This is the report on the PbYukon FB page and on the Yukon Presbyterians for Earthcare page.  I reprint it here for those who do not have FB.

On Monday, someone reported a severe incidence of racism at First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage in a FB post. This posting tapped into a huge reservoir of hurt that is still present in the Indigenous communities of the world (not just Alaska) and we have been hearing from them and from their allies. The hurt is present because racism is real and continues to damage individuals and whole classes of peoples.

Unfortunately, the post that triggered all of this was based on a misunderstanding. Yes, things should have been handled differently. However, because of the misunderstanding, what was originally reported is not what happened. Many of us have therefore been at work this week to seek a proper response.

This week the First Presbyterian Church and the Anchor Presbyterian Church leaders have joined with one of the women who was named in the original posting, and with one of the women who posted the inaccurate report on FB. We have been at work to put together a joint statement on what happened. About an hour ago, we finished with a statement we could all endorse. I have printed it for you, below. It was put out on FB by one of the same people who put out the original statement. When she put out the original statement, she thought it was true. She is happy to put out the correction.

Part of what this has been about is the very real depth of hurt that is out there. One of the remaining questions for us is how to continue this ministry of ending racism, and working for healing. This is obviously a burning ministry need in our state, and I hope we will continue to find ways to address it together. I am happy to report that all who have been working on this together have discovered that we are allies in this effort, even though we started off somewhat distrustful of each other.

I suspect that it will take some time for word to get out about what really happened, and our desire to continue to work on this ministry. Many have been planning to come to the church tomorrow to stand against racism and for including everyone. I suspect that many will still come, not knowing about our efforts together this week, and our joint statement. Please continue to pray for all of us as we continue in this ministry.

  Joint Statement

The Facebook posting which led people to believe that the First Presbyterian Church of Anchorage engages in discrimination against Alaskan Natives, or people of any other nationality or ethnicity, needs to be corrected.  It was a misunderstanding.  On Thursday, the mother in the account described, below, along with two of her friends, met with church leaders from the First Presbyterian Church of Anchorage and the Anchor Presbyterian Church.  This statement comes from them.

The First Presbyterian Church of Anchorage includes people of many races, including Alaska Natives, as members.  It also has been helping to start a new church in Anchorage, the Anchor Presbyterian Church.  Anchor Presbyterian was formed to provide Native food and fellowship to people who are looking for it, and especially to those who come from villages for medical or other services.   Both First Presbyterian and Anchor Presbyterian churches have worship services at 11:00 a.m.—on opposite sides of the same building.

Last Sunday an Alaskan Native woman and her daughter, who regularly attend Anchor Presbyterian Church, arranged to meet the mother's adult son at church.  However, the mother forgot to tell him that she attends Anchor Presbyterian.  Her son went to the First Presbyterian Church.  After not finding the son at Anchor Pres, the mother and daughter went to First Pres to look for him.  A female member of First Presbyterian happened to be outside the sanctuary.  The mother was dressed in her Native regalia, and the woman outside the sanctuary assumed she was looking for the Anchor Presbyterian Church.  She told her, “The Native church is down that way.”  The mother explained that she had just come from there and was looking for her son.  She asked if they could peek in and check.  The First Pres member said the worship service was almost over, if they wanted to wait.

Although this member of First Presbyterian Church intended to be helpful, her description of Anchor Presbyterian Church could have been better. She also should have let the mother and daughter into the service immediately so that they could have searched for the young man.  First Presbyterian Church of Anchorage truly wishes to encourage effective ministry and fellowship among all peoples.  Everyone is welcome. 

 

04 27 12 New Lessons Are Sometimes Old Lessons

                                                       Gambell Presbyterian Church

I continue to ponder last month’s “New Beginnings” event in the village of Gambell, Alaska.  Without doubt the whole event was good news, because proclaiming the truth through that event allowed light to shine into a darkness we Presbyterians had helped create.  Bringing light into darkness is always a good thing.  The sad thing in this case was that the bringing of the light was necessary at all.

