Notes and News – 01/23/21

Words Have a Big Impact – Lose These Quickly!

Last week I shared several words or phrases that would be good for us to eliminate from our vocabulary. These are words often used; however, their impact can rob us of joy, peace, love, and hope. They may seem harmless, but they are not. Typically, they lead us down the path of denial, frustration, hopelessness or other negative dead ends in life.

The words and phrases I am referring too might at first surprise you or even cause you to be a bit defensive. That’s okay. I can make the case for their elimination from our thoughts and vocabularies because they hinder our spiritual growth and interfere with experiencing the power of belief and growing in our faith.  

Here are the words and phrases I am talking about: “can’t, try or tried, if only, good enough, should have, and yes but. Let me take them one at a time.

I saved the worst for first! Whenever we say I can’t, or we can’t we are taking the role of a victim and we are deceiving ourselves. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are not victims, no matter what life may bring. In Paul’s words, we are more that conquers (victors) through Christ who loves us. He also reminds us that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Whenever we use the word can’t we are in effect saying the only power available to us is our own. This is simply not true – ever! On yet another level we are being dishonest with ourselves. Perhaps as much as 99% of the time we use the word can’t when we ought to be saying, “won’t (or will not)”. Instead of “I can’t do this” we would be more honest with ourselves if we said, “I won’t do this”. When we say, “I will not or I won’t”, we are taking responsibility and that is always a good thing in terms of faith and growth, even if it makes us feel uncomfortable.

The second is almost as bad as the first – try or tried. I was sharing something with a mentor many years ago, saying I had tried to do something. She stopped me dead in my tracks when she said, “Try is just a nice excuse to justify failing”. WOW! She sure got my attention. She went on to say Jesus never called the disciples saying, “Try to follow me” or to the forgiven adulterous woman, “try to go and sin no more” or in the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our debts as we try to forgive our debtors”. Perhaps the clincher was when she said, “I don’t often to use Yoda from Star Wars for expressions of theological reality, but he was right when he said, “no try, do or do not”. The more I thought about her words the more I realized just how true they were. How often do we settle for a feeble, powerless faith because all we are doing is “trying” to pray or forgive or read the bible! “Try” is the enemy of commitment. And commitment is the entryway into joy, peace, and a vibrant life-giving faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

“If only” might be the saddest, most pathetic, hopeless phrase in our entire vocabulary. They are words that lock us in the past and undermine, if not downright negate, our future. They put us on a fast track to disappointment and regret and often bitterness. A much healthier, empowering, more faith-based choice of words is “since…therefore” or “because… therefore”.

Good enough like try or tried is either an excuse for failure or for an effort less than our best. Good enough never brings us any deep satisfaction or joy – only our best does that. Perhaps this is why God only wants our best!

“Should have” like “if only” is pretty much a straight shot to frustration, guilt or regret. Saying I should have done something may sound good, but we can not change the past. It is far better and healthier to use the phrase, “next time” or “if I get the chance again I will”.

Last but not least is “yes but”. This typically reveals we have not listened to what another person has just said. We are more interested in making our own point. We are both discounting the other person and forgoing an opportunity to learn something new. Hopefully you are not saying “yes but” to the ideas shared above.

Grace and Peace, John

P.S. Next week I will be sharing some ways we can safely gather and also open at our Thrift Store!

Notes and News – 01/16/21

Words Have a Big Impact – Choose Them Wisely!

One of the most destructive and hurtful lies ever told is the simple rhyme I suspect all of us heard as children growing up, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”. Anybody who has ever broken a bone knows that in time they heal and typically the place of the break heels stronger then before. Names, however, can have a lasting negative impact. There are far too many people who carry around in their hearts and minds names like fool, idiot, failure, and more that rob them of joy and zest in life.

But it is more than just names – its our words as well. Our words can build somebody up or tear them down, give them hope or leave them in despair, imprison them in guilt and shame or liberate them to a new future. Words are just that powerful. Once spoken they can never be taken back. We can apologize and perhaps limit the damage but sometimes we cannot.  Our words make a big difference.

Perhaps you are thinking at this moment of another common phrase we use, “talk is cheap”. Talk can indeed be very cheap when our actions betray our words. I suspect all of us have sadly heard somebody say, “I’ll pray for you” or “I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers” and you know deep in your spirit they will not! Their words are just an easy way to get out of an uncomfortable situation.

