I once asked the people in a Bible study group at the last church I served to imagine what would happen if we adopted a policy of weed-pulling, if we drew a circle around our North Douglas neighborhood, and made a vow that no evil would cross that line, that no weeds would grow within that border. I said, “You know, you and I could spend the rest of our lives protecting that boundary, standing shoulder to shoulder with pitchforks and clubs, making sure that we kept drugs and alcohol and pornography and gambling safely on the other side. I think it would take all of our energy and most of our time. But what if we did it? What if we succeeded? What would we have? We would have a neighborhood characterized by the absence of evil, which is not the same as a neighborhood characterized by the presence of good. And maybe this is what Jesus was talking about all along, that it’s better to have a wheat field with weeds in it than a field with nothing in it at all.

A pastor/friend of mine inspired a church to begin a ministry to the children of a nearby trailer park. They had to decide what kind of ministry it would be. They could have chosen to root out all the sources of evil in that place-to chase down the drug dealers and the deadbeat dads, to confiscate handguns and arrest child abusers. Instead, they chose to put up a basketball goal, to tell stories from the Bible, to put their arms around little children, and sing songs about Jesus. And two years after they started that ministry, two years of going out there Saturday after Saturday to do those things, the pastor got a note in his box at church with five words on it: “Adrian wants to be baptized.” Adrian. The terror of the trailer park. That little girl who had made their work most difficult during the previous two years. Who would have guessed? Instead of pulling weeds in the field where she lived, they just tried hard to be wheat, and somehow Adrian saw that and fell in
love with it and wanted it for herself. After she was baptized, there was a little more wheat in the field. And because she was there, soon, there was even more.

What ministries can we implement in 2023? As I ask this question, I have heard some really good suggestions. We are exploring the idea of installing a “Blessing Box,” to provide food for the needy in our neighborhood. Someone suggested that we provide a free meal for our neighborhood as a way to reach out not only to those in need, but also to “unchurched” souls. I have spoken to local health departments, who tell me their pregnant teens and poor single mothers need assistance, and I am brainstorming with other organizations and agencies about how we may participate to meet the needs of the community.

I propose that 2023 is the year of ministry for this church. I would love to hear other ideas on how to share God’s love from the many blessings we have received from God. Isn’t this what Jesus
calls us to do?

As always, I invite your comments.
Pastor Cory

At the beginning of a New Year, a high school principal decided to post his teachers’ New Year’s resolutions on the bulletin board. As the teachers gathered around the bulletin board, a great commotion started. One of the teachers was complaining. “Why weren’t my resolutions posted?” She was throwing such a temper tantrum that the principal hurried to his office to see if he had overlooked her resolutions. Sure enough, he had mislaid them on his desk. As he read her resolutions he was astounded. This teacher’s first resolution was not to let little things upset her in the New Year. I don’t know how you are doing on your New Year’s resolutions. I do know something that is more important than resolutions, though. How do you see this New Year? Is it one that you approach with anxiety or anticipation?

What are we afraid of as we look toward 2023? Failure? My friends, let me remind you:

Failure doesn’t mean you’ll never make it.
It does mean you have to do it differently.

Failure doesn’t mean you don’t have it.
It does mean you have to make some deep changes.

Failure doesn’t mean you’ll never succeed.
It does mean it will take longer.

Failure doesn’t mean you’re a fool to try again.
It does mean you have the courage to keep making noble commitments and great resolutions.

Failure doesn’t mean God doesn’t answer prayers.
It does mean that God has a better idea.

How about considering these Christian Resolutions for the New Year:
Like Paul, forget those things which are behind and press forward.
Like David, lift up my eyes to the hills from which my help comes.
Like Abraham, trust my God implicitly.
Like Enoch, walk in daily fellowship with my heavenly Father.
Like Moses, suffer rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time.
Like Job, be patient and faithful in all circumstances.
Like Joseph, turn my back on all evil advances.
Like Gideon, advance even when my friends are few.
Like Andrew, strive to lead my brother to Christ.

