Monday, April 6, 2015

Thank you!

I want to thank  all the contributers for their faith-filled witness during Lent.  It was a true blessing to see and hear the various reflections of faith in our 40 day pilgrimage together.   What a joy to be able to connect the folks of Trinity across the spectrum  of my own family, friends and colleagues as well.

We thank the 2015 Lenten Devotional contributers (*indicate non-members of Trinity): 
Michael Boyd, 
*Larry Hudson, 
Arnold Schuff, 
Pastor Jen,
* Pastor Elaine Berg, 
* Pastor Wongee Joh, 
* Jim Macris, 
Deb Lyon, 
Kathie Ruhs, 
* Pastor Marie Jerge, 
Heather Coyle, 
* Pastor Jerrie Matney, 
Rosanna Tempel, 
Joanne Icken, 
Dawn Morello, 
Sue Brown, 
Franklyn Commisso, 
Joan Bradley, 
*Pastor Joanne Stewart,  
Lynn Byrnes,  
Dorothy Kafalas, 
Mary Beth Commisso, 
Georgina Marek, 
* Wayne Wolf,  
* Pastor Marty Milne, 
Ken Mongold, 
Jean Schuff, 
Gary Gerfen,
 Paul Doster, 
Krystal Langke


A few people have indicated that they would be interested in still participating in something along these lines - although it will probably not be daily.  I was thinking of sending out something once or twice a week if there is enough interest in folks sharing their reflections.   I don't have theme words, but you can use something that has been in your thoughts and heart, reflect on the upcoming or past Sunday's readings or something else of your choice.

Please let me know if you would like to continue to participate - and for organizational purposes, let me know if there is a particular week that you would like to commit to sharing something.

peace, pastor jen
 
Trinity Lutheran Church
Brewster, New York

April 5, 2015 LIFE



Shared by Krystal Langke

Saturday, April 4, 2015

April 4, 2015 SILENCE

            Have you ever been praying and an idea comes to you? Right after that someone approaches you about that very same subject? Or, have you ever thought of a certain person and the phone rings? Guess who it is! Have you ever walked into a building and saw someone you know and they say, “I was just thinking of you.”  I believe there are no coincidences in life. God wants to speak to us all the time about all kinds of things. But the question is…Are We Listening? We need silence to hear what God wants to say to us.

            There is something you might not know about me. In my prayer life, I love to speak to the Lord and I love when he speaks back to me. I practice a certain type of prayer called Lectio Divina (Divine Reading and Listening). It has been said that, “When you pray, you are speaking to God. But when you read the Bible, God is speaking to you.” In Lectio, a passage is chosen and read three times. The first time, you listen for a word or phrase that stands out to you. During the second reading, you listen for how that word or phrase applies to your life. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? The third time, you take your message and make it into a prayer in your heart. This is all done in silence because we meet God in the silence of our hearts every day. That is where he speaks to me most.
                                                                      
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD…                                      Psalm 46:10
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM…
BE STILL AND KNOW…
BE STILL…
BE…
What will God say to you today?

Shared by Jean Schuff

Thursday, April 2, 2015

April 3, 2015 MEAL

Eat.  Drink.  Remember
     who I am.      

Eat.  Drink.  Remember
     who I am.
     so you can remember
     who you are.

Eat.  Drink.  Remember
     who I am.
      so you can remember
     who you are
      and tell the others.

Eat.  Drink.  Remember
     who I am.
      so you can remember
     who you are
      and tell the others
     so that all
     God’s people
    can live
    in communion….
    in holy communion.


From Kneeling in Jerusalem  by Ann Weems

APril 2, 2015 HEAL

A prayer for healing

Lord, Jesus Christ, when I read the gospel stories I am touched by your healing power.  You healed sick bodies to be sure, but you did so much more.  You healed the spirited and the deep inner mind.   Most of all I am touched by your actions of acceptance that spoke healing into those who lives on the margins of life- shoved aside by the strong and the powerful.
   Speak your healing into me, Lord – body and mind and soul.  Most of all, heal my sense of worthlessness.  My head tells me that I am of infinite value to you but my heart cannot believe it.  Heal my heart, Jesus, heal my heart.  Amen.

My dear precious child, come and sit with me awhile.
Other do not value you because they do not understand.  They value
only the most trivial of things – power, strength, beauty, wealth,
intelligence, influence.  You do not need those things to gain my
acceptance and my love.
I call you blessed just because you are.  Come close and receive my
blessing, let you heart feel the warmth of my healing.
And now, my child, never despise what I have called blessed.

From Prayers from the Heart by Richard J. Foster


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

April 1, 2015 PRAY

Psalm 95:
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
   let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 
For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods. 
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
   the heights of the mountains are his also. 
The sea is his, for he made it,
   and the dry land, which his hands have formed. 

O come, let us worship and bow down,
   let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 
For he is our God,
   and we are the people of his pasture,
   and the sheep of his hand. 

O that today you would listen to his voice! 
   Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
   as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 
when your ancestors tested me,
   and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 
For forty years I loathed that generation
   and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
   and they do not regard my ways.’ 
Therefore in my anger I swore,
   ‘They shall not enter my rest.’

Judging by their history Psalm 95 was a much needed reminder to the Israelites, when it was written, and to all believers now that God is all-powerful. The first part of the psalm calls on me and all other believers to be mindful of and thankful to the Lord for his may gifts and blessings. It calls on us to acknowledge them to the Lord in prayer. For all believers the psalm concludes with a very comforting verse; it is a metaphorical representation of God as the shepherd and his people as his flock safely in his care.


Prayer: Heavenly Father we pray that you, as our shepherd, will keep us forever in your steadfast care and when we stray forgive us and return us safely to your care.  Amen

Shared by Paul Doster