Who's Your Daddy?

So it's father's day again. That day when all of us look for just the right card and just the right tie to let dad know just how much we love him. Right? What about those of us who have dads that struggle with the dark side? What about those of us who are dads that struggle with the dark side? Is there such a thing as a dad who hasn't wrestled with darkness?

Thankfully there is one. He is our Father who is in heaven. He is the perfect parent who isn't looking for a card or a tie. He's just looking for you and me. Could there be a better way to celebrate Father's Day than to celebrate the Perfect Father? Celebrate with us this Saturday night. We'll be having dinner together at 5:30 pm. Then we'll gather for the Lord's Supper with this amazing heavenly Dad at 6:30 pm.

Bill & Marion Celebrate 40 Years

On May 31, 1968 L. L. Oliver led a young couple through their wedding vows reminding them that in the final accounting, love is what life is all about. After forty years Bill and Marion Goodwin still believe L. L. knew what he was talking about. Along with their lifering Bill and Marion want to invite you to join them at Loveland Community Church this Saturday as they celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary with a renewal of their vows. The ceremony will start at noon and a reception follows.

Work or Fish? Take Your Pick This Saturday

For those of you that don't have big Memorial Weekend plans some of us have decided to go ahead and do some work at the church this Saturday. It needs a little TLC. In addition to a little spring cleaning, Denny, who lives next to the church has offered to take some of our kids fishing at the pond to the east of our church. If you would like to help clean inside the church call Teresa Oswald at 613-8090. If you would like to do some work outside the church building call Andy Nightingale at 622-9985. If you would like to see about helping Denny teach some kids to fish or know some kids who would like to fish call Jim at 203-1933.

Honoring Mother's Everyday

(photo: Migrant Mother Nipomo, California 1936 by Dorthea Lange)

If Mother's Day is the only day of the year the moms in your household feel honored it may be a good time to reflect on what you believe about mothers. Mother's Day is probably better celebrated by using it as a reminder that we should walk gratefully with them on a daily basis. If we come from homes where "Mother" is a word that evokes reverence and joy we must never take that for granted. If we come from broken families or homes where Mother didn't exactly hit homeruns with us we have to acknowlege they blessed us with the chance to do it a little bit better than they might have. One of the greatest gifts you can give your mother is a gift of prayer. Chances are she has prayed for you more than daily. Pray for her and then write that prayer in a card and send it to her. Here's a Mother's Day prayer that might help you get started on your own Mother's prayer.

Holy Father our Creator,

Holy Jesus our Brother,

Holy Spirit our Comforter,

we pray for new mothers, coming to terms with new responsibility,

for expectant mothers, wondering and waiting,

for those who are tired, stressed or depressed,

for those who struggle to balance the tasks of work and family,

for those who are unable to feed their children due to poverty,

for those whose children have physical, mental or emotional disabilities,

for those who have children they do not want,

for those who raise children on their own,

for those who have lost a child,

for those who care for the children of others,

for those whose children have left home,

and for those whose desire to be a mother has not been fulfilled.

Bless all mothers, that their love may be deep and tender,

and that they may lead their children to know and do what is good,

living not for themselves alone, but for God and for others.

Amen.

Why Do We Pray Together? In a Group? Out Loud?

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

If you didn't recognize these words, they are what Jesus taught about prayer in his sermon from the mountain. And these are the words many of us remember when invited to a prayer meeting. It makes us wonder if Jesus really wanted us to get together and pray out loud. We wonder what others will think about us when we don't pray as well as others do. And then we wonder how a prayer meeting can be a good thing if all eveyone is worrying about is how they sound to everyone else.

You might be interested to find that the majority of the prayers recorded in the New Testament after Jesus' resurrection are corporate prayers. Jesus himself prayed out loud in the company of the disciples. So what was Jesus teaching us? He was definitely teaching us to pray to our heavenly Father in secret. But he was also teaching us how to pray in the presence of our faith family. God is a community - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - and whether we come to him alone or with our brothers and sisters it is always a group prayer. Because God is a community He desires to see us come together with Him. Jesus taught that when two or more believers agreed on something together in prayer He would hear them and answer.

Jesus did teach that we shouldn't worry about how we sound and we shouldn't pray to try and impress each other. We definitely shouldn't be preaching to each other while we pray. So what should we be doing when we pray together?

Our thanks, our praises, our requests, our feelings and our anxieties should always be directed to God. We have been invited by God into His community to pour our hearts out to Him and to care about one another by praying for each other and the concerns of our faith family and for those who need us to stand in prayer for them. If you're new to a relationship with God and aren't comfortable praying out loud then don't. Listen and learn and enjoy hearing God's people talk to him. There is no better way to learn how to pray than to listen to more experienced believers talk to God.

Let others know what you would like them to be praying with you about and let them voice your concerns for you. There is much comfort in hearing a brother or sister pray for you to our heavenly Father. And if you're feeling brave, join in on the conversation. Jesus said it is ok to be brief. No extra points for babbling.

Whatever you do, don't pass up an opportunity to join God's people when they pray together. They are going to do that this Saturday evening at 5:30 pm in the yellow building behind Loveland Community Church. Come join us for a conversation with God.

Dinner at 5:30 pm

Now that we've moved our worship time up to 6:30 pm our prayer and dinner times move to 5:30 pm. This Saturday, April 5 is a dinner night so bring a dish and hang out with us before worship. We usually have plenty to eat so even if you don't have food you're welcome to join us.

Thank You for a Great Easter Eve

If you didn't see the thank you from Resthaven in Thursday's edition of the Reporter-Herald let me pass it on to you. Pat and her crew at the funeral home were overwhelmed by your participation in assembling and installing the luminaries. At first it appeared the weather was going to shut us down. We all retreated into the church for worship thinking even though we gave it our best shot, we had failed. Hopefully, you experienced the same surprise I did when I walked out of the church building after our Easter celebration that evening. Instead of the dark, empty cemetery I expected to see I discoverd a pure, snowy night lit up with thousands of beacons of hope. What a cool picture of Easter! I hope your Easter was as blessed as my family's was. Thank you for helping us love our community and at the same time let God's glory shine through our faith community.