"God is good…all the time! And all the time…God is good!" This is a refrain that you'll hear quite a bit if you spend any time at Camp Kirkwood.
Pastors’ Column
![photo showing part of a bible.](/images/sectionheros/Psalm133.jpg)
Each week one of our pastors or staff members writes a column observing what is going on in our congregation, the Church and the world, and offering reflections on the Christian life and faith. Through this series of columns, we hope to connect your and our story to the enduring story of Christ; to offer pastoral reflections on our ongoing congregational life and mission; to report on news of the Presbyterian Church and Church universal; and to invite further reflection and deeper discipleship. We welcome your comments and suggestions. In other words, our words here are an invitation to continue the conversation.
Summer slowdown around the office gives us all time to process the previous year and I find myself mulling over mission.
This week I'm reporting live from the Urban Plunge, which is our middle school mission trip! We've traveled to Washington D.C. and have served with a various organizations throughout the city.
This past Saturday, BMPC singers, family members, and friends returned from a whirlwind 12-day study and music tour to former East Germany, land of Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoffer, J.S. Bach, Georg Frederick Händel, Franz Liszt, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, to name just a few.
Dori Dana Hudson says in the Mediocre Gardener, “Planting is its own special joy, quite separate from the harvest. I feel I would plant even if there were no harvest. Planting is a chance to touch the earth and see it respond. It is a chance to be part of God’s great creation.”
Why go on a mission trip? This is a great question and one that I ask every year as I begin to pack my bag in preparation for another mission trip. I seem to always come to the same reason why. Because Jesus said, “Go!” Jesus’ words from scripture invite us to leave the comfort of what we know and venture into the unknown, “to make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).
Christian hospitality is the theme for this coming Sunday’s scripture and sermon. Among the many invitations of the early church to extend hospitality, I love the translation of 3 John 1:5 from a contemporary paraphrase of the New Testament called The Message: “Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible.”
- Presbyterian Church General Assembly
- On the Winds of the Holy Spirit
- Doing Real Good
- Trusting God Through Pain
- 2014 Confirmation
- Smart as Sheep
- A Word About Children and Family Ministry...
- How Do We Swim in this Much Wider River of Song?
- Holy Opportunities
- For the Love of Holy Week
- Souper Bowl of Caring
- Staff Day of Service
- A Signpost and Summons
- He Came Down
- God Saw That It Was Good
- Choosing Life
- Church as Community
- I Disciple