Pray like this

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Today we start a new segment of our sermon series on prayer, focusing on the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Jesus teaches us to pray with intimacy, intentionality, and integrity — using the words of his prayer as stepping stones on the way of the Spirit.

Need a challenge for the upcoming season of Lent? Want to go deeper in your walk with God? Find a quiet place, inside and out, and pray the Lord’s Prayer every single day. Here’s a guide to help you along the way…

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…

Begin by acknowledging first and foremost who you’re talking to.  God is your heavenly Father, your Abba, the holy one who created you and adopted you as a son or daughter through Jesus and by the Holy Spirit.  Your Father loves you and desires for you to respond to him in love, trust, and obedience through prayer.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...

Submit your desires to your Father’s desires.  Reflect on the characteristics of his heavenly kingdom as taught by Jesus, and then pray that those characteristics would come to life in this earthly reality like ripples on a pond: in your heart, in your relationships, in our community, and in the world.  “As above, so below.”

Give us today our daily bread…

Ask your Father to feed you with physical provision (food, clothing, friendship, and other sustenance) as well as spiritual provision (the truth of his Word and the companionship of his Spirit).  Then intercede for others whom you know are running on empty.  Jesus says we don’t have because we don’t ask – so ask with boldness and humility.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…

The good news of the gospel is that while we were sinners, Jesus died for us.  Ask the Father to help you believe this good news.  Recognize your sin and remember his grace all the more.  Then ask for help in forgiving others and asking for their forgiveness in return.  A heart of forgiveness is a heart that’s set free!

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one…

Ask your Father to help you recognize the many roadblocks, temptations, detours, and demonic dangers that threaten to keep you from following Jesus.  Ask for his Spirit to protect you and lead you as you walk “in the world but not of the world.”  And then ask the same thing for your brothers and sisters in Christ and for the church across the globe.  We travel together on the dusty road of discipleship.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever.  Amen.

The goal of life is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.  Give thanks to your Father for the beauty of who he is, and for the marvelous invitation that he’s extended to you, through his Son and by his Spirit, to join in his life of love.  Go forth in peace.

Click here for a PDF copy of this guide.

Pastor’s Letter

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

This was the request, the plea, the prayer of Jesus’ disciples — and it’s ours as well. For several months this winter season, we are pondering the mystery of prayer by going deeper into Scripture with Jesus as our guide. We are nearly done with our study of Old Testament prayers (although much more could be said!) and soon we will turn our attention to the greatest of them all, the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9- 13.

For help along the way, I’ve been reading through P.T. Forsyth’s classic book The Soul of Prayer. In it, he writes:

“Thy will be done.” Unless that were the spirit of all our prayer, how should we have courage to pray if we know ourselves at all, or if we have come to a time when we can have some retrospect on our prayers and their fate? Without this committal to the wisdom of God, prayer would be a very dangerous weapon in proportion as it was effective.

Now, that’s a dense passage! But what Forsyth is saying is that prayer necessarily leads to humility before the Lord. We don’t pray so that our wills might be done; we pray so that God’s will might be done through us. Prayer is our entryway to the mighty river of God who always leads us further up and further into life with him and life with each other. Sometimes we tip-toe in the shallows; other times, we plunge into the pools. But as long as we’re in the water, we’re in the right place.

As this sermon series continues and as the season of Lent approaches, I encourage you to take up the practice of prayer. Not because you have to (prayer is never, ever about legalistic obligation) but because you get to. Because Jesus invites you to. Why not set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier so you can arise, awaken the dawn, and give praise to the Lord (Psalm 57:8)? How about putting away your phone and finding a quiet spot to eat your lunch and read the upcoming Sunday’s Bible passage (listed in the previous Sunday’s bulletin)? Try turning off the TV 15 minutes earlier before you go to bed so your soul can find rest in God alone (Psalm 62:1). It’s as simple – but perhaps as challenging – as that. Yet as Forsyth says, “Unless there is within us that which is above us, we shall soon yield to that which is about us.”

Yours, Blake

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Prayer Resources

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

This was the request, the plea, the prayer of Jesus’ disciples — and it’s ours as well. For several months this winter season, we are pondering the mystery of prayer by going deeper into Scripture with Jesus as our guide. Here are some resources to help us along the way.

