Fulfilling the Great Commission By Jeff Gray We’ve often heard the phrase “the Great Commission.” In fact, many of us know it by heart. It was Jesus’s last instruction to the disciples: “Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” It is found in Matthew 28, verses 18-20. And similar final charges appear in the gospels of Mark, Luke, and even John, as well as at the start of The Acts of the Apostles. Whew! That’s a lot. A big challenge. And very few of us have done it, or at least in the way it sounds as if it should be done. I haven’t quit my job, sold all I own, and moved to some remote country in an impoverished area of the world to do good things in His name every day. I’m still right here. And so are you… feeling that “Great Commission guilt.” I’ve been thinking about it this week after the wife of a husband-wife missionary team in Madagascar came to speak at my home church in Raleigh last Sunday. It sure sounds like they are doing what Jesus asked, and I’m not doing enough… But I think the common understanding of the Great Commission is far too narrow. I think we are doing better than we might think we are. What if Jesus’s command isn’t exclusive to fulltime missionaries, and ordained ministers and other church leaders, and doesn’t require a fulltime commitment. I’m not saying we should be let off the hook, I’m saying we can be more intentional about disciple-making and adhere to its call. As written in the original of these Gospels, “go” doesn’t mean “go overseas.” The Greek word used in Matthew means “proceed with intention.” It means to move forward with intention in daily life and missionary work; to make disciples by helping people become devoted followers of Jesus; to welcome new members in the name of the Trinity; and to teach new believers to obey everything Jesus commanded. We as a church have many, many outreach programs where we “go,” and we as members of the church do many things in our daily lives where we follow Jesus’s command. So, what about this make disciples thing? Well, we do it almost every day, and certainly weekly. We make disciples through our teachings. More than just making converts, we as Presbyterians in the reformed tradition teach others to teach others. That is what Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, informal Bible studies, and youth group discussions are all about. It is what solid preaching in a Sunday worship service is about, too. We remind and we encourage. How else do we do these things? Through our good deeds, through unity in the church, through parenting, through praying, and through giving. The Great Commission should not be a guilt-inducing calling reserved only for the few. We just need to continue to be purposeful in our actions.
Wonderful Words of Life
I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Ps 34:1
I never did very well in school when it came to math or science, but I was a good student, when it came to words. I loved to read. I loved to diagram sentences and to parse words to get to their deeper meaning.
One of the most misused words in the English language is the word blessed. We ask the Lord to bless us when we don’t know what else to say. It is one of those big stretching words that just about covers everything. But what does it really mean? Here in the psalm it means to salute, congratulate, or praise. In other words, I will salute the Lord at all times, and I will congratulate God. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
We have words continually in our mouths, but these words are not always about praise. We also have complaining words, gossiping words, boasting words, empty words, and mundane words that fill our mouths. I remember telling my girls when they were little to “use their words,” when they got mad at each other, and then when they got older I told them “NOT to use certain words,” when they got mad at each other! The words we use are important!
Remember the rhyme, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” not true! Words can hurt. Words can build up or break down a person or a church and can sometimes not be forgotten. Maybe we should be more careful of our words.
A. W. Tozer said, “Words of praise will drive out gloom. It can change the direction of our lives. If we let our minds and hearts and mouths be filled with words that are unclean, complaining, gossiping, boasting, empty, or earthly, we will go in that direction, But if we insist upon filling our mouths with congratulations to the Lord God Almighty under all circumstances and learn the joy of inward prayer, again, it will change the whole direction of our lives.” *
So, Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life.
*Authentic Worship, A. W. Tozer, Bethany House publishing, 2023, by James L. Snyder, p. 35-42
Terry Hanna
Practice Forgiveness
One day Jesus told his followers that they were to practice forgiveness and not hold grudges. Quite a tall order and especially hard to practice.
Immediately, his followers responded, saying, “Increase our faith!” In other words, “more faith is better.”
Curiously, Jesus responded saying that they do not need more faith. He said, “You already have enough faith.” Jesus said that faith as small as even a tiny seed is enough to make a difference. That is, instead of complaining about not having enough, practice using the spiritual understandings you already have.
If you are prone to lie and you say you can’t stop; listen, you can stop because you do have enough faith.
If you feel that your life is out of control and you can’t get control; listen, you can get control because you do have enough spiritual strength to take actions to get control.
If you are filled with rage that is eating you up; listen, you can get beyond that rage because you do have enough spiritual strength to deal with the rage and do good to yourself and others.
