Author: Wende Gonzales

Pastor’s Notes 11/24/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed festivals.

For six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements.  – Leviticus 23:1-3

Time. 

Time can be a fickle friend. Some days feel like they last for an eternity while years can fly by in an instant. Managing our time is a lifelong pursuit. The quality of our lives however, is measured by moments rather than minutes. We memorialize our time through experience as we cycle through the circle of life.

This Thanksgiving holiday has been a wonderful opportunity for me to reconnect with loved ones, create new memories, and cherish the relationships that matter significantly. Holidays tend to be benchmarks for measuring our passage of experiences. Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, and other significant calendar events mark the occasions that help us to not only remember but cherish those moments that are most dear.

This Sunday we will recall the way in which the Church tells time. As early as our ancestral faith roots were planted, we have honored and celebrated God’s presence with God’s people. It is in this active remembering that we are reminded of our calling and purpose.

Leviticus 23 describes the Sabbath together with seven feasts, namely the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of the Harvest, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. These feasts of the Lord are ‘appointed seasons’ for ‘holy convocations’.

In antiquity, time was measured from one feast day to the next. Though the celebrations may be different for us as modern day Christians the process and purpose continues to bring us reminders of God’s eternal presence.

I look forward to journeying with you soon into the advent season leading us to Christmas as we meditate together around the theme “A Weary World Rejoices.” See you Sunday.

Brett

Finding Peace Amidst the Holiday Hustle: A Longest Night Service

Posted on by Wende Gonzales
Longest Night Service / Blue Christmas

The holidays can be joyful, but for many of us, they can also bring up feelings of loss and sadness. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the “merry” expectations while mourning the absence of a loved one or facing difficult emotions, you’re not alone.

This Longest Night (Blue Christmas) service, on Thursday, December 21st at 3pm, offers a gentle space for reflection and remembrance amidst the holiday rush.

Find solace, comfort, support and understanding in this brief service which offers you a moment of pause and peace during the longest night of the year. You are welcome to come as you are, and bring whatever memories or feelings you are having.

Don’t let the holidays overshadow your grief. Find strength and comfort in shared quietude and understanding.

Pastor’s Notes – 11/17/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  – Matthew 6:25

Every time I see the words “don’t worry” together in a sentence, my mind automatically goes to the Bobby McFerrin song from my youth, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” I would bop around the house singing the tune incessantly, it was such an earworm of a song. The concept of happiness being the opposite of worry takes me back to a simpler and most likely child-like time.

Life experience has taught me that the opposite of worry is more likely gratitude than happiness, so the lyrics should really be “don’t fret over the things that could go wrong but be grateful in the things that are working out.” This faithful solution runs counter to everything I learned growing up (Iowans by nature tend to be fatalistic I’m afraid).

Our gospel writers try to remind us that anxiety doesn’t add a single hour to one’s life, but apparently people throughout time have been unconvinced. It is easy for us to overlook Matthew’s advice in 6:33, “strive first for the kingdom of God.”

As Fred Craddock and Eugene Boring teach it, Matthew wants to relate his key word dikaiosyne (or righteousness/justice) to the eternal reign of God as well as having trust in God’s providential care as we walk this earthly life.

This Sunday we will celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday. We will focus our attention and prayer on the things we are grateful for having in this life rather than being consumed by that which we don’t. If nothing else, it is a good place to start in our praise for God our creator. I look forward to worshiping with you on Sunday.

Brett

Pastor’s Notes 11/10/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.  – Hebrews 12:1-2

Last Sunday we thought about the important role being a community plays in curbing the loneliness we feel. A recent Meta-Gallup survey revealed that 1 in 4 adults worldwide experience feeling very or fairly lonely. Based upon what we know of ourselves already, it makes sense that one of reasons why we exist as a community of faith may be to help folks fend off loneliness.

As followers of Jesus, we are a people of hope. We believe that the presence of the Holy is with us in our earthly lives as well as for eternity. We trust in light outshining the darkness and the good days outweighing the bad. Though it can be easy to forget, loneliness is temporary, and we are never permanently alone.

The Holy Spirit is with us. The realm beyond what we physically see is infinite and this verse from Hebrews reminds us that the Spiritual presence, memory, and impact of our loved ones and ancestors keeps us from being alone.

We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…

This is a Godly promise that keeps us going and serving together. On Sunday November 12th, we will celebrate All Saints Sunday. Marilyn Fidmont with the Christian Church Foundation will be with us as we remember the legacy of those who have gone on before us and to share with us the possibilities for continuing the financial viability that has maintained our church for 50 years.

