LCPC VBS Call to Prayer – Week 3

The LCPC VBS Prayer Train is at the midpoint now and cresting the summit and we should be able to have a long view ahead of us to see the finishing point and still be able to look back over the tracks we used to get here.

I have been using Ashley’s suggested prayers, a series of prayer areas for the five weeks leading up to VBS, which she put in the VBS Leader Booklet. I’ve taken the daily scripture and stories that will be used during the five days and outlined them in the posts to give you all an understanding of what is being taught in order to give you a more focused approach to your prayers for the week of VBS. And, it will give you the added blessing of being a part of our week.

During week one we prayed for understanding to rest on the children and wisdom upon the teachers. We followed that up with a week of prayer for trust in God’s timing and patience. This week the call is to pray for the children to know that Jesus is all powerful and uses His power to help them because He loves them. With that we pray for the VBS staff to find ways to show Christ’s power.

Our scripture for Wednesday of VBS week is John 14:27 where Jesus says, “²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Here, Jesus had been instructing the disciples and telling them of the Holy Spirit that will be coming upon them after His resurrection. Jesus has calmed storms, fed the multitudes, and performed many signs and wonders and knows that when he leaves to be with the Father the disciples will face trials and tribulations that will rock them to the core. Jesus leaves us with peace, not as the world gives but a peace that surpasses all understanding – thus our need for the Holy Spirit.

Wednesday’s story is Jesus calming the storm and we take the account from Mark printed below:

Jesus Calms the Storm

Mark 4: 35-41 (NIV)

“³⁵That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ ³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’

³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’

⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’

When I look at this story and see that Jesus quiets the storm and then questions the disciples on their faith and wondering at their fear I have to ask myself how Jesus would have preferred it then and how he wants me to go through the storms of life now. Are we to pray for the storm to cease? Or, rather do we pray for the peace of Jesus to be on us so that we can walk through the storm without fear? For me, I think it is the later. Storms will come and go but Christ’s peace should be on us no matter what. No easy task there so my prayer is for God to grant that I can walk in peace in the midst of the storm and project that peace for those I am around.

A couple of decades ago our Youth Ministries used a summer theme of “Fear Not!” working off of Nike’s trademarked “No Fear” campaign. I loved this theme and the scripture we used and I’ll close my call to pray for VBS and this post with it. Here is a command from God as given us by Isaiah.

Isaiah 43:5 (ESL): “Fear not, for I am with you.”

In His grip,

jerry

Simeon and Anna Got Patience

Ely Nevada Steam Engine

Our prayer train should be picking up steam now. And passengers - we need the prayers of those all around us. All aboard!

We pray now that the children will trust in God’s timing in their lives and know He keeps His promises. And we pray that VBS will help them grow in that trust and be a place to explore what this all means to them.

Our Bible point for Tuesday, day two of VBS, is ‘God gives us patience.’ The Bible verse we’ll be using to support the point is Psalm 27:14 – 

“Wait on the Lord;

    Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

    Wait, I say, on the Lord!” (New King James Version [NKJV])

The account of Simeon* and Anna from Luke 2: 21-40 will be told as an example of patience in God’s timing.

“²¹And when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising him, his name was called JESUS, which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. ²²And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord), ²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. ²⁵And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷And he came in the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do concerning him after the custom of the law, ²⁸then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

“²⁹Now lettest thou thy servant depart, Lord,

    According to thy word, in peace;

³⁰for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

    ³¹Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples;

³²A light for revelation to the Gentiles,

    And the glory of thy people Israel.

³³And his father and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him; ³⁴and Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; ³⁵yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul; that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.

³⁶And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, ³⁷and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years), who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day. ³⁸And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks unto God, and spake of him to all them that were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. ³⁹And when they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.

⁴⁰And the child grew, and waxed strong, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.”

Pray that the VBS teachers and story tellers will be blessed by the Holy Spirit just as Simeon and Anna so we can teach the children from a point of revelation and wisdom. Pray that the children can open their minds to gain comprehension about what it meant for these two to wait so long for God’s personal word to them to come to pass. And, pray that we can all find the faith and patience to wait on the Lord for the fulfillment of His word to us.

