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...

We are delivered hard lessons in life, hard, redemptive lessons, the likes of which are recounted in Psalm 78. These came upon an entire nation. They would wander, rebel, stumble, suffer, and repent, get up, be blessed, and sin again. "In spite of all this, they went on sinning * and had no faith in his wonderful works." (v.32) In what ways is sin reduced to having no faith? Sin - judgement - repentance - blessing - sin. When does God get enough? The section ends with " But he was so merciful that he forgave their sins and did not destroy them; many times he held back his anger and did not permit his wrath to be roused. For he remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that goes forth and does not return. (38-39) Then, the psalm goes on and the pattern continues and intensifies until it crescendos in the time of its composition with a surprising summary of grace: God sent them a shepherd with a servant's heart. That was His answer, a shepherd. "So h...

  Isaiah 49:1-12 New International Version Listen to me, you islands;      hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the  Lord  called me;      from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,      in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow      and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, “You are my servant,      Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” But I said, “I have labored in vain;      I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the  Lord ’s hand,      and my reward is with my God.” And now the  Lord  says—      he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him      and gather Israel to himself, for I am ...

The Word Today Is “Today” What’s in a day? This Day Today What is in a book? The book. The Torah, Law, measuring stick of life. The reading of the prophetic word in scripture from David to Ezra and Nehemiah to Jesus to us proclaims, “Today.” The prophetic word is God speaking, whether about the past or the future, focused on today – what to do today, how to live today, how to think about today. David sang a song of praise for that word in his day. He sang the wonders of The Word in creation and then, in written form. Psalm 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Nature is God’s troubadour announcing His glory to humanity. The activity of God in creation is true to His character and there is much to be known of Him through observation, meditation, and contemplation prompted by an appreciation of all that He has made. The old adage that we must stop and smell the roses is an appropriate reminder to look for examples of the glory of...