Advent Blog Post 3 - by Nancy Vander Meer
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

The year 2020 was like none most of us ever imagined. So many of our sisters and brothers at Alger Park Church experienced disappointments and frustrations this past year, exacerbated by COVID-19 and political situations. We all kept waiting for good news to come, for the weeks and months—and the year—to just be over. Yet sometimes it seemed like the news kept getting worse.

I don’t know many people who like to wait, especially through difficult times. In challenging situations, we are tempted (and often succumb) to blaming God. “Where are You, God? Why are You allowing this pain, these disappointments, the setbacks? We believe the everlasting covenant You’ve made with us (Isaiah 61:8), but we aren’t seeing it. It’s a little (or a lot!) difficult to rejoice and praise You right now (v. 10).  My faith is faltering.”

Ah, but isn’t that exactly when our faith grows? When we see God being faithful no matter the circumstances. Even when we can’t see His immediate plan, we stand rock solid on God’s truth and past experiences of His faithfulness. During some deep disappointments in my earlier years, I held on to the encouragement in a song by Pam Thumb. The chorus kept repeating, “When you can’t see His hand, trust His heart.”

Our pastors have often reminded us to look for God’s big picture. I imagine this Sunday they’ll explain how the people of God in Isaiah 61 were able to go from the ashes to crowns; from mourning to joy, from a spirit of despair to a garment of praise. Because Yahweh is the faithful covenant God who keeps His promises.
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We may have to wait for the bigger big picture in the circumstances we are struggling with. We will have to wait for the perfection of Christ’s kingdom here on earth. But while we’re waiting, God continues to send glimpses of His grace, and reminders of His faithfulness, even—or especially—through the difficult times. We can now look for and see the Greater Good News that Jesus came to earth to dwell among us (John 1:14); to experience everything and anything we might be going through (Hebrews 4:14-24); to proclaim the Good News to the poor, brokenhearted, prisoners in darkness, mourners (Isaiah 61:1). He is waiting with us, and that gives amazing hope.

In what ways are you seeing God at work in your time of waiting?

Advent Blog Post 2 - by Jamie Reynolds​

There’s something a little bit magical about Advent as a child: four weeks of candles, carols, and stories at church while colored lights, ornamented trees, and ribboned gifts pop up everywhere else.  Advent is a marathon of anticipation, of waiting, and Christmas is the finish line.  However, as an adult, I feel like I have become painfully aware that when we do finally reach Christmas Day, our waiting is actually far from over. When Jesus was born, humanity’s initial wait for the arrival of the Savior indeed came to an end.  But when Jesus died and rose, when Jesus ascended to return to God in heaven, we began waiting anew – waiting for him to come once again, to complete the work of redemption he began in the manger.

At the end of a year like this one, that thought can make Advent feel a bit like poor comfort.  We are living through a pandemic that has upended our lives, devastated families, and impoverished countless people in the midst of heartbreaking political and racial unrest.  On days when our world is so obviously broken, it can feel like Christ’s Birth just isn’t enough.  Jesus came to save us – an act of extreme grace that, without question, merits every ounce of celebration that we can pour out – but I also find myself yearning so deeply for The Rest of It.  I’m ready for that second part, the Big Finish where Jesus comes back and, as Sally Lloyd-Jones puts it in The Jesus Storybook Bible, “make[s] all the sad things come untrue.”  I am ready for the fulfillment of comfort, not just the promise that comfort is coming.

Those feelings can make God’s words to Isaiah in the midst of Israel’s own devastation into a bit of an emotional roller coaster.  While I feel such relief at God’s command that Isaiah declare bold, tender, and certain comfort to his people, to joyfully “cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned,” that “ Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low,” that “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms,” I look around me and ask the anguished question of, “But when?  When?”

And yet.
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Somehow, in the midst of that anguish, the comfort refuses to evaporate completely, like an echo remaining just within earshot.  Maybe at times like this, the comfort comes when we whisper fervently in the depths of our hearts, “This is not the way things are supposed to be!” and the Spirit whispers back, “Oh, my child.  I know.”  Maybe Advent is the time when we celebrate that whisper, when we cling to it, waiting for its completion, its fulfillment.  We wait to celebrate the comfort of Christmas – the comfort that the end of our divine separation began with the birth of a tiny baby, and that redemption is still in motion – even as we wait some more for the day of Reunion, when comfort will finally come in its full and complete form. 

