The church is not just for those who have seen God’s goodness by Pastor Jerrell Williams

The Salem-Keizer, Oregon community is blessed to have Pastor Jerrell Williams leading Salem's Mennonite Church. We have posted at least two articles by him in the recent past. These have come from Anabaptist World. In a recent article in Anabaptist World Pastor Williams says the following:

Disappointment with God is a reality we need to recognize. As the church testifies to God’s faithfulness, we have to remember that not everyone has experienced God as faithful.

We have to be prepared to walk with those who feel God has not been faithful to them. As a pastor, I have had the honor to accompany those who are struggling and doubting as well as those who are solidly sure of their faith.

I have sat with people as they have asked me why God wasn’t there for them or for their friends or their families. Though I am tempted to interject my own experiences and ideas, there is nothing I can say that dulls the pain.

At this point we are left with a reminder that so much of modern atheism---at least in my circles---is founded on disappointments and suffering, and it should be fully understandable to people of faith that this occurs and gains momentum and forms of expression. There is also an atheism that develops from the capitalist reality that we all live in. How does anyone manage to maintain faith when every activity is weighed for what it produces and its cost? A competitive and hierarchical system, gendered and racialized and exploitative in its fundamentals, is bound to produce atheism. Pastor Williams does not take these questions up directly, but they are there in the background.      

So Pastor Williams is taking up a large slice of our human condition in a short article. Where does he go with this? The entire article can be read here.

Pastor Anthony F Gadson---Just Another Day The Lord Has kept Me

 

Christina Miller's Sermon On Coming Face-To-Face With Christ 4-26-2022---Simple, Short & Wise

 

Please take moment to pause...

 

Don't be upset if your choice is wrong!..A note from Palestine

 Don't be upset if your choice is wrong!..

Jesus himself chose 12 disciples, 3 of them betrayed him, one denied, one betrayed, one doubted

It means that a quarter of the choice of Jesus Christ was against him in the time of trouble, all of them turned to him and ran away

God wants to tell you and teach you that the fault is not in you nor in your choices

Because you will never know the intentions of people, no matter how wise you are, you will be deceived in the faces of people

Don't be upset if everyone left you and you're alone in distress!

Our Lord will be the closest to you

Gratitude and God's gifts...

 

You're probably doing better than you think...

 

Blessings and thankfulness

 

We have two important dates to mark: The Healing of the Paralytic and The Sunday of Thomas (with music from Ralph Stanley)

The Healing of a Paralytic: Mark 2:1-12

1 When Jesus returned to Capernauma after some days, it became known that he was at home.

2 Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them.

3 They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.

4 Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”

6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,

7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?

8 Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?

9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’?

10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”—

11 he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”

12 He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

John 20:19-29 and see this: https://www.goarch.org/thomas-sunday

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

21 [Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.

23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

A life's journey...

 

Some positive thoughts for those who are hurting and lost, for workers, for busy people who need rest and compassion

Easter...

 

Redemption Hymn (Live) - Glory & Gladness Music

 

The question that is posed on Holy Thursday...

 

Consider yourself invited...

Salem First United Methodist Church

600 State St, Salem, OR 97301

Greenleaf Worship Celebration--Every Christian should watch this and carry it back to our churches.

 

Affirming And Encouraging One Another

A Compelling Sermon With A Black History Emphasis

 

Five Prayers

The following are taken from a prayer group that I am a part of or some other source. They are not edited. 

Dear God, my heart will always rejoice when I think of your love and the Grace you have gifted me with. It is because of your Son, Jesus Christ, I am free from the power of sin and death. I no longer have to fear death and destruction or the threats of the enemy because I am resting and hidden in Christ. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Dear God thank you for your standfast love for us and where ever we are may you keep us on this journey and so we may find Christ love in us and show us how to serve one other and guild us though and keep our hearts pure before you o god for you called us to shine your light everyday so we may come fill circle and let the Christ light shine in all the world and may we find a deep peace in our lives and let god guild us and find his path and keep us faithful to his words and let the words of God seek us as we are in our hearts and minds and keep us strong though our journey and may we find God's light in us and around us so we may walk in God's ways and let our hearts and minds find peace and joy and love in God's blessing and may the blessing come to us and around us so we may find our lives in a better place and let our words and teach us to be faithful as we walk this journey together and Christ will follow us in so many ways and let us be open to you o god and find our ways in this journey. Amen.

"I hope these words of mine will be a blessing for everyone who reads them, or hears them, just as they have been a blessing for me as I write them. The hand of the Spirit is on you. It may be a gentle touch. It may be a reassuring hand. It may be a firm grip holding on for life. The important thing is: the Spirit is as close as a touch. Nothing can snatch you away. Nothing can separate you. Nothing can prevent you. You are under the protection of the single most powerful force in the universe. Whatever that universe brings you, the hand of the Spirit is on you."--The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston

Father, Help me to travel the path set before me. I know it may not be easy, but I know You will help me on my way. Amen.

What are we---each of us---becoming?