God is with You
Nov 09, 2008One evening this week, a couple leaders and I spent time in the hospital visiting a family from the church. It was a precious visit and we all sensed the Holy Spirit there with us. A lady pushing an older woman in a wheelchair joined us in the elevator on our ride down to the first floor. She told us she was just visiting her dad in the hospital, and identified the woman with her as her mom. She looked weary from the day, burdened with stress and fear.
When we reached ground floor, I helped her push the button to open the doors for the wheelchair and sensed the Holy Spirit telling me to follow her out. I hesitated momentarily, but then told the others to wait a moment and followed the prompting of God.
The two were in the lobby, preparing themselves to go into the rainy night. Walking up to her I said, “I’ll be praying for you.” Immediately she started crying. “Thank you,” she said. “Are you saved?” she asked me. “Yes,” I answered. “God hasn’t forgotten you.” Through her tears she said, “Now I know because He sent you to tell me. I haven’t been able to reach out to God. It’s just been so hard.” She continued crying as I hugged her. “God is walking with you. Even when you can’t reach out to Him.” I held her hands for a moment longer and then we said goodbye.
The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save
he will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.
Amen.
-Book of Zephaniah
We and the people around us, need to hear this message of love, hope and care. “God is with you, He hasn’t forgotten you.” “He is mighty to save.” “God takes great delight in you.”
Maybe you need to remember that today.
God wanted to use me and I almost missed it. It’s easy to let fear or worry about what words we’ll say or how we’ll look stupid to keep us from sharing, but people need to hear. The Holy Spirit helped me to follow and we, both the woman and I, left the hospital that day, blessed.
Today, may you remember that God is near. Today may you be a reminder to all those around you that God is near to them.
-Pastor Tara VinCross
To Make a Difference
Nov 02, 2008“You are only limited by the size of your vision,” said Dr. Joseph Kidder, our guest speaker for this weekend. We know its true. We believe that “with God, all things are possible”* yet we have memory lapses and limiting thinking that prevent us from stepping wholeheartedly into the purpose God has for us as individuals and as a church. We buy into the fear and anxiety so pervasive in our culture. We loose the plot. We loose focus on the bigger work that God is doing in our lives and in the world. We settle.
Yet, the truth remains, we were made for so much more. You were made for so much more. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”*
“Sometimes in life we have to become less to be more. We become whole people, not on the basis of what we accumulate, but by getting rid of everything that is not really us, everything false and inauthentic.” – Harold Kushner
To make a difference we must let go of what we are not, even though others may tell us its what we are, and step into the beautiful mystery of who we are in Jesus Christ. God has good plans for you, for us, for this church and this community. Is there risk? Yes. Does it take sacrifice? Yes. Are we sometimes afraid? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely!
In the words of Will Rogers: “Why not go out on a limb? That’s where all the fruit is.”
My prayer today is that we will step into all that God has planned. By God’s grace and His Spirit, let’s make a difference in the world!
- Pastor Tara VinCross
- Matthew 19:26
- 1 Peter 2:9
Head, heart and hands
Oct 26, 2008Fall is in full swing in Philadelphia, displaying brilliance, beauty, and color all around us! The trees are aflame! What a demonstration of glory! With exquisite beauty all around us, I join my voice with all creation and praise God for all he has made!
This week, Caleb and I made presentations on the subjects of God, life, creation care, and care for the oppressed to a group of teenagers. We talked about how, when we accept Christ into our hearts, He changes how we live. Christ in us affects what we do, what we say, what we buy, what we wear, read, listen to, and so on. Instead of this being a restrictive ‘check list’ of things to remove from our lives, this is God’s desire to usher us into the best way of living, a meaningful life, conscious of those around us. Galatians 5:16 counsels us to “walk by the Spirit.” As we do, the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control – become more and more a part of our lives. The good crowds out the other ways we lived and by God’s work in us, they drop away.
Why are we so resistant to this idea of all-out transformation? Our lives are often compartmentalized, and it seems that we want God to stay in one part of life, but not to affect other areas of life. However, as God transforms our lives, it means that we become more and more conscious of the way we choose to live, and how we relate to God, people and planet. It means we realize that our decisions affect those around us, and those on the other side of the world whom we will never meet.
God wants your head, your heart and your hands – meaning our faith and experience (the stuff of our head and heart) affect the way we live (our hands).
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver
What do you plan to do with this great gift – this life you have been given?
- Pastor Tara VinCross
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