Welcome to the JCPC Daily Reflections Blog. Reflections are daily devotionals authored by JCPC pastors, staff and members and provide insight, guidance and comfort to help you make it through each day. If you’d like to receive Reflections each day via email, provide your email address.
Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty.
-Zechariah 1:3
Repentance is one of those things we specifically associate with Lent. We recently had a short discussion about what repentance meant during one of our weekly staff meetings over Zoom, and it got me thinking about what it really means. My normal Sunday routine now that I'm back in Japan involves watching online services from two or more churches, one of them being JCPC. Since our discussion, I've started picking up on little tidbits about repentance through watching these services, and a new way to look at repentance has emerged.
We often think of repentance in a negative way, associating it with the sinful parts of our lives. We have to recognize what in our life needs changing, and that can be uncomfortable. I've often thought of repentance as being an emotional act, recognizing flaws and humbly bringing them before God. But what if we also thought of repentance from a different approach. God calls us to constantly work towards becoming better versions of ourselves. The purpose of repenting is to discover areas that we need to improve in order to become a more ideal version of ourselves. In other words, we repent so that we can become who God meant for us to be.
Repentance is an opportunity to return to God. It's a chance to work on that which is lacking. Lent is a time of preparation and waiting, and it ends with Easter morning. On that first Easter, everything changed. The bonds of sin were broken by Christ's resurrection and new life began. We often associate Easter with new life: budding flowers and freshly hatched baby chicks. Can we then think of Lent as an annual chance to work towards living into a "new" life and returning to God? Instead of dwelling on the negative, how can you look at those parts of your life that need changing in a positive way? Through repentance and a return to God, we not only become more like who God wants us to be, but we also find that God returns to us.
Prayer for Today
God of Life, we are broken and incomplete, full of unfulfilled dreams and forgotten promises. Help us to envision a new life with you again, one where we live according to your will. Bring us through this Lenten season so that we may arrive on Easter morning renewed and closer to you. Amen.
And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
-Hebrews 10:24 & 25
Lent is a season of penitence. Often, people give things up to express repenting of things or habits that might allow them to focus more on God and their faith. Some people take on new spiritual practices. In the last 12 months many of us have given up or lost a lot. This may be your year to reclaim some of them. The Barna group, one of the biggest organizations that tracks church statistics reports that as many as one in three Christians have stopped attending church in any way. If that's you, this Lent is your call to pick back up worship for you and your family.
In past years, many Christians have as their primary reason for missing weekly worship that they were too busy or had competing Sunday morning activities. And yet, many churches, including JCPC, and most of our neighbors moved online for the first time or had already been providing that. It's time to make the time and buckle in for worship. Scripture tells us it's essential. Research tells us it's essential to being anchored in lifelong spiritual practices, family bonding, and health. And it's literally never been easier. While I do hope you'll come to drive-in worship with us, if you cannot, I hope you'll tune in online. It's shorter than a regular service. In fact, if you used to come for two hours to also do Sunday school or socialize, you can check out other worship services from our neighbors, other Presbyterian churches, our previous services you missed, or watch this week's service again. There's also an online children's message. And you can join a number of small groups on Zoom.
This Lent, reclaim your faith, or check it out for the first time in a while. Do not let Covid keep you from the pew. It can be your couch. We can all get there and be together in spirit. Don't let anything else fill the void. What fills our moments we ought to or used to spend with God become our idols. When we choose to carve that time back out and reclaim it, we destroy our idols and reclaim our faith and families. This Lent, reclaim worship, live or online. Make a plan, be disciplined, find accountability in friends and pastors and with your own family. I'll see you in the lot, on Zoom, and God willing, on the other side of this pandemic in our pews and classrooms and over a dinner table.
