Genesis 9:1-17

Grace, mercy and peace to you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

What do you think is the very first Bible story you learned?
My guess would be the story of Noah's Ark.
And if it wasn't the first it was close. It is certainly one of the best known stories from the Bible. Even families that are not particularly religious are more like than not to have had a toy ark, with lots of animals and figures of Noah and his family. I remember we had an ark set that floated, and we would play with it in the bathtub. So, of all the stories in the Bible, we may be most familiar with all the major components of this story.

There's Noah ... the ark ... all those animals, of course ... the flood itself ... then the dove with the olive branch ... and the appearance of the rainbow in the sky. And each of these parts of the story carry symbolic power of their own even today, as does the story as a whole. There is, however, one major player in this story that we often leave out as we play in this story, tell this story or use its powerful and rich symbolism.

The story of Noah's Ark is a story about God.

We have a future!

Jesus is asking us to do the impossible. Are you surprised?
In fact, this whole enterprise is asking from us something that is nearly impossible for us to actually do: to act today in such a way as to create a better future for ourselves.

Human beings are terrible about thinking about and acting in the best interest their future selves. Scientists believe that we treat our future selves so poorly because, when you "imagine your future self, your brain ... stops acting as if you’re thinking about yourself. Instead, it starts acting as if you’re thinking about a completely different person."  In fact, scientists theorize that not only do we treat our future selves like a completely different person, but also as a person we really don't care about very much.

​Ash Wednesday 2021

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Grace, mercy and peace to you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

In mid-March 2020, we were in the middle of our observation of Lent when the COVID-19 pandemic reached our part of the world.  At that time we  suspended all in-person gatherings in our ministry center, and we asked that the members of this fellowship gather in their homes for worship. So that we might still be together in Christ, at least in Spirit, we worshiped, prayed, studied and met together by making use of some of the stunning technology we have to keep us connected, even when apart. Our community changed and adapted in this crisis not simply because the governor ordered a shutdown or because we were afraid of getting sick ourselves, but voluntarily and out of obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus: "Love another as I have loved you" (John 13:34). Our goal then was to slow the spread of coronavirus, to protect the vulnerable, and, by adapting our methods, to continue to live out our mission to share the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed. Throughout this time, this congregation has shown a miraculous resilience. We have responded and adapted to a crisis while sustaining and even strengthening and expanding our capacity to carry out our mission. Additionally, we discovered how truly connected we are. When we do things like wear a mask, maintain a healthy personal space, avoid crowds and make a number of other small modifications to our daily life, we act out of love for our God and for our neighbor. Suddenly, we can see clearly how our behavior might ripple through an entire community for the good of our neighbors health and well being. When we gathered for worship on Ash Wednesday in 2020, we could have never imagined that we would be in this place a year later. Yet, here we are, and things are about to turn again.