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Pastor’s Note 5/21/21

Posted on May 23, 2021 in Devotions, HomePage, Uncategorized | 0

“Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.”

John 4:6

The Long Journey

This week my wife Karyn and I are moving. We finally will be able to get the keys to our new home and get settled into a new neighborhood. It has been a long journey in getting to this point.

(If I really think about it, it has been years in the making. You can ask me about the long journey some time).

Throughout this journey and our search for our new home we have been praying that God would lead us to the right place. We wanted to be in a place that not only we liked, but also a place in a neighborhood where we were needed. As we get the keys to the home this week, we don’t know what God has in store, so our eyes and ears will be wide open to see what God is up to. It may take years to realize the reason but we do know that God has been leading us. In the meantime, we want to be good neighbors.

Being a Good Neighbor

Being a good neighbor is in short supply these days. We tend to live behind our closed garage doors, not building relationships with those around us. Sometimes it makes life easier when we do this. It means less small talk, less time away from “more important” things but sometimes that is what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to be good neighbors, available to others, so that we can “do good,” or when someone asks us a question, and we can point them to Him. That’s what happened to Jesus and the woman at the well in John 4. The same thing can happen to you and to me when we make ourselves available.

So be a good neighbor and let’s see what God is up to. I can’t wait to hear your stories!

Know that I am praying for you and I will see you on Sunday.

Pastor’s Note 5/13/2021

Posted on May 15, 2021 in Devotions, HomePage, Uncategorized | 0

“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”

John 1:14 (The Message)

The Move

It has been 6 months since I started serving as the pastor at LCPC and commuting from Irvine to Lakeside but after this week, everything will change.

As many of you know, my wife Karyn and I found a house to move to in San Diego County. It won’t be for another 10 days until we can actually move into our new home but this weekend we move out of our home of 23 years. It has been hard as we pack things up and throw out some of the unwanted or unnecessary items we have obtained over the years. Memories of our children growing up in the house and things that we did as a family flood our thoughts as we continue to pack, but it is all good because God has called us to a new neighborhood. It is in this new setting that new memories will be made, but more importantly, we wanted to be in a place where God wanted us, in a neighborhood that needed us. I am not sure what that will entail, but that has been our prayer all along, that we would move into a neighborhood where we were needed.

A Road Travelled

Over two-thousand years ago, God “moved into a neighborhood” that needed Him. When Jesus came into the world, it was God moving in because humanity needed Him. Men and women didn’t know when that action took place that the world would be changed but now we do. God’s loving action of sending His son Jesus into the world changed our relationship with God forever. It was an act of love that God took and because of that, our lives are changed forever.

Homecoming

Today, take a moment to thank God for “moving into the neighborhood” and for how that act changed your life with God.

Have a great rest of the week and I will to see you on Sunday.

Lakeside Community Presbyterian Church