Palm Sunday - What is your level of expectation? by Pastor Edd Breeden

 

 

A Note about Giving based upon 1 Timothy 6:19

            Paul says “life indeed” is the result of a life being rich in good works. Happiness comes not from acquiring more possessions but in the pursuit of helping and serving others. If my whole life is in the pursuit of riches so that I can acquire things for myself and my friends, I have missed the point of why God has us on this world in the first place. 

            If my life is consumed with a search to find my soul and I end up away from the people of the world in a hermit’s existence, I might find a sense of freedom, I might find some solace, but according to Paul, I will never fully find the meaning of life. 

            I will have missed the fullness of what God meant life to be. I have focused selfishly on my own journey towards the depths of my soul, and I have missed the true joy and meaning of caring for my neighbors, which is “life indeed.”

Palm Sunday Message

I talk often about the name of the LORD. It is the Hebrew word for "I am." The name was first revealed to Moses at the burning bush in the wilderness. Moses received the ten commandments from the LORD, the second one says, "You should not speak the name of Yahweh in an empty way." Hundreds of years later, to avoid using the name wrongly, the Hebrew people, began to pronounce the name in the same way they said the word, "Lord." 

 

On Palm Sunday, as Jesus road into the town of Jerusalem, the people quoted the phrase from the psalmist, "Blessed is the One coming in the name of the LORD." (Psalm 118:26 EBV) The people were seeing Jesus as the one coming as God's messenger to the people of Israel. And we look back on that day and realize that God was present in the flesh with Jesus and as such, He was the King of the Jews. The King of all humankind for that matter.

 

What do we do to prepare for His coming into our lives on a daily basis? Anything? The people did not expect to see God that day. They felt like He had abandoned them years before. They were almost resigned to being under the rule of the Roman Empire forever. And as Jesus approached a spark of hope set a fire within them. Not a big fire, but the seed of faith that was very different from the discouragement so many of them lived with.  

 

They were not prepared for the coming of Jesus on the donkey that day. They were caught off guard.  They were not expecting God to visit His people. They were not hoping that the future could be better. And then when they least expected it, He came, riding on a donkey. Silently He rode into town, listening to the praises of those who still had some hope, listening to the cries of those who still believed that God cared, and listening to the hearts of those who could quickly change directions and believe that salvation had arrived. The King had come.

 

2000 years later, we still celebrate the coming of the King. We want to be included in the crowds of the first Palm Sunday. We desire to remember the glorious moment as He made His triumphant entry. We long to be counted with those who believed then, and those who believe now, that Jesus, God in human flesh, truly is the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. 

 

And we look forward with hope to the day He will come again, when we least expect it, to take us home. At that time, He will welcome us into the eternal kingdom, into the mansions of heaven. We will see the streets of gold and the crystal sea and stand in awe before the throne of Almighty God. And there we will see THE KING, high and lifted up.  All the host of heaven, the millions of angels, and the saints who have gone before us, will be singing, "Unto the One on the throne and to His Lamb, we give worship, praise, wonde,r and strength from now and to eternity." (Revelation 5:12,13 EBV)

 

In the meantime, we prepare to meet the Savior. We spend time with Him in prayer, talking over our lives, interceding for others, and listening to the sound of His voice, so that we might respond in obedience when He calls us to serve. We spend time with Him, reading His Word, seeking to understand the God we love. We enjoy singing His praise and by doing so, the Holy Spirit comes upon us and showers us with His love and blessing. We walk with Him, meeting the needs of those around us with the resources that God so freely supplies for us. We share our bounty with others who cross our paths. And we wait for Him, with expectation that He will one day return in glory. Our Savior desires to come to us just as He came to the people of Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. 

