~ by the Pastor and guest writers ~
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For the Living of These Days (May 17, 2002) The past few days have been a cornucopia of wonderful events in the life of First Presbyterian Church. As I look over the calendar the last month I am reminded of the Spring Youth Rally in San Antonio. Youth Sunday on April 21, a Mother-Daughter luncheon, the Valley Cluster Beach Retreat for your youth. Confirmation, and our church picnic. I give thanks to God “for the living of these days.” Our church expresses its sincere thanks to the Landrums and Collins for hosting our church picnic at the Cook “480” Game Preserve this past Sunday. It was a huge success and I am already looking forward to having another! Let us not forget to thank our Fellowship Committee for all their hard work to arrange the event and our food. Thank You Fellowship Committee. This week’s article is a hodgepodge of information and “Thanks” to several people. If you were in worship this past Sunday you saw eight of our Confirmands stand before our congregation to confirm their vows of faith. They now move to active membership in our church and will assume positions of leadership and service in the years ahead. For the last nine months Kathryn Henry has been meeting each week to instruct and lead the Confirmation Class. Kathryn has commented several times about the depth and knowledge of this group. Their Statements of Faith attest to the work of Kathryn and the outstanding class she led. Thanks Kathryn! One of the things that made worship this past Sunday so special was the music of the choir and our handbells. “Her I am, Lord” was such an appropriate anthem for confirming and commissioning the confirmands. Handbells are always such a delight in our worship. Take time to express your thanks to Paul Mann and Jim Egger for their faithful work with our choir and handbells. As we move into the summer months I know many of you will be vacationing. Let me strongly encourage you to continue making your financial pledges to our church. Each week we are providing financial statistics in our church bulletin. Take a look to see where we are in meeting our budget. We have fewer programs in the summer but our financial commitments continue . Please continue in your faithful stewardship in the weeks ahead. We have several of our college students who will be graduating in May. Our congratulations go to each of them and their families. I want to gather a list of those graduating to put in our bulletin and newsletter. If you have information on students please call the church office with the names and what their future plans my be. I know some of them will be attending graduate school and others are seeking or have found employment. Let us know about them. Sunday, May 19, is the Day of Pentecost in our church calendar. Our church will receive the Pentecost Offering. Forty percent of that offering will be used locally to support Su Casa, Puentes de Cristo, and a new Child Advocacy Center in our area. All these programs address the needs of children at risk. Come and celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church and support the ministry of our church locally and nationally. Finally, in the words of the Harry Emerson Fosdick hymn of 1930: “grant us wisdom, grant us courage, For the living of these days, For the living of these days. I’ll See You Sunday! Jesse Thornton, Pastor
 Never Out of Breath (May 1, 2002) Last week I had the opportunity to take a few days vacation with a good friend from our church. Bob Simpson and I made our way to Big Bend national Park, one stop of many while in West Texas. I will never forget the day we spent in the Chisos Mountains and the hike we made to over 7,000 feet. We set out early at a steady pace. But after a little while, when we were well into the hike, we began stopping every few minutes to catch our breath. The air is not so thin there but I realized my body was older! I eventually knew there were moments when I was getting out of breath but I was determined we would make it to where we wanted to go. I refused to be defeated by my lack of breath! I wonder if God realized how much wind it would take to keep the world going. In the beginning God sends a wind to sweep over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). To stir a wind that can separate the waters of the deep takes a massive amount of energy. The author of the opening creation story, though writing poetically, knew about the physics of force and energy. On the seventh day, “God rested from all the work that he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:3). God rests, but God is never out of breath. Are we, like the community of John, exhausted by the terrors of the world and uncertain about how to find our way amidst confusion and conflict? God sends the “Spirit of Truth” to abide in us (John 14:17). De we feel we have forgiven all we can forgive? Christ breathes the holy Spirit upon us to renew our capacity to be merciful and gracious (John 20:19-23). Are we wondering where the church will find the strength to fill its calling? Christ assures us we will receive power when the Spirit comes upon us (Acts 1:8). During these trying times when people’s energies often lag, we need to teach, preach, and learn about God who breathed upon the deep and who keeps breathing the Spirit into us to find the truth, to forgive one another, and to carry on Christ’s mission. There were brief moments when I thought I might be too winded to make the climb in the Chisos Mountains. I was getting winded. But our Creator is never winded or defeated for lack of breath. God continues to breathe upon us the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of grace, the Spirit of renewed energy for the mission of Christ. My prayer is that God will continue to breathe on each of you and this congregation, and that we bay believe, trust, and know that God is never out of breath! We have much work to do and our God will supply what energy we need. Thanks be to God!
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