Keep On Dreaming

By Pastor Tim White

Jackie and I stopped just to watch the kids sledding down the hill. It was so much fun! It brought back a lifetime of memories of tobogganing when we were kids. We didn’t have water-proof clothes but we did have dawn to dusk laughing, wrecks, hot chocolate, snow ball fights and flying through the air. Pretty soon a bunch of cars pulled up to us next to the theatres in Monroe to watch the kids playing in the snow. A couple of boys didn’t have an inner tube or anything to slide on. They would run until they fell to their knees and would continue to slide until they would fall face down then slide as fast as they could on their bellies. Their laughter just warmed the day. As we watched more and more cars lined up next to us and we were all enjoying this great sight.

When life is lived in such an exemplary way as kids playing on a snowy hill people stop and watch. The joy, adventure and the simple authenticity of that moment are really spectacular. What if we lived 2022 in the same way and people had to notice. Never stop dreaming. Get out of your car and climb the snowy high ground to really live. Let’s never stop dreaming. We are beginning a new revitalizing series entitled Keep on Dreaming so we can recapture the imagination, fun and adventure of our lives. Just like the kids on a snowy hill in Monroe on Christmas break let's keep on living life with all the fullness that God designed us for. Let me share with you this week from Genesis from the story of Joseph so that we can keep on dreaming.

I’m praying that your life will be so full of life, fun and exciting faith that it will make the world stop and watch.

Join us this Sunday at 10:30am (In-person in the Sanctuary, or on-line with Facebook Live, You Tube or the Church Apps) as I begin a new series entitled Keep on Dreaming. You really need to be there as we begin this new series. It will refresh your life and you won’t be disappointed!

Your friend always.

Pastor Tim White

Merry Christmas!

By Pastor Tim White

With all the stress of the last year, Christmas still works. I am basking in Christmas Peace thinking of all those people I love. And what a blast it is to have waiters and store cashiers share their problems with me after I wish them Merry Christmas. And after our short talk they smile and say Merry Christmas. What joy we share in one of those magical Christmas moments!

I hope you are remembering our service, Christmas Lights the Night at 4:00 pm on Christmas Eve. Two camels will be there, one to pet and one to ride. We have a beautiful actress that plays Mary at our church. She always radiates Christmas Peace. And Joseph’s heart fits the bill. Sheep, a donkey, chickens, and I am going to ask Pastor Linda to bring her puppy Barclay again this year because he has a way that just touches people at Christmas.  Shepherd, Wise Men, and the cutest little Cherub dancers following our lead ballerina (12 years old) during our favorite carol, Oh Holy Night.   The harpist, the choir, Eliot and his Christmas band and Chelsea singing Christmas carols like, well a way that only a new mom can sing.  It is only one hour. We have Christmas cookies and fellowship following the service if you like. And we have put in a brand-new heating and air conditioning which recycles clean air in a way that was designed to help resist Covid. Yes, masks and twinkling eyes.  And best of all a warm Merry Christmas from all your friends at Washington Cathedral.

Merry Christmas,
Pastor Tim White

By Pastor Tim White

Do you feel the Hope in this season of Christmas?  We might be discouraged in one area of life, but it does not mean we can’t feel Hope about another area of our life.  Right? Hope is a choice, and the Scriptures teach us, step by step, just how it works. But more than that, Hope is all around us and we need to just relax refocus and experience it.

This Sunday our Special Guest is Dr. Rey Diaz Executive Director of Orphan Outreach.  His business is to bring Hope to some of the poorest of the poor children around the world.  And as we know, this is his passion from the depth of his soul. The good news is we can and have helped with that mission.   Rey is one of the favorite sons of our church. He was our youth pastor and spent three years as lead pastor before accepting his dream job at Orphan Outreach.  Rey would love to see you, so come by on Sunday at 10:30am at our In-Person Service (or online with the Church Apps, You Tube or Facebook Live) to be a part of a very inspirational message of Hope.

Your friend,
Pastor Tim

By Pastor Tim White

Do you have someone in your life that is such a giver that when you ask them what they want for Christmas they really don’t know?  My mom is like that, so she has played a little game with me ever since I was a kid. I ask her what she wants, and she answers, “World Peace”. Not an easy gift to deliver. If I could give every one of my friends a gift this Christmas, I would choose peace.   Peace is what I am praying for each of us this Christmas. 

We cross paths with all kinds of people each week. Rich, poor, tall, short, angry or stressed are common to most of the people we run into.  But rarely do we cross paths with a person of peace.  When we do, it is a treat, because their peace influences us to be able to relax, savor, enjoy and be refreshed.  Just as an uptight person influences us to be more hurried or stressful, a person of peace inspires us to calm the heck down. 

This Sunday we will be studying the Peace of Christmas. We will discover how it gives each of us a way to relax and become people of peace. Please join us at 10:30am on Sunday at our in-person service or on- line with either the Church Apps, You Tube or Facebook.

We also have a Special Music Guest: Classical Soprano, Ellaina Lewis will be with us to bless.

Your friend for the rest of my life,
Pastor Tim White

Joy to the world the Lord has come!

By Pastor Tim White

This Sunday, for us at Washington Cathedral, is the Advent Sunday of Joy. It’s hard for us to imagine a Christmas season the way it ought to be without joy. These include our best visions and memories of the Christmas season. What would it be without gut-busting laughter, kids waking up way too early, laughter at Christmas services from donkeys that refuse to walk the aisle? Sheep that baa way too much, wardrobe malfunctions. Frosty taking over the show while everyone gets uncontrollable giggles. Tiny cherubs who become hilarious divas and the preacher who gets mixed up and uses his comments to completely embarrass himself. And what about those dumb Christmas jokes you hear throughout the season such as “what do you call a kid who refuses to believe in Santa? A rebel without a clause.” Joy abounds!

Join us this Sunday morning at 10:30am in our In-Person service or Online (YouTube, Facebook Live or Church Apps) to discover the healing power of Christmas through joy.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Advent Lights the Night

By Pastor Tim White

This time of year can really be dark. It seems like yesterday that 5:00 am was a beautiful time to enjoy the spectacular sunrises in the Pacific Northwest. Now 5:00 am is like the middle of a very dark night. In this dark time of year, we miss light. And we need light to shine into our lives. As for the rest of our planet, light brings health, optimism, new energy, and motivation.  

Most religions in non-equatorial regions developed festivals to mark the darkest days of the year with hope. Christians celebrated this time leading into Christmas with Advent. And since early Christians struggled to know the date of Christ’s birth the darkest time of the year was when it became tradition to celebrate this holy festival of Christmas.  

The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming” which is a translation of the Greek word Parousia.  By the 6th century, however, Roman Christians had tied Advent to the coming of Christ. We celebrate Advent in the four weeks leading up to Christmas. The Catholic Tradition had Hope, Faith, Joy and Peace all leading to Love on Christmas morning. As each new reformation took place, different churches would change the order as Martin Luther did in reviving the faith of German Lutherans. Each tradition of Advent was meaningful.

I like to follow the Catholic Order because it is the oldest, but I could celebrate any Christian Order of Advent. This year Dr. Rey Diaz is going to be here on Sunday the 19th of December to preach and he asked to preach on Hope. So, we change the order and rotated Hope to the 19th of December and Faith then becomes our opening to Advent.

We need this season to refresh our faith. Stagnant faith becomes rigid and cold. This season is designed to renew our lives, our churches, our nation, and our families. We all need to kick off Advent 2021 with a faith infusion. Please join us at our In Person Service or Online this Sunday at 10:30am. Online can be found on You Tube, Facebook Live or the church Apps.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Beautiful Gifts

By Pastor Linda Skinner

I hope everyone has or has had someone in their life that they could say, regardless of their age: “When I grow up, I want to be just like _________.” Well for me there have been and still are several of those people. Of course, we believe that everyone is a “Gift” and that everyone is “Gifted”. But there are some of those people whose gifts are “something special.” It doesn’t matter what their gift is, it can come in all shapes and sizes. But you see them using their gift and it is beautiful.

I’ll give you an example. “When I grow up, I want to be like Marilyn Biggs.” (I’m 73 years old and I’m still feeling that way.) I think Marilyn had gifts of faith, teaching, prayer and evangelism. And often sprinkled with a few other things as well as the need arose. But it wasn’t her gifts that impressed me over the years. It was the way she used those gifts. Every gift the Holy Spirit gave her, she wrapped it in God’s love. She was strong lady and she would speak truth into your life without hesitation. But it was always wrapped in love.

When I visited with Marilyn about 10 days before she went to be with Jesus for eternity; she told me about a nurse she encountered at the hospital. It was the first time I ever heard her say anything bad about another person. She told me this nurse was grouchy all the time, never smiled and Marilyn was pretty sick. Marilyn told me she said to her “you are not a very nice person.” I said a “woohoo—how did she take that?” Her response to Marilyn’s was, “no one has ever told me that.” Marilyn just gave her the Marilyn look, and said “I’ll be praying for you, maybe you need the love of Jesus in your life.” (I don’t know how to write that look down, but the next time you see me I’ll show you.) The nurse said, “I’m sorry, please forgive me.” Now only Marilyn could pull that one off. A gift wrapped in the love of God.