 

Let’s take a closer look at the whole story from Matthew’s point of view. 1 "They came to Bethphage on their journey into Jerusalem. They stopped at the Mount of Olives, just in sight of the city and Jesus sent two disciples, 2 instructing them to go into the village. There they will find a donkey and her colt tied up to a post. He said, “untie them and bring them here for Me.” 3 He continued His comments, “If someone questions what you are doing, just say to them, ‘The LORD has need of them,’ and he will let you go.” 4  His riding on a donkey fulfilled the words of Zechariah, the prophet; "Raise your voices in triumphant shouting, O daughter of Jerusalem! Your King is on the way to you. He brings with Him justice and salvation, He comes humbly seated on a donkey, even a young donkey." 6 When His disciples arrived in the town, they saw the donkeys 7 and brought them to Jesus. Then they covered them with their coats so Jesus could sit upon them. 8 There were plenty of people in the area and they began to spread their coats on the path in front of Jesus, others were cutting branches off of the palm bushes and laying those in the road along with the clothing.  9 As the people closed in on Jesus they shouted, "Hosanna to David's Son, Blessed is the One coming in the name of Yahweh. Glory beyond measure!" 10 The whole city was stirred up as He entered through the gates and they were saying to one another, "Who are the people praising?" 11 They were told, "This is Jesus, the Galilean, the prophet from Nazareth." (Matthew 21:1-8 EBV) 

 

I remember the coming of a King, well, actually, the President of the United States. Two times I have had the privilege. Once, it all happened so fast, and I was so young. There was little time for preparation and the meeting lasted much longer than I expected. The crowd was small and silent. There was a sense of honor in the air and the memories have lasted for over fifty years in my mind. 

 

My mother had dressed me in nice clothes and reminded me to be on my best behavior. And on the first tee of the golf course on the Air Force Base in Ramey, Puerto Rico, I stood near my father as he prepared to play golf with President Ike Eisenhower and some other men. 

 

The second time, it took days of preparation. The sighting was very short. The crowd was enormous, and they cheered for many minutes before and after the motorcade of John F Kennedy passed in front of us. And then we went into one of the biggest hangers on the base to enjoy a reception, a celebration for the one coming to our town. There was excitement permeating the crowd and I can still remember the moment over fifty years later. 

 

My father-in-law shook hands with President Reagan and his life was never the same. He talked about it for years to come. He pulled out the picture and showed everyone who would listen. He had the honor of escorting Ronald and Nancy to their seats in the Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara, California. There the President was in the company of a greater King. He was present for the whole hour, worshipping and listening. The crowd stood and applauded as Ronald and Nancy left the church and no one left early that morning. 

 

I also had the privilege of meeting another honorable lady. Her name was Beatrice, a stately lady of about five feet one inch tall with a deeply British accent. Her claim to fame, was to say she had met the Queen, and she was not talking about the present Queen Elizabeth II, but the Queen Mother. Beatrice had made her way from England in the 1920s to marry someone she had not yet met. She arrived and caught a train to the town in the mid-west where her husband lived. The next day she was fitted with her wedding dress and met her husband for the first time at the altar of the small-town church. When I met her in 1988, she was 98, still writing poetry, living on her own, and full of life. She reminded everyone that she had met The Queen. 

 

If we knew ahead of time when Jesus was going to arrive, I would think we would make some preparations. We might gather a crowd as Cornelius did to welcome Peter to his home. Would we respond with silence and honor or cheers and excitement? Would we want to tell the story to everyone we met? And tell it for years to come? Then why don’t we feel that way each Sunday when we gather with two or three others where Jesus is in our midst?

 

I met Jesus, late one night, in the quiet of my room. And when I awoke the next morning He was still there. I asked Him for some help, and He reached out to guide me along the right path. I had and still have all the proof I need. My response was the same as a kid on Christmas morning or what it was like to meet Ike Eisenhower. 

 

On the first Palm Sunday, the crowd did not leave their houses knowing that they would meet the King of kings that day. But someone saw Jesus riding on a donkey and knew in the power of the Holy Spirit that this was the Messiah. And one by one, people around him began to know what he knew, the Messiah was coming, sitting on a donkey. And they began to grab whatever they could find to lay a royal path, the very first red carpet, before Him as He approached the Great City. 

 

Were you there, at least in spirit? Would your coat have lined the road of the King of kings? How loud would you shout along with the others, "Blessed is the One coming.”? Do you expect to see Him again someday? Do you have hope that He is coming? Are you prepared to meet Him every Sunday when we come together for worship? You know He is present with us when we gather, don't you?

