Easter party and bowling fun

This weekend is filled to the brim with fun and fulfilling things to do.

First, this Saturday morning offers a time for students interested and already serving as Impact leaders to get some training, make some new friends, and have some pizza for lunch. Don't miss this training on Saturday at Lakewood Baptist from 10-12:30!

Second, First Lutheran church is hosting a community Easter party complete with an egg hunt, crafts, story time, refreshments and photos with the Easter bunny!

Third, our youth band will be partnering with Sacred Fire to help lead worship at the 9am service and sunday school and the 11am service will follow including a Palm procession.

Fourth, and finally - First Lutheran youth and Families are invited to talk part in an afternoon of bowling at Jamestown Bowling Co. Shoe rental and two games is only $5.00 per person. Hope to see you there!

Holy Conversations: the sticky wicket of sin...what is it anyway?

The following segment is taken from Chapter 6: Talking about sin in the book Holy Conversations. For the last six weeks, myself and a group of folks have been meeting and sharing our thoughts and the process of telling our faith stories both online at Facebook and in person with a small group that meets at First Lutheran Church on a weekly basis. Would you like to become a part of this conversation? Our question this week has to do with the topic of sin. Take a minute and read the following section and feel free to post your responses below or at our Holy Conversations group online here. Thank you for your honesty and mutual respect as you take part in the ongoing conversation of faith, life and the challenge to understand and talk about it.

Peace,
Tara

"You are dirty rotten sinners, the whole lot of you!"
We can picture the scene in our minds. A tall gaunt, dark-clad minister is pointing his bony finger at a group of people who are cringing at this words. They aren't bad people. They just don't match up to the impossibly strict standards of the preacher.

A bleak scene? Yes. An accurate rendering of clergy past or present? Not at all. But nevertheless this image is present in our culture: the harsh judgmental, religious fanatic who wants to suck the joy out of life.

Unfortunately this colors the way many people think about the whole concept of sin. And many people think sin is doing what fanatics think you should not do. In other words, sin is merely a matter of definition. "Who is he/she to tell me what I should or should not do?"

When we do think about sin (which is not often) we take it to be something really gross. It is doing evil things like beating up somebody, cheating on your spouse, robbing a bank or consciously lying about something really important - stuff most of us would never do. So sin is not a word we ever apply to ourselves.

Consequently, if Christian conversationalists use the word sin in our conversation, we invoke all the wrong images. However, the biblical view of sin is much broader and much more comprehensive than either gross evil or breaking unreasonable regulations. So it's really important that when we talk about sin we do so in a ways that help others understand what the Bible teaches about sin and how culture has come to define sin...

So, when you think about the work SIN, what comes to mind? Which "sins" are the most challenging for you ( anger, lust, pride, and so on), and how does Jesus help you with this problem?

(From pages 65-66 of the book Holy Conversations by Richard Peace)

Holy Conversations: Jesus and calling

Today's post is part of an ongoing conversation that takes place online at Facebook's Holy Conversations Book Group and at First Lutheran Church in Jamestown NY. Please feel free to join us for group on Thursday at noon(Wednesday's after Easter),leave your comments below, or click on the hotlink provided to share your thoughts as well. As always, thank you for participating and reading.
TLE


Psalm 37" 1-4...
Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong;
for they are like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land of and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."

When I used to read this Psalm, I used to read the theme as ..."live a good life, and God will give you what you want."

But on further reflection, the message I think has more to do with surrendering our lives to God and he will place his desire/perspective within my heart.

This is a much different point of view than I first had understood. This week, our focus is on ways Jesus has fulfilled our longings. What has been your experience with this?

Some may say this question is about calling or purpose, but how has your faith and relationship with Jesus affected your longings in life? Do you feel you are aware of your calling/purpose? How have you gotten in touch with that purpose or calling and how has Jesus impacted that process?
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A few years ago, I found myself in a place where my vocation did not match up my heart's desires in my vocation. My situation was full of conflict, struggle and eventually great discouragement. After a few years of attempting to make what wasn't working to work, I was about at the end of my rope.