​By Sam Gutierrez
 
For the next four weeks, we will be featuring four Alger Park members as guest writers on the blog.  This year for Advent, we’ll be doing a series around the theme of “Hope” and I’ve asked them to write something based on this theme:

• Week 1: Hope for Intervention – Annalise Kontras
• Week 2: Hope for Comfort – Jamie Reynolds
• Week 3: Hope for Good News – Nancy Vander Meer
• Week 4: Home for Home – Lauren Cooper

 
In this season of diminishing light, while we huddle at home in the midst of a global pandemic, these writers will share thoughts, stories, reflections, and questions as fellow pilgrims on the journey.  None of these good folks have seminary degrees or theological doctorates.  They are just ordinary people who are trying to say a deep and heartfelt “yes” to the call of Jesus to “follow me.”  If you have been following Jesus for any length of time, then you know the path of discipleship is not one confident step in front of the other.  Rather, it’s like a wandering in the desert – there's a clear destination in view, but often you feel lost and turned around half (if not most!) of the time – one step forward, two steps back.  My hope is that as you read these upcoming blogs, each writer will light a candle for you – a light shining in the darkness as we reorient ourselves once again and head towards home. 
 
Waiting is not easy.  We get impatient.  We get frustrated.  Even the prospect of waiting in a long line at Chick-Fil-A has us looking for another place that sells waffle-cut fries.  But waiting is also soul shaping.  As we wait, we grow.  As we wait, we breathe deep and steady allowing the spiritual “room” inside of us to expand.  Yes, waiting is hard, but hope marks our waiting with expectation – knowing that the one who makes promises will always come through. 

By Sam Gutierrez
 
When I was in Middle School Band, I learned how to play the saxophone.  Learning how to make sound through a wooden reed was hard enough, but learning an instrument was also about learning about music and how to read music.  When I first started, there were a lot of strange symbols decorating the sheet music. One of the new symbols that I had to recognize and learn to play skillfully was the crescendo.  A crescendo starts softly and gets louder as the note is held out. 
 
We are nearing the end of the liturgical calendar.  We’ve been in a beautiful but long season of Ordinary Time when the church lives out it’s calling as the hands of feet of Jesus in the world.  You might think of Ordinary Time as a long extended musical note.  But as we near the end of the calendar (the first Sunday in Advent is a New Year) we see a musical notation for a crescendo!  All of this is leading towards “Christ the King Sunday” when we acknowledge and worship Christ – the King of Heaven and Earth. 
 
The Lectionary (collection of Bible passages every Sunday) also crescendos.  Leading up to Christ the King Sunday, the Lectionary focuses on Bible passages that are all about “getting ready” for this sure and coming reality.
 
In Lectionary Year A, the Lectionary takes a deep dive into the three parables found in Matthew 25.  All the parables are about wise people who are ready for the coming King, and foolish people who are not ready.  Jesus quite clearly states that he will come back to establish his good and sovereign rule on earth, but no one knows the exact day or hour.  It could be soon.  It could be a long way off.  In the end, it will be a huge surprise – for everyone – including Jesus himself (only the Father knows the exact day and hour).  So – how can we get ready for a surprise? 
 
That seems strange doesn’t it?  The very nature of a surprise is that you are not prepared for it. That is what makes a birthday surprise so exciting – an unsuspecting person walks into a darkened room only to be startled by a flip of the light switch and a chorus of “Surprise!” Jesus tells us that his coming will be just like that – a complete surprise.  But he doesn’t want us be to unprepared.  So he tells us to get ready.
 
For many, the return of Jesus strikes fear in our hearts and sends anxiety coursing through our veins.  Surprises are usually good and fun; this one, however, feels more like we’re getting caught with our hand in the cookie jar.  But notice that Jesus doesn’t say “Therefore – be afraid… because you are sinners and everyone is in BIG TROUBLE NOW!”  No.  He says, “Therefore – keep watch.” 
 
Jesus is telling us ahead of time how it’s all going to end.  He will come back and he will sit on the throne of the universe.  It’s like he’s telling us how the movie is going to end – and rather than spoiling the plot – his “reveal” actually gives us hope and purpose as we struggle through the mess of our ordinary lives – knowing that it all has a purpose and history is heading towards a wonderful and amazing end. 
 
To get ready for a surprise is to live today while knowing tomorrow. It means to live your life in a way that synchronizes with how all things will be someday.  It’s about saying “yes” to the sure and coming reality of Christ the King. 
 
Are you ready for the crescendo?  

By Sam Gutierrez
 
Revelation 7:9-10
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
 
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. 
 