One of the reasons I say this is because part of what we learned was not so much a new lesson as relearning of a very old lesson.  Nearly five hundred years ago Martin Luther, the famed reformer of the Church, complained about those Christians whose arrogance caused them to believe their theological insights were so pure that they did not need to dialogue with others about them.  He called that kind of self-righteous theology the “theology of glory,” as if certain Christians were standing in glory with God and shared God’s sovereign ability to judge others without question.   Martin Luther was complaining about the Roman Catholic hierarchy covering over distorted theology and the abusive ministerial practices that resulted (an example for those who are interested is the selling of indulgences—look up “Indulgence” in Wikipedia if you don’t know what that is).  It is sad that something like that also happened in Alaska.

Indeed, across Alaska, and in Gambell, certain missionaries branded much rather innocent behavior, like Native drumming and dancing, as “pagan” without really understanding what they were talking about.  Similarly, both church and government demonstrated a rather self-righteously arrogant faith when they came to the conclusion that assimilating indigenous people into western culture would be doing them a kindness--something they obviously decided without asking the indigenous people, themselves. [1]

---

[1] R. Pierce Beaver. Church, State and the American Indians: two and a half centuries of partnership in missions between Protestant churches and government. Concordia Publishing House, 1966.

 According to Luther, such arrogance reflects a theology of glory, which calls good things (Native culture) bad and bad things (assimilation) good without real understanding.

For me, on the other hand, one of the great joys of living many years as a Presbyterian in Alaska has been to witness the very different view that has become prevalent in our current ministry.   Alaskan Presbyterians have come to value the cultural diversity that is present in the church.  When viewing matters of faith and life, we have come to understand that traditional values and ways have much to teach all of us, and not just those living in the more remote parts of the state.  Worship in village life should look different, and does look different, than in the more urban areas. Differences in language are important, too, because the thought patterns embedded in each language shape much of a people's worldview. In our presbytery we have learned that bringing together Christians of different languages and cultures, and working together for ministry, brings greater wisdom and greater awareness of the God's possibilities to our ministry.  Since the "New Beginnings" event in Gambell, I also believe that such work requires an intentional humility, so as not to insist that one worldview or perspective should dominate.

This fits with the 500-year-old teaching of Martin Luther.  According to Martin Luther the antidote to a theology of glory is the theology of the cross.  In the cross of Jesus we know that God was present in Jesus Christ, joining with us in the brokenness of sin and mortality.  God recognizes full well that human beings are always being subjected to sin and death, and therefore are not capable of the perfect understanding implied by a theology of glory.  Yet, in Jesus Christ, God joined with us anyway.  Indeed, Jesus humbled himself and was put to death on a cross by the self-righteously arrogant religious people of his own day.  In that death, God opened the way for usto have communion with God, the Spirit revealed the truth Jesus was standing for, and Jesus showed us the proper way of discipleship.

It is my sincere hope that we will hold up that lesson of humble faith as we move forward from the “New Beginnings” event in Gambell.  Self-righteousness is always a temptation.  But a good antidote is to embrace dialogue—diverse Christian people joining their voices in dialogue together and listening to one another with respect—all the while staying focused on Christ Jesus.

A New Beginning in Gambell

On March 10, 2012 the school gymnasium in the village of Gambell AK was packed and the predominant mood was definitely joy. Two years of careful planning had culminated in a two-day event, and the two-day event had culminated in this huge celebration. Such heart-felt celebration was especially wonderful, given that the purpose of the event was for the Presbyterian Church to admit mistakes it had made in the past, and to seek a new way forward in its partnership with the community. In fact, the theme the community leaders chose for the event was A New Beginning.

The Presbyterian delegation traveled from across the presbytery to participate, and one even traveled from the Lower 48. Since Gambell, a village of 700 people, is located on St. Lawrence Island, just 36 miles from the coast of Siberia, the travel was significant. Their purpose was to offer an apology and "seek reconciliation" for past cultural abuses. The abuses included such things as attempting to stamp out traditional dancing and drumming, and restricting the use of the Native Language. These practices had been part of a decades-long assimilation campaign that began more than a century ago.

