Rally Day

As life goes on there seems to be a tendency to putter with the familiar things rather than to strike out in new directions. Having so often been threatened by obstacles or out distanced by competitors, we sometimes lose heart and settle into tinkering. The challenges of life are relentless. They are often so overwhelming that we are tempted to retreat from them or simply relegate them to a limbo of helplessness. Our expectations of renewal or relief wane, and we resign ourselves to our fears and frustrations.

C.S. Lewis wrote about “that first, fine, careless rapture” that lifted the Church into global significance in the worst of times. The Church had no history, except for those short years of Jesus of Nazareth, and with his leaving they might have simply faded away. But that didn’t happen. The disciples seemed to be in many ways like children on the first day of school. They were going to show up for whatever God had for them to do. Trusting that the New Year would bring them new experiences, uncover new things to learn, and certainly propel them further along to live out what life was for. They could not go back to the old fires of memory or sentiment and try to get warmth from cold ashes. There were new fires to be kindled.

That’s what Rally Day is all about. It is what a “new” season is all about. The students among us will go on to things we have not yet learned, or at least never studied in the same way. As for those of us beyond “school,” we will all hear of events and experiences that never happened before in quite the same way. Every day will be a kind of lesson, offering us insight, experience, and maturity.

Not only will the lessons and the headlines be new, so also will God’s presence. We are living out a destiny that is being revealed to us one lesson at a time. We may go back to the old familiar places, the old school buildings, so to speak, but the lessons will be new. If we had figured out some answers for the questions of last year, well and good, this coming year there will be new questions. And, as Isaiah put it so clearly, “The Lord…will be there to teach you.” (Isaiah 30:21-22) “Call on me, and I will answer you, and show you great and hidden things which you have not known,” is what Jeremiah was instructed to tell God’s people. (33:3)

It may not be the first day of school for you, but there is a way to take hold of life that can be grasped only through Jesus Christ. One of the first names they called him when he walked the earth was Teacher. Indeed.

Yours in Christ,
 Pastor Jansen

          

Thinking of the Future

The 40^th Anniversary edition of the Smithsonian magazine featured a cover with the words “40 Things You need to Know about the Next Forty Years.” That’s looking to 2050, way past my time and perhaps many of yours too! According to one writer, “Within the next 40 years, most Americans believe the United States will get the bulk of its energy from sources other than oil. Computers will converse like people. Cancer will be cured and artificial limbs will outperform natural ones. Astronauts will land on Mars and ordinary people will travel in space…and the U.S. will face severe water shortages.” All of these thoughts are not surprising but in the next 40 years there are going to be a whole lot of changes to the way our friends and neighbors live their lives.

LOL Quilters make quilts to be distributed by 

Lutheran World Relief wherever they are needed throughout the world.

 

 

The number that jumps out at me about 2050 is 100 million, that is, 100 million more people with whites no longer being in the majority and current minority populations exceeding 50% by that time. This population increase is not necessarily a bad thing, but these numbers and changes in demographics present a challenge for us as a faith community at Lord of Life.

LOL Confirmation Retreat

As Lord of Life approaches her 44^th year of life as a Christian community, this congregation has been blessed by a strong, forward thinking, committed lay and pastoral staff. We have been blessed these past 40 years, but the future is ahead of us and awaits our commitment. An increase of 100 million new people with significant population diversification, what does that say about planning for the future of this congregation? I know it is difficult for us to think about the distant future let alone five years from now because, “Today’s troubles are sufficient for today.” As the lawyer asks of Jesus, “What must we do to inherit eternal?” So we must ask how we are going to bring the Way, the Truth, and the Life to the neighbor generations that follow.

Think and pray on these things!

Pastor Knauff  

We Must Be People of Passion

The Holy Spirit empowers the church to be the agent of change in the world, a counter-cultural entity. The task of the church is to breathe in the Spirit and be inspired by the Spirit to act on behalf of God. As the Spirit of God flows into us, it also ought to flow from us in the way we treat one another, the way we speak to one another, in the way we treat others in our community, in the way we live out the new life we receive when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord.

A couple of weeks ago I as at an event with Tony Campolo, a sought after speaker, he told a story of a time attending a Christian conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Since there was a six-hour time differential between Honolulu and his hometown in Pennsylvania, he experienced some confusion in his sleep pattern and on his first night he woke up, got dressed, and left the hotel where he was staying, searching for a place to get something to eat. Eventually he found a tiny coffee shop that was open. Here is his description of what happened there:

“The fat guy behind the counter came over and asked me what I wanted. I told him I wanted a cup of coffee and a donut. As I sat there munching my donut and sipping my coffee at 3:30 in the morning, the door suddenly opened, swung wide, and to my discomfort in marched eight or nine provocatively dressed and rather boisterous prostitutes. It was a small place and they sat on either side of me. Their talk was loud and crude. I felt completely out of place. I was just about to make my getaway when I heard the woman next to me say, ‘You know, tomorrow is my birthday. I’m going to be 39.’ Her friend responded in a rather nasty tone, ‘so what do you want from me, a birthday party? What do you want, you want me to get a cake and sing happy birthday to you?’ ‘Come on’, the woman sitting next to me said, ‘why do you have to be so mean? I’m just telling you that it’s my birthday. Why do you have to put me down? I don’t want anything from you. I mean, why should I have a birthday party? I’ve never had a birthday party in my whole life.  Why should I have one now?’

