LENTEN DEVOTION FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 15

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice.  (Philippians 4:4)  

As I sat with the choir facing the congregation, I was overcome with the splendor of our renewed sanctuary.  A real cause to Rejoice!  The sermon was titled "To Be Chosen" and it was the installation service for a new class of deacons and elders to serve our congregation during the coming years.  The hymns we sang, "Take My Life" and "O Jesus, I Have Promised," had special meaning as did the choir anthem "Nia."  It was another reason to rejoice.  

The order of worship included a listing of all those (over 400) who contributed to the renewal of our sanctuary.  We can all rejoice in what has been accomplished.  Each person on this list has a special reason to rejoice because of the feeling of ownership that his or her contribution to the beautiful upgrading of our sanctuary provides.  

In the Old Testament book of First Kings, chapters five and six, we read about how much care was taken in the building of the temple.  Under the leadership of King Solomon, no time, talent or treasure was spared by the Israelites to build a worship space in which they could praise and glorify their God.  It took them seven years!  King Solomon arranged with King Hiram of Tyre (Lebanon) to obtain the best timber, cedar and cypress, and the best wood workers and other artisans to aid in the construction and decoration of the temple.  Finally, he "overlaid the whole house with gold, in order that the whole house would be perfect." We too have employed the best architects and engineers, builders and materials to achieve an awesome sanctuary where we can praise and glorify God.  Rejoice!  

2007 has given us many, many reasons to rejoice in the life and mission of our church.  The slogan for our capital campaign, "Rejoice and Renew" helped make the renovation of the sanctuary and the new organ project a success.  The work is not complete but we can and should rejoice in what has been accomplished thus far.  

"Rejoice and Renew" would be a good 2008 New Year's resolution.  Each day we can rejoice in the blessings God has provided, and we can renew our commitment to Christ and the work of His church.

Dale Raar

LENTEN DEVOTION FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 14

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Steve and I have a favorite story about our move to Michigan five years ago. Following a long day at a local job fair, I received a call from an insistent Human Resources Director. She encouraged me to accept a job as a middle school principal in Southfield. Steve was fully in favor. "You should take it. You'd be good at it!" he urged. A few days later, full of romance and new beginnings, we took time out to get married in a meeting house between the birches up north on Crystal Lake with our families. When we returned home to our new house, in a new city, I wisely announced, "I can't take the Southfield principal job. You'd never see me!" God had alternate plans. Instead, I joined Detroit Public Schools in charge of professional development for their new literacy program and later the Reading First Literacy Grant in thirty-two schools.

Five years into the Literacy Initiative, Steve is still my best cheerleader and we have accomplished:
* Over 500,000 hours of professional development devoted to literacy.
* 45 Literacy Coaches leading teachers to improve classroom reading instruction.
* A Reading Leaders Institute where principals learn to make wise decisions as instructional leaders.
* Literacy Walks for principals, coaches and teachers to observe master teachers in the Learning Community.
* State-wide recognition as an exemplary Reading First program.
* Rising test scores: an average 45% increase in students scoring at the proficient level on the 4th grade MEAP Reading Assessment. (Reading First Schools 2002-2006)

Dear God, when we grow weary in your mission, teach us to hibernate, to play with those who love us, to celebrate the breakthroughs, and to remember always that your timeline stretches through generations and can't be rushed. Amen.

Ginny Axon

LENTEN DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 13

Now as Paul was approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. (Acts 9:3)

There is a very large Rubbermaid bin in our basement with every scrap of paper I ever wrote, read or collected in seminary. This treasure trove also holds papers from my first serious classes on the Bible. Classes I attended 14 years ago, long before seminary, when Daniel was just a baby. As a young mother I didn't know if I'd have the time to do all that was required for the classes. I had to read the scripture, read the lesson and memorize concepts. So much! Somehow the pastor convinced me that I could do it.

Recently, I discovered in this bin a prayer written by some anonymous classmate from my first bible class. In the prayer the author commented on the routine of life, fast moving and yet repetitive enough that sometimes you were in dismay - asking "What is the point of it all?" Then to add into your life time spent preparing for a Bible study. Well goodness - why bother? Yet the prayer's author went on to recognize that the act of preparing for class every week began to sneak into his or her life and suddenly "like Saul on the road to Damascus, the light bursts forth: ahh, so this is how it fits together."

Whether this is your first year reading the Lenten devotions or your fifteenth, whether you are struggling to fit in time for this devotion or it fits into your life like a dear friend, I hope that you have moments of clarity when "the light bursts forth" - moments when things fit together in new and meaningful ways.

Gracious and Loving God, thank you for these Lenten devotions, gifts to us from our brothers and sisters in Christ. May our times of reflection sneak into our lives until we have moments when the light bursts forth and we understand ourselves and you in new and wonderful ways. In Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Julie Madden

LENTEN DEVOTION FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12

Remember me, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness; for they have been ever of old. (Psalm 25:6)

My last Lenten Devotion was about a miracle, and now I have another one to write about my mother's death. Surprised? Well, here is the story of Mary Schoonmaker.

As Mother entered into her nineties, I began to think of her end and because she was so alive, so cheerful and fun-loving, and basically healthy, I couldn't bear the thought of her going into a nursing home; she just couldn't end her happy life that way! I prayed every day that she would either fall down dead or die in her sleep, hopefully not soon. I feel certain that she was praying for somewhat the same thing. And then, Praise the Lord, it happened.