Thank you for your partnership with the LCPC VBS staff in our quest to raise children to discipleship, one story and one act of caring at a time.

In His grip

Jer Bear

*My grandfather’s middle name is Simeon after this priest who had the word of God come to him regarding the Lord’s Christ. An extra tidbit that makes this account that much more special to me.

Peruvian children - traditionally dressed and with
their llamas

LCPC 2017 VBS Prayer Train to Peru

LCPC’s (La Crescenta Presbyterian Church) 2017 VBS is five weeks away and our Children’s Ministries Director Ashley Pollock has put out a call for prayer with a weekly emphasis. As you’ll see over the next several weeks, it’s all about the kids. This year’s theme is ‘Passport to Peru, Discovering God’s Good Gifts’. During the few days before VBS opens up, classrooms will start to look like rain-forests and teachers will be getting amped up after collecting treasures to add to the experience for the kids. (don’t let them fool you though, they love treasure hunting for the kids)

Calvary’s Thread is extending and supporting the call to prayer for VBS – the kids, the teachers, and the behind-the-scenes volunteers. I’ll be working as the third grade storyteller and I’m already getting pumped up. So folks, hop on board the Prayer Train to Peru.

Our emphasis in prayer for this week is that the children will understand that God cares for us like a shepherd and He knows what is best. Pray for the kids to be receptive and open and pray for the teachers to open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, our Helper and Teacher. Pray for Christ’s love to be evident in every interaction.

Our scripture verse for day 1 is 2 Cor. 1: 4 (I’m adding verse 3 for reference): “³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (NIV)

Our story reading for day 1 follows, I'm using the New International Version (NIV):

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

¹The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

    ²He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

    ³he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

    for his name’s sake.

⁴Even though I walk

    through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil,

    for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

    they comfort me.

⁵You prepare a table before me

    in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

    my cup overflows.

⁶Surely your goodness and love will follow me

    all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

    forever.

You are invited to pray over these scriptures and make them your own and to pray that the Passport to Peru leads us to make it our own at VBS.

In His grip,

Jer-Bear

Passion or Obligation? That’s a Question.

photo courtesy of graphicstock.com

Ever done anything, no matter how good and noble, out of a sense of obligation and passion for it was never in the same room with you? Or even the same Zip Code? There is a numbness that comes over me when I let that happen. Joy is not a part of the task and a task is what it becomes. There is no joy in the equation and energy is not a multiplier in the formula for getting it done, I just slog through to the completion. I know I’ve crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s and something is still missing when all is said and done and I know someone can tell. I can tell. And when it’s done there is a sense of relief.

On the other hand, when an obligation, even a disagreeable necessity, is taken on with passion the outcome is different. The t may be barely slashed and dotted i’s off kilter and still somehow the results are more satisfying. People can tell the difference. I can tell. And when it’s done there is a sense of accomplishment.

What is the difference between a task taken on because of obligation and without passion and one with? Love. Love for the task or activity or a love for the beneficiary infuses the outcome with life and even the onus, or the disagreeable necessity, is lite and fulfilling. Jesus, as he so often does, says it very well, ²⁸“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30, NIV)

The Passion of Jesus is generally defined as the short period of time from Jesus's triumphal entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and culminating with his death on Good Friday. This culmination was the most disagreeable task God has undertaken and it would never have had its intended effect without passion. Jesus was passionate about doing everything the Father showed him and completing every task the Father laid in front of him, no matter how onerous.

Picture Jesus strolling along into Jerusalem, shuffling his feet, head down, and barely avoiding bumping into everyone while his disciples wondered in without anticipation because their Christ had no passion. Every once in a while he’d reach over and touch somebody and mumble, “You’re healed, go your way.” See Jesus ambling up to Caiphas’ place and rapping on the door and saying, “Hey bro, I’m the Christ, Son of God. I hear you want me dead. Let’s get this over with.”