God has not abandoned us. God has given us enough spiritual wisdom to know what is good and right to do. God is with us to guide us and help us through dark times to the light of genuine life.
Do not think that you are alone. Do not think that you do not have enough faith. Remember, even faith as small as a tiny seed can make a huge difference. What is essential is to practice the faith you have. Trust God and trust your faith to lead you to do the things that bring abundant life.
Rev. Dr. Curtis Fussell
Nature Reveals God
God called to Moses from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” Moses said, “Here I am.”
Then God said, “Remove the sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3: 4-5
When writer Diana Butler Bass led church retreats, she would try to help church folks understand generational differences regarding faith and practice. One question that would always come up was, “Why do young adults seem more invested in spending time in nature rather than church?” A 2015 Baylor University study supports this claim. The study discovered that places with ‘more beautiful weather and scenery have lower rates of membership and affiliation with religious organizations.’ Welcome to the beautiful state of North Carolina!
However, these comments seem to be more about criticizing those who skip religious services occasionally in favor of hiking or kayaking or biking on the sabbath. I say this confessing that I missed church this morning because I was busy porch sitting looking out on my farm at the wild flowers and mountain beauty. In my defense, however, I ask, “Where did Moses find God? And the answer is- outside, by a burning bush!
I am not saying we should skip church or take our camp chairs out in the yard to worship each Sunday, but I am reminding us that before there were church buildings there were places in nature to worship. There were burning bushes and stones piled high as alters and running waters and mountain tops and grassy fields and homes for calling and praising and baptizing and teaching and sharing a meal.
Here at First Presbyterian we have picnics, hiking groups, camping trips, outside worship, church gardens, fellowship suppers, and retreats. Could we have more please? Because when we hear these words- the place on which you are standing is holy ground, we should remind ourselves that we are standing on holy ground wherever we are, in a church building or outside in nature. And when we respond saying, “Here I am!,” every moment becomes sacred!
Terry Hanna
Deo Valente ("God Willing")
In 2020, during COVID, I was visiting a parishioner through a closed window at what was then called Vero Care Facility. I know that she didn’t watch television. I asked her what she had been doing that afternoon. We “talked’ by writing on pads and holding it up to the window.
She answered: "Reading".
I then asked: "What are you reading?"
She wrote, then held her answer up to the window: "HS"
I had a quizzical look on my face, and so she wrote out what should have been understood: "Holy Scriptures."
At a funeral earlier this month, the service ended with a man on guitar singing a simplistic song:
I'm using my Bible for a road map
Then Commandments they tell me what to do
The twelve disciples are my road signs
And Jesus will take me safely through
The Bible is not that clear, and our road is not that safe, yet our future is in God's care. Perhaps we should start adding the initials D.V. after all our statements of future dreams. D.V. being Latin for "Deo volente" ("God willing ").
Christ reminds us in Matthew 6:25,33, and 34:
I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear... Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
The Bible was written in a time when the things that usually cause us to think about the future didn't exist. Social Security, IRAs, and pension plans were unheard of. People had little opportunity to schedule next summer's vacation or to think about what they would do after graduation.
The future is filled with possibilities. But to focus primarily on the future allows our lives to become wrapped up in either anxiety or anticipation. Like building your life on the past and on memories, you miss out on here, now, today.
In the final analysis, the parts of time that seem of most concern in the Bible are the present and eternity, as Jesus' words above illustrate. Striving first for the kingdom of God is focusing on both now and striving for God’s eternal life. That quality of life also begins now.
To focus on eternity means to be currently concerned with God. And to focus on the present allows us to respond to God. As C.S. Lewis put it in The Screwtape Letters, "the Present is the point at which time touches eternity." (God would have us be about) "obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure."
May your eternity be found in this moment (D.V.), Tempe'
Growing Up
One day a teacher asked her students what they wanted to be when they grew up. Someone said a football player; another said an astronaut. One said the President, another said a doctor, and someone said a teacher. Everyone named some profession, except Tommy.
The teacher asked Tommy, “What about you, Tommy, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
And Tommy said, “I want to be possible when I grow up.”
His teacher said, “Possible? I don’t understand.”
Tommy said, “My mom is always saying I’m impossible, so I want to be possible when I grow up.”
I think Tommy had the right perspective. Hopefully, when we grow up, we too will be someone who is “possible.”