In the early decades of the 20^th century the government and the church believed that the assimilation of Native peoples into western society was the best goal for education. As the decades passed, it became clear that assimilation practices hurt people, bringing many to feel shame for their own heritage and culture. Such shame brought division, confusion and pain within families and within the community.

The importance of engaging in a meaningful reconciliation now became apparent when the session of the Gambell Presbyterian Church and the Aywaan Parish sent a formal request to the Presbytery of Yukon. The request noted that there was a lingering barrier left over from the early days of the school, which had been operated by the church until the 1940s. The last students from the Presbyterian schools were now the clan elders, who were becoming quite elderly. The time for reconciliation had clearly come.

The purpose of the event was to open the way for the healing of emotional and spiritual wounds within the community. Care was taken to test the wisdom of holding such an event. Clan elders, corporation leadership, city government and village leaders were all consulted. Finally, the decision was made to proceed.

Speakers for the event included former Gambell Mayor Edna Apatiki, Fr. Michael Oleksa, and Dorothy Bekoalak,. Apatiki, a life-long resident and educator in Gambell, spoke of the experience of assimilation from the villagers’ point of view. She spoke of the great respect many held for some of the missionaries, but also of the shame and pain that an attitude of assimilation brought to the people. This pain continues to contribute to many of the more difficult issues of village life—issues such as substance abuse, domestic violence and suicide.

Fr. Oleksa a recognized cross-cultural educator in Alaska, taught that teachers and religious leaders were motivated by good intentions, but also held a false belief that assimilation was a good thing. Previous polices had included extermination and removal, both of which were disastrous to the Native peoples of America. Assimilation seemed a kinder and more enlightened approach. Since then, however, it has become apparent just how damaging it can be to consistently denigrate a people’s culture. Oleksa called on the Gambell people to recognize that healing is available, and to raise-up young people for training as their own teachers, preachers and community leaders.

Dorothy Bekoalak, teacher on the healing of historical trauma, reminded the people of Gambell of the immense amount of grief contained in their own history. She then described the need for the people to recognize the way that grief had been passed from generation to generation without providing a way for the community to process what had happened. She called on the community to enter into a season of healing. Bekoalak thanked the missionaries for bringing the gift of the gospel, but pointed out that along with the gospel they brought individual and communal pain.

The Presbyterian delegation was then offered a chance to speak. Participants from the Presbytery of Yukon include Elder Lee Jordan, Moderator of the Presbytery; Rev. Henry Woodall, Leadership Team Moderator; Rev. Curt Karns, Executive Presbyter; Rev. Mary Ann Warden, Native American Consulting Committee Moderator; Elder Clayton Antioquia from the General Assembly Mission Council of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and Elder Marjorie Poggas from Gambell Presbyterian Church’s Sister Church, Jewel Lake Parish in Anchorage.

The Rev. Henry Woodall was the first to speak. Woodall described the biblical guidance on the nature of the repentance and reconciliation God requires of Christians. Representing the national church, Clay Antioquia spoke next. The old Board of National Missions recruited, trained and gave oversight to the missionaries on the island. Rev. Mary Ann Warden set the spiritual tone, bringing hymns, prayers and scripture readings to the event. The Rev. Curt Karns spoke last. Picking up on the Scripture that Rev. Warden had offered, Karns pointed to 2 Cor. 4:7, which tells us that we bring God’s treasure in clay jars. He asked the people of Gambell not to confuse the treasure of the gospel with the clay. Significant mistakes were clearly made, and the residue of those mistakes needs to be recognized and cleared away.

