Blog Posts - Spencerport United Church of Christ

Endurance

10/10/2020

FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK

On Wednesday, October 14, 2020, I sat behind my desk in my study, wrestling with my thoughts Hmmm…What topic should I write this newsletter on? After wrestling for days, like a flash of lightning, the word endurance popped into my mind. Endurance! It is the power to withstand pain or hardships; the ability or strength to continue despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions. William Barclay said, “Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.”
Let’s face it—All of us have experienced the uphill battles of life; and, some of you are dealing with them right now. Some of you are dealing with deep loneliness; some of you are dealing with aging (changes in your mind and body that you don’t quite understand); some of you are dealing with mental anguish because of COVID-19 and the uncertainty of the future; some of you, in your latter years, are still dealing with the residue from your childhood and teenage years; and, still there are others who are concerned for the wellbeing of your children and grandchildren.

Let me simply encourage you with these words:
And let us not be weary in welldoing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:9)
There was a soldier on the battlefield who had grown tired and weary; he put his weapons down on the ground and fell to his knees. With the sound of bombs and explosive devices going off in the background, he wept, cried, and groaned, as he yelled, “Oh, God! Please help me!” It was at that moment that the soldier felt a light touch on his shoulder. When that hand touched his shoulder, he felt power, strength, and renewal that he had never felt before. That hand upon his shoulder is what gave him the endurance to keep going when he wanted to give up. When that soldier stood up and turned around, no one was behind him. He was still there, alone.
Like the young soldier, we all get tired and weary from the burdens that we have to bear. But let me encourage you to keep fighting; keep moving forward; keep pressing toward the mark of the high calling. It is only when we endure to the end that we can see that it was the footprints of the Divine leading us along those stony paths. And, it is only when we endure to the end of the race that we are able to taste the sweet fruit of victory that we all long for.
Grace & Peace;

Pastor Michael L. Sloan

Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset. Swiftly fly the years, one season following another laden with happiness and tears.

9/23/2020

Soon you will be able to peak out of your windows and see the beautiful leaves turning from green to dark read, yellow, orange and brown; and then you will be able to see them as they fall from the trees and land on the ground. This summer has gone by so fast. I don’t know about you; but it seems to me that the days, the weeks, the months and the years just keep getting shorter.
When I was younger, I was riding in the car with my dad and he said, “Son? The older you get the faster time goes.”
I heard a university dean (when speaking to a student) say, “Time waits for no man [or woman].”
Just last week as I was listening to the radio (in the car), I heard someone say, “You can waste my money; but don’t waste my time.”
Time—it is like a precious commodity. It is one of those things that you really don’t realize how precious it is until you don’t have much of it left. Some of you know this all too well.
Therefore, let me encourage you NOT to put off what you should be doing today until tomorrow. Let me encourage you NOT to wait to do the things that you’ve always wanted to do. Let me encourage you NOT to hold off until “the right time.” The time will never be right. There will always be something standing in your way, making you feel as if the time is not right. But the time is now. The time is now for you to finish the book that you’ve been wanting to write. The time is now for you to go back and finish some of those projects that you started years ago. The time is now for you to repair those broken relationships with your siblings, your children, and friends. The time is now for you to pick up the phone and call that relative that you haven’t spoken to in years. The time is now. Don’t wait! Do all those things that you’ve always wanted to do, now!
Don’t think too hard about it; just do it!
Grace and peace!

Pastor Michael L. Sloan

For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. ~James (3:2b)

9/3/2020

September 2020

I remember when I was in grad school working on my Master of Divinity; sometimes the course load would get a little heavy for me to carry and the course work would become challenging. I remember calling my grandmother (late at night) and talking to her about it over the phone. And, I’ll never forget what she said to me. She said, “You can do it!” I remember when I graduated from that program and I wanted to do doctoral work. There were people who were trying to discourage me and I remember calling me grandmother and talking to her over the phone about my desire to do doctoral work at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. And, her response was the same as before, “You can do it!” I remember when I was pastoring my first church in Illinois. I was tripping and stumbling over my own feet trying to find out how to actually be a pastor. I can remember getting discouraged at times and I would call my grandmother and talk her about it; and, I can hear her voice even now over the phone responding the same was as before, saying, “You can do it! Just keep at it! You can do it!” As many of you know, the road of parenthood is challenging and difficult. I remember there were times while being a single parent I would run into challenges and difficulties and I would give her a call and she would simply say, “You can do it! You can make it!”

Those simple words, “You can do it! You can make it! Keep at it!” sustained and strengthened me over the years and gave me the courage to keep going even when the path that I needed to take was not clear.
The words and phrases that we speak to others (be it orally or in written form) have more power than you can even imagine. The people around us take our words, our phrases, our facial expressions, and our body language to heart. Not only will people remember the words that come out of our mouths; but they will also remember our facial expressions and our body language as we speak to them. The words that you and I speak to others are more powerful than you think. The words that you and I speak (or, write) to others have the potential to make them feel either extremely powerful or extremely weak. Therefore, I know it sounds very elementary; and, I know that you have heard it before—but, seeing that our words have the potential to build up or tear down—let us use our words, wisely.
With the 2020 presidential election and the global pandemic it is perfectly normal to be passionate about your beliefs and your convictions; however, let me remind that while you are speaking about your beliefs and your convictions, passionately, make sure you do so in a loving and kind and manner. And, keep in mind that we are all just trying to be better human beings.
So—I’ll leave you with this. Before you speak THINK:
            …is it TRUE?
            …is it HELPFUL?
            …is it IMPORTANT?
            …is it NECESSARY?
            …is it KIND?
Grace and Peace to the members and friends of First Congregational Church of Spencerport!

Pastor Michael L. Sloan

Believing the Good News

12/13/2018

FROM THE INTERIM PASTOR'S STUDY:

Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News."         Mark 1:14b-15

God came into this world, in the person of Jesus, with an offer that the kingdom was near and requesting all who could hear, to repent, to change their ways, to change their lives and to believe the Good News. He came with a radical message, a message which could change the lives of all who followed him. However, Jesus didn’t meet the many expectations of a Messiah and as a result many put off making a commitment.

Not much has changed today. How many of us are ready to risk everything to embrace Jesus’ example of humility and trust in God’s desires for their lives? Jesus’ request to forgive without expecting anything in return or Jesus’ commitment to justice for all, especially if it means risking everything we’ve ever worked for, whether it be our homes, our security or the acceptance of peers to go and do God’s bidding, all seem pretty daunting. We all know what the promise is, for that hasn’t changed in over 2000 years, but that fact still can’t seem to break through our needs to meet our own self-serving desires.

Advent/Epiphany is our annual call to stop putting off our commitment to follow Jesus. We don’t need to wait for a better time to pray, to forgive or to help the needy and the least among us. Each year, we are reminded to leave the old ways behind and enter the new year thinking, “Do not put it off one more minute. Change your lives and believe the message today.”

Knowing, what we might expect, helps us to experience and share God’s love every day and to become those beloved children God has been seeking for so long. Let us hear God’s
requests – whether it be in Scripture, prayer or acts of love and kindness towards each other and everyone God places in our path. We must always be prepared to respond to God’s gift to us when it is offered. For it is only when we risk making those changes, that we can experience the fulfillment of promise in our lives now.

This is why Christ came and risked everything, and this is what we have to gain. Yes, the kingdom is near, and it is time we believe the message!

May each of your days be blessed and your kingdom wishes fulfilled as you journey into this new year once again.

                                                         Pastor Alan

"Waiting" and "Patience"

11/27/2018

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

Using Your Gifts

10/22/2018

FROM THE INTERIM PASTOR'S STUDY:

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10

Use your gifts always, to do good works!

Think about it this way, one of us gets news from a very reliable source that Jesus will return on January 1, 2019. So what do we do? Now you really don’t want to miss this as it just might end everything as we know it now. So would you keep doing whatever tasks you had been doing or would you spend your remaining days waiting where you learned he would arrive?

The inactivity option does not reflect at all what Jesus taught and certainly not the message Paul had in mind in writing this letter to the church at Ephesus. Ever since the encounter with Adam and Eve in the garden, we find God instructing people of the importance to continue producing fruit and caring for the creation that they were given. But to do this successfully, we find we are also called on to do many things that may seem to be beneath us, to do things that seem and feel ordinary. But then we are told that in Christ’s kingdom things are always reversed and “ordinary fruit” becomes exceptional and worthy fruit. Jesus' audience didn’t need rabbis, nor do we need pastors to produce fruit that pleases God. In fact, a quiet, peaceful life of doing something kind, appreciative or useful for our neighbor is generally just fine. The key is that we do it the best we can and with all the energy we can muster.

Are you:

A father or mother? Then, encourage and admonish in turn.
A son or daughter? Then, care for those who cared for you.
Retired? Then, get some rest and then get busy.
An employee (or employer)? Then, be the best you can be at putting others first.
A baker? Then, bake good bread.
A bus driver? Then, bring a smile to everyone you encounter.
Chronically ill or depressed? Then, assault the throne of God with your prayers.

So why would we do these, and other, ordinary things? Because when God came among us as Jesus, God exchanged divinity for the ordinary. God exchanged an ordinary crib for a cross and there produced the strangest fruit of all - a way for all who were there, and through them us, to understand peace with God and the pathway to the kingdom. That is God’s desire.

Always be on the lookout for that call that comes from God,

Pastor Alan

Challenging Yourself

9/20/2018

FROM THE INTERIM PASTOR'S STUDY:

For surely I know the plans I have for you,
plans for your welfare…to give you a future with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

I recently received a meditation entitled, “We Were Made for These Times." It was written in response to the chaotic times we are living in, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, the author of Women Who Run With The Wolves, and is a timely message. I’ve already shared it with a few of you, but have decided that its message was appropriate for all and timely enough to be included here.

In the article, she encourages us, “Not to lose hope nor spend our spirits dry bewailing these difficult times,” because we were made for these times. For in times like these, we often dwell on what is wrong and often out of our reach. “Do not focus there,” we are told.

We are reminded regularly that we ask God for the help, clarity, understanding and grace we need. Estes challenges us to remember that to be in grace, means being willing to submit to the voice greater than our own. Paul told the church at Corinth that we could only see in part and Clarissa tells us, “We are needed and that is all we can and need to know." In addition, often we are told that a persistent series of many small things will have more impact than a single major effort or event, and that we might not ever know what specific thing will effect a change in the course of events.

Jesus’ charge to all of us was to remain patient, persistent and not to worry. In my mind, this is God’s charge to each of us, namely to maintain a calm presence in the midst of chaos. Estes shares that one of the most calming and powerful actions we can do is to stand up in chaos’ midst. For in times like this, to be assertive and show mercy toward others, especially those in need, are acts of bravery and necessity. And while we might often feel discouraged by the pace of our progress, we should not allow those feelings in, nor should they be invited to the table.

She ends her meditation with this thought…there should be no despair when we remember why we were placed on the earth, who we serve and who sent us here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours. They are the words and the deeds of the one who brought us here. In that Spirit, we should always remember that when a great ship is in the harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But, that is not what great ships are built for.

Enjoy the journey and allow yourselves to be challenged.

Pastor Alan

God's Cleansing

8/15/2018

FROM THE INTERIM PASTOR'S STUDY:

See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
(Isaiah 48:10)

Several years ago, Sue and I rented a house. Upon moving in, we realized that the oven appeared to have never been cleaned. Well, we rolled up our sleeves and got started. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves thinking, “How can we ever get this oven clean?” It seems that the harder we scrubbed it just wasn’t getting cleaner. As she was debating about heading to the store to look for a different cleaning product, she noticed that the oven had a “self-cleaning” option. We switched it on, and then watched in amazement. The oven heated itself to its hottest temperature and burned the food and grime right off. All that remained were some ashes in the bottom to simply wipe away.

As we enter a new church year, I am reminded that God has installed us with a similar feature. OK, so maybe not so much self-cleaning, but God-cleaning. I doubt any of us would willingly submit to the cleansing fire, and ask to have the heat turned up so high that our impurities are burned off. Yet, that is one of the ways God, the Refiner, purifies us. As we walk through the trials of life, God will often use those times to refine us.

Just how does God’s refining fire work? Sometimes the things that hold us back – doubt, past experience, uncertainty, self-focus, etc. – clings too tightly to easily scrub off through prayer or spiritual practice. Often, we don’t notice or want to admit we are in need of further cleansing. It’s not until we’re in the fire, of yet another of life’s trials, that we see God working on an area of our life. Maybe you’re facing medical challenges for yourself or a loved one. God may use that to work on your trust or your patience and compassion. Or, maybe you’re in a difficult situation at work. God is using that challenge to reset your priorities and focus.