Someone with whom it is possible to see patience and kindness. Someone with whom it’s possible to hear in their voice words of grace and forgiveness.
Hopefully, too it will be possible to forgive ourselves for all our errors. Possible for us to forgive others who have hurt us, because we have experienced God’s loving forgiveness.
If those things become possible in us, then we will have truly grown up into being a genuine person.
It’s not easy to grow up. Even as adults, we are inclined to act selfishly -thinking that the world and the people in our lives must attend to our needs and make us comfortable.
However, a genuine person seeks to move outwardly rather than inwardly. As Jesus put it, “to love God with all your being, and to love others as you love yourself.” Notice that the movement is away from self, not toward self. Such a movement is the mark of maturity.
The Apostle Paul once said, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; but when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.”
Paul was speaking about the love of God when he spoke about becoming an adult. The greatest gift, Paul said, was to experience the love and grace of God. When you do, it causes you to grow up.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Possible? Yes, possible to live out of God’s love and grace.
Rev. Dr. Curtis Fussell
Affirming Our Faith
Each Sunday during the church service we affirm our faith using various creeds, catechisms, and declarations adopted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as statements of what we believe. There is the Scots Confession, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Longer and the Shorter Catechism, the Theological Declaration of Barmen, the Confession of 1967, and a Brief Statement of Faith.
And let us not forget the most well known of all; the one we know by heart: the Apostles Creed.
Pastors choose passages from these various documents to support and illustrate the greater message found in the remainder of the liturgy and the sermon. (Or in the case of the Apostles Creed we recite all of it.)
And this July, at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a special committee was appointed to consider a new confession. This document will seek to articulate Christian faith in response to contemporary challenges including racism, economic inequality, environmental degradation, violence, and political polarization. (Oh, my!)
Needless to say, the majority of these documents – which are bound together in a single tome called the Presbyterian Book of Confessions – can be difficult to read. The language is at times stilted, the sentence structure difficult to read, and the concepts convoluted and at times contradictory. While all are written with a solemn, reverent voice rooted in Biblical authority and Reformed theology, the centuries-old phrasing and cadence inherited from Scottish and early American traditions can be hard to understand.
But I have found that the simplest explanations of what we believe, and why, is found in of all things the Presbyterian Book of Church Order. These two books (i.e. Book of Confessions and Book of Church Order) together make up the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), with one being the historical faith statements and the other being the practical rules for church government. But if you ignore the numbering of each section of the Book of Order and just read it as you would any other book, you will find beautiful prose, and well-written, simplified explanations of what we believe. I consider it an invaluable study guide, both as a guide to governance and for its theological underpinnings, and I think it will help you too in your faith journey.
Stand by. We are going to recite a bit from it during Sunday’s service. I hope you’ll agree.
Jeff Gray
Come to the Table
As we come to the Table this Sunday, I want to share a story about Johnny Dunlop, a pastor in the Western Highlands of Scotland.
Johnny was in the infantry in the British Army in World War II. His unit was surrounded, and he was captured, and ended up in a prisoner of war camp in Poland. The conditions in the camp were so bad that many of the prisoners who were starving and would throw themselves against the barbed wire fence hoping to be shot so their suffering would end.
One night Johnny was so depressed that he walked out to the fence thinking he would end his miserable life. He sat down on the ground. He heard movement on the other side of the fence. It was a Polish farmer. The farmer had a half of a potato in his hand. He thrust the potato through the barbed wire. As Johnny took it, the man said, in heavily accented English, “The Body of Christ.”
Who knew that a potato could give a man hope? You may feel like you have nothing to share, that your hands and voice aren’t worth raising. But it may be that your small offering, however small, is something that opens the door to the Kingdom of God for someone else. Your half of potato, barely enough food, becomes part of the feast that feeds someone’s hunger.
So as we come to the Table this Sunday may we commit to live abundantly, opening our hands, sharing what we have, confident that our meager resources, in God’s hands, will always be transformed into abundance.
Terry Hanna
One Word
My daughter is in orientation as a nurse at Mission Hospital. They asked the new recruits: "What is one word by which you would like to be known?" My daughter chose the word, "helper".
Last month, Wim Schippers, who is known by the apt description of "absurdist artist", was remembered by a museum in his home country of the Netherlands by one of his signature works. They poured 800 pounds of peanut butter on a gallery floor.