Soaking Prayer & Prayer Ministry

We have an active and vibrant prayer ministry at First Presbyterian Church. Why not use this as an opportunity to go deeper with trusted brothers and sisters in Christ?

  • Prayer Ministers are available after every Sunday Worship Service and would be happy to pray with you. You can also contact these prayer ministers if you would like to set up an appointment to receive prayer in a quiet, confidential setting. (Please call the church office for more information.)

  • Soaking Prayer is offered on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month at 7:00pm in the sanctuary. This is a time to receive prayer in a non-threatening, Spirit-filled environment.  Simply come into the sanctuary, write your prayer requests on a card offered to you, and rest in silence as our prayer ministers lift you up to the Lord in prayer.

Prayer Retreat

Join us for a church-wide gathering on March 21, 2020 to go deeper in the practice of prayer.  We will meet in the Fellowship Hall at 9:00am, spend time in group discussion, and take time to actually pray before breaking for lunch at 12:00pm.  There's no cost, but please do RSVP by calling the church office (586-4256) or visiting our Facebook Event page so that we know how much food to get.  Come and bring a friend — no experience necessary!

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Books, Devotionals, and Study Guides

There are more books on prayer than anyone could ever read! Where should you begin? Here are some resources that I (Blake) have found especially helpful in my journey with Jesus:

For a general introduction to prayer: Richard Foster, Prayer

Richard Foster is the founder and former president of Renovaré, an interdenominational Christian ministry that focuses on spiritual formation. I read through this book when I was first ordained in Raleigh and found Foster’s wisdom and insights to be profoundly helpful, especially for a beginner in the school of prayer!

For a guide to praying with Scripture, especially the Psalms: Eugene Peterson, Answering God

Eugene Peterson is one of my favorite writers and thinkers. In this book he not only explores the importance of prayer for the Christian life, but he opens up the Psalms as the prayer-book of the Bible. In these cries of joy and lament (and everything in between), we see every human emotion laid bare before the face of God.

For a short, grace-filled daily devotional: Brennan Manning, Reflections for Ragamuffins

This was my devotional in my first year of marriage to Erin, and I can still picture the kitchen table in Costa Rica where we would sit each morning and drink our coffee and read this book. Manning was a master teacher of the Gospel of Grace, and this book — full of insights from his various other books — does not disappoint. Read a page each day and be challenged and encouraged by the goodness of God.

For a longer devotional that focuses on morning, noontime, and evening prayer: Phyllis Tickle, The Divine Hours

To go deeper in prayer, many Christians take on the practice of praying “the hours,” which refers to praying three, five, or even seven times a day on a regularly-scheduled rhythm. These books (three in all) provide guidance for doing this. Tickle was an Episcopalian and draws heavily from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, but this is a helpful resource for anyone desiring an ordered prayer life. It has been my guide for years, one that I read nearly every weekday morning.

For a study of prayer through an ancient lens: Gabriel Bunge, Earthen Vessels

I read through this book in 2016, during my first Lenten season in Sylva, and it quickly became one of my favorites. Bunge began as a Catholic priest and monk and later converted to Orthodoxy, and his writing represents his commitment to both the church and the Great Tradition of the Christian faith. Read this book for a look at how the communion of saints have prayed through the ages, and be encouraged to go and do likewise.

Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive: there are so many other resources for you to explore. Many of our church members have benefited from Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. Many have enjoyed Philip Yancey and Timothy Keller’s recent books (both called Prayer). Many of our prayer ministers have been blessed by the ministry of Presbyterian Reformed Ministries International. Ask the Lord and your trusted friends to help you and to teach you as we go deeper in prayer together.

Yours in Christ for the journey ahead,
Blake

Pastor’s Letter

Friends,

A new year is upon us!  And not just a new year, but a new decade in which we say goodbye to both 2019 and the 2010s, a transition marked by the notably optometrical number of 2020.  

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Think about what this transition represents.  On a personal level, this was the decade in which I graduated from seminary; in which I was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament; in which my three children were born; in which my family and I moved to Sylva.  On a churchly level, this was the decade in which our congregation experienced six years of pastoral change; in which we celebrated our 75th anniversary; in which we purchased our Transition House and began our Cornerstone capital improvements campaign; in which we said goodbye to many loved ones, even as we welcomed and baptized many more.  It’s been a decade of ups and downs, trials and victories, joys and laments.  What, I wonder, does it represent for you?  