At the end of the conference, Presbytery Moderator Lee Jordan formally requested forgiveness on behalf of the Presbytery of Yukon. Much of the Gambell community turned out for this portion of the A New Beginning event. As the clan elders and community leaders each came forward to receive the apology and offer forgiveness, elders Jordan and Poggas presented each with a framed copy of the apology, and a crocheted cross that included the color purple for penance.

The evening then turned into a joyful celebration offered in the form the traditional drumming and dance that was once condemned by the missionaries. The gymnasium floor was crowed with the dancers. All the members of the delegation from the Presbyterian Church joined whole-heartedly in the dance.

After the event some of the Gambell church members reflected on what had transpired. Elder Beulah Nowpokahok said that the teaching was tremendously helpful. As an example she pointed to Fr. Oleksa’s reminder that Yupik people have always believed that the animals actually choose to sustain human life by offering their bodies to humans as food. Fr. Oleksa suggested that the connection to the gospel of Jesus Christ seems very clear. Christ also offered his body for our salvation, and it is his sacrifice in the body that we remember whenever we celebrate Holy Communion.

Lucy Apatiki, Commissioned Ruling Elder at the church reported that some spiritual barrier appears to have been breached. She reported a new sense of freedom in the community, and that people appear to

be filled with new energy and enthusiasm when they participate in cultural activities. Apatiki said this new freedom was already evident on the last night of the New Beginnings event. At the atuq, the gathering for the traditional drumming and dance, more people, and especially more men, participated than in long memory. Indeed, so many men participated in the drumming that they had to sit in two rows to accommodate so many—even in the school gymnasium.

Picture 1: Alaska Map, with Gambell in red.

Picture 2: From Left: Fr. Oleksa, Lee Jordan, Clay Antioquia, Marjorie Poggas, Mary Ann Warden, and Henry Woodall.

Picture 3: Drummers and Dancers

Picture 4: Grandmother and Granddaughter dance

Lenten Message From Gradye Parsons and Linda Valentine

Our journey through Lent

To the pastors and congregations of the

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),

Grace and peace to you in the name of our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As followers of Christ, our journey through Lent has begun. Originally a time of instruction and preparation for baptism of those who were new to the Christian faith, we know it as a season for reflection and rededication of one's faith in preparation for Jesus' crucifixion, death, and resurrection on Easter morning.

In commenting on the Lenten journey, Gradye Parsons writes, "The journey through Lent often involves a series of paths that require us to pass through a gate so that we can continue moving forward in faith" (Open to Me the Gates, Witherspoon Press, 2012). He continues by pointing out how the gate in an ancient city was a great "equalizer"-regardless of one's position in life, it was necessary to pass through the gate to tend to daily tasks or business. It was also a place where people gathered for various reasons.

The other journey we are on at present is the one leading to the 220th General Assembly in Pittsburgh this summer (June 29-July 7). In a way, the process that church councils are using to overture the assembly is a great equalizer-every ruling elder who comes to the session table, and every ruling and teaching elder who gathers as a commissioner for a presbytery meeting, are equal to one another in their discernment and decision-making as a council. The same will be true of the ruling and teaching elders that are elected by presbyteries to be commissioners at the General Assembly itself. As the apostle Paul wrote, "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' ... Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (1 Cor. 12:21, 27).

It is easy to find divisions near home and far away on the other side of the globe. Unfortunately, when we focus on divisions, we miss those things we share in common with all of God's children.

The good news is that the church is God's gift to us as a place where we can gather and be together, sharing our humanity, our joys and concerns, and our frailties and strengths. It is where we are offered and receive forgiveness. It is where we all are surprised by grace. Thanks be to God!

May our common witness to our unity in Christ deepen throughout our Lenten journey and our journey toward Pittsburgh.

