For Ever and a Day Sermon at United Church of Beloit Dec 16 2018

Isaiah 12:2-6

12:2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

12:4 And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted.

12:5 Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth.

12:6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Reference: Isaiah 9:BULLETIN COVER!

For to us a child is born, 

to us a son is given, 

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called  

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

 Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This is of course one of the most famous prophecies of Jesus. The prophet Isaiah wrote approx 700 years before Jesus’ birth. The assumption was that the prophecy was of a king, who would free the Hebrew people from oppression. This would surely be a very special king, a Messiah or anointed One, ordained by God’s own self!! A Wonderful Counselor, who would have unparalleled wisdom, more so than even the revered King Solomon! Mighty God -having immense strength and power, Everlasting Father--one who creates, provides and protects! The Prince of Peace, who would bring an end to wars… This prophecy is a tall order of course! Only One sent from God could fulfill it! These qualities. are all aspects of the perfect peace of God, Shalom.

This 3rd Sunday of Advent we’re thinking about the prophecy of Everlasting Father. That phrase is pretty deep isn’t it? There are many references to God as “Father” in the bible, but also motherly references too. Birth and nurturing, -- covering the young with outstretched wings for example. God is more than Father and Mother. We are language in some ways limits our ability to fully describe God. God is Father and Mother and more than those!

Everlasting ==eternal…. The One who was and is and ever shall be (Revelation)  God’s own name, as told to Moses, I AM

In the original Hebrew-- is literally I am who i will be..so that sense of eternity is right there in God’s own name. Jesus is God’s Son.. and he consistently refers to God as “My Father in heaven” or Abba, which is “Dad” Yet we know from John chapter 1 that Jesus was present at the creation of heaven and earth, and Jesus refers to himself as One with the Father, so he does indeed fulfill this prophecy.

THe verse Pastor Steve read for us is one of the texts for today from the Lectionary, the prescribed texts for each week. THe Prophet is speaking to the Hebrew people and for them as well, singing praises to God. In prepping for today i was struck by the beauty and comfort of these words, written and spoken to people in exile. Reminding them that the Holy One was still present in their very midst.

And one line especially sort of jumped out at me: especially for this Sunday when we light the Candle of Joy:

Verse 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

I immediately thought of a story from the Gospel of John:
Jesus and the disciples are traveling thru Samaria and about noon, the hottest part of the day, Jesus sat down at a well known as Jacob’s well (yes the Jacob of the Old testament who wrestled with God!) the text specifies that Jesus was tired from the journey.

John Chapter 4  

7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food.

9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.)

10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.”

11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!”

Jesus asks her for a drink. He humbles himself to speak to a woman, which wasn’t done in their culture, to speak to a Samaritan. He lets her know that he is in need of a drink of water.  She is at a well at the hottest time of day, clearly she is in need as well!!

She and he are not quite on the same page at first. He speaks of Living Water and she says “sir you don’t have a bucket”.  

I love that her response is to then refer to their common forebear “Our father Jacob”.  They’ve got something in common despite all their differences. (we talked about this at Women’s Fellowship last Spring! The traditional take on this story is that she is an outcast for having 5 previous husbands, and is living with a man now.) yet, when Jesus chooses to speak to her, to share in his need, she chooses to refer to what they have in common.

Then Jesus says “whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”

Her response sounds pretty joyful don't you think?

“Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!”

She may well be still thinking in practical terms, not the metaphor of ‘living water’ that Jesus uses for Salvation. It would certainly be nice to never again carry a heavy jar back and forth at all hours!! But in just another moment, she will recognize Jesus as a prophet and ask him about the differences in the beliefs of Jews and Samaritans. She is knowledgeable and curious about both religions! Could it be possible that she recognizes the Isaiah reference “with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Certainly by the end of their conversation she did!

This story in the gospel of John is the longest conversation Jesus has with any person. It is also the first time he says outright that he is the Messiah. How interesting that he chooses someone so different from himself!

And what was this woman’s response? She ran back into town to share the news!

