letting our pain out

Good afternoon sisters and brothers,
Job has suffered. So far he's given the "right" responses; the acceptable religious answers about accepting bad from God as well as good. Now, after seven days of silent mourning with his friends, Job truly lets out the pain of his heart. This raw, honest, angry grief opens up the rest of the book for us. No matter how we feel or how we express it, God loves us and can take our most unfiltered feelings.

God bless,
Sam

Job 3:1-10

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ²Job said: ³“Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’ ⁴Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, or light shine on it. ⁵Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds settle upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶That night—let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. ⁷Yes, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it. ⁸Let those curse it who curse the Sea, those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan. ⁹Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none; may it not see the eyelids of the morning— ¹⁰because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, and hide trouble from my eyes.

let the children come

Good night/good morning brothers and sisters,
This passage may be familiar to many of us, but it's a great fit for this week as we consider children and the church's responsibility to support kids, healthy families and communities. The disciples try to protect Jesus' time or dignity or something in the face of parents bringing their children to Jesus for a blessing. I'm not sure what their concern was. In some way, they seemed to feel that children were not worthy of their great teacher's attention. As we see, Jesus felt differently. In fact, a child's curiosity, engagement and openness provides a model for how all of us should approach the kingdom of God. How can we do better? I hope many of you will join UPT for prayer in front of the school board offices (131 W. Broad) on Sunday morning at 8. I'd also like to invite all children/youth and the young at heart to join in a youth led worship service at Brockport Presbyterian Church. We continue Jesus' legacy by honoring, protecting, and ministering with children today.
God bless,
Sam

Mark 10:13-16

¹³People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ¹⁵Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

prayer and growth

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Jesus teaches the disciples about prayer in our passage for today. This passage is a troubling passage for those of us who have ever had a prayer not answered. At the same time, the Christian prayer that guides all others asks for God's will to be done. Prayer is effective, but not always the way we want or expect it to be. What I know from my own journey is that the more I pray the more I find myself in synch with God. I trust that process will continue in my life and I hope for the same in your life.

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 21:18-22

18In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. 19And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. 22Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”

Exodus

Good morning sisters and brothers,
On this morning we remember the fear, grief and loss of ten years ago. This afternoon there are two interfaith worship services in memory of September 11. One is at 1 pm at Third Presbyterian Church, and the other is at 4 pm at George Eastman House.

Our Exodus passage is familiar to most of us. Pharaoh and his army went to retrieve their slaves, the Israelites, to find that God was fighting for them. In Romans, Paul urges us not to fight about our differences, but instead to welcome each other. We may have differences in our faith or practice, but we all want to honor God with our lives. That's a lesson I keep wanting our national church to learn as well as our nation as a whole.

God bless,
Sam

Exodus 14:19-31

19The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. 20It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.

21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. 22The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 24At the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. 25He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”



26Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.“ 27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the LORD tossed the Egyptians into the sea. 28The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. 29But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31Israel saw the great work that the LORD did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the LORD and believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.



*Sunday

Romans 14:1-12

1Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 2Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. 4Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

7We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”
12So then, each of us will be accountable to God.