Our 2019 Haiti Team is gearing up (and by the way, they need the support of our prayers and dollars!)

We’ve sent a team each year since the quake first hit in January 2010. That’s witness to an amazing commitment on the part of many individuals and our congregation as a whole. That long-term commitment changes “mission” into “relationship” and “doing for” into “working with.” It means that we’ve seen kids growing up and facilities we’ve helped build being used. It means seeing that the goats we purchased become the “bank accounts” our Team describes. It means that we are welcomed back by people who know us and look forward to our coming. It means working alongside them again on the projects they have set as their priorities. It means that they have become sisters and brothers, and their families part of our family.

This long-term commitment has changed not only the team members who have gone to Haiti, but our congregation as well. Our boundaries are not Santa Monica or the Westside. This has actually been true of us for a very long time, beginning perhaps with our welcoming of refugees from Vietnam back in the 1960s and 1970s. You may know of other examples as well.

To say “God’s world is our world” is not just about mouthing some words. We know that it’s about living into it, embracing others, learning their names and their stories, seeking their welfare alongside ours. It means holding them in our hearts and making decisions about public policy not just from the mind but from our heart and soul.

Thanks be to God for these gifts of new life and for a family that spans the globe.

I suppose many of us are starting into this new New Year with our very own list of resolutions, mostly having to do with diet, exercise, budget-keeping, and so forth. If so, I wish you well with all of those noble thoughts and with the determination needed to carry them forward well into the year.

At the same time, I want to suggest a more modest approach.

A friend of mine has a pinned a small note card where he’ll see it each day as he heads off to work or other pursuits.  It asks simply: “What good shall I do this day?”

“What good shall I do this day?”

What if we each do the same? Might prove to be more do-able than loftier goals–some days harder than others, to be sure, given how life has a way of unfolding.

Still, my hunch is that the intention alone will create yet another way for the light to get in, and for the light of God to shine through us each and every day.

What good shall I do this day?

May the Year of our Lord 2019 bring peace, hope, joy, and light to one and all.

“In the beginning….God said: Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good…”

God shines light into the darkness of creation, of our world, of our lives and hearts. God shines light to bring forth life, to reveal truth, and to illumine the path of righteousness and peace. And God sees that it is good.

In this beautiful Advent season, may God’s light shine anew in your heart. Through the worship and music of the season, may God’s light shine in your soul.

In fellowship, may God’s light shine in your home.

In opportunities for service and giving, may God’s light shine in your mind.

And, through us, may God’s light shine anew in our world.

My Christmas prayer for each of you is that you will find in this season a renewed sense of God’s love, and healing presence in your life, bringing light and joy to you and yours.

For in Christ is born the fullness of life, and that life is the light of all people. As John’s Gospel proclaims: “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never overcome it.”

May the blessings of Christ, the Light of the World, dawn brightly upon us all.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life…
It makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
(Melodie Beattie)

November is a month-long festival of giving thanks! We begin with our annual remembrance of All Saints Sunday on November 4, grateful for all those who have gone before, that great circle of love that knows no boundaries of time or space.

We are grateful and we give thanks!

We celebrate our annual celebration of mission and ministry which we call our “Charge Conference” on Sunday, November 18. Led by our District Superintendent, Rev. Mark Nakagawa, we will share food and fellowship around our tables as we lift up all the incredible ways we have sought to be faithful disciples of Christ this year. In worship, service, praise, witness and prayer, we, the congregation of First UMC Santa Monica, continue to “Be the Hope” in lives near and far.

We are grateful and we give thanks!

As we have so generously received, we recommit ourselves to giving back, giving to support the mission and ministry of the church in our pledges and gifts. If you’re already pledging, prayerfully consider giving even more generously. If you’re giving regularly, try on the spiritual practice of making an annual pledge. If you’re new to all this—start by setting aside your weekly or monthly gift to the church. We will offer our pledges and gifts on Consecration Sunday, November 25.

We are grateful and we give thanks!

Together, with grateful and generous hearts, in joy and hope, let us rejoice, giving thanks for the past, finding peace for today in a world where no one lives in need or fear, together creating a vision for tomorrow that extends God’s love from our Thanksgiving tables to God’s children the world over.

We are grateful and we give thanks!

“Be the Hope” became our congregation’s unofficial motto after Hurricane Katrina. It’s taken on a life of its own, showing up on banners and on our beautiful lighted sign at the front door of our church campus.

My favorite “Be the Hope” story came to me via Pastor Robert who heard it from a Preschool dad. Seems that it had been a tough morning for dad and son that day. Getting up, clothed, breakfasted, stuff for the day gathered in the backpack…just trying to get out of the house had been especially stressful and nerve-racking that day. Dad was tense as he drove over to school and had been snapping at his son. Just before arriving at the church, the little boy piped up from the backseat: “Be the Hope, Dad!” he said.

I preached a sermon on “Words Matter” a few weeks ago that struck a chord with many of you. I stand by that, but even so, I know how very often what we DO and who we ARE matters even more than what we SAY. St. Francis put it this way: “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”

Being the Hope means witnessing to the Gospel, to God’s Good News for each and every one of us and for the world and creation–in everything we do, everything we stand up for, every act of compassion and kindness. It means putting God’s Hope at the very center of our heart so that it radiates through the person that we are.

On Laity Sunday, October 14th, we’ll hear from several of our members of different ages and life experiences as they reflect on what “Be the Hope” means to them. Let’s all be in prayer with them, asking God to increase our faith, confirm our hope, and mold our lives accordingly.

“Let us hold firmly to the hope we claim to have. The God who promised is faithful.” Heb. 10:23