As Far As The Eye Can See

As Far As The Eye Can See

Part two of Pastor Rey's reflection on his trip to Africa. There he had a chance to meet amazing people and to be reawakened in his faith. He saw the light that shines in the many people working to help overcome the darkness and suffering in African slums.

The scope. The gravity. The magnitude. The sheer monstrosity of it overwhelms.

I could never have imagined. As far as I could see in either direction, I was surrounded by the ‘Mathera’ slum. It has a million people packed into indescribable living conditions, and it is not even the largest slum in Nairobi! Researchers have estimated about two thirds of the 3 million inhabitants live in slums. The slums are full of darkness according to any measure: poverty, HIV, drugs, orphans, and gangs.

Yet in the midst of the darkness is a light. There is a school led by a saint named Richard, who has started a church in the ‘Mathera’ slum. He noticed that after church, many of the children would have nowhere to go, as they were orphans. So he started a school called Patmos.

Currently, there are 88 children, most of which are orphans from nursery to sixth grade. The entire school structure is made of old tin makeshift walls and is no bigger than a 15ft x 15ft. The classrooms are all combined as they only have 4 teachers who can works months without receiving payment. The first thing Richard told me was "I love God and I love these children. And I know God loves these children too."

At Patmos the students receive an education, a meal and a family. And through it all they receive the love of God.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5 NIV)

Like what you see but want more? Check out Washington Cathedral's website for more information.

Ridiculous Recovery

Ridiculous Recovery

Pastor Rey continues the sermon series, Tales of Ridiculous Faith. Looking at the life of Elisha, Rey reminded us how easy it is to lose our spiritual edge. We must be aware of spiritual health and with God be restored when we've dulled.

Main Idea: God can help you find what you didn't mean to lost. Our God restores.

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What do you do when you're swinging away and you lose your spiritual edge? 1. Be honest as to where you lost it. 2. With God's help take back what you lost.

It is not too late to be the person you could have been. It is not too late to get back what you lost... with the power of God.

Like what you see but want more? Check out Washington Cathedral's website for more information.

75% Survival Rate

75% Survival Rate

Pastor Rey recently returned from Africa where he had a chance to meet amazing people, to be reawakened in his faith. He was shown miraculous acts of God and was inspired by the people he met.

None of us would settle for those odds.  In almost any arena of our life, 75% is not good enough especially when it comes to our children.  I wouldn't accept a 75% survival rate for my children, family or friends.  That would mean 25% would not make it.  That's not good enough.  I'm sure anyone of us would do whatever was necessary to ensure the number increases so that our loved one would survive.

I met a man named Nehemiah who would gladly exchange a 75% survival rate than what he experienced in his childhood.  His mom and dad had 16 children.  Only 4 survived.  The other 12 children died of malaria, a preventable and treatable disease.  The cost of the medicine was a few dollars, but it might as well have been millions of dollars for Nehemiah's parents.  So Nehemiah being the fourth youngest buried his three younger siblings.  His family's survival rate was 25%, a tragic figure that is sadly common for many in Africa.

Nehemiah did survive, through many miraculous acts of God. As he recounted his story to us, tears flowed from his eyes.  He explained how as an orphan he felt powerless, vulnerable, and headed for a life of misery.  He saw it in his older siblings and in the children all around him.  What chance could he have to escape?  When he lost his father, he wasn't even allowed to go to the public school so he would sit outside by the window listening to the teacher 'stealing education.'

By the grace of God, he was able to receive a first class education in Nairobi, which led to a great paying job far away from the misery of his past.  But God called Nehemiah to return.  To start a school and several orphanages and to care for the children who are now facing what he faced as a child.

Now Nehemiah wants to serve God by changing the survival rate.  He wants children to experience the love of their Heavenly Father.  So he has started a school in the Soweto slums with 3 orphanages.  He has also started a school back in his village with 1 orphanage.  In total he is serving close to 2000 children.  And he is not settling for a 75% survival rate.  He is chasing after Gods best for each and every child.

Like what you see but want more? Check out Washington Cathedral's website for more information.

Don't Lose Your Spiritual Edge

Check out our new devotional series, 3 Minute Thoughts, a devotional thought in three minutes or less.

