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.
This past Sunday, our family woke up and prepared to travel to Drive In Worship. As it has been the case for many of you, leaving the house for an outing to some of our regular weekly activities has changed. We have new routines in place when we leave and fewer places to go each week. Navigating the pandemic life with a 5 and now 6 year old has brought new questions, blessings and challenges.
We shared with Will about what to expect with church on Sunday and when he realized we would stay in the car, he asked if he could bring a pillow, blanket and wear comfy clothes. We said Yes to all of it.
Chap and Will dropped me off near the entry so that I could greet folks and share a Kids Drive In Worship bag with any children who attended. The bag includes a kids bulletin with activities as well as hands on supplies to help children connect with and retell the story.
While Chap and Will settled into their parking spot and listened to the prelude music, Will said, "Dad, I didn't know COVID 19 could be so relaxing." Will was sitting in the reclined front seat, enjoying the music, with his comfy pillow and blanket.
I'll admit finding places of comfort and relaxation has been challenging at times during this season. Drive In Worship was a welcome time to see our community of faith that has traveled with us on this journey in life, marriage and parenting.
Will's observation reminded me of these words in Psalm 46, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging... Be still and know that I am God."
As we are navigating new ways to do things in our daily lives, we found Drive In Worship to be a meaningful experience for our family to connect, worship, find comfort and hope. I hope you will join us this Sunday in your car with your comforts to find rest in the Lord.
Prayer for Today
God of Comfort, Thank you for the ways you hold us in the stillness and silence. Open us to see you in the new experiences of this season and make space for connecting with you. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
I didn't know what to expect but I really wanted to know so I went. Have you ever had that experience in your life? You were invited to an event, party or gathering and you weren't sure if you'd like it or not. You decided to go and then wow you were glad you went. Uncertainty can either keep you from experiencing something new or it can hook your curiosity.
Well during these uncertain times we all need more experiences of "wow; I'm glad I went!" I know I had that experience yesterday in what I believe is the first ever Drive In Worship at JCPC. At 9:30 a.m. many of you were parked in your cars listening to Heidi play the Prelude to worship. I'll be honest with you. Never before has sitting in a parking lot felt so sacred.
A team of greeters made our striped asphalt appear to be like holy grounds. Certainly good news was going to be shared and it had a little of the feel of a summer camp meeting without the tent. A pulpit had been constructed in a fashion that old John Calvin would have been proud. When Gray climbed up into that outdoor pulpit it all shifted away from not knowing what to expect, uncertainty, to the certainty of Presbyterian worship.
I sure am glad I was there! It's now 4:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and I'm still excited when I think back on our Drive In Worship. Our Solace gathering time shifted to 11:00 a.m. this morning and we discussed our impressions of the worship. Rich Shuler touched our hearts when he said "I felt like I was back home!"
I know many of you miss that feeling of being back home in Sunday worship. Well I'm here to tell you that there's no time like now to come back home and experience the joy of worship and the uplifting fellowship. I hope to see you this coming Sunday, rain or shine, for Drive In Worship at 9:30 a.m. If you catch me on a good day, who knows, I might even reserve you a prime parking spot!
Prayer for Today
Share your good news of grace and faith with us, O God, for we need your words and we need each other. Lead us home to worship you in ways that even in our parking lot we will glorify you and enjoy you forever. Amen.
We've been talking a lot about storms lately. This Sunday, we'll be looking at the account of Jesus calming the storm at sea. You may remember that Jesus and his disciples got into a boat...
"And while they were sailing, he fell asleep. A squall blew over the lake, and they were taking in water and were in danger. They came and woke him saying, "Master, master, we are perishing!" He awakened, rebuked the wind and the waves, and they subsided and there was a calm." (Luke 8:23-24 NABRE)
The storm analogies make sense to many of us. To others who feel the storm is a little too close, they may ask, "If Jesus can speak to the wind and waves to calm them, when is he going to come and calm the storm that is threatening me?"
Last week in online worship, we sang the hymn "How Can I Keep From Singing?" Some of you may have sung along, and some may have wondered how to find the strength to sing at all. Maybe you or someone you know is in a dark place right now for any number of reasons... illness, death of a loved one, isolation, job loss, financial trouble, end of relationship... the list can be long... One is tempted to ask, "Where is God in all of this?! Does he even care??"