For many of us, such transitions are achingly nostalgic.  We can’t help but dwell on mistakes we’ve made, opportunities we’ve missed, or fond memories of times gone by.  Still, others of us might feel daringly optimistic and hopeful as we make plans, set goals, and cast visions for the year ahead. 

Neither of these reactions is wrong – but they do need to be tempered with the Gospel.  When we’re tempted to idolize the past, Jesus tells us not to hold too tightly onto our treasures on earth.  When we’re tempted to idolize the future, Jesus reminds us that only his Father knows what’s ahead.  Our call, then, is to live one day at a time by the grace of God – because Jesus does promise us that.

As we reflect on this, I want to leave you with a poem.  A dear friend shared it with me and I wanted to share it with you – my dear friends and church family – as we enter a new year and new decade together.

Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light:

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

 

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

 

Ring out the grief that saps the mind

For those that here we see no more;

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

 

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

 

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

The faithless coldness of the times;

Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

 

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

 

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;

Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

 

Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart, the kindlier hand;

Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Happy New Year,

Blake

Pastor's Letter

“To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever.  But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.” – Jonah 2:6

I have just returned from a week away.  From Sunday to Wednesday I was up at the Montreat Conference Center, participating in the 40th annual Wee Kirk (“small church”) conference.  I was joined by over 150 other pastors and leaders from all over the country, many of whom have become dear friends and confidantes over the years.  Our theme was “Love Your Neighbor,” and each talk and workshop related to this call from Christ in the gospels.  It was a rich, encouraging time.

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I was especially blessed to learn from Denise Kingdom Grier, a pastor from Holland, Michigan and one of our guest speakers.  Denise shared on the topic of missional engagement and invited us to think about what it means to love our neighbors in our particular church contexts in this particular cultural moment.  Using John 4 as her biblical basis, she invited us to move beyond “outreach” to a deeper model of “embracing.”  If outreach looks like financial charity and impersonal service projects, then embracing involves friendship, patience, and openness to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. 

I was grateful to reflect on the ways that we as a church already embrace so many in our community and beyond, whether by volunteering at the Community Table, participating in events at the Black Mountain Home, building relationships at Life Challenge, or simply gathering together on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights.  We love our neighbors well.  Yet I was also challenged to consider how we can live even more into this vision to which Denise (and Jesus) calls us.  When we are tempted to live like Jonah, sinking down into ourselves, into our own comfort zones, into our own prejudices and rhythms and ruts – how can we let the Lord bring us up out of the pit and into a better kind of embracing and life together? 

We are coming up on a busy season of life both inside and outside our wonderful “wee kirk.”  Leaf-looker traffic may be dying down, but Thanksgiving is soon upon us, and Advent and Christmas are right around the corner.  Amidst holiday preparations, family time, and a full church calendar, let’s take the opportunity to love our neighbors and embrace one another – giving thanks to the One who has first loved and embraced all of us.

Yours in Christ,
Blake

On Trinity Sunday

On Trinity Sunday we proclaim the mystery of our faith in the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, One-in-Three and Three-in-One.

The celebration of Trinity Sunday began among Western Christians in the 10th century and developed slowly until it was formally established on the Sunday after Pentecost by Pope John XXII (1316-1334).

Unfathomable Mystery

An excerpt from The Companion to the Book of Common Worship (Geneva Press, 2003)

Image: Trinity Icon by Rublev

Image: Trinity Icon by Rublev

Unlike other festivals in the church’s liturgical calendar, Trinity Sunday centers on a doctrine of the church, rather than an event. It celebrates the unfathomable mystery of God’s being as Holy Trinity. It is a day of adoration and praise of the one, eternal, incomprehensible God.

Trinity Sunday, in a sense, synthesizes all we have celebrated over the past months which have centered on God’s mighty acts: Christmas-Epiphany celebrating God’s taking flesh and dwelling among us in Jesus Christ; Easter celebrating Christ’s death and resurrection for us; Pentecost celebrating God the Holy Spirit becoming our Sanctifier, Guide, and Teacher. It is, therefore, a fitting transition to that part of the year when Sunday by Sunday the work of God among us is unfolded in a more general way.

