Pastoral Reflections

Greetings to those who love our generous and faithful Heavenly Father  

I loved Ray’s message last Sunday, quoting the words of Mary the mother of Jesus – ‘They have no more wine’.  The wedding celebration of Cana of Galilee was going to end on a dismal note, an embarrassment to the family of the bridegroom.  This was disaster.  

I find it very interesting that Jesus likened Himself to many things.  He was Bread, He was Water, He was the Good Shepherd, He was the Gate, etc.  I don’t believe He said He was wine.  At the wedding, he supplied wine.    

It seems that wine is typical of celebration.  Bread is considered a staple, or basic need.  For five thousand hungry people, Jesus multiplied the bread so that all were satisfied.  Wine has the connotation of celebration, and good times. And Jesus shows, in His first miracle, He supplies this also.  

A number of years ago, Tony Campolo wrote a book, ‘The Kingdom of God’ is a Party’.  From Matthew 22, Campolo quotes Jesus as saying, ‘the kingdom of God is like a father who prepared a wedding feast for his son’.  Sounds like party time to me!  Good food, good company, dancing and good times.  And the Father wants his servants to invite others.  

Sometimes I think, we in the kingdom forget that we have a celebration going on.  We are trying to be good, trying to follow all the rules, and are involved in serious matters like life and death.  And it seems like we think we must have long faces and grim outlooks.  This shouldn’t be the case!  ‘Therefore, with joy shall you draw water out of the well of salvation’ is an Old Testament reference that doesn’t sound like doom and gloom.  God’s people have been ‘redeemed’, no longer slaves, but free, and have new life!  God’s people should be the happiest people on earth.  We have something to sing about!  It’s time we celebrate!  

I’m not stating this to add to your list of ‘now I have another chore, – to be happy’.  The celebration is a natural outflow of thankfulness and joy of being part of the redeemed, and part of the kingdom of God.  

May you experience joyful abandon as you serve our king this week.  

Determined not to look like I suck on lemons,  

Pastor Lloyd  

Greetings to the disciples of East Zorra who say to Jesus, ‘teach us to pray’ – Luke 11:1

Real prayer is not a normal part of life for most people.  When a person is ‘born from above’, he can either nourish or starve the life of Christ that is within.  Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished.  People tend to think that the purpose of prayer is to get things that we want from someone like Santa Claus anytime of the year.  The biblical purpose of prayer is that we get to know God Himself.

A child can show a magnificent boldness to ask.  The Bible seems to suggest: ‘Ask and He will do’.  There is a pervasive encouragement to give Jesus the opportunity, and the room, to work in us and through us.  The problem is, we tend not to ask until we have exhausted all other resources and are at our wits end.  When we feel self-sufficient, we do not need to ask God for anything.  Are our plans and dreams for our lives bigger than what we can do ourselves?  That’s when we need our Father most.

How is the life of Christ in you?  Is He rather wane, due to lack of loving attention?  This Thursday, Jan 20, is a great time to join with the body of Christ here at East Zorra, for a Day of Prayer to nourish His life in You, to ask for boldness in asking, and to ask! 

I encourage each disciple in East Zorra to join us in the Day of Prayer.

There are resources provided that may help you to pray, but the big idea is to SPEND TIME WITH GOD! 

I, for one, really do want to make Jan 20, a DAY of prayer.  I hope you are with me.

Pastor Lloyd

Greeting to those who need, and share, the light of Jesus!

Thursday January 6, 2022 was the Christian holiday of Epiphany. Epiphany means appearance or manifestation, especially of a divine being. The holiday of Epiphany is a celebration of when the three wise men followed a star to visit Jesus, the newborn king of the Jews. The appearance of Jesus to the Gentile wise men is God’s reminder that God is for all people, not only one select group of people. 

The prophet Isaiah reminded the Jewish nation that the Lord coming to their nation of people was a gift they were called to share with all the nations of the world.

“Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see.
    For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you.
² Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
    but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.
³ All nations will come to your light;
    mighty kings will come to see your radiance. (Isaiah 60)

As I reflect on this scripture an epiphany of sorts comes to me. Epiphany also means, “a sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.” The name “Jerusalem” in our scripture text could be replaced with “East Zorra Mennonite Church”. The glory and light of the Lord has certainly shone on us!  We have experienced God’s goodness and light in many ways: in the Live Nativity experience 3 weeks ago; in another financial surplus that will be reported in this letter; through the caring and compassion we have demonstrated to each other in times of recent illness, pain, and grief. We have received much from the Lord, and we therefore have much for share and shine forth.