As always, I welcome your comments.
Happy New Year,
Pastor Cory

Dear Friends,

I received my undergraduate degree at the University of Central Missouri, in Warrensburg, MO. While I was there, each Christmas we would hear of the generosity of one man in Kansas City. Larry Stewart from 1979-2006 (he died in 2007) became the city’s “Secret Santa.” He was an anonymous giver. He remained anonymous until shortly before he died. He would let reporters go with him when he passed out money as long as they promised not to divulge his identity. Larry would walk into places like diners and laundromats to surprise people he felt needed help.

Every Christmas, this “Secret Santa” sought out people who are down and out, and he quietly slips them an envelope with a crisp, brand new $100 bill slipped inside. The recipients are usually astonished at this unmerited act of generosity. Seeing the reaction of people was so heartwarming. He inspired people with intent.

One year, someone tracked down this “Secret Santa” and asked him, “Why do you do this?” Larry replied how life had blessed him with an extremely successful business venture. But this was not always the case. In 1971 he was an out-of-work salesman who was reduced to living out of his car. One morning he had not eaten for two days. He was incredibly hungry, so hungry that he walked into a diner in Houston, Mississippi to order breakfast with no intent of paying for it. He couldn’t! He had no money, but he was so hungry.

As he hungrily ate his breakfast, he wondered how he was going to pay for this meal, or how he was going to get out of paying for this meal. When the check came, he fumbled around in his pockets pretending to have lost his wallet. The owner of the diner had already sized him up and knew he didn’t have the money.

The owner came around the counter, approached the man, and bent down as if to pick up something. The owner said to the man, “Well, looks like you dropped this $20 bill.” Now the man had enough to pay for breakfast and a little more to keep for the road. He never forgot this totally undeserved act of generosity and goodness. He now gives to others as someone once gave to him.

This Advent season we need to reflect on the entire Christ event. Christ came into the world to save us from the power of sin. The Messiah is coming. Repent and be baptized. Then you will surely see God’s salvation.

I might add, kindness is free. The act of giving is infectious. Be inspired to be a giver to those in need. In doing so, have a Merry Christmas!!

Pastor Cory

The renowned teacher and author Dr. David McLennon tells a story of his very first job in a small-town general store. This was the day before mails and supermarket chains at least it was in his community. At age thirteen he was hired as a handy boy. He would sweep the flour, bag items for customers, put up stock.

On one particular Saturday, he recalled, he heard the owner say to one of the clerks “It’s that time of the year again, it’s time to take inventory.” Dr. McLennon wrote that this was a word that had not yet entered into his vocabulary. When an opportune moment arrived, he went up to the kindly older man and asked, Sir, what is an inventory? Patiently the owner explained that it was a time when you made a list of everything that you had from groceries on the shelves to wrapping paper and string. Still somewhat puzzled, the young McLennon then asked, Why?

“Well,” responded the owner, “it’s easy to forget exactly how much you have each year. Every now and then you have to take an inventory just to see what all you have.”

So often we are apt to complain about the challenges we face or about what we are lacking. What if instead, from time to time, we sat down to list the gifts, blessings and opportunities God has given us. It seems to me that this would be a great exercise especially when we are in a mood to whine or wallow in self-pity.

That little story, to me, pretty well sums up what Thanksgiving is all about. It is a time when each of us needs to ask ourselves the question: Have I taken inventory of my life lately? Have I made an effort to count all the things that I do have in life instead of complaining about the things that I don’t have. It is a good exercise especially when we are of a mind to brood or whine in self pity. Have you taken inventory lately?

What I am suggesting here is not some shallow “count your blessings” platitude. But from time to time, in a genuine kind of a way, we need to sit down and do some talking to ourselves about all of the gifts and opportunities and challenges that God has given each one of us. Perhaps there is a deep underlying wisdom in the children’s poem that says: “Count your blessings one by one, and you might be surprised what the Lord has done.”

It is easy to forget just how much we have. Every now and then, let’s take inventory.

Following is a Newsletter Article I wrote for a class in Clergy Leadership in Health and Wholeness that I took while in Seminary.

