Time to Rebuild Your Dreams

by Pastor Tim White

In the Book of Ezra 1:3, the Bible tells the story of the Persian king who ruled Israel. He made a proclamation to Israel that God has spoken to him telling him to let the people of Israel rebuild their temple. The door is open, and it is an opportunity to rebuild their dreams. That is the season we are in at Washington Cathedral. It is time to revise, rededicate, relearn, reinvent, and to refresh our dream of building the greatest caring network that the world has ever seen.

Anyone who has ever dared to try and dream God’s dream, has to rebuild it from time to time. It doesn't matter if you are 11 years old or 91 years old. Nobody receives a perfect plan that never needs to be adjusted. We learn, we grow, situations change, and sometimes, we have to rebuild. Many times in our lifetime we get frustrated and discouraged because it seems that God has lost sight of our dreams, when in fact we have lost sight of Him. He wants to turn us or grow us, and we have not been listening. So, from now until August our church, and each of us individually, will be focusing on letting God rebuild our dreams. I hope you can make it this weekend, as we kick off this new, dynamic series.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

God’s Grace is Amazing

by Pastor Linda Skinner

Thirty years ago, this past January, I started serving as a full-time pastor at our church. Throughout those thirty years, the thing that continues to astound me is the power of God’s grace. I remember when I first started in the ministry, Pastor Tim shared with me that the one most important things we must always share with people, regardless of the situation, is the hope that we always have because of the persistent, loving grace of God.

Early on in my ministry, I had a beautiful young lady come to my office in tears because she felt that God could not love her because of all the things she had done wrong. She enumerated all her sins to me and then said, “God will never forgive me for all of that.” I pulled out my Bible and read to her the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8. When I read the words of our Lord, “Then neither do I condemn you,” her eyes teared up. That afternoon, she prayed with me to accept Jesus into her life.

A couple of weeks later she came back to me and said, “I don’t think it worked.” Not being sure of what she meant by that I asked, “What don’t’ you think worked?” She said, “Our prayer.” At that point I was a little perplexed, so I asked, “Why don’t you think it worked?” “Well,” she said, “I have always had a ‘potty’ mouth and I thought when I accepted Jesus, He would take that away. But he hasn’t. I still find myself using those words.” I think the Holy Spirit was helping me on this one because without hesitation I asked her, “Before you accepted Jesus and those words came out, how did it feel?” She responded, “It felt great!” So, I questioned her further, “Tell me, how do you feel now when those words come out.” Without hesitation she said, “I feel terrible.” I laughed as I proclaimed, “There you have it, it worked.”

That is what so amazing about God’s grace. He accepts us with all our bad history and short comings and then He never leaves us where He found us. He’s always there to guide us to where He wants us to be. All during our lives, His grace is at work guiding and molding us into the person He wants us to be. Our job is to be open to the work He is doing in us and listening to His guidance – however it might come.

This weekend Dr. Marty Folsom is going to be sharing with us a message of grace entitled “Reflected Grace” based on 2 Corinthians 3:6-18. Hope you can join us as learn about living “life transformed by God’s grace.”

Good, Good Father

by Pastor Linda Skinner

I have so many fond memories of my dad, Earl Boyce. He was a very interesting guy. Dad was born in 1899, in a little border town in North Dakota. He was the youngest of 11 children and he was born to Canadian citizens in the United States. They actually thought they were living in Canada, but in the 1900 census it was discovered that the area they lived in was US territory and not Canadian. So, I guess he had dual citizenship. I loved to hear his stories of growing up in the wheat fields of Manitoba. He often commented about the changes he saw in his lifetime. When we landed the first astronauts on the moon, he was fixed to the TV watching everything. He said, “I was born in horse and buggy time and am watching a man walk on the moon.”

Dad had a sense of humor and some strange philosophies that none of us quite understood. He often said things like “we have two winters and summer ahead of us.” We were never sure what he really meant by that, but we’d all laugh. Dad was an excellent mechanic and I remember as a little girl crawling under cars with him while he changed a transmission and I handed him his tools. He was the auto surgeon and I was his nurse. He was the one who also dug my brand-new red tennis shoes out the manure pile to keep me from crying. I got my love for dogs from my dad. He always had one of our dogs at his side whether he was working on a car or feeding the livestock. I miss my dad (he’s been gone almost 38 years now).