 

Approach this week with a sense of expectation for what Jesus might choose to do for you and through you. 

 

Hosanna, Hosanna, in the highest, Blessed is the One coming in the name of Yahweh. All glory belongs to Him. 

Pastor Edd

We had the pleasure of two choir pieces this Sunday from Bonny Doon's virtual choir.

The first pieces is the "The Palms" by Jean-Baptiste Faure.
Listen on YouTube »

The second piece is "My Song is Love Unknown", a hymn by Samuel Crossman, written in 1664, predominantly used as a hymn for Good Friday. 
Listen on YouTube 

Jesus has Risen! He has Indeed.

 

Daffodils in Sally & Brian Thomas's yard

Sunday's worship service on April 4th celebrating our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.  We will have our traditional Sunrise Service at 6:30am followed by a 10am virtual service over Zoom followed by an 11:30am in-person service outside.  

Larry's sermon: They are just like us

 

Acts 10:34-48. 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

One of my wife’s favorite sayings is,“Why are we still talking?”  The same thing happened to Peter in this passage. God actually interrupts Peter while he is giving a sermon to some Gentiles and fills them with the Holy Spirit, and they begin to speak in tongues. Peter then gives the command that they should be baptized, saying, “Can any man forbid water to these who have received the Spirit just as we have?” His speech begins with the revelation that he receives from God which gives him this insight, “God does not judge by appearances, but in every nation people who stand in awe of him and do his will, like Cornelius, are acceptable to him.” Remember, Cornelius was a Roman commander and there was great polarization between Jew and Gentile, between military and civilian, and between the early church and Romans. So this story is about a miracle carefully crafted by our Lord in a long, complex and pivotal chapter in Acts. This is the moment when Gentiles are fully accepted both by the Lord’s heavenly baptism, and then by the church’s act of earthly baptism.  

It is a thrilling narrative. Cornelius, a Roman commander in Cesarea who is characterized by a life of constant prayer and multiple acts of charitable giving, is visited by an angel who tells him, “Cornelius, heaven has its eye on you. Your prayers and charities have risen up to God as a pleasing incense”. So the angel accepts him and then gives this command, “Go fetch Simon Peter who is staying with Simon the Tanner by the sea. Bring Simon Peter here and he will tell you what you are to do. Cornelius sends his aid de camp and two other believing soldiers from his household to “go fetch Peter”. 

Meanwhile Peter has a dream. He is going up to the roof to pray and he gets hungry. Then, in a trance or ecstatic state he has a vision. A four cornered knit sheet drops out of heaven full of all kinds of animals. A voice from heaven, says “Arise Peter, kill and eat”.  Peter protests, “Lord I have never ever eaten anything unclean or common”. Peter is meticulous about a Kosher Diet.

God says, “Call nothing unclean which God has made clean.”

This message is repeated three times, which is the Hebrew Triplicate. So while Peter is trying to figure out what this means the envoys from the household of Cornelius show up. They stand before the very large gate of the house of Simon the Tanner. The entourage relays to Peter that he is to go to the Roman Commander, not to hear what to do, but to tell the Roman Commander what he must do. Then Peter and some of the early Jewish disciples and the messengers start out to travel together.

The distance is about 54 kilometers or about 40 miles. So they were together about three to four days. I think that was a really important time for both groups as they got to know each other.

They arrive at the house of Cornelius. Cornelius bows before Peter, and Peter says, “We are both guys here, so let’s talk”. 

Cornelius replies, “I am listening”. 

