From Pastor Don

By Pastor Don Bryant

3/1/10

Then Jesus returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn't you keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter.  "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Matthew 26:40-41 NIV

 Prayer is very important in the life of a Christian.  It is the way we keep in contact with God.  During this time of Lent we are called to pray because it is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves. 

 By observing the days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days.  It was there that he was tempted and yet through prayer found the strength to resist temptation.  We have several special times of prayer during this season.  One is the 24 hour prayer vigil our church will have on March 26 &27.  This is the week before Holy Week and helps us to remember Christ suffering, death and resurrection.  We will need 48 people to make our prayer vigil complete.  (The sign up sheet is in the church office during the week and in the sanctuary entryway on Sunday’s)  It would be great if we had 2 or 3 people praying at most assigned times.  Special Lenten Prayer calendars are available and help us remember to pray each day.

 Most importantly we need keep alert and rededicate ourselves to prayer so we can experience the true joy of the Easter story.

                        Grace and Peace,    

                        Pastor Don

From Pastor Don

By Pastor Don Bryant

2/15/10

This week we begin the season of Lent within the church.  Lent is the 40 days starting Thursday after Ash Wednesday and going through the Saturday before Easter Sunday.  The six Sundays of Lent do not count as they are considered min-Easters.  The forty days are a remembrance of the forty days Christ spent in the wilderness after His baptism and before he started His ministry. The number forty has many Biblical references: the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God (Exodus 24:18) the forty days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mount Horeb ( I Kings 19:18); God made it rain for forty days and forty nights in the days of Noah (Genesis 7:4); Jonah in his prophecy of judgment gave the city of Nineveh forty days in which to repent (Jonah 3:4): the Hebrew people wandered forty years traveling to the  Lent is the time when the church focuses upon Christ journey to the Cross.  Often we think of Lent as the time to give up something, desert, chocolate, or meat on Fridays but in recent years the emphasis has also adding something.  Lent is a good time to try something new each day, such as reading in the Bible, setting aside a certain amount of time to pray and mediate each day, or choosing to do some good deed each day.  Whatever one chooses to do in this season it should be with the aim of being brought into a closer relationship with God.  We have special Lenten prayer/devotional calendars and we will have special Lenten Bible Study on Sunday evening as we explore Christ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount.  Later in Lent we will have the 24 hour Prayer Vigil and a Seder Meal on Maundy Thursday as we remember the Passover Celebration and Jesus’ Last Supper with His disciples.  May this be a special time of spiritual growth for you as you make a special commitment to Christ and His Church.

Grace and Peace,  

 Pastor Don

From Pastor Don

By Pastor Don Bryant

1/18/10

   This Sunday we will have two major items in our worship service. We will have Laity Sunday and Blanket Sunday. Laity Sunday is the time our Lay People lead the worship service. Many of our members will be leading in many ways during this special worship service. In the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) we have always had the inclusive ministry in the life and work of the church. All members are “ministers” – entitled to interpret the Scriptures and perform all church functions. Come and be blessed by our own leading us in worship.

   We will be receiving our offering for Blanket Sunday this Sunday. This is a program of Church World Service that collects monies and distributes blankets to people in need in times of disasters. This has been brought to our attention with the recent earthquake in Haiti. People sleeping in parks and other open spaces need blankets for warmth and to lie upon. Each blanket cost $5 and we ask each person to give as many as possible. Special envelops are in the pew racks or if you choose to mail your donation to the church, please mark it “blankets.”

   We are receiving a special Week of Compassion offering for Haitian relief for the next few Sundays. The Week of Compassion is the organization of the Disciples of Christ that works with disaster aid. Please make your contribution to the church marked for  “WOC” or Haiti.” Let us show the compassion of Christ in this special time of need. “THANK YOU for your generous gifts of compassion. Please remind folks that 100% of what you give to Week of Compassion goes directly to Haiti Earthquake Relief efforts. 100%. We are doing an amazing thing here -- together. And this is only the beginning of the recovery. Let us continue on, in prayer, in hope and with courageous compassion.” - from the latest email update from Week of Compassion.