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Ridiculous Promises

Ridiculous Promises

We all want to know God's plan for our lives, but sometimes God's plan doesn't feel very close to our lives. This week, pastor Ben showed that it just takes is a small change in perspective to be able to see it.

The Story

The story of Naaman and Elisha shows us that God's providence is always near, usually closer than we realize. God had used Naaman to liberate Israel from the wicked king, Ahab. Later, when Naaman fell ill with leperousy, God used a servant girl in his house bring him to Elisha; he sent another servant boy to show him the wisdom in the Elisha's words; and the Elisha himself made Naaman go through the steps to be ritually clean so that he could worship God.

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God was evident in so many ways that Naaman couldn't see:

• saved Israel from Ahab
• wife who speaks up
• prophet in israel
• servant boy who speaks up

A Better Way

Naaman expected to be healed from a disease, but he left having been cleansed so that he could worship God. Elisha was a great prophet, but even Elisha wasn't willing to speak to Naaman, much less touch him. Jesus shows us a better way. Jesus was willing to touch lepers and remind them of their human dignity.

Jesus heals us, but he also cleanses us. It is through Jesus that we're able to find wholeness and comfort, but it is also through Jesus that we become cleansed of our emotional filth and our past wrongs so that we can come to God freely. We know that we are loved by God because Jesus says that we are forgiven.

God's Plan

God's plan is underneath every little piece of our lives, the problem is that we can't see it most of the time. Just like rebar is to construction, God's plan is there underneath the surface, holding us together and making us stronger. It is God's providence that makes us capable of the great things that we do in our lives; it's also the thing holding keeping us from falling apart when our world goes bad.

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So what do we do when God's plan isn't as clear?

1. Listen to someone from that you don't normally listen to. Maybe your kids. Maybe your spouse.

2. Tell the rumor! Share about what God has done. Share on facebook, in your work, to your family.

3. Take a day off to pray and ask God what his mission for your life might be.

Like what you see but want more? Check out Washington Cathedral's website for more information.

Great Faith Requires Great Risk

Pastor Tim begins the new series about ridiculous faith, centering around Elisha. Like the prophet Elisha we all have risk in our lives.  The only way to have anything is to have risk in our lives- to live to the fullest. Risk and faith, resulting from that risk, makes life more beautiful.

““If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24 (NLT)

 "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it,

but that it is too low and we reach it."

Michelangelo

Wouldn't it be nice if we could say that faith was a no risk proposition?  But life is all about taking risks; if you're afraid of taking risk, then you're afraid of life.

On our Board of Directors we have a Mathematician by trade, B.J. Eliason.  He has been an incredible blessing to our church.  He is a strong quiet man.  You might know him because he has run the math tutoring class at our church for years.  I don't know how many kids in our church have passed Calculus because of him (not to mention the adults going back to school).

His job is in actuarial mathematics.  He helps companies mathematically figure the risks of projects.  He and I were having coffee the other day and discussing the lessons that we have learned over the past several years at our church.  He told me something quite shocking.  You can never completely eliminate risk- every mathematician and businessperson probably already knows this and deals with risks on a daily basis.  You can try and predict the outcome and you can try and learn from it but eliminating risk it is impossible.

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I had the chance to meet Peter Drucker, the dean of American Business, more than once and had the honor to sit under his teaching.  He had a calling to teach pastors the art and science of business, so he invested his time hanging out with the pastors of Churches Uniting In Global Mission.   Peter Drucker said, "People who do not take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.”   That can leave us to the conclusion that we will make mistakes, no matter whether we are risk-takers or not.

Now in scripture we are taught to seek wise counsel and engage in two-way conversations with those who are mature enough to be involved in it.  It is not always so easy to find wise counsel in a world where everyone thinks they are right and just want to throw rocks.  But when you do find them it is all the more valuable.  You will benefit from reason, wise loving advice, and those willing to get involved in the process to make the best decisions.

Then there is risk. It is a part of faith.  But when your goal is so beautiful that even your failure is a success then you have a winning combination.  Risk is tough but when you are sincerely following Christ - walking with him faith still moves mountains.

“Either life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

Helen Keller

Want to know more?