Talk can be cheap, but it can also be very costly.  Words of criticism, guilt, condemnation, name calling, and labels (such as dumb, lazy, inferior, emotional, fragile, helpless, weak, gullible, thoughtless, etc.) often have a way of cutting right to our hearts and leaving deep wounds that can redirect and reshape our lives – for the worse.  

It can also be priceless. Several years ago, when I was attending my 50th high school reunion, a classmate came up to me without a name tag and introduced himself (because all of us looked a bit different 50 years later!). His first words after sharing his name were, “Will you forgive me for the beer can prank on your parents’ front lawn.?”.  The most important thing for him to hear from me were the words, “I forgive you”. For the better part of 50 years the guilt and shame of what he had done haunted him at some level. Perhaps he hadn’t consciously thought about it at all over those 50 years. But when he saw me (not even knowing I was a preacher) the first thing he wanted to hear was a word of forgiveness. Of course, I said I had long ago forgiven him and was glad to say to his face, “I forgive you”. You could see the burden lifted from his countenance and we had a wonderful conversation – one of the best of that reunion. I hope to see him at a 60th! Words of hope, love, grace, forgiveness, kindness, gratitude and more can in fact be priceless gifts to another (and to us).

There are also words that we would be well-served to eliminate from our thinking and our vocabulary.  They hinder our spiritual growth and interfere with experiencing the power of belief and growing in our faith.   These include, “can’t, try or tried, if only, good enough, and yes but.  I’ll share more about these in the near future.

Grace and Peace, John

Notes and News – 01/09/21

The Power of Belief and January 6th!

I agree with those who believe January 6, 2021 will go down in history as one of several days of infamy etched into the American consciousness. I suspect you may have also experienced feelings such as shock, disbelief, horror, disgust, outrage, helplessness, fear, and more. I was both sickened and heartbroken as I watched this violent desecration of our nation's capital being carried out by people carrying confederate flags, Jesus flags, and many wearing crosses around their necks. Sadly, one of these people, who was pictured with a big grin carrying the podium of the Speaker of the House (and who has since been arrested), is a “neighbor” of all of us from Parrish.

One of the tragedies of this entire event is many of the people saw themselves as patriots when in fact they had become seditionist criminals, who rather than standing up for the values of our country were betraying them in a reprehensible way. Add to this, many may have even seemed like normal American citizens and even “neighbors” most days. How can this be?

I think it has to do with the power of belief. Often, we tend to ignore just how powerful belief can be. It is too easy to equate belief to intellectual agreement with or acceptance of an idea. Belief is far deeper and far more powerful than that. I find it helpful to keep remembering where belief really lies in relationship to our behavior. I first learned of this reading, Dr. Shad Helmstetter’s book, What to Say When You Talk to Your Self. The basic concept is set forth in short form as: Results > Behavior > Feelings > Attitudes > Beliefs > Thoughts. Translated, the formula says: Our results are caused by our behavior; our behavior, by our feelings; our feelings, by our attitudes; our attitudes, by our beliefs; and our beliefs, by our thoughts.

The key takeaway is, if you really want to make a change in your life, you need to change your thoughts. And this is also where the rub is. The thoughts that shape our beliefs are far deeper than the realm of intellectual acceptance. They are thoughts that are either so deeply ingrained that they are part of our automatic sub-conscious processes or we already believe them to be true (even if they are not, which in reality is almost always the case).

This helps explain why folks often struggle with Jesus’ teachings. At an intellectual level they accept and agree but at a far deeper level their internal message is: it sounds good but that’s not really true, that’s not the way life really is. The result is typically guilt, shame, or hypocrisy or a combination of two or all three.

Prayer and reading the bible are the most significant tools we have for changing our thoughts: Prayer that is focused on listening for and to God and reading the bible with a spirit of openness and expectation. This is exactly the opposite of the way most approach and practice both. Both, therefore, require unlearning and relearning, but the effort is deeply rewarding and life-giving.

When our beliefs are rooted in the truth this kind of prayer and reading of the bible brings to our life experience, good and wonderful things can and will happen. When they are rooted in lies and misplaced trust, hurtful and destructive things happen. We witnessed that on January 6th.

Grace and Peace, John

Notes and News – 01/02/21

The Incarnation and 2021!

