​Pastor’s Message

​October 14, 2020


The word for today is presence: God’s abiding and constant presence—not a random, “force-like” presence that just is. This is an intimate presence, a personal presence, a presence that knows your name; you are known. In our over-mediated society, it is often the individual who gets lost in the mass of voices and noise that surrounds us. No doubt many of us can attest to feeling lonely in a crowd. This week’s reading (Exodus 33:12-20) could be an antidote to those feelings.

Presence is what we seek. What we yearn for is God’s presence in particular. To know and be known can get us through a lot of things. It can get us through the difficult days we face, through the complicated questions we ponder, the bone-crushing rejection in our love lives and careers, and all the weighty issues that overwhelm us on a regular basis. To handle these challenges, we need to learn to walk in the confidence that we are known by God and that God walks with us as we go.
​
The first step to learning that confidence is to realize that we are always in the presence of God. It is the nature of God to be present. The only way our awareness of this presence grows is from having a relationship with God. That relationship develops and is nourished just like any beneficially relationship in your life: by spending time with God. That’s what Exodus has been showing us. God and Moses spent a lot of time in conversation, like friends. Like friends, meaning they enjoyed one another’s company but argued as much as agreed. It was a contentious relationship from the beginning. There is no denying that. They complained to each other, dreamed together; they debated the meaning of life—all the usual stuff that friends do. That almost sounds like blasphemy, doesn’t it? Join us this Sunday as we push that envelope open even farther…
.

Your Brother in Christ, Rev. Ernest
 HELP YOUR CHURCH WHEN YOUR SHOP!
AMAZON.SMILE BENEFITS ST. JOHNS' WHEN YOU BUY ONLINE.
Here is the link that you will need to get set up.  Please click the "create an account" to get started.  This will provide St. John's UMC a charitable contribution from Amazon for qualified purchases.  You will need to choose St. John's UMC Baytown as your recipient.  Please be sure to purchase those presents, etc. using Amazon.Smile so it counts! JUST CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW.