FROM MY HEART TO YOURS…Pastor Michael
September NewsletterIt is the last Saturday of August, and this afternoon I will be going over to the Rotonda Lakes Circle club house to help Zelma Otto celebrate her 98th birthday, which is the 25th. It is going to be a bitter sweet event, as it will also be a time for many of us to say goodbye to Zelma after her many years of attending and serving RWCC. On Sunday, she will be leaving with her daughter, Debby, to go to Casselberry Florida, where she will live. She has had a number of health issues lately, that has made it impossible for her to live alone. We will miss Zelma and her faithfulness to our congregation. She was our first deaconess. She always had a smile and a kind word to say. She loved remembering us with a card on our birthday or anniversary. Our love, thoughts and prayers are with her as she transitions to her new home.
AUGUST 2024 NEWSLETTERHe says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46: 10
As we studied the Book of James this spring in Bible Study, we talked about the importance of the tongue. With it with praise God and curse man, made in God’s image. We need to learn how to use self-control over it. We need to think, before we speak, and maybe not speak at all. I have mentioned before that we live in a culture that likes noise over silence. And what a noisy society it is. I am reading Henri Nouwen’s book, “The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God through prayer, wisdom and silence.” Even when this book was released (1981), he makes the following observation. “Over the last few decades we have been inundated by a torrent of words. Wherever we go we are surrounded by words: words softly whispered, loudly proclaimed, or angrily screamed; words spoken, recited, or sung; words on records, in books, on walls, or in the sky; words in many sounds, many colors, or many forms; words to be heard, read, seen, or glanced at; words which flicker off and on, move slowly, dance, jump, or wiggle. Words, words, words! They form the floor, the walls, and the ceiling of our existence. (p. 37 opening paragraph of Our Wordy World) And he says that because of that, words have lost their creative power and meaning. And it doesn’t matter if we are teachers or preachers, politicians, businessmen, popes or ayatollahs or media. People are losing confidence in words and we think that they are just words…just another distraction in the world. And they no longer function as communications, no longer foster communion, no longer create community and no longer give life. He says we need more silence in our lives. Silence is the home of words, and gives strength and fruitfulness to the words. And it is in our silence where we really can get to know God and let Him speak. When we go to God in prayer, do we spend some time in silence, listening for God? Or do we rattle off our list of needs and wants and move on with our day? I would challenge us to sit in silence with a notebook and wait on God. How else will we know that He is God? July 2024
Those of you who have been in worship the past few weeks, know that I have been doing a series on “The Body of Christ” from 1 Corinthians, chapters 12, 13, 14. I came across this statistic, that is really amazing. Did you know that the Golden Gate Bridge in California is suspended from two massive cables? Each of the two cables is three feet in diameter, and each cable consists of 61 bundles of steel wire. Each bundle contains 452 wires, bringing the total number of steel wires in each cable to 27, 572. To the average person, it appears that the roadway is suspended from two large cables, but in reality, it is suspended from 55,144 tiny wires bundled together. There is strength in numbers. The apostle Paul promoted this truth when he used the illustration of the human body for the Body of Christ. Each cell in the human body is like an individual in the Church. Our faith and work is multiplied exponentially when combined with the faith and work of the whole body. Whether one wire in a cable, one cell in a body, or one believer in the church, all are important. May we all do our part in strengthening the body of Christ. There is no insignificant member in a church. (from “Design and Construction Stats”, Golden Gate Bridge. Highway and Transportation District and Michael J. Wilkins.) Have a Happy Fourth of July!!!!
As we studied the Book of James this spring in Bible Study, we talked about the importance of the tongue. With it with praise God and curse man, made in God’s image. We need to learn how to use self-control over it. We need to think, before we speak, and maybe not speak at all. I have mentioned before that we live in a culture that likes noise over silence. And what a noisy society it is. I am reading Henri Nouwen’s book, “The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God through prayer, wisdom and silence.” Even when this book was released (1981), he makes the following observation. “Over the last few decades we have been inundated by a torrent of words. Wherever we go we are surrounded by words: words softly whispered, loudly proclaimed, or angrily screamed; words spoken, recited, or sung; words on records, in books, on walls, or in the sky; words in many sounds, many colors, or many forms; words to be heard, read, seen, or glanced at; words which flicker off and on, move slowly, dance, jump, or wiggle. Words, words, words! They form the floor, the walls, and the ceiling of our existence. (p. 37 opening paragraph of Our Wordy World) And he says that because of that, words have lost their creative power and meaning. And it doesn’t matter if we are teachers or preachers, politicians, businessmen, popes or ayatollahs or media. People are losing confidence in words and we think that they are just words…just another distraction in the world. And they no longer function as communications, no longer foster communion, no longer create community and no longer give life. He says we need more silence in our lives. Silence is the home of words, and gives strength and fruitfulness to the words. And it is in our silence where we really can get to know God and let Him speak. When we go to God in prayer, do we spend some time in silence, listening for God? Or do we rattle off our list of needs and wants and move on with our day? I would challenge us to sit in silence with a notebook and wait on God. How else will we know that He is God? July 2024
Those of you who have been in worship the past few weeks, know that I have been doing a series on “The Body of Christ” from 1 Corinthians, chapters 12, 13, 14. I came across this statistic, that is really amazing. Did you know that the Golden Gate Bridge in California is suspended from two massive cables? Each of the two cables is three feet in diameter, and each cable consists of 61 bundles of steel wire. Each bundle contains 452 wires, bringing the total number of steel wires in each cable to 27, 572. To the average person, it appears that the roadway is suspended from two large cables, but in reality, it is suspended from 55,144 tiny wires bundled together. There is strength in numbers. The apostle Paul promoted this truth when he used the illustration of the human body for the Body of Christ. Each cell in the human body is like an individual in the Church. Our faith and work is multiplied exponentially when combined with the faith and work of the whole body. Whether one wire in a cable, one cell in a body, or one believer in the church, all are important. May we all do our part in strengthening the body of Christ. There is no insignificant member in a church. (from “Design and Construction Stats”, Golden Gate Bridge. Highway and Transportation District and Michael J. Wilkins.) Have a Happy Fourth of July!!!!