st-philip-lutheran-church

Tuned in to Change

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 16:35:25 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

Grace and Peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ.

I can testify that I am overjoyed and deeply grateful to be able, to be alive even to welcome this month, again. Isn’t it amazing how time, years, multiple decades and episodes come and go and yet we mostly remain the same? Time passes and we - for some reason- are not always tuned into the changes around, us or even inside of us. We are aware of the things that affect, Us, but not always tuned in to our effect, on the people with whom we live, work, play, or worship. Whether we know it or not, we have immense power to build or destroy.

We are powerful in our humanity, the way we walk, talk and even hold our heads. We have emotions that are revealed in our walk and our talk. WE can repel or draw closer. We have a choice. The Bible calls it Free Will. We are not forced to love. We are not forced to forgive. We are not forced to walk or live with Faith and gratitude as our guide. It is a choice. And we can’t take it for granted. The ability to be self-determining is God’s gift side by side with the Holy Spirit. In our humanity, we are only one breath away from telling our loved ones how much they mean to us, for the last time. Or even remembering to tell your friend they are forgiven over loose words around the wrong person, is pure God-like.

As we get older, we appreciate the memories and remembrances of years gone by. I’ve been a caregiver to people who concentrated on the upside, and I’ve cared for people who were focused on the downside and angry almost all the time and didn’t seem to have any happy memories. This is where listening is so important. We all share stories. Sunshine and rain, joy with or without pain, people without conflict, hate without love…

I pray for Listening ears. God is always communicating with us, through everything we encounter in our lives. The “still small voice” of God can be as gentle as a mother’s I love you whispered against the cheek of a sleeping baby or the ‘loud shout STOP’ just moments before a speeding car passes by.

I pray for agreement. Humanity lives with inner conflict and battles of the heart and mind. We usually associate our mind with our brain or thought or knowing, while our heart is about feelings. Our rational mind can find loopholes that challenge our feelings. Now FAITH, the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things we cannot see, presents a tapestry of people, events, hopes, fears, successes and failures, trials and tribulations, joy and pain. This is about God’s gift of LIFE and who we become when we say YES. Yes, Lord! Our relationship with God requires our nurture the same way humanity lives and grows strong relationships. Time and effort.

Let us not grow tired of living LOVE. When God, LOVE is revealed by our faith, we become participants and witnesses to Divine transformation. I’m game. Are you?

Peace Prayer Purpose Power,

Pr. Orinda

In honor of Women's History Month

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 17:26:39 GMT

Women: Our journey, our accomplishments:

Grace and Peace from me to you, through the Grace of God given freely to all who believe and receive. I don’t know about you, but it feels to me, as if I have been caught up in a whirlwind. Every time the tumultuousness ends or more accurately seems to end, I feel disoriented and even confused. There seems to be an exacerbation of the I don’t knows’, not my problem, you’re on your, owns’, anger and unresolved CONFLICT and CONFUSION . The mourning of Lent, the healing of hearts wounded by those people, those places, those things desired but lost, those old belief systems that have never served us well, that we still hold onto with all our power and might. Thank God for the Women who have incubated and given birth to dreaming and achieving the dream.

The Women we honor this month did not begin life in wealth and luxury. Created in the image of God, the commonality shared by these high achieving Women was a wellspring of creative positiveness. They BELIEVED in themselves and saw a need and sought to fill the gap created by the need. Society (Caucasian) had no place for women of color except to serve. Servant class was where we were regulated status as unpaid labor then lowest paid laborer, artisan, entertainment, and easy victim. Women of previous generations, race and culture have faced the same barrier that said “no women allowed to think better or higher thoughts or excel beyond a man at anything. That would be an insult to the man.

Independent free creative thinking women were often accused of trying to be a Man. Inventions women thought of to make life easier at home were snatched and attributed to the creativity of a man. The excuse then was, “if people knew a women designed/made the item, no one trust or buy it”. Patents were made more difficult to get by women. Imagine the first American woman to get a patent for a machine that wove straw and silk to make fashionable hats. However, it was illegal under the law for a woman to get the patent, so it was in her husbands’ name and husband who go the credit. Married women, in that era, had no legal identities separate from their husbands. No bank account, could not buy or sell anything, sign a lease or even be a legal guardian to their own children. Spinsters had a little more freedom. The first Women’s Rights Convention was July 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York.

Peace Prayer Purpose Power,

Pr. Orinda

GRACE

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:01:17 GMT

God’s benevolence, love, and mercy.