Yet darkness continues in various forms today as it did in the days of Isaiah. Injustice, prejudice, suspicion of the other, hate, war, sickness, pain, depression, and other forms of mental anguish…and a continuing Covid pandemic and all its difficult effects. Sometimes in the darkness of all this it is hard to see the light. I invite us to arise and look to the light of Jesus that continues to shine on us, even through the darkness. The Lord’s light is a light that shines to dispel the darkness and open a way though it.

By God’s grace may we receive the light, live in the light, and shine the light of Jesus through our words and action. If we do, those among us suffering, and those around us living in fear, will see the light, be drawn to the light and come to experience the light that is Jesus. An “epiphany” will come to them that has potential to transform lives!

“Arise, East Zorra! Let your light shine for all to see.”

Pastor Ray

Greeting to those anticipating a great new year, 2022!

A certain satisfaction exists in closing the chapter on one year and turning a page to the new. Our ever-creating God has extraordinary plans for each of us in the coming 365 days!

Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses fitting for the changing years.  In Psalm 90, Moses talks of God’s faithfulness through generations, His unfailing love and offers a prayer for our efforts to be successful.

‘But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.’ Is a parable Jesus once shared. He pointed out that no one pours new wine into old wineskins; the wine would spill out, and the wineskins would be ruined.

Wineskins were goatskins sewn around the edges to create a watertight vessel. As new wine ferments, it emits gasses that cause the wineskin to expand. An old, rigid wineskin cannot withstand this process and will burst. The new wine of the Holy Spirit could not be contained in their archaic system of laws.

As you anticipate what God has for you in 2022, prepare your heart: Is there anything rigid in me that would prevent the work God wants to do? Where am I resistant to His leading? Am I pliable to His direction?

A currently popular, trendy thing to do these days is to prayerfully ask God to give you one word over the next few days.  This word is to be your theme word for the year.  You could make a poster and put it on your fridge.  If it is a word from the Spirit of God, it may be a theme which will keep you encouraged and motivated throughout 2022. If you wish to share this word, I would be delighted to confidentially hear it.

It was William Carey, the father of modern missions who said: “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.”

Open yourself to His possibilities in 2022! Listen for the fresh truths He will whisper. Expand your boundaries for the opportunities He will bring. Get ready! God has great aspirations for you, and East Zorra, in the coming year.  It starts with prayer! In addition, Ray and I are discerning a congregational “invitation to prayer” during January. Details are pending!

In 2022, expect great things from God, attempt great things for God!  Exciting!

Pastor Lloyd

Happy 2022!

Christmas Greetings to each of you!

Hope! Peace! Joy! Love! Light! Jesus Christ!

These words of advent and Christmas are full of meaning and speak so powerfully in light of our current reality. We come to Christmas again this year, many of us weary of an ongoing pandemic, disappointed that Christmas Eve service is a Zoom service for a second year, struggling with how to manage family gatherings with growing restrictions, fearful that our next cold symptoms could be Covid, and that our mental health could suffer even more. Along with the pandemic reality and restrictions is the sobering reality that many in our congregation have suffered the loss of a loved one in their lives this year. We, or our family members and friends, are facing Christmas for the first time without a spouse, parent, grandparent, child, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, cousin, or friend.

In the midst of these, and other struggles, Christmas invites us to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus and also the truth of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and coming again. The coming of Jesus is our salvation story, and all of creation is invited to dance, sing, and celebrate. But we are so exhausted. How is it possible to bridge the gap between our sorry reality and the glad, grateful recognition of God with us in Jesus the Christ? We do that by remembering that the story of Christmas and Jesus is the story that was birthed by our God of love, because of the gap.

Author and poet Kathleen Norris reminds us that it’s precisely because we are weary and struggling that God can touch us with hope. Christmas does not ask us to ignore our pain and struggle, but to believe that the gift of Jesus was meant to meet and transform our struggles. As the martyred archbishop of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, once said, it is only the poor and hungry, those who know they need someone to come on their behalf, who can celebrate Christmas.

The world we live in does still live in darkness. We certainly need hope, peace, joy, light, and love. And the good news is that Jesus Christ came to bring that to us!

² The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined….
⁶ For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9)

May this child and son, who was Jesus the Christ, the reason for Christmas, fill you save you and provide for you this Christmas the hope, peace joy, love, and light that you need!  

On behalf of Lloyd, Jean and myself, Merry Christmas, and a New Year filled with all the gifts that Jesus brings!

Pastor Ray