A few year back at New England Club (senior living facility)  worship, a participant shared a sheet on God’s Survival Kit with our team. We customized that sheet a bit and the result is HERE and down below…

Isn’t this a sweet way (pun intended) to share a reminder of God’s love? Our team assembled little cups with survival kit items and handed them out at worship. They were popular and several people asked about taking an extra to give to a friend, family member or another who just needed to know that God provides energy, love, resilience and more. How could we refuse?

Since then we have taken customized versions of this to church members while visiting – it was a nice approach to discuss our faith in a relaxed way.

ACTION: Are there people in your life who could use their own personal God’s Survival Kit? If so, consider stopping by with a kit (we’ve created a customizable Word document version of our half-page sheet HERE for your use, in case that’s helpful)

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit, aware of the survival kit God has for each of us!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, June 2, 2019:

• Acts 16:16-34
• Psalm 97
• Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
• John 17:20-26

For me Memorial Day has a slightly different meaning from what we read on www.History.com. While it’s important to focus on memorializing military personnel who have aided our cause of freedom, spending this day memorializing EVERY important person in my sphere is valuable. The fact that some of these important people were not in the military does not dim my celebration of their memories during this holiday weekend.

POTENTIAL ACTIONS:

• Make a list of some key individuals who helped shape your life and who are no longer sharing space in our mortal world.
• Spend time in prayer, thanking God for these key people and asking for strength and support of your efforts in being more Christ-like in word and deed.

PRAYER: Dear God, on this Memorial Day, we thank you for all special people in our lives who have now passed physically from this mortal world, including the men and women in military roles who have made our world a safer place. May we be good ambassadors, allowing their legacies to continue for ensuing generations. Thank you for Jesus, a wonderful, aspirational example of the people we might become. Amen.

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, June 2, 2019:

• Acts 16:16-34
• Psalm 97
• Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
• John 17:20-26

Is insomnia an issue for you or someone you know? Maybe the idea in this Daily Guideposts article is worth a try?

Practicing approaches like this in the past, I can attest to their effectiveness. As a good friend and parent, would God mind that we’re nodding off while in conversation? [this reminds me of nighttime conversations when sleeping in the same room with friends – one of us would be talking and suddenly there was no sound as sleep overtook us… ]

ACTION: Do you have friends and/or family members dealing with challenges sleeping? Share prayers of strength and support for those people. Then, if appropriate, forward this email – or compose your own email – to them along with the Daily Guideposts article.

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 26, 2019:

• Acts 16:9-15
• Psalm 67
• Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
• John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9

“Be still, and know that I am God!”    ~ Psalm 46:10a

A favorite devotional site from Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago IL is written by different members of their staff, providing a nice variety of perspectives. This message based on Psalm 46 shares a significant family story along with several POSSIBLE ACTIONS including:

• “What if this day we each walked outside and saw the beauty in the simple and “still” of our surroundings? ‘The Lord God Almighty is with us,’ let us rejoice and be glad!”
• “For this day upon us, what if each of us appreciated the beauty of a storm? The beauty of things falling apart?”

May you find an opportunity to “be still,” feeling God’s presence, then allowing the Spirit to move in and through you as you proceed to do God’s will.

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 26, 2019:

• Acts 16:9-15
• Psalm 67
• Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
• John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9

Magdalena I. Garcia has written a beautiful poem with scriptural background. With her permission, that is included on the Christian Playbook site (link HERE)

QUESTIONS:

• Do you you feel God urging you to pursue certain actions akin to “sailing boldly” and “crossing confidently?”
• What actions might you put on your “to do” list this upcoming week to begin acting on those urges?

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit and empowered for travel!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 19, 2019:

• Acts 11:1-18
• Psalm 148
• Revelation 21:1-6
• John 13:31-35

Ever feel like you need a companion when dealing with a problem harder than granite? Most of us can…

This Our Daily Bread story shares a “doubles” approach. For me, it was a nice reminder of a friend who was a double-teamer during a medical challenge. We even had a chance the other day to share a moment of celebration and appreciation of that double-teaming effort!

We always have our spiritual “doubles” partner, a nice reminder of which is described in the Footprints poem and song.  Better yet?  Having God PLUS a friend/neighbor/family member as a physical “doubler!”

POSSIBLE ACTIONS:

• consider a recent “doubler” in your past and share a meal/coffee, send a note or place a phone call expressing your gratitude
• see someone struggling with an issue? Consider offering to be one of the “doublers” on that person’s team. While they won’t always welcome the opportunity, it’ll help them recognize that the support is available…

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 19, 2019:

• Acts 11:1-18
• Psalm 148
• Revelation 21:1-6
• John 13:31-35

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 12, 2019:

• Acts 9:36-43
• Psalm 23
• Revelation 7:9-17
• John 10:22-30

The Iona community is inspiring. Here is their creed (link HERE.)

Is this powerful, or what?

“…We commit ourselves to work for change
and put ourselves on the line;
to bear responsibility, take risks,
live powerfully
and face humiliation;
to stand with those on the edge;
to choose life and be used by the Spirit
for God’s new community of hope. Amen”

~ Iona Creed

May our commitment in some small way be energized by this creed…

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 12, 2019:

• Acts 9:36-43
• Psalm 23
• Revelation 7:9-17
• John 10:22-30

In this posting, Rick Warren talks about valleys in Israel and in our lives.

Three Things to Remember About the Valleys

At the end of the article Rick asks three questions you may want to ponder today:

• “Where are you on your journey right now: in a valley, climbing out of a valley, somewhere in between a valley and a mountaintop, or on a mountaintop?
• How can you prepare yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually for the valleys of your life?
• Why do you think God allows you to go through valleys and not just mountaintops?

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 5, 2019:

• Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
• Psalm 30
• Revelation 5:11-14
• John 21:1-19

Lynne Babb’s post on Creative Prayer While Walking (link HERE) is music to the ears of those who like the CP’s “Movin’ and Prayin’ ” page (link HERE). Movement so frequently enhances prayer.

Perhaps today will offer an opportunity to try some “thinking in the presence of God” as Lynne describes it?

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 5, 2019:

• Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
• Psalm 30
• Revelation 5:11-14
• John 21:1-19