All posts by Lynn Phillips

Lenten reflection

Lenten reflection from Lynn Phillips

How deep was Jesus into His suffering and reflection by now?
How was he doing, out there in the desert all alone with his thoughts of impending death and the promised resurrection, with no food to eat?
He had to be hungry. We know He was introspective. He must have been sad.
He had to have been afraid. Satan was there.
And Jesus was human, too.

How is your journey barely two weeks into Lent?
Are you hungry for God’s love and the promise of eternal salvation?
Are you looking inward at the essence of you and becoming closer with God?
Are you afraid? How is Satan tempting you?
You’re human as well.

Have no worries children of God.
He loves you beyond measure, beyond boundaries, beyond time, beyond belief!
Wait faithfully, joyfully and reflectively to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the fulfillment of God’s promise to take us home.
Satan is among us most of the time, but
God is with you and within you all of the time.

-Lynn Phillips

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Bible Study, Lenten reflection

Lenten reflection from Lynn Phillips

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed;
a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD,
have never forsaken those who seek you.   

Trust must be important, especially today.  It shows up in Psalm 9, verse 10, as well as most of the psalms, gospels and other readings for this day.

I know what trust is, and I bet you do, too.  But do we really? I decided to see what a Bible reference guide had to say.

Here’s what I found:

TRUST – see faith
FAITH – see trust
HOPE – see faith

It’s easy to see that the three are so intertwined that there’s no having one without the other.  That knowledge gives us a better understanding of trust. Trusting God means our FAITH doesn’t waver when things are not turning out the way we planned.  Trusting God means we have a reason to HOPE, even when we are in the worst of times. As we reflect, fast and give alms during this Lenten season, let us also take a little time to rejoice in how comforting it is to trust in the Lord!

-Lynn Phillips 

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Lenten reflection

Lenten reflection from Lynn Phillips

Psalm 63 

 1 O God, you are my God, 
       earnestly I seek you; 
       my soul thirsts for you, 
       my body longs for you, 
       in a dry and weary land 
       where there is no water. 

David wrote these words while he was in the Desert of Judea. Can’t you just see him in that barren land seeking, thirsting and longing for God?  David is not unlike us, seeking meaning and a purpose in life; in effect, searching for God.

 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary 
       and beheld your power and your glory.

Again, like David, we have a sanctuary where we see the power and the glory of the Lord.  Beloved CommunityChurch is our holy place where we can discover meaning in our lives as we find, acknowledge and praise God.

There are so many ways to find God here on 41st Street – in the awesome music of our talented musicians, in the moving and relevant words of Pastor Angie and in the basement as Beloveds box and distribute Angel Food.  Our sharing sessions have yielded so many passionate pleas, moving testimonies and powerful prayers that it’s easy to see God at work then. I once saw God in a warm ray of sunshine that fell on me during a summer service.  Of course, you can always see the light of God in the bright eyes and smiling faces of the person in the pew next to you, across from you, behind you….

Lynn Phillips

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