This month Jeff and I have used texts about Jacob, one of the three great patriarchs of our faith. Despite all that Jacob did, he will forever be known by the etymology of his name, "heel-grabber". He came into this world, grabbing the heel of his twin brother, Esau. He continued to grab everything from birth rights, to livestock, to a blessing from God.
What is the word by which you would like to be known. Most likely not "absurd" hopefully not "heel-grabber". But I invite you to find word that fits the way God imagines you. Embrace it, and make yourself known. Be informed by the words of the Psalm139:14:
I will give thanks to you because I have been so amazingly
and miraculously made.
Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this.
Searching with you, to own my descriptive word in Christ, Tempe'
A prayer based on Psalm 139 O God, you search me and you know me.
All my thoughts lie open to your gaze.
When I walk or lie down you are before me:
Ever the maker and keeper of my days.
You know my resting and my rising.
You discern my purpose from afar,
And with love everlasting you besiege me:
In ev’ry moment of life or death, you are.
Before a word is on my tongue, Lord,
You have known its meaning through and through.
You are with me beyond my understanding:
God of my present, my past and future, too.
(translated by Bernadette Farrell OCP Publications )
Hope
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.” Emily Dickinson
I love the way Emily Dickinson uses nature to define hope. I see hope in two young eagles perched high in a tree looking out on their world. I see hope in a mother Mallard swimming to the lake shore with four babies swimming behind her trying to keep up. I see hope in a baby fawn following her mother on shaky legs, and in a little red fox that lives in a big pipe by my house. I see hope in the lifting fog over the mountains in the early morning, as I listen to the birds sing. I see new life in the woods all around me and it gives me hope.
Jesus said, The Kingdom of God is like...and he pointed to seeds, weeds and wheat, a mustard seed, fine pearls found in oyster shells, and fish in Matthew 13. Jesus told us not to be anxious about our lives. He told us to look at the birds and the lilies, and Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…in Matthew 6.
So when I get discouraged I look to nature. It is a reminder of God’s goodness, beauty, new beginnings, new life, and hope. May we “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12: 12
Pastor Terry
On Grace, Gratitude and Presbyterianism
We all make mistakes, with the most common one saying something we should not. I made the mistake of blurting out in one of my classes at Union Presbyterian Seminary that I struggled with the concept of “grace.” My professor, a career Presbyterian pastor and teacher, pounced on me like a cat on a mouse! He was relentless, and I was defenseless. I could only stammer my through why I would make such a statement as a life-long Presbyterian. I thought, “Oh, no, here comes the first grade of ‘F’ in my life.”
But I do struggle at times. It is hard for me to believe that I get something for nothing. That I don’t have to work to achieve God’s love, and His grace. It is counter to all other things we are taught about life. Here on earth we strive to please our parents, our teachers, our bosses, and even our families to get something in return… whatever that something is. We are told time and time again, “Nothing comes free.”
But that’s not true.
In the Presbyterian tradition grace is the unearned, unconditional favor of God. Grounded in Reformed theology, we as Presbyterians believe salvation is entirely a gift of God’s sovereign choice (or “election.”) We are not required to contribute anything. Our response to this gift of grace must only be a lifelong journey of gratitude and faithful service.
We experience and grow in this grace through specific channels known as the “ordinary means of grace.” Those means are reading and preaching the Scripture (“the Word”), Baptism and the Lord’s Supper or communion (“the Sacraments”), and of course prayer. It is through the Word, the physical signs and seals of God’s invisible grace we practice together, and our private and corporate communication with God that makes us who we are.
But grace is the cornerstone.
That professor became my favorite. When I pray for knowledge and discernment as I travel this new path in life, I pray that I will someday acquire his knowledge and wisdom. He forced me to think about a lot of things, but the one thing was how to view God’s grace: That it is given to us freely and undeserved, and that even faith itself is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
We should rejoice every day in what we are given, and our gratitude should naturally follow God’s gift to us.
To thine be the glory.
Jeff Gray
Patriotic Month
July is the patriotic month. As Americans we hear about pride for our country, our heritage, our government, and our way of life. Speakers on the 4th of July say, “We are the greatest nation on earth.” It’s true, we enjoy many blessings. We have a strong military and we are a wealthy nation. Plus, we have certain human rights that many people in other nations envy.
Still, with blessings comes a great deal of responsibility. As Jesus said, “To whom much is given, much is required.”
