Every Palm Sunday I preach one of the longer sermons I preach. We follow the 3-year lectionary cycle and Palm Sunday always has the most readings of the year. Mark’s version of the passion this year is no exception. I hope you don’t mind that I read it all from The Message, the plain-English translation of the Bible. It’s just so awesome, and even though it’s long—such a great story! Thank you for indulging me. 

It’s Holy Week and every year I think, pray, contemplate, and reflect: Is this the end of the story? Or is it the beginning of the story? And it bears repeating. 

I do a little preaching on that because I wonder! 
Every year I wonder: 
Is this the end of the story? Or is it the beginning of the story?

To me, this year it feels like it’s the beginning of the next chapter for Fairmount Presbyterian Church. 

Session meets for April on the 12th and we’ll be talking about coming back in person for worship in the coming weeks. We will always have Facebook Live going forward, so don’t worry about that. But when we come back in person, we’ll be outdoors only at first. 

This morning (Tuesday, March 30) the COVID numbers in Hunterdon are raging! We have to be careful. So, we plan to determine when we can reliably count on the temperature to be comfortable enough to be outside at 10am on Sundays. We know you want to be back in person—we all want to be back in person as soon as it’s warm enough--as soon as it’s safe. 

Our session will soon appoint a task force committee to lead us in Telling Our Story, the discernment study for what God is calling us to do and be for this time and place going forward. How do we do church post-pandemic? Who are we? What is God calling us to do and be? This is the job of Telling Our Story. If session approaches you to serve on this task force, step up! It’ll be interesting and fun, I promise!

And it all comes from us—individually and collectively—what the Spirit is calling us to be comes from all of us. Each of us. The whole is greater than the sum of our parts. Together.

The Spirit is clearly moving you, growing you, pushing you. Even in the pandemic! And more is coming: Ways to connect. Ways to study. Ways to serve. Ways to live into this life in Jesus Christ.

More ways to become who we are.

We’re reclaiming the church vision that drove our founders, calls to our leadership, calls to our staff, even calls to me. A vision that calls to you. A vision that calls us to be a church that is part of the community, not apart from it. And this is only a new beginning.

This is Holy Week and as we follow Jesus to the Cross, we’ve gotta own the whole Gospel as we truly are the passion. We are the story. We don’t get to Easter without Maundy Thursday and Good Friday! 

Make time for some deep contemplation, reflection, and prayer.
Every day is a new beginning.
And, when you look in the mirror—ask yourself. 
When I follow Jesus to the Cross, what does that mean to me? 
What does it mean to “be” the gospel?

Because life transformation—the person you see in the mirror?
This is exactly what life change looks like.
 
Let’s do this—so, what is it?

The end of the story? Or the beginning of the story?

Grace & Peace,
Scott

​I’m in the middle of the writing phase of my DMin project (Doctor of Ministry) in Public Theology at Drew University. We are scheduled to graduate in August. This has been an amazing and interesting experience not the least of which is influenced by the pandemic.
 
Our lead mentors are part of the Middle Project, a non-profit multi-faith, multi-cultural, anti-racist group. The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is lead pastor at Middle Collegiate Church in NYC. Very cool East Village neighborhood with a lot of life and energy.
 
In a tragic turn of events, Middle Church was destroyed by fire early in the morning of December 4, 2020. It was of course empty at that hour but had been empty anyway due to the pandemic. They have been worshipping remotely via technology for over a year now. No meetings in their building what-so-ever.
 
Middle is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-orientation, multi-faith, multi-everything church! They have close to 1500 members now and their worship is so energetic. Even streaming worship on the internet captures the life and times of this congregation as they overcome this awful event and work to rebuild.
 
Middle has a Sesame Street-like puppet thing for the “Message for All Ages” like a “Young People’s Message.”  They will do very moving stuff like “Blackbird” from the Beatles with a liturgical dancer. Amazing! Their singers do songs like “How Deep Is Your Love?”—yes, the Bee Gees. You can imagine, this just fires me up.
 
You know what’s really interesting? Since the pandemic began, over 200 new people have joined their church just from online new member classes, Zoom small groups, streaming worship. All that.
 
It is just over-the-top incredible!
 
The Spirit is on fire!
And the common thread is true love.
“Revolutionary Love” is something they talk about all the time at Middle.
 
