February 11th, 2007

Pastor Dayle chose the Children's time to reveal Creator has received the new hymnals. She pointed out that Luther's Small Catechism is included.

The sermon was about reading the Bible in context. Pr. Dayle preached about the tree planted by the water.

A tree cannot survive without water… desert people more than any, know this. A tree planted near water will survive. In our context, in western Oregon, this time of year, a tree planted near water will probably be uprooted in the rain and could travel down a river.

As usual, Pr. Dayle's words echo what I am experiencing this week. I try to find the context to act from love, I pray for understanding and forgiveness when I fall short, which seems more often than not.

Debi was the presenter at the Adult Bible hour. The topic was Truth Discerning Communities and Mary, Al, Debi and I formed a small group for the breakout session together with the other small groups.

The talk was comfortable; from the heart and yet challenging in trying to create context for deeper communication at Creator. Debi mentioned a group at her old church that filled a need for her that she hungers for at Creator. Defining how to form the group is the trick.

Many members at Creator are trying to deepen their relationships with others and become true Christian friends / neighbors. There is a tremendous balancing act between the welcoming, that the church struggles with, and these deep relationships. Debi illustrated the issue quickly as we were talking. If you were to form a group, would it always need to welcome new members to the group? If so, will you always be at introductions and not necessarily open up completely because it is a new set of people?

Debi has a huge heart and led this discussion that I think made everyone feel comfortable.