Prayer for Today
Lord, help me reclaim my faith. Help me and my household carve out time for worship, study, and fellowship, in safe ways live and online to grow in you and deepen our relationship. Amen.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. - Exodus 20:8-10a, NIV
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
- Genesis 2:2-3, NIV
At last Saturday's Zoom Presbytery meeting, our guest speaker, the former Moderator of the PCUSA, reminded us that it has been almost a year since this pandemic started. He also reminded us that we began this time in "sprint mode" -- believing this would all be over pretty soon. Now, almost a year later, he reminded us that this is really a marathon and not a sprint. He also said that no one can keep up a sprinter's pace for very long without facing inevitable consequences.
Last year when the pandemic hit hard in the first week of March, Pam and I were heading down to Florida for the Braves' training camp. We were hoping for a much-needed break. Our vacation was cut short when we had to come home early as everything began to shut down. That was the last vacation I had. The needs of 2020 led me to choose to focus on getting JCPC through this crisis. Creating an Online Weekly Worship Service and then adding an In-Person Drive-In Worship Service restructured much of my time. Financial challenges, staffing concerns and pastoral care needs dominated the rest of my time. So, when I heard the words of our Moderator at our Presbytery meeting, I realized it was probably time to take some Sabbath for renewal in this marathon that we are all experiencing. This week, I am taking off Thursday through Sunday.
The Bible verse above from Exodus reminds us of the commandments (not suggestions) from God, which include the need for a day of Sabbath rest and renewal every week. Genesis also reminds us that even God rested one day in seven after creation, and so should we. This Sunday is Youth Sunday (which I always love and will watch online) -- so the service will be in good hands. I strongly encourage you to plan to attend or watch it online, too!
May God help each one of us to find the Sabbath rest we need -- in order to live life the way God intends it to be lived.
Prayer for Today
God of grace, help us to experience the gift of your Sabbath rest as we set aside time for renewal and worship you. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
In the past week with my study and prayer, I had a chance to consider John's account of the Wedding at Cana and the miracle of Jesus there. This verse stuck with me at the end of it.
This act in Cana of Galilee was the first sign Jesus gave, the first glimpse of his glory. And his disciples believed in him. -John 2:11
John's gospel shares 7 miraculous signs of who Jesus is and what Jesus can do. This is the first of the miracles that Jesus does in the lives of the disciples and the people at Cana get to witness it.
We are continuing to travel through a season that has put us through more challenges, hurdles, crisis, and experiences in one year than we may have experienced in any other season. The miracles of Jesus are signs that remind us that Jesus does extraordinary with ordinary. Jesus is with us in the midst of our crisis and challenges.
So what kinds of miracles are you praying for in your life today? Are they Emotional? Relational? Health? Family?
Can you be open to the miracles and signs that point us to Jesus? Do you sometimes try to find a rationale reason for something happening even though if you think about it further you may realize this was a miracle in your life and a gift from God?
These lyrics from this song came to mind as I considered this scripture and the miracles of Jesus.
You are here, moving in our midst I worship You, I worship You You are here, working in this place I worship You, I worship You
You are Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper Light in the darkness My God, that is who You are
You are here, touching every heart You are here, healing every heart
You're turning lives around You are here, oh, turning lives around You mended every heart
(Way Maker- Leeland)
Creator God, Thank you for the miraculous signs and ways that you care for us. Open our eyes to see you are at work in our daily lives. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
-1 John 5:14
Every morning when I feed my VERY vocal cats, Boris and Oscar, we go through the same routine. The second I emerge from the bedroom, they meow nonstop, following (or leading) me into the kitchen, and as I replenish their food and water, they urgently crescendo their meows, and I start to wonder... don't they realize I'm feeding them?... am I not going fast enough?... They meow incessantly for what they want, as if their being fed depends upon their efforts to meow louder and never let up... we do this every day, twice a day, but it's like they don't believe I'm really going to feed them. Of course I'm going to feed them! One day as they were howling, I thought, is this what our prayers sound like to God???
