To Epiphany and beyond…
With apologies to Buzz Lightyear, I invite you to join me in imagining what the Spirit will accomplish among us all at Pembroke Congregational Church in 2015 and beyond! Your input is crucial. One of the delights and consistent discoveries from our prayer group and worship team is the creativity unleashed by the Spirit when 2 or 3 gather to do the Lord’s work! Invariably ideas emerge that none of us could have imagined left to our own devices. So, for the good of our church’s future I not only invite you, but implore you to be present on Saturday morning, January 17, from 9 to noon (or however long you can commit) to help us discern the Spirit’s vision for our church. Your presence literally primes the Spirit’s impact for us all! We will be meeting at the UCC Conference Offices on Route 106 (140 Sheep Davis Road).
As I compose this piece for The Messenger it actually is Epiphany, January 6. The word actually means “Vision of God,” “God shining forth” or “divine manifestation,” and is the Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. In the western church it focuses upon the wise men-representing Gentiles or all humanity-accepting and receiving Jesus as God with us. For me, it is the time for “taking Jesus into my heart anew in the new year.” I hope that you too will read this and take a moment to pray to welcome our Lord, grow closer to him, bring him anew into your heart, your life.
The living presence of Christ is what we experience when we gather together as his body, the church, to worship, work, study, share, teach, and serve. I am tremendously excited about what Christ calls us to be about this year as his presence in the community and world. The event that I truly anticipate the most, which truly inspires me, is Work Camp. By the time you read this you should have received Eileen’s inspiring letter which reminds us that everyone has a part to play. My dream is for everyone who has any connection to our church to get involved. But it doesn’t stop there: I know of some community folk who also want to participate (and maybe you do too). It seems to me that the Spirit is most obviously manifest (to us, and yes to others) as we engage in work camp! So, please be sure to attend (or express your interest ahead of time) the Work Camp Meeting on January 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Finally, the other event I am truly anticipating this year is our all-church study of Reggie McNeal’s book, Get Off Your Donkey! Help Somebody and Help Yourself. This will be the focus for Lent. I am so very excited about this study because it is truly a “win / win” for us all: the better we get at helping someone else, the better disciples and persons we become! Among the things we will explore are: discovering your life mission, clarifying what is really important to you, identifying what you are good at (and not good at), figuring out what you need to learn, and developing a scorecard that supports all of the above. I guarantee this will make a positive difference in your life!
So, fasten your seat belts as we follow the Spirit’s lead: “Epiphany and Beyond!”
Rev. Jim