Feb. 27: Marriage

“And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold chord is not easily broken.” Eccl. 4:12

Many people are hungering, are longing for looking for a soulmate. It’s no small thing to share your life with another. Ask any married person, and no matter how much in love they may be, he or she will tell you that a healthy marriage requires work and attention. There has to be love, absolutely. But something so important mustn’t be completely dependent on a changing emotion. We need something rock solid. A threefold chord is not easily broken. Like a rope made of three strands woven together, a loving, healthy marriage needs to have three parts: you, your spouse and God. That’s why we take our vows before God. Whether you’ve never been married, are married now or may be married again God needs to be present in that covenant. It will save you and the world from a lot of pain.

Pastor Larry Lenow

Feb. 28: Family

There is no substitute for family.

First there is our family of origin, the family of our birth, where we came from, those who shaped us into who we are, those who provided those experiences of life, those who are still part of our lives today.

In my family of origin I was blessed with Christian parents, three older brothers and a younger sister. My siblings and I are now in our 50’s and 60’s (how did that happen?!!?); and they continue to be a great source of strength and love to me.

Then as Christians we are blessed with a family of faith. This family is created through the love of God, providing sisters and brothers in the faith, no matter where we are.

I have been blessed to have a family of faith here at Trinity. You rejoiced with us in Garrett and Abby’s births years ago; and you have taught them the Christian faith. You comforted us at the time of my mother-in-law’s death in 2014, and my father’s death in 2015. You were unwavering cheerleaders during Garrett and Abby’s basketball careers. You challenge me and encourage me in my own walk of faith. You comforted me as I took Garrett off to college for the first time two years ago. And you have been angels of compassion and love through Abby’s recent surgery and rehab. There is no substitute for love like that. You are my family.

The love of God provides family.

This Lenten season may we reach out to those who are searching for family – that family of faith that God makes possible.

Judy Oguich

March 1: Identity

What is your place in this world?

How do we find our identity in life? Is it through our family or our culture? Those things are all important, but there is something greater in our lives as Christians. In Galatians chapter 2, Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Our identity in this world is a reflection of Jesus, who showed us the greatest love possible. Because of this gift of love, we should be showing love to the world!

How does the role of Jesus in your life influence your identity to the world?

Bryce Miller

March 2: Acceptance

1 Timothy 1:15

“The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.”

Courage is an interesting word.

Does it take courage to admit that I am a sinner?

The last six words from 1 Timothy Chapter 1, verse 15 — “of who I am the foremost,” fit me pretty well, as I am a sinner.

My life is checkered with mistakes. Actions that I hang my head in regret and embarrassment.

Yet, despite my errors in my daily living, Jesus accepts me.

For 31 years, I worked in Virginia’s public schools. I often found some of the most challenging situations related to student discipline actually came down to acceptance.

A student’s acting out came from wanting attention, and that need for attention came from wanting to be accepted.

Churches can be difficult wilderness area to navigate for newcomers, the unchurched, or for someone who hasn’t attended church in a long time.

These people are hungry for acceptance as well.

Jesus had no problem with the acceptance of people he encountered in the wilderness of his journey while living on earth.

Why do I find it so difficult at times to accept people in the wilderness of their journeys?

Shouldn’t I be more like Jesus?

Bill Pike

Feb. 14: Ash Wednesday

 

Feb. 14: Ash Wednesday | Pastor Drew Willson

Where are you going?
And on the way, how are you going to live?
Hi friends. It’s Ash Wednesday, and I’m Drew Willson, one of the pastors at Trinity.
Where do I come from? I was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, and I’ve lived in the Shenandoah Valley, the Eastern Shore, Scotland, and Atlanta.
Where am I going? Well, that story has changed. When I was ten, I thought I was going to be a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles. (You can see how that turned out.)
We each have a different story about where we come from and where we’re going. It even changes over time, like mine.
But what doesn’t change is that each of us comes from dust, and each of us will be dust again very soon. Pushing up daisies.
Food for worms. As God reminds Adam in Genesis 3, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” That’s where we get that famous funeral line, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” It’s where we come from, and it’s where we’re going: you and me….
But you know something amazing about this brief time we have between birth and death? You and I share it. In the billions of years of cosmic history, what a mystery that we should coexist. We’ve been given a precious gift. How could we live each sacred day on our way from dust to dust?
These next 40 days of Lent, let’s travel the way together and see.

March 4: Rest

Sabbath: March 4, 2018

A lot of us talk about rest and recreation like we like it. A lot. But that doesn’t make us very good at it.

In Exodus 20, the fourth commandment is to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Do all your work in six days, but on the seventh day, rest. How many of us can honestly say that for one whole day a week, we abstain from all work—or from making others work for us, like in restaurants or theaters or golf courses… or even churches?

The fourth commandment tells us that rest isn’t just a kind recommendation from on high. The Lord does not say, “Hey, take care of yourself and take a break every now and then.” Rather, the Lord says, “You shall not do any work.”

Walter Brueggemann points out that the Ten Commandments begin with the Lord saying, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” In Egypt, God’s people were enslaved in overwork. Read Exodus 5: Pharaoh punished these Hebrews strangers in his land by forcing them to make bricks, then by cutting their supply of straw to make bricks, then by demanding that they still produce the same amount of bricks. He didn’t like these foreigners living as well as they had been, so he tried to cover his cruel xenophobia by accusing them of sheer laziness and demanding ceaseless production and economic stimulation.

But according to the fourth commandment, that not the life that God intends for us. God intends a day of Sabbath, a practice of rest, a lifestyle that breaks from the constant economy and honors something much more holy: the abundant life that God offers to each and every one of us. What day a week could you rest from your labors, and let others rest, too?

Drew Willson