Pastor Brian's Blog

“The Earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,” says the psalmist (Psalm 24:1, CEB).  In September, I will lead a new series called “A Good Creation.”  It is intended to be part of a growing ecumenical and international observance of September as the “Season of Creation.”  Also known as “Creation Time,” a Lutheran pastor in Australia started the movement in 2000 as a celebration of prayer and action to protect creation.  Since then, it has spread among Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Christians around the world. In our series, we will explore how God’s Word is the impulse that summons forth creation, evokes praise from nature, and stirs life in the world.  Each week, we will focus on a different aspect of God’s good creation and our relationship to it.  September 2 – Holy Communion Planet Earth Genesis 1:1-25 September 9 Humankind Genesis 1:26-28 September 16 Sky Jeremiah 4:23-38 September 23...

A few weeks ago, I had a bicycle accident that resulted in the dislocation of my right shoulder.   The first four hours were excruciating, the worst pain I have ever experienced. While I was laying on the sidewalk, waiting for the ambulance to come, several people stopped out of concern.   I didn't know any of them, but they were willing to help me, a stranger. A few asked if they could call 911.   Two people offered water.   However, by this time, I didn't need their help.   The ambulance had already been called, and I did not want anything to drink.   There was nothing anyone could do to take away the pain before the paramedics came.   Yet, in my hour of need, I was glad that someone cared. That is what makes for intercessory prayer — caring about people who are sick or hurting in their time of distress. Sometimes we think about prayer in a utilitarian way, assuming that praying is pointless unless it will do some measurable...

Love unites us with God and one another.   In fact, Love is the proper name that Charles Wesley gives to God in his beloved hymn, “Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown.”   During August, I will lead a new series on love as the source of our interconnectedness.   The series is based on the second half of Ephesians, which encourages us to pursue both the personal and social dimensions of our life as a loving community in Christ.   One of the distinctive features of the early Methodists was how they were committed to “watching over one another in love.” 1 Pheme Perkins notes that as we praise God together and take stock of the blessings we continually receive from God, we become clearer about the nature of our relationship with God. 2   Growing in that relationship leads to greater spiritual maturity as we interact with one another in a spirit of Christian love. August 5 Ephesians 4:1-16 Build Up in Love August 12 Ephesians 4:25—5:2 Live...