Apostles Creed
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
      the holy catholic church,
      the communion of saints,
      the forgiveness of sins,
      the resurrection of the body,
      and the life everlasting. Amen.
 
Every year, the liturgical calendar creates space to highlight an important aspect of our faith that often gets overlooked – the communion of saints.  We remember this day every November with a Sunday designated as “All Saints Sunday.” Passages from Revelation and Hebrews paint a picture for us: in and through Christ, we belong to a great multitude of diverse persons who have one thing in common – God’s grace.
 
No one who stands before Christ can stand on their own merit.  Some have said that the ground before the cross is level ground – everyone is a sinner in need of grace.  The same thing could be said about the ground before the throne of Christ – it’s level ground because those gathered there did nothing to earn their place.  Everyone stands before the throne as a recipient of God’s grace and loyal love.
 
The Worship Sourcebook says this about All Saints Sunday, “The focus on All Saints’ Day should not be on extraordinary achievements of particular Christians but on the grace and work of God through ordinary people.”
 
The focus of All Saints day is not the “saints.” The focus is God’s goodness and grace flowing through ordinary people like you and me.  We are not good because of anything we have done or achieved… we are good because God’s goodness shines on us and through us. 
 
This past year, fourteen people passed away who belonged to the body of Christ located at 2655 Eastern Ave – Alger Park Church.  They are no longer with us in physical body.  But they are not forgotten, nor are they truly gone in the biblical sense. They are with Christ – around the throne worshipping him now and forever.  And because they are in Christ, and we are in Christ, we are still connected to them through Christ. 
 
All Saints day points to a wonderful promise: that one day, death will be banished once and for all and God’s people will be gathered together around the throne of grace.  Death is a barrier that separates us temporarily…but not even death can ultimately keep us from God’s love or from one another as God’s people, as Paul tell us in Romans 8:38,
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
 
This coming Sunday, we worship God with an eye towards the eternal family that God is creating – adopted sons and daughters who belong to each other and to God.
 
Join me in this prayer –
 
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we give you thanks for members of the body of Christ who passed away this past year:
 
Frank Bolt
​Joyce Bolt
Maxine Bruinsma
Sharon Doornbos
Larry Hanenburg
Irene Klomp
Janet Knol
Roger Kok
Julia Kolkman
Ethel Lucas
Jack Spaak
Herb Start
Theresa Vanlier
Rebecca VerHoef
 
Give us faith to look beyond touch and sight to see that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.  Enable us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Amen.

By Cameron Warne
 
Sometimes a quote, a piece of art, or a new idea sends me down a theological bunny trail. I have to admit that it’s usually the ones that are controversial and slightly heretical that catch my interest and ultimately force me to grow the most. What’s the truth here? What have I been taught my whole life? What do I really believe? What are the implications?
 
One that I’ve been chewing on recently are words by the writer, monk and activist Thomas Merton:
 
“His love is unpossessive.
His love is pure because it needs nothing.”
 
I have always thought that when we become citizens of God’s Kingdom, we are essentially “possessed” or “owned” by God. The apostle Paul often uses the language “slave of God” and he references the Christian being branded with a “seal of ownership” (2 Corinthians 1:22). Even when God tells us not to fear, he adds the clause, “You are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). So, is what Merton is saying true?
 
And what about Merton’s second sentence: “His love is pure because it needs nothing”?
I know that I need God but I’d also like to think that God needs me. It’s a two-way street.  After all, “How shall others believe in him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14). I, too, want to own God…
 
And these questions lead to a million more questions: What about the gift of free will? What is the nature of freedom and grace? Is God really a slaveholder?  A jealous boyfriend? Are we capable of a pure love when we like to be needed?
                            
Calm down, Cameron.
 
Mr. Rogers Saves the Day
For the past couple years, the program we’ve watched the most with our daughters is the Mister Rogers opera, “A Star for Kitty.” It tells the story of a Kitty (Betty Aberlin) who wishes for a star of her own for her birthday. The star she chooses is “Tiny Star” (played by puppet Daniel Tiger) and she tries to take “Tiny Star”. With the help of “half moons,” Kitty learns that “Tiny Star” needs to stay at his home in the sky. As Kitty relinquishes her control of “Tiny Star,” she begins to shine like a star herself and has a wonderful birthday.
 
It’s what Mr. Rogers says at the end that is so striking and wise. Near tears, he says:
 
“When Kitty started to care about what 'Tiny Star' was feeling, that’s when she started to twinkle. And then she realized that nobody could own a star, just like nobody can own anybody else. Nobody owns you and nobody owns me. But people can care about us, just the way we are. And we can help each other to feel at home, no matter where we are.”
 