Grace and Peace to each of you. Right NOW! In the name of Jesus, just as I speak these words to my own heart, I speak, them to you. I like this explanation of Grace from Bible Questions Answered | GotQuestions.org

Grace is closely related to God’s benevolence, love, and mercy. Grace can be variously defined as “God’s favor toward the unworthy” or “God’s benevolence on the undeserving.” In His grace, God is willing to forgive us and bless us abundantly, in spite of the fact that we don’t deserve to be treated so well or dealt with so generously.

In our own human life, we are taught as children to feed ourselves. To dress ourselves. Put on our shoes, on the right foot. As grown-ups, we teach with words and by example. We indulge our own expectations that we must “be right” because…after all we are …? What? Who? In our lives we often encounter our brokenness as blurred imagery. This imperfection introduces doubt and fear into our minds thusly our lives. Mercy opens the door for a divine encounter. Humanity is targeted to meet Divinity. This is not an external event that came and went, but an internal ongoing eternal transformative process, characterized by renewed thinking. This often means a complete change in the appearance or character of something or someone.

Lent begins February 22, 2023. Are you still giving up, depriving yourself of what you gave up last year or the year before? Why not set an internal transformative intention for Lent this year? Will you Be Transformed by the renewal of your mind? What don’t you know? How will you Know that you Know if you don’t Know what you don’t know ? The Living Bible says it like this “For we live by believing and not by seeing.” On Ash Wednesday what death will the cross on your forehead represent? What must die so Christ can live…In You? What is inside that you are Dying to keep?

12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 1 Cor. 13:12 NRSV

God the Father keeps promises much better than we do.

LOVYAMUCHLY, Pr. Orinda

REMEMBRANCES

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 19:11:27 GMT

Warm holiday memories

Loving God, we open ourselves to you, trusting that this is how you made us: you created us for joy-filled hearts and lives. Show us the creative power of hope. Teach us the peace that comes from justice. Fill us with the kind of joy that cannot be contained but must be shared. Prepare our hearts to be transformed by you , That we may walk in the light of Christ. Amen.

There are so oo…many memories that come at this time of year. We remember the times when Santa Claus was right on target but more than that when he didn’t hit the mark. As a grown up, I now understand why Santa didn’t quite fulfill my fervent wishes and prayers. Somehow it all seemed to work out and what wasn’t under the tree was almost okay because there were pies and cakes and no limits.

Odd thing our taste buds. People from Nordic countries eat a fish dish called Lutefisk on special occasions. Lutefisk (Norwegian, pronounced lutafisk in Northern and parts of Central Norway, in Southern Norway; Sweden Finland literally "lye fish") is dried whitefish (normally cod, but ling and burbot are also used. It is made from aged stockfish (air-dried whitefish), or dried and salted cod, cured in lye. It is gelatinous in texture after being rehydrated for days prior to eating. It is traditionally part of the Christmas feast.

Give me ham and a slice of coconut pie late Christmas night. When we think back to the Christmases before this one…may we remember how what we thought was our worst Christmas was… really one of our best. Maybe not “the best Christmas ever” but looking back it wasn’t as bad as I thought with little girl wishing. When we have those “remember when” conversations….I remember that I don’t have to have everything my way to be REALLY happy.

Merry and Blessed Christmas and God Bless You!!

Pr. Orinda

Time flies, but You're the Pilot

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 16:34:32 GMT

A shower of rare diamonds

Grace and Peace be to you. Time seems to rush us, often seems to leave us in the dust. At least it feels that way. There’s been much to consider and with the elections knocking me off my stride…well time stops for no one I’ve heard quoted. The Church year has swiftly brought us to Christ the King, Sunday. My favorite Sunday because we get to sit down and with patient consideration confess the Athanasian Creed. In clear concise rhythmic repetitive language, we get the opportunity to Confess what we say we believe. This is not a thing to be rushed. Each word needs to be considered as a shower with rare diamonds. In these moments we are confessing not only who the Father and the Son are, but also the transcendent Holy Spirit that connects Father and Son to complete the Trinity. I imagine our Baptism to reflect the moment the Power of God and the Grace of God become our constant companions. It is this connection that enables us to say with veracity “I CAN do all things through Christ who gives me strength” or sing Precious Lord, take my Hand, with both trust and need. Be assured. Be thankful. Be ecstatic. You Are a Chip off the Old Block. Our confession is like a contract renewal. We are reminded of our origin and our positional identity. We are connected through shed blood and breath. We sing Breathe on Me Breath of God and we inhale the power that created…and is creating. Just look at yourself, not the outside, the inside. You are a vessel of God! You have prime access through baptism and confession.