Peter declares, “God has shown me that God does not judge by appearance or race or class, but accepts everyone who follows him.” That is the meaning of his vision. But then Peter does what preachers do. He transitions into his favorite sermon. He speaks of Jesus doing good, dying and rising and what that good news means. But while he is speaking, the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles and they begin to speak in tongues,  astounding the Jews who say, “They are just like us." Now there were steps in the process. Peter had been staying with a Tanner which some consider unclean. Then both Peter and Cornelius have heavenly visions. Then the whole group spends hours, perhaps days walking together from Cesarea to Joppa, chatting, breaking the ice. Then Peter declares that God accepts everyone who does good, and gives Jesus as the ultimate example of doing good.  When the Spirit falls and interrupts, Peter says, “Who can deny water to those who have the Spirit”. Here is what I get out of this. When the Spirit tells us what we need to know, it is no time to lay low. Peter let the Gentiles right in, and affirmed it with baptism. He was criticized for this, and he said, “Hey, this was God’s idea, and I acted on it”. When the Spirit tells you what you need to know it is no time to lay low. This theme repeats throughout Luke and Acts. When Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, is told to call his son John, he does it. When Mary is told she will give birth to the Messiah, she says, “Let it be done unto me”. When Jesus sends out the seventy disciples, they come back saying we did what you said and even demons obeyed.  When Paul is told in a dream to go to Macedonia he goes. When Phillip is transported beside the chariot of an Ethiopian he hitches a ride, and shares the gospel. I realize that sometimes it is not clear what God wants. Sometimes in prayer we wonder if we will ever get a clear answer. Martin Luther says that is the time God is preparing you for, when you are able to respond to his call. So let me encourage you by saying God is working with all of us.  

We need to be ready for when we catch the heavenly vision, because that will change the world. Amen.

The Light of the World

by Martin Gaskell
 
At Bonny Doon Church before the COVID-19 pandemic, when we were meeting inside in person, a pair of candles was always lit at the front of the sanctuary at the start of Sunday morning services.  In fact, if you go into almost any church around the world, there is a good chance that candles, or perhaps oil lamps, will be lit during the service.  Why do churches do this?   The answer is that the lighting of candles and oil lamps has long been symbolic.  Jesus said “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” [John 8:12, NASB].  The lighting candles thus reminds us of the One who is the light of the world.
 
This week’s virtual choir piece is about Jesus being the light of the world.  The text goes back to what is considered to be the first Christian hymn in the modern sense of the word, the ancient Greek hymn Phos Hilaron.  It is the earliest known Christian hymn text still in use that comes from outside of the Bible.  We don’t know who wrote Phos Hilaron or when, but it was already an old hymn by 300 AD.  One of the three other companion hymns collected with Phos Hilaron is thought to date back to 150 AD.  These four hymns were for use in worship at different times of day.  Phos Hilaron was sung at the lighting of candles at the end of each day.  Phos means “light” (a root of our English word phosphorescence) and hilaron means “glad”, “joyful” or “propitious” (benevolent).  We don’t know what the original tune was, but we are singing a setting by the contemporary American composer, Gregory Norbet.  His wife, Kathryn Carrington, made an English adaption from the Greek words. 
 
The images in the video are of the candles at the front of Bonny Doon Church.

Recording of the Bruckner

by Martin Gaskell

       Psalm 84, a psalm of the sons of Korah, is about longing to be in God's temple, a special place where God was worshipped in Bible times.   With COVID-19 we've been longing for our modern special places where people worship together.  Different places are special for different Christians, so this week, to illustrate our choir piece, I alternated between some pictures of St. Mary's cathedral in Linz, the largest church in Austria -- specifically, the east end chapel where the Bruckner motet was first performed -- and  our Bonny Doon Church (the largest church in Bonny Doon!)   

       A parallel I've made in the first few images is that the first picture of the chapel in Linz cathedral zooms up to a stained glass window depicting the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove.  I made this image transition into a photo of the stained glass depicting the same thing in Boon Doon Church.

       Verse 3 of the psalm has the beautiful imagery of sparrows and swallows nesting in the temple.  God allowed even the birds into His temple.  The swallow family in the second bird picture was nesting in our garage in Nebraska.

       Some weeks we've included pictures or video of us singing or playing the choir music.  This week I've included a couple of pictures of the composer instead, Anton Bruckner, the most famously devout of 19th century composers.  The first one is a painting showing Bruckner as a model for one of the 12 disciples at the Last Supper in a painting by the famous German artist, Fritz von Uhde.  Von Uhde was a Christian who was famous for depicting Jesus as a real person with ordinary people, especially poor and humble people.  When von Uhde met Bruckner at a concert, he asked the composer if he could paint him into the Last Supper.  Bruckner was horrified at the thought and declined because he felt he was not worthy to be used as a model.  Von Uhde went ahead anyhow from memory and painted a disciple looking like Bruckner, the one at the head of the table on the left.  The other picture of Bruckner I have included is from a stained glass window in Linz Cathedral.

