Words of Welcome

  1 Peter 2:2-10 Perhaps you can remember picking teams for a PE class or some other athletic event. No one wants to be the last person chosen. It’s not a good feeling. However, it’s a different story if you’re among the first picks. Perhaps you watched or paid attention to last week’s NFL draft. The Lions took Right Tackle Blake Miller from Clemson with its first pick, but the first overall pick was quarterback Fernando Mendoza, formerly of the Indiana Hoosiers. While it is a great honor to be the first pick, it does come with certain risks. That’s because the team with the first pick had the worst record in the league the year before. So, sometimes it’s better to be drafted near the end of the first round, so you can go to a good team. Then there’s the final pick of the draft. They call this person “Mr. Irrelevant” because everyone assumes he won’t make it in the NFL. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Sometimes Mr. Irrelevant can go on to be a star, as is the case wi...

  Ephesians 1:3-14 With a new year beginning, we can begin thinking about what 2022 will bring? We start the year with COVID still hanging over our heads, along with much political uncertainty and polarization. It’s easy to get discouraged, but we’re not without hope. We don’t know what this year will bring, but we take confidence in the promise that God has “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” So blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  We opened worship singing about a “star shining in the east beyond them far, and to the earth it gave a great light.” [ Glory to God , 147 v. 2]. We’ll close our worship singing about the “Star of wonder, Star of night, Star with royal beauty bright” that will “guide us to thy perfect light!” [ Glory to God , 151]. These hymns promise that God will guide us through life, blessing us with spiritual gifts and calling us to ministries of blessing. As we follow the star, guided by God...

Ephesians 1:3-14 Back in the day P.E. classes posed certain difficulties for those of us who weren’t all that athletic. I doubt things have changed much since my day. When it came time to divide into teams, some of us stood fearfully hoping we wouldn’t be the last one chosen. That would make us someone akin to the last player chosen in the NFL draft. They call that person “Mr. Irrelevant.” It’s better not to be drafted than to be drafted and forever known as “Mr. Irrelevant.” No one wants to be the last one chosen! I know because I’ve been there.   At the same time, there is joy to be found in being chosen. When we applied for the sabbatical grant, we didn’t know whether we would get it or not. So, when we received word that the committee had chosen us to receive the grant, well, that brought great joy. It’s good to be chosen!!  On this last Sunday of the Christmas season, which is also the first Sunday of a new year and a new decade, we hear this wor...

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 Do you know what it feels like to be the last person chosen for the team? Neither team captain really wants you, but you have to go somewhere. While it’s not fun being in that position, maybe you’ll surprise your doubters!  Let’s consider, for example, the annual NFL draft.  Each year teams covet certain players because they’re sure they’re going to make a difference. Sometimes it works out; sometimes it doesn’t. I think most of us will agree that Matthew Stafford has worked out pretty well for the Lions, but Cleveland can’t say the same for last year’s first round choice of Johnny “Football” Manziel, who might already be on his way out of the league.  There are always first round picks who end up as flops, while players picked in the later rounds, or even as undrafted free agents, can go on to be stars. I know that the Michigan fans in the room will remember a guy named Tom Brady. He went to the New England Patriots in the sixth round of th...