Pr. O

Walk through the Valley in Peace

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 15:32:02 GMT

Pastor's September 2022 Message

Blessings and the Peace of God be IN you. I recently read these lyrics while preparing our Worship Guide.

“We shall walk through the valley, And the shadow of death. We shall walk through the valley in peace. If Jesus Himself shall be our leader, We shall walk through the valley in PEACE.”

The valley is most often a reference to hard times, dark moments of fear, indecision, loss of certainty and grave indecision. The valley is in the low places of the terrain that surrounds us. What is the terrain that surrounds you these days? As a Race, as a City, State, Nation or how we BE as a man or a woman, young or “seasoned”, happy or sad or in the Valley of MAD, How do you reach the place called PEACE? The song says “If Jesus Himself be our leader… the operative word is IF. The 2 letter word IF can function as CONJUNCTION introducing a conditional clause, meaning, We suppose that or in the event of something or other. “IF” can be used as a noun as a condition or supposition. “IF” gives us options. We can only respond ‘IF’ things work out a certain or specific way.

When it comes down to it, who we follow, charts our course. I guess it depends on our needs and wants. These days we have to be intentional about finding the PEACE in our valleys. I believe when we “come to the Garden Alone, we are visiting the Valley. When we hear a trickling stream it most likely in the Valley. When we see ahead a spear of light through thick forest overhead, like a candle set on a hill in the dark, most likely we are in the Valley. When, how, why, when…how we begin our thoughts and sentences may reveal to us as having a Valley experience. The gain is transforming fear into faith with the bonus gift of experiencing intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit, in the Valley.

No Anxiety No Angst. All Gain. Maybe some pain leaving behind doubt and fear, they’ve been around along time. Faith takes relationship development. If you doubt God, it’s because ……there’s relationship building to do. Spend some time allowing the Holy Spirit to expand your mental and emotional receptors. Mind and Heart. If Jesus Himself shall be our leader, We Shall walk through the valley in PEACE.”

Pr. Orinda

Overshadowed Truth

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 16:33:58 GMT

Supremacy of the Lie

Grace and Peace to all who will receive this late missive. Half of the month is over, vacations are possibly ending, and school is about ready to begin, again. So then…How are you, really? Looking back over these last 7 months…How are you… really? It’s been a tough year for many of us. We have had to celebrate the life of people we love as we commended them to God and resurrection. The love of God that we believe we receive in the Holy Spirit, has been stretched to include being covid free and still able to do what we call, normal things. But as we look around us, when we watch the news or even answer the phone, we have been bombarded with repetitive news of hate, anger, accusation and another death. Truth has lost power to multiple forms of Un-truth.

The supremacy of the Lie has overshadowed the Truth that Shall Set you Free. How we respond to this reminds me of this scripture Proverbs 18:21, “Life and death are in the POWER of the Tongue”. In so many ways we relinquish or ignite our power by what we say. What we do or don’t do is always preceded by a decision. Either way, to do or not, to believe or not, to act for or against or not. To walk by faith into the unknown or not. To love and forgive or not. To believe that ALL things are possible with God or not, will be reflected by our willingness to LOVE, no matter what. Look at us! That’s what God has ordained and empowered us to do and become. Forgive those who despitefully use us, as we are forgiven for our own are venal prayers. I know how difficult it is to forgive over and over. I also know that there is Peace that supersedes our own free will and energizes our hearts to desire to please God.

I share with you Martin E. Marty, Lutheran Pastor and prolific writer, on the daily gift of new life from1 Corinthians 13:12-13 The Message Bible:

12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Lovyamuchly, Pr. Orinda

https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-86/luther-daily-gift-of-new-life.html

What I Know For Sure!

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 20:05:11 GMT

July 2022 Your relationship with the Holy Spirit

Oprah Winfrey has an Editorial in the magazine with her name, “ What I Know For Sure ”. Right now, in this world around us, that very question needs some consistent answers. However, the truth has been compromised, systems and structures have been made weak and unstable and trust is only a word not something easily surrendered. So “What Can We Know for Sure? “

We can easily, maybe…. categorize our lives into jobs, friends, associates, faith/religion, enemies, desires, dreams-visions, family, finances, fears, successes vs our failures (we all have them), what we love, who we love and even who we or what we use the word HATE to describe our feelings. I have to admit, that there have been so many systems and structures that have failed us all, that attaching surety can be an exercise in disappointment. This of course is the NATURAL world we live and reside in as humans. However, the institutions that have supported us have failed indiscriminately. So…. there is more to this reality.