      One thing I notice every time I put together one of our virtual choir recordings is how much the different voices contribute.   I think there is a mini-sermon in this.  Sometimes, as I'm putting tracks together I've listened to parts with someone missing.  When I add the missing person into the mix it always sounds better.  What is interesting is that it's not just a matter of numbers; it's a matter of diversity.  Occasionally we are a bit thin in some section and if I add in multiple recordings of the same person it's just not as good as having multiple people singing the part.  The difference is quite striking.  It would be easy for me to prepare some demonstrations of this.  I could say, "here is the whole choir; now here is the choir without X."  Interestingly, the inevitable small mistakes we make in singing our parts end up being a plus.  The obvious parallel here is the Christian life.  God gives believers different spiritual gifts.  If one person is missing then his or her exercise of that spiritual gift is missing.  Having another person do twice as much in a church just isn't as effective.  Also, while we try to go out best, we don't need to be perfect.

Quilts from Alaska for our Kids

Patty King reached out to our church to see if she could distribute these children's quilts on March 13th between 9am to noon. We of course said YES!!! Here is what Patty posted on Facebook about the quilts.

"It's a quilt Iditarod!!!!!!! When we were evacuated and the inferno was rendering so many of our children and youth homeless, I contacted my Alaskan quilt-queen sister to ask for quilts for our kids. My quilt-queen sister asked her Alaskan quilting and sewing group buddies for quilts for our kids. This delightful bunch of people, living on the Kenai Peninsula,, Alaska, met that challenge in a big way - they donated 66 quilts. My family in Alaska crated them and shipped them to Seattle, where my daughter retrieved them. With the help of Barbara Lockwood, Tim Hoff picked them up from my daughter in Seattle and brought them to my husband's office in Santa Cruz. I now have the quilts here in Bonny Doon!!!!

My next job will be to create a system for distributing them to your kids.

Your job, if you would like to have a quilt for your children, is to contact me through Facebook Messenger or by email (pking964@hotmail.com) to request them. Tell me their name(s), age and the best way to contact you.

If we get more than 66 requests, we'll draw names from a hat and the first 66 children/youth will get to choose their favorite.

If we get fewer than 66 requests, I'll open the requests to the SLV area.

Please - if you have already received a quilt from the CZU Lightning Quilt group, please leave these for others.

I'll be working on a place to spread them out and show them, and I'll figure out days for distributing.

I'll post good-quality photos of all of them as soon as I can.

I'm so grateful to my quilt-queen sister, her quilting buddies, and my family members for getting these quilts from Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska to us."

- Patty King

 

The Family of God, Blended, extended and never upended

Sermon by Pastor Larry Vilardo 

Several years ago Feherty, the golf channel host, interviewed Bill Russel, the Boston Celtics Basketball icon. Mr. Russell said this when asked about his life’s philosophy. “There are no other people’s children, that’s it”.  Luke holds that same view in Acts.

In Peter’s Pentecost Sermon he wraps it up by saying “The promises are to you and your children who are far off.”

In the two of Lukes’ conversion stories, one with the unnamed Philippian Jailor and one with Lydia the seller of purple their whole households are baptized. This would indicate every generation in the household, including children. There are also two places: Acts 2 and in Acts 4 where it mentions that folks had everything in common and no one was in need. Families and their children were provided for.  And here in Acts six it talks about the daily distribution for widows. Many widows were elderly but some were younger with young children. So whole families, Jew and Greek were baptized and taken in and cared for.  Luke paints a picture of the early church as a blended, extended, family, that by God’s grace is never upended. But there is a hiccup, a little bit of a conflict like there can be in any  blended families. The Hellenists complain that their widows are getting neglected in the daily distribution.

So the disciples address this. They call the whole community of disciples together, which would have been a very large group by this time, probably between five and ten thousand people. They propose a solution. Select men from among you who have are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and let them take this task on.

