Cokesbury Memorial UMC

Friends,
There’s been news this week related to our schools … young people victimized by violence, those in our community impacted by addictions and mental illness. Just hearing the news has impacted many in our congregations and communities. I encourage you to reach out to one another. Draw on your relationship with God and His love for you. Remember that Jesus is your Lord and Savior and offers to take all that keeps us burdened. Perhaps this day you will find yourself in prayer a bit more than usual. I’ve included a prayer, in case words fail you …
Pastor Karin

Gracious God,
Our hearts are heavy as we think about the school shootings this week, and even in our own communities. We seek your help, Lord, as we struggle with understanding about how these things can happen, how young people can get caught up in the violence that is unspeakable. Hear our prayers for those who are grieving tonight for the loss of their children to violence, to drugs, to mental illness; for the young people traumatized by violence in their school and neighborhood; for the teachers and administrators and school workers who grieve, and for parents and community members who care deeply for the well-being of our children. We pray, God, for your Spirit of peace to sweep across our communities and create in them a new presence and comfort. Draw near to us as a faith community as we fully understand and embrace our mission to teach our children about Jesus and to share His love with one another.
We pray for families struggling with young people who are lost, those who are perpetrators of violence, those who are mentally ill, and those who haven’t been able to recover. God, in your mercy, hear our prayers. We lift up families impacted by addictions and all who have lost loved ones to them. God, give us strength to seek out one another, to encourage those who are losing hope, and cover them with prayer and love. God, hear our prayers this night. Help us to love one another with our actions.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
- Ezekiel 36:26

God desires transformation with us, replacing our hard and unresponsive hearts (as the metaphor goes) with ones that are tender and open to God’s love and guidance. It can be an easy thing to let disappointments, pains, distractions, and other things harden us. God offers us renewal, a chance to let go, to soften and open ourselves to His working within us. Receive God’s love, forgiveness, peace, and hope today and carry it with you always!

Pastor Danny

“The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’” Matthew 22:44

Jesus, quoting Psalm 110:1, is establishing Himself as the Messiah that was predicted. He is the one that sits at the right hand of God – symbolizing His honor, power, and partnership with God, and, later on, that He and the Father are one. For us today, acknowledging Jesus’ authority means surrendering every part of our lives to Him – our decisions, our fears, our struggles. Perhaps today we can reflect on where we could recognize Jesus’ Lordship more fully – in a relationship, a challenge at work, within a difficulty we going through – and surrender these things to Christ, trusting in His power to bring us peace and strength to overcome.

Pastor Danny

“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ‘What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ ‘The son of David,’ they replied.” – Matthew 22:41-42

Jesus’ question here goes beyond just a question of lineage like the Pharisee take it - it invites us to explore who this Messiah is to us. Jesus is our promised Savior, He fulfilled ancient prophecies and came to redeem humanity from sin through His death and resurrection. He is both fully God and fully human, the go-between who bridges the gap between God and humanity. Jesus, our Messiah, invites us to find our identity and hope in Him, to live out His love and teachings, and to share the good news of His salvation with the world. Let us cling to the truth that Jesus is our Messiah, our Lord, and our Savior, and let this truth guide and transform our lives every day!

Pastor Danny

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. – Matthew 22:37-40

Loving God and loving others isn’t just another rule to add to the list, but really is the essence of everything God wants from us in this life. These things are at the foundation on which every other command from God is built. For Jesus, the spirit of the law was always more important than the letter of the law, we see that time and again with His interactions with the Pharisees. Any rule given to us by God is meant to move us towards greater love of God and neighbor – if we aren’t heading in that direction maybe we need to dive deeper into Scripture!

Pastor Danny

He replied, The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see. John 9: 12-14

One of the first things this man does after his healing is to share with others about the amazing work of God in his life! This is a healing he had likely prayed for, longed for, all his life. I wonder how often God answers our own prayers and we forget to even thank God for it, much less sharing that testimony with others. God is at work in your life. How will you share your joy today?

Pastor Karin

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, ‘Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?’ Some claimed that he was. Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’ But he himself insisted, ‘I am the man.’ ‘How then were your eyes opened?’ they asked.
John 9: 8-10

It can be hard to forget the past. We remember those who wronged us or the way someone behaved that impacted us negatively. We might also remember times in our lives when we were not at our best and when we acted in ways we regret.

But God is a God who offers a second chance and a third chance…What God asks is that we do our best to serve Him, to follow Him, and to be a representative of Christ in the world. Part of that includes extending God’s grace to others—to pass on the opportunity for a second chance. Let’s start the day being better for God and live the Great Life!

Today, who can you show that same Grace to and begin to give a second chance?

