A Doubting Place

Is it okay to doubt God at church? It's one thing to doubt God in the science lab or classroom. But shouldn't church be a place where we suspend reason and accept certain things on "faith"? Apparently, Jesus and the disciples thought otherwise! 

When Thomas expressed doubts at the proposition of Jesus' resurrection, the disciples (John 20:25) didn't write off Thomas as a lost cause. Instead, the disciples continued embracing Thomas in community (see John 20:26). Neither is Jesus put off by Thomas' questions. Rather, Jesus invites Thomas to put him to the test! ("Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side." John 20:27.)

Conversations about doubt happen when we listen carefully to one another while being honest about our own doubts and questions. Rather than trying to "fix" another person's doubts, we keep the focus on how we have seen God at work in our own lives and we encourage the other to put Jesus to the test in his/her own way. Jesus is not threatened or disappointed by our doubts. We can be confident that if he is who he says he is, Jesus can answer even our most nagging doubts and questions.

If you missed the weekend message, you can listen to it here. To prepare for this weekend, read John 7:53-8:11.

Conversations About Past Hurts

Our church (www.clpc.org) has designated 2016 the "Year of Story." We're learning how to share our real-life stories with one another and learning how to listen for stories our neighbors, co-workers, church friends, and community are telling. We're learning to understand our own stories and the stories of the world around us, in light of God's big story of grace and redemption in Jesus Christ. 

In church circles, it's easier to share stories that have tidy endings. These are stories of answered prayer and spiritual triumph. What we don't share so easily are the stories with tattered edges. These are stories of an absent or silent God - stories of failed relationships or relentless struggles with sin. 

Mark 5:24b-34 tells the story of a woman suffering from past hurts. In anguish for twelve long years, physically and emotionally, the woman emerges from the anonymity of a crowd to touch the hem of Jesus' cloak. Exhausted from a life of pain and shame, she risks it all to share her story with the One who could make her whole. Our church family can be a place where it is safe to be honest and to be known. We can be a place where it is okay to not be okay. We can be community living under the healing touch of Jesus. We do so by mustering courage to reveal the story of our own hurts and making a safe-space to listen for the hurts in others.

How the Story Ends

God's new heaven and new earth / unveiled when Jesus returns

When bad things happen to us, to our loved ones, or in the world around us we wonder, "What kind of story is God writing?" Revelation 21:1-8 gives a glimpse into the Story's ending with God "making all things new." God's story doesn't end with humans skipping off to the clouds leaving earth behind. Instead, God's holy city comes down from heaven. We look forward to a new, resurrected earth and heaven united under God's benevolent rule. The Good News for today is, the One who holds our eternal future also holds the future of today. If you missed this weekend's message, you can listen to it here.

Held Together

When things aren't going well we often say, "things are falling apart." We're "torn to pieces" when a loved one suffers. When a relationship ends we talk about "breaking up." When we say things like that we are appropriately describing the brokenness of a world infected by sin and Evil. It has been noted that the Latin root is the same for our English words "diabolical" and "disintegrate." Sin makes us, and our world, fall apart.

The Good News of God's Big Story, however, is that Jesus Makes Things Right. According to Colossians 1:17 Jesus is the one in whom "all things hold together." Through Christ's life, death, and resurrection Christ has reconciled all things. If you missed last weekend's message, you can listen to it here.

Falling Apart

Human sin is real and it ruins everything. This is the not-so-pleasant part of God's Big Story. Like a giant "Jenga" game, Genesis 3-6 describes how God' creation falls apart as humans grab for their own and distrust God. We see that brokenness in the world and, even closer, in ourselves. Thankfully, God pursues us. God doesn't walk away from our mess. God walks toward us (see Genesis 3:8). This is the rest of God's Big Story.

If you missed the weekend message, you can listen to it here. Join us this Labor Day weekend for worship as we learn what happens next in God's Big Story. It's going to be a great weekend of worship at CLPC!

Prayer for Monday

I realize every picture, every image, every video has a context. At the same time, some pictures take on meaning which transcends the literalness of the circumstance. The image of Ieshia L. Evans standing peacefully in the face of heavily armed police officers portrays the kind of upside-down (or right-side up?) reality of God's Kingdom I can only pray might characterize our collective witness as Jesus followers.

After the 11:15 a.m. worship service yesterday, a church member slipped a piece of paper into my hand. It contained a single phrase from the hymn we had sung earlier that morning: "Cure thy children's warring madness." As the images and stories continue in the wake of last week's violence, the entire third verse from "God of Grace and God of Glory" seems an apt prayer for us.

Cure Thy children's warring madness,

Bend our pride to Thy control.

Shame our wanton selfish gladness,

Rich in things and poor in soul.

Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,

Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal,

Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal.

Fallen idols: Monday Message

Gideon asked the angel, “If God is with us, why has all this happened?” (Judges 6:12). As we face trouble at work, hurtful relationships, or even routine irritations and inconveniences, we might ask God the same question. Sometimes life is hard and God’s promises seem distant. We ask God “why?!”

God’s answered Gideon with an invitation to get rid of idols. Like the rest of Israel, Gideon and his family were not totally surrendered to the LORD God. In Judges 6:25-27 Gideon tears down his family’s idols to Baal and Asherah. Gideon renews his commitment to the LORD.

Perhaps today is a good time to smash an idol distracting your full-on devotion to God. Yesterday in worship we did so by symbolically crushing a dixie cup. You might do the same right now by crumpling a sheet of paper while praying, “Lord, I surrender to you completely. Let me find my strength for today in you alone.”

If you missed this weekend’s message you can listen to it here.

Join us for worship this weekend as we consider the story of Jonah’s call as our series, When God Calls continues.