As we enter into this new year, let’s commit to using this sacred time in the fire to open ourselves up to God’s work in our lives. Let's let our trials move us to action, to trusting God, to “welcoming any stranger who appears at our doorstep." Let’s let God’s self-cleaning cycle become that path which God elects to walk with us. For if we trust in this, we can then keep our eyes firmly fixed on God and that path through the fire. Once done, all that will remain will be the ashes beneath us that will also, simply need to be wiped away.

May you too find this clarity as you continue on through your journey.

Peace,
Pastor Alan

Sharing Kindness

7/19/2018

FROM THE INTERIM PASTOR'S STUDY:

…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. (Mt 25:40)
…whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. (Mt 25:45)

As we all enjoy our summer activities and travel, I thought this meditation from Pope Francis would provide a great reminder of who, as Christians, we are called to be.

What the Poor Teach Us

The poor are the privileged teachers of our knowledge of God, their frailty and simplicity unmask our selfishness, our false security, and our claims to be self-sufficient. The poor guide us to experience God’s closeness and tenderness, to receive his love in our lives, his mercy as The Father who cares for us, for all of us, with discretion and patient trust. From this place of welcome encounter and service, I would, therefore, like to launch a few questions to everyone…

Do I bend down over someone in difficulty, or am I afraid to get my hands dirty?

Am I closed in on myself and my possessions, or am I aware of those in need of help?

Do I serve only myself, or am I able to serve others like Christ who came to serve even to the point of giving up his life?

Pope Francis

We are asked to always bring a handful of kindness wherever we go and to be shared with everyone we encounter. This is Jesus' desire, and this is God’ s command.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and we’ll see you all in September.
Pastor Alan

What Does This Mean?

5/17/2018

FROM THE INTERIM PASTOR'S STUDY:

Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself. All of the Laws and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.        Matthew 22:37-40

What Does This Mean?

I thought I’d use my space this month to begin a conversation on exploring a topic through the lens of our Pentecost seasonal theme “What does it mean?” The above text is the heart of Jesus’ message. In this case, the question might be, What does it mean to live out this message today?

We live in a post enlightenment world. We ask questions, we have options, we have differing opinions and beliefs on many issues, and we are aware of many cultures and faiths in addition to our own. We live in a diverse world. Each year, we increase our understanding of our world far beyond what our forefathers could have ever perceived. In his book, The Heart of Christianity, Marcus Borg explains that in today’s world there is no single right way to be a Christian. Yes, there are certainly some wrong ways, like using Christian language to legitimate hatred or injustice, but there is no one right way. So, as a Christian, what are my responsibilities in this world?

As a Christian living in a multi-cultural, multi-religious society, I believe I need to acknowledge that God works through different people in different ways, but the end goal is always the same … the promotion of the Reign of God on earth, a reign that will be characterized by peace and harmony among all creatures (Isaiah 11:6-9). It is a reality with which I have had to learn to make peace. However, in acknowledging that the Christian voice is not the only view in this multi-voiced world, I have also found I can still be a clear voice for Christ, living without compromise and remaining true to myself. As a Christian, I have a responsibility to constantly seek truth and discerning God’s will for my life. It is a truth that exposes, judges and condemns us and our Christianity, as well as others and their religions. It is a truth that will be revealed only through my willingness to engage in these truth seeking encounters with those whose faith and life are different from my own. It is dialoguing with and meeting people where they are. It is hearing their voices and it is seeking the truth, a truth recognizable, because it is the transforming work of God reconciling all kinds of people to one another. It is the love of God working among the poor, marginalized, excluded and oppressed to help maintain a healthy life and welfare of all. It is a truth that echoes and magnifies God’s work in the scriptures, and it is a truth whether it comes from Christians or non-Christians, religions or secular scientists. In seeking this truth, I need to recognize that I know only in part, and can see only dimly. I have learned I am not the only one seeking God’s truth and that others may have learned from God’s spirit what I can only rely on my faithfulness in Christ to know. For I believe that God just might elect to use one of these encounters, that I just may see demonstrated elements of a life that is closer to the life taught and demonstrated by Jesus, than my own. In this context, the biggest challenge is to find ways of expressing the Christian alternative so that the choice becomes an appealing one among other cultural choices.
                                                                                                                                   Have a blessed day,
                                      Pastor Alan