Campolo said, “When I heard that, I made a decision. I sat and waited until the women left, and then I called over the fat guy behind the counter and asked him, ‘Do they come in here every night?’ He answered, ‘Yeah.’ ‘The one who was sitting right next to me, does she come in every night?’ ‘Yeah”, he said, ‘that’s Agnes. Yeah, she comes in every night. Why do you want to know?’ ‘Because,’ Campolo replied, ‘I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday. What do you say we do something special for her? What do you think about throwing a birthday party for her right here in the coffee shop?’ A cute kind of smile crept over that fat man’s chubby cheeks. ‘That’s a great idea,’ he said. Agnes is one of those people who are really nice and kind. I don’t think anybody has ever done anything nice and kind for her.’ ‘Well, look,’ he told him, ‘if it’s okay with you, I’ll be back here tomorrow morning at 2:30. I’ll decorate the place. I’ll even get a birthday cake for her.’ ‘No way!’ he replied. ‘The birthday cake, that’s my thing. I’ll bake the birthday cake myself.’

At 2:30 the next morning, Campolo was back at the coffee shop, he had picked up some crepe paper and other decorations at the store, and made a sign the said, ‘Happy Birthday, Agnes!’ He decorated that diner from one end to the other. The word must have gotten out because at 3:15 that morning every prostitute in Honolulu was in that place. There was wall to wall prostitutes—and Tony Campolo, At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open and in came Agnes. He had everyone ready to scream ‘Happy Birthday, Agnes!’ And then we sang to her. And you know never has there been a person so flabbergasted, so stunned, so shaken. Her mouth fell open, her knees started to buckle, and she started to cry.

Harry, the fat guy behind the counter, gruffly mumbled, ‘Blow out the candles, Agnes, blow out the candles.’ Then he handed her a knife and said, ‘cut the cake, Agnes, cut the cake.’ Agnes looked down at that cake, and without taking her eyes off it, she slowly and softly said, ‘Look, Harry, is it Okay with you if I, I mean, if I don’t, what I want to ask, is it okay if I keep the cake for a little while? Is it Okay if we don’t eat it right away?’ Harry shrugged and answered, ‘Well, sure, Agnes, that’s fine. You want to keep the cake, keep the cake. Take it home if you want to.’ ‘Oh, could I?’ she asked. Looking at him, she said, ‘I just live down the street a couple of doors. I want to take the cake home, okay? I’ll be right back, honest.’

She got off the stool, she picked up that cake, and she carried it out of the diner like it was the Holy Grail. She walked slowly toward the door, and we all just stood there, speechless. When the door closed behind her, there was stunned silence in the place. Not knowing what else to do, Campolo broke the silence by saying, ‘What do you say we pray together?’ Campolo says that looking back at it now it seems more than a little strange to be leading a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the morning. But he prayed. He prayed for Agnes, He prayed for her salvation. He prayed that her life would be changed, and that God would be good to her.

And when he finished, Harry leaned over, and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said, ‘Hey, you never told me you were a preacher! What kind of preacher are you anyway? What church do you belong to?’ In one of those moments when just the right words come, he answered him quietly, ‘I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning.’ Harry thought for a minute, and then almost sneered as he answered, ‘No, you don’t! There is no church like that. In fact,’ he concluded, ‘If there was, I’d join it.”

Maybe Harry was right. Maybe there is no church that is open enough to the leading of the Holy Spirit to be that kind of church. But if the church is to continue to provide a witness to the world about the unconditional love of God, that’s the kind of church that dances with the wind, a church that celebrates life, a church that twirls and laughs and parties with everyone the Holy Spirit drags us to. Because of the Holy Spirit in our lives we can be people of Purpose, Power, and Passion. Resolve today that you will never be content again with a powerless, puny, poor-mouthing, pessimistic life-style. Tell God that you want to soar on the wings of the spirit. When we do, the weak are made strong every day.

Go with God,

Pastor Qualley

We Must Have Power

The church needs people with purpose. The church needs to be people powered by the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost the disciples were given the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. They were given power. It is hard sometimes to relate to a concept of spiritual power. Too often, I fear, we get the misconception that when the disciples received the Holy Spirit they became spiritual supermen. Nothing could be further from the truth. These men had far less talent, creativity, resources, and education than modern people today. What they did have was compulsion. It was this motivation that thrust these dozen men out into the world with a message of redemption and by the end of the first century over a half million people had been brought under the Christian banner. That is power.