Laugh ‘til it Heals

I find it amazing how humor can sustain a people. For centuries the children of Moses have endured such oppression, not the least of which in the form of Christian anti-Semitism. Still, the Jewish jokes about Christians abound. Like this one:

The priest says to the rabbi: “There are three things I can’t stand about you Jews: You wander about in the synagogue, you pray noisily, and your funerals are chaotic.”

The rabbi replies: “We wander about the synagogue because we feel at home there. We pray noisily because Yahweh is old and hard of hearing. And as for funerals, we too prefer the Christian ones.”

To quote a famous comedian, “That’s funny, I don’t care who you are!” I believe the healthiest and happiest people in the world, are the people who laugh; particularly at themselves. Now the medical community endorses what I’ve known for years. The Mayo Clinic and other sources report the many health benefits of laughter.

– Laughter enhances our intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulating your heart, lungs, and muscles.

– Laughter reduces the levels of stress hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, and dopamine, while it increases the number of antibody-producing cells and enhances the effectiveness of T cells, giving us a stronger immune system.

– Have you ever felt like you “have to laugh or I’ll cry”? Have you experienced the cleansed feeling after a good laugh? Laughter provides a physical and emotional release.

– A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs and even works out the shoulders, leaving muscles more relaxed afterward.

– Laughter brings the focus away from anger, guilt, stress and negative emotions in a more beneficial way than other mere distractions.

Where did humor originate? Not with people, angels, or Satan. God created all good things, including good humor. If God didn’t have a sense of humor, we, who are created in His image wouldn’t either. If God didn’t have a sense of humor, I would have a full head of hair. Still not convinced? Think of an aardvark, platypus, or a giraffe. Still not smiling? Go to the primate house at the St. Louis Zoo and look at a baboon’s butt! If any of these images put a smile on your face, can you imagine the roaring laughter in the heavens as God was creating all this?

God laughs at my jokes. No, I don’t believe I’m creative enough or quick enough to surprise God with the punch line. I recall many times, as a young boy, when I couldn’t wait to get home from school to share with my dad this great “new” joke I heard today. He always laughed. Later I realized these “new” jokes I share were older than his dad. His laughter was laughter of joy, because I was so excited to share with him. In the same way God laughs with us, and is filled with joy when I come to Him- even with a joke.

There’s nothing like the laughter of dear friends and family. The Bible often portrays us around the dinner table in God’s coming kingdom. What sound do you hear when friends gather to eat and talk? Laughter! When I go home to visit my parents, aunts and uncles, my three older sisters (I remind them often how old they are), and my nieces and nephews, we eat, we play cards, we share stories of family, and work. We share heart-to-heart, often pausing to pray-all surrounded by laughter. God certainly made us to love and laugh.

“But look at this world,” you might say, “What is there to laugh about?” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that God isn’t crying as well. Jesus wept, Jesus suffered for us, and He suffers with us. But, my friends, if God can suffer, surely God can laugh. Jesus tells us, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” In Heaven, I believe our joy will often erupt in laughter. Luther once said, “If you’re not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.”

My friends, we are Easter people! We worship a God who promised us joy and laughter. We worship a God who recalls His promises and leads His people forth in joy (and laughter). So lighten up. A wise man once said, “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.” O.K. that’s a bad joke. You should laugh anyway. It’s good for you.

Maybe more important for us today is another benefit to laughter. Laughter connects us with others. Laughter is the one contagious thing we should want to catch. If you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you to laugh more, and realize these health benefits as well. So laugh often. lt’s good for us, and it’s a wonderful ministry!

I read a bumper sticker the other day. It read, “God’s original plan for creation was to hang out in a garden with naked vegetarians.” I couldn’t wait to call Dad and share with him all the great “revelations” my seminary education provides. He belly laughed! I think I surprised him this time. God laughed with us.

And all God’s people say, AMEN!

We took an important step yesterday in “stepping up” our Christian hospitality efforts. This is the focus of this writing.