Verse 39 tells us. Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

The Savior of the world is coming...not as a King, or a military master leading an army. But as a baby..born for one purpose. When the choir sang “Were you there? Did you think of the Good Friday song "Were you there?” Good! Because this baby will be born to go to the cross...for the forgiveness of our sin and to give us eternal life.

Just like the woman at the well, we too are called to share the Good news of Jesus Christ! The prophecies and promises all thru the Bible are of God Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for all eternity!! We are called to tell about it, And we are called to do even more. To be a disciple and to make disciples is to live as Jesus did. To share the promises of God-the promises of Eternal Salvation, the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.

Closing Prayer: (from Walter Brueggemann)  Holy One, we give thanks for the gift of Jesus. We ponder the meaning of one who is the Son yet fulfills the role of Everlasting Father. By your Spirit, give us the joy and assurance of your everlasting presence. Empower us as the church to carry forth your promises as we partner in your mission for the world. Amen.

NOW let us do as this woman did and the shepherds did on the night of that first christmas, Go Tell it On the Mountain, Over the Hills and Everywhere! Please stand in body or spirit…

Thankful Thoughts, sermon for Nov 25.

November 25, 2018      Thankful Thoughts        Pastor Carol P. Taylor      

Psalm 136

¹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

⁴ to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
⁵ who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
⁷ who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
⁸ the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
⁹ the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

This last weekend of November is for many people the beginning of the Christmas season. Retailers of course have been putting out Christmas stuff since Halloween. (they are merely competing for our money after all!) HOWEVER in the church year, Advent-the season of anticipation of the birth of Christ, doesn’t begin until NEXT Sunday, (Promo advent devotional booklets!) So the church year is in deep competition with our commercial society. One pastor I read said this time of year, the church is in an alternate universe from the culture! It’s really too bad that the consumer culture is so strong, it can take so much away from the actual holiday! and from other faiths who celebrate December holidays besides or instead of Christmas.

So here in our church, we are wrapping up our Thankful November, and next week begins the season of giving. It’s only appropriate to celebrate the Thankful season first, isn’t it! We give most generously out of gratitude and recognition of our blessings.  As Pastor Hayes said at our community service last week, We must be thoughtful in order to be thankful!

Our first scripture (thank you Kari) is from the Psalms. The Psalms were written to be sung. Didn’t you almost want to chant along or even sing along.. His love endures forever!

To hear, to say, to sing a phrase like this over and over, helps get it deeply into our mind and into our hearts, doesn’t it? And how about if we were to say it, with emphasis on a different word each time.

HIS love endures forever, (Whose love?) God, who created heaven and earth, the sun moon and stars, and created humans in God’s own image.

his LOVE endures forever, God’s unconditional, pure love! Love that does not depend on what we do, who we are, or how good we are! Love that is compassionate!

 his love ENDURES forever, it continues or remains, it is constant, it never changes!

his love endures FOREVER! From the very beginning of time to the very end.

God, who created all things and all people, God’s perfect love is for all things for all time!

This is the promise made over and over in the Bible. Unfortunately, in life, things happen, like storms, earthquakes, fires, People fail to live in love and hurt other. These things are not of God, but God is still with us thru all these things. A widely quoted saying of Mr Rogers is look for the helpers. And it is comforting to know that there are always helpers! This is why we pray for the helpers, first responders, for they are doing a tough job, an exhausting job, and part of our prayer is that they remember that they are the Hands and Feet of God in the world, and that they see the image of God in those they are working to help.

Our New Testament lesson today is from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. These people were very dear to his heart, and this letter, even though written while he was imprisoned, is a letter full of the deepest joy, the kind of joy that can only come from that enduring love of God.

READ NT LESSON: Philippians 1 New International Version (NIV)

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: ² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer ³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Commentary, Philippians 1:3-11, Edward Pillar, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.

• "Paul is addressing a community who are deeply committed to the cause of the gospel, and actively share in defending and confirming the gospel. Paul expresses his confidence because he is sure that the Philippians will continue along this road. And as they do so, so also God will work powerfully in their lives to change and transform them, causing love to overflow from them."

