Mid-week with Pastor Ida

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!
Alleluia!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T02:39:00.000-07:00

Today we will stand at the foot of the cross from the distance of time. We know what lays beyond the morn. And yet as we tarry in its presence and see our Savior, the suffering servant who willingly humble obiedence, lays down his life for us, we shutter at the immensity and reality of the cost of that love. Let us not rush too quickly beyond it shadow for there are lessons to be learned before our Lord cries out, "It is finished!” It is in dying that we learn to live. It is in the loneliness of darkness that we discover that God will never leave us nor forsake us. This is a sacred hour; let us stand, by grace, through faith, in its transformative shadow.

Traveling Through Holy Week

2011-04-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

As you can see I have posted readings for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. Often we neglect to pause to experience the descent into greatness that accompanies the descent into the darkness and death that precedes Easter with its joy of resurrection. When we do that we miss the full impact of the reality of Easter. In the same way our lives are filled with both triumph and tragedy but in the mist of it all God is present to cry with us, to rejoice with us and to guide and strengthen us along the way. I hope that you will be able to be with us as we gather as a community of faith to worship and remember in word and sacrament on Maundy Thursday at 8:00 PM and to walk through the darkness together on Good Friday at 8:00. Then return to worship on Easter Sunday ( at 10:00 AM) as we proclaim our joy in the hope and reality of resurrection. What a mighty God we serve!

An Invitation to High Tea at Brentwood

2011-04-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

Our High Tea is always a lot of fun. We encourage the ladies to come in all their finery or in casual attire if you prefer. Don’t forget to wear your creative hats and to bring your prettiest tea cup for the judges to review. Prizes will be awarded to the winners. There is a junior competition for the children as well. Men are always welcome. Top hats not required. The highlight of the day is the wholesome fun and fellowship that we enjoy together. It is a wonderful opportunity for community friends to join in the enjoyable change of pace from the demands of our busy lives. All are welcome! Mark your calendars to save the date.

Musing Toward Sunday

2011-04-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry to have missed you earlier this week. Death, resurrection and brokenness among our loved ones are never on schedule. But what a blessed hope we have in Jesus! This is the season that we reflect on all that the love and grace of God mean in our lives. Palm Sunday is just a few days away. What exuberant joy accompanied that procession into Jerusalem! Truly this was the long awaited king who would sit on the throne of David and liberate the people from their oppression. But there was a greater plan than that which they envisioned, a plan that passed through death into resurrection. A plan of redemption for all the nations. What hidden truth is there in this familiar passage? Come let us reason together and celebrate the redemptive plan of God through Jesus Christ the Son. Come let us discover what that means for our lives in this current world and in the world to come.

Sightings at Brentwood

2011-04-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at the Pot Roast Dinner and Game night. Food was great but the fellowship was better. It is so good to have time to visit and laugh with each other.

Pot Roast Dinner Today

2011-04-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

If you have not already signed up for the Pot Roast Dinner and Game Night we invite you to come on down. It is a wonderful way to meet new people and see what church looks like in the" in between" days. God has called us to abundant life in the here and now as well as for eternity. Come taste and see. (Boy can these folk put together a good meal!) There is always room for one or a few more.

Click on the link at the bottom of the page for details.

Musing Toward Sunday

2011-04-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

One of the most often asked questions is what happens after death. Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? On one of the on-line book stores there are 1,103 results for the topic “near death experience”. These many books attest to our fascination with this topic. Certainly this is an important question for it deal directly with the question of how then shall we live? In our gospel lesson this Sunday we meet a man who knows the answer for he was dead for four days and yet he is alive. He poses an incredible dilemma for the ruling leaders of the day for people are being convicted by his very presence. What would you ask him? What do the circumstances of this story tell you? How then shall we live?

How then shall we live?

2011-04-02T07:06:00.000-07:00

When Jesus and the disciples encounter the man born blind, the disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” They think that his blindness was a result of God’s judgment and punishment. This thinking often prevails to this day. In natural disaster, such as the earth quake and tsunami that recently hit Japan, many see the hand of a holy God that demands retribution for the sin of a people. But who is without sin? Only Jesus was tempted and sinned not. And how is this idea reconcilable with a God who loves us so that he took human form to die that we might have everlasting life. Is our harsh judgment of others a way that we seek to distant ourselves from the reality of suffering and the avoidance of truth? How can we live in joy and peace within the unpredictability of life?

Musing Toward Sunday

2011-03-31T17:57:00.000-07:00

We continue on our journey through Lent as we visit with the third of four individuals who have an encounter with Jesus in our lectionary readings. One was a noted religious leader, Nicodemus, who could not understand a scriptural metaphor nor receive the new insight that Jesus revealed. It required a change to his comfortable and prominent status quo. Last week we met a woman of Samaria who was in many ways his complete opposite. She was able to accept by faith that which she still did not understand because of the truth she did acknowledge. This week we will visit with one who will stand up to the religious leaders and social elite turning their very words back to them in satirical parody. One who once begged for their coins holds his own in unwavering rebuttal of their denial of a reality not yet understood. Where are you in the story?

Welcome

2011-03-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Mid-week with Pastor Ida. Life is a journey into the unknown. As Christians we are committed by grace to follow Jesus Christ our Lord. It is a journey that brings us together to worship on Sundays and sends us out into the world to love and serve one another in challenging and joyful places.
This mid-week blog is a place where we can visit in those in between spaces, a place to consider the council of Scripture that we will explore together on Sunday. Each week I will enter a little nugget to guide your reflections on the liturgical readings for the week. I invite you to pose your questions and thoughts as we journey toward Sunday. May God nourish and guide you, by the empowerment and illumination of the Holy Spirit that we might glorify God in all that we do and say.