Luckily, the answer is no! God loves to hear our prayers, and God loves when we approach with our requests, whether they be for ourselves, or for others. In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he instructs them to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." (Ephesians 6:18)
This Saturday, we will have a unique opportunity to pray for all the Lord's people. Our annual Prayer Vigil will take place from 12:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. in the East parking lot. While we are not able to do this indoors, you may remain in your car, walk the campus, or find a quiet place to sit. Prayer guides and prayer concerns will be provided. The prayer labyrinth will also be available under the portico until 5:00pm.
Also this Saturday at 6:00 p.m., there will be a drive-in Service of Prayers for Peace (also online), following the Prayer Vigil.
We began this week with the account of Jesus transfigured in glory on the mountain. We entered the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday, remembering that we came from dust, and to dust we shall return. Join us Saturday as we draw nearer to God in prayer.
Prayer for Today
God of the universe, we cannot fathom how holy and powerful you are, and yet you call us your own children and draw near to hear us. Help us to trust in your faithfulness, and move us to love one another. In your son's holy name we pray. Amen.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
II Corinthians 9:8
I have a tradition of blessing the boys when they hop out of the car for school. I make the sign of the cross on their foreheads. Much like many of you will do at the drive-thru for ashes or at home with the online service. I remind our boys to do their best, be kind, and we love them. Last week, for the first time, I made the cross on my one year old's forehead as he stood in front of me, and he said his one and only phrase he knows apart from a half dozen words. As I asked God to bless him and crossed him with my thumb, eyes wide, he looked at me and said, "Oh Wow."
When I mark our oldest, he smiles. He often requests it. He fully understands it and loves it. When I mark our middle son, he grins. He gets that it's special. And then there's our toddler. He knows he's loved. He erupts into smiles and giggles when me or his mother enter the room. He doesn't understand it on any deeper level. But he is wowed. At times in my life, I've been like my teenager. I've craved and needed God's blessing. At other times, I'm like my middle son, grateful, and beginning to comprehend. And at other times, like my youngest... God loves little old me? Oh wow.
Where are you in your faith walk or faith life? Are you in or at a church or watching online every week? Invested in a small group or Bible study? Or have you wandered away in quarantine or for longer? God's words and faith family are a real blessing, whether we are seeking it or not. Maybe you are seeking it. I hope you'll join me at church or online each week. Or maybe, you've needed to feel that love, to be inspired, encouraged, challenged, connected. And I hope you'll join us and just maybe, you'll have a moment of childlike wonder, and won't be able to help saying, "Oh, wow."
Prayer for Today
Lord, bless me and keep me. Call me, lead me, guide me, and give me purpose. Amen.
Today is Ash Wednesday. One tradition in Christian churches is called "the imposition of ashes." It refers to the act of placing ashes upon the foreheads of Christians to remind them of their mortality and their dependence upon God's grace. But the word "imposition" is not one we use often. I thought about someone saying, "I don't want to be an imposition" or " I hope I am not imposing." I looked in the dictionary to find these definitions:
- the laying on of something as a burden or obligation
- the act of imposing by or as if by authority
- the act of imposing fraudulently or deceptively on others
- the ceremonial laying on of hands, as in confirmation or ordination
- the act of putting, placing, or laying on
Only the final definition in the above list seems to touch on what we do on Ash Wednesday. But I never thought of the imposition of ashes as a "burden" or an "obligation" -- and certainly not something involving "deception." In fact, there is something very honest about saying to someone the words we speak as we place the ashes on someone's forehead: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." It doesn't get much more honest than that.
Wearing those ashes around in public may be something of a "burden" -- reflecting our "obligations" as followers of Christ to love one another. Jesus tells us that in following him, we will all take up our cross in life daily - whatever that cross may be.
However, the Psalms reminds us of this: "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death." Even as we allow ashes to be imposed upon our foreheads as a reminder that we are all mortal, we also remember that we have a Savior who bears our burdens daily - one who saves us and offers us "escape from death." While we all face physical death, that is not the final word. God's final word is resurrection and the end of death!
Prayer for Today
Loving God, as we remember this day that we are mortal, help us also to remember that we are loved by you, forgiven of our sin, and will one day be restored to a new, resurrected life with you. Amen.