Pastor Karin

After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (this word means ‘Sent’). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
John 9:6-7

Has God ever asked you to do something strange--maybe not on the level of putting mud on your eyes, but perhaps you felt the nudge to talk to a stranger, call someone you hadn’t talked to in years, volunteer somewhere that was outside of your comfort zone. The saying “God works in mysterious ways” is congruent with our understanding that God chooses to bless us in ways we don’t even imagine. If God is nudging you to do something to bless another but it is a bit unusual, talk it over with someone you trust, be bold, and go for it!

Pastor Karin

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. John 9: 4-5

While Jesus remains in the world He is and will be the Light of the world. The most important thing to remember from this is that we are called to bring that light of Christ to the world and help it continue to shine all over. It’s like the song reminds us, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine... let it shine, let shine, let it shine!” Where will you shine the light of Christ today?

Pastor Karin

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.’ John 9: 1-3

Whether it was his parents’ sin or God’s will, either way it seems this man received the short end of the stick in this story – at first glance at least. On closer inspection, God uses this man’s blindness to show His glory. God saw someone who was suffering in this way and used this as an opportunity to show His power to the world. It reminds me of the verse, “God works for the good of those who love him.” God doesn’t cause the suffering, this fallen world we live in does just fine on its own, but God will work through these things to make extraordinary things happen! It sometimes requires hindsight to see God at work. Too bad they don’t make glasses to fix that!

Pastor Karin

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. I Peter 1: 12

When you look at this chapter as a whole, all week long, you realize that the writer is encouraging you to have hope and then telling you why that is possible. Whatever else you enjoy this weekend, try worship. Give God thanks for the hope that comes to those who trust in Jesus. Rest assured that God loves you and in Him there is power and peace beyond our ability to understand!

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. I Peter 1: 8-9

It is a blessed assurance to know that even though we cannot know Him fully, he comes and takes us by the hand and fills us with joy and hope. Our salvation makes a huge difference in the way we live into our hope. We do so with confidence, knowing that we never are good enough to earn our salvation. Our hope comes in the name of the Lord who saves us because God chooses to! How can you live the Great Life—the blessed assurance that Jesus is Your Lord and Savior?

Pastor Karin

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
I Peter 1: 6-8

Perseverance is manifest in our everyday lives. You can probably think of a time when you persevered personally and where the end result is great accomplishment. While we do not generally have to worry about being persecuted for our faith, we do have to make our way through the worries of the world. Invite the skeptics to join you in the faith. And encourage others along the way to keep the faith in spite of the naysayers. It’s a great time to be a Christian!

Pastor Karin

This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. I Peter 1: 4-6

The Bible often speaks of our inheritance. It says that we are heirs of the kingdom, meaning that we didn’t earn it, or buy it, or work for it, but it is being given to us through the power of Jesus Christ. Because of God’s work through Jesus Christ, we become heirs of His Kingdom. God loves us that much and so much wants to be in relationship with us. How can you deny a God like that, who loves you with an extravagant love, a perfect love, a love God hopes we will share with others? If you gave up on faith, try it again because God has not given up on you!

Pastor Karin

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. I Peter 1: 3-4

The cross is a sign of victory for Christians and one that we rely on all week long. It presents the greatest symbol of hope for people of the faith. Think about when you see a cross and the impact it has on your life. Pick one cross in your life that you see in the community or church and pray before it, giving God thanks for the sacrifice in the name of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Karin

Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’ Luke 10:37

What are we to learn from the story of the Good Samaritan? We are called on to show mercy and compassion in our daily lives. We must move beyond study into practical application of the Bible, to showing real acts of kindness to the world. We should look to break down barriers, overcome prejudices, and promote unity whenever possible. And we must live out the Gospel – putting our faith into action and become a witness through serving others!

Pastor Danny

Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’ – Luke 10:36-37

At the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus has a question of His own for the legal expert trying to trick Him. Even despite the hero of the story being a Samaritan, a group reviled by the Jewish people, how else could this Jewish legal expert respond? Notice that he couldn’t even bring himself to say “the Samaritan,” probably through gritted teeth he simply says “the one who had mercy.” The legal expert was petty to the end, but Jesus’ lesson of love and compassion wins out! How can showing mercy to another reveal God’s love to someone who is your neighbor?

Pastor Danny

He asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’
Luke 10:29

It’s fairly easy to love and help those who we know well, who are part of our daily lives, our inner circle. But Jesus calls on us to expand our idea of who our neighbor is. We are called on to show compassion and mercy to all people, even when that calls us to move across social and cultural barriers. Everyone, all of God’s children, are deserving of love and compassion – let us live as though this were true!

Pastor Danny

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself. – Luke 10:27

We are called on to love God with our entire being. Prioritizing God in every aspect of life – emotionally, spiritually, physically, and intellectually. It means aligning our desires, actions, and thoughts with God’s will and purposes. And we are called on to practice selfless, active love towards others.

