Summer blog posts

During the "program" (school) year, Laura Lee and I offer 2 blog posts per week. Starting this week and through the summer, we will only post one reflection per week, which you can find and follow at Ithaca UCC Reflections. Hope to see you over there in the blogosphere, and here in worship and around Ithaca as well. Have a great summer!
Manda

Fear of Spiders

I've always had a bit of arachnophobia...when I was a little girl, I would have nightmares that my bedroom floor was teeming with spiders and scorpions, and I would have no way to escape. I was terrified of killing a spider, for fear that its relatives might come after me while I was sleeping! As I grew older, my fear became more manageable - except for the several months after I made the mistake of watching the movie Arachnophobia when I was 16!

Syed will probably tell you that I still get a little freaked out by spiders - especially the ones that like to feast on all the summer bugs that come into our house. But overall, I think I've found ways to live with my fear without it overtaking me. One thing that helps me is just observing the fascinating nature of arachnids. Many of them spin breathtaking webs, only to have to start again when strong winds tear them down. But I still have no desire to hold a tarantula!

Fear, in and of itself, is neutral. It can save our lives by "raising our hackles" to alert us to dangerous situations (like spiders crawling on you!). But it can also hold us back and keep us from moving into an uncertain future. And sometimes our fear becomes all we know - so that we imagine danger even where there is none.

This Sunday, I invite you to step back and observe the things that frighten you - is your fear telling you to take a different path? Or is it an opportunity to find new trust in God?

Have a great weekend - hope to see you on Sunday!

Blessings, Manda

Texts for Sunday:
Job 38:1-11
Mark 4:35-41

Anticipating Miracles

An old tv ad invites us to long for the rich taste of  super thick ketchup as we watch it slowly ooze toward the mouth of the bottle.

The Gospel text this week invites us to long for the Realm of God as we ponder the mystery of tending the seeds of the Spirit that have been planted among us. It also invites us to expect miracles in this garden of faith - huge bushes from tiny mustard seeds!

The ketchup ad and the parables of Jesus acknowledge that waiting can be frustrating as we bang on the bottom of the bottle or keep scanning the garden for new shoots, we aren't always able to be patient. And so, we are called to live in the mystery of growth that is happening, even when we cannot see it. 

So it has been over the past few months, we have been tending the seeds of our commitment to Feed My Starving Children and tomorrow, I expect we will see the miracle of abundant fruit in our Strawberry Festival. All of this has taken patience and faith and really hard work. And just as the text says, we are called to expect the miracles of abundant growth from the tiniest of seeds. For all things are possible in the Realm of God, the realm we anticipate this day and every day!

Blessings and hoping to see you all tomorrow at the Strawberry Festival and on Sunday,

Texts for This Week:

+Ezekiel 17:22-24

Psalm92:1-4, 12-15

IICorinthians  5:6-17

*Mark 4:26-34

Note: The texts in bold type will be read in the worship service and the one with an asterisk will be used as the focus for the proclamation of the word.

"You're Being Called

 My dad used to tell this great story: One of his golfing buddies, Joe, was given a cell phone for Christmas - a gift from his son in California. A few days later, they were on the golf course and Joe's phone rang. He took it from his pocket and said, "Hello." Apparently it was the son who had given him the phone because, the next thing he said was, "Hey, you're all the way in California, how did you know I was on the 12th green?"

The whole thing was a mystery to Joe!

Sunday is Celebration Sunday at FCC, a time to celebrate a year of ministry with our Children & Youth (and theirs to us)! And, we will focus on the calling of the prophet Samuel - a child. The call came in the middle of the night and Samuel thought his guardian, Eli was calling to him, but it was God - a mystery.

A mystery that God would call a child, would know where he was, would know his potential to become a leader of his people......

The truth is that God calls each and every one of us, knows we are in the kitchen, in worship on Sunday or on the 12th green! God knows our potential to become people who sow love instead of hate, people who are always seeking and granting forgiveness, people who work for peace instead of divisiveness.....

The truth is, you are being called this Sunday - to celebrate with all of us. So come, celebrate the children & youth and the adults who make our ministries with them and their families so rich. Come, celebrate your own calling to build up the body of Christ and to celebrate the good news of the gospel with all you meet. Come and respond to God's call in your life and celebrate the mystery!

Hoping to see all of you on Sunday,   Laura Lee

Texts for This Week:

+Psalm 92:1-4,12-15

*I Samuel 3:1-10

Note: The texts in bold type will be read in the worship service and the one with an asterisk will be used as the focus for the proclamation of the word.

"On the Journey"

If you haven't seen this movie, I recommend it for many reasons. It is a perfect illustration for Sunday's text from Romans. Everyone in the movie has the same destination - a retirement hotel in India, but the similarities end there. For some this is an adventure and for others it is scary.

Some embrace the experience and at least one of them can never adapt. One finds some closure and one opens up. And one, goes through a pretty radical transformation.

Paul knew that Christians are a similar 'motley crew' bound for the promises of life in Christ, but that it is a different journey for each and every one of us. Some are ruled by our fears and are always wanting to turn back and some just 'hold back'. Some think there might be possibilities and sort of 'wait & see' and others assume that it will all be good.

The important thing is that we are all on the journey together and we choose how it will be for us. Will we embrace the spirit of God's amazing grace, live in it and share it with others or will we be enslaved by our fears and turn back? The invitation of the Gospel is clear, we are all children of God, fully embraced, fully loved and fully welcome at Christ's table and we are all part of Christ's family. The only thing that holds us back or keeps us out is our own spirit. I find this exciting and scary at the same time. The way I know seems less threatening because it is familiar. But the new way is the one that promises me joy and adventure and new possibilities.

Funny how some things never change and some people never change. The good news is that Paul understood this and so does God, who transforms us all in love!

I am hoping to see all of you on Sunday. The journey promises to be a good one as we welcome new members, receive the gift of music from Sophie Viscuso and connect with each other at the table of true communion. 

Blessings,  Laura Lee

Text for This Week:

Isaiah 6:1-8

+Psalm 29

*Romans 8:12-17 p.158

John 3:1-17

 

Note: The texts in bold type will be read in the worship service and the one with an asterisk will be used as the focus for the proclamation of the word.