Do you see? Without Jesus’ overwhelming love for everything the Father said and needed done, the sacrifice wouldn’t have worked and maybe would never have taken place. Without Jesus unfailing love for his disciples they never would have gotten it, the Church would never have been born and we wouldn’t be eagerly awaiting his triumphant return and we'd be without salvation.

When it comes to those things we know we need to be doing for God’s Kingdom, all those things we need to do as servants and ambassadors for Christ we need to make sure that our furnace is stoked with passion. Things we need to do for our churches, our families, and our friends need to be backed with a love that allows us a satisfying outcome lest all our accomplishments be in vain. We must love the Christ and do all things as unto him even when we are doing them for the least in our world.

Notice back in the first paragraph where I said, “…when I let that happen”. It is ultimately up to us to stoke the fires and find the passion to drive us to finish well even the little things we need to be about and doing.

Let us not forget the ultimate goal is hear these words from Lord or words of similar sentiment from the beneficiaries of our efforts: “"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' (Matthew 25:21, NIV)

Peace and Passion friends, stoke it up!

jerry

Alee

Lauren and me as bowgirl and bowman, on the windward
side and loving every minute of it. Proof that it's okay to
to be on the weather side of things now and then.

“Helms alee”, shouted Skip Barber. All I knew then was to duck because we were changing tack and the mainsail would be swinging to the other side of the boat. If I didn’t duck I’d be boom-swept into the sea and left behind. Skip was helmsman or skipper, appropriately enough, as we raced the Caboter during his club racing series. I thought of myself as the gorilla turning cranks as directed and getting to the rail where my weight and eyes were best used. Turns out I was something of a hybrid of actual nautical terms; trimmer, bowman, and pitman. Some things you learn looking in the rearview mirror.

My understanding of lee, leeward, alee, and such nautical terms deepened during sailing trips with Byron and Shirley Trist on their Jubalee! and Jubalee!!. I was content as a bowman or pitman with my skipper shouting orders at me to be heard above the wind. I’m more at ease navigating a river in a raft or kayak.

Let’s consider the terms these friends introduced me to and did so in more ways than out on the water. ‘Alee’ is defined as on or toward the lee which is defined as the side of something that is sheltered from the wind. Aweather, yet another nautical term from days of yore, is the antithesis of alee. If you are ‘aweather’, you are facing the wind and the oncoming storm. One of my most cherished moments of being alee was during one of our church hikes in the High Sierras. We’d set up our camp for the night with tube tents and had gathered the wood we needed for our fire when a storm rolled in complete with lightening and hail while thunder rolled through the mountains. I stowed my gear in the tube tent and hunkered down against the trunk of a huge Ponderosa Pine with my legs stretched out in front of me. I was alee and only the gentle drops of rain that had worked their way through the tree’s canopy reached me. At rest and in the lee after a long day on the trail with the stormy spectacle all around was a complete feeling for me.

Weather we’ve been racing on the waves, barefoot sailing on the Caribbean, or hiking mountain trails, once we find ourselves alee, the calmness of the moment washes over us and soothes our soul like an aloe balm on sunburned skin.

When we are alee, peace is pervading and spreads through every part of us and exists in our hearts. If you let it. The key to finding rest is allowing ourselves to be in the lee of whatever storm is raging around us. Jesus Christ invites us into His rest, a Sabbath Rest, where we are refreshed from our struggles and the toils of our day-to-day lives.

Hebrews 4: 9 & 10: “⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his."

It is no coincidence that the first thing I sat down to write after completing the memorial booklet for my cousin is Alee. Lee was a man who could provide shelter from the storm and take a person through the wind and rain of the day to the calmer side of things. I’ve a simple mind and making the connection between my cousin Lee and the concept of alee was easy. Our family recently concluded a weekend at Bass Lake to pass through the winds and waves of grief and loss to celebrate his life. It’s fresh on my mind and I’m thankful to the family for providing shelter during the weekend; it was seen in the hugs, the laughter, and the tears of both joy and grief. My kids, grandkids, and Cindy were particularly effective in this for me. Walks along the lake and up the mountain with Demaris provided periods of quiet recuperation as well. I found shelter in all their laughter and the family’s willingness to be vulnerable and in the moment.