In your prayers, please lift these beloved members and spouses of our faith community whom God received into eternal life since last November. We will honor them in worship on Sunday. Any omission to this list is not intentional. Please let me know if there are any names that have been overlooked.

We remember:

Carsten Carlson
James D’Avanzo
LaMaryl Shipp
Larry Wilber
Kurt Wolfram

I look forward to worshipping with you and honoring our saints on Sunday! Also, please be aware that members of our faith community, who were present at church on Sunday have tested positive or been exposed to Covid. 

Brett

Pastor’s Notes: 11/3/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…
(Isaiah 61:1-2a)

Last Sunday we learned about the year of Jubilee in the book of Leviticus. It was already to be the practice that every 7 years, the land was to have a year of sabbath rest. Then after the 7th sabbath year was to be a year of Jubilee. Every 50 years was to be a celebration of release from sin, a restoration with God, and a reset for and with all of creation.

In a poem from “Dreaming Anew,” Jubilee is described as:

In the day of Jubilee,
the Holy One brings justice to the oppressed
and food to the hungry.

In the day of Jubilee,
the Holy One sets the prisoners free
and opens the eyes of the blind.

In the day of Jubilee,
the Holy One lifts up those who are bowed down
and watches over strangers and widows and orphans.

In the day of Jubilee,
all creation reaps a rich harvest of peace.

This Sunday we will sit with the idea of Jubilee once more (Luke 4:16-21), but from the words of Jesus as he reads the scroll from Isaiah 61. Something interesting happens here and perhaps with it a sense of clarity. Jesus proclaims that he is the one to bring justice and release. That the “year of the Lord’s favor” would be found in him. Jesus would make every year a Jubilee.

With Christ, every day should be a day to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, and a proclamation that God is with us. This is who he was and what we are called to do in the world as a community of those who follows Jesus.

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus said as rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The laws of Israelites and the prophecy of Isaiah has been and continues to be fulfilled says Jesus.

So, for us, 2024 will be an ideal opportunity to remind ourselves of this calling and purpose. We are the body of Christ and we have been called to great things. For 50 years the saints who have gone on before us lived faithfully and established this wonderful space, tradition, and mission for us as Sun City Christian Church. It will be the perfect opportunity to release, restore and reset as a faithful community.

As followers of Jesus, we have much to celebrate and even more to look forward to as we grow the Kindom of God in this place. I look forward to worshipping we you on Sunday!

In your prayers, continue to lift up Joe Emmerson and add the health of Burnell Babcock as their return to Arizona has been delayed until after January.

Brett

Advent festivities begin!

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

Advent festivities begin next week!

Join us Wednesday, November 29th at 9:00 am in Cobbs Hall as we decorate our beautiful church together! Whether you can carry a Christmas tree, hang a wreath or decorate a table, please come. Feel free to bring guests to help, as many hands make for light work!

We’ll have refreshments and pastries to enjoy together as well.

Pastor’s Notes 10/27/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you: you shall not sow or reap the aftergrowth or harvest the unpruned vines. For it is a Jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.
Leviticus 25:11-12

As we continue our worship focus around the practice of Sabbath, we will turn to Leviticus 25:1-12 and find the first scriptural reference to Jubilee. In the law handed down from Yahweh to the Israelites, a land Sabbath year was to take place every seventh year. Consequently, after the seventh Sabbath year or once every 50 years, a time of rest was to take on even greater significance known as the year of Jubilee.

As scholar Melody Murton teaches, Jubilee is an economic, cultural, environmental, and communal reset. Biblically it was to be a time when the land and people rest, and all those who are in slavery are set free to return to their communities. The Jubilee laws are essentially concerned with social relationships, economic security, stability, and the wellbeing of the community. They seek to ensure that people live in ways that reflect good relationships with God, with each other, and with creation.

I look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday as we will kick-off what will be a special year of celebration as we head into a modern year of Jubilee! In 2024, Sun City Christian Church will celebrate our 50th anniversary as a congregation.

During our year of celebration, we will focus our energies on the ways in which we are stewards of our resources, time, and talents to build up the kindom of God. We will seek to live in ways that reflect the faithful relationships, as followers of Jesus, we wish to share with one another and our community. We will commemorate our achievements and begin plans for our next 50 years of ministry.

See you Sunday!

Brett