Mr. Rogers’ last two sentences showed me what I had missed from Merton’s quote: His love is pure. Mr. Rogers calls it "care" - loving people as they are and where they are. Making them feel at home. Unpossessing.
 
We see this most clearly in the life of Jesus when Mary breaks numerous social norms by pouring expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet (wiping them with her hair) while He is reclining at a table with His male friends (John 12: 1-8). He takes her on her terms and freely accepts her gift of open, unorthodox worship. He makes her feel at home by sticking up for her when her gift is questioned (verse 7). He doesn’t need the worship, but accepts it freely. Her only need is to be herself.
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Mr. Roger’s speaking begins at 5:06
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8hho4

by Sam Gutierrez
As cultural memories of Christianity fade and denominational barriers erode, how do we create warm and safe space for everyone to belong?  Especially with an eye towards our unchurched friends, neighbors and co-workers?  How do we kindly and courageously invite both young and old, from various backgrounds to find their part in God’s rich redemptive story in and through Christ?  When it comes to worship, one option is to reduce the worship service to the bare bones – modern, popular worship songs and a practical down to earth message.
 
Another option is for the church to lean into two thousand years of church life, practices and worship, while putting its hospitality foot forward.  Practices that have proven themselves over time and unite Christians from various backgrounds all around the globe. Then finding creative and contemporary ways to frame these practices so that worship is not only formative, but welcoming.
 
At Alger, we lean into the second option.  This recent blog series on faith formation draws on this rich history of formative practices such as the liturgical year, the lectionary, Scripture memory, storytelling and prayer.  When it comes to worship, we recognize that worship begins with Trinitarian grace.  That works itself out in a number of different ways:
Worship is slow. We recognize that because God welcomes us as we are, and because God generally does not transform lives overnight, we are called to be patient. As leaders, we are more interested in what happens in people’s lives and hearts over a period of 52 worship services than in creating a single exciting spiritual experience. (although these also have their place).
Worship is broad and specific. We seek to be “catholic” in the sense that we align ourselves with the church of all times and places. Where traditions and practices are helpful in faith formation, we are happy to adopt them, recognizing that our Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters often have more acute memories and many riches to offer us. Even in this breadth, we also recognize that there is great value in specific movements that have been a mainstay of our Reformed tradition, which is why our services also follow Reformed patterns of worship (invocation, confession, assurance, Scripture, communion, etc.).
 
Worship is deep and accessible. We believe words matter and so we choose them with care. We want our language to be accessible to people at all stages on their faith journey and to people of all ages, not merely “Christian jargon.” To do this, we think carefully before using words that might only be familiar to the long-time Christian, we provide context for ideas that might be new, and we frame our actions to help our newer friends understand what we are doing.  We invite everyone to participate in the deep practices of the church such as reciting creeds, baptismal remembrance, confession of sins, passing the peace of Christ and receiving a blessing.  We want to lean into the deep practices, while making them accessible people at various stages of understanding, acceptance and belief.
Worship is for the young and for the old (and all the ages in between). We believe faith formation does not begin when everything is understood, but is often a long journey of faithful step after step. For this reason, we delight in having children participate in worship both from the congregation and on stage, being sure that we use ideas and language they can understand. We also seek to have worship of significance for those at every stage of life, recognizing that God welcomes all of us (young and old) into his presence.
Worship is welcoming. We believe we best show God’s generous character when our worship is welcoming. As leaders of worship, we practice this by providing framing for historical practices, addressing the audience as friends at times, and inviting visitors to fill out connection cards. We also practice this by passing the peace of Christ and welcoming all who say “yes” to the grace of Jesus to participate in receiving communion.

There are many good faith formation practices that I did not mention in this current blog series.  My goal was to simply highlight some powerful tools that have stood the test of time.  May God grant us his grace as we practice our faith – asking the Spirit to transform and shape us into the image of Jesus.  The point is not the practices/tools.  The point is to open up your heart and say “yes” to God.  Then to allow yourself to be used by him to bless the world. 

By Sam Gutierrez
 
My first job after graduating college was at a church 30 minutes north of Sacramento.  After a bit of time I made some friends in the area.  One friend was a youth pastor who worked with high school students in a nearby Presbyterian church.  I still remember the day we were sitting in a sandwich shop eating lunch, when he said to me, “I have no idea how to pray.”  His confession made me glad for his honesty, and sad that someone raised in the church and now working for the church had no idea how to pray.
 