Christian hospitality is an expression of God’s love and living out our call to, “Love our neighbor as ourselves” (Mt 22:39). Christian hospitality is the cycle of both receiving God’s love and giving God’s love. Thinking of it in this way, how hospitable you are has everything to do with how much of God’s love you allow into your heart.

My initial understanding of hospitality was focused on the giving part of the cycle, and the external expressions of giving. I grew up on a farm where most of my aunts and uncles had farms within 5 miles from us. We gathered together at the drop of a hat. We celebrated everyone’s birthday, anniversary etc… When the rural electricity was down, it affected all of us, sometimes for days. What would we do? We all emptied out our freezers and had a giant family barbeque. All of these gatherings centered around family and food. These gatherings are my most treasured times.

As an adult, I hosted many gatherings of family and friends, yet I see now that my focus was on the externals of giving. Hospitality meant preparing my house for large gatherings (and making sure it was perfectly clean), cooking (and stressing over whether my food would taste perfect). Many times I did way more than necessary, to the point of exhaustion and resentment. I love welcoming people, yet I would become overly consumed thinking of every detail. As a result, I exhausted myself and took it out on my family. Frustrated with my family for not helping as much as I needed them to a few hours before a gathering became part of the preparation tradition I am not so proud of.

I hosted a lot of special times yet something was missing for me. All my giving energy was focused on the externals: the food, the table, the clean house. No time was devoted connecting within and allowing God’s love to fuel my giving.

When I began learning about Christian hospitality, I found a whole new way to be hospitable. I grew to see that I needed to begin with myself. I needed to clean my own inner home and learn to be hospitable to Christ within me before being hospitable to anyone else. I had been constantly depleting myself and was not allowing God’s love to fuel my service towards others. As a result, there was always a limit to how much I could give. There was always a point where I became frustrated, resentful, and exhausted and sometimes getting sick. I desperately needed to allow for an inward flow of love to fuel the outward flow of giving.

Allowing for a more hospitable place within my inner home meant becoming better at listening to my limits and setting boundaries with myself and others. Allowing time for quiet reflection and prayer became more of a consistent presence in my life. Caring less about perfection and more about connection put me in a different space when welcoming people. The giving, serving, and welcoming cycle comes from a more loving place within me. I try to focus on connecting with Christ within me so I can be present to Christ in the other.

The more you allow for a hospitable place for Christ within you, the more compassionate and loving you will be with others. As you give much more attention to your inward flow of love, you will find there is more of an outward flow toward others – more love, compassion, and giving – without much effort. More time nurturing your heart translates into more energy for others. You will have a wider container to hold others’ needs.

Reflect & Share

As you reflect on current events in this church, and move forward during this anniversary year, take some time to reflect on your hospitable heart.

What have you noticed about the events and experiences you have gone back to? Are you noticing in-person events can be extra tiring after not experiencing them for so long? Are you being kind to yourself – setting boundaries and being aware of what you need as you get into a busier season?

How are you allowing for a hospitable heart to others? How are you making room in your heart for those you disagree with? How can you extend a helping hand to those who need help this season?

Sorry folks, I’m still stuck on the gospel reading from July 31. The parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21). Several people commented how important my sermon was on that day. I’m gratified
that this sermon spoke to many of you. I, myself struggle with my “stuff.”

Many years ago, missionary Bob Roberts was a guest speaker in a church. In this service he was sharing his burden for hungry children in the Philippines. Afterwards a young boy, about seven years old, came up to him and said, “Jesus spoke to me tonight while you were telling us about the hungry children . . . When you said that for a quarter a day you could feed a child and give him a vitamin, I thought, I’ve got to help. But I didn’t know how I could. That’s when Jesus spoke to me.” The lad extended his hand and said, “This is my shell collection. I believe Jesus wants me to give these shells to help the children.” With those words, he placed the shells in Roberts’ hand. Roberts accepted the shells, but he wondered how they could help hungry children.

A few weeks later, Roberts spoke to another congregation. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the seashells and told about that boy and his desire to feed hungry children. At the end of the service, a man approached Roberts and said, “I would like to purchase those shells for $100!”

