Weekly E-Votional

This week the Evotional comes from Pastor Mike.

To download the All Church Advent Devotional, click here.

WORD Luke 1:37-38 For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am
I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

THOUGHT Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to be Mary? An angel comes to Mary while she is still in her early teens and tells her she is going to have a child. The child would be born of the Holy Spirit and would be the messenger of the grace of God to all generations.

Then the angel leaves. Mary is overwhelmed with the responsibility of this unplanned birth even before her wedding to her beloved Joseph. What if an angel came to you today and gave you the responsibility to retell the story of Jesus’ birth?

PRAYER Instill in me, O God the faith necessary to tell and live the story of the birth of Jesus. Help me to be bold in my story telling so that others will see my faith. Help me to be careful in my story living so that my life will reflect my faith in Christ. Just as you placed the story of the birth of Jesus within the life of Mary, help me to retell the story from my life. For indeed, you have entrusted me with the story of your grace and love to this generation.

Mike Wuehler

Weekly E-Votional

This week the e-votional comes from Pastor Mike.

WORD PSALM 100: 4-5 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him; bless his name; for the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

THOUGHT I am thankful for so very much. I am thankful for my family, for being appointed to serve Christ Church, for my health and for the beauty of this world. There are so many things that seem to be going well in my life at this time.

For me, to give thanks shows that I recognize the activity of God in my life and respond with thanksgiving. Here is a question for you to ask before you start eating your turkey dinner, “What things has God done in my life this past year that I am thankful for?” Answer that question and you will be surprised how much better your Thanksgiving meal will taste.

PRAYER I am so very thankful, O God, for all that you have done in my life this past year. You have guided me through difficult times. You have raised my spirits from the depths of gloom. You lightened my load when my life seemed over burdened.

Most of all, O God, you placed before me a harvest of good friends, family and a congregation to help me with all the joys and struggles of life. Continue to bless me, I pray, for I know that your steadfast love for me endures forever.

Mike Wuehler

Read Along:The Lost Symbol

I finished The Lost Symbol last night. It kept me up until just after midnight. Here's a few closing thoughts.

The reflecting room (Chamber of Reflection) struck me as interesting. Most of us have places that we go to think- for some people it may be a storage closet at work, others might have a favorite chair at home. Some people intentionally create a place like this. For some people it becomes a prayer corner. They may include a candle, a Bible, pictures of loved ones, etc. So the room described in the Lost Symbol didn't seem that off to me. Of course the contents were esoteric. But the idea of a room to think in is pretty normal. When I was a kid I made one in my closet. I included some rocks form special places to me and brought in a tape player to play some Christian music. These days, the most important objects to me for my thinking space are a me journal and a pen. A reflecting room turns up in Harry Potter too- basically any place where a person find the Mirror of Erised. Do you have a reflecting chamber?

The dark/light, evil/goodness dualism didn't do it for me. I think most practices can be "dark" or "light"- it depends on the intentionality one puts into them. Some groups twist Holy Communion into something ugly. Many Christian traditions are adaptations of pre-Christian practices. Describing tattoos and words to unlock wisdom, not for me. I think a good dualism is going to show more gradation. Dan Brown tends to be an "all or nothing" sort of writer. "All Christians" are like this. . . Sometimes he's not describing me, and I am a Christian.

The part that really excited me, even had me running downstairs to check wikipedia was the last few chapters. Granted, there wasn't anything really new to me. (Yes, I'm being vague, because I know some people haven't finished the book.) Panenthesism is the idea that God is in everything. It is not the same as pantheism, where everything is God. You don't need magical tattoos to figure out that panentheism slides nicely into some streams of Christian thought. It especially fits into process theology, where I claim my home. How did you respond to the end of the book? Did it seem to be a big reveal to you? Any new ideas you'd like to chat about?

Now, what should I read next?

Weekly E-Votional

This week the e-votional comes from Pastor Mike
WORD Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

THOUGHT Why read the Bible? I read it because it is a book of faith. It is written by people who are struggling to understand how God works. They try to draw near to God; God seems to be a moving target that is hard to get close to.

It is also written by people who were inspirited to meet the challenges of life. They reached out to God and actually touched God. They listened for the still small voice of God and heard the whisper. These people encountered God and meet God in a very profound way. I read the Bible hoping that it will be a light for my oath to living.

PRAYER Open your words to me, O God. Let me see beyond the stories and feel the lives of the people of the Bible. People who trusted and you responded. People who needed you and you cared for them.

Most of all, O God let me become one of those people today. Use me in such a way that my life will be an inspiration to those around me. Let my life proclaim your glory and grace today.

Mike Wuehler

Weekly E-Votional

WORD Mark 1:42-44 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

THOUGHT Can you keep a secret? It is hard to keep secrets isn’t it? At times you feel like you’re going to burst if you don’t share your secret with someone. I am certain that you can imagine how the man with leprosy felt. Christ Church is one of the best kept secrets in Rochester. When I tell people what I do and where I work they usually respond by asking “Where is that church located?” We don’t have to keep our church a secret. Go and tell everyone about the exciting things happening at Christ Church.

PRAYER Help me to be bold, O God. Open my lips so that I can share the Good News of the blessings I receive through Christ Church. Good things happen here and I hope other people will become a part of this church. Place before me the opportunities to share the story of Christ Church with other people.

Help my faith to become strong enough to give it away freely to my friends and coworkers. Help me, O God, to say something to everyone about my church.

Mike Wuehler

Weekly E-Votional

This week the e-votional comes from Pastor Mike.

WORD Romans 8:11: If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

THOUGHT What does it mean to lead a spiritual life? You will get a very different answer from a variety of people. For me leading a spiritual life means I attempt to do God things. That means I try to do things the way I think God would want then done.

The phase WWJD, or “What Would Jesus Do” comes to mind. In short it is always wanting the best for someone and never doing harm. When I do things that are helpful to people, then I am doing God’s work. When I do things that hurts people I am far from walking in the spirit of God.

PRAYER Help me to walk by your spirit, O God. Let my hands be your hands of compassion and love. Allow my feet to carry the message of your grace and my lips to speak your words of love.

In all that I do and all that I say, lead me with your Holy Spirit so I can do your work. May hurtful gestures become a thing of the past as your Spirit guides my life in the future. Make me an instrument of your peace, O God.

Michael Wuehler

Read Along:The Lost Symbol

"It's a talisman, of sorts."

I don't know what's in the box, wrapped in twine and sealed with a signet ring. I'm to a point in the Lost Symbol where it is looks like it might be significant. Peter's carried around this box for years, then gave it to Robert for greater security. It must be awfully important.

I have a bunch of friends who knit, and they knit socks. I've been told that when you knit someone a pair of socks, you want them to be worn, not "saved for special occasions." Often the recipient of a pair of socks doesn't want to wear them, for fear of wearing them out. In my house, that's the case with special candy or cookies, or treats. I want to save them for a special occasion. Sometimes they go bad before that special occasion comes along.** For other people it's the good china, or the bottle of wine. We don't use what we have, because we want to use it at just the right time. But what is just the right time?

Should two or three generations of Peter's family have carried around an unopened, mysterious box, because they were waiting for the right time?

What are you missing out on now, because you are waiting for the right time?

** Case in point. I found a box of my favorite Christmas Trees wedged in between my cookbooks this week. While they are in the Twinkie family, I'm pretty sure they are no longer a pleasure to eat. I'd hidden them form myself last Christmas. No Little Trees for me!