However, whenever someone says, “I’m proud to be an American,” or “I’m proud of my children,” or “I’m proud of my football team,” the words of the Christian singer Wayne Watson come to mind.
Watson said, “The older I become, the less I find to be proud of and the more I find to be thankful for. I’m more thankful for my family than I am proud of them, because I realize that most of what they are is out of my hands. Most of the good that has happened to me in my career is not the result of me getting a record deal. I attribute those blessings to God. So, my ‘thankful’ list is growing much longer, while my ‘proud’ list is becoming much shorter.”
Watson is right on target! When we think about our nation rightly, what comes to us is gratitude to God for this nation and all its blessings. Deep gratitude to able to live here. Deep gratitude for the blessings we enjoy.
Blessings we have that we recognize come from God. Blessings given to us, when we rightly consider them. Given to because we happened to have been born here, or brought here -indeed all our families were immigrants at one point.
So, America is a gift to us from God. It’s not something we personally achieved, or something we earned. America is a land we have gratitude for because of it is God’s graceful blessing to us.
Curtis Fussell
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
Friends in Christ,
This week of July 4th, we will remember together our roots and our resistance. We will embrace our demand for
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
I think it is possible to thank God through the human stages of these three words. As children, we are all about the Pursuit of Happiness through DEPENDENCE on those with the power in our lives. As we originally needed assistance from Great Britain, our nation has grown in greatness through alliances beyond our borders.
This month, we highlight our Liberty, INDEPENDENCE, and self-governance. Much as adolescence requires physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual weaning from dependence, so too we needed to step away from being a colony of a distant land.
But our nation is also built on INTERDEPENDENCY. We pursue Life for all, and that takes the community of our nation. All things are interdependent upon others for survival. As the Church and as mentors of the Kingdom of God, INTERDEPENDENCE is our desire. We were created for community. It was exhibited from the very beginning, when God told Adam that it was not good for humans to be alone. God chose a nation to convince the world of the divine covenant. Even Jesus was not a one-man crusade, but pulled disciples toward him to teach the larger community of salvation and hope.
Communion is community. Baptism binds us in a caring covenant.
To misquote St. Paul:
Dependence, Independence, Interdependence, these three are American essentials.
But for us, the greatest of these is Interdependence.
Glad to be free and interdependent with you, Tempe'
Summer 2026
This Sunday, June 21, marks the beginning of summer for 2026. This date means that on Tuesday, June 23, the sun will come up one minute later than it did on Sunday! In other words, come Sunday, we begin a slow steady decline towards the shortest sunlight hours in December.
It can happen that we hear the “shining” word that God loves us. It can fall on our ears and heart like the brightness of a summer day.
Yet God’s wondrous love does not protect us from life’s problems. God’s love is not a lucky charm or four-leaf clover. Even loving parents cannot protect their children from all of life’s hardness and difficulties. Of course, even if they could, it would not be wise. We learn and grow when we deal with problems. As the Apostle Paul says, “Suffering produces character.”
Yet, some people still say that life’s problems are actually God’s punishment on us. Of course, the cross of Jesus should have settled this issue long ago.
The truth is God wants to give us life. God is forgiving and caring. Jesus said it like this: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet, not one of them falls to the ground without your heavenly Father knowing it. God even knows the number of hairs on your head. Do not fear, for you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Note how God is aware that sparrows fall. They fall because they are creatures of the world; not because God punishes them.
In this world we too “fall,” but not because God is punishing us. The Apostle Paul gives us a litany of his misfortunes; his “falls” so to speak. “Five times I received forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked and adrift at sea. In danger from rivers, robbers, people, in toil and hardship, and in hunger and thirst.”
Yet Paul also heard God say to him, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Though Paul suffered much, he also knew the abiding and steadfast love of God over-against his sufferings.
When life is all sunshine, it’s easy to believe. It’s when the dark days arrive that faith becomes more demanding. To stay with God, to trust God, to remain steadfast in knowing that in all things God is for us and with us; that is the challenge of faith in God.
Yes, dark days will come. When they do, hold fast to God. Bow the knee and seek the refreshing renewal and strength of God’s steadfast love. God will abide with you and give you the grace and courage you need.
Curtis Fussell
Calling a Pastor, The Presbyterian Way
“And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent.” Rom. 10:14
My predecessor as moderator of the Deacons quipped as she rotated off the board, “I am convinced that ‘Presbyterian’ is the Hebrew word for ‘death by committee.’” She wasn’t too far off in her observation. One would certainly think so. In a 3800-member church with dozens of diaconate and Session committees we were always meeting and deciding something, or so it seemed.
