirit of God in our lives. The beauty, the presence, the peace, the resolve of God’s Holy Spirit at work in our lives is what puts on display the Gospel through our lives. That “fruit” of God’s Spirit, that love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, all get displayed in our character and the best time to put the fruit on display is during times of stress.
People have commented upon the spirit of fear that is in the atmosphere. I felt it shopping for groceries. I only found one person brave enough to say hello back to my greeting. Fear is not the answer but it is what is being preached all around us by the purveyors of information. If you are feeling afraid then the fruit of God’s Spirit is not being given a chance. So, today I would encourage you to:
Stop watching the news. Certainly you need to check in on it, maybe once a day? But friends, there are people glued to news broadcasts in their homes. That is all they are hearing. And that is not healthy. The best way to experience fear is to keep listening only to that 24/7. Our media has mentioned the coronavirus more than 2.1 billion times since December. That outstrips anything else in history. And a billion is like counting one number per second for 31.7 years. It is this really large number. That’s so many mentions. I know, it is a big deal, but it is also something around which there is a ton of fear. So, stop watching and pray, read Scripture, go for a walk, breathe the air, laugh, give a virtual hug INSTEAD!
Start every day turning to Jesus, giving Him your attention, asking for directions on how to walk through the day. Prayer is so essential in times like this. Grab a verse or devotional thought and live from that. Jesus wants our hearts and our attention especially now, and the more attention we give Him the more His Spirit will be free to produce fruit through our lives.
When you are out, greet others, look at them (across that 6 foot gap) and give them sincere greetings, check in, ask how they are faring, how you could pray, what their needs are. Just be present.
When you are home, reach out to people every day via Zoom, Skype, phone, text or email. In times when people are quarantined, we need touch points with others all the more. So, call people up from the church and from your lists of acquaintances and friends to check in. An acquaintance wrote to me this week just to ask how I was doing in all this. We need each other.
The thing about this quarantine is how much more people need one another because of it. All the normal means of distraction removed, people need connection. We cannot come to the building as a group due to governmental policy from wisdom, but we are able to connect. “The coronavirus leaves over 95 percent of its victims still breathing. But it leaves virtually every member of society afraid, anxious, isolated, alone, and wondering if anyone would even notice if they’re gone. In an increasingly atomized society, the coronavirus could rapidly mutate into an epidemic of despair,” says the author of an excellent article detailing Christian responses to epidemics over history (there have been other pandemics). Find the whole article here.
As you start with Jesus and get outside, and breathe, may the Spirit bring forth that fruit of His Spirit in and through your life that others in looking how you are walking in this season might be tempted to ask, “How is it that you have such hope in you?” And you then can tell them.
Join Mondays at 12 noon with our District Superintendent for a check in and prayer time: Here is the link
Join in for Zoom prayer and connection -- Tuesdays 1 pm: Here is the link. Or phone in at this number: 669 900 6833.
Join in for worship on Sundays at this weekly location -- 9 am each week. Here is the link.
You might need to sign up with webex.com in order to download the drivers onto your computer. Some older systems need a boost.
Join in worship during Holy Week (Monday 4/6 through Friday 4/10) each day at 5 pm for a 45-minute time: we will connect, pray, meditate on one passage of Scripture from that which happened during the last days of Jesus’ life. Here is the link Join in!
Let’s stay connected and keep being the church to others around you. Throughout history this is how the church has put Jesus on display especially during plagues, epidemics and pandemics. The church was on the front lines.
Here is the interview between Pastor Brian and Mark Smith from Sunday, March 29: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AAGOUPTyfgDIw5s&cid=16FD87256DF791BA&id=16FD87256DF791BA%2110679&parId=16FD87256DF791BA%2110678&o=OneUp
We will continue to worship online this Sunday at 9:00 am to #StayHomeSaveLives.
To join us online, click here. You will be prompted to install the Webex application if you haven’t done so already. The link should go directly to the worship service at 9:00 am on Sunday. If the link doesn’t work for you, go to webex.com, click ‘Join’ and enter these details:
Meeting number (access code): 294 667 249
Meeting password: GodIsGood!
You may also join using a smartphone by calling 408-418-9388.
Remember to “mute” your audio when you’re not speaking, to cut down on background noise.
See you there!
Now’s the time! You’ve been wanting to learn more about the gifts that God gave just to you. Now you can.
Beginning Monday, March 30, from 3:00 - 4:30 pm, we’ll meet online every day to share and learn. Over just six days, you’ll explore your past, current, and future God-given passions and talents. Instructions on accessing the workshop and daily worksheets will be emailed to you. You will need a microphone and camera on your device to participate.
Register for this free workshop by Saturday, March 28, with Stephanie R or the church office.
Join Pastor Brian and others every Tuesday at 1:00 pm to pray and connect.
These gatherings will be in a “Zoom Room.”
Click on this link to join the Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/900550485
Or go to Zoom. com and enter this meeting ID: 900 550 485
You will need a camera and microphone on your device, or you may just watch and listen.
We need each other - let’s stay connected!
