Newsletter Update: Friends, please note that the new deadline for submitting items to Dorothy for inclusion in our mailed newsletter is Thursday.
In response to feedback, we are pushing our mailing day back from Wednesday to Monday. We hope this will mean that you will receive your newsletter with Sunday's bulletin on the Thursday or Friday before (and not more than a week before which was causing confusion).
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Devotion for Wednesday, February 24th
Remember!
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Deuteronomy 8:11-20
11Take care that you do not forget the LORD your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. 12When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, 13and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, 14then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, 16and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. 17Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” 18But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. 19If you do forget the LORD your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20Like the nations that the LORD is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.
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Dear Friends,
When I am asked to talk about the historic Reformed Christian understanding of the "Soveriegnty of God", I start and end by saying, "God is God, and you are not." (I also mean: "God is God, and I/we/they are not!)
We are to trust God, love God, be loved by God. God who made us. God who saves us - God is God, and we are not.
We are not God... that should be a fairly easy concept to remember... except that it is not always.
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Not that any of us really walk around saying "I am God! I am all powerful!"
That would be blasphemous were it not also so ridiculous.
But friends, I fear that we run into problems when we view only the ridiculous, over-the-top, we-would-never-do-such-a-thing actions as the ones that we need to avoid.
Of course, I do not claim to be God.
But are their times when I lose perspective? Are there times when I attribute too much to my own skills and efforts and forget to give thanks to God for what I have been given? Are there times when I forget how important other people are to what I have done and am doing?
Yes.
There are. Many times.
As we read in Deuteronomy, the Israelites are being warned about a temptation to attribute the blessings of their lives wholly to their own efforts.
The Israelites are being warned not to forget their relationship with God - a God who has led them out of slavery in Egypt and towards the promised land.
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Friends, I wonder if Deuteronomy isn't warning us about the dangers that we face when we feel like we have it all together: when we've got more than enough money to meet our basic needs, when we have a good roof over our heads, when our family is taken care of and life seems good.
There is surely blessing there. Really.
But there may be a danger there. It's not that those aren't all good things. They are. They really are, and I pray them for everyone.
But the danger may lurk that we think we've done it all. Our work. Our skill. Our natural abilities. On our own.
And friends, don't get me wrong, skill and hard work are to be praised and are things that we should be thankful for in ourselves and others.
But... I fear there is a temptation to begin to put too much trust in ourselves and not see as much need for our relationship with God...
...or our relationships with other people.
At some level, we may be tempted to say "I don't need you" to other people and forget to say anything to God.
And we may distance ourselves from other people and from God. And that might seem fine as long as everything is good.
But is it?
And the thing is... when we make ourselves out to be god, we will find we are worshipping a very poor and fickle deity indeed.
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Friends, Lent is a season of remembering that we are not God nor should we try to pretend that we are.
And COVID and the economic and social uncertainty surrounding the pandemic has shown us in too many ways just how fragile our assumptions of our own prosperity and invincibility can be.
Good health is not guaranteed. Jobs may become insecure. Businesses may struggle.
When we enjoy good health and security, we should indeed give thanks.
In good times, we should always tend to relationships. We should always tend to our relationship with God. And we should always also work to build up our relationships with other people around us. For we need them as they need us.
In turn, on those days when everything seems to be falling a part - it is good news to be reminded that God is God and we are not. God who led the Israelites through the wilderness, God who seeks us out in the Prophets, God who is the Light who Shines in the Darkness as Jesus Christ, loves us today and always. God will be with us and love us and hold us in the midst of our own challenges and struggles.
Friends, whether you are in the midst of good days or are suffering through a stormy season, please know that you are loved by God and precious in God's sight. Please know that God seeks to be in relationship with you. Please know that God wants you to be in loving relationship with your fellow children of God.
We are loved by God and precious in God's sight, but so are they!
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow: God is God - and thanks be to God for that!
Grace and Peace,
Emile
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"What a Friend We Have in Jesus"
WPPC Virtual Ukulele Choir - July 2020
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"God Be With Your Till We Meet Again" WPPC Virtual Ukulele Choir Project
You don't have to be a member of our Ukulele Choir or Chancel Choir to participate! Just record yourself singing! All are welcome!
How to participate (do it yourself directions):
1. Watch and listen to this video of Ed signing:
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"God Be You Till We Meet Again"
Practice Track for Virtual Ukulele Choir Project
Due Wednesday, March 3rd
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2. Download the music: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11kijT8w7DP294CriFCt83Y42b7mRSUKP/view?usp=sharing
3. Make a recording of you singing this song in sync with Ed
To record in sync with Ed you will need two devices:
- One phone, tablet, or computer to listen to the song video as you play along
- and a second camera/phone/tablet to record the video of you singing.
(PLEASE wear headphones while recording. This makes it much more likely that you will be in sync and makes the editing process easier.)
4. Then share the file with Emile by Google Drive, Drop Box or another file-sharing service. (The video will be too large to text or e-mail. If you need help, please ask!)
The deadline to send me a video will be Wednesday March 3rd at 5pm. After that I will begin editing the video together - and it is really difficult add a late video after I've begun work.
5. Call or text Emile to make sure I got the video. (Sometimes file transfers don't work the first time - especially if you've not sent a file to me before. I REALLY don't want to accidentally leave out someone who recorded a song!)
If you need help with any part of this process, please contact me - I would love for you to be involved!
Thank you all! The more voices the better!
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