This was a group of people who had a deep abiding love of God and a sure faith in Jesus the Christ. The church was based in the home of Lydia, the woman who sold purple fabric, which was rare, luxurious and expensive! So this was a woman of independent means, who about 10 years prior to the writing of this letter, met Paul as he was traveling, and upon hearing the Good News of Jesus, she believed and then opened her home to the rest of the new believers. The Philippians were able to send generous gifts of money and necessities to Paul while he was traveling and during his imprisonment. He had a special place in their hearts, and they in his. So Paul writes this letter to them to affirm his special feelings for them, despite his imprisonment and all the hardships he has faced over the years since he first met them.

And he prays for them. Knowing their hearts, knowing they are rooted in Christ, knowing they are praying for him, He prays that their love will grow, in knowledge of God. That they remember their roots and the deep love of God and that they continue to live it out, and do so even more than before! That they stay strong in the Love of Jesus and do what is right, by the teachings of scripture. He prays that they grow in mind, hearts, and souls, in the Love of God thru Jesus. Wow.

If while I was reading this passage, you had a sense that I am saying these things to YOU personally, you are absolutely right.  I know how deeply the people of this church Love God and are committed to reaching out into the community to share that love. And I do pray that we indeed continue and strive to grow in that love and outreach.

It’s a challenge sometimes. There is so much in the world that is not godly…so many people who are hurting and who may react poorly to any mention of God or Jesus. But we human beings, created by God to be in relationship with God and with each other are all connected, whether we like it or not, whether we admit it or not.

Author Brené Brown defines the word Spirituality as the recognition that We are all connected to each other …and that our connection … is grounded in love and compassion.

In her social research “the research participants discussing spiritual disconnection….described a diminishing sense of shared humanity. Over and over, participants talked about their concern that the only thing that binds us together now is shared fear and disdain, not common humanity, shared trust, respect, or love.”

I have read other authors saying similar things. And I believe –no I KNOW—that we, people of faith, can help our culture get past this disconnection. And we must. A culture in which people are bound by fear and disdain, and even hatred, is a culture that WILL fail.

But when people are very intentional about practicing kindness and compassion we can and will prevail.

We do this by being thoughtful and thankful! Fredrick Buechner:

Jesus did not simply tell us that God loves us even in our failures, and wants us to love each other the same way and to love God too, but that if we will allow it to happen, God will actually bring about this unprecedented transformation of our hearts himself.

IF we remember Gods Love Endures Forever…if we remember Grace and Peace of Jesus Christ, IF we remember, keeping them in our hearts, we can live out that enduring love.

To remember is to bring back to the mind, to bring back to ourselves.

Remembrance--literally to again belong… to bring back to belonging together. To remember Gods love is to deliberately bring it back into our minds and hearts.

And when we hear “Do this in remembrance of me”, We re-member jesus, we bring Him back to our hearts and minds. And pray, thankfully, that he gave his all for us.

Jean Vanier: Jesus has chosen us to live his mission. He wants our hearts to be wellsprings of living water, loving people and helping them achieve their goals. Thus, when we announce the Good News to the poor, it is not to tell them, “Jesus loves you,” but rather to say, “I love you. I commit myself to you in the name of Jesus.”

  Let’s pray… God of enduring eternal love, Guide us to be thoughtful and mindful of you, re-membering Your Love as given thru Jesus Christ, that we may commit ourselves to you and thus give generously of Love and time and talent in the coming season. In Christ we pray, Amen.

Short and sweet

This photo is of a "Burning Bush" (the proper name is Euonymus) outside the church building. The leaves are drooping, because we've had some frosty cold mornings. But the colors are still vivid and beautiful. 


Sometimes we think we can't serve God, because we're older, we have health issues or whatever. We may be too busy to add anything to the calendar. But just as the colors of this "droopy" bush shine, we can serve Our Lord. We can pray! One does not have to sit for a length of time to pray effectively. We can pray short prayers throughout the day as we see or hear of a need. Even a quick thought of "God help this person" is a powerful prayer! We can pray for friends and situations as we scroll through social media and news. We may text or email a loving thought to a friend. That's prayer too! 

This Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season, remember that even a few moments of prayer and gratitude are multiplied when given to God. 

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you" -Philippians 1:3a

Prayer for Veterans November 9, 2018

Grinnell Hall Event

For much too long, our society at large has not been appreciative of you who served. And we recognize our abject failure to express our gratitude! So please, when you are thanked this Veterans Day weekend for your service, know that we acknowledge that failure,  our appreciation is sincere.

Let us pray,

Holy God of all, thank you for this opportunity to freely gather together, in recognition of those who have served our country, protecting our freedoms. These men and women gave generously of their time and energy. They have seen many give their lives to keep our nation safe and free. We are humbly grateful, dear Lord. Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."  and we say thank you for that great love of our nation. Help heal the physical and emotional wounds that may linger for many of these veterans. Please continue to bless and guide these brave veterans who served so well. Lord, we ask that you Please help us civilians to always be grateful and kind to them! We also ask Your blessing and protection on those who serve today, in the reserves or active duty. Remind them that “those who hope in the Lord will have their strength renewed and fly on wings like an eagle.” Give their families protection and peace of heart as well, dear lord.

And we pray for our community, our country, and the world. That Your compassion and spirit of hope and unity prevail over any selfish motivations we may have. Guide our leaders to Godly answers that are for the greatest good.

Lord we pray all these things, and the very deepest prayers of our hearts, knowing that nothing in all creation can separate us from the Love of God thru Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Photos from this Autumn

My church, from the rear entrance. This Maple tree was SO vivid!! 

A Small World Sermon given 7/22/18

A Small World 

Proverbs 6:16-19

There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

1 John 3:1-7

New International Version (NIV)

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

The summer just seems to be flying by doesn't it? Last weekend, we had fun with the Vacation Bible school kids and Sun Valley Pres. Our friends Wes and Laurie played, their band is now called Taking Refuge and they're one of the groups that will play at S.W.A.G. School supply giveaway event on Saturday Aug 18. That is at Telfer Pavilion starting at noon.

Of course Martin and I were gone for the last half of June and 1st of July.. as you know we drove the truck of supplies, displays and AV equipment from the National Association office near Milwaukee to the annual meeting in San Diego. This was a Penske truck...16 feet long. Yeah it was big. To be clear, I did not drive it at all. Martin did all the driving...4619 miles!! Eleven states. from Wis, thru the Plains, New Mexico, AZ and southern Calif...across deserts and mountains, to San Diego CA., and home again. We saw incredible natural beauty and met wonderful people as we went along. Thank you all for your prayers for our travel.  And for having us represent you all at the meeting.

One of the things we are reminded of on our trips is that it is a small world. We met folks from all over -- on the road and at the meeting. And when we'd get to chatting, we all had something in common or some kind of connection.

We are all children of God aren't we! As our NT text tells us. As God's children, we are to be in community, together with eachother and with God. That is what John was saying as he wrote these letters, Epistles. There were problems with false teachings that were causing church friction. So John wrote to help correct the false teachings and to remind his beloved flock of their calling to be in good relationship with each other and to be good followers of Jesus. Good followers of Jesus may slip up, but be careful to stay true to God's word, and not do things that contribute to ill will and dissension. Those are not of God, as our lesson from Proverbs spells out.

In the book, Common Grace, which women's circle will be looking at, author Anthony Robinson in a chapter on parenting, talks about love that is accepting love, and transforming love. As he puts it, accepting love affirms the child, and lets them be, and transforming love seeks their well-being and prods their growth. I think in some ways we do this in many relationships. Not just children. We may affirm and let be, or we try to help someone change. But sometimes I think we just want people to change..to be more the way we want..more like us, presumably. That's human nature. But we..people of faith are to be more like Christ. Jesus showed both kinds of love...accepting and transforming...but mostly accepting. The people he spent time with were "Sinners" and tax collectors, and riff raff. And his accepting love transformed them!! I think of the story of the rich young ruler, who had personal wealth and had followed the commandments all his life, but went away sad when Jesus urged him to give up his belongings. But "Jesus looked at him and loved him"

That profound accepting love -when we know it for ourselves-can be transformative!! When we choose to be more accepting and respectful of others, we are transformed. We will feel better about ourselves!! And they will respond positively to that acceptance.