Another person who comes to mind while thinking over this concept of being in the lee couldn’t be more further from the physical description of my cousin, he being 6’8” and she pushing just past the 5-foot mark. She’ll likely be a little embarrassed by me calling her out like this but that is one of the hazards of befriending Jer-bear, as she likes to call me. Again, her name is closely related to the term but Allie herself embodies the concept. She is soothing and brings peace into the struggles of the day. Her abilities to provide a calm place have been most in evidence to me during our trips to Mission Arizona. She is an oasis. Thanks Allie.

The point of this is to encourage us to find a sheltered cove, a big old tree, or a person and get relief from the storm that can be our lives. Take the protection offered, find the peace there, and know that Christ is waiting to sooth our hearts with his love.

Friends, enter the Sabbath rest and find peace today.

Dear Doris

Dear Doris,

I hadn’t thought about sitting down and writing you this letter until our friend Ashley Pollock shared her first ‘Doris’ moment during last night’s Maundy Thursday service. The congregation’s sense of awe and reverent anticipation of our Lord’s pathway to the cross on our behalf was heightened by our losing you just the afternoon before. Ashley spoke of Christ’s loneliness the night he was betrayed and to end her sermon she shared her personal story of the long day she spent coming to LCPC from New York for her interview for the open Children’s Ministry Director position. Ashley told us how after flying into San Diego from NYC for a quick visit with her mother she drove to La Crescenta, a place she’d never of. Feeling lost and alone, she ended up in Santa Monica instead and arrived at the church hours late for the interview.

When Ashley drove up to the church she was greeted with people waving frantically to welcome and guide her to the right place. You might like this – I pictured people on a desert island running and jumping and waving at a passing ship to come and rescue them. It works doesn’t it? After all, we were in deep need of rescue for our children. If memory serves me right here, you were chair of the personnel committee at the time. In any case, Ashley hadn’t quite dropped your name on us during her remembrance as she related how at the end of the interview someone looked at her and said that it was so late that Ashley really should come and stay at her house for the night, an act of gracious kindness to Ashley, a stranger to us all at the time.

I’m sure you heard it when Ashley let us know that it was you who offered her a home to stay in for the night. The congregation let out a deep sigh of recognition because, of course, kindness and generosity are hallmarks of the Doris Keiter we know and love. It seems the Holy Spirit was working overtime on all our behalf and it is no mystery to us why you were chosen to represent our church at this critical juncture in the life of La Crescenta Presbyterian Church. I won’t go into a laundry list of things that were launched as a result of your actions, that’s not the purpose of my open letter to you. Let me just say that the list is impressive.

We will be hearing many stories of you, your kindness, and what I can only put as your spunkiness or your passion for all things related to God’s Kingdom. I hope that my sharing of recollections and thoughts spurs others to share and recollect and take joy in your arrival home with your dear Lord Jesus. Maybe they’ll even use the venues where I release this letter to our friends to share their own thoughts.

I’ve been sharing with folks over the last couple of days how you were among those who were my youth advisors when I was in our MOKEs group, the High School Church group as it was aptly known back then. A whole bunch of my past advisors came and sat at the Lord’s Table with Marcia Randis and me for Communion last night – a generation of servants who’ve left their mark on another generation or two of believers.

One or two stories remain at the surface of my memories and the one I choose to most represent your ministry to us was our Easter Week service trip to Escondito where we stayed at a local church and went out to one of the nearby Indian Reservations to work on a poor family’s home. We painted and cleaned and dug a pit for a future septic tank as well. Our adult leaders where you and Dr. Robert Rumer and I’m sure another adult although I can’t remember who. It’s possible that it was only the two of you because, as a seventeen year old senior in high school, I drove a VW van full of kids down south and from the church to the reservation. Imagine trying to get that through Session these days. I am sure that your daughter Linda was with us as well as Eugene Winfield, the young man who would turn out to be your son-in-law. I have clear memories of my best friend Jim McClelland being there along with Robert Reardon and my then girlfriend Marianne Carrington.