As I am preparing to wrap up our 8-week series on Spiritual Gifts this Sunday with 1 Corinthians 13 (the Love Chapter) I couldn’t help but think of my friend, my mentor, my sister in Christ. I learned so much from her and I miss her terribly. We will have a lot of catching up to do in heaven. And who knows, maybe I will get to meet her nurse there with her. I wouldn’t be surprised.

Hope you can join us this Sunday at 10:30 am In Person at Spirit Falls Sanctuary or Online via Facebook Live, YouTube Live, www.wacathedral.org, or WaCathedral App (Apple, Google, Amazon)

Just remember always “You are a Gift – Embrace It.”

God Bless You,

Pastor Linda Skinner

Success Through Your Gift

By Pastor Tim White

Something deep inside of us wants us to be a success. We want to discover our best selves and hopefully we have learned that real success is to become the person God wants us to be. I think every human being has that sense of God’s plan for their life. People get sidetracked by cheap imitations. They want to be confident, and cocaine is a cheap imitation, and its path leads to destruction. Many want to be peaceful, so people use heroin or one of its sister drugs. Some want enthusiasm, so they use meth as a cheap substitute. A lot of people are desperate for love, so they become addicted to illicit sex.

To battle those perversions, we need to meet our deepest desires by becoming the person that God has designed us to be. And we can’t do that until we discover our spiritual gifts, and we find a way to use them as the body of Christ.

How do you find that gift and how to use it?

1) You need to have an authentic relationship with your Creator. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit which prevents you from the connection that establishes your gift.

2) You need to learn about God’s spiritual gifts. What they are or what they are not. And how to use them.

3) Take an online Spiritual Gift Inventory. And learn more about yourself.

4) Get feedback from leaders in the church and match your giftedness to the need of the Team Jesus.

5) Try using your gifts and see if they are fruitful.

When you are operating in your giftedness you will discover a genuine source of confidence, peace, excitement, and love that you can’t find any other way.

Remember you are a gift embrace it.

Come join us either In Person on Sunday at 10:30am or Online with Church Apps, You Tube or Facebook Live. Learn more about how to have a more fulfilling life using your Spiritual Gifts.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

By Pastor Tim White

Don’t you just love unique people? I enjoy trying to build a friendship with my critics. Throughout my life some of my greatest critics have become my best friends. That began when I was a kid growing up. It existed when I was a young man and still exists as an older friend.

I find it astonishing that every one of us is absolutely unique. You can meet all types of people but when you get to know them longer you discover more and more of their uniqueness.

Halloween is fun because we can see this in each and every costume. Jackie was a Pirate and I was Spider-Man. My daughter Becca was a Tyrannosaurus Rex. While her husband Ben was a Ninja Turtle, our granddaughter Eva was a TV star of a Disney show while our grandson Oscar, was a Storm Trooper from Star Wars. While we were at the house, some trick or treaters came by. One enthusiastic little girl was part clown, part pirate and part vampire. Do you see what I mean about uniqueness?

When building a marriage, we need to understand human uniqueness. That’s also true of raising kids. As a Professor of Preaching at Northwest University I was always amazed at how unique each student was even with their shared gift of preaching.

Join us this week as I share how we can better understand our uniqueness and our giftedness. Sunday at 10:30am at our In Person Service in our sanctuary or online with You Tube, Facebook Live or the Church Apps.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

What Are You Waiting For?

By Pastor Michael Fernandez

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4: 8-11 (NIV)

Often when I lead off a service with a prayer. I have come to use the phrase, “All that we have to do is Open Our Hearts to the possibilities that only God can place there through the miracle of his love.” The key is to truly Open Up to God without hesitation. The question is, have we truly Opened Our Hearts and allowed God to work through us?

For me it’s a constant reminder of how short our lives truly are. If we don’t take the risk and Open Up now, we may never get the opportunity or reap the blessings of it.

It took my brother Joe 58 years to Open Up and share what God had placed on his heart and he finally did in the last 3 months of his life. It truly was a miracle. He shared his love and thoughts openly and had a tremendous loving impact on his family & friends. My brother’s life is a constant reminder, “The tasks we do are not as important to God as the heart in which we do them.”

Here is another miracle a new HVAC system for the sanctuary and Foyer!