Farmville Presbyterian Church News

-0/2-/2010       Pastor's Page

I am deeply grateful to all of those who did all of the work for the Leila Robertson Lecture last month. I have only been here a little while, but it truly amazes me at all the people who come out and work so hard whenever we have a big event. We are truly a blessed church family.
I am also grateful for the opportunity to share some of what I have learned while working on this degree. It’s not just anyone who is willing to sit through a lecture on something they may (or may not) appreciate. But you all were a wonderful audience, and I got the impression from several of you that you recognize that the topic of the changing nature of the church is something we are going to grapple with in the years to come.
But not all of this is a matter of ‘grappling.’ Some of it is remembering; remembering our faith tradition, our worship heritage, those parts of our spiritual life when we felt the tug of God, the love of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I think we in the church have worked so hard to be efficient that we have forgotten what makes the church great – the movement of God’s Spirit in our time in order to transform us to be those who live out the Good News.
One of the patterns of the ‘emerging church’ is the connection of ancient and contemporary spiritualities. That’s a fancy way of saying that our spiritual life is not a fancy gimmick. A lot of it is remembering the ways the saints of old connected with God, and practicing those ways. It’s not having fancy worship services or drums and keyboards in the Sanctuary. It is listening, paying attention, praying, loving each other, letting the word God gives to us be known that others might feel the comfort – or the challenge – of that word.
This month we will be a part of this connection between old and new church, ancient and contemporary. We will do this as we begin the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday, February 17th. Though we do not have a service on that day here, there are many churches which do; ashes are placed on foreheads or wrists, and people hear the words, “From dust you have come, and to dust you shall return.” On the surface, that sounds really depressing; a reminder that we are human beings whose ultimate destination is the grave.
But it also can be affirming, as we are reminded that though we be dust, God still has the ability to transform our dustiness into life. In the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, God sends the prophet into a valley of very dry bones. It was a metaphor, an image of where the people of God were at the time. They were in the midst of exile, in the midst of hopelessness.
And yet God’s breath, God’s Spirit blew over the bones and brought them together and gave new life. Even in death. Even in dustiness. Even in hopelessness.
Most of us don’t live in the midst of hopelessness, but this can be a time for us to sense ways that God’s Spirit still roams free and gives new life. Lent is a time to remember that we are dust, but it is also a time to remember that God is still moving in our lives, giving us new life. I pray that this Lent will be a special time for you, to receive this new life.

Grace and peace,
Tom

Just in Case You Want to Read Ahead…



February 14 Transfiguration Sunday
Readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 36:5-10
Revelation 3:14-22
Luke 9:28-36

Sermon Topic: The Great Ends of the Church #6: The Exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven
to the World – We wrap up the great ends by
dealing with the one that touches all of them.



February 21 First Sunday in Lent Communion

Readings: Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 o
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13

Sermon Topic: We are called to reflect on the temptations of
of Jesus, which mirror our own. There is a
limit to what we can do; which sends us
all the more back onto God’s limitless grace.



February 28 Second Sunday in Lent

Readings: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Phillipians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35

Sermon Topic: Whom do we trust? If we really trust God,
then darkness, adversity and hardship will
not completely defeat us. Their power to
hurt are real, but so is God’s power to redeem.