Rev. Zach

Isaiah 43:1-7      Acts 8:14-17      Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 After reading the scriptures I lead the congregation in making rain sounds by snapping their fingers, clapping, and stomping. I started our reflection today with rain sounds because we’ve just read about God’s claims to bring us through water and fire and all manner of struggle and strife just because God is God and God loves us. That’s tremendous claim! In fact, it’s so incredible that God – the original cause for all that is – would claim to love us,  that God only says it directly one time in the Old Testament. Of course, he is speaking specifically to the People of Judah through the Prophet Isaiah, but we know that this claim includes us. I say we know it, but maybe “believe” is a better word. We believe it to be true, and it gives us hope and meaning when there seems like there is nothing left to hope for. That is what many in our community and our region felt li...

Isaiah 43:1-7        Acts 8:14-17        Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Just when you thought the feasting of the holidays was over, we have come to worship God today and found an all-you-can-eat buffet of spiritual food. Our plates are filled with the promise of restoration, the baptism of Jesus, and the promise of the Holy Spirit – and it’s not even Lent, let alone Pentecost! And even while we load our plate with these delicacies, we know we must save room for the impact of ordaining Church Officers and the foretaste of the heavenly banquet that is communion. That’s a pretty full plate, and yet these ideas and experiences are all important for the nurture of our faith. No matter where we are in our walk of faith, we always need to be fed and encouraged – for there is work to be done. We have lives to live for the glory of God, and we have a certain freedom from sin that needs to be experienced and shared in order for it to be real. This is what Howard Th...