The triune God is the basis of all we are and do as Christians. In the name of this triune God we are baptized. As the baptized ones we bear the name of the triune God in our being. We are of the family of the triune God. We affirm this parentage when, in reciting the creeds, we say what we believe. Our discipleship is rooted in the mighty acts of this triune God who is active in redeeming the world. The triune God is the basis of all our prayers — we pray to God the Father, through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit. The Trinity holds central place in our faith. …

In celebrating Trinity Sunday, remember that every Lord’s Day is consecrated to the triune God. On the first day of the week, God began creation. On the first day of the week, God raised Jesus from the grave. On the first day of the week, the Holy Spirit descended on the newly born church. Every Sunday is special. Every Sunday is a day of the Holy Trinity.

- From the Presbyterian Mission Agency, Trinity Sunday

Trinity Sunday by Malcolm Guite

In the Beginning, not in time or space,

But in the quick before both space and time,

In Life, in Love, in co-inherent Grace,

In three in one and one in three, in rhyme,

In music, in the whole creation story,

In His own image, His imagination,

The Triune Poet makes us for His glory,

And makes us each the other’s inspiration.

He calls us out of darkness, chaos, chance,

To improvise a music of our own,

To sing the chord that calls us to the dance,

Three notes resounding from a single tone,

To sing the End in whom we all begin;

Our God beyond, beside us and within.

On Pentecost Sunday

On the Day of Pentecost we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit descending in a mighty rush of wind and flame to inspire the church’s proclamation of Christ’s rising and to empower its mission and ministry to the world. (See Acts 2:1-13; see also Joel 2:28-32.)

The notion of Easter as a season of 50 days ending at Pentecost is patterned after the ancient Jewish festival of seven weeks that extended from the beginning of the barley harvest (on the second day after the beginning of Passover) to the end of the wheat harvest at the Festival of Weeks or Shavuot(see Deuteronomy 16:9-12). The Festival of Weeks later came to be called Pentecost (“50th day”) by Greek speaking Jews. In Jewish tradition, Shavuot also marks the giving of the law to Moses at Sinai; this liturgical link may inform Paul’s discussions of the law and the Spirit (see Romans 8, 2 Corinthians 3 and Galatians 3).

Pentecost is new creation

An excerpt from the Companion to the Book of Common Worship (Geneva Press, 2003):

According to the Day of Pentecost story in Acts 2:1-13, God gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower witnesses to the resurrection. Sounds from heaven, cosmic language, the rush of a mighty ruach (wind, spirit, breath) invaded the house in which the apostles gathered, and appeared to them as a burning fire. Tongues of fire touched their nerve centers. A power — the unseen power of God — moved among them and gripped them. The Holy Spirit is unseen, like the wind, which is why the Old Testament calls it ruach YHWH, “the wind, or breath, of God” (cf. John 3:8). The Spirit is the “unseenness of God” working among us.

According to Joel (2:28-29) the ruach is to open everybody to God’s future. People young and old will dream and will have visions of hope; they will be able to loose themselves from the way things are now, because God is establishing a whole new economy of creation. The Holy Spirit breaks us out of our preoccupation with ourselves and frees us to serve neighbors, loosens our grasp on possessions, and sets us to loving people. New creation is what Joel is talking about. Pentecost is new creation.

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The book of Acts tells the story of the outcome of Pentecost’s new creation: people witness in word and in deed to the risen Christ. At the outset, the newborn church immediately tumbled out into the streets to witness to God’s mighty works in the languages of people all over the world. By the end of the story, a tiny, Spirit-filled community of faith that broke from its present order has spread across the continents with incredible power to bring new things into being. With the gift of the Spirit, all things are possible. …

Therefore, on the Day of Pentecost, we celebrate God’s gift of Holy Spirit which draws us together as one people, helps us to comprehend what God is doing in the world, and empowers us to proclaim, in word and in deed, God’s plan of reconciling all people in the name of Christ (Ephesians 1:10).