Bob Roberts added this comment, “My freckle-faced friend may never know that his sacrificial offering provided 400 meals for Filipino children. He may not have understood how the Lord would use this small gift to feed the hungry, but he knew God wanted him to give what he had…”

Another story is about a man, a friend of mine, who was only twenty-nine years old. He was married, and had three kids. All three kids were under five years of age. He was an attorney in Illinois. One day he woke up with a headache. As the day went on, it got more painful. Then he had difficulty seeing. Then he had difficulty walking. He went to the doctor. The doctor said, “You have a brain tumor that will require special surgery right away. If you survive the surgery, then there could be a critical time of recovery for about a year. If you survive that, then each year after that you can be more assured of a full recovery.” He made it through the surgery. He made it through that first year. Then he had this interview. A reporter asked him, “Have you learned anything through this?” He said, “Your life is on loan.”

That is the message of this parable. The obvious point of the parable, the one that everybody seems to get, is that we can’t take our possessions with us. We are going to leave our possessions behind. “The things you have prepared, whose will they be?” But that is not the main point of the parable. The main point of the parable is that your life is on loan, too. “Fool! This night your soul is required of you.”

God came to the rich man who had to build bigger barns to hold his goods and said, “You fool!” He was foolish, wasn’t he? We all need to learn to live more simply, we need to evaluate our level of giving, and we need to understand that the extent of our giving is the most accurate gauge we have of the authenticity of our faith. Jesus said it best, of course, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Where is your treasure?

Dear Ones,

I have been teaching the catechism for years. While I believe the in the catechism and the foundational documents of our faith, and the truth they bring to us (and I continue to teach them), I have come to understand that what is most important is our relationship with Jesus.

We live in a universe and in a world with huge threats to existence and with sickeningly large social and geopolitical problems. There are meteors hurtling through space, many of which would wipe out life on earth if they struck us. There are dictators harboring or seeking weapons of mass destruction, many of which threaten our survival as a species. In the Middle East but in so many other places, too, there are seemingly intractable hatreds and prejudices between and among various ethnic groups. There are diseases like viruses galloping through continents, threatening to wipe out the millions. Hunger and poverty loom up like a whole mountain range of daunting problems whose heights we don’t know how to scale.

Yet in the midst of all these threats from within and from without, in the face of great sin and evil, faced with maladies that are global in scope, we Christian people swing in with no more than that simplest of all messages: Jesus saves. A Jewish carpenter’s son from halfway around the world and from over 2,000 years ago is the one we hold up as some kind of solution. And not a few folks, some who are with us here today, want to say, “Give me a break!”

To so much of our size-crazed culture, the gospel is too small for the task at hand. In the face of untold millions of starving people, we seem to offer just five loaves and two fish. In the face of trillion-dollar federal and international budgets, we seem to celebrate the widow’s penny going into the collection plate. In the face of hostile terrorists and repressive regimes headed up by the hounds of hell itself, we dispatch lamb-like folks to China and the Sudan and Afghanistan (you name the place) as missionaries witnessing to the Lamb who was slain. None of it seems equal to the task of reaching, much less changing, this sorry and troubled old world. Yet as Mark 4 reminds us, hidden in the midst of all that is a small mystery — hiding the uncontainable glory — of the kingdom of God.

“Jesus is Lord.” This was one of the earliest Christian creeds (see 1 Corinthians 12:3). We can say that, and still shrug our shoulders. How do we get from “Jesus is Lord” to “Jesus is MY Lord?” God has come to save ME! This is good news for ME! That’s what I’m trying to teach our young people (and the rest of you for that matter).

Parents, I need your help!

As always, I would love your comments!

Pastor Cory

Each Sunday of Easter, this year, I have challenged all of you to answer this important question, “So what?” “Jesus Died for me-so what?” “Jesus rose from the grave destroying the power of death-so what?” “We celebrate Jesus’ glorious ascension on Sunday, May 29th (Instead of the traditional Thursday-so what?” “The following Sunday we acknowledge and celebrate the literal birth of Christ’s Church on the day of Pentecost-so what?” These are all transforming events that we seem to shrug off as just another day.