My son, Will, and I spent her last evening over at her house. Will did some odd jobs for her. Then we all watched a movie we'd been waiting to see while eating her homemade molasses cookies and drinking coffee. We left between 10 and 11, and when I returned the next afternoon to take her to a doctor appointment I found her dead. She had died in her sleep, apparently just as peaceful as could be, at age 93.

Mother's family always has been, and still is, deeply involved in their church. We grew up with Mother and her Kentucky family singing hymns every day and they quoted the Bible just as much as Shakespeare or the poets. Her oldest sister played the organ at church for sixty years and there is a stained glass window honoring their mother. She was the last of her generation on both sides of her family and Daddy's, so I know she is peaceful and happy to once again be with all those loved ones. When the time came, I'm sure she looked up, smiling her adorable dimpled smile and sang, "Take my hand, Precious Lord, lead me home." And I am daily grateful that Mother departed this world from her own home.

Dear Lord, "this is my story, this is my song, praising my savior, all the day long." Amen.

Kitty Stephenson

LENTEN DEVOTION FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 11

I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)

God loves me. We say it so carelessly off the tip of our tongues, but God loves me. No matter what my circumstances, no matter how many my sins, no matter how great my short comings, God loves me.

I was reading Max Lucado's Everyday Blessings the other day as I sat and waited for a call about my sister. She was having back surgery and the surgery was five and one-half hours long. I was in prayer often during that time, and I prayed the prayer I often pray during times like this: "Please God, hold her in the palm of your hand."

As I read and prayed I contemplated the significance of God's love for me. Just imagine in the grand scheme of things, God has time to hear my small prayer.

My mind wandered as it often does when I pray, and I began to think about gratitude, forgiveness, and my mind centered upon the cross and I thought, "Jesus went to the cross bearing not his sins but my sins. I am his child. He is my Father.

How magnificent, God loves me!

Our heavenly Father, thank you for loving me just as I am. Amen.

Nancy Kingston

LENTEN DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, MARCH 10

Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you." The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. (John 5:14-15) So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?" (John 9:24-27)

Several years ago, I took some classes on the gospels. One of the assignments was to contrast the reactions to being healed between the man on the mat in John chapter 5 and the blind beggar in Chapter 9. The ends to the stories are above.

In Chapter 5, we meet a man who has been waiting for healing for 38 years, and though he makes every reasonable effort, ensuring that someone will get him to the pool each day, he isn't healed until Jesus comes by and basically tells him to get up and get going. Surprisingly, he can. When confronted by the authorities for carrying his mat on the Sabbath, he knuckles under, tells them what they want to hear and later, even tells on Jesus.

The beggar in Chapter 9 is very different. After Jesus puts mud on his eyes, he finds his own way to the fount. Jesus doesn't take him and doesn't deputize a disciple to help him. He might get lost, or disoriented, step in donkey dung, and will probably face questions about how he got mud on his face. Well, he goes onward anyway.

When the impossible happens, he regains his sight. His parents run out on him, and he is faced with the same question as the man in Chapter 5. Instead of doing what he should do, he challenges and questions. When he finally meets Jesus, he worships him.

I hate to admit it, but I'm a lot more like the man who works the system and plays it safe. I'm more like the man in Chapter 5 and less like the joyous and resourceful beggar in Chapter 9.

Gracious God, in this time of Lent, a time when we can focus on your call asking us to change, please help us to be brave and trusting, and to support our brothers and sisters who are doing the same. Amen.

Terry Chaney

LENTEN DEVOTION FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 9

I pray that according to the riches of God's glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

These verses took on new meaning for me in July of 2006. I had just received word that my sister, Margaret, had died. So many good memories of my older sister came flooding back. There was one especially. It was a simple song she taught me to sing when I was four years old. It went "Open up your heart and let the sunshine in." That tune kept playing in my head and heart throughout the night.

The next morning, a Saturday, I sat at my computer wondering how in the world I could ever lead a worship service the next day for a church in Warren. I was tempted to call someone else to fill in. But then my eyes re-read the scripture that had already been chosen. It was the passage from Ephesians 3. Moreover, the title of my message was "Inner Strength." And I thought, "Guess this is a good test to see how anyone could experience strength at a time like this. I need to rely on this timeless truth and see how it applies right here and right now."

And it happened. Margaret's tune kept playing "Open up your heart and let the sunshine in" but soon it became "Open up your heart and let God's sunshine in." A warm glow simply enveloped me. It wasn't MY strength that I needed to rely on. All I had to do was to open up my heart to GOD'S promise of strength and presence. And it was there. Big time. It carried me throughout that Sunday. It was God's presence as well as my sister's love dwelling with me that helped me to share that timeless Good News: "Christ's love surpasses knowledge."

Do you notice any particular tune or words playing in the background of your consciousness at times? Pay attention. It may be just the message you need to hear that is bubbling up to strengthen your inner being.

Gracious God, thank you for your promises that you are there even in the darkest times. Help us to open up our "whatever our circumstances today" and let the sunshine of your love and light in. Let these flow out to others in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen.

Kate Thoresen