Opportunities for the Month

The other day, a colleague accused me of hiding in a “comfort zone.” I was taken aback. Could he really mean me? I went to the place I normally go when I am accused of something – denial and self-justification. I was about to make the case for just how edgy I really was, but for some reason I bit my tongue and decided to consider the accusation further.

I came to the conclusion that he was right. I work hard, but there is nothing terribly uncomfortable about what I do. In most respects I am in one way or another preaching to the choir. I, perhaps unconsciously, avoid the risk of initiating community with “others”, stay within precincts that are familiar to me, often sit tight rather than start trouble, etc., etc., etc.

It really shines a light on the courage and heroism of the biblical figures – Moses demanding that Pharaoh let his slaves go free so that they could recapture their religious identity. Jeremiah, predicting doom would come to a patriotic nation. Ruth the Moabite, going into “enemy territory” with only the protection of her widowed mother-in-law. And of course, Jesus Christ, who stayed true to his God-ward course every day that he breathed.

Maybe, just maybe, I concluded, I could be a bit more uncomfortable in the enactment of my faith. Maybe we all could. I am not saying that we should do more, add too, or work harder. We are all shouldering the wheel. I am just saying that if I really loved my enemy, if I really prayed for those who persecuted me, if I really went the extra mile, I might feel appropriately uncomfortable and feel too the paradoxical lightening of the yoke of Jesus Christ.

One of the dizzying and challenging things about faith is that there is always room for growth, even growth that may at times be uncomfortable.

With you in His service,

The men’s group, Society of the Sons of God (SoSoGo), will have their next breakfast meeting on Saturday, October 19th, at 8:30am in Fellowship Hall. The men's group gets together monthly for fellowship, food and light chores. Anyone is welcome!

The Book Club is in the process of reading TI'd Like You More if You Were More Like Me, by John Ortberg, for their October 4th meeting. The book club meets on the first Friday of the month, at 7:00 pm in the Mayflower Room. If you are interested in joining but haven't read this month's book, don't worry, come anyway and join in the discussion. The book for the November meeting is Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan. Book Club books are all available at the Geneva Public Library in good sized quantities.

Our Survey of the Bible Class meets will be taking the month of August off since so many participants are on vacation, so the next class will be on on Sunday, October 20th, from 11:30am until 1:00pm, in the nursery area. Becca will be discussing the book of Genesis. Notes from the last class (9-15-19) are available here.

The Fox River Valley Initiative had a number of things going on over the summer and early fall related to the Opioid work they have been engaged in. In July they met with Rep. Lauren Underwood to introduce their organization and share what they are doing on addressing the opioid crisis in her district. In August they met with States Attorney Joe McMahon to discuss improving access to medication assisted treatment (MAT) in Kane County. Joe invited some of the FRVI members to meet with a his staff to discuss getting offenders into treatment. Additionally, they met with the Visiting Nurses Association in Aurora to discuss the October startup of their MAT Treatment program for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). There are now have two Federally Qualified Health Centers, the VNA and the Greater Elgin Family Care Center, providing treatment programs for OUD ( including MAT) in our area to people regardless of insurance status.

Finally, there will be a FRVI leadership meeting on Thursday, Oct 3rd, at 7 pm at the St Andrew Lutheran Church in West Chicago. Let me know if you are interested.

Contact me if you need further details on any of these items. Thanks!!

Susan Cechner SCechner@aol.com

Have you noticed the large white box outside the accessible lift door yet? We finally have a metal box for inside it (Thank you Connie and Mark Weaver for the donation!), and we can start to fill it with blessings for the community. We'll start with canned foods and personal hygiene products. If you could add a couple non-perishable food items (or shelf stable perishable items, like crackers, healthy snacks, granola bars, boxed meal kits, etc), or things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, feminine hygiene products, deodorants, etc to your weekly shopping list we could really do some good in the community. As soon as it is filled, we will send a press release to the papers to get the word out. When the weather gets colder we will add hats, mittens and scarves to the box, and maybe a coat or two if we have room, in case you want to plan ahead.