Faithfully yours,

Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly

Linda Valentine, Executive Director of the General Assembly Mission Council

Challenge to Congregations

The Massachusetts UCC has a great program called Green Congregations. There are three levels of action in their version of the Lenten Carbon Fast, allowing congregations to be challenged as beginners, intermediate or advanced Green Care Congregations. The action items for their Carbon Fast are in a handy PDF download. You can find it half way down the page on their Green Congregations web site. The link for it is here.
http://www.macucc.org/pages/detail/2470

Reformed Faith

One of the great drawbacks of modern media has been the development of soundbites. Too often our news comes to us in memorable quotes. Indeed, I have to admit that I have worked on my ability to give interviewers soundbites, so that some of what I am saying may actually make it into the story they are covering. If that is how they work, then I need to be wise enough to make sure they get something they will consider using that I actually want them to use.

One of the problems with all of this is that we seem willing to believe that our personal stance as religious or political people should be defined by soundbites. In public poles, too many people report that Christian public ethics are restricted to abortion, and same-sex relationships. In public opinion, we Christians seem to have been relegated to a sound bite.

The Reformed Faith, however, has always been a holistic faith. By that I mean that we understand full well that God's sovereignty is over all things, and that we therefore live out our faith ways that address all of life, in all of its complexity.

For this reason, I was particularly happy to see this article by Lisa Sharon Harper describing why Christian faith looks different among different Christians, and how important it is that we take care in denying the validity of another person's Christian faith, just because we disagree with some of their politics. To read the article, go to this web site: http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2012/03/01/black-evangelicals-white-evangelicals-and-franklin-grahams-repentance

Remembering the Source of Our Confidence

Feb 2012 Meeting of PbYukon, Communion Service

Intro: It should have been Pollyanna!

I came home recently from work trip away from Anchorage. In some ways, travel brings on a different kind of tired than other work, so I was ready for a break; and my wife, Cindee, who teaches and is involved in a million other things, was tired, too. So we decided to go see three movies together.

Now, obviously we weren’t thinking. Brain researchers tell us that what we pay attention to over time affects our brain. If we are constantly paying attention to things that stress us out, then our brains start to get stuck in a Stress-loop. Our attitude gets a little itchy, and we aren’t as much fund to be around. Our bodies start to build blood pressure, and we start to forget how to be happy.

For that reason, they often tell us that we need to be careful what we are talking about all the time, or reading, or watching on TV. In fact one of the researchers suggested that people ought to by a copy of that old 1960 movie, Pollyanna. In that one a very positive girl comes to a really bitter town, but her unshakable positive attitude and encouragement hits everyone, and turns the whole town around. He believed that thinking this way would really be good for everyone!

I was not thinking of this at the time, when I returned from my trip away. I just thought we ought to enjoy our evenings together over the weekend. So, for the first night we saw Sea Change—a documentary about how the oceans are absorbing so much of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that the oceans are turning acidic—sort of like coca-cola—and the corals are dying, and the little mollusks that feed baby salmon and cod are next.

The next night we saw Margin Call—supposed to be a fiction movie this time, but it showed the ethical dilemmas that the investers were facing about the time that the markets crashed in 2008. It about made me sick to see the kinds of cruel, cutthroat business that was being practiced.

So the next night we went to see On the Ice. This really is a good movie, made by Iñupiaq people, set in Barrow and about the troubles that drugs bring to friendship and to communities. The movie is wonderfully done—but it is R-rated, and it doesn’t sugar-coat the tragedies that drugs can bring, and you can’t help but care about the people caught up in all that trouble.

I was about ready to go home and buy Pollyanna just to remind myself that it is possible to write a story with a happy ending.

Our Scripture passages today are something like that. Psalm 39 is the recommended evening psalm for today from the daily devotion lectionary. I love that Psalm…but really, what a downer! Yet, there have been times when I kept silent, but the silence burned in me. Have you ever done that. I relate to the Psalmist, who then found he couldn’t stand the silence any more and cried out to God. Yet, when he cries out, he is crying out his anguish…his shame…and his wondering if his short life will accomplish anything of value at all!

Yet, he turns all this pain to God—who is the right one to go to with such deep, deep need.