I don’t think he is alone.  All of us at one time or another can honestly confess, “I don’t know how to pray.”  Sometimes words escape us.  We don’t know how to phrase things, or we don’t know what we should ask for (should we ask for complete healing or courage to endure the pain with patience–or both–or neither?).
 
The only way to grow in prayer is to pray. 
 
So. We stumble around with words. Our feelings around prayer are jumbled and mixed at times. We know prayer is important, but we often feel guilty about not praying enough. We marvel at the miracle of an answered prayer and then feel completely perplexed when God seems silent or distant about a prayer request that seems so reasonable and straight forward. There are moments when we sense God’s presence when we pray, but too often we feel nothing. We try our best to express our needs and wants (trying not to mix up the two).  Some of us feel nervous to pray out loud in a group setting for fear of saying something dumb or because we are afraid of being judged.  
 
We gather for worship and pray prayers for people in the community–some we know well, others not so much. We pray the Lord’s prayer, we pray the prayer of Saint Francis, we pray the Psalms.  We borrow words, and we constantly search to find the words that give voice to our deepest longings, suffering and pain.  We pray prayers that seem rote at times. Sometimes we want to give up… and yet we can feel so encouraged when someone says to us, “I’ll pray about that.” And we know they will.  Offering to pray for others is a very simple and powerful way to say, " I care about you and what is going on in your life." 
 
Prayer is a central faith formation practice.  However, it’s a practice that we never conquer or become experts in.  We are always starting over, wandering in the dark, and finding old and new ways to let God know what is going on in our lives and the lives of those we love.  As we pray again and again – imperfectly, God shapes us into the image of his Son. 
 
Prayer is mysterious.  Prayer is beautiful.  Prayer is strange.  Prayer is challenging.  Prayer is all those things and more. We pray because Jesus taught us to and because praying is a part of what it means to answer the call of Jesus when he says, "Follow me."

By Sam Gutierrez
 
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
1 Timothy 3:16,17
 
I shared the following story a few months ago:  In my early 20’s, I spent some time memorizing Psalm 19.  I took two or three weeks slowly repeating the Psalm to myself and letting it slowly trickle down into the depths of my heart and mind.  Then, I forgot about it.
 
Years later, on a sunny afternoon in early summer, I took my road bike from the shed and headed out on a long leisurely ride.  Slowly the trail rose and I found myself overlooking the most beautiful green gorge filled with deciduous trees and a gentle meandering river.  The sky above was expansive and blue with a few white puffy clouds.   Suddenly, the first few verses of Psalm 19 came pouring out of my memory – “the heavens declare the glory of God!  The skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech!”  As my legs propelled the bicycle up the side of the hill, more and more of the Psalm came pouring out – “There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard –
Their voice goes out into all the earth – their words to the ends of the earth… “
 
Thinking back on that moment now, the most surprising part of that afternoon was discovering that the words of Psalm 19 were quietly stored in my heart.  They were waiting there, ready at a moment’s notice to give me the words of praise that captured so perfectly what I was experiencing.   
 
Have you ever tried memorizing scripture? It’s a wonderful practice that gets you into scripture in an intimate way. There are a lot of good books about the Bible and they have their place. But too often we look to these resources and inadvertently substitute them for the actual words of scripture. 
 
So far in this series of faith formation blog posts, I’ve talked about the liturgical year, the lectionary, and story-telling.  These practices help shape our communal life together. Memorizing scripture is primarily personal.  Of course, whatever is memorized can be shared with others, but the hard work of getting scripture into the heart and mind is something that mostly happens in private. 
 
I truly believe that this practice is one of the most powerful faith formative practices that any person can do.  Scripture is powerful and alive, and God uses scripture to shape us into the image of his Son.  Hebrews 4:12 says – “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
 
I’ll end with these words from John Calvin on the uniqueness of scripture:
“Now, this power which is peculiar to Scripture is clear from the fact that of human writings, however artfully polished, there is none capable of affecting us at all comparably. Read Demosthenes or Cicero; read Plato, Aristotle, and others of that tribe. They will, I admit, allure you, delight you, move you, enrapture you in wonderful measure.
 
But betake yourself from them to this sacred reading. Then, in spite of yourself, so deeply will it affect you, so penetrate your heart, so fix itself in your very marrow, that, compared with its deep impression such vigor as the orators and philosophers have will nearly vanish. Consequently, it is easy to see that the Sacred Scriptures, which so far surpass all gifts and graces of human endeavor, Breathe something divine.” (Institutes Book 1, Section 1)