Admittedly, Presbyterians are a deliberative lot. Our democratic, bottom-up governance system is a hallmark of who we are. Unlike the Methodists, Episcopalians and others, we are not a top-down, hierarchical denomination. No one assigns a pastor to us. And at the same time, we are connectional. Every church has a stake in what every other church does.
And while every church is connected to every other church, each of our churches also has considerable autonomy. Part of that autonomy is tremendous freedom in choosing its next Minister of Word and Sacrament.
When I was with you a month ago – and even during visits in late-winter before joining your pastoral team of preachers – I heard your frustrations with the process of calling a new, full-time installed minister. I understand. Over the almost 40 years as a member of my current church, I have shared your pain as we have called three pastors. So I write this to assure you: God has a plan for First Presbyterian Church in Sylva, and God’s loving hand is upon your Pastor Nominating Committee as they guide you through this process.
And it is a process! One only Presbyterians could think up! From the election of the PNC, to a Mission Study, to matching and interviews, to approval on your regional Committee on Ministry (called the “COM”), to a vote of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina to receive your new minister and approving the terms of call, it typically takes 12 to 24 months as fast as you can go.
Be patient. The system is designed to ensure consensus among a congregation, the Presbytery, and the minister rather than an executive appointment. This guarantees the right fit for you.
We are blessed that those before us created a system to ensure God’s will is done.
Jeffrey Gray, Candidate for Commissioned Ruling Elder
Ten Characteristics of a Spirited Church
Looking through some old files, I found the “Ten Characteristics of a Spirited Church.” I thought it was worth sharing.
First, a spirited church loves God and loves to worship God with constancy, commitment, and contagious passion.
Love each other, care for one another, and have a barrel of fun together.
Be naturally generous and know that God will provide enough to do what God asks us to do.
Recognize, honor, and use the special gifts of every one of it’s people.
Really believe it can do anything God is calling it to do.
Make a tangible difference in the local to global world.
Be a community that treats every stranger and visitor as if he or she is the Christ, thus incorporating that person into the community.
Know that even if there are only a few people, there are enough people to be a thriving community of faith.
Care little about survival and greatly about faithfulness.
Have no fear, make no excuses, and exhibit bushels of faith, hope, and love.
Be well, do good, carry on, Godspeed, gracias, and shalom!
Terry Hanna
Ordinary Time
It was Mother’s Day. We were all gathered around the table, me, my mother, daughter, step-sister, husband, and three dogs. We were looking at old pictures of family events in the past. My daughter said, “I don’t remember much from the years we lived in Charlotte. And I replied, “It was all pretty ordinary- work, school, church, softball, life.”
The church now moves into the season of Ordinary time, and it is a reminder that so much of life is spent doing ordinary things, nothing outstanding, just the regular rhythm of life. Oliver Sacks said, “Ordinary things slip from the memory while the striking and the novel stay longer in the mind.”
In Genesis, God asked Abram to leave his home and follow him to a new land. In the New Testament Jesus called the disciples and asked them to follow him. Following God was an act of faith. But following also involved pretty regular things- packing up, moving out, pitching a tent, sharing a meal with new friends. Following God, responding to a call, meant leaving a known place for another new and different home. That is what we will be asking a new pastor to do. And we will make this journey with them.
So, for all the drama of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, the truth of the matter is that God is the God of Ordinary Time. His presence is with us in all our ordinary, regular, familiar years. The whole of life is a journey. Sometimes we just forget to notice.
Jesus promised, “I will be with you always, even in the ordinary times, til the end of the age.” Matthew 28: 20
(A Beautiful Year, Diana Butler Bass, St. Martin’s Essentials, New York, 2025, p.205- 225)
Reverend Terry Hanna
A Festival Reminder
There are three great festivals of the Church year: Easter, Christmas, and Pentecost. The last is a hidden treasure waiting for the Church to continue to unwrap. Unlike the other two days, Walmart and Hallmark have not discovered Pentecost. It is a celebration of the "pouring out of the Spirit" on the people of God. In one of the churches I served, the parishioners decorated with balloons and had a large birthday cake. The children got to blow out the many candles.
