This Church is NOT a Social Club?

^“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29: 11)

Soon we will be “launching” another church year. We begin in September with planning among our committees and boards (Session and Deacons) so that from now through next summer our Church of the Roses is able to execute God’s plan for our ministry in this special part of the world. I am so grateful for all our church family members who are stepping up and participating in our committees making sure we are more than just a social club of like-minded individuals.

            But what do you think? Is our church just a social club much like other social clubs? Some people believe church is just a social club and so they choose to socialize elsewhere. Many people believe they can get their needs met by being individually “spiritual” and sociable through clubs and other activities of common interest. Do you know people who believe that way? Isn’t there something missing in those groups that only a faithful church can fulfill?

            Nothing links humans to one another as strong as seeking together a deeper connection to God who reminds us that our gathering is not just about “me.”  It is about doing what we can for others while working from a common foundation of God’s love. Just by gathering with other Christians (or seekers who want to know who Jesus is) we are providing an atmosphere of loving acceptance, inspiration, and hope. It’s hard to find that kind of atmosphere in other places. We provide this atmosphere of hope and inspiration by reminding everyone who comes in our doors that they are not alone and that we care for them.

            A “welcoming all” attitude goes a long way in healing a broken soul. More than any therapy or drug, it helps all of us when we enter a sanctuary full of people who want to share God’s love with us; not for just their own benefit but for the benefit of the whole world. Love is contagious. We gather together to multiply love and to spread it across the Universe for the sake of Jesus Christ who taught us how to love in healing, loving and forgiving ways.

            The entity we call “Church” is defined by its values. A church is not a social club because it is founded upon Christian values that are shared among an open community. Many social clubs are elitist and charge money. We pass an offering plate but no one is turned away if they can’t donate for the future of the church. Our door is always open to people of all colors, sexual orientations, ages, and socio-economic backgrounds. Together we try our best to demonstrate our Christian core values of: peace-giving, hospitality, loving salvation, open sacraments, indiscriminate compassion, forgiveness of sins, advocacy for equality, upholding of dignity, respect and social justice for all.

            We are a refuge for the lonely, friendless, and stranger. Our sanctuary is a sacred place where peace is promoted and love generously shared. The ministry of our church provides a safe and healthy environment for children to learn from healthy role models of all ages. Inspiration to live with hope and a sense of purpose is promoted during every Sunday worship service as we encourage all to praise God for our many blessings and learn how to closely follow the best role model who ever lived, Jesus Christ.

            Gratitude and grace are everywhere in our church. We feed each other, bond together, promote peace and justice and pray for one another’s healing in body, mind, and spirit. Our sense of the Holy Spirit guiding our lives and protecting us enhances our ability to cope with a world afflicted by chaos. Our resilience is enhanced through worshiping every Sunday with an attitude of thanksgiving, prayer, and praise to God for all we have been given.  

            Attending our church on a regular basis is not meant to just assuage feelings of guilt and shame (even thought it might help with those feelings). Attending our church provides an oasis where we get rejuvenated and re-centered in the Spirit. Inspired preaching, teaching, and positive fellowship strengthens us for the trials and tribulations that come with life on earth. Our church is a lighthouse of hope and a point of reference that shines a positive perspective on the world and an awareness of our individual impact upon it.

-->      YOU make our church more than a social club. Your presence and willingness to promote the positive growth and development of our church ministries gives hope to the world. When you get involved with our church programs we are better able to reach out and help those in need around us. YOU are an important part of God’s plan to develop the Church of the Roses successfully now and for a very happy future. Thank you all for showing up and doing your part! May God’s grace grant us a wonderful year of growth and blessings ahead! God bless YOU! 

Six Ways to Enhance your Spiritual Life this Summer!

“It is the unseen and the spiritual in people that determines the outside and the actual.” (Oswald Chambers)

         Even though we are super blessed to have wonderful weather year round in Sonoma County, summertime is a perfect time to slow down and focus on enhancing our spiritual lives. So let's use these next few months to intentionally enhance our relationship to God in creative ways. Here are six ways to enhance your spiritual life and lift up your soul:

1.   Try Tai Chi. We have a free class every Saturday morning at 10:30am in Bowen Hall. Tai Chi is good for your balance, and strengthens your body, mind, and spirit with a slow flowing martial art exercise regime. A study in Portland showed that elderly individuals who practiced Tai Chi showed significant improvement in all measures of functional balance, physical performance, and reduced fear of falling after practicing it twice a week for 6 months. 250 million people around the world (2.5 million in the U.S.) practice Tail Chi. Our instructor, David Chung, teaches a meditative form of Tai Chi to help the mind feel peaceful. Peaceful feelings improve health in body, mind, and spirit.