As a church musician, I have often been drawn to read the book of Psalms, and was always intrigued to notice that many of them start in despair, but end in hope. Psalm 139 has always been one of my favorite psalms, precisely because it assures me of God's constant abiding presence:
"You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," Even the darkness is not dark to You. And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You." (Psalm 139:5-12 NABRE)
That's where God is in all of this. Right there with you, wherever you are. Always. And we are never forsaken. When your storm has passed, may you be able to sing with the psalmist, "I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God." (Psalm 40:1-3a NABRE)
Prayer for Today
God who calms the wind and waves, help us to cling closely to you through our storms, and move us to reach out to someone today who needs your calming presence. Amen.
Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a servant to sin. The servant does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
-John 8:34-36
It's a holiday weekend, chiefly Independence Day. Many folks will be talking about freedom, particularly in light of the restrictions during the pandemic, the racial justice protests, and of course, this being an election year. Freedom is a concept important to believers. However, it is understood differently by us as believers. Freedom is typically understood by one's relationship to rules and restrictions. So for a believer, we have both the rules of society, as understood through the legal system, as well as God's laws.
Freedom is typically defined as the power to act or speak as one wants without hindrance or restraint. And that's why we understand it differently as Christians. We know that we are either a servant to God or to our wants and desires. There are only those two options. We can either serve God and love our lives according to the rules and expectations of our loving creator or serve only our own wants and desires. To live our lives by the love and grace Christ shows us as an example looks like servitude to the world. And it is. But as Christians, we understand it is ultimate freedom from our own wants and desires that consume so many people. To serve the needs of our neighbors and the least of these frees us from greed, lust, laziness, consumerism, racism, bigotry, busyness, cruelty, selfishness, pettiness, divisiveness, ego, tyranny, ignorance, and apathy.
Why does this matter? This matters because as we approach the middle of one of the most difficult and disastrous years in memory, and among the worst in history, a year marked by restrictions in and fights for freedom, we must understand what freedom is and be a witness to the world of what true freedom is. To be free in Christ is not freedom from the rules and restrictions of government and medical professionals. It is the freedom to care for our neighbors and vulnerable people through social distancing practices. It's not freedom from protestors or police. It's the freedom to examine systems that allow and perpetuate unfair treatment of our brothers and sisters of color, and to love and pray for the officers who dedicate their lives to keeping us safe. It's not freedom to choose leaders who will protect the interests of ourselves and people like us, but to consider the needs of the most vulnerable, the least of these, and to choose people who will represent those needs and lead us all to be our best selves.
As believers, we approach Independence Day with solemnity and joy. We must give thanks for the great freedoms we have as Americans, but also the understanding that true freedom in Christ holds us to be very responsible citizens who love our neighbors through our actions and words, living into the expectations and hopes of our loving creator rather than just enjoying the removal of tyrannical laws.
Prayer for Today
Lord, thank you for my freedom. Help me to live a life worthy of that freedom. Help me to overcome being a servant to myself by serving others. Amen.
P.S. - Don't forget to come this Sunday, July 5, for our first Drive-In Worship at 9:30 a.m. - rain or shine. We will also have an On-Line version of the service on our website.
"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken."
- Psalm 55:22
When I went by the church yesterday to lead my Zoom Pastors' Bible Study, I checked the church office for mail. I found a piece of paper in my mailbox with a handwritten note from one of our church members containing the Bible verse above. The person ended the note with "Have a good day" and signed her name. It was nice to get such words of encouragement unexpectedly. My sense is that many of us continue to feel shaken by the daily changing events in our lives. I know I have. So, the reminder from the book of Psalms, to cast our cares on the Lord with the promise that God will sustain us when we feel shaken by the events of life, was both appreciated and needed.
You may remember that the word "encourage" comes from two French words: en- which means "make" or "put in" and corage which comes from the word for "heart" - coeur. One could say that enragement is really en-heartment, or giving someone heart. Some of us are really good at encouraging, while others of us have to work at it. Whether encouragement come to us naturally or because we are gifted in that way (Paul lists it as one of the spiritual gifts in Romans 12:8), or it something we have to make a deliberate effort at doing-we can all chose to try and encourage each other more often.