Now because of the names of the folks they chose, which have a Greek or Hellenistic shade to them, many commentators thought they were pulled only from the Greek side of the church. But the Cambridge commentary writer thinks that there were three Greek speakers, three Hebrew speakers and one convert, (the proselyte) who did not grow up in the Jewish faith as either a Greek or Jew. So there was a perfect balance with a tie breaker. They then laid hands on them and trusted them with real leadership. Waiting on tables can also refer to money management, like the “tables” where money was exchanged in theTemple. One of the seven, Stephen, does great signs and wonders, and another, Philip, became an evangelist preaching and baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch. This group shared pastoral leadership along with the early Jerusalem disciples.  The early church is a blended family, an extended family but never an upended family. At the end of this chapter Steven begins his long speech. At the end of it he is murdered for his faith. The disciples who had been centered in and around the  Temple in Jerusalem now spread everywhere, showing the next step in extending the early church family even farther. Chapter six, like almost all of Acts, shared all these elements, a familial group blended and extended but never upended when faced with some controversy or challenge from within or from without. That in a nutshell is the story of acts. It is also our story. 

This pattern is very true here at Bonny Doon both in the town and in this church. When I first came up to Higher Grounds, I was impressed with how many different types of folks interacted, and how many social, economic and national locations were represented. It was a family blended and extended. Since I have been attending Zoom church, I have been struck with how strong the family of God is here.  There are folks from all walks of life and from many nations and nationalities, all working together. I was really impressed when I first got involved in Higher Grounds that this church began that wonderful ministry in one of the toughest economic times in the history of the US, the 2008 economic crisis. You can read about those early days in “Faith on the Mountain”. 

For a while I lost touch with the folks here as I served as a fill in pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church. When I returned I learned of the incredible, heroic and faithful efforts of this community after the truly devastating fires. Higher grounds was open six days a week, and food, clothing, and spiritual care was provided. The church worked with other churches, the Presbytery and the denomination. Clearly everyone here felt, like Bill Russel, “that there are no other people’s children”. I could hardly believe how resilient everyone was here, even in the face of their own losses, and I am sure I don’t know even a small percentage of the  story.  I know this, that at the end of every sermon Edd pronounces a blessing on this community of faith. I have to end by saying how much I have been blessed by the family of God at this place which is like the one in the book of Acts, blended, extended and never upended.God bless you and thank you, for being such faithful Christians, and welcoming Lorraine and me. 

Beauty for Ashes

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, lasting forty days.  Ash Wednesday has special significance this year for Bonny Doon following the recent wildfires in our community.  

and provide for those who grieve ... 

 a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of joy instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

    a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 

- Isaiah 61:3

Ashes are a symbol of turning away from regrets from mistakes, a time to ask for forgiveness and let go of regrets.  It is an opportunity to embrace our human frailty as we turn away from habits and behaviors that aren't working and realign our life with God's perfect will.

During this time, you may consider walking through and circling the area around our church, tuning into what you see and experience.  Notice the feeling of the soles of your feet as you walk, step by step. Experience your breath filling your lungs and the beating of your heart. Observe the impact of the fire, the early signs of Spring approaching, the dampness of the soil, the color of the sky, the stirring of the breeze, and the feeling of the sun. Listen for insights, write your thoughts in the form of a prayer, ask Jesus for help where you need help, consider placing your prayer in our prayer box by the Kirk house (the building adjacent to the church). 

World of Encouragement from Afar

This week for Valentines Day, we sent a letter to people we knew lost their homes with a link pointing them to this blog post with handwritten notes of encouragement from New Jersey.

Just before Christmas, a packaged arrived to our church from New Jersey with the notes.  The students of the Christian Drama School of New Jersey sent these handwritten notes 

  

Reopening Higher Grounds for Valentine's Day

Higher Grounds will be reopening February 13th based on the recent changes in the Santa Cruz County stay-at-home status.  