I cannot remember a time when so many people we're anxious for one year to be over and a new year to begin. There are many things to look forward to in 2021. As we begin this new year we are drawing to a close our sermon series on The Incarnation. Our final scripture lesson in this sermon series will be the beautiful words from the prologue to the gospel of John found in the 10th through 14th versus of that first chapter. I will be focusing on those wonderful descriptive words of who Jesus Christ is as full of grace and truth.

More specifically I will be asking 3 questions: First, what do we mean when we use the words grace and truth. Second, how do we access and experience grace and truth. Third, what impact might grace and truth have on our everyday lives.

As part of the sermon, I will be including the Wesley Covenant Renewal prayer that we have prayed on the first Sunday of the new year for the past several years. It is a simple but powerful prayer for getting our priorities straight on a daily basis. Here are the words:

THE COVENANT RENEWAL PRAYER                                                  

I give myself completely to you God.

Assign me to my place in your creation.

Let me suffer for you.

Give me the work you would have me do.

Give me many tasks or have me step aside while you call others.

Put me forward or humble me.

Give me riches or let me live in poverty.

I freely give all that I am and all that I have to you.

And now holy God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours.

So be it.

May this covenant made on earth continue for all eternity!  Amen.

You may wish to join me in making this prayer a part of each day in 2021 as it unfolds before us.

Grace and Peace, John

Notes and News – 12/26/20

As 2020 Draws to a Close and Looking to 2021!

Perhaps the question I am asked most often is, “When will we open up the church for worship again?”. My answer is typically something like this, “Our session has adopted a policy and chosen to be safe rather than sorry. At the present time with the age of our congregation it is still too dangerous. We would rather err on the side of safety. The one thing we do not want to have to do is open up for a few weeks and then have to close again.” When we do return to in-person- worship, we will keep our virtual services going. With the help of a grant from our Peace River Presbytery, we are acquiring the technology to do both at the same time.

The new year brings hope and encouragement. Our time together again for worship is getting closer. The development of effective vaccines is something I thank God for every day. As critical as vaccines are, the most critical thing is getting people vaccinated. It appears that will take some time. Most of our congregation falls in the 1b category set out by the CDC which follows the category of doctors, nurses, hospital staff and people in nursing homes. Almost all of the rest of us fall in category 1c. Again, this will take some time, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is not an oncoming train.

We all want to gather again, and that time is closer than it ever has been for the last nine months. But it is during this time of anticipation that we need to maintain our vigilance and not make the sacrifices of the last six to nine months for naught. We will gather together at the earliest and safest moment.

In the meantime, we will be looking at possible “baby steps” to take at first. There are 3 such steps that come to mind. One of these is opening our Thrift Store on a limited basis. Lorna and I have talked a bit about some possibilities that may be workable and safe. We will pursue this more in the coming weeks.

A second possible step is extending an invitation for a limited number of people to come and sit in our sanctuary during the recording our music recording sessions. The limit will be 8-10 people. The folks already involved in these sessions find them meaningful and helpful and would like to extend the opportunity to others (not to sing but to listen and be able to see others). The logistics need to be worked out. At that point we will share them with you.

A third is 6-8 people coming together in the annex. We were going to try this earlier in the fall but then things began to heat up with COVID-19 and we decided to wait until it was safer.  Hopefully, sometime in the next month or 2 it will be safe enough. At first this could be a time to talk about your experience of the last 9+ months. It could also include some future question-and-answer sessions, special speakers or study topics. There are lots of possibilities for this kind of small group arrangement.

Mask wearing and a quick temperature check will be a requirement for all three options and any other creative ideas that bubble up.

As we move cautiously into this new year, I would like to remind you with an abbreviated version of our Session’s policy statement adopted in June of this year.  

Abbreviated Statement

The decision to return to worship together in person will be made with a commitment first and foremost to the safety of our congregation and any and all who join us in worship. The second foundational aspect of our decision will be based upon the wisdom of doctors and science -- and not on our personal desires or what other churches may or may not be doing. These experts remind us that gathering together to worship, at this time, even with social distancing, is still a significantly higher risk activity than many other activities we can now do more safely wearing masks and observing social distancing.

We long for the time we can safely worship together. In the meantime, we will creatively look for other ways we can come together even in smaller groups -- observing the appropriate social distancing and encouraging the wearing of masks as appropriate.

Palmetto Presbyterian Session  June 2020

As challenging as these past months have been, we have adapted to the changing times. That is the mark of a healthy congregation with dedicated people.

