Memory

That time between Christmas and the new year seems to lend itself to nostalgic reflection.

Memory: Bob's Axiom 1

Memory permits us to enjoy the past without having to relive it.

If You Had 86,400

fdollars deposited in your bank account every day but anything left in the account at the end of the day would disappear you would make sure that every penny of the money was withdrawn before day's end.

You have 86,400 seconds of time every day.  How will you spend that time?

The scripture lesson is Ecclesiastes, Chapter Three, in which the preacher tells us of the "times" that avail in life.

Every life is chained to time.

Every second matters because we are not guaranteed another.

What are your roles in life?

      We are accustomed to changing our hats from moment to moment.

There is difference between being busy and being hurried.

Being busy is a normal state of affairs for most of us.  Daily chores and responsibilities keep us busy.  Being hurried leads to frustration, aggravation, sometimes seething anger.

How do we make sure our life is not meaningless?  

Make every second count!

 So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.  --Psalm 90:12 (NRSV)

When we die to our selfish desires Jesus makes us a new creation.  He redirects our paths when we mess up.  He gives us peace in the storm.

More than 3,992,000 of this year's seconds are gone.  Where did they go?

    How many people did you share your faith with?

    How many times did you read your Bible?

    What are you going to do with the seconds you have left?

How are you going to choose to make your life count? 

 Pastor Amanda Blair

Sunday morning

Clerestory from the well

As the magi followed the light of the star, may you welcome the Light into your life.
Merry Christmas from Bob Warr and the Missus.

Where are you Christmas? Christmas Sunday

The scripture lesson is Luke 1:26-38 in which we study the visit of Gabriel to Mary announcing to her the mission for which God selected her.

What made Mary special?
     Mary had great faith, she was righteous, and she was favored of God.  These are wonderful things, but that is not it.  Her greatness was defined by her willingness to do whatever God had planned for her life.  She said "Yes" to God.

We are all like Mary.  We are all favored of God.  As he did to Mary, He came to us with the Promise.

From a reading written and presented by Briana McDonough

We stand on the edge of what you invite us to become.

Hard but simple, let me become like Mary.  Open my heart to your Son, Jesus Christ.

Yes, let Your Word be fulfilled in me.

Come in, Christ Jesus, come in.

Pastor continued: We read in Romans 12:1  "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." (NRSV)

This is your spiritual act of worship. Say "yes" to God in whatever His plan for your life.

Mary's "yes" in part made our relationship possible.

 Who is relying on your "yes"?

Pastor Johnnie Blair

Sunday morning

Listen to Briana's reading here: https://www.facebook.com/creativeartspastor/videos/10153376611623174/

That Debate Brought This to Mind

Uncle Jep once told me, “I voted in ever’ election sence William Jennings Bryan, God rest his soul, stood agin President McKinley in nineteen-ought-ought, ‘n I’m proud to say that never but once’t did I mark fer the fella what won. I allus think a fella dumb enough to want ta be president hain’t smart ‘nuf ta do the job.  But then, you know we responsible ta pick the lesser a two weevils, so ta speak.”

(--or in this cycle, from amongst weevils weasels galore.)

Skin Care

 In the local CVS today I walked down aisle 2, skin and facial care.

 At one end of the aisle.

And at the other end.

Oh, those marketers do know their  clientele.

Third Sunday of Advent: Hope

 

The scripture reading continued in the first chapter of Luke's Gospel.  We read of the birth of Elizabeth's son, her naming him "John."  The people were astonished, for there were no Johns in the Zechariah family.  So they asked Zechariah who took a tablet and wrote, "His name is John."  At once the man's tongue was loosed and he began praising God.

hope, n. that which is desired.

hope, v.t. believing desired outcome will occur.

"hope against hope"  hope even when the outlook is grim;  to keep pressing forward.

Hope is a "someday."

Much of the hope we understand is an Old Testament type of hope-- "someday."  Advent is all about this someday hope.

Hope in someday is not wrong, but it is not complete, either.

It focuses on the future, does not impact what occurs today.

Jesus brings hope not only for someday, but for today.

We need to have our eyes open to what God is doing right now.

What Jesus gives is completely foreign to every other religion.  He gives eternity within us right now.

Jesus came to reconcile us with God.  

We are the ambassadors of the reconciliation.  We are to offer it to the world.

