The Grove Charlotte — Podcast

Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11

Before he began any ministry, Jesus was baptized–and as he came up from the water, the Holy Spirit came down like a dove and rested on him. And with the Spirit, a voice:
‘You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.’

All this happened before Jesus did a thing for God.

Years ago I served a beautiful church in South Boston.  A community a lot like ours in many ways–people from every background, every circumstance gathered together in sincere, imperfect love for God and neighborhood and one another.  And every year we would have a special service remembering Jesus’ baptism and after the message the pastor would call everyone forward and anoint our heads with oil and say over us the words that God spoke over Jesus:

You are my beloved child, with you I am well pleased.

People would come undone–weeping uncontrollably in joy and relief.  It was so beautiful and holy and I knew it was as faithful. I knew it was true, but I didn’t understand how it could be. 

I loved those people so deeply, but I knew them–almost as well as I knew myself.  How could God be pleased with us–when we were still such a mess?  Love us–sure, but be pleased with us?  Not just pleased, but well pleased?  How can that be…surely we have more work to do, more growing to accomplish first.  
And even if it is somehow true, surely it can’t be good for us to hear it now?

But what we see in Jesus’ story–both in his baptism and in the season of temptation he endured just after–is that we cannot grow, we cannot heal, we cannot even begin to join the work of Jesus and we cannot resist the forces that pull us from God, until we know that God is well pleased with us.  Until we believe that we are beloved–right now, right where we are.  Our right beginning is in being with God–not in doing for God.  Being–resting, rejoicing–in God’s loving voice calling us beloved, astonishing us with the revelation that when God beholds us, God is well pleased with us. 

Until we know this, we know nothing of God. 

Until we believe this, we can do nothing for God.  

This Lent we are allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us Into the Shadows–to face the things we run from, to confront the powers that overwhelm us.  And if we are brave (may God give us the grace to be brave), we will learn that God is in the shadows as much as in the bright.   And in the shadows we will find a deeper, richer, stronger, healthier faith in Christ.  

Peace,

Pastor Kate

P.S.  If you’d like to learn more about ‘being before doing,’ one of the truths a season in the shadows reveals to us–check out this podcast by Pete Scazzaro.  

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Scripture: Exodus 16:21-36

Dear Church,

The first thing the people had to learn how to do was–trust God.

The second the people had to learn was how to do was–rest.

Once you’ve mastered the first, the second is easy.  Without the first, the second is almost impossible.
If you want to measure how much you trust God, try to rest.  

You can’t keep sabbath until you trust God.  And if you can’t keep sabbath…

I hope you can join me for worship this Sunday. Together with the Holy Spirit, we’ll co-create a culture of sacred sabbath rest.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture: Exodus 16:1-21

‘if only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted…’

That’s what the Hebrew people said to Moses just 30 days after the Lord liberated them from Egyptian enslavement.  Isn’t memory a funny thing?  We compare the worst of what is to the best of what never was–and then we are swallowed up in despair.

It was a tricky moment for the soon-to-be-Israelites–they were camped out in the Desert of Sin and stuck between the life they had, and the life God was creating for them.  They were living in in-between times. The past was gone, and the future was unknown–they were scared and sad and so, so far out of their comfort zone.  So they grumbled and they complained, and they turned on Moses and God and one another.

And Moses told Aaron, ‘Say to the entire community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’

The people gathered in terror to find out what God would do to them.  And what happened next reveals everything about the nature of our God–whose goodness is far more beautiful than we ever dare to imagine.  

I don’t think I’m the only one struggling with fear and despair these days.  The pandemic should be over, but it isn’t.  I do a lot grumbling and complaining and creative remembering.  Sometimes, when I remember God hears, my heart fills with dread.  And then the Spirit leads me to stories like this one, and I remember–God is better than I expect or deserve. I remember, God’s goodness is for us, not against us. God meets us where we are, not where we think we should be.

If you are seeking hope and strength and grace in these days, I hope you join us as we gather to worship the God who met our ancestors in the Desert of Sin and fed them with the bread of heaven.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Dear Church,

All the hip young cool pastors have tattoos of their favorite Bible verses.  I am none of those things, and for this and many reasons I will never get inked.  But, if I did–it would be Exodus 3:12: And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

When he was young, Moses had dreams of being a revolutionary.  Though he grew up as Pharaoh’s son, he believed that he could set his people free.  And he tried and he failed, and he ran for his life and found…a comfortable one.  Minding his own business, a productive middle manager in his father in law’s shepherding business.  Until the day God pulled him aside and called back into the fight for freedom and justice–right back to the place of failure he’d spent his whole adult life putting behind him.  And when he asked God for a sign that God would make sure he wouldn’t flail and fail again, God said–and I’m paraphrasing Exodus 3:12–when you’re done, you’ll know it was me who did it.

#thanksGod

Life with God is abundant–it’s freedom, it’s flourishing, it’s receiving the grace to become the person you were created to be.  AND–it’s also deeply, deeply uncomfortable.  It’s walking toward the deepest places of suffering and pain in your world.  It’s facing all the parts of yourself and your past you’d rather run from.  It’s never going alone again.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Dear Church,

…poor – …meek – …mourning – …hungry & thirsty
…persecuted – …merciful – …peacemakers

Jesus climbed up a mountain and sat down to teach about his kingdom.   He began by saying that those were the blessed ones–the poor, meek, sad, longing, wounded, conflicted, persecuted ones.  How strange the realm of God is to us.  Most of us come to God seeking blessings–but these are not the blessings we desire.  If these are blessings, we pray for an empty cup.

