Pastor Tom's Journal

Transfiguration and Transformation “The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!” — Psalm 99:1 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” — 2 Corinthians 3:16 “Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.” 2 Corinthians 4:1 “And all were astounded at the greatness of God.” — Luke 9:43a Sermon Outline View it; listen, take it; borrow it, change it to suit you; preach it. The View of God — Exodus 34:29–35 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with the...

SILENCE ... ... loud, audacious silence. I say nothing, grunt nothing, shout nothing. That tree fell in the forest and no one heard a thing because there was nothing to be heard. Which means ... I guess when I grunt and shout over such things, I must be playing to the audience and there must be a reason I do. When I am alone, I just stop and clean it, fix it, or bandage it.                                          Let's just take care of business ... or whatever we need to take care of ...

The best is yet to come! " When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him." (John 2:9-11 ESV) It's not the end of the party yet. The real party has just begun!

Swanson, John August. Story of Joseph, from Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56562 [retrieved February 23, 2025]. Original source: Estate of John August Swanson, https://www.johnaugustswanson.com/.   Genesis 45:3–11, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant o...

Blessings and Curses   You might say that blessings and curses are two different experiences of the same reality. The ultimate reality is God, revealed, present, speaking, acting in history, confronting us in our lives. The experience of God is  how we respond. That determines whether an encounter with God is a blessing or a curse.   Jeremiah 17:5-10 Those who trust the Lord are like trees   Thus says the LORD: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the LORD. They shall be like a shrub in the desert and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.   Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does no...