Grace and Peace, John

Notes and News – 12/19/20

The Incarnation and Light!

This advent we are examining The Incarnation not as something that happened over 2000 years ago or as a doctrine of the Church. We are looking at The Incarnation as something that has an impact on our daily lives today.

The first week of advent we looked at The Incarnation in terms of hope. Too often when people use the word hope they're really expressing far more doubt than hope. The hope The Incarnation brings is not a wish in the face of the circumstances or situations of life, but rather a trusting in the certain power of God’s grace. As Paul reminds us in the powerful 8th chapter of Romans, “nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

The second Sunday we looked at the gift of salvation – not as something we cause to happen - but as God’s gift to us. Our role is humble acceptance of the gift. In the Cross of Christ, God acted to save us. So being saved is not something we cause to happen. It is the ongoing process of surrendering ourselves to God and committing over and over again to be faithfully, albeit imperfectly, obedient to God’s will for our lives. This keeps our hearts open to the transforming power of grace.  

Last week we looked at the incredible promise of God to be with us. No matter how isolated or alone we might feel, the powerful reality is, we never are. God is with us. The fact that we may or may not recognize this reality does not make it any less true. God’s promise to be with us is as secure as the everlasting faithfulness of God. Not only is God always with us, but God is also redeeming every moment and every situation. The last word is always one of triumphant joy!

This week we look at The Incarnation as a source and experience of Light. Light and darkness are both powerful realities in this gift of life. The bible begins with the story of God overcoming the darkness in the act of creation and ends with the final and eternal triumph of light over darkness in the closing chapter of Revelation. Between these two “bookends” of the Bible we read about the conflict between light and darkness in the stories of the Old and New Testaments.

Darkness has two basic modes – moral darkness: pandemics, wars, economic distress, division, hatred, cruelty, inflicted suffering, violence, and more; and existential or personal darkness: grief, despair, sadness, hopelessness, depression, dread, fear, anxiety, worry, and more.

Darkness can be very powerful, but it is NOT all powerful. A single candlelight can pierce the darkness! And as that light is shared, darkness gives way to light as it must, for light is always stronger than darkness. The problem is we tend to forget this. Jesus Christ came into the world to remind us again and again of what we too easily forget – light and love reign eternal and darkness is only temporary. Notice all we associate with light when we remember its power: love, joy, peace, gratitude, hope, kindness, and all the other experiences and emotions that are associated with living abundantly and triumphantly. We are both called to live in this light and to share it with others, by the witness of our lives.

I am looking forward to our virtual service tomorrow and I hope you are as well.

Grace and Peace, John

Notes and News – 12/12/20

The Incarnation and Joy!

This advent we are examining The Incarnation not as something that happened over 2000 years ago or as a doctrine of the Church. We are looking at The Incarnation as something that has an impact on our daily lives today. The first week of advent we looked at The Incarnation in terms of hope. Too often when people use the word hope they're really expressing far more doubt than hope – hope that is not rooted in circumstance or life’s situations but rather in the certain power of God’s grace. As Paul reminds us in the powerful 8th chapter of Romans, “nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. This hope is not a wish but a firmly grounded power.

Last week we looked at the gift of salvation – not as something we cause to happen - but as God’s gift to us. Our role is humble acceptance of the gift. As one preacher responded to the question of when she was saved, “between noon and 3 o’clock on a cross on Golgotha’s hill about 2,000 years ago.” This is when God acted to save us. So being saved is not about a time and date but rather the ongoing process of surrendering ourselves to God and committing over and over again to be faithfully, albeit imperfectly, obedient to God’s will for our lives. Our response on an ongoing basis keeps our hearts open to the transforming power of grace.

This week we look at the incredible promise of God to be with us. No matter how isolated or alone we might feel, the powerful reality is we never are. God is with us. The fact that we may or may not recognize this reality does not make it any less true. Even in the midst of this pandemic with all the suffering, isolation, and people dying “alone” - God is with us. That is Gods promise to us and as the Psalms resoundingly affirm, God’s faithfulness lasts forever. We may forget, get distracted or even overwhelmed by life’s circumstances, but God never is overwhelmed, discouraged, too busy, or anything else that would undermine this eternal promise that God is with us. Not only is God with us, God is also redeeming every moment and every situation. The end is never death, but rather triumphant joy.  

