Spencerport United Church of Christ
  • Home
  • Who We Are!
    • Find Us
    • Our Staff
    • Christian Education Ministry >
      • Youth Page
      • Christian Education Connection
      • Nursery Program
      • Sunday School Registration
    • Music Ministry
    • Our Heritage >
      • ARCHIVES >
        • Joining with Brighton UCC
    • Photo Gallery
  • Get Involved
    • Book Club
    • Community Service
    • History Committee
    • Needles Mission Club
    • Women's Guild
  • Calendar/ HAPPENINGS
    • Happenings
  • Newsletter
  • CHURCH SERVICES
    • Baptisms
    • Weddings
    • Funerals
    • Library >
      • Library Sections
  • Home
  • Who We Are!
    • Find Us
    • Our Staff
    • Christian Education Ministry >
      • Youth Page
      • Christian Education Connection
      • Nursery Program
      • Sunday School Registration
    • Music Ministry
    • Our Heritage >
      • ARCHIVES >
        • Joining with Brighton UCC
    • Photo Gallery
  • Get Involved
    • Book Club
    • Community Service
    • History Committee
    • Needles Mission Club
    • Women's Guild
  • Calendar/ HAPPENINGS
    • Happenings
  • Newsletter
  • CHURCH SERVICES
    • Baptisms
    • Weddings
    • Funerals
    • Library >
      • Library Sections

the bell tower

"Waiting" and "Patience"

11/27/2018

0 Comments

 

FROM THE INTERIM PASTOR'S STUDY:
 
Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until the early and late rains.
You must also be patient.                 James 5:7-8
                                                                                  
Each year as I begin preparing for Advent, I come across the terms “waiting” and “patience,” and I recall once being told that a “waiting” person is a “patient” person. The word “patience” implies the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out in the belief that something hidden there will reveal itself to us. Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there.
 
Waiting makes us much more aware of the empty spaces in our lives. We seem to have a fear of empty spaces. We want to fill up what is empty. Perhaps our fear is that an empty space means that something may happen that we cannot predict, something that is new, that we might just be led to a place that we do not want to go. I once heard that waiting is even more difficult when we are fearful. Our fears of the unknown can explain why it is so hard to wait and just how tempting it is for us to act, to do something just to stay in control. Impatient people expect the real thing to happen somewhere else, for them the moment is empty, and they simply want to get away from the present situation and go elsewhere. But, patient people dare stay can be found there, still waiting.
 
.....It is choosing to hope for something that is far beyond our imaginings.

.....It is trusting enough to give up control over our future and letting God define our life.

.....It is living with the conviction that God molds us in love, holds us in tenderness, and moves us away from the sources of our fear.  

This is what we can find in our empty spaces. This is when we let go of the safety net, this is when we learn to trust, this is when we experience Jesus as our anchor of hope, this is why we wait.
 
             Wishing you all a patient and hope filled Advent,
             Pastor Alan

0 Comments
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    Categories

    All
    Christmas
    Thanksgiving

    RSS Feed

The First Congregational Church | 65 Church Street, Spencerport, New York | 585.352.3448 | admin@spencerportucc.org