This Sunday we begin a new worship series called ‘Uncomfortable Blessings,’ exploring the ways that God meets us, grows us, heals us and–yes–blesses us in the most difficult and painful times in our lives.  The irony is not lost on me that we’re turning to these ideas as many of us are living in one of the most prolonged seasons of discomfort and loss of our lives.  

But I promise you, church–this is good news.

Because Jesus has no need to lie to us.  Here he is reassuring us that even in our most broken human moments, God’s goodness hovers over us.  When our hearts are shattered by this fallen world, God’s goodness gathers the shards and binds us back together in grace.  Even when we are forced to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God’s goodness and mercy chase after us.  Wherever we are, however we are–God’s goodness follows and finds and frees us.

Jesus is announcing that the goodness of his Kingdom lifts up and restores those the world grinds down.  If your heart is heavy, if your soul is weary, this good news is especially for you.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Dear Church,

‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’  (Matthew 8:1-4)

For me, these are some of the most poignant words in all of scripture.  They were spoken by a man who was known, not by his name, but by his disease–leprosy.  His disease defined him and divided him from his community.  This Sunday we look at the final piece of our church’s mission statement–coming alive in Christ–and this story is particularly relevant because in Jesus’ day, people who contracted leprosy were considered spiritually dead.  Lepers were the original walking dead.  They still existed, but they could never belong.  Once you were identified as a leper–that was it.  You could never come back.

This man knew that Jesus could change his life, but he wondered if he would.  Many of us are living this story.  We know Jesus is able, but we too wonder if he is willing.

Friends–I hope you’ll join me as we consider what it means for us that Jesus is still able, and still willing to heal and restore the walking dead to life and community. What does it mean to be a community that doesn’t just read that story–but lives it?  What does it mean for us to join our brother, the no-longer-leper, walking in new life in Christ?

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King taught that ‘everybody can be great because anyone can serve.”

It makes sense that Dr. King thought this way–because he was a follower of Jesus, and Jesus taught that ‘the greatest among you shall be servant of all.’   In the Kingdom of God, greatness comes from serving, not being served–and that’s why serving is the heart center of our mission and life together at the Grove.  

But it’s not enough that we choose to serve–we must serve with mutuality, humility and deep, deep love.  We must serve like Jesus (John 13:1-17),

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Dear Church,

Ever since you took my hand, I’m on the right way.  (psalm 16:11, the message)

We stand on that glorious promise as we begin a new year together.  We stand with courage and hope–not because we’re confident about what’s going on around us or what’s within us–but because God has taken our hands and is leading us on the right way.  We can joyfully renew our commitment to our mission (inviting all to serve and come alive in Christ) because we’re not on our own.

Jesus is leading us (maybe sometimes dragging us) by the hand.  

This Sunday, we start at the beginning–inviting all.  

One of the most beautiful things about our life together is the love we have for one another.  But we must never forget that all who belong are not here yet.  The family hasn’t fully gathered.  Our mission is to always search the horizon to see how the Lord is leading us–not just to welcome, but to invite into the joy and belonging we find in Jesus.  

I hope you’ll join us as our friend Cedric Lundy preaches from Ephesians 2:11-16, to show why we are called to create a culture of inviting all–and how to do it!  

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture: Matthew 7:7  & Jonah 2:1-3:2

I have no resolutions for this new year. 

What I do have is a tremendous well of gratitude for the gift of being church with you all, a defiant hope in all that God is doing in our midst and a fierce resolve to partner as fully as I can with God and all of you in the days to come.

This Sunday, we begin a new worship series called “re:”. It’s a nod to all of those words we throw around in the month of January–recommit, renew, refresh, reclaim.  As is our tradition, we’ll be walking through the three parts of our unique mission at the Grove (inviting all to serve and come alive in Christ).  But first, this Sunday I’ll be sharing with you a word of the year that I hope will give us common focus and purpose for life together in our next season of being the Grove.

Curious?

I’ll leave you with some of the beautiful lyrics from the new songs Edmond and the team will be sharing with us–new songs for a new season, eternal truths that will anchor us for whatever lies ahead:

I’ll never be more loved than I am right now
Wasn’t holding you up
so I can never let you down…
Going through a storm but I won’t go down
You’ve never been closer than you are right now…

The song is holy because it’s true. 

Let’s learn to sing it–and live it–together with the Holy Spirit in the year to come!

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Dear Church,

It’s a new year, and something wholly new lies before us.  This is true every day, but most of the time we don’t know it.  We don’t notice.  Because of Jesus, we are always standing on the threshold of a new season, a new revelation, new possibilities with God–but often we are too blinded by fear, stress and familiarity to cross over.

This Sunday, we look at the story of Epiphany--where everyone receives the revelation that the messiah has come.  And most people do… nothing.  They are invested in the life they have.  They aren’t interested in participating in the new thing God is doing in their midst.  Or worse–they actively oppose it with deception and horrific violence.  The story of Epiphany shows us the gamut of human responses to God–we can participate in what God is doing, we can ignore it or we can actively oppose God’s will.

Every day we choose how we respond to the coming of Christ into the world.  Christmas is our celebration of the revelation that God is for us and here with us saving us.  But with revelation comes responsibility.  Now that we know, now that we have rejoiced–will we allow God to lead us to step into the new life Christ brings?  Or will we pack up our decorations and pick up where we left off?

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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