As we welcome autumn and what eventually will be cooler days, I look forward to the trees turning red and gold and whispering through the air on a windy day. I love to drive down the road and see the corn golden and ready for harvest. I love pumpkin pie, crisp apples, homemade soup, fresh baked bread and homemade applesauce. I think fall is my favorite time of year, (notice I say that with the change of nearly every season).

Fall is also the time the choir begins working on Christmas music in preparation for the Christmas cantata on December 15^th as well as our Christmas Eve service. While we are learning new music we also pull old favorites out of the file to offer for special music on Sunday morning. One of those pieces from the file is, “In the Quiet Hour” which is a favorite of mine because it speaks to my heart and reminds me of my own experiences.

“In the quiet hour, the darkest hour before the dawn, when life seems grim and hope is gone. I know He’s there. In the quiet hour, when in the midst of pain and doubt my tear-filled eyes see no way out, I feel His care. In the quiet hour, in the quiet hour, the silent aching of my heart becomes a prayer. In the quiet hour, my prayer unspoken meets His ear, and God is there. In the quiet hour, God speaks to me His words of peace. His gentle voice brings sweet release, He touches me. In the quiet hour, His Spirit covers me with love and brings me comfort from above in the quiet hour. In the quiet hour, the darkest hour before the dawn, God is there.”

As some of you know my husband, Les has been in poor health for some time. A month ago we made the decision to put him under hospice care. He has really good days and some that are not good; the time line is uncertain so we celebrate each good day. Many of my prayers happen in that “quiet hour” and as has been true all of my life, He is there. I share this information with you because I appreciate your prayers for Les and our family as we face whatever weeks or months we may have ahead of us. We have been blessed in many ways including being able to celebrate our 55^th wedding anniversary last week with the love and support of our family. No matter the hour or the day, I believe that He is always there, that comfort and strength are ours whenever we need it. I pray that you too will know His presence and his unfailing Love.

Celebrate these days of autumn, these days of change. Listen carefully to the sounds, soak in the scent, taste the spicy crispness, wrap yourself in something warm and cozy. Listen for the geese flying overhead, the sounds of the harvest, the snap of the apple and the crunch of the leaves beneath your feet. It is all a part of God’s plan just as our lives are part of His plan.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Ps 91:1-2

Karen
"In the Quiet Hour"
lyrics by Susan Bentall Boersma, music by David Lantz III

The Stewardship Drive begins on Sunday, October 13th with a Stewardship sponsored Pot Luck Lunch after church. The stewardship Board will provide a main dish and beverages. Anyone planning to attend should bring a dish to pass (either a side dish or a dessert). The drive will continue through October, and will finish on November 3rd with a Thank You Luncheon, provided entirely by the Stewardship Board (you don't need to bring a thing). Both lunches will be down in Fellowship Hall immediately following our 10 o'clock service.

What is Prayer?

The dictionary defines prayer as a ‘reverent petition made to God.’ But then the dictionary also goes on to substitutes the word ‘God’ for ‘an object of worship’, so on second thought maybe the dictionary isn’t the place we should turn to for help with this question.

For Christians, prayer is meant to be a relationship with God. A way of opening your soul to the one being who can understand your unspoken needs, fear, and joys. In the book we are currently reading for book club, the author says that not praying is like living in the same house as your spouse, but never speaking to him. Sometimes, our relationship with God actually feels like living in the same house with your spouse but never even acknowledging that she lives there too, or that you’re even married.

The bible also has a bit to say about prayer… Paul’s letter to the Philippians says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” His first letter to the Thessalonians tells us to “Pray without ceasing,” and his letter to the Romans tells us that “we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” And Paul isn’t the only one gabbing on about prayer. The entire bible seems heaped with folks encouraging us to pray; to maintain our relationship with God; to acknowledge our relationship with God.