Dalai Lama

“when our intentions toward others are good, we find that any feelings of anxiety or insecurity we may have are greatly reduced. We experience a liberation from our habitual preoccupation with self and paradoxically, this gives rise to strong feelings of confidence.”

In other words, when we choose to be more accepting, and positive towards others, our own negative feelings will be less and we will feel better and more confident! Gosh, when we act in Godly ways, we feel good! (go figure!)

One way to do this is to be more aware of the presence of God in every day life. That takes some intention and focus. This is one of the reasons for having regular bible and prayer time-for doing morning devotions, for example. And maybe to journal about your bible time. To deliberately spend time with God helps us be aware of God at other times. And in other people. And yes, it takes some practice to remember that everyone is a child of God.

As someone said, You are made in the image of God. And so is that other jerk you're arguing with! 

As we told the vbs kids, God is with us always.

 Choose to to focus on the presence of God..  . 

A highlight of our trip, a very Godly morning, was seeing the sunrise over Grand Canyon. We stayed overnight in a hotel right in the National Park, and got up at 4:30am...

we got to Yavapai (Yah VAH Pay) Point on the South Rim a bit before sunrise... there were a few other people there, including another couple about our age, and 2 ladies who were from someplace that's mostly warm, they were wearing warm jackets and had a blanket over them. Martin and walked around a bit, I was taking some pics and the other couple and we chatted a bit and photographed each other with the canyon in the background. Then I went to sit down, asking the bundled up ladies if I may sit next to them, they nodded. And one said yes. After a moment one of them said something about 'Frio” which I remembered from years ago Spanish lessons, means cold. I said si, frio, it;s cool and smiled. I asked where are you from, they answered Roma! I was surprised!! and said Roma, Rome? Italy? Si, si Roma, Italia!! I said WOW, welcome, welcome to US!! thank you grazie!! where are you from? Wisconsin, here? Wisc..yes, si, here! :D

so I offered to take pics of the 2 of them with their camera and phone and then the sun was coming up. So we were all clickety-clicking away. And one lady said “Bella” Bellissimo” and I said Si Bella, Beautiful!! finally the sun was over the rim of the canyon and our Italian friend said Buon Journo Sol!! I said Buon Journo Sol, Good Morning Sun!! we all smiled and nodded and watched the sun rise some more...it was a holy moment –for all of us!

We were all there for the chance to experience the sunrise, the beginning of a new day, at one of the most stunning examples of God's creation. It was a holy moment, and more so because of being able to connect with these other folks, especially the lovely women from Roma. To say together Buon Journo Sol!! and then Arrivederci when it was time to leave. I'm sure we all have differences, but none of those mattered just then.

God's presence is everywhere We were very cognizant of this that morning at Grand Canyon. It's easier for many of us to perceive the Presence when we are in nature.

But God is in everyone also, and we can choose each day to seek out and honor that presence. To give accepting love. Love that honors and is from our Loving Lord. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Let's Pray... Lord of all, help us to accept and love as You do, to see You everyday and in everyone. Help us to bridge gaps in this small world... filling those gaps with You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

I got to fulfill a longtime dream recently. My husband and I traveled to San Diego for our church denominational meeting, and on the way, we got to watch the sun rise over Grand Canyon. 

(South Rim, Yavapai Point)  It was indescribably beautiful. We stayed from 20 min before the moment of sunrise until about 1.5 hours after. The sunrise was lovely, and then we saw the light gradually move into the canyon, revealing the details of the rock formations. Below are some photos that I took. They barely do justice to the day.