Love is something we all share in common no matter our faith tradition. We’re all about love. All of us. Love of God (or whatever label we use), love of neighbor, love of community, love of self.
 
How do we love each other?
How do we do for each other?
How do we live it out?
 
It’s the “New Commandment” right out of Jesus in John 13: 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
 
What’s that look like? More important--what’s that feel like?
Well, stick around and watch what happens!
 
Fairmount Church is obviously still doing almost everything online while the pandemic numbers continue to rage all around us. Most of you are getting the vaccine or getting your doses scheduled as you become eligible. We’re doing all the things we need to do to protect each other in order to be ready to come back together in person as soon as possible.
 
The engagement level for our worship online is huge! It’s on par with churches many times our size. There’s no reason to stop worship streaming online even when we return to in-person meetings. The technology just extends our footprint! It just extends the love.
 
We’re just trying to be church and get through this pandemic to do our discernment work later this year. What is God calling us to do and be post-pandemic? What is the Spirit pushing us to do and be?
 
How are we following Jesus?
That’s all about love.
It’s bigger than you and me.
It’s deep.
It’s wide.
It’s profound.
 
Your session is committed. I am committed. And you too are committed.
It shows in your engagement.
 
Jump in and watch what happens!
The Spirit is on fire!
The Spirit is kicking us around!
What’s next for us?
Let’s just see what happens.
It’s all about love.
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott

So, it occurred to me this last Sunday that we’re in the second half now. For Lent. Only one more Sunday and then it’s Palm Sunday—and we’re right into Holy Week and Easter Sunday.  
 
This is as good a time as any for the halftime pep-talk.
 
I’m sure this won’t surprise anybody. I was one of those kids who always had to have something going on. The older I am, the better I get about it.
 
Once when I was working on my Masters, I was complaining to one of my mentors about the sun not coming up early enough for me to sit outside and study. He says, “Well, what’s wrong with just sitting?” And I’m all like, “these books don’t read themselves.” But, just sitting is hard—even though I’m better about it as time goes on.
 
If you’ve ever read the Richard Foster book, Celebration of Discipline--it really informs how I “just sit.” Because I see that time “just sitting” as time with God. Like focused. And very real. Very present.
 
Sometimes it’s meditation. Sometimes it’s prayer. “Just sitting” is a way of submission for me. I’m really trying. I’m really trying to work all this in.
 
But Holy Week is coming. It’s out there: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday (we’re teaming up again with the Methodists both on Zoom and Facebook Live at 7pm), then Good Friday, Easter Sunday. Pow! It’s all coming fast.
 
So how are you doing?
We’re in the second half.
How’s it going for you?
 
I hope and pray that you’re living into your plan, whatever that looks like. I hope and pray you’re living into your fasting or your own set of disciplines or new things you’re trying. I hope that’s working for you.
 
Don’t worry if it’s not. You can always jump back on track or try a new track—try something new if what you’re doing isn’t happening. Setting up new routines is okay.
 
This is not “law.” Richard Foster cautions about that, actually: “Nothing puts people into bondage like religion.” So, let that go right away. Don’t hold onto to all this so tightly.
 
Having said that, I have one routine that never gets old. Never! My quiet time in the mornings. Even if I’m not “just sitting,” I don’t ever get tired of spending time with God. Not ever.
 
Carve out some time for yourself to do the same. Spend a little time with God. Maybe just sitting. Time with God is good time—always in all ways. It saves me.
 
Oswald Chambers puts it this way: “We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with its common everyday tasks. The routine of life is actually God’s way of saving us between our times of great inspiration…” Thanks Ozzy!
 
So here we are post half-time. I don’t know what your routine looks like, but I can only testify to my experience. I can encourage you to develop a spiritual routine of your own. Do it for yourself and I promise it won’t feel routine. Not ever.         
 
Whatever you do, it will save you between your times of great inspiration. It will see you through. It gets you through the second half.
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott

Remember those billboards that were all over the country a few years ago with messages from God? They were so cool, so funny, so awesome!
 
Let’s meet at my house Sunday before the game.
—God
 
One nation under me.
—God
 
Well, you did ask for a sign.
—God
 
So, I bounce into the Community House this week and guess who shows up?

​Right? What else needs to be said?
 
Grace & Peace,
Scott