Pastor Danny

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Luke 10:25

Sounds like a reasonable question, we’d all like to be sure we know the answer to that one! Unfortunately, this law expert didn’t really have the best intentions in asking it. “What is the minimum I have to do to earn my way into heaven” he seems to be asking, “what boxes do I need to check because that’s all I care about, nothing more.” Even still, Jesus uses this encounter as an amazing teaching moment, showing that inheriting eternal life involves not just checking off a few simple boxes, but living a life that is focused on loving and having Faith in God, and putting that love in to action as we pour out compassion upon others.

Pastor Danny

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. There have been times when I have doubted my faith. There have been times when I’ve felt alone or afraid or helpless. There have been times when I have felt as though God is not present in my life. But as in the story of the two sets of footprints in the sand, I have learned that in the times when I felt as though I was walking alone, those were the times when God was carrying me. He is always with me, even when I can’t feel him, and he is always strengthening me and helping me – upholding me with his “righteous right hand”. What a wonderfully comforting image.

Annabel Lusardi

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27: 13-14

The words of the psalmist are a comfort to me at times when I question God’s faithfulness. Mister Rogers once said, “my mother always told me when I was afraid to look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping.” These verses remind me to look for the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living – in other words, look for people who are living out their faith. Look for stories of hope and optimism and wait for God to reveal himself in your life.

Annabel Lusardi

The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

The smallest spark of light dispels darkness. The good news of the gospel is the light that Jesus brings to the world. In times of darkness, when we feel afraid, we can remember the words of the psalmist – with God as our salvation, with God as the stronghold in our life, of whom should we be afraid? We can trust that God is always with us. And if we find ourselves in a dark place with a loved one, let’s try to be the spark of light to comfort them.

Annabel Lusardi

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” John 21:16

Jesus trusts Simon Peter to begin the work of the church, despite his betrayal on the night he was arrested. When Jesus speaks of sheep he is referring to us, and specifically to those among us who are the least, the last and the lost. He asks us to love him and then he entrusts us with the work of caring for those in need, on his behalf, because we love him. How are you taking care of his sheep today?

Annabel Lusardi

He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. John 21:6

When Jesus told the disciples to cast their net out on the other side of the boat, they were skeptical. They had spent the whole night fishing and caught nothing – how was throwing the net on the other side of the boat going to help? The difference was this time they had Jesus with them, and the result was almost more fish than they could handle! What are you doubting right now? Open your mind and ask Jesus to help you look at your situation with a different perspective.

Annabel Lusardi

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18

Who needs your prayers today? Lord God, hear our individual prayers for people in our lives—people we know, people we don’t know, for the church, and for the world.

Hear our prayers……

Living the Great life? Pray and it will get better!

Pastor Karin

The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.
Proverbs 27:12

Even though this sign was on every side of the lake, there were still people feeding the alligators. They even would go close to the riverside to look at the animals up close. I am enamored with alligators but don’t need to see their teeth! I think this is the way temptation works. The path forward is clear, yet curiosity gets the most of us and we do what we shouldn’t. Sometimes it takes a bite to get our attention. Prayer and accountability with one another are the way to stay God-centered. Live the great life by being better for God!

Pastor Karin

And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good. II Thessalonians 3:13

There are many times during the year when I see how our congregation pulls together to make a powerful influence upon the world whether it is one of our festivals, the golf tournament, funeral luncheon, big worship services, mission trips, and Vacation Bible School, which is going on this week. There are over 100 people involved in one way or another, spending most of the week at church for the purpose of providing an amazing Christian education week for our children. They are loving every minute and learning a lot about Jesus and His love. We couldn’t do it without the time and commitment of our youth and adult volunteers.

We persevere, and we never tire of doing good or doing the right thing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Pastor Karin

On God my salvation and my glory rest. The rock of my strength, my refuge, is in God.
Psalm 51:4

When we think of God as the rock of our strength, we can imagine a cliff such as this one. God is that enormous to us, beyond our ability to even comprehend. God is so great, so strong, and so mighty, there is nothing our God cannot do! So today, give to Him your burdens. He can handle them and encourages us to share them.

And in so doing, we persevere through the tough days!

Pastor Karin

Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: Go through the camp and tell the people, Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord is giving to you. Joshua 1:9-11

Most of an iceberg is under water. In fact, that is why the Titanic sank. It hit a brick wall and kept trying to move forward. It could not see what was in the way under the water. Sometimes the hidden obstacles take away our confidence. We struggle with unexpected chaos or failure or disappointment. But know that the Lord our God will make a way. God will go with you wherever you go. He will pick you up and set you on the feet once again. What “icebergs” can you give to God this week?

Pastor Karin