And oh yes, we will be eating lots of pie!

Everyone is invited!  Please come out and celebrate this special day with us.

On June 2nd, my family will be ’lacing up’ for Walk Them Home, a fund-raising Walk event at Mondauk Common in Ambler, PA to support the adoption of kids with special needs through Bethany Christian Services.  Unlike nationally sponsored walks, all of the proceeds raised by this event will directly support the placement of children with special needs with LOCAL families. Right now there are over 1500 kids in PA waiting to be adopted, and millions around the world.  If you would like to help us raise money for the event, you can sign up to sponsor for any amount by doing the following:  

        1. Go to this link:  www.bethany.org/walkthemhome
        2. Select the Philadelphia event, and “Sponsor a Walker”
        3. Enter the Team Name (Miller Family) in the space, complete the payment form, and you will have helped us help special needs children find forever families!

Thank you for any help you can give to help these kids!

Under Christ’s Mercy 

Jesus is The Way to God.  Consider how he has (or could) help you to connect to God through the many different activities of your life.

On My Way,

Pastor Dave

That is why we should look at prayer again (no question mark).  Prayer is as simple as conversation with a friend.  There is no particular formula for talking with a friend, and there is no particular formula for talking with God.  But when we talk to friends, we use the stuff we have learned since birth about speech, communication and manners in order to make it enjoyable for the listener and us.  In the same way, we talk with God using that same information. 

Jesus summarized clear communication in one way in Matthew 6:5-13.  There is no need to ramble on about the same things.  There is no need to try to impress your listener with big words.  Most conversations should be shared privately with just one (or just a few) listener(s) who need to hear.  Share your concerns with love, respect and clarity knowing they will be heard in the same way and acted on as needed.

Consider Prayer Again and keep talking. 

Still talking,

Pastor Dave

“God descends to re-ascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity . . . down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He has created.  But He goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with Him. One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders.  Or one may think of a diver, first reducing himself to nakedness, then glancing in mid-air, then gone with a splash, vanished, rushing down through green and warm water into black and cold water, down through increasing pressure into the death-like region of ooze and slime and old decay; then up again, back to colour and light, his lungs almost bursting, till suddenly he breaks surface again, holding in his hand the dripping, precious thing that he went down to recover.’

I have been quite busy this week preparing for our Holy Week services.  The life of Christ, from his birth through his Passion, from the cross to the Resurrection, has been on my mind, as it should be.  And maybe that’s why, as I watched the re-make of the movie True Grit the other day, I could not help but see a parable of the Incarnation right smack dab in the middle of that film. 

True Grit is the story of a 14 year-old girl, Mattie Ross, and her quest to bring Tom Cheney, the murderer of her father, to justice.  Aggravated by the failure of the authorities to track down Cheney, she seeks out the help of an old, run down U.S. Marshall, Reuben, or ‘Rooster,’ Cogburn.  She seeks Rooster on the recommendation of a sheriff who described him as a man with ‘true grit.’  Together, they travel into the wilderness in search of Cheney, to find him and bring him to justice. 

The story is a good one, and I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it (in fact, if you haven’t seen it and don’t want me to ruin the ending for you, you should stop reading now, go watch it, and then come back).  But near the end of the story, Mattie falls into a deep pit, a pit you can only describe as a pit of death.  Injured and unable to climb back out, Mattie finds herself in the darkness next to the rotting bones of a skeleton (apparently from the last poor fellow who fell into the pit).  Worse yet, inside those bones writhes a rattlesnake, indeed, a whole quiver of them.  She cries for help, but wouldn’t you know it, one of them bites her on the wrist. 

It seems all is lost, but suddenly, Rooster comes to the rescue.  He dives down into the pit from the open sky above, clinging to a rope that seems to connect all the way to the heavens.  He pulls out his pistol and shoots the snakes, one by one.  Then he lances Mattie’s wound, sucks out as much of the poison as he can, scoops her up in his arms, and climbs upward, out of the darkness and into the light. 

Realizing that the poison is already in her system, he knows he has to get her to a doctor.  So he puts her on a horse, lifts himself up into the saddle, and rides like the wind.  He rides all day and into the night.  He rides until the horse can go no further.  And then, when it cannot, he lifts Mattie in his arms and carries her, on through the night, until he reaches his destination. 

Interestingly, during their journey under the stars, the classic hymn, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms plays in the background. 

I could not help but see in this a parallel to what Jesus has done for us.  Our situation was this: we were all in the pit of death.  We were all surrounded by serpents: pride, greed, selfishness, lust, and a thousand others.  And we were all snake bit.  But that’s when Jesus came to the rescue.  He dove down, all the way down, into the very pit of death.  He defeated the serpents.  He stretched out his everlasting arms on a Roman cross.  He went the distance.  He brought us to safety.  Much like Rooster Cogburn did for Mattie Ross, Jesus dove down into the darkness, scooped us up, and brought us into the light.   

As I move closer to the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, I thank him for saving me with his everlasting arms.  And I find myself singing the words of that wonderful hymn:

What have I to dread, what have I to fear? 

Leaning on the everlasting arms. 

I have blessed peace with my Lord so near. 

Leaning on the everlasting arms. 

Leaning, leaning – safe and secure from all alarms

Leaning, leaning – leaning on the everlasting arms.

Thank you Jesus, for diving in to save me.  For slaying the serpents.  For drawing out the poison.  For carrying me into the light.  And for going the distance, that I might live. 

Under Christ’s Mercy,

Pastor Brent

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

what are humans that you care for them?

You made them a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned them with glory and honor.

…Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

                ~Psalm 8:3-5, 9

God is big.  He made everything in the universe, and set it in place and set it all in motion with the wonder and mystery of life, science, and love.  This is no surprise to us.  We know that God is majestic and even mysterious at times.  This is often the kind of thing that makes us feel so small and separated from God.  Sure God is big, but look at the rest of the story. 

This great big God set us in motion, too.  And when he did he set us as close to him as he could so that we could reach out and touch him, and he can touch us.  God gives us a place so close to him that we can just talk and he hears us; we can think a thought and he is listening.  God did this because he loves us and wants to be involved in every part of our lives.  You have got an actively listening God who is available at all times.  Talk to him, in a normal way, and he will hear you.  Listen for him, and he will often speak to you through the normal things, people, and experiences in your life. 

Not sure where to start?  Check out this link (The Mystery of Prayer), and see where it takes you. 

Thanks for listening, God.  Thanks for reading, folks…

Pastor Dave