I recall sitting in my office and being shocked as the words, "You won't be here for long." bounced into my mind with such heaviness, that I stopped what I was doing and looked around as if I'd heard it with my ears. There was no one there, but the heaviness and burden I'd been carrying came out as I sat there crying and saying, "Ok Jesus - so where am I going?"

I was relived, worried, excited but totally unsure of the 'where' in this moment of what I think to this day was God's tap on my shoulder that cold January morning.

Did I get the job of my dreams the next week? Did I find all my problems magically disappear overnight? No, no I didn't.

But somehow in that experience, I had a resolve that God had a bigger and better plan. Even in the midst of what ended up being one full year more in an increasingly difficult circumstance, I was reminded again and again of that morning that God gave me my promise of another option. My purpose was not limited like the vision of those surrounding me at that point, my purpose was as open and limitless as God's point of view. God's purpose was now my defining point of view!

Over that year, circumstances came to be that slowly worked through the necessities of what I needed to move on to a new opportunity in calling and vocation. I struggled during especially during the last few months of that placement, especially since I had hoped to already have made the transition into a new opportunity. But even in all my fretting - God was, in the presence of the trinity - with me.

Finally that year of wondering, waiting and waiting some more passed and I moved on to a new place and opportunity in mission and ministry that opened up the channels of creativity that I thought had been removed from my life permanently.

Often we dream that the grass is always greener on the other side of things, and in this case it was green, but as any situation it was not perfect. However, I cherish the two years I did serve in that position as I feel it was confirmation on God's calling in my life in many ways.

I was reminded of God's grace, comfort, miracles, challenge, and hope. I was given the freedom to exercise my creative muscles and grew in so many ways. I'm thankful to God for that tap on the shoulder that morning in my office as I was checking my email. I thought it was a normal day. It was in many ways, but what made it unique was God's way of reaching down to me in the statement, "You won't be here for long."

Those words taught me to cherish each 'normal' day, and live expectantly for what adventure God has just waiting around the corner!

SWB: More on what does and doesn't fit

I love and hate to go shopping for new running shoes. When you try things on in the store, its not always a sure bet what works there will work out on the road. Will the heel slip, will the arch support where it needs to support, and will they make me rather large size 10's not look like clown feet? Sometimes I've had a simple time finding what I've needed, sometimes the shoes I love only last three months and I have to try to find them on sale as they can be costly, but one thing is for sure - I need GOOD shoes to get out there and hit the trail every day.

I love this quote from the poem "Sweet Darkness" by David Whyte...
"Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive

is too small for you."

I think this poem is as true in shoes as it is in all of life. We can require the space of solitude to often really figure things out. We need to think on what fits in life and what does not - and then we need to not settle for what binds or pinches as good enough. Things need to fit or we're bound to end up with shin splints or a least a few blisters.

So in this last week, what fit? What didn't fit, and how did you come to a place of road readiness?

Have a great week out there on the road - and don't forget to double tie those laces!

PS. If you like a sturdy shoe when you jog and you tend to wear the outer edge off you shoe quickly - these Nike trail shoes seem to do the trick for me. The first pair I had I purchased in October and ran in them through the beginning of March. Not to shabby for running through a cold and slushy western New York winter! Currently I'm on my second pair of Alvords and they are great on the road.

Sacred Sunday: Soup's On was tasty.

Thank you so much for the hard work, provision of soup, musical entertainment, and hands on assistance to make today's "Soup's on!" lunch at First Lutheran Church a success. Special thanks go to Wendy Larson for her chicken noodle soup, Jeff James of Labyrinth Press Co. for the Mulligatawny, The Nelson Family for the Taco Soup (the crowds winning choice), and Joseph Yelich for creating (the judges' winning choice) Zesty Creamy Tomato Bisque. Today we had an income of $250.00 and will continue to collect non-perishable and canned item throughout the end of April for Joint Neighborhood Project's Feinstein Foundation Food/Resource Drive.

Keep the canned good coming! We will be collecting them through the end of April.