For far too many people, joy like hope, is too often illusive and subject to the whims of circumstance and situation. In a word, these people think of joy as something that comes to us or doesn’t depending on what lies outside of us and is beyond our control. Nothing could be further from the truth. In tomorrow's sermon I'm going to be examining what the promise: God is with us means for our everyday lives and the incredible joy, power and responsibility this can unleash in our lives. 

I am looking forward to our virtual service tomorrow and I hope you are as well.

Grace and Peace, John

Notes and News – 12/05/20

What the Incarnation Means for us Today!

This advent we are examining The Incarnation not as something that happened over 2000 years ago or as a doctrine of the Church. We are looking at The Incarnation as something that has an impact on our daily lives today. Last week we looked at The Incarnation in terms of hope. Too often when people use the word hope they're really expressing far more doubt than hope. For example, when someone says I am hoping for the best, they are not expressing any certainty in outcome but rather more their doubt that the actual outcome likely won’t be what they would like it to be. The Incarnation puts hope in an entirely different light. Namely, the God who comes in our midst, claims us now and for all of eternity. Therefore, our future is absolutely and eternally guaranteed. There is no circumstance or situation, no matter how terrible or painful, that can prevent God's intended will for us from coming true. Please let that reality sink into every fiber of your being. Another way of saying this is, the worst word is never the last word. The last word is always one of triumph and perfect love. This is what we mean by hope. This hope is not rooted in our situation or power but rooted in and guaranteed by God's grace. This hope is incredibly powerful and life changing.

Tomorrow we look at The Incarnation in terms of the gift of Salvation. Perhaps there is no more misunderstood or often off-putting question than, “Are you saved?”. The problem with this question is not that it is being asked, but in the underlying assumption that being saved is something in the past tense. I suspect many who ask this question are really speaking about a conversion experience, which was indeed powerful for them. This of course is legitimate, but we always need to remember that a conversion experience does not mark the end of the journey but the only the beginning. No matter how powerful the experience might be, we are called upon and expected to grow into an ever deeper and richer relationship with Jesus Christ.

The reality is being saved is something each of us needs on a moment by moment, day by day basis. It can never be viewed as a past accomplishment of ours. You and I need to be saved all the time. Perhaps a better way to ask the question is, “Are you being saved?”. When all is said and done Salvation is not a single event but an ongoing transformational process where God in Jesus Christ is molding us and making us into the very people we were created and intended to be. Salvation and sanctification are the theological words used to describe this continuous process.

In tomorrow's sermon I'm going to be examining some of the things in our regular everyday lives that we need to be saved from as well as what we need to be saved to. In the process of being saved we can experience the gift of peace. Biblically, peace always means more than the absence of conflict – it means the presence of well-being and fulfilment.

I am looking forward to our virtual service tomorrow and I hope you are as well.

Grace and Peace, John

Notes and News – 11/28/20

We Can Recover Something Valuable!

I suspect there are people reading this who remember when The Christmas Holiday season did not begin until the Friday after Thanksgiving. In our rush to start the holiday season earlier and earlier we've lost something very special. Back when we waited until after Thanksgiving, it was Thanksgiving with the focus on giving thanks and gratitude, that offered a fitting start to the Christmas season.  I have become convinced there is something very special, valuable and powerful when we let Thanksgiving and its focus on gratitude usher in this most precious season.

Bill Gove referred to gratitude as the “Queen” of emotions. What he meant, is gratitude opens our hearts and spirits to some of the most significant and important experiences of life. I'm talking about love, joy, peace, and more. Gratitude has an incredible power to lift us out of life's difficult and challenging moments. It frees us to experience the love, joy and peace that give our lives a sense of meaning, purpose and significance. I don’t think there can there be a better way to prepare for a meaningful and joyful Christmas season.

Gratitude can be a part of our lives in a variety of ways. One of the most obvious and easiest ways is when it simply bubbles up and captures us. Examples of this can include a word of encouragement or appreciation offered by somebody close to us. Or it can be a special gift that touches us very deeply, triggering gratitude. Sometimes gratitude can bubble up as we look at it a family picture or remember a special family tradition. And there are still other times that gratitude can come out of the blue catching us totally off guard and by surprise.

A second way we experience gratitude is by taking time to reflect back on experiences in our lives. Sometimes these experiences are fun and joyful to remember. Other times we can find ourselves reflecting back on moments and experiences that in their time seemed disastrous. But we now know they worked out for the best and we are filled with gratitude. Often in these times we can discern a power greater than ourselves having a hand in our lives (for me this is God).

