Pastor's Ponderings: Tuesday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 9:23-25 (December 9, 2025)

December 9, 2025:  Tuesday Bible Study on Acts 9:23-25

Good morning, dear friends in Christ. I pray and hope that this season of Advent finds you filled with wonder at the Bethlehem birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is such a good time to take a few deep breaths, to ponder what God has done, and continues to do, in our lives, and in the lives of all people with the birth of His Only Begotten Son. Yesterday I reminded you about the busy schedule for this Sunday morning at church. An all-ages special animated movie offered in two parts over two Sundays, Third Sunday of Advent worship at 10AM, decorating after worship, and bell choir practice after that. This morning our son Jesse brought the tree down from the balcony, set it up, and of course left it to have its branches adjusted. Thanks for your help, Jess. At home we are gradually preparing for Christ's birthday party a little bit each day. Our lawn inflatables are up, and the Christmas tree is also up in the living room. Now we just need to get the ornaments and many other things out in place so we can get finished. Oh yes, my baking must start this week too. First will be Loretta Olson's oatmeal/butter cookies, and then fruit cake cookies which are delicious, mint chip cookies, and peanut m&m cookies too. We will have some of each kind at the church on the 21st for the cookie exchange.

Today's reading in the Acts of the Apostles is noticeably short, just three verses, but as you know, only a few verses in God's Word can feed our faith in powerful ways. Though the time is not specifically spelled out, it is in all likelihood right after Paul's very potent witnessing for those three years that the Jews have finally reached the point where they now know that arguing with Paul, both a Pharisee and a convert to Christianity, is fruitless.  Next comes the answer of the Jews who have tried to stand in the face of Paul's witness for the Risen Christ. They now know that the only way to stop Paul, and his speaking, is to arrange to have him murdered. They become obsessed with catching him and taking his life, but other converts in the community find a way to get Paul out. Like so many ancient cities, Damascus was surrounded by a defensible wall, but after a while, it began to have houses erected on the tops of the wall, and that meant that there was another way for Paul to exit for his journey to Jerusalem,  Just like the woman in the wall of Jericho who helped to lower Hebrew Spies in a basket at night, Paul too, left Damascus in the cover of darkness, and was lowered in a basket by his friends.  When all the city gates were watched so carefully by Paul's enemies, there was only this way for him to leave. This won't be the only time that Paul is forced to leave a city because of the enemies of the Risen Lord, His own people set out to destroy anyone who taught about conversion and belief in Him.

So, what can we get out of this brief passage?

1. Paul has already been battling those who would destroy him for three years. He has the courage of a person of strong faith, perhaps some of the strongest faith of anyone in the New Testament except for Christ Himself. People who meet Paul know that he is now a man of peace who speaks about the Love of God for all people because of the gift of His Son. This is a tremendous change from his earlier life, and it becomes an unbeatable strength for the ministry of joy and hope that Paul presents through his preaching and living.

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3. All of this is the witness to the strength of Paul's life now that he has come to know Jesus and has become confident and certain about Christ's authority and powerful love in his own life. This Christ authority in his life has shown Paul's world that he is authentic as a Christian. Rarely does anyone attack a weak and impotent person but become confident and brave in how you feel and what you think and understand, and your witness is unapproachable by the faulty thinking of those around you, and you will have enemies to seek your demise.  The Church has faced this reality throughout its history. Today, like so many times in our history as faithful citizens of Christ, there are many who say, "We don't need the church."  "We are only interested in power and wealth and making our way to that place as our goal."  "There is no God!"  "You are a fool for thinking that any of this is real!"  As faithful people of God we have heard our own families, our "friends", our co-workers, and many others spout this kind of faithlessness. Stand firm just as Paul did. It was easy for him, and it won't be easy for us, but the reward of faith in Christ is forgiveness of sin, life with God in His Grace, and Salvation. It has never been the easiest thing to do with integrity and love, but with Christ it is indeed possible and even transformative in our lives, and absolutely the RIGHT THING TO DO!

Thanks for being with me this morning.

With Christ's Love, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 9:19-22 (December 8, 2025)

December 8, 2025:  Monday Bible Study on Acts 9:19-22

In this Advent season of the church year may your days be filled with anticipation for the joy which we all know in our lives because of Christ's birthday. It is a remarkably busy time in the life of the church. This coming Sunday we will have worship at 10AM followed by time to decorate the Sanctuary for Christmas. This includes getting the tree ready, filling our electric candles for the tree with new batteries, and placing garlands and more throughout the worship space and Narthex. I hope that you will be able to join us for this annual Advent fellowship opportunity. Bell Choir will rehearse afterward. Before the 10 am service we will share a special animated version of the Nativity of Christ. This will start at 9AM sharp on the big screen in the Sanctuary. I hope that you will be able to join us for this both funny and serious retelling of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. Part one will be this week, and the last part will be on Sunday the 21st. After church on the 21st we will have a Christmas cookie exchange, and of course, Christmas Eve worship will be at 7PM on December 24th.

Today we continue with Acts and the life of the man now called Paul, whose direction for the destruction of the new Christian Cult was filled with determination and power. However, now Paul has a new direction in his life after his transformation on the road to Damascus, and the later restoration of his eyesight. His care by Ananias, and the Word of Christ Himself, have now filled his life with new possibilities and direction as he begins his witness for the Risen Son of God in a city where there were many Jews just waiting for him to arrive and literally destroy that new Christian Church.  Though the new Christians were people of integrity and gentleness, the Jews found them to be a threat, and chose instead to name them as blasphemers, who under Jewish religious law must be tried for heresy. OF course it was not only converted Jews, there were others from other faith traditions who worshiped a bunch of different gods who also came to be converted, especially after they became aware of Paul's own conversion. When the period of conversion had taken place with the aid of Ananias and others, Paul was ready to get out into the community, and where was the first places that he went, to the synagogues in Damascus to present himself as a changes person, no longer ready to condemn the followers of Christ, but having become one himself ready to witness to his fellow Jews from his personal experience with Christ, and his new-found faith in the Messiah, the Son of God.  Just so we all know, Luke's version of Paul's conversion and ministry of witnessing about it is the "Cliff Notes Version”. It probably is a good thing that Luke presents it in such a precise way, because the long version comes from a variety of places and from Paul himself. See: Galatians 1:15-24, and then onto an even more complete story:

1. Paul is converted on the road to Damascus.

2. He preaches in Damascus.

3. He goes away into Arabia (Galatians 1:17)

4. He returns and preaches in Damascus for three years (Galatians 1:18)

5. He goes up to Jerusalem.

6. He escapes from Jerusalem to Caesarea

7. He returns to the area of Syria and Cilicia (Galatians 1:21)

When we put together these two narratives of Paul's conversion and ministry immediately after his conversion, we discover that there are two things which Paul found necessary to do.

1. He immediately bore witness to the Jews in Damascus This was an immense act of moral courage! He was known here in a totally different way, as the enforcer of Jewish Law against heretics. During this time, he also claims no shame in his life for his conversion.

2. He needed space for his conversion in Christ to be pondered and honed. So, he traveled to Arabia to find the quiet that he needed to help that happen, because now before him stretched a new and different life. He looked to God for guidance and comfort as this new life unfolded before him, and he needed strength to take on the challenges that would unfold before him in his new life and ministry for Christ.

How often do we need to do that very same thing as Paul? It is so often difficult in our busy lives to take the time to be with God in prayer and worship. We even find it hard to get to church to receive the living gift of Christ in the bread and wine of Holy Communion, or even to contact the pastor to say, "Can you bring us home communion?"  Though we may often fail to search for God's ways in our lives, we all need to know that God never stops searching for the entries into our hearts and minds. God bless you today and always.

With love in Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 39 (December 4, 2025)

December 4, 2025:  Thursday Bible Study on Psalm 39

May the blessing of this sunny December day fill you with joy in the coming Light of God for all people, His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. A truly short reminder - Gospel Music Sunday this Sunday, Dec. 7. Chili luncheon to follow. Please join us for wonderful worship, the proclamation of the Word of the Lord, good music, and the living presence of Christ in the celebration of Holy Communion, all followed by Fellowship in Christ, and good food!

Today our Psalm is 39. In 38 we dealt with the issues of sin and brokenness. But our Psalm for today is different. In this Psalm we hear David's concerns about his coming death. It must be he has reached that age where is telling himself to curb his mouth, to remain in control when he is amid those who have no faith, and to not fuss at God as David's health appears to be in obvious decline.  We all need to understand that God is the only one who can do anything at all about what we know to be the inevitability of death. Like David, I suspect that when we reach the age of crankiness, our tendency is to act as though we have all the answers to life's questions and certainly in the face of the problems everyone faces. However, honestly, we have no answer to the issues of our death. People die unexpectedly from children, teens, young adults, middle agers, and seniors, and as we look at this, we often see no action which results in unexpected death. Oh yes, it is certainly true that if a person is excessive in the use of alcohol, or prescription or illegal substances, or is a reckless driver with little regard for the laws meant to regulate traffic for safety, or we end up with a deadly illness prognosis, or even when we attain that senior achievement, we all know that death can come at any time, in any situation, or location.  I must admit as I see the age of famous people who are dying at a young age, I wonder what brought their lives to that point. I am not nearly so curious about folks who are my age. After all we know that there is an end coming sooner than we want it to. For myself I sometimes get caught up in how many theological thoughts about God's Word, God's Son, and Salvation that I want to yet say. But like David I pray that I will not fall completely short on what needs to be done before that day comes. David expresses fear in this Psalm that his own words may be offensive to God, and that he may really mess up his chances to move into God's eternal care. This Psalm gives every one of us a shakeup of our daily reality and relationship with God. Obviously, Jesus brings a new dimension to our relationship with God at the time of our death. What David speaks to in Psalm 39 is an awakening call to every one of us. We must always know that faithfulness, gifted by the Holy Spirit to each of us, can , if we do not actively participate in this Holy relationship, find ourselves moving away from the Grace and Love of the LORD of Host, the Father of our Lord Jesus, and as we have heard in other passages, the mouth can certainly be the cause of our biggest problems with the LORD.  It is NEVER our LORD'S desire to have us reject His Love. Our Good News is that God always continues to search for, and to seek, everyone, no matter what you and I may think about any individual to bring Salvation to them.

With Love, Hope, and Joy in Christ, Pastor Kim