Please visit us by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

The Lord's Prayer of Freedom

Pastor Tim concludes the "Can You Hear Me Now?" series, diving into prayer life and growing closer to God. He looks at the last few verses of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 and the importance of forgiveness from God and between ourselves and others.

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Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  As we close the series on the Lord's Prayer, it ends with the issue of forgiveness being a two way street. Resentment is a poison we drink thinking it will impact the person we are struggling against, when in reality, we are the ones to suffer.  Prayer allows us space to get away from the busyness of life and to work on giving and receiving forgiveness.  When we give up resentment that is a big step, because when we do so, we are giving up our fruitless hopes of a perfect past.  Only God can help us in this all important area. Through Jesus' teachings in Matthew 6:5-15, we are able to experience a sense of freedom.  Freedom from our past. Freedom from our mistakes. Freedom from bitterness and resentment. Freedom to joyfully let God work in mighty ways in our lives.

Want to know more?

Please visit us by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

Lenten Ideas for Families

40 days of lent: Family Faith Practices

Have you ever celebrated lent with your family? Maybe not at all? Well, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Check out some ideas Pastor Becca has for how your family can celebrate Lent together this year.

1. Read Jesus’ Sermon on The Mount as a family. Matthew 5-7 2. Pray for your enemies or someone who has persecuted you. 3. Don’t waste any food today 4. Pay 3 people a sincere compliment 5. Tithe your time: Spend 10% of your time (2.5 hours) serving at church. (This could be weeding the parking lot, cleaning the bathrooms and vacuuming, or asking a pastor for a way to serve) 6. Listen to someone who seems lonely 7. Take 5 minutes of silence before you eat dinner 8. Celebrate! Enjoy a family game night 9. Do someone else’s chore for them without being asked 10. Spend 10 minutes writing out a prayer to God 11. Forgive someone 12. Tithe your money: Give 10% of the money you made that week to the church, helping people in need in the name of Jesus. 13. Thank God for 20 blessings in your life 14. Call a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while 15. Give up social media for a day 16. Tell someone in your family something you love about them 17. Ask someone to pray for you 18. Ask to pray for someone 19. Take communion 20. Buy a couple $5 gift cards to gas stations to give to the families living in their cars at the church 21. Purge your closets, donating unnecessary items to the goodwill 22. Apologize 23. Donate some books or art supplies to your local elementary school 24. Write someone an email, telling them you appreciate them. 25. Turn off your T.V. and go outside 26. Pray for your church 27. Bake cookies for someone 28. Read Psalm 139 as a family before dinner 29. Ask God for help 30. Introduce yourself, or reconnect with one of your neighbors 31. Have someone over for dinner 32. Walk, ride a bike, or take public transportation to work/school 33. Thank someone who is in leadership for their service (Like a pastor, teacher, police, etc) 34. Cook dinner together as a family 35. Pray for the current events in the news 36. Don’t turn on music during your car ride- enjoy conversation or silence 37. Go for a walk or hike as a family 38. Ask God to help you know Him more 39. Spend 10 minutes praying for someone you work with/ go to school with 40. Read the Easter story John 18, 19, 20

About The Author:

Becca McCary Becca is a children's pastor and part of the preaching team at Washington Cathedral. She writes on motherhood, spirituality, and biblical interpretation. She also has her own personal blog with resources for mothers and Sunday School teachers.

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Pastor Linda continues the "Can You Hear Me Now?" series, diving into prayer life and growing closer to God. Looking at Matthew 6:11, she looks at God's promise to give us everything we need, even if we don't know exactly what that is in our lives.

I love fresh baked bread.  How about you?  I especially love the smell of it baking in the oven.  My mom was a bread baker and one of my fondest childhood memories was waking up to the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven.

When I was traveling in Israel many years ago our group was touring Cana (where Jesus performed his first recorded miracle of turning water into wine for a wedding reception).  Across the street from the church commemorating this event was a little bakery where they were baking the wonderful flat bread of Israel, in stone ovens.  The smell was out of this world.  As a matter of fact, it was hard for us to remain focused on the tour because we couldn’t wait to get finished so we could go get some of that bread (As I’m writing this I’m getting hungry for some fresh baked bread.)