Without the gift of the Spirit, Christ’s church dries up and withers away, and we are left with only our broken selves. With the gift of the Spirit, all things are possible. A spirit-filled community of faith opens eyes to needs in the world and sees its missing as God’s new people. The Day of Pentecost is the climax of the Great Fifty Days of Easter, celebrating as it does the gift of the Spirit to the body of Christ — the church.

- From The Presbyterian Mission Agency, Day of Pentecost

Cornerstone Update 5/7/2019

May is here, and we are 95% finished with the new Mary Jay Patten Center! Recent work includes a finished deck and handicap ramp and sidewalk, interior carpet, sinks, and toilets. Next we will install the deck railing, elevator, switch plate and outlet covers, and entry sidewalk. Our hope is for construction to be all wrapped up by the first of June.

Want to help us celebrate? Come to dinner at the church on June 5 at 6:30 p.m., and give online to show your support for the Cornerstone Campaign!

The Parables of Jesus

This past Easter Sunday, I preached on the importance of imagination. I invited us to consider how the resurrection of Jesus was an event in history that transformed the world and that also should transform our imaginations – not in the sense that the empty tomb was imaginary, but in the sense that the empty tomb forces us to see the world in a brand new way. This was the invitation to the disciples, and it’s an invitation to us today, too. Come and see!

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Jesus had actually prepared his disciples to use their imaginations for quite some time. As they walked through Galilee, as they ate in homes, and as they entered Jerusalem, Jesus frequently told stories about his Father and his Father’s kingdom. We call these stories parables. Think of the parable of the Prodigal Son and the parable of the Good Samaritan. These stories were intended to open up the disciples’ imaginations, to make them think and wonder about the deep mysteries of God using language that was familiar and accessible. The parables are some of the most beloved stories in all of Scripture, and Jesus wants to use them to reshape our imaginations today as well.

Starting May 5, I will be preaching through some of the parables from Luke’s gospel. You may have noticed that I skipped these parables as we studied Luke all winter long. That was intentional. Now that we’ve walked with Jesus from Advent to Easter – through his birth, ministry, death, and resurrection – we can circle back to his stories to expand our imaginations this springtime. I hope you’ll join us in this season of ministry as we go further up and further into the God-filled life to which Christ calls us.

Yours,
Blake

Cornerstone Update 4/23/2019

We are nearing the end of construction on our new Mary Jay Patten Activity Center! Recent work has included lights, trim, and refinished hardwood floors on the inside, and steps, corbels, brickwork, and a cross on the outside. Soon we will add carpet and an elevator to the inside, and sidewalks and landscaping to the outside. Stay tuned for more updates, and click here to support this campaign.



On Easter Day

“On Easter Day” by Malcolm Guite

As though some heavy stone were rolled away,

You find an open door where all was closed,

Wide as an empty tomb on Easter Day.

 

Lost in your own dark wood, alone, astray,

You pause, as though some secret were disclosed,

As though some heavy stone were rolled away.

 

You glimpse the sky above you, wan and grey,

Wide through these shadowed branches interposed,

Wide as an empty tomb on Easter Day.

 

Perhaps there’s light enough to find your way,

For now the tangled wood feels less enclosed,

As though some heavy stone were rolled away.

You lift your feet out of the miry clay

And seek the light in which you once reposed,

Wide as an empty tomb on Easter Day.

 

And then Love calls your name, you hear Him say:

“The way is open, death has been deposed,”

As though some heavy stone were rolled away,

And you are free at last on Easter Day.

Good Friday

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Holy Sonnets: “Death, be not proud”
By John Donne

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee 
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; 
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow 
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. 
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, 
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, 
And soonest our best men with thee do go, 
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. 
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, 
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, 
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well 
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? 
One short sleep past, we wake eternally 
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Maundy Thursday

We welcome all to join us for an observance of Maundy Thursday tomorrow at First Presbyterian Church. We will meet at 6:00 p.m. for dinner, followed by the Lord’s Supper, in the Fellowship Hall. After this (probably around 7:00), we will move into the sanctuary for a brief service of worship.

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The name “Maundy Thursday” comes from the Latin mandatum novum, referring to the “new commandment” Jesus taught his disciples (John 13:34).  This is a sacred and a somber time, yet it is not a time without hope, for we know that out of the darkness of the tomb will shine the brilliant light of resurrection on Easter morning.

Click this link to learn more.