Win a cool shirt, just for praying

Here’s the dealio: I have a brand-spankin-new Oregon Ducks Tostitos BCS National Championship tee shirt (size: L) that I am just itchin’ to give away, both to have some fun and to give some kind of a reward to those of you diligent or lonely enough to check your email on Friday nights and Saturdays.  Next Tuesday morning, this shirt will be worth some money, or it will be $3.50 at Goodwill.

But like many good things and Social Security, you have to work for it: we’ll award this shirt to the person with the best conclusion to the sentence: “My best time of prayer is when…”    You don’t have to be flowery or eloquent in your answer.  In fact, just like with actual prayer, we’re looking for sincere, real, and concise.  And forget about my joke last Sunday: if your best time of prayer is when you’re doing the dishes, don’t be embarrassed to admit it.  We all have different prayer habits.

You must be present on Sunday morning, when we’ll award the shirt, to win.  Answers will be judged by an expert panel of judges that I will whip up moments before the service begins.  All my relatives are eligible to win.  New rule for this contest only: enter as many times as you like, since your best prayer times may occur during different circumstances.  But don’t start entering lame answers or you will be disqualified, and possibly even asked to attend a different church. 

The runner-up will win a lightly-worn non-BCS Ducks shirt (size: L) that I picked up at Buffalo Exchange in Eugene yesterday. 

To answer, just hit “reply” and give me your answer.  The judges won’t know which answer belongs to which entrant. 

Don’t forget that on Sunday we’ll host an Open House at the Skypark building after the slightly-shortened service at the St. Mary’s gym.  Wear your ear muffs, cause it may be chilly.  Also, you’re invited to come early to church, at 9 am, and pray with us.

Go Ducks.  Please win, or at least don’t please don’t get humiliated in the biggest game of the year.

-Pastor Dale

Come, See the One who Knows Everything You Ever Did

As Jesus was led by the Spirit to meet with a Samaritan woman by the well, so he mercifully comes to us. She did not yet know him. She did not know the gift of God standing before her. If she had, she would have recognized her thirst - her dissatisfaction, her attempts to quench her life’s thirst with multiple husbands. If she knew Jesus, she would have asked Him for a drink, and He would have given her living water.

This is what Jesus points out to her, saying, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

As those who do know Jesus, we come to eat and drink, with Him in mind. We come to communion recognizing our thirst and our need of a Savior; and He meets us here, and satisfies us with Himself. Though we take just a sip from the cup, Jesus gives us His Spirit that wells up within us, forever. I invite you to think on Christ as true refreshment. Think on Christ as real satisfaction. Think on Christ as the one who has given you living water.

When refreshed with Jesus, we should have a similar reaction to that of the woman at the well. She responds by going to her own people and saying, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did.” Is it good news that someone knows everything about you; all that you ever did? It is if it’s Jesus, because Jesus did not come to condemn you, He came to save those who were already condemned. As Jesus came to meet with the woman at the well, so He comes to meet with you, now. Do you know the gift of God? If you do, then ask Him for a drink. He knows everything about you. He came to sacrifice Himself – taking the condemnation of your sin upon Himself, so that you might have everlasting life. Jesus is with us now. Let’s meet with Him in prayer and thank Him that He knows everything about us, and loves us still.

Jesus, we hold this piece of bread in our hands, knowing that it points us to your body given for us. We confess that even a little knowledge of our lives is enough to condemn us; yet You know us perfectly, and gave Yourself in our place. We eat now with thankful hearts, remembering and receiving what You have given us.

Jesus, we confess that You alone quench the thirst of our souls. We hold a small cup of juice that points us to the necessity and significance of Your shed blood on the cross. It is necessary because our sin required death, and it is significant because Your death has brought us life and forgiveness. We drink now as a sign of the new covenant in Your blood.