In this pandemic storm, we especially need to lean into offering words of encouragement because all of us feel "shaken" at the present time. Yet I believe that one of the main ways God sustains us during these times is through the encouragement we can offer one another as sisters and brothers in Christ. Maybe it will come in a personal note and a Bible verse, like the one I mentioned above. Find your own way to be an encourager today!
Prayer for Today
God of encouragement, fill our hearts with your love this day. Help us to cast our cares on you, knowing that you promise to sustain us even when we feel shaken. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
P.S. - Don't forget to come this Sunday, July 5, for our first Drive-In Worship at 9:30 a.m. - rain or shine. We will also have an On-Line version of the service on our website.
In January of this year, Jamie Traylor and I traveled to Charlotte to participate in a Labyrinth facilitator training with Veriditas. We were paired with Catherine Anderson as our guide and instructor. We both found the experience, community, and time to reflect deeply meaningful. At that time, we were just hearing more information about COVID-19 and the possible implications. I never imagined we would continue to be in the midst of this pandemic exactly 6 months later.
Catherine like many of us has been reflecting and re-evaluating our place in this world and in our own community especially during this unusual season. She recently shared some very meaningful words and actions that she can bring to our world in this time.
Some of the words she shared,
"It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search - but rather life lived to the edge of all my possibility."
-Maryanne Radmacher
"We don't have to agree on anything to be kind to one another."
-Catherine Anderson
"Be the kindness you wish to see in the world."
-Catherine Anderson
Her words reminded me of Paul's in his letter to the church in Ephesus, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
-Ephesians 4:32
I would invite you this week to consider these words and how they might guide your reflections, actions, and conversations. I find that when I walk a familiar path in my neighborhood or on a labyrinth, my mind can come to a place of calm and clarity through prayer and movement. This prayer time brings more depth and meaning to my day.
Each day as we navigate this pandemic, messages from the news and challenges we face in our personal relationships, I invite you to find time for prayer and movement. Perhaps write one of these quotes or scripture on a card and carry it with you.
Prayer for Today
Creator God, open our hearts, minds, and bodies to your kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Guide us as we continue to navigate new paths and new challenges. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Her doctor said her detached retinas couldn't be repaired. But after living without sight for fifteen years-learning Braille, and using a cane and service dog-a Montana woman's life changed when her husband asked another eye doctor a simple question: could she be helped? The answer was yes. As the doctor discovered, the woman had a common eye condition, cataracts, which the doctor removed from her right eye. When the eye patch came off the next day, her vision was 20/20. A second surgery for her left eye met with equal success.
A simple question also changed the life of Naaman, a powerful military man with leprosy. But Naaman raged arrogantly at the prophet Elisha's instructions to "wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored" (2 Kings 5:10). Naaman's servants, however, asked the military leader a simple question: "If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?" (v. 13). Persuaded, Naaman washed "and his flesh was restored and became clean" (v. 14).
In our lives, sometimes we struggle with a problem because we won't ask God. Will You help? Should I go? Will You lead? He doesn't require complicated questions from us to help. "Before they call I will answer," God promised His people (Isaiah 65:24). So today, simply ask Him.
Prayer for Today
Dear heavenly Father, when life feels complicated and difficult, thank You for Your promise to hear even my simple prayers. Amen.
No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that Rock I'm clinging. Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?
- Refrain from My Life Flows On by Robert Lowry
I think it can be hard to really feel what the opening of this refrain is talking about. In good times, I like to think that I am strong and nothing can disrupt my inmost calm, but right now, I feel like the storms swirling around all of us are seriously rattling the shutters on this calm! I don't know about you, but I find myself seeking ways to cling on to some rock - any rock! - every day. But this hymn, which we will sing together during worship online this Sunday, helps to at least shift my focus away from the storm itself and more towards the Solid Rock we should all be clinging to.
But simply knowing that the peace of Christ should bring me a sense of calm doesn't always bring the comfort that I need. I'm sure it's different for everyone, but I find that two things that can help me relax and be able to feel the peace of Christ amidst the tumult are nature and walking. Walking along a path deep in a forest somewhere, I am able to stop the noise and get closer to really feeling the peace of Christ. But through my Saturday trips to hiking trails, I've realized something else: this peace I so desperately need is also often found during worship, which the pandemic has disrupted.