Help from Many Places

Over the past 6 months, our church has received help from many places to help with fire recovery:

• Santa Cruz Convergence
• Trinity Church
• Hope Church
• Twin Lakes
• Los Gatos Presbyterian
• Christian Drama School of New Jersey
• Kentucky Quilters
• Hope Lutheran Church quilters from  San Mateo, California
• CLC - Christian Life Center on Mission Street
• San Jose Presbyterian
• World Hope International
• Santa Cruz Foundation
• Arizona truck of household items from past church member 

Direct funds provided by San Jose Presbyterian have been distributed to members of our church.  World Hope provided fans to help with smoke mitigation. Meals provided by Santa Cruz Convergence Church were distributed to our community members when we were repopulating.  They also provided hand sewn Christmas stockings with $100 "downtown dollars" which we delivered to 100 people in our community who lost their homes, a value of over $10,000.   We also distributed $100 gift cards from our church to people who had immediate needs over Christmas. Money from the Higher Grounds donation jar funded Christmas trees and wreaths for people.  Twin Lakes gift card purchased clothing and food for members of our church who lost their home.  

Hope Church purchased the canopy at church and tools for people who lost their home.  We distributed emergency radios that were purchased with funds donated to the Santa Cruz Foundation.  We purchased the backup Yeti batteries to power our wifi when power is out using the Los Gatos Presbyterian funds.  

Moving forward, we have a few choices of how to spend the remaining funds we have received for disaster recovery and relief.  We have about $8000 in funding, 50% of it was specifically targeted to support capital expenses associated with the out reach, 25% is to be spent where most needed.   

It is our choice to use about 50% of the funds to give directly to fire survivors or to invest it on improving the services we offer at the church for our community who is facing challenges of limited power, water and communication resources.    When investing in improving services, we have two proposals:  

1) to invest in backup solar power estimated to cost about $20,000 which requires us to raise another $12,000 

2) to invest enabling us to utilize the coffee cart we received this Fall.  

The session has approved moving forward to keep the coffee cart; they haven't had a chance to discuss the possibility of having solar backup power.  There is confusion about whether we share a shed or there is a dedicated shed for Higher Grounds.

Currently, we are planning to purchase a shed with a roll-up door to house the coffee cart that we have been given to use by Sebastian of Great Infusion to use over the next two years or more.  That shed will require a level foundation and electrical power.  We estimate it will cost approximately $6,000.  Our plans are to reach out to Hope Church with a proposal to complete this work as well as to use the remaining funds we have received from Los Gatos Presbyterian, Trinity Church and New Jersey Theatre Group to fund this investment.  We have received approximately $8,000 in funds between these three organizations.

Our Church as a Resource

Our church has long been a resource for the community.  It housed the preschool for a time and was once once where people came to vote.  Since Higher Grounds installed the DSL about 10 years ago with the Wifi router, it has become a resource for people who don't have Internet service at home to access the Internet.  

The use of our church's Wifi Hotspot only increased when several years ago, smartphones like the iPhone added the capability to make cell phone calls over Wifi.  People began coming to our church to make cellphone calls because as most of us know cell phone coverage is sketchy at best up here on the mountain.  This capability is even more significant when we loose power, causing people who have Comcast to loose their Internet.  Even people who still have land lines, loose the ability to make phone calls when they've converted their traditional phones to wireless handsets.

Since the fire, Todd, one of our neighbors, invested in repairing our water tank to enable our church to be a backup resource for water to fill up 5 gallon jugs to take home to use for cooking or even to flush their toilets.

During the fire evacuation our church was offered a Tesla power wall to provide a charging station and essential resources to our community while we were out of power.    This has opened our eyes to the how our church has an opportunity to be a backup power resource to our community when we have power outages.  We recently received a quote for installing solar panels and backup power to our community.  Roughly 1/3 of the cost could be covered by grants.

In the meantime, over the past few weeks, we invested in two Yeti 150 lithium batteries to power the DSL router when we have power outages.  It was a great success enabling a half a dozen neighbors to utilize the Wifi Hotspot when their power was out at home.  Unfortunately, this requires someone to be here, charge the battery on their home generator and swap out the battery every 12 hours.   Installing a solar battery power system for our church will enable backup communication without requiring a person to manage it.

There are many other benefits to having solar backup power installed.  Our church could then offer a charging station for small devices to our community as well as Wifi power.  With so many coffee shops closed due to Covid, it is a challenge for people to charge their devices.  Many people are left to sitting in their cars and idling them with their devices plugged in to recharge them for work and school.  Of course some people have offices in town or have friends and family who are willing to allow them to use their systems, but not everyone is so fortunate.  Yes, there are co-working locations, but only people who can afford to pay the premium to become a member are afforded that privilege.