A lot of times people aren’t sure what to say to God though. Does he even listen? Sometimes I think to myself that prayer doesn’t help anything, that I never get what I want. But if I’m honest, I understand that God’s response to me begging for him to fix something for me is just like my response to the kids begging for something I wouldn’t, or couldn’t, give them. I can’t even count the number of times the kids have begged for something that’s out of the question. Once Jack wanted me to build him a bedroom door that looked like a bookcase, but that would slide open when he touched a button somewhere, revealing his room behind it. I mean, I can build stuff, but come on. I realize that a lot of my prayers must sound like that to God. A bookcase door did seem cool, if I’m being honest, but it didn’t fit in with my plans for the house or for my wallet. How many of my prayers, begging that God do something – even something as benign as healing a sick friend or relative – just didn’t fit in with his plans?

Jesus gave us the best prayer he could give us: “Father, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We should all probably use that prayer more often. Regardless though, our book club author is on the right track. Pray is a conversation with God. A way of building a relationship with him, and a way of staying in relationship with him once you’ve built it. Prayers can be thankful, or desperate, or just sharing some joy, but at bottom they should all be a way of keeping in touch with the one “person” who will always love you no matter what. So pray!

Which brings us around to the main point of this article: How can I pray? Even if I can find the time to sit down and pray (which most of us feel like we don’t have anymore), I have so many things going on in my life that my thoughts are too scattered to pray for more than 3 seconds. Talking to God takes intention and it takes focus, and those are two things that most people today have in short supply.
Enter the Prayer Chain... If you’re really determined to do it, you could compare a prayer chain to a rosary, it’s just more personalized and less rote memorization-y. A prayer chain has some number of clips along its length, that allow you to attach paper tags on which you can write the things you most want to pray for at any one specific time. Whether it’s your parents, friends, kids, neighbors, the earth, or whatever, you turn a blank tag into a reminder of what you’d like to talk with God about, and just go down the chain once a day (or at whatever frequency you want to go at). Like anything that isn’t in your wheelhouse, talking to God takes some practice. A prayer chain can help by making your conversation with God more intentional and more focused. You aren’t doing something else while you’re using a prayer chain, you’re just praying. Holding on to a physical thing helps with that. Here’s an example of what a prayer chain looks like…

Because we feel so sure that everyone will love their prayer chain once they start to use it, the Deacons Board has made a bunch of chains for people to take. Free of charge. They are going to be hanging on the Deacons bulletin board outside the kitchen in the hallway. If you want one, take one. If you have one, but need more tags for it, those will be there too. If you know someone who is going through a difficult time, give one to them as well. When the supply gets low, we will make more. If you want to make your own, contact Lynnly and we will get you the supplies to make your own. If you want to help make some to give to other people, contact Lynnly and we will set up a time for making prayer chains with and for others.

We hope this is the start of a beautiful friendship between you and your prayer chain.
Mazel tov!

One Additional Note from the Deacon's Board...

On Good Friday, our church has a tradition in which we put out a rugged cross and have an opportunity to nail to it the burdens we are carrying. It is a good way to help us release the need we feel to control the uncontrollable things in our life, and to hand them over to God to worry over. People in general have a bad habit of trusting only themselves with the worry over things that are happening in their life, and during Lent we try to remind ourselves that not only are we trying to control something that we can't, but we're turning our backs on the single only being who could possibly manage to solve the problem. (God of course). We could all use an opportunity to give our worries up to God.

Because human beings are so abysmal at learning new habits, and no one ever developed a good habit by doing it only once a year, the Deacon's Board decided to install a Burdens Box in the Narthax of the church (the entryway). In this way, congregation members, friends and visitors can practice letting go of their most troubling worries every time they come to church. The box will sit on the bench to the left when you walk in the door, and will be locked, in case anyone is concerned about others reading your worries. Pencils, pens and burden slips will be available on the bench. The Deacon's Board will empty the box when full, and everyone's burdens will be burned, just like we do with our burdens on Good Friday. If you have any questions, feel free to ask Jodi or Lynnly about it.

Note: Don't put suggestions in the burdens box, no one will read them...

Opportunities for the Month...

A Message from the Pastor...