"Psalms of David's Life" by Pastor Welty

I keep a daily journal.   Sometimes I write a few sentences or a paragraph or two.  Other times I don't feel that I have enough pages in my journal to contain all that's coming out of my head. It depends on what's going on in my life. 

 After Stephanie died, I spent a lot of time journaling to try to process my feelings.  Many of those feelings and entries were posted in this blog, and I asked you to accompany me on that journey.  That process helped me to come to terms with my new reality. 

 When I met Beth, and we started dating, I began to process that by journaling about feelings, possibilities, trying to understand what was going on in my head and heart.  The excitement and anticipation of a new relationship was at times overwhelming for a person my age.  As I've said before I hadn't gone on a date since Jimmy Carter was president, so I didn't know what I was doing.  Journaling helped me to sort things out.   Journaling for me has been a helpful tool for processing where I am in my life and ministry.

 When we read the Psalms, we are reading the journal entries of the great King David.  It is truly a great privilege to get this insight into the private thoughts of this great, but flawed man of God.   

Some of the Psalms have been connected with specific events in David's life.  This summer we're going to look at these Psalms and connect them into the context of David's life.  The hope is that we will learn from David, that as we face challenges in our lives, we too will be able to process them in some constructive fashion that will help us stay focused on our Lord. 

Jesus Predicted His Death by Pastor Welty

We are all going to die; it's 100% guaranteed.  The only exception is if we live until Christ returns,  but if we don't,  we are going to die - count on it. 

 Benjamin Franklin in speaking of our  Constitution  said that it has "an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

 Woody Allen was quoted as saying:   "I'm not afraid to die.  I just don't want to be there when it happens."  Our own death, however, is an event that we will be required to attend.

 But death, at times, seems rather random.   Every day when I read the newspaper, I check the obituaries.  I want to know if anyone I know has passed away.  As I read them, occasionally I read these words,  “died unexpectedly “,  a terrible reminder that someone's life was cut short by a tragic accident, an overdose or suicide.

 I'll never forget May 9, 1996, when my friend Dave Kish, a test pilot at Sikorsky, was killed in a test flight.  He left home that beautiful spring morning like he always did, having no idea that he would not return.

 I also remember April 22, 2005 when my friend Andy Petronio as killed in a head on car accident coming home from work.  Or December 4, 2007  when my friend and mentor, Norm Shirk went out hunting with his son and grandson and died of a sudden heart attack. 

 And Beth will never forget October 27, 1997 when her first husband, Bob, went to play basketball with his friends and collapsed on the court and later died from a previously undetected heart malady.

 None of these men had any idea that that would be their last day of life.

 You might be asking, "Pastor Jim, why are you writing such a sad blog?"   The message is that none of us know when our time will come.  James asked the poignant question: What is your life? ... you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  James 4:14

It is a grace that we don't know the time of our demise.  It would be very hard to live day to day with that ominous thought hanging over our heads.  But that's exactly how Jesus lived.  His death was not unexpected.  He knew that He was going to die a horrible, painful death.  It's not clear at what point in His life he became fully aware of that reality.  But He did know.   Jesus' words in Mark 10:45 remind us of that.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus lived under a tremendous burden during His life.  But as we'll see from the gospels, He predicted His death repeatedly to His followers.  Perhaps he was trying to prepare them for what was ahead or perhaps He needed to process it with those closest to him although clearly they didn't understand what He meant.

 During the weeks leading up to Easter, we're going to look at those predictions of His death and hopefully understand and appreciate more than ever the great sacrifice He made for us. 

Three of these predictions are clear and direct and four of them are more subtle, but the message is clear.  Jesus knew that His mission was to give His life away for us. 

"But Why" by Pastor Welty

We who are parents have all experienced it,  our child asking a multiplicity of questions that all begin with the words,  "But why?"  It can be cute for a minute, but then it can become annoying and exhausting.  Or we try to give our children instructions or directions and the child responds by asking, "But why?"  Then out of exhaustion we might respond in a way that we promised ourselves we would never respond: "Because I said so", we say as we invoke our "parent card".  We didn't want to go there, but somehow we arrived. 

Beth and I spent Easter at my daughter Abby's house in Worcester, MA.  She carried on her mother's tradition of celebrating an Armenian Easter, complete with all the delicious foods we looked forward to every year.   The event took on an interfaith feeling as Abby's sister-in-law led us in an abbreviated Passover Seder.  After the Seder, I was asked to offer a blessing, and I tried to tie the meaning of the Passover and Easter together, without sounding too "preachy."