The Philippians reading was the verse chosen by the Presbytery Leadership Team as the theme for our presbytery meeting. Now, this one must be the Pollyanna Scripture. Paul says he always prays with joy over them (uh-huh!), and he always prays that their love may abound more and more in knowledge, in depth and in insight. Further, he prays with absolute confidence that it is all going to work out.

Fascinating! What a happy ending kind of guy.

Well, I do think the brain researchers are on to something. What we focus on does affect how we think and how we respond to the world—whether the world is bringing us adversity or if we are feeling a moment of great privilege. We can focus ourselves on God’s goodness, and power and great possibility and let this guide us, or not.

But it really isn’t that simple. Scriptures point us to different moments in life—the adversity moments and the joy moments—because life has a whole lot of experiences in it.

Lately, our denomination and our presbytery has been more in the adversity camp than the fun side of life. Indeed, the world is changing rapidly, but the financial, political and social spheres are truly strained. If people are to have confidence, they very much need the gospel, because the need Jesus Christ. Paul has confidence, he says, that the One who began the good work—that is, God—is fully capable of bringing them through it all.

It is not because the people of Philippi had good enough training; or because they have such a wise pastor; or because they live in easy times—Paul writes to them about his suffering in chains!!! They did not live in easy times as Christians.

No Paul is confident because he knows God.

Interestingly, an Episcopalian Christian, who is a sociologist, did a study a while back about how Christians talk about God in their lives. I find it fascinating that the confidence that Christians have still takes different shapes, depending on what part of the faith stirs their passions the most deeply. Now, I am of the opinion that all of these methods of telling the story are deeply important. But you normally find that Christians flock together in congregations that look at God similarly. The whole church, however, needs to hear from everyone if they are not to get caught up in too much Pollyanna Christianity, or maybe too much Rambo warriors for Christ Christianity. Let me show you what I mean.

The first group tells their story in such a way that the human hero (not God in this case) is the one who is steadfast, obedient to God, and faithful. Great way to look at Christian discipleship, isn’t it? These folks are well aware that sin is pervasive in the world, and that God’s holiness is beyond human capability. If we are to be faithful, we must be obedient to the Bible and to the accepted teachings of the church. Enduring faithfulness is the moral. I love this type of Christian!

The second group would never say anything against the first group, or at least not really. But they tell their story as an adventure story of good versus evil. This group is well aware that we fight not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities. They are also aware that God’s holiness and power are beyond human grasp. But they are also aware that God can and does give spiritual gifts to the faithful, for them to use in the spiritual battle. For this group, the human ability is not as hindered by sin, because God empowers them to go beyond themselves. Their story is not about enduring faithfully, but about going forth for Christ. I love this kind of Christian, too!

The third group is aware that human thinking is too narrow and limited to see the deeper truths that God knows, but they are also more aware that the Holy Spirit really is at work with, in and around us. So they are always looking for God to reveal the mysteries through coincidences and signs—but also by working through our conversations and connections with the faithful throughout the church. Together, we are the body of Christ with much to learn from one another. This story is about God teaching and equipping us through the renewing of the mind and the knowledge and depth of insight. What’s not to love in this group?

The fourth group is very aware of sin in the world, but they are most passionate about how that sin works its way into our social attitudes and structures. This group is looking to set people free from prejudices, and set society free from injustice. They Recognize that God is at work in and through the church in very practical ways. So they are engaged in activism, in church boards, as doctors and teachers and many helping professions. They take to heart the scriptures that tell us that true religion is the feeding of the hungry, and caring for the poor, the widow, and the dispossessed. For this group, the story of God is in how God helps us to make our world better reflect the Kingdom of God on earth. How can one help but

Now, all of these stories are scriptural. But each puts a different emphasis either on God’s holiness and power, or God’s work in and through us. They are the different arms of the church.

For my part, I have fallen in love with the different people of the church. But more than that, I have become convinced that all have gifts to share. I have never suffered like Paul. But like Paul I am absolutely convinced that God is able to bring to fulfillment that which he began among us. I am convinced, first and foremeost because of who God is, and what God is capable of. But I am also convinced because I have walked among you and sensed the giftedness that is there.