We say that "worship is the most important thing we do," and part of that worship is singing hymns together. We've managed to do some virtual singing together, but there's nothing else quite like singing together as a group in worship, voices joined in praising God. It also just so happens that singing may be one of the best ways to spread diseases. It seems so unfair the way this virus has disrupted our ways of worshiping together, but no matter how rough the storm gets, it will pass and Christ will still be the Lord of heaven and earth. I hope that we can all rally together in this unprecedented time and support one another, letting songs of peace echo through our hearts and finding new ways to act as the body of Christ.
Prayer for Today
God of endless song, help us to cling to you and hear your songs in the dark of night. Be our hope and stay in this and every storm, and guide us toward the profound, life-changing peace that you offer with open arms. Amen.
Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
-Matthew 7:7-8
There's no doubt that this is a tough time to be in the world. A pandemic, race tensions, murder hornets, Saharan sand, politics, elections, and more. Every single person I talk to is carrying heavy burdens for their personal and professional lives, stress and anxiety, fear and frustration, anger and disappointment. Zoom meetings, small gatherings, and chance encounters in the store feel heavy with the emotional strain of everyday life.
So yesterday, the softly spoken words of my Irish friend, author and storyteller, Gareth, resonates within my soul. When he leads gatherings and retreats for folks, he almost whispers, in his gentle Irish brogue, the invitation, "Bring what ya have and ask for what ya need." It's simple and profound. When we come to one another as Christians, in small moments of chance encounters and the structured time of small groups, classes, and worship, we bring what we have. Our burdens and our blessings. And we ask for what we need. Forgiveness and fellowship. We are honest, we are vulnerable, we are generous, and we are healed.
For many of us, we have missed all of that from our distance in quarantine. We yearn to gather in small and large groups, to transcend our difficult reality for the peace of those moments where we bring what we have and ask for what we need. As a pastor, as a leader, as a father, and as personality type focused on the needs of others, I often forget I have needs myself. Perhaps you do too. Or perhaps, you forget that we all are carrying heavy burdens just now. We will gather once more on July 5 for drive-in worship, a first phase of a new normal. I hope you'll be there. I miss you. And I hope you'll bring what ya have and ask for what ya need.
Prayer for Today
God, help me be mindful of all I have, the burdens and the blessings, to ask for what I need, and to love those near me. Amen.
Last weekend's Wall Street Journal featured an article on the comeback of the Drive-in Theater. When the pandemic hit this past spring, Drive-in Theater owners lobbied to keep their doors open because it was a social distancing way of watching a movie, while getting out of the house. The article even mentioned Atlanta's Plaza Theater, the oldest and the only independent cinema, that has pivoted to offer drive-in movies in its parking lot. Our session has voted to begin on-campus worship Sunday, July 5th at 9:30 AM with JCPC's own version of Drive-in Worship. Who knew we would be such trendsetters?
Earlier this week, our Worship Ministry Team held a Zoom meeting to prepare for all of this. Our preparation discussion included how we would park, how we would collect the offering, what happens if we filled up the West parking lot next to the ballfield, and many other details. It was a spirited discussion and my sense is that we're all excited to gather again for worship on our campus. All of us want to be prepared so that we can worship together in person (or in cars) because, as we say around here, "Worship is the most important thing we do!"
Preparation is an important part of life. The Scouts have their motto, "Be prepared." This Sunday, our next message in our Living Through the Storm series is called "Preparing for the Storm." When we get word a storm is on its way, most of us make appropriate preparations. What about the storms of life? What can we do to be prepared?
I hope you will join us online this Sunday as we wrestle with those questions. We will be looking at the end of the Sermon on the Mount -- Matthew 7:24-29. Jesus' words remind us that how we prepare prior to a storm makes a difference how we live through the storm. And as we said in last week's message, Jesus promises to be with us in the center of our storms -- never leaving us alone. And that's good news!
Prayer for Today
Loving God, thank you for being with us in the center of the storms of life. Help us to prepare, as your disciples, so that we might weather the storms of life. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
