Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 38 (November 20, 2025)

November 20, 2025:  Thursday Bible Study on Old Testament of Psalm 38

Blessings, Peace, and staying warm on this November rainy morning my dear friends.

In your prayers, please hold up Vincente who was in a bad car accident as a passenger. He has had several head surgeries since and has more to go at Banner UMC. Pray too for Caesar who suffered first time seizures at work this week, who is hospitalized in an induced coma. Also, pray for Lisa whose tests for cancer can now be completed, and for her wife Kandice as she continues near death in hospice care at home.

Psalm 38 gives us yet another look at how David sees himself in his relationship with YHWH. David spends the early part of this Psalm in confession, singing not only about his many errors, but also letting the listener know that there are many consequences for poor decision making which He sees as YHWH's in-breaking action due to David's stupidity. In the Psalm text it is clear that David, who is likely the author of this song, sees that suffering is linked to sin. You and I know all about that in the lives of people around this earth, and I am always telling my sons that making poor choices will have many consequences, many of which they will be unaware as possibilities for their actions and words, and in David's case they have implications for international relationships, as well as, directly within his own nation state, Israel.  In a more modern interpretation of the Psalm, there is a use of words with which you and I are probably much more familiar in verse 16, " They (my enemies) must not rejoice in relation to me, when my foot faltered, they acted big over me."  However, even in this, what is so amazing is that David's faith is not shattered by the activity of his enemies, at home, or in other nations. This is so because David's faith would seem to be unshakable. He always trusts that eventually, when the time is right, YHWH will respond on his behalf, to protect him and save him from all who would harm him. The reality of this is that David understands that God is God, and though you ask, His response will be in His time, in His way, and will always come!

I think that today we forget this too often. I know that through our prayer chain many prayers are answered in ways that we feel are really timely and good, but we must never stop being aware that God is God. He tells Moses that He is to be called I Am. What this means, is that sometimes God answers in ways that we may not understand or even want. YHWH's action will always be perfect for the movement of His plan for all of creation, including the day to day lives of His faithful children. In this Psalm I think David gets it! We should too! David's strong faith takes care of him in the toughest of times, and he knows that God is coming to save him from himself, and others too.

Thanks for being with me today. Next week we will have our Monday and Tuesday studies on the Acts of the Apostles, but there will no Psalm study due to the national holiday Thanksgiving. Please come and join us as we celebrate Christ the King this coming Sunday. The bells will ring as part of our thanks and praise for Christ's kingship in our lives.

In Christ's love, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Tuesday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 8:14-25 (November 18, 2025)

November 18, 2025:  Tuesday Bible Study on Acts 8:14-25

Blessings and Peace to you on this Tuesday morning. Yesterday's study did not happen as I continued to recover from an illness over the weekend, including Sunday, and I spent much of yesterday sleeping. I want to thank you for your prayers. Please pray for Lisa who is having testing and surgery for a possible pre-cancer condition, or for an existing cancer, that the surgery results will be good. Continue your prayers for Teri also, as she continues her long recovery from her major hip replacement surgery. It was a new type of replacement that needed much more extensive surgery. Give thanks for Teri's progress so far. This coming Sunday is the last Sunday of the Church Year. We will celebrate Christ's Kingship in all creation and prepare to begin the Church Year season of Advent on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. What really happens in the transition at the end of the Church Year, is that we move to a new set of Gospel passages which we have not used for the last two years. Starting with Advent 1, we will be in lectionary series A. If you haven't been able to get to church regularly, Advent is a great time to get started again. Please take that into consideration as you deal with your personal schedule on Sundays. Bell choir will be playing a new festival piece this Sunday for Christ the King. Your presence at worship is important for your relationship with Christ. So please get started once again and become a person whose life is fed with Grace, Forgiveness, and the certain Promise of Eternal Life. The comfort, courage, and this peace of Christ's is an amazing gift for our everyday lives.

Today we are continuing in chapter 8 of the Acts. Luke, who is the likely author of the Acts of the Apostles, helps us to see how the Life of the Gospel story was spread throughout Judea, and as our passage today shows, its close neighbor to the north, Samaria. This is an amazing reality and meant to inform the whole of we who are faithful, that there are, and will be, unexpected successes when we speak of our own faith, and the power of God's Love for His people and His creation.  But as we might suspect, there were also problems with those who felt the gift of Grace that the Apostles and witnesses brought could be bought, rather than the conferring of the Holy Spirit that came to that changed heart and mind that had responded to the Good News about Jesus Christ that was being proclaimed in, and around, the towns and village of Samaria.  There is one issue about which I would like to speak with you. The disciples felt that people claiming their belief in Jesus as the Savior, was not enough. They looked for outward signs like speaking in tongues. However, Scripture makes it noticeably clear that it is only by the presence of the Spirit that belief can exist. So, the people who heard the witnesses and came to believe, were indeed moved by the Holy Spirit of Christ, and the Baptism and laying on of hands and signs which the disciples saw as so necessary, were more importantly, the outward sign of that inward conversion.  I think that we would be naive to think that Baptism can occur in only one way, though certainly the most common which we saw many times in the letters of Paul, and which were initiated at least in its form from the ritual washing that John the Baptist did in the Jordan River for the confession of Sin.  In Christ, coming to be Baptized by the Spirit's encouragement and gift of faith, or converted by the Spirit in heart and mind, all brought new believers into the community of the faithful in the new church. However, what could not happen was a person buying their way into the community. It could only happen by the Spirit's gift of belief. Throughout the history of the Church, there have been uber rich and powerful people who have felt that they have a right to be a part of the Community of Christ in the world, but unlike those who entered by the Spirit's action in life, those hearts and minds were really only trying to manipulate their way into the good graces of God's Son, rather than to confess and atone for their brokenness, escaping having to do any of that because of the money they had paid.  Giving must always be a gift of thanksgiving for all that Christ has done for us. He is the one who paid the price for sin, and though some try, no one can cover the price by anything that they can do. We are saved by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ alone! The Simons of this world are still trying to escape conversion and change of heart, so that they may continue to live in their sinfulness without worry. In fact, the name Simon has evolved a new word which is not particularly good. Simony is the illicit buying of ecclesiastical offices!

Thanks for being with me today. May God hold us in His Care.

With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 37:21-40 (November 13, 2025)

November 13, 2025:  Thursday Bible Study on Old Testament of Psalm 37:21-40

May the Lord's Grace shine in, with, and around you in the coming time of national thanksgiving, and in the new Church Year as we renew our awe and wonder at the birth of God's Son, Our Savior Jesus Christ this Advent and Christmas.

I am happy to be with you this morning after my morning drive to take James and Jared to their downtown school. Downtown is a traffic mess because of the concerts this weekend. Stone is closed, Pennington is closed, Church is closed, so Jared was a bit tardy this morning with all the detours to get to his school. Then there was the 5-car accident on eastbound Golf Links, so that meant a detour coming home after I got gas at Costco. But I am finally home now. I had a very good appointment with my cardiologist yesterday morning. He is a Russian Immigrant with a young family, and all are citizens now. He is a very nice person to have as a doctor. I thank God for every one of my three doctors. They are all wonderful. Please keep Anna in your prayers on the unexpected death of her husband this past week. Pray for the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to sustain her in this time of grief. Our member Kandice is hanging on in Hawaii. She is terminal, and in hospice care, but she and Lisa celebrated 20 years together this past week. May God hold them both in His care in the days and weeks ahead.

Our Psalm for today is 37:21-40. I am certain that every one of us can think of some circumstances which this Psalm claims, that did not come out the way of goodness and provision for the people of faith. But there is more to this than thinking in that way. So, let’s take a list of the things which God brings to the faithful of heart, mind, and body, both in their words and their deeds.

1. People of faith, through God's love for them, become gracious and giving.

2. The faithful will enter into possession of the country. Note that it does not say possession of their own country. Perhaps this means God's country, Heaven?

3. The faithful journey in their lives with certainty and confidence.

4. If the faithful fall, they will be cared for by God.

5. God will not abandon the faithful ones, nor will their children hunger. Is this about physical comfort, or is this Spiritual hunger?

6. God's watching over the faithful ones is an eternal and Holy activity.

7. Faithful people speak with the integrity of God's Word.

8. These people of faith will be people of peace!

9. The LORD is the stronghold of people of faith!

All these characteristics for people of faith are a part of this Psalm and the ones on either side of it, and it carries with it the blessings of Psalm 1, and it also speaks harshly of those who are faithless. So, is this David having witnessed all these things into his old age, or is there more here? The 3rd verse of Psalm 37 is used in the celebration of the Passover at its meal, when the host, along others present, repeat, "Trust in the LORD and do good". This statement is more about what should be than what is often the case in our sinful world. After all, how do we manage our anger, frustration, and fear? We often strike out rather than turning to our faith and the promises of God, even the promises that are ours through Jesus Himself! This entire Psalm is all about how God cares for His people, in all kinds of situations. And, as difficult as it might seem, how the LORD judges those who are unfaithful as they live this gift of life in God's creation.

May our faith open our hearts to God's daily provision for all of us, and may the Spirit give us all the faith that our lives need.

With Christ's Love, Pastor Kim