Part of the Seder revolves around 4 questions focused on the overarching theme: How is this night different from all other nights?  Here are the four questions: On all other nights, we eat chametz (leaven) and matzah. Why on this night, only matzah?
On all other nights, we eat all vegetables.  Why, on this night, maror (bitter herbs)? ​On all other nights, we don't dip even once. Why on this night do we dip twice?
On all other nights, we eat either sitting upright or reclining.  Why on this night do we all recline?  

Questions are a part of the Jewish Tradition.  Remember the story of the man who asked his Rabbi, "Why do you always answer questions with questions?"  The Rabbi responded:  "And what's wrong with that?"

Questions are good and important as they cause us to really examine our experiences. So starting April 30, we'll take a cue from our children and from the Passover Seder by asking some why question about our worship.  I want us to spend time examining the motivation for our worship by evaluating why we conduct the various components of our worship experience.

Here are the questions: 1. Why do we gather? 2. Why do we sing?  3. Why do we read and study God's word? 4. Why do we pray? 5. Why do we offer gifts to God?

 Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  I suppose the same is true for our worship experience.  We never want to get into a rut where we perform the same action over and over without understanding why.  I hope that when we complete this series, we'll have a much better understanding of our motivation for worship. 

Walking with Jesus by Pastor Welty

Before my daughter Abby got married last fall, she requested that I wear a gray suit to her wedding.  I didn't want to buy a new suit when I own a perfectly good black suit.  But because I love my daughter, my wife Beth went out and bought a gray suit for me as a surprise. (I hope my sarcasm didn't go unnoticed.) 

 Buying a suit is not something that can be done vicariously.  The potential wearer should be part of the purchasing process.  When Beth brought the suit home, I tried it on and realized that we would have to return to the store.  The next night we returned the first suit and found one that fit better.  It fit better, but not perfect.   Because my inseam is 29 inches, some alterations would be required.  Mine is a size that one seldom finds off the rack.  So we got home with my new suit, with a perfectly fitting jacket and slacks that were too long.  The next morning I was at the tailor shop getting fitted for alterations.  Did I mention this was 1 week before the wedding?  The suit was ready in time, and my daughter was pleased, and her wedding was a great experience.  Thanks in part to my gray suit. 

 Being a disciple of Christ is like buying a suit.  It is not a "one size fits all" proposition.  It is unique to each person, based on experiences, propensities  and situation in life.  There are certainly some basics and standards in the discipleship process that are common, but there are nuances in the process that are unique to the individual.

 During Lent, I will lead us through a study of some followers of Jesus in the gospels and how their interactions with Jesus were unique to their situations.  Some of the people we'll be considering will be the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, Nicodemus, the man born blind in John 9, Andrew, the father of the demonized boy in Mark 9 and Peter.

Each of these individuals had a unique encounter with Jesus.  Hopefully, we too will experience Jesus in a personal and unique way as we go through this series.

Whisper and Roar by Pastor Welty

In 2008 we began to negotiate on the property in Southbury where we thought we would build our building - the corner of Strongtown and Judd roads.  It was an involved process that required many months, many meetings, many emails - and did I mention many meetings? 

 If memory serves, and sometimes it does...the process started out with a lengthy contract negotiation.  We had to go over the contract with a fine toothed comb.  Our attorney helped us through that arduous process.  Then we had to apply to the town's Planning Commission to get their approval to build on the property.  That required the development of a site plan and architectural drawings as well as the approval of the town's Inland Wetland Commission.   Several meetings with those town commissions were required.  Finally we got our approval.

 While all that was going on we were also working on getting our financing through the Alliance Development Fund who strongly urged us to conduct a Capital Campaign to raise money for the purchase.  More meetings - so many meetings.  Then we held a congregational meeting to get the church's approval for the purchase.  Thankfully the congregation approved. 

 This was a lengthy, difficult and exciting process.  It felt like it was building to a huge crescendo, and our closing was scheduled for July 16, 2009.   During the afternoon of July 16, I was anxious to hear news, so I called our attorney to see how things were going.  His secretary answered the phone and when I asked what the status was she said. "Oh yeah, it's yours."  After months and months of meetings and hard work, that was all we got?  "Oh yeah, it's yours."  Where was the fan fare?  the celebration?  Where was the (non-alcoholic) champagne?  It all felt very anti-climactic.  When I spoke to the previous owner about it he, a property developer with tons of experience, said:  "These things often start with a roar and end with a whisper."

 Those words "roar and whisper" came back to mind as I started planning for our Advent series. Jesus first advent was a whisper, a baby born in obscurity, but his second advent will be a roar as scripture points out.  We're going to spend some time this year unpacking those ideas. I hope it will be a blessing and a challenge to us.