                           Grace and Peace,

                           Pastor Don

From Pastor Don

By Pastor Don Bryant

1/4/10

   Happy New Year! A new year is a great time for us in the church to take a spiritual inventory of our lives. One of the first questions we can ask ourselves is, “How has God blessed me this past year?” That is the easy part. The harder part becomes in sharing these with others. However, it is important to share because when we share them openly with others then those blessing become more encoded in our minds and hearts. The more we keep them to ourselves the lesser effect they have on our lives and others cannot read our minds

   Another part of a spiritual inventory is to seek those areas of our lives that separate us from God’s love and fellowship with others. Often these are harder for us to identify than other new years resolutions (like to loose weight, exercise more, or spend more time with family & friends.) Once again sharing and being open with others helps us see our needs and make those changes. Keep connected to God through your church in 2010.

Colossians 3:12-17 NIV

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

                           Grace and Peace,

                           Pastor Don

From Pastor Don

By Pastor Don Bryant

12/20/09

     One of the things I love most about Advent and Christmas in the church is the music. It is great to hear the familiar carols sung so enthusiastically by the congregation and of course the special music of the choir, special groups and soloist. The music lifts our spirits and speaks to hearts.

   A few years ago while in Nebraska we had chosen to travel to my mother’s on Christmas day. This meant many hours in the car and we had intended to carry some of our Christmas CD’s to listen to on the way. In our haste we forgot to pick up the CD’s but I thought no problem they will play Christmas songs on the radio. Yes, they did play Christmas songs on the radio but very rarely was a traditional song or carol played. It was a very long trip.

   One of newer Christmas songs that I really like is “The Jesus Gift” by Gilbert Martin. It is one that helps remind me of the importance on this season and what gifts I should offer the Christ Child. The words are printed below.

Shall I gather emeralds,

   shall I bring him gold?
Shall I shower diamonds,

   white-hard, bright-cold?
Shall I spangle jewels like stars above?
Give him laughter, bring peace-filled

    laughter ,
Offer him warm laughter and love.

Simplest of gifts, gentlest of hearts;
   kindness he'll use as he leads .
So, give him these gifts,

   hand him your hearts,
Honor his birth and you'll need no
   Emeralds nor rubies, silver nor gold;
   neither bright diamonds, white-hard,

   bright-cold
Spangle not rich jewels like stars

   above;
You'll have laughter, sweet peace-filled

    laughter, simple warm laughter

    and love.

May your Christmas and New Year be filled with the love of God and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

                                 Pastor Don

Ps. I want to thank you for all your prayers, cards, and visits during my recent hospitalization and illness. Special thanks to all who filled in and made the December 6^th worship service go so smoothly. It is great to be a part of such a caring Church family. Don

From Pastor Don

By Pastor Don Bryant

12/7/09

     We are nearing Christmas in a year that has been very difficult for many in our country and around the world.  With the world economy in difficult times and conflicts that still are in many parts of the world.  Yet it was to much the same types of conflicts and crisis that the Messiah first appeared upon the earth.  Yet it was to a world in great need that God sent his Son.  But all the stories that surround the birth of Christ remind us of the stories of hope appear almost as a fable to great to be believed.  For it is in those times of chaos and cries that new life and birth can take place.  To a lowly pheasant Jewish couple, to an elderly Jewish priest and his wife who were with out any children, to shepherds out on the hillside protecting their livelihood and to common people who went about their daily lives under the oppression of an occupying government, the good news begin to take hope and life.  That is why we have the Advent season, to remind us that it often takes a while for us to prepare our heart and lives to hear and belief that the light has truly come into the world.  As those of the first advent discover life takes on a different meaning when lived in faith and hope.  The struggles of life are always with us but when lives can be lived with faith, the chaos can give birth to the new life of Christmas.

                                   Grace and Peace,

                                   Pastor Don