Yet the name Pentecost tells us that we are celebrating even more than a birthday. Pentecost means 50. The recipients of the first gift of being blessed by the Spirit were Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem who had come to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, which fell 50 days after Passover. One of the purposes of the Jewish festival was to renew the covenant between God and Noah.
From Noah until today, we have a relationship with God that not even catastrophic floods can extinguish. As the earliest covenant was marked by a rainbow, the covenant of Pentecost is marked by wind and the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Like Easter, it is not only a day, but a season. Pentecost is the longest season of the year. From May 24th until the beginning of Advent in November, we have the occasion to live and celebrate the living Spirit of God that is forever with us. Pentecost renews the promise of Jesus:
The Father will send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, in my name, who will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. I will not leave you orphaned.
With the losses of this world, we are never abandoned by God. Every time you see red in a cardinal, a sunset, a red rambling rose, a T-shirt in a crowd, a passing sports car, smile and know that God is forever close.
Rev. Tempe Fussell
A Wider Perspective
Edith Eva Eger, Psychologist and Holocaust survivor, tells the story of visiting two soldiers on the same day at William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss. Both were paraplegics who had lost the use of their legs in combat. The first veteran, Tom, was lying on his bed knotted into a fetal position, railing against life and his fate. The second, Chuck, was out of bed in his wheelchair, explaining that he felt as if he had been given a second chance in life. As he wheeled through the garden, he realized that he was closer to the flowers and could look right into his children’s eyes.
Auschwitz survivor Viktor Frankl said that our perspective toward life is our final and ultimate freedom. When you look at the same event from a wider perspective, your sense of worry and anxiety reduces, and you have greater joy.
The Letter of James puts it this way, “Count it joy, brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach.” James 1:2,3,5.
The month of April was a tough month for me. A mother’s fall, a friend’s death, a shooting in Winston-Salem near my sister’s home, war and violence on the world scene, there was much to be discouraged about. However, I try to have a wider perspective. When we look at the same events from a wider perspective, our sense of worry and anxiety reduces, and we have greater joy. And we know that God cries with us. God smiles with us, and we are deeply loved and precious to our God!
(Thoughts from The Book of Joy, Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, with Douglas Abrams)
Terry Hanna
You can't go home again
Asheville author Thomas Wolfe’s last novel, published posthumously in 1940, was entitled “You Can’t Go Home Again.” The story is autobiographical and chronicles the protagonist’s journey from his small hometown to New York City and Europe as he rises to literary fame. It explores themes of belonging and disillusionment with one’s roots, as well as broader issues such as the rise of Nazism in 1930’s Germany. But the theme most associated with the book is its realization that the past is irretrievable.
The novel was, and continues to be, so powerful that the observation that “you can’t go home again” is considered a universal truth.
Some who have analyzed the content of Wolfe’s writings say that the point was that things change after someone leaves a place, and that exposure to other people, places, and events changes one’s perspective of where they came from. That is certainly true. However you can go home again, and that return can be joyful.
One of the most joyous occasions for me was in the sanctuary of FPC, Sylva the day of Blake’s last sermon. And no, no, not that it was his last sermon and that his family and he were leaving the Church and Jackson County. It was what I witnessed and how I felt.
As you’ve likely learned by now, I grew up in Sylva and my grandparents, my parents, my siblings and me were long-time members of FPC. I ran down the upstairs hall, sat in the organ pit turning pages for my organist grandmother, played in the yard (and later mowed it! Ugh.), attended many, many Family Night Suppers on Wednesday nights, and sat in the balcony like the teenagers did back then. The three pastors from my youth were a tremendous part of my life. Their sermons guided me to grow closer to God in my faith, and their personal friendship and love strengthened me on life’s journey in my early days. These pastors, and the members of the congregation were truly like family; not only did we worship together but we were neighbors and dear friends. I knew everyone in the Church and they all knew me.
I cling to those days in my heart. The memories are precious.
Yet 40 years later I was standing at the back of the sanctuary as a group photo was being taken of everyone with Blake. I suddenly realized something that stirred my soul. I knew very few people in the congregation. Only a handful of members from my youth remained. Albeit there is sadness in the loss of so many that I have loved over the intervening years, my soul was stirred by the realization that First Presbyterian Church in Sylva was alive with new members, a vibrant body of Christians gathering in worship and community sharing the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Unlike Wolfe’s fictitious character in his book, I realized that change is inevitable, and change and growth, especially in a church, should be celebrated.
I will see you on May 10th.
It will be good to be home.
-- Jeff Gray