P.G.&E hosted three resource centers during the most recent planned power outage.  One of them was a church.  All three of them are 30 minutes away.  Our community had homed with the many trees that were removed after the fire that we'd have fewer outages.  The past few weeks have proven that we will continue to have outages despite the recent tree removals.

Faith on the Mountain: Spiritual Stories from the Bonny Doon Church

 

We are pleased to announce the completion of our new book: Faith on the Mountain: Spiritual Stories from the Bonny Doon Church.

This is a collection of personal stories written by members of the Bonny Doon Church. In it many of us share our unique spiritual journeys, how we came to believe in God and Jesus, and how He has patiently lead us, taught us, and watched over us in love throughout our lives. Along the way we also share songs and poems written by church members and a history of the Church and its place within our precious Bonny Doon Community.

The idea for this book came to Barbara Gaskell, when she saw a similar book published by another church she attended years ago. She enlisted the help of her special friend, Helen Gibbons, a newly retired science writer and editor with the USGS. Together, the two of them solicited stories from willing church members and in some cases conducted interviews in person and over zoom. After a years work, the book was nearly finished when the CZU fire complex caused Barbara to evacuate to Helen’s house in Mountain View. There the two of them spent part of that anxious time proof reading the final version. It was a delightfully cheerful thing to do during such a scary time.

If you live locally and would like a copy of this book, you can pick one up at the church for free, either during Higher Grounds, or after the Sunday outdoor service. If you live far away, the book is available on Amazon. 

Celebrating MLK Day with Service

MLK Day is Martin Luther King's Day.   MLK Day honors the reverend's legacy of peaceful advocacy encouraging community service through AmeriCorp.   

• Every believer has received grace gifts, so use them to serve one another as faithful stewards of the many-colored tapestry of God's grace. 1 Peter 4:10

Would you like to join arms with our church to service our community?  Our church collects food for food pantries, helps with fire recovery, prays for individual needs and hosts Higher Grounds community house.  Please email bonnydoonchurch@gmail.com if you would like to be of service in the coming year!

Our dear Camp Farthest Out friend, Brent Hample, shared Martin Luther King, jr's  10 commandments for nonviolence with us today on social media.  We hope you will find them encouraging.

Christmas Eve Outside Candle Light Service

Bonny Doon Church will continue their tradition of a candle light service on Christmas Eve.   We have moved it up a few hours to 5pm so since it will be fully outside this year.   We will sing Christmas Carols and receive a short message from our pastor Edd.  Please bring lawn chairs to sit with your families socially distanced from other families groups.  If you want to observe from your car, there will be a couple of places to park near the service.

We will also share the Christmas Eve Service over Zoom (message ID 5013145479) as well for people who are staying home to shelter-in-place. 

                                    https://zoom.us/j/5013145479. 

As a form of a "drive-by-pickup", there are candles in a box beside the sanctuary doors for people to take home if they would like to have a candle to light at home during the service.   

Higher Grounds closed until the New Year due to "Stay at Home" order

December 3, 2020, the state of California issued an new "Stay At Home" order requiring restrictions when ICU capacities drop below 15% availability.   

Unfortunately, our church prematurely made the decision to stop hosting Higher Grounds based on an email we received from the Santa Cruz Small Business Development Development Center with the subject "UPDATE - New Stay At Home Order for Santa Cruz County".   In this email, we were informed that Santa Cruz County is considered to be part of the Bay Area and would be required to comply with the order when ICU beds throughout the Bay Area dipped down below 15% capacity.  The Bay Area ICU capacity is currently at 25% and is anticipated to drop below 15% in mid-December.  As of December 3rd, Santa Cruz County was at 51.3% ICU capacity. 

We have continued to meet outside for outside church with the one exception of the night before when it rained.  About a week before Santa Cruz closed down outdoor dining, we could have opened for a week but knew that it would be short lived and confusing to open then close again in a few days so we remained closed.  Our hope is that we will reopen in the New Year.