December 25, 2024

December 25, 2024

by | Dec 30, 2024 | PS from PS

ps from ps
It’s pretty simple today: Joy to the world; the Lord has come!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Still in One Peace,ps



Luke 2 – In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah,[a] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[b]praising God and saying,14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’[c]15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

(ps from ps/pk will be back in mid-January – roughly 39% of the way through Biegner Winter)
December 18, 2024

December 18, 2024

by | Dec 18, 2024 | PS from PS

ps from ps


We are roughly a week away from Christmas, depending on when you are reading this.  And you probably have a ton of things to do and get ready for.

Maybe you had a plan for this week….month…year and it’s about to get sliced up by other circumstances?  Like it did for Joseph.

Maybe you’ll be asked to do some monumental thing this week and you’ll pause…redirect…and realize it’s part of God’s awesome plan?  Like Mary had to do.

Maybe you didn’t have much to do this week outside of the normal vocational routine, but sense you might be called to travel to see something amazing?  Like the shepherds were.

Maybe you thought everything was fine in your house?  It was a little bit dirty and smelly and needed some freshening…and then a whole extra family showed up to stay with you!  Like the animals in the barn had happen.

The players used in God’s new entrance in the world were just regular folks, doing regular things.  And when they realized they were part of God’s redemptive story for the world, it sure changed their week.

Read their story again (at the bottom of the email).  And imagine yourself in it.  Imagine your week this week being in it.  And in doing that, I hope you will see God’s story come alive right here and right now.  In your prep.  In your cleaning.  In your travel.  In your gatherings. In your shopping.  In your wrapping.

They didn’t think they’d be a part of a story of this magnitude.  But they were that week.

And so are we…this week.  

Lord, help me embrace this week as sacred  Amen.
 

Still in One Peace,ps

Luke 2 – In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah,[a] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[b]praising God and saying,14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’[c]15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

December 25, 2024

December 11, 2024

by | Dec 11, 2024 | PS from PS

ps from ps


All is calm.  All is bright.

We’re just a few days away from the Children’s Christmas Pageant this coming Sunday.  

Where these costumes will come alive again.



And they will remind us of an incredible story and promise.  

Now don’t get me wrong.  This will not go perfectly.  Someone will miss a cue.  Someone will fall down.  There’s a chance of tears or a nose being picked.  There will be off key notes and maybe some pushing here or there.  

But as it unfolds and culminates, at some point, we’ll get it.  The beauty of the story will come through.  The promise will be emphasized.  God’s love will be realized.  

And isn’t that a little like life today – not perfect, a few missed cues, some falling down and a few tears.  But the promise is as true today as it was back then and will be this Sunday.  God is with us.  

So break out your costumes.  Bring out your donkey.  Let all the parts and pieces of the story remind you in the imperfections of today of God’s presence love for you.   

Lord, make the story real again today.  Amen.
 

Still in One Peace,
ps
December 18, 2024

November 27, 2024

by | Nov 27, 2024 | PS from PS

ps from ps
“I came not to be served, but to serve.” Jesus, in Mark’s gospel…and Matthew’s….and John’s.  Seems important when three out of four mention it.

We just moved through Christ the King Sunday in the church year.  (I’m sure most of you exchanged Hallmark greeting cards this past weekend to mark it.).  A weekend where we remember that the type of king that Jesus came to be is not our normal paradigm.  To serve and not be served.  

He was different from what they expected.  He brought them more than they could have imagined.  He shattered paradigms and boundaries and reach and heights and depths.  A different kind of king.  We are now invited into a perspective change and wonder what that could look like.

And as we come out of that invitation, culturally, we move into our most wonderful, frantic, crowded, busy, stressful and amazing seasons – Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas.  A time where we spend more.  Do more.  Gather more.  Eat more.  Love more.  Hurt more.  Just….more.  

And I wonder today, how can Jesus invitation to “serve and not be served” shape this season?  How can a faith that invites us to focus on the poor and hungry be held in tension with a life that calls us to shop extravagently ranging from local to Amazon?   How can we hold the tension between the joy of gathering with loved ones and the grief of seeing empty chairs?

The answers today will be different shapes for all of us.  I just know that this coming season brings more opportunities for a lot more things.  I hope you will wonder with me.

Enjoy the blessings of Thanksgiving this week.  Honor the people that are around your table.  Take time to remember and grieve those who aren’t.  I hope and pray that each table and meal you gather around this season will remind you just how blessed by God you are and give you a chance to wonder how to live those blessings out.

Lord, we give thanks for many things and your invitation to wonder what to do about them.  Amen.
 

Still in One Peace,
ps
December 18, 2024

November 13, 2024

by | Nov 14, 2024 | PS from PS

ps from ps
What an interesting couple hours.  Spent some time today walking around the St. Paul’s Eggertsville Campus neighborhood dropping off bags for the Tiger’s Den Food Pantry Thanksgiving drive.  Had some great conversations with new and old neighbors and some St. Paul’s missionaries as well.  

Noticed the changing leaves left in the trees and down on the ground on a beautiful fall WNY day.  Something else stood out to me though as I went from porch to porch.  It didn’t matter weather the house was a ranch or a colonial, had a Bills flag or not, large house and small one….there was one consistency.  

Amazon packages.  

I would guess that at least every other house had an Amazon package on the porch or in the door.  Maybe your neighborhood or porch is the same way.

Made me acutely aware of how much shopping has changed for so many.  

So has church I guess.  As many churches struggle with engagement of their community and church attendance, like many “mom and pop” local stores, they are closing.  And yet at the same time, there is a rise in digital engagement, online worship experiences, spiritually focused social media posts and podcasts over live sermons.  

There is no right or wrong.  There is just change.  

Yesterday, a friend shared with me the official sale of his family’s business, the Amherst Bee.  The in-print news business is shifting and changing as well.

If you let yourself consider all of it, the changes could overwhelm you.  That is, if you forget the constant force, presence and grace of God throughout it all.

That hasn’t changed.  That won’t change.

I wonder if Jesus would order sandals through Amazon?  I wonder if he’d read the Buffalo News on the digital version?

Not sure.  And not sure what other changes are coming next.  

But today, in and amongst all the changes, I loved remembering the constant Force that warmed my face with the chilly breeze on a nice walk around the neighborhood.  God’s presence.  

Throughout all the change.

Lord, that’s for being so constant!  Amen

Still in One Peace
ps