The hard part for me is that we now have to change. I like to know the plan. I can really get excited about a plan. But God seems not to have given any one of us the plan. It seems that we will have to work together to work this one out together. It is going to take a blending of all four stories.

So, as much as I like to just plug away at things faithfully and obediently, I find that God is requiring that we realize that what we are doing in ministry is no longer practical. We have to find ways of meeting the spiritual needs of the people in ways that work—not in ways that worked in the past. Things have to change. And I have to recognize that God will reveal what is needful if we bring our giftedness together. And so, I am choosing to treat this as a grand adventure story, trusting that the forces that would hold us back cannot stand against the will of God.

I want to take it a step further. Sometimes, we have not treated one another as if we trusted one another. I fear that I have been as guilty of that as anyone. We have to treat one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We have to build fellowship between the pastors, so that the pastoral leadership can work as a team. We have to find ways of connecting our elders and probably others, so that we can envision the ministry needs in a region and work together on strategies to work them out.

And we have to do this admitting that we have real differences.

But there is something we need to take seriously. The people of the world need the gospel of Jesus. They need it for all four reasons—so that they will know the gospel and the Lord to which they must pledge obedience; so that when they are thrown into the battle, they do so with the whole armor of God; so that they become a practical ministry that raises our children, feeds the hungry and cares for the downtrodden, taking on the injustices of the age; and, as our scripture tells us today, so that their love may abound in knowledge and deeper insight.

For my part, I have spent too much of this past year listening to the negative story and not to the good news of Jesus. I have been caught up too much in Psalm 39 and have not been in Philippians 1. Perhaps this has been your experience, too. And so I challenge you to listen again to the gospel and renew your faith.

Remember: the One who reached out in the Spirit and began the work of salvation in you. Remember the touch of the One who is truly Love. Remember God’s salvation. And accept the promise of God’s healing, restoring, transforming touch. You have been called by God. And together we have been called for such a time as this. God will show us the way. And he who began this work, in you and among us, is capable of turning us in new ways and bring that work, along with us, to all fullness.

Philippians 1:4-6

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ...And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.

Psalm 39

¹ I said, “I will watch my ways
and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
while in the presence of the wicked.”
² So I remained utterly silent,
not even saying anything good.
But my anguish increased;
³ my heart grew hot within me.
While I meditated, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴ “Show me, LORD, my life’s end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
⁵ You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
even those who seem secure.^[b]

⁶ “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
without knowing whose it will finally be.

⁷ “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.
⁸ Save me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the scorn of fools.
⁹ I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
for you are the one who has done this.
¹⁰ Remove your scourge from me;
I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
¹¹ When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,
you consume their wealth like a moth—
surely everyone is but a breath.

¹² “Hear my prayer, LORD,
listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my weeping.
I dwell with you as a foreigner,
a stranger, as all my ancestors were.
¹³ Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again
before I depart and am no more.”

Message Psalm 29

1-2 Hooray, God, Halleluia! Gods and all angels shout, "Halleluia!"

In awe before the glory,

in awe before God's visible power.

Stand at attention!

Dress your best to honor him!

3 God thunders across the waters,

Brilliant, God’s voice; and brilliant God’s face, streaming brightness—

God, across the flood waters.

4 God's thunder tympanic,

God's thunder symphonic.

5 God's thunder smashes those powerful cedars,

God topples the cedars of the Tsongas.

6 The mountain ranges skip like spring colts,

The Brooks Range leaps up like wild dall sheep.

7-8 God's thunder spits fire.

God thunders, the wilderness quakes;

He makes the whole Yukon plane to shake.

9 God's thunder sets the spruce trees dancing

A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches.

We see all this, and we fall to our knees—we call out, "Glory!"

10 Above the floodwaters is God's throne

from which the power flows,

from which God rules the world.

11 God makes his people strong.

God gives his people peace.

Let us worship the Lord!