~Purpose of the Church – Part 2~ Four weeks ago during worship, I asked those present to finish this prompt: The purpose of the church is… and my part in its…. In this Caller, I present the rest of those responses. There are some overarching themes: radical welcome, sharing God’s love
Continue readingLast Sunday I asked the gathered community to finish this prompt: “The purpose of the church is….and my part in it is….” Thank you to everyone who thought about this and who wrote something. Over the next few Caller issues, I’ll be sharing all of them without reference to who
Continue readingLearning from suffering… Everyone suffers. This is part of the human condition. Why is it then we seek to distract ourselves from it, run from it, eliminate it? It is impossible to eliminate suffering. I recently heard a young woman reflect on the need for Christians “to learn to suffer
Continue readingThere is a practice among Christians during the season of Lent. That practice is to “give something up”. The practice is ostensibly for the purpose of appreciating in some small way the suffering of Jesus. How about we flip that practice and all of the underlying assumptions it perpetuates? Everyone
Continue readingDisappointment is part of life. Learning to deal with disappointment is part of how we develop wisdom and maturity. It was a disappointment that Werner Tillinger could not be with us for the retreat and Sunday worship, due to the flu. In dealing with that disappointment, I discovered something of
Continue reading~What Makes Us Great?~ “Great job,” we tell someone when we like or approve of something they’ve done. “He’s a great man,” we say of a man who has wielded power for the benefit of other people. “Great” was also an adjective used to describe the nemesis of Harry Potter: Voldemort.
Continue reading~Getting Ready~ There is a lot of getting ready going on. In addition to everything else going on in our lives: work, doctor’s appointments, exercise, class, finals, looking for work, grieving, running errands, going to holiday concerts and programs, cleaning, etc., etc., etc., we are getting ready for Christmas. There
Continue readingJulie’s Jar & Mike’s Left-Hand Remark Giving Thanks and Looking Forward First Christian Church of Pomona is a community that continues to find ways to express the hospitality of Christ. You as members of this faith community offer a warm, genuine welcome to everyone who comes through the doors AND
Continue readingTradition… Thanksgiving is filled and fraught with tradition. When you think of the traditions of Thanksgiving that were part of your life 20, 30, 50 years ago, what has changed and what has stayed constant? The people change as loved ones and friends come in and out of our lives
Continue readingOn “The Gathering” Thank you for being First Christian Church of Pomona, a place where the edges of our region met on Oct. 22nd. Thank you for being a people of tremendous Christian hospitality, without guile in the midst of fun and frustrations. I am deeply grateful especially to Ginger
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