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Throughout the Bible, bread is essential for sustaining life.  Jesus referred to himself as the “bread of life” in John 6:35 and goes on to say that when we come to him we will never be hungry or thirsty again.  So when Jesus gives us this model prayer and asks us to prayer for “our daily bread”, it means so much more than just praying for a loaf of bread.

Jesus is reminding us here that God wants to provide us with everything we need for a healthy and happy life – physically, spiritually and emotionally.  “And God will generously provide all you need.  Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

“Give Us” is another interesting choice of words for Jesus to use in our instruction.  “Give” is a power-packed little word.  When we are asking God to “give” something to us, we are acknowledging that God is the source of everything.  James 1:17 reminds us “that every good thing we have comes to us from God.”

The fact that God is the source of everything we have, reminds us that we are to care for and use those gifts in a way that pleases Him.  In 2 Corinthians, we are reminded when we share freely and give generously that is what is remembered forever.  What we do with what God gives us is very important to Him.  The next verse in 2 Corinthians “For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat.  In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.”

God will provide us with everything we need.  Jesus reminds us to include those needs in our prayers every day.  With that, we need to remember that as He provides it is also our responsibility to use those resources wisely and to be generous with everything he gives us.

As you use the Lord’s prayer as your model this week:

1) Pause and think about who you are talking to (Our Father who is in heaven hallowed be your name….).

2) Before you get to the needs section, you need to surrender your will, not impose it (Your kingdom come Your will be done….)

3) Now ask yourself, “what do I need today and how will I use what God give me to glorify Him?” (Give us this day our daily bread.)

Want to know more?

Please visit us by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.

The Prayer that Works 100% of the Time

Pastor Rey continues the "Can You Hear Me Now?" series, diving into prayer life and growing closer to God. This week he addresses the difference between praying for things as if God is our magical genie verses fully submitting to God's will.  To prayerfully surrender to God.

It’s not what you think.  It’s not a prayer that will make God do your bidding.  Most of my efforts in prayer have been trying to figure out how to pray in such a way so that God would always answer my prayer.  I would never have said it, but basically I wanted an all-powerful genie I could summon for my request.

I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s not just me looking for a magical panacea to my problems in prayer.  Maybe that’s why most of the best selling books on prayer promise us a method or strategy on how to pray in such a way so that we can ‘move’ God.  Maybe there is something in all of us that likes the idea of having God on a leash.  At our command.  At our control.

This kind of thinking isn’t new to us.  In the book of Acts chapter 8, there is a guy named Simon who wants to buy the ability to control God.  The disciples probably wanted the same ability when they asked Jesus “Teach us to pray.”

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Jesus does teach them to pray.  In fact I believe he teaches them the right way to pray.  I believe he teaches them a prayer that works every single time.  After teaching them to ‘pause and think about who you are talking to’ (check out last weeks message if this makes no sense - http://youtu.be/_hUkswuF-KE), Jesus teaches them a prayer that works 100% of the time –

“Your kingdom come.  You will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

It’s the prayer of surrender.  It’s getting to the place where you put God’s will above your own.  It’s moving in God’s direction and not trying to move God in your direction.  It’s not trying to bend God in your direction, but allowing God to bend you in His direction.

This prayer is different.  It’s unusual.  It’s not the typical prayer I pray.  Usually I have a need and I’m begging God to answer my request.  Usually, I don’t say things like “God, before we go any further, before I get to my needs, before I get to my kingdom, I want you to know, I’m more committed to your will then I am my own.  I want your will.  Even if it hurts.  Even if I hate it.  Even if I don’t understand it.”

It was hard to even type those words because it’s so scary. But that is why Jesus told us to pause.  So that during the pause we could see God as our heavenly Father and King, who we can trust.  The prayer of surrender requires trust.  And when I trust God, I can say, with my whole heart “Your will be done.” Because I know His will is best for my life.

You see, this prayer works every time, not because it moves God, but because it moves you.  It moves you in God’s direction.  And that is the purpose of prayer.  To recalibrate our hearts.  To realign our hearts.  To sync our hearts with the heart of the Father.

So let me ask you a few questions:

-   Do you trust God? -   What areas of your life do you struggle to surrender to God? -   Why do you think that is? -   What would your life look like if you truly surrendered to God?

Even you want to hear the whole message, please visit us by checking out our website, or you can email us if you have more questions.