It’s Father’s Day this weekend and I realize that not everyone has had a loving earthly father. I feel very blessed to have had a dad that I could learn from and look up to. How wonderful, however, it is that we all have a heavenly Father who is forgiving, compassionate and loves us unconditionally. This weekend I have the joy of sharing about our Father from Psalm 103. Of course, we’ll have lots of fun with “Hats for Brats” Sunday – Pastor David will have Bratwurst for the guys and at each service the man with the goofiest or most spectacular hat will win a prize. If I can find it, I might wear my dad’s favorite hat for this service. Look forward to seeing you.

Blessings on your day,

Pastor Linda

Children of Encouragement - By Pastor Tim White

Children of Encouragement

 Some of us get a lot of mileage off just a moment of encouragement.  I make no apology that I love to read or listen to encouraging material.  I find that, when I am encouraged, I get about my business of encouraging everyone around me.  I have also made it no secret that I would have not been able to accomplish anything in my life if it wasn’t for God and his people who have gone out of their way to encourage me all these years.  It is always surprising, always helpful, and always leaves me wanting to praise Jesus Christ for directing that person who invested their time to encourage me.  We all have plenty of self-appointed discouragers, but there are also a few encouragers in our lives.  They are golden for our souls.

 This week is not a series but a single message that the Spirit of God has put on my heart.   And I guarantee that nothing will encourage you like the Word of God.  If you need encouragement, and you need to be prayed for, surrounded by positive people who care for you, then meet me this weekend for a very encouraging message.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Tim White

Spring Into Life! By Pastor Tim White

Memorial Day was a great day.  We were having a salmon barbecue with our family where many of us were sitting around the table talking, when I spied, coming around the corner, my 3-year old grandson, Oscar.  He has such enthusiasm at family get-togethers.  He burst into the dining room and with a big smile and his mountain-man voice asking – “What are you doing guys?”

That is what so many people want to know of Christ-followers.  They are not so concerned with what we choose not to do, but they want to know what it is we are doing.  Is it life or routine?  Is it a pain or a joy?  This weekend I have the privilege to share about the life we choose.  This is how St. John writes it in his 1st epistle about how we can know that we know that we have eternal life.  And this knowledge can help us to be better at taking people from the point of faith that God has already brought them to, to where God is leading them.

This is such a practical lesson from 1 John. It is the over-riding theme of the book.  Please join me - I know you will be glad that you did.

 Your friend for the rest of my life,

 Pastor Tim White

God Wins!

By Pastor Tim White

I really love both my sons-in law.  Spending time with Pastor Rey this last weekend was every father-in-law’s dream.  I feel this way when I get together with either of my sons-in-law. But last weekend, we laughed, and it was just a celebration of life. We were having lunch with Rey’s sister, Sarai and his mom, Isabel, and started talking about the idea of using the “Game of Thrones” as the sermon title this week.  You should know that Rey’s mom has been such an anchor to so many, she is a very Christ-like person.  And Rey is always teasing his mom.  So, Rey announced loudly enough for his mom to hear saying, “my mom doesn’t like Game of Thrones because it doesn’t have enough nudity in it for her.” And we all started laughing knowing he was just teasing her.   Both of my sons-in-law bring so much joy to my life because they are both fully alive.  

This week I will be preaching on 1 John 2:15-17 and it will be a very motivating message.  With the help of the staff I entitled this message Game of Thrones - God Wins.  Everyone is talking about this series of shows with Dragons, Knights and seven Monarchs trying to win the Iron Throne.  But in real life, God wins the Throne.  There are no if’s, maybe’s, and’s or but’s.  God is going to win the throne and there is nothing anyone can do about it.  That is a powerful reminder of how we should be making our life choices today.  1 John teaches us that there is a force pushing us to go one way and we need to stand against that push and take the narrow road that God has planned for us. That we must put God on the “Throne of our lives.”

It is going to be fun to learn the different Greek words translated into ‘World’ in the New Testament.  There seems to be an apparent contradiction because in John’s gospel it tells us “that God so loved the world...”  And yet in this passage in John’s epistle it is telling us that “we can’t love the world and serve God.”  There is a distinction with a difference that can open doors for you to better understand the life that God has for you.  Good old St. Irenaeus said, “the glory of God is man fully alive.” Father John Powell, a Jesuit priest, penned the words “I do not believe that following God is to be at the head of a funeral procession. It is to be fully alive, loving and being loved, savoring every moment of life because Jesus came to give us life in all its fullness.” Please join us this weekend for worship that inspires.

 Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim

Loving One Another

by Pastor Tim White

Last week my daughter Becca called me to tell me another cute story about my grandchildren. When she called me, she had 3-year-old Oscar on her lap. She told me that Oscar was having her show him his baby book. When it came to a favorite person when he was a baby, she told him it was G.P. He smiled and laid his head on her shoulder and said, “Still is.” It makes me want to drive over there and give him a big hug!” Love lifts us. Love shapes us. Love motivates us. Love humbles us. And love inspires us.

Love is not a gift that just some Christians have. Love is not an option that we can choose to take or leave in calling ourselves Christians. If you say you are a Christian but not a loving Christian, you are basically saying that you are not a Christian. Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment, for this is an old one you have always had, right from the beginning. This commandment - to love one another - is the same message you have heard before. 1 John 2:7

The Beatles put it this way. “All we need is love.” Or, Burt Bacharach said, “What the world needs now is love sweet love - it’s the only thing there is just too little of.” I like Carrie Underwood’s song, “I believe that in the end love wins.” William Shakespeare said in his play, Twelfth Night, “If music be the food of love, play on.” 1 Corinthians 13 teaches us what love is and what it is not.

Therefore, since we know that love is essential to be a Christian, then we all have a lot to learn about how to love in a more Christ-like way. Dr. Rey Diaz CEO of Orphan Outreach is going to be preaching this Sunday on Love from 1 John; and if you have ever read that book before, you know it is all about living out God’s love... Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. 1 John 4:7-8.

If you want to be a more loving Christian, then don’t miss the message this weekend about God’s love.

Your friend for the rest of my life

Pastor Tim White

Life is a Family Thing

by Pastor Tim White

Regardless if you adopt a mom or have a biological mom, life is a family thing. This Mother’s Day weekend we are studying 1 John 1:8 to 1 John 2:2:4. Pastor Michael will be preaching to our beloved Saturday Night Congregation and Youth Pastor Josh, will be preaching at the 9:30am and 11:00am services. I expect both to pay some tribute to their amazing moms and allow you to honor your moms. Because for Christ Followers, honoring our moms is one of the Ten Commandments. Rhonda and Eliot have some really moving music prepared for us and since our church is a larger family, we want to celebrate Mother’s Day 2019 together.

The message series on Christian Basics will tug at our hearts to become a more forgiving people and more forgiving Christ Followers. Love is learning to say “I’m sorry” regularly and getting rid of the toxic poison that can come out in any family. Love is admitting that none of us are perfect. PBPWMIAAFH. That is the popular Christian code for a phrase: Please Be Patient With Me I Am A Fallible Human Being. When you have your conscience cleansed on a regular basis, then you want to stay that way. So, if you think that you’ve hurt someone, rush to apologize and talk it out so there is nothing preventing you from having an honest and close relationship. If this is not happening regularly in your life, then you need to start. I guarantee that we all make mistakes and have plenty of room for growth.

This weekend will be a blast with Mother of the Year and Big Sister of the Year awards. Free Italian sodas for the ladies. Guys, we get to pay for ours so we can empower the youth group to go on all the adventures they can this summer. They are a powerful witness to the world. 24 out of 25 Christians have become Christians before the age of 21.

I love Pastor Michael’s preaching. He is the Dick Sanders of Washington Cathedral overseeing pastoral care, the building and the grounds. And Josh is such an integral part of our church family as we have loved him since he was a baby. His energy and heart are going to change the world. So please don’t miss their message. And moms, don’t forget how open your children and grandchildren are to your influence and invite them to come to church with you. Your influence is important in their lives.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Living in the Light

by Pastor Tim White

I love the sunshine. And I love it even more when people let the Son shine through their lives. I was listening to a weatherman on television and he was forecasting sunshine for all this week. Then he commented that he could not remember the last time it rained in Seattle. He thought it might be some time back in the 70’s. Of course, he was using hyperbole but sometimes it takes poetic hyperbole to make a point. When the sun shines for just one week it dries us out to the point that we forget all about our inner whining about the rain. Sunshine is so restorative. And so, the Apostle John makes the point later in his life, as the last living apostle who is directing Christ followers, to choose to live in the light. If we choose the darkness, then evil gets a stronghold in our life and we have problems that we cannot overcome. If we choose to walk in the light, then we become fortified in our faith and we begin to grow towards becoming the person that God meant for us to become - that best version of our self.

