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God Is Holding Your Life

The One is Shining Forth

February 11, 2024 • Pastor Donnie Sturgill, Rev. David Petty, Sanctuary Choir • Psalm 50:1–6

We may see great strides in treatments and vaccines for the pandemic and/or we may be reeling from the predicted spikes in deaths we already now see transpiring. Whether this Psalm was aspirational (written before the exile ended) or was a reflection of what was happening already, the last verse reminds us that we can keep hope even in our waiting because God’s love is steadfast, come rain or shine. A God who knows each star by name in the vastness of stars (and we know even more just how vast this is than our ancestors did), knows each of our names, knows the names of all those we have lost, knows the names of all who will come after. God’s vastness “covers” all things... all the pain, all the waiting, all the hope. So we stay in love with the God who loves us.

Whole Heart Hallelujah

February 4, 2024 • Rev. David Petty, Sanctuary Choir, CLM Twinkle Gordon • Psalm 111

This Psalm is the first of several that begin, “Alleluia!” It is like the moment we hear good news that we have been waiting for and we let out a “hoop and a holler” or a “woo hoo!” The mixture of joy and relief is a powerful emotional combination. And it turns out that the expression of praise and gratitude is important for making it through the bad times. Science tells us that serotonin, the “feel good” chemical in our brains, is one of the essential elements of well-being. In the midst of living with a lot of bad news, we can be depleted in ways that are harmful to our resilience. Offering our whole hearts in praise even for small things can keep us going when the going is rough.

In God Alone

January 28, 2024 • Rev. David Petty, Exalt!, Pastor Donnie Sturgill • Psalm 62:5–12

Written in a time when the Hebrew faith claimed one God while other faiths around them claimed many, the point of this Psalm seems to be making the case for the Holy “One and Only.” But it also names riches as a “god” that we sometimes “set our heart upon” as the confidence-setting end-goal. This speaks to us now as much as it did then. In our lifetime we have witnessed that as fleeting as breath is the notion of economic security. Whether we are feeling low or high of “estate” makes no difference. We can count on the steadfast presence of God.

Where Can I Go?

January 21, 2024 • Rev. Kelsey , Rev. David Petty, Sanctuary Choir • Psalm 139

The repetition in this Psalm (“the voice of ADONAI”) points to this literature’s musical origins as an earthly and heavenly call for us to worship the One who is in all things, including the storms of life. This is traditionally the Baptism of the Lord Sunday. The “waters” depicted in this Psalm are a good connection to the “blessing over the water” in which we rehearse the salvation of God through biblical references to water... culminating in the water at Jesus’–and our own–baptism. From the waters of creation to Noah and the flood, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the storms in Paul’s shipwreck, the Bible has much to say about the awe-filled wonders that ancient peoples saw in nature. Waters, and our life of faith, can be stormy at times. But God is there.

Awe & Wonder

January 14, 2024 • Rev. David Petty, Pastor Donnie Sturgill, Sanctuary Choir • Psalm 29

These Lives are Precious

January 7, 2024 • Rev. David Petty • Psalm 72:1–7, Psalm 72:10–14

We begin a new worship series today that we pray will bring a “breather” and a sense of assurance to us all. Life is a series of exclamations from “O No!” to “Help!” to “Oh Yeah!” We can swing between disappointment, helplessness, and gratitude on a daily basis. The Book of Psalms knows all about this. Written over a span of time from exile and isolation to the rebuilding of the community, the poetry of the Psalms will accompany us in this series, reminding us that through it all, we can trust that God is, indeed, holding our lives.