The natural world, the flesh and blood world are all made real because we are physically alive to experience it. Therefore, we are physical beings present in the natural world who are guided by our Confession of Faith. Our belief in the Holy Spirit that resides in us becomes the pathway to live the 3 ‘P’s. The Peace Purpose and Power of God. This truth creates awareness that all the other stuff, the trials, testing and tribulation we have deal with is bothersome but not fatal. We have Life and that life is held in eternity.

My Sisters and Brothers, I passionately encourage you to be attentive to this relationship we are gifted to have with the HOLY. It goes without saying the more we practice something the better we get. We can ALWAYS assume any effort we make to be a willing vessel of God will be rewarded with the Helper, the Holy Spirit showing up. Some of us don’t risk therefore most likely rely only on ourselves. The Holy Spirit is someone we welcome with relief not, reject. Gods’ ways are higher than our ways. When we allow ourselves to be led by God through our relationship with the Holy Spirit, we get a front row seat to how LOVE looks as warrior, teacher, creator and comforter. Day by Day.

Jesus Loves You, and so do I. Pr. Orinda

Never Would Have Made It

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 19:31:31 GMT

JUNE 2022

Grace and Peace of God, from God, be with you all. As I begin this note to you, the song “Never Would Have Made It” keeps replaying in my mind like a stuck record. Truly with all the lawlessness, all the anger, all the defensiveness, and most of all… all the fear that has permeated the very air we breathe, leaves a residue of doubt and disbelief in the presence of FAITH stretched to the limits. Yes, stretched! Our day-to-day life cannot, must not rely on what WAS , but what IS .

As a little girl, I didn’t understand the grown-up tears as these lyrics were sung, with passion. “My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine! Now hear me while I pray, take all my guilt away,” What guilt? “ As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee, Pure warm, and changeless be, A living fire!” My little girl mind didn’t understand the words, but I felt the hurt and witnessed the tears. “While life's dark maze I tread, And griefs around me spread, Be Thou my Guide; Bid darkness turn to day, Wipe sorrow's tears away, Nor let me ever stray from Thee aside.”

Things were hard at times in our family. These days alcoholism is a sickness back then it was family shame. It was to the Altar, the hurt, pain and helplessness, that my Mother brought and shed her tears. Somehow cleaning and dusting the Church, placing pillows to kneel on for Communion, setting up for Communion brought peace and hope.

These song lyrics remind us that “God is a right now God, He'll never fail you if you trust in Him. God is a right now God, ask and believe and ye shall receive.”. Pr. O

Re-Birth

Mon, 16 May 2022 18:30:12 GMT

May 2022

The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

The Promise of Hope

Wed, 04 May 2022 16:19:33 GMT

MARCH/ APRIL 2022

Grace and Peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ.

As I write this note, I remind myself that this is not officially Holy Week, to my disappointment. Why am I disappointed, you may ask? By comparison last week we prepared for Resurrection however this week after resurrection we must have faith that the promised hope does not leave us in disappointment. The promise of hope .

5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access[b] to this grace in which we stand; and we[c] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we[d] also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Peace
Access to grace
Hope that doesn’t disappoint
Sharing the glory of God
Bragging rights to suffering
Learning endurance
Learned character
Hope

Hope is the catalyst for a direct transference of Love, GOD, to enter our unvarnished selves. Any thought, feeling or action on our part that closes our mind/heart against freely loving, will damage Hope and its potential for having Life and to live life in and with abundance.

So, I proclaim every week is Holy Week. We live and every breath reminds us of Love so big and so strong and so good that death happened and an inheritance of Christ inside us is realized.

The promise of Hope, rebirth, that we have is the Holy Spirit. We have begun the 50 Day journey to Pentecost. God does not leave us without promise and provision. Pay attention. Listen….Listen…to the whispers and the promise. Hear the revealed promise. Know for sure. 50 days from Resurrection to our being filled with the Spirit of God.

Journey with a plan and with intent. Know that God keeps promises. How about you?