If we are to reach people for Christ, we need people with passion and power. But we also need people with a purpose.

In the late 1800’s, no business matched the financial and political dominance of the railroad. Trains dominated the transportation industry of the United States, moving both people and goods throughout the country.

Then a new discovery came along—the car—and incredibly, the leaders of the railroad industry did not take advantage of their unique position to participate in this transportation development. The automotive revolution was happening all around them, and they did not use their industry dominance to take hold of the opportunity. The railroad barons, like Vanderbilt and Gould did not understand what business they were in. They thought they were in the train business. But they were in fact in the transportation business. Time passed them by, as did opportunity. They couldn’t see what their real purpose was.

If the railroad barons at the turn of the century had understood that they were in the transportation business and not the train business we would all be driving a Gould or a Vanderbilt, and not a Ford.

The same thing happened in the watch and clock industry. The Swiss had dominated time keeping. They controlled 90% of all revenues made in their industry. They made the most precise gears and springs in the world. Their watches and clocks were perfect.

Then something new happened called the Quartz movement—LCD readout. Guess who invented it. A Swiss man. But because it had no gears or knobs or springs it was rejected. They failed to recognize that they were in the business of helping people tell time not making precision gears. They lost their dominance in the industry. They now control 20% of all revenue. The Japanese company, Seiko is the dominant leader.

If Sports Illustrated magazine understood it was in the sports information business, not the publishing business, we would have the Sports Illustrated Channel, not ESPN.

And folks, if we in the UCC, forget that our purpose is making disciples for Jesus Christ we will also become obsolete. If we lose our focus and get distracted by tradition, habit, custom, ritual, routine, we will go the way of the trains, the Swiss, and Sports Illustrated. We must remember our basic identity. We must—whenever, however, wherever—fulfill our basic purpose.

I want to be part of a church whose “soul” purpose is to love God and our neighbor and thus win people to Jesus Christ.

I want to be part of a church that is empowered by the Holy Spirit. A church that is going out into the streets with spiritual power and the authority. The Holy Spirit compels us to go.

As always, I would love your comments. Blessings to you all!

Pastor Cory

Dear Friends in Christ,

There’s a story about the Hall of Famer, Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth had hit 714 home runs during his baseball career and was playing one of his last full major league games. It was the Braves versus the Reds in Cincinnati. But the great Ruth was no longer as agile as he had once been. He fumbled the ball and threw badly, and in one inning alone his errors were responsible for most of the five runs scored by Cincinnati. As the Babe walked off the field after the third out and headed toward the dugout, a crescendo of yelling and booing reached his ears. Just then a boy jumped over the railing onto the playing field. With tears streaming down his face, he threw his arms around the legs of his hero. Ruth didn’t hesitate for one second. He picked up the boy, hugged him, and set him down on his feet, patting his head gently. The noise from the stands came to an abrupt halt. Suddenly there was no more booing. In fact, hush fell over the entire park. In those brief moments, the fans saw two heroes: Ruth, who in spite of his dismal day on the field could still care about a little boy; and the small lad, who cared about the feelings of another human being. Both had melted the hearts of the crowd. (Ted W. Engstrom, The Pursuit of Excellence, 1982, Zondervan Corporation, pp. 66-67.)

I suspect that Ruth did feel defeated at that moment but it was a tender and moving act for him to pick that boy up. I suppose that is what Jesus is trying to get across to us, at times. Life can deal us some pretty difficult blows, many of which we inflict upon ourselves, but if we love Christ, we’ll find a way to shake ’em off and help those around us. And maybe, just maybe, people will notice for once, stop their booing, and hearts will be changed.

A simple ministry of presence is a wonderful thing. Simple touch, a hug, a smile, and understanding nod of the head can be very powerful. We don’t need dramatic, life-changing words or stories to bring the love of Christ to someone.

Who needs a hug today?

Blessings to you all!

Pastor Cory