Posts Tagged: "Joy"

joyful in hope post

Joyful In Hope

- - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

NOTE: I was really excited to preach this sermon today… but when I arrived early this morning at the church to begin prepping for our Drive-Thru Food Bank, I heard a distinct dripping sound and noticed significant water damage in our auditorium. We’re assessing it now, but it’s obviously not safe to hold a service indoors today so we had to cancel. Anyway, here’s my sermon:

Romans 12.12

Be joyful in hope, patient in trouble, and faithful in prayer.

Romans 15.13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.

Author Karl Ove Knausgård said,

“There is only one thing children find harder to hold back than tears, and that is joy.”

Last week I talked about the faithfulness of God.

God is faithful. Always and forever.

After the service, a confident little girl (around 9 years old) holding a german shepherd stuffed animal under her arm came up to me and said, “I’d like to talk to you.”

It’s funny how my first reaction was to be kinda scared because, well… church PTSD (I’ve had some bad experiences that started out with those words, “I’d like to talk to you.”

Anyway, this girl was wonderful—she wanted me to know that they’d just moved into their new neighborhood and when they left for church this morning, their car didn’t work.

Their old neighborhood had a neighbor who helped them with their car before.

But today in their new neighborhood, a very kind new neighbor came to their rescue… and they made it to church, just a few minutes late.

She concluded her story by saying, “So, I think we agree. God is faithful.”

There was a pause, and then she asked, “Um, what is faithful?”

I love it. I think she knew in her heart that God can always be trusted because God is always good.

But big words can be tricky.

I stumbled around for a few seconds offering other big and tricky words:

“Reliable. Trustworthy. Constant. Dependable.”

I could see that no light bulb was going off.

So then I said, “God always keeps his promises. He’s always good and we can trust him.

That’s what faithful means.”

She nodded and agreed with me. “Yeah, God always keeps his promises. That’s right.”

“And the devil tried to keep us from getting to church this morning, but God is faithful.”

I laughed and said,… Read More

finding god in a global pandemic post

NWLife Weekly Conversation—Finding God in a Global Pandemic

- - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

Here is our seventh NWLife video podcast featuring our weekly conversation.

Today’s theme: Finding God in a Global Pandemic.

Today, I’m sitting with Shari, Vinny, and Pastor Andy (all three of them are Enneagram 7′s – typically labeled “Enthusiasts” and I’m an Enneagram 5 – typically labeled “observer,” so watch how our conversation goes… LOL). That said, it’s a miracle we managed to get this video to be under 30 minutes in length.

We also have a very special water baptism in today’s video podcast!

Finally, I introduce something I hope you all will participate in—making and sharing little 30-second(ish) videos, a kind of show-and-tell, about what is bringing you joy right now. Shari gives us an example of what is bringing her joy (it’s not me). These videos can be… Read More

joy described by wendell berry ALT

There Is Joy In This World

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

You direct me on the path that leads to a beautiful life. As I walk with You… I know true joy and contentment. —Psalm 16.11

Our home is near Lake Wilderness in Maple Valley. Just a block-and-a-half from our neighborhood is the trail that leads to all my favorite places… the lake, the arboretum, the river, the forest, and the field where boxes of bees from Yakima “rent” some space each summer.

Most days, we opt for a walk around the lake. Shari loves birds and birds love Lake Wilderness, so it’s a win.

A handful of times each year, we will see a blue heron or two. Even more rarely—maybe once or twice a year—we might see one of them flying over us. Whenever this happens, I stop and watch with reverence. It always feels like a sacred moment.

In Wendell Berry’s book The Long-Legged House, he describes witnessing the flight of… Read More

what ashah said about the church post

What My Daughter Said About The Church

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

My daughter recently had an assignment at school: to write a paper about her family of origin, her culture, and/or traditions that have shaped who she is. I’d like to share a small section from her paper:

Another tradition from both my mom and dad’s childhood is going to church every Sunday; this has been part of my growing up experience as well.

My mom and dad are both pastors, so I was born into this culture of praying and going to church, and it is something I am very passionate about.

I essentially grew up in the church. Some might say church is a restrictive and limiting environment, but I have discovered… Read More