Dr. Vath sent me an email which speaks so much to our society today. It was about a man who posted that he attended church for 30 years and could not remember one sermon that stood out. So, he did not believe that Christians should go to church, and that preaching is a repetitive boredom that Christians should not submit themselves to. There were a lot of comments to his post almost all of them disagreeing with his point and showing Biblically that we needed the fellowship of a loving church. But one comment stood out above all others. One gentleman said that he had been married to his wife 40 years and she had been cooking dinner every day of those 40 years. He said he could not name the complete menu of any of those meals. None of them stood out as memorable. But he remarked that he was nourished at every meal and the dinner-time experience was what held their family close for 40 years. He had the strength from that nourishment to face every challenge in 40 years and to come out on top. He went on to say that while we may not remember the sermons, the Word of God becomes a part of our thinking and personality, and we are blessed by that. If we did not attend church, we would be undernourished and would live a lesser life. That goes well with John’s precept that as Christians we must choose to live in the light and if we choose to live in the darkness then we will not grow or receive the strength we need to grow. As your Pastor who loves you and prays for you with all of my heart and life, I tell you with all gentleness - you need to hear this sermon this week.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Thank-you God for Easter 2019!

by Pastor Tim White

What a Great Easter! I was deeply moved at every Easter service. I thought Pastor Linda had one of her best sermons at the beautiful Good Friday Service. What a great time for those committed to grow deeper in their love and appreciation of Jesus and what he did for us on the cross. The Holy Saturday service with Dr. Marty Folsom, the Chancellor of Washington Seminary, was really a blessing. I just had to give him a hug after the service after he shared from the reality of his personal grief the profound meaning of a Silent Saturday. Millie Porter did a great job with the dinner following the Saturday night service. The song that Dr. Marty and Eliot wrote together was just beautiful. I did not get to attend Pastor Josh’s Sunrise Service, but I heard great things about this early morning experience and I just love Josh.

And then all the work that everyone put into our Easter Pageant was just blessed by God. The little girl that came up at 9:30am service with her parents on the front row touched my heart to see their emotions as she watched the Easter story with such wonder. And then all the kids at the 11am service; my grand-daughter Eva, my grandson Oscar and all the children that we all love so much were just being themselves. The little boy who decided to go back to mom because there might be a monster in the cave to the little girl who came up by herself in her beautiful dress for the final song - Oh Happy Day! Her mother was crying just watching the wonder on her little face and she shared with me how much it meant to her. Then I will never forget the little boy who laughed so hard at my joke that his mom had to come and get him to take him to the back. I love that boy and I hope he and his family come back. People really enjoyed Pastor David’s Easter Breakfast and polished it off by the time the 11am service started. Afterwards, Grace Graham brought in a gourmet Philippine buffet - and a lot of it. So, many new families stayed for lunch after the 11am service enjoying Grace’s gift of hospitality.

The Easter Egg Hunts were terrific! Pastor Josh did a great job sharing the Easter story with hundreds of children. The hunt in the pool was just packed and such a great experience. The hunt on the top of the hill was as good as we have ever experienced. Special thanks to Pastor Jackie for being the Lead Pastor on our Easter project. For Rhonda and her team, along with Eliot and his team, who put on a great musical extravaganza. For Pastor Linda for directing the Easter Pageant through all the challenges such as losing our projector right before it started. David Fox playing Jesus and leading an enthusiastic cast in the play. The shuttle drivers, greeters, hosts, food preparation team, and a huge children’s ministry team with Rosanna Fox and Krista Bleile leading the way. Pastor Michael worked so hard in setting up the Tomb with a great team helping him. Over a thousand people at Easter services is a great win for us at this time in the life of our church. And there were so many amazing new families with touching stories of faith who came for the first time to Washington Cathedral.

And then to top it all off - we did it! We raised the money and reached our pledge goal to allow us to continue to lease the amazing facilities that God has blessed us with and to be able to use it for the next year. This is the fastest we have ever completed a fund-raising campaign in the history of our church. I can’t tell you the burden that takes off my soul as I recognize the God of Miracles once again at work in the life of this dream to Build a Great Caring Network. I can’t think of a moment in the history of our church that we have been more blessed by the incredible, gracious, love of God. And I pray that you were blessed this Easter as well. 2019 is going to be an amazing year in all our lives!

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White