2.   Get outside. Nature is God's workshop. The sky is God’s resume. You want to know who God is? See what God has created. Nature is healing. Walk through the forest or around the lakes at Spring Lake and Howarth park. Go to Bodega and watch the waves crash onto the shore. Sit outside in the night air and listen to the crickets. Listen for God’s message to your soul through nature.

3.   Feed your soul with uplifting spirit enhancing books. Here are a few suggestions: The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth By M. Scott Peck 

“To proceed very far through the desert, you must be willing to meet existential suffering and work it through. In order to do this, the attitude toward pain has to change.….everything that happens to us has been designed for our spiritual growth.”                                     

The Art of Happiness, A Handbook for Living. Psychiatrist Howard Cutler interviews the Dalai Lama to ask him life’s deepest questions. Learn the answers to timeless questions such as: Why is there so much suffering in the world? “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."
Another recommended book is: Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado. “There’s a lot of wisdom in the phrase: “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.” It’s when we try to do everything, that’s when we get overwhelmed. When we do nothing, that’s when we get bitter. But if we can find that one thing we do, that one unique assignment in our hometown or around the world, that’s the way we keep sanity in a difficult culture.” 

4.   Memorize to boost your spiritual brain! Many of us have favorite hymns we sing to ourselves or Psalms memorized that remind us of God’s presence. If you haven’t memorized Psalm 23 and Psalm 100, I recommend starting there. Psalm 139 also reminds us that God’s Holy Spirit will go with you wherever you may go. You can also memorize the words to favorite hymns like: How Great Thou Art!, Precious Lord, Take my Hand, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, and Just a Closer Walk with Thee. Memorize these hymns to keep pondering their reassuring words. Your brain and soul will be uplifted!

5.   Take a fast from drama. Watching brain-draining gossipy shows on TV, feeding into the latest gossip at coffee hour, dwelling on the annoying things our family members do, all cause us to feel depressed and stressed. Get yourself away from negative people and negative critical comments. Find people and activities that uplift not drag you down. Marie Curie said, “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.” Psalm 34:13 says: “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.”

6.   Pray in a new way. The Presbytery of the Redwoods leadership cohorts are planning to pray in our meetings using the ancient form of prayer called Centering Prayer. Father Thomas Keating has promoted this form of prayer for many years. I taught Centering prayer in my resilience project for my Doctorate of Ministry in Science and Theology. Research proves that this contemplative form of prayer, if done on a regular basis, will enhance your resilience status. For training on how to do Centering prayer read: Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening by Cynthia Bourgeault. For a training video see: https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/category/category/centering-prayer

Receive this blessing as you enhance and uplift your soul this summer:

“May God bless you and keep you, May God smile on you and be gracious unto you, May God look you full in the face and help you prosper and be peaceful from this day on and forevermore.” (Numbers 6, 24-26, The Message)

Listening and Praying During Lent

Jesus said the first most important commandment is to: “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” (Mark 12:30) So how do we do that? How do we love God without having a tangible God “thing” to hold onto and squeeze and hug?

You might say we have each other to hug and take care of as God would want us to do. Or, we have Nature to go out and appreciate and praise God for her beauty. Or, we can share our resources with those in need. God smiles about all these ways of loving God.

Yet, I also imagine that our loving parent God would want us to love him/her by communicating. That is really all I want from my adult grown children. I LOVE it when they communicate how they are doing and what they care about and how their lives are going. As their mother, I feel blessed whenever they initiate or answer a call and talk. So I imagine God is very grateful for that as well and whenever we pray and tell God how we are doing and thank God for our blessings and lift up to God what we are concerned about in prayer, then God knows we love him. That is one great way to obey the first commandment from Jesus. Pray, pray, pray.

Listening for a word from God in prayer is another way to show your love of God. To accomplish the deep listening you must carve out time to be silent and truly listen. So – for the Lenten Season 2017, I suggest we all show God our love by praying unceasingly and by listening in prayer to the message God has for us these 40 days leading up to Easter. Remember:  “What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!” (from the hymn: What a Friend We Have in Jesus.)

I Happened to be Standing

by Mary Oliver

I don't know where prayers go, or what they do.
Do cats pray, while they sleep half-asleep in the sun?
Does the opossum pray as it crosses the street?
The sunflowers? The old black oak growing older every year?

I know I can walk through the world, along the shore or under the trees, with my mind filled with things of little importance, in full self-attendance. A condition I can't really call being alive

Is a prayer a gift, or a petition, or does it matter?

The sunflowers blaze, maybe that's their way.
Maybe the cats are sound asleep. Maybe not.

While I was thinking this I happened to be standing
just outside my door, with my notebook open, which is the way I begin every morning.
Then a wren in the privet began to sing.
He was positively drenched in enthusiasm,

I don't know why. And yet, why not.
I wouldn't persuade you from whatever you believe
or whatever you don't. That's your business.
But I thought, of the wren's singing, what could this be if it isn't a prayer?
So I just listened, my pen in the air.