How you put up with us, guided us, laughed at and with us, and loved the dickens out of us is a testament to the power and depth of God’s Spirit in your life. I won’t be going on much longer with this but I’d like to simply thank you for all of that and for hanging around and being there when Cindy and I returned to LCPC. You were a wonderful support for me as I continued in youth ministry here and then as an elder in the church. You are awesome. Thanks.

I know we’ll hear about some of these things during the time our church, along with your family, grieve over our loss, celebrate your life with us, and rejoice as you’ve been greeted by Jesus and given a resurrected body, free of pain and infirmity. Thank God for that. However, I also want to thank you for the children you and Bob have so lovingly raised. They teach and care for children, preach and love God’s sheep, all with the same fervent kindness you demonstrated all their lives. The legacy of your and Bob’s ministry on earth is very nicely represented in your kids and their kids.

You’ve done well little sister. I know that on Wednesday you heard the words, “Welcome, good and faithful servant.”

Good Lord, I’m going to miss you.

In His grip,

   

Jerry White

PS – The background photo on the computer I used to write my letter to you is a photograph that I still can’t believe I took while in Ireland last summer. It’s of a dirt road through the greenest of fields leading to hills gently shadowed by clouds broken by blue sky. I have no trouble picturing your final walk along such a road as you went on to a heaven not so different from what is pictured.

Provide for the Poor and the Foreign Resident

Scripture: Leviticus 19: 9 & 10

“⁹When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident: I am Yahweh your God.” (Holeman Christian Standard Bible)

Wheat field at Sunset from GraphicStock

Leviticus is the third book of our Bible, the third book of the Pentatuch, and the third of the five books of the Torah. The Hebrew name of the book is Vaikra and can be translated “He [God] called.”

We know this book as a book of God’s Law but as Christians we cannot afford to say it belongs to the Hebrews and has no force over us. Jesus told us himself that he came not to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill them. For us, Leviticus is less about a bunch of rules that can put us to sleep if read in order to say that we’ve read the Bible from cover to cover – it is more of an invitation to us to live in harmony with God’s purpose for mankind. We are told how to live with each other because he called.

I read several translations, perhaps looking for a loophole. I found none.

It is God’s wish, His Will, for us to make provision for the foreign resident and the poor. We are not farmers in La Crescenta so how do we do this? It was fortuitous that during our recently completed rummage sale we had the opportunity to put aside part of our haul of items for sale to donate to a refugee family, new foreign residents. What if we don’t have an opportunity drop in our lap like this? Then we designate some of our crop, our wages, and we prepare “Welcome Kits” as we are doing as a church, or we search for other ways to support organizations that support dispossessed peoples. We must be intentional in living out God’s will for us and taking care of those be brings to us.

It goes deeper than the act of leaving something behind for the poor and people who have been completely dispossessed. We are seeing strangers who are hungry and feeding them, thirsty and giving them drink, in need of clothes and clothing them and we are doing them for Jesus. (Matt. 25: 31-46) We are fulfilling one of the two great commandments Jesus left us by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

He called us in the book of instructions, Leviticus, to find Jesus in the stranger and do him a kindness.

In His grip, jerry

PS – The various translations I visited refer the poor and then a list of interpretations as follows: foreigner (several), foreign resident (Holeman Christian Standard Bible), sojourner (English Standard Version), the stranger (New American Standard Bible), and the resident alien (International Standard Version).

PPS – Further thoughts upon reflection as I prepared to share this on Calvary’s Thread. We are called to make provision for the foreigner, no merely tolerate them but to be of help during their transition. We must love our neighbor as ourselves and the foreign residents among us have been named by God as those to whom we are to be neighbors.

This post was written and originally posted in the La Crescenta Presbyterian Church Lenten Blog at:

http://lcpc.net/blog_new.aspx?parentnavigationid=40053