Lauretta Lasher passed away on Friday, Sept. 19, around 2:30 p.m. Her funeral will be at the same time as that of her husband, Arthur Lasher's, on Saturday, September 27, at 11 a.m. A time for visitation will be held one hour before the service. Arthur passed away on Saturday, Sept. 13.
Thursday, September 4
Celebrity Clergy
Bible Excerpt from II Corinthians 12: 11-21
I have been a fool! You forced me to it. Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am a nothing.
Reflection by Anthony B. Robinson
Is your minister a celebrity? Do paparazzi dog the footsteps of your pastor, their cameras clicking and flashing? Does the face of your minister loom, god-like, on a huge video screen above your congregation's sanctuary? Is your pastor on television a couple of times a month commenting on whatever is hot and lively? Probably not. Chances are your pastor is more ordinary. He or she slogs through committee meetings with you. On Sunday mornings, your pastor doesn't do a star-turn in the pulpit but looks (and sounds) pretty human up there. Instead of being chauffeured around in a limo, your pastor is much more likely to be found driving kids to youth camp in his or her beater.
In the church at Corinth, some of the congregation preferred celebrity clergy, "super apostles," who had a lot to say about their mighty works. What they got was Paul, doggedly going about his duties, teaching, preaching, imploring, and on the side stitching tents to pay his bills. On top of that, Paul was short! God's power and beauty come to us hidden, hidden in the ordinary. In the midst of our own celebrity-crazed culture, are our eyes open to the ways God uses ordinary people to convey the extraordinary power of God?
Prayer
Dear Lord, open the eyes of my heart, I pray, that I may see your extraordinary power at work in ordinary people like my pastor. Amen.
About the Author
Anthony B. Robinson, UCC pastor, speaker and author, teaches leadership at Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto. His newest book is Changing the Conversation: A Third Way for Congregations.
The Stillspeaking Daily Devotional is a free service and is supported by your gifts to Our Church's Wider Mission. Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, adapted. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Oh God, What Were You Thinking?
Bible Excerpt from Romans 11:33-36
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are God's judgments and how inscrutable God's ways!
Reflection by Lillian Daniel
"Why did God let those people get hit by a hurricane?" "Why is God letting her suffer when she has lived such a good life?" "Why does God let a jerk like that get away with what he's done?
People ask me questions like this periodically. Implicit in the question is that I, as a pastor, would have an answer. But of course I do not. And quite frankly, I would be suspicious of anyone who claims to have one.
Only God knows God's mind. The rest of us can only seek. But the life and witness of Jesus tell me this much. God does not torture us, or hurt one person only to spare another. In Jesus, the man of sorrows, I see that even God suffered agony and death; and on the cross, even Jesus wondered, for a moment, about the point of it all.
I believe that one day, all of our questions will be answered. I believe that at the moment we enter eternal life, Jesus will be there to greet us, and not just with open arms. I believe that when we die in Christ, our minds will be opened, no secrets will be hidden and that our eternity will be spent in understanding.
Until then, our job is to live life and live it abundantly.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, in the time between confusion and complete understanding, use the world around me, the people around me, your church and your holy word to bring me closer in wisdom to you and your ways. Amen.
About the Author
Lillian Daniel is Senior Minister, First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
The Stillspeaking Daily Devotional is a free service and is supported by your gifts to Our Church's Wider Mission. Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, adapted. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Our church family is constantly changing. People come and go. Babies are born; children grow up; people commit themselves to one another; loved ones and friends among us come to the end of our lives. Individuals move into our community and church life. Others leave us, moving away to new places, new experiences, and new opportunities. It is important and right that we recognize these times of passage, of endings and beginnings. Today we share the time of farewell with Pastor Jones, who is leaving his position as Sabbatical Supply Pastor.<BR> Pastor Jones, we thank you for your service to Huff's Church, and pray for your continued service in the church of Jesus Christ. We have appreciated your work among us, and your unique gifts and talents. We celebrate your ministry among us, even as we release you to serve others in Christ's name. <BR> Prayer: Eternal God, we thank you for Pastor Jones and for our life together in this congregation and community. As he has been a blessing to us, so now send him forth to be a blessing to others; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen
Ralph C. Leh, age 103, passed away on Thursday June 19. He was a lifelong member of Huff's Church and served on the church council and was a former treasurer of the cemetery. Services are 11:00 a.m. Monday June 23 in Huff's Union Church with the Rev. Paul Jones officiating. Relatives and friends may call from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. on Sunday in Mann-Slonaker Funeral Home, 222 Washington St., East Greenville and also 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. Monday in church. Contributions: In lieu of flowers, to Huff's Union Church Building Fund, 540 Conrad Road, Alburtis, PA 18011.