People of the Bible are witnesses to this power. The words from Ezekiel date to a period of conflict and warfare in the history of the Hebrew people. They were in exile in Babylon, Ezekiel among them. Jerusalem had fallen to a great nation contending with other great nations. Jerusalem and the people of Judah were only small players in this military contest, but not to Ezekiel, not to God. “Can these bones live?” These are words that continue on lips this day. For some people there is a hopelessness that we feel through the greater and lesser crises of our lives. People pat us on the backs and say, “You can’t do anything about it, get used to it.” We feel scattered, disconnected, and dry. Can these bones live? Around us hangs the heavy weight of “no.” We feel trapped, in the dark, behind a great obstacle.

It’s so easy to lose heart and hope, to assume that things have gone too far. It’s too late; there’s nowhere to turn. To assume it’s over. You can’t get the grades that parents demand you achieve. You can’t get into the college of your choice. You can’t find meaning in your job that has become weary and boring. You find that your family is not the perfect family you read about in story books. You want to have children but cannot. You want to have purposeful work but your health won’t allow it. You want to die but your tired old body won’t let go. Against such despair the church proclaims that the love and power of God in Christ Jesus is come into the world. Out hope is not reserved for another day, another life, another world. Can these bones live? By the grace of God the answer is surely “yes.” We have the power to change, grow, gain control, find acceptance, be comforted, gather strength, whatever we need to renew and rebuild our lives.

We need not despair. The Christ who lives in us is the resurrection and is the life. Meaning, promise, and purpose can’t be held hostage to the limits of the conventional wisdom surrounding us or to the narrowness of our own experience. Can these bones live? Listen to the rattling across the valleys of our lives. We who have our hope in Christ live in him, and we can take hope and give it to one another, and to others beyond. 

A few years ago in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, a float stalled. Frustration increased quickly because other floats could not move in this nationally televised event. Mechanics quickly surveyed the stalled float, searching for the problem. Finally, someone had the presence of mind to check for fuel. That’s right. It was out of gas. This became even more embarrassing when the crowd realized that this float’s sponsor was one of the major oil companies. The power available to every Christian far exceeds fossil fuels, or even nuclear energy. The Holy Spirit is the greatest power in the universe. Ask for a daily in-filling.

Go with God,

Pastor Qualley

We Must Be People of Purpose

In the 1800’s, no business matched the financial and political dominance of the railroad. Trains dominated the transportation industry of the United States, moving both people and goods throughout the country. Then a new discovery came along, the car, and incredibly, the leaders of the railroad industry did not take advantage of their unique position to participate in the transportation development. The automotive revolution was happening all around them, and they did not use their industry dominance to take hold of the opportunity. In the video tape The Search for Excellence, Tom Peters points out the reason: the railroad barons did not understand what business they were in. Peter observes that “they thought they were in the train business. But, they were in fact in the transportation business. Time passed them by, as did opportunity. They couldn’t see what their real purpose was.

Some of you know that the same thing happened to the watch and clock industry. The Swiss had dominated time keeping. They controlled 90% of all revenues made in their industry. They made the most precise gears and springs in the world. Their watches and clocks were perfect. Then something new happened called the Quartz movement—LCD readout. Guess who invented it, a Swiss man, but because it had no gears or knobs or springs it was rejected. They failed to recognize that they were in the business of helping people tell time not making the precision gears. They lost their dominance in the industry. They now control 20% of all revenue. Seiko is the dominant leader.

If Sports Illustrated magazine understood it was in the sports information business, not the publishing business, we would have the Sports Illustrated Channel, not ESPN. Our purpose is to make disciples for Jesus Christ and if we loose our focus will be become obsolete. If we get distracted by tradition, habit, custom, ritual, routine, we will go the way of the trains, the Swiss, the Sports Illustrated. We must remember our basic identity. We must whenever, however, wherever—fulfill our basic purpose. That is why our mission statement starts with these words: Our purpose is that “All may know Jesus Christ and His love for you.” Churches need to be a place where God is seen, love is felt, and lives are changed. 

Every one of us is asked to be part of that team. None of us can sit on the sidelines without getting into the game of life. It is a matter of life and death for those who do not have a relationship to Jesus Christ. This church must be empowered by the Holy Spirit and going out to the streets with spiritual power and authority. The Holy Spirit compels us to go. “Go” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

Go with God,

Pastor Qualley

An Extreme Makeover

Extreme Makeover is a television show which tugs on the viewer’s heartstrings. Two people are chosen who will undergo an “extreme physical makeover.” Their piercing, moving stories of low self-esteem, based on bodily features, coupled with unkind words of others led them to want an extreme makeover. Features such as ugly teeth, unflattering nose, protruding chins, body shape, fat, wrinkles have led to such a low self-esteem that they cry out for help. They are in need of some type of savior. Some feel they can hardly go on living. After six weeks of surgical work and healing, it’s time to see the results of this “extreme makeover.” The day of the great unveiling brings joy and happiness to that person in need, and also to family and friends who can hardly believe how this person now physically looks.

Today we can also witness an extreme makeover: the refreshing wind of the Spirit is blowing and it is changing the men and women who wait. It is causing things to begