Thank you all for such a warm welcome and exciting first Sunday in worship with you.

Our study of Luke 7:11-17 and supporting texts explored the intrusive and radical nature of God and the difference that it makes. God can and will show up uninvited and get involved. No one asked Jesus to come and help the widow of Nain out of her desperate situation. Jesus stopped the funeral and touched the bier – resuscitation and resurrection! Such is the intrusiveness and unpredictability of the grace and love of God.

There are other times where God shows up unannounced and uninvited to bring about change. Paul, the Pharisee formerly known as Saul, found that out! God changed him from persecutor to promulgator of the Gospel.

And in 1 Kings, like the widow of Zaraphath, we can ask (or even demand) God to show up. And he does though in a totally unexpected way. God was in Elijah, whom she had been hiding from Ahab and Jezebel and had been feeding with her meager oil and flour.

These are but a few God-sightings that are in the Bible. These are times when God showed up in an unexpected way, barged right in or made an incredible and improbably change. God is active in our lives and with us every day, loving and working in, with and through us.

“God sightings are moments when you undisputedly know that God is reaching out to you with a message, gesture, instruction or reassurance.” (Mark Daniels, mid-west Lutheran pastor)

At the conclusion of the sermon, I challenged listeners this week to seek out one “God sighting,” think about what difference it made to you or someone else and to tell someone.

So, how’s it going? Seen God yet? Told someone about it? If you haven’t you’re not alone – this isn’t easy. And know that God was, is and will be always here.

It’s important that we practice this vital skill. It is through sharing what God has done, is doing and will do for us that someone may come to know that God is in fact not dead but active and loose in the world. Part of our mission statement is “Grow in Faith.” We grow in our faith when we share our faith. AND one of the top four goals of Holy Trinity is for people to form meaningful relationships. This is a good place to start – by sharing your faith.

Now, a word about faith – it’s an up and down way of life. If we try to measure or assess, sometimes we’re on the top of the world and other times we are down in the valley. There might be days when you feel that all faith has abandoned you. That’s OK! God shows up anyway!

So, if you are really uncomfortable – start small. Share with someone that you trust. If you’re ready for the next step, look for God to open up the door to share your God sighting. He does. Remember, YOU might be the God sighting that someone else is looking for. YOU might be the one through whom God shows up uninvited.

If you need someone to “bounce” off of, you can always email me pastor@holytrinityleesburg.org, text/call 757 615 5752 or friend me on Facebook and IM with me.

Thank you all again for a great first week and a great beginning to our summer journey together!

God’s peace and blessings!
P. Heidi

The Council has approved Pastor Heidi Schakel Moore as our interim pastor for the summer. Pastor Heidi is an energetic, charismatic pastor with more than 15 years pastoral experience. She believes that God works through her as she lives out her baptismal covenant and call to love God, love people, and make disciples. Pastor Heidi will be joining us beginning on June 1, and will be here through the remainder of the summer. 

As most of you know, I love to fly. And as a pilot, I watch the weather closer than many. After the rains of the past couple weeks, I have seriously considered whether or not I ought to start building some sort of a boat. According to the Channel Four, we only have about 23 or 24 days to go before we hit that magical 40-day mark. While I was watching the rain and wishing for blue skies, I thought about what I could write about this month.

Watching what weather God sends and complaining about it does me no good. If I stop and consider, there are always things to do even when it is raining. I can go visit friends, I can help around the house, and I can get to some of those “honey-do” things which are always present. Instead of complaining, let me find a place to put my energy. In all of life, that is a good way to go. I’ve heard it said that when God closes one door, he opens another. So it is with the weather. If it is raining here, perhaps that rain is raising water tables so that our wells will be full. Perhaps the rain will prevent a forest fire, or a field fire, and save uncounted animals and trees. Just while I was wishing for less rain, I am sure that the people of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada were praying for more rain to stop the destruction of their town.

In our Congregation, if you feel that things are not going right, don’t just wish for change. To only wish things are different will probably do you little better than me wishing for the sun to shine. If you want some change, or if you wish that something was different, prayerfully consider it. For sure you will receive an answer. Look around, and if you can help someone or suggest a change for the better and make something better by doing so, do it!

Proverbs 14:30 says that “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”. We could easily change the word “envy” to discontent and not change the idea of the Proverb.  If you are not happy, take steps to get that way! Blessings to you each one.

John Sapienza

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability… So those who welcomed Peter’s message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. Acts 2:1-3, 41

OUTSIDE THE BOX

At the beginning of the Pentecost story the disciples are gathered in the upper room. At the end of the Pentecost story they have moved out of the safe little box of that upper room into the streets of Jerusalem.

We often romanticize the Pentecost story. We imagine the first disciples as super Christians with super powers who never struggled, doubted, or wavered. We say wistfully, “Weren’t those were the good old days?–with a single sermon Peter could convert 3000 people!”

Truthfully, the arrival of Holy Spirit didn’t make life easier for the disciples–it created new challenges. If the Holy Spirit had left them alone, they could have gone back to Galilee, gone back to their lives, their jobs, their families. Instead Holy Spirit’s arrival pushed them outside the box of a conventional life.

The disciples had to manage the growing pains of the young church. They had to deal with money issues, conflict, and the burdens of managing life in community. The Holy Spirit’s coming didn’t eliminate these challenges but it did give the disciples an outside the box purpose that enriched their lives and powered their sense of mission.

The Pentecost story is the story of Holy Trinity as well as the story of the early church. Like those first disciples, we struggle with money issues, conflict and the challenges of managing our common life together. And, like the disciples we have an outside the box purpose, bringing the life-giving love of Jesus Christ, to the community around us.

Can we think outside the box? Can we move outside the box and into the streets? The Holy Spirit says yes. After all, it is the Spirit who brings us to faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy One who proclaims God’s outside the box love for the world. And it is the Spirit who gives us knowledge of the God who thinks outside the box, who raised Jesus from the dead. Lastly, it is the Spirit who gives us the courage and power to break out of the box of our fears and hesitations.

Pentecost is coming and the Spirit says yes! Let’s get out there.

Pastor Margrethe