LOVYAMUCHLY Pr. Orinda

The Pandemic 2-years later. January 2022

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 20:28:18 GMT

The Pandemic- 2 years running

Grace and Peace to you from God, our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. And from me, “Hey Ya’ll! How are you doing?” Can you believe it? It’s 2022...Where has all the time, the months, the years zipped to? I remember the end of 2019 making plans to travel in 2020 and changing plans twice to accommodate what became an international pandemic.

And here we are 2 years later, vaccine ready, without a safe place to go to, without a stress-free method of getting there, unless you do all the driving or piloting. Adding to the wild side of covid stress, travel these days is accompanied by possible exposure to irrational, angry, ready to fight not to mention the vocally loud and rude, possibly intoxicated mostly irrational and discombobulated traveler who has finally made it onboard after other train boat or plane departures were canceled. The joy of the season was crowded out by the anxiety of sickness death and rude crowds.

As you begin to look with hope at 2022, I want to encourage you to add emotional and spiritual health goals. This will help you to cope with other people. This pandemic has released fear into the world. Fear causes cortisol to be released in the body resulting in fight or flight responses. There are mental, physical, emotional and psychological human responses to fear. Many people respond in anger to fear or when feeling powerless. I encourage you to spend time just sitting with God. It’s no big deal...Just declare your intention to “have a little talk with Jesus” and chill. When your brain floats away from your intention just remind yourself what your goal is. Take a deep breath and remind yourself of your own desire to spend time your friend, Jesus.

Remember that you are the son or daughter of the Most High God, who is always lovingly preparing in advance those people places and things that are just right for you. Your being, created in the image of God, requires those things that are coming your way are for your transformation in process. Some things may be unwanted or unwelcomed when they show up, however the finished product will reveal both the grace and the glory of God in you.

When you look back over these years, down the line, you will see in retrospect your own journey of grace and glory. When you look back you will see your covid TESTimony. Happy 2022.

Pr. Orinda

God's Redemption at Christ's Expense. February 2022

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 19:11:28 GMT

Go Hard

Grace and Peace to YOU, yes you. GRACE “ Gods Redemption At Christs Expense and Peace “People Everywhere Are Created Equally” be to You, yes You and even YOU.

In these recent days and nights, the purveyor of tidbits from the hearts, minds and acts of others, the INTERNET and Television, report growing divides among humanity. Many are Christians like us all, created in the image of God. So how and why does the spiritual duality and the hate disguised as racial pride and Christian elitism find its way to the pulpit? This includes those who fought against taking prayer out of the schools and who now advocate for creating a generation deprived of truth about the world they live in. All the NOWS’ that are the background beat we live and breathe, are caught up, bound to a spirit that is not of God. That means there is a gap, a hole and more than likely, a grave.

Recently, in my time with the Lord, it has been impressed on my heart, in my mind and thoughts that the People of God have got to GO HARD.

to work hard or to do something with intensity and/or used to describe something that is remotely interesting that involves internet culture, like a hyper-realistic picture of a corn on the cob swinging a golf club.

I admit my understanding of Go Hard was to set the course and be relentless no matter what. When I heard Go Hard with my spiritual ears I also heard, Orinda pick up your Cross and follow me…my heart answered AGAIN. I thought that was what I was doing. Then Go Hard reverberated again. Go Hard. “and whatever I give to you… you give away”. So Go Hard .

Going Hard begins with intentionality. What we say is our intention. Ephesians 4 :29 reminds us “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” We are positioned with the one who rescues. Matthew 12:36 ” I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.” There is accountability for every word we speak. The power of words created and are creating. We, being in the image of God have the same power with our words. What do we leave behind with our words? Life abundantly? Hope? Joy? Wisdom? Condemnation? What, does going hard sound like? How about LOVE?

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. Our ability to speak into a situation and to affect change is pure gift from God. We can give hope and teach love with our own spoken words. We can Go Hard when we as in Psalm 141:3, admonished “ Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!” When we add Matthew 12:37, For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Go Hard as in Psalm 141:3 when we ask God to take control of what we say even to seal our lips. Some things we just don’t need to say. “That was and is a biggie for me. However, that’s Going Hard for me keeping my mouth shut. Joyce Meyer wrote a book Me and My Big Mouth ….

Going Hard also means facing fear. Rejection is a big fear for most people. It is for me. Tara Bach says it like this “Unprocessed fear cuts us off from our full aliveness and spirit, and it separates us from others”.

Our main role in the Kingdom of God is to reflect God. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. FORGIVE, FORGIVE, FORGIVE. TELL YOUR STORY OF JESUS AND HIS LOVE. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER…

Go Hard,

Pr. Orinda