As Christ is the hope of the world, we are to bring that hope to the world.

The task John was given is passed on to us.

When did you last ask God to fill you with the presence of his Holy Spirit?

Hope is a glimpse of eternity in us.  Hope for someday is true, but it is already conceived within us.

  ^"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Romans 15:13 (NRSV)

How can I have hope for today, not just for someday?

The Holy Spirit is the key, the witness of the Holy Spirit in your heart and life.

The Hope is in accordance with the Holy Spirit living within you.

God is working in you and through you in this current moment! 

Pastor Johnnie Blair

Sunday morning

 

Dow Chemical and DuPont will merge.

Ho-hum.

No one is concerned about this? 

How about the ten thousand employees who are likely to lose their jobs. ("will be impacted")

How about all of us?

There is no government but the government of bucks and megabucks.

Money talks.

Still, it is a serious problem

The local news at six, and by local I mean the nearest metropolitan locale, ran a report on crime statistics in the city, year-to-date.  The number of deaths due to gunshot wounds, the number of wounded gunshot survivors, and so on.  Pretty straight-forward, not too hard to count.  Horrendous stuff, too.   But then there was this.

"17 per cent of local residents ages 12 to 17 carry guns."

Another easy to garner statistic.  Simply have all those in that age category line up and fill out a form stating whether or not they carry a gun.

DID NOT.

That, and I am quite comfortable in making this statement, is MADE UP to support or promote some particular agendum, just as a whole host of such statistics are made up for just that purpose.

Believe it.  I do. 

Which is not to say there are not too darned many teens who are armed.

Where's my America?

After New Hampshire GOP chair Jennifer Horn said the plan was “un-American” last night, Trump supporters began signing an online petition calling for her resignation. State Rep. Al Baldasaro of Londonderry, a co-chair of Trump’s veterans coalition who is circulating the petition, told the local TV station WMUR that Trump is “100 percent right”: “What he’s saying is no different than the situation during World War II, when we put the Japanese in camps.  --WaPo 12/8/15

Think about that.  A state legislator cites one of the most shameful acts in American history in support of one of the dumbest things a candidate has ever proposed.

Joy. Second Sunday of Advent

Despite our circumstances, God wants us to have joy.
When you have joy you have a deposit of God's glory in your heart.

In the first chapter of Luke's gospel, we read of Zechariah and Elizabeth, her barren condition and her great disappointment, and of God's promise of a son.  We read of Mary's visit to Elizabeth and how Elizabeth's child within her leaped for joy.

Many know what it means to be dissed by life, know  discouragement because of the things life throws their way.

1.  Joy is a sign that God's favor rests upon you.

" For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor."  Psalm 8:5 (KJV)
You are highly favored as a child of God.

God always answers prayer.  Our God alone is a God who favors His people such that his ear is attuned to their needs.

Joy is the seed of God's promise in you.
Having joy does not mean you will not encounter discouragement, fear, anger, sadness, or disgust. 
Do you believe God's promises are a sure thing?  Then you are blessed.  Joy is based not on conditions of this world, it is based on the condition of God's Kingdom, which is alive and well!

2.  Joy is surrender to the will of God, to his plan.

Life happens, and it will mess up your plans.  God's will is different from His timing.  His timing is always right.

ADVENT IS WAITING.  It is what we do; waiting is the name of the game.

Christians should be the best at waiting, because we have joy!
       God, help me to surrender to your plan while I wait for your timing.

3.  Joy is God's counter-move to all life's disappointments.

The Key to Joy:  Trusting Him.

Pastor Johnnie Blair

Sunday morning  

Class Action Settlement

Letter came today addressed to the Missus.  I noticed the return address read "ATTM Settlement."
"Here," I said as I handed it to her.  "Your settlement check from AT &T.  Probably a dime.  Anyway, whatever it is, it cost them more to cut the check and process it than it is for."

She opened the envelope which revealed a neat letter in very. fine. print and a check attached.  "It is for ten cents," she said.

Of course I burst into laughter.  How could I have known?  Well, I am not prescient but one is always aware that in situations like this the only winners are the attorneys.

Yet of course evil-doers, be the behavior intentional or not, must be punished.

And again, "Bwaahahaha!"

Heart

A heart full of love
No fear, no regret

Claude-Michel Schönberg:A Heart Full Of Love Lyrics