When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." John 9:6-12
Have you had an experience where God has sent you into a place unknown? When it's a mission experience, often before we go, we are commissioned. In some traditions, this sending includes a laying on of hands, a simple, but powerful ritual of the body of Christ. In that moment, those being sent may have little idea of the journey ahead. Who will we meet? What new adventures will we have? How will we see God at work?
I have been journeying with many who have been traveling into the unknown, but not in the sense of a mission trip experience. We have been on a journey over the past year into some very new and unexpected experiences in our own community, country and throughout the world.
Where have you encountered a new mission in your own community?
Often on these journeys we experience transformation and healing. There is a good chance that those who didn't share the experience with you will notice a change in us when we return. We may not be able to articulate clearly why we have changed, but it is important to share our stories. Sharing our own experiences of being sent by Christ may indeed be an eye opener for others.
Take a moment today to think about an experience where God has sent you. What did you learn? How have you been changed? I would invite you to share this experience with someone else this week.
Prayer for Today
God, help us to share our experiences with others in such a way that they too may see you. In Christ's Name, Amen.
During an outing, we met a woman who had known my husband's family since he was a child. She looked from Alan to our son, Xavier. "He's the spitting image of his daddy," she said. "Those eyes. That smile. Yep. Looks just like him." As the woman delighted in acknowledging such a strong resemblance between father and son, she even noted similarities in their personalities. Still, though they are alike in many ways, my son doesn't reflect his father perfectly.
There's only one Son-Jesus-who reflects His Father completely. Christ is the "image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation" (Colossians 1:15). In Him and through Him and for Him all things were created (v. 16). "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (v. 17).
We can spend time in prayer and Bible study, discovering the Father's character by looking at Jesus-God in the flesh. He invites us to witness His love in action by examining how He interacts with others in Scripture and in our day-to-day living. After surrendering our lives to Christ and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can grow in knowing and trusting our loving Father. He transforms us to reflect His character, so we can live for Him.
What a joy it would be if others could say we look just like Jesus!
Prayer for Today
Jesus, please help me know You more as You make me more like You! Amen.
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
-Mark 9:2-4
This passage starts Mark's accounts of the Transfiguration, an incredible miracle that is mentioned in three of the four Gospels. We celebrate the Transfiguration of Jesus this Sunday, and you may notice our stoles will be white. We use the liturgical color of white on major Holy Days and Sundays where we celebrate pivotal events in the life of Jesus. The white symbolizes purity, holiness, and glory. Some churches alternatively use gold or use both white and gold together. Based on Mark's account, you can see one reason why we use the color white for Jesus.
I'm especially intrigued just by how white Jesus' clothes are said to have become. Whiter than anyone could bleach them? Bleach does a pretty good job of, well, bleaching cloth. The other descriptions are interesting, as well. Luke says the clothes were as bright as a flash of lightning. Matthew says they were bright as light, and he also tells us that the disciples that went up the mountain with Jesus were very sleepy. Can you imagine being half awake on a mountain, and then suddenly, something so white and so bright appears in front of you. How would you react if something so indescribable as the glory of Jesus shone before your eyes? And what about if then, both Moses and Elijah appeared, too? And then! What if you heard the rumbling voice of God call out?
Well, that's exactly what happened to Peter, John, and James. I think I'd be terrified and speechless, but Peter offers to set up three tents for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. I really don't think I would have said the same thing, but I think there is something to Peter's reaction. There's nothing of value Peter could've given to Jesus in his full glory, but he offers whatever he has anyway. I don't know what it is that God has given you, but whatever it is, offer it back to God anyway. The paradox is that no matter how humble or insignificant our gift may be, the Ancient of Days will always gladly accept and cherish it.
Prayer for Today
God of All Time, our presence is exceedingly insignificant when compared to your glory, and yet, you call to each one of us by name. Open our ears to hear you calling, and give us the courage to humbly offer you our broken hearts and weary minds. Transfigure our lives to reflect your glory and to lighten the darkness in the world. Amen.