The third way is most challenging and yet potentially most rewarding. This is to focus our thinking on something different than our present painful or difficult life experience. It's no secret our world is filled with suffering and heartache. We all can recall such moments. As a pastor it breaks my heart when I encounter people who are locked in a terrible cycle of recounting the wrongs that have been done them or the pain that they are experiencing. It’s like they are trapped in a prison of pain and heartache. It doesn’t have to be this way! Paul gives us an alternative in the 4th chapter of Philippians, urging us to think about the things that are true, honorable, just, pure and more. This is not wishful thinking. It is in reality shifting our focus to the arena where gratitude reigns. This can become the entryway into joy even in the most painful and difficult circumstances and we often encounter God in the process or at the very least, better prepare to re-discover God is with us in the manger as a small baby!

Grace and Peace, John

Notes and News – 11/22/20

Some Things You Should Know!

Back in August I had what I assumed would be a routine echocardiogram. It had been five years since my last one and my doctor just recommended it as a thing to do that would be good to do on general principles. I fully expected great results since I've enjoyed a daily routine of walking virtually every day since mid-March. I was surprised and a bit shocked when the results came back indicating that I only had an ejection fraction of 35% and a possible hole in my heart.

I shared this information with our session but wanted to until a more precise and sensitive procedure called a TEE (transesophageal echocardiogram) yielded more information before sharing it with you. I had that outpatient procedure last late last month and the results were better than the initial echo cardiogram indicated. The hole in my heart proved to be microscopic and therefore no further procedure is needed. My ejection fraction was 45%, better than 35%, but not at the normal 55%. My cardiologist has changed some medications which seem to be helping.

Wanting to be as proactive as possible and with the prompting of Joan Bryden, our Outreach Director, Cinda and I enrolled and are participating in the Ornish Lifestyle Management Program at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 until 1 at the Rand road location.  The program consists of 4 segments each session, exercise, stress management and relaxation (I’m becoming a huge fan of chair yoga!), group support and diet (Cinda and I are committed to a whole food, plant based lifestyle). The program as a whole is designed to help people reverse the effect of heart disease and other diseases as well.  The insurance our church and denomination provides for us is covering the vast majority of the cost. So, a very big thank you to all of you for helping make this possible.

The week before last Cinda was having difficulty getting her blood pressure under control so I took her to the Blake ER last Saturday night. Long story short, she received a stent on Monday afternoon and came home Tuesday afternoon. She is doing better now.

The other outcome of all of this is I have decided, after prayer and discussion with family, to retire on May 1, 2022.  This has been a difficult decision. I thoroughly enjoy being your pastor and have a deep affection for you. Although difficult and at times even frightening decision, I believe this is the correct one.

My priorities as your pastor over these next 18 months will look something like this:

1. Working with Joan Bryden to get Our Community Garden off to a great start and firm foundation for continued success.

2. Continuing to expand our website and community presence.

3. Working with our Session to develop a strong, workable transitional strategy that brings out the best of our church and builds confidence, ownership and energy in our congregation.

4. Doing whatever I can to lay a foundation for success for whoever has the privilege of being your next pastor.

Lastly a word of confession and repentance on my part. I confess I had intended to wait until the new year to share this. However, a friend challenged me, saying I was depriving our congregation of the opportunity to pray for us. He was right. Sharing this today is my act of repentance. I always welcome your prayer support and especially in these times. Thank you for being who you are.

Grace and Peace, John

Our Sweatshirts Have Been Ordered (Mostly)! 

Our sweatshirt order for Manatee Elementary School is 90% placed and should be delivered the week of November 30th.  We anticipate completing the balance of the order this coming week. With the early morning cold weather this last week the arrival of the sweatshirts will be much appreciated. Our total sweatshirt order will be 520 sweatshirts. I had total confidence placing our order because I have complete trust in your faithfulness and generosity. Several people have made gifts already. There is still plenty of time to make your gift and every gift received will have an impact on children (and their families) who often slip through the cracks.

 Once again, the price per sweatshirt will be $8. I invite you to join Cinda and me in “buying” 1 or more sweatshirts in honor of grandchildren or other family members. This is a tremendous way for us to share the joy of the upcoming Advent/Christmas Season both with the kids who receive them and also with the staff who can give these kids they love and care about, the sweatshirts that make such a difference.