This week’s eNewsletter Feature
was written by Rev. Dr. Tassie Green,
FPCE interim senior pastor.
Thanks for joining in a sermon experiment last Sunday by enthusiastically embracing “turn and buzz” moments, where we share our thoughts and experiences with others seated nearby. I understand these might feel out of your comfort zone or just not how some folks “roll” due to a more introverted or private nature. Was it awkward if you were streaming the service while alone somewhere? Perhaps you could phone a friend to “turn and buzz?”
I promise not to include these moments every week, but I find they connect us with others we may not know and build us up as a community of faith while practicing our openness to the new.
During last week’s sermon, I promised to share two items:
- A prayer from local pastor Adele Calhoun in her Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: “LORD CHRIST, take those things the evil one would use to discourage and destroy, and turn them to my good, my growth and your glory. Amen.”
- I challenged our First Pres councils, committees, small groups, and families—the whole church really—to each begin praying a breath prayer together, seeking God’s guidance to move the church forward.
Why is it called breath prayer? We can pray it as easily as breathing in and breathing out. We can slow down and use it as meditation time, or perhaps redeem otherwise “wasted” time. We can pray it while driving, while in line at the store, or even in a waiting room. God can use our current situations and circumstances for God’s good will and purpose, showing us next steps of where to GO for the sake of others.
Let’s seek God by praying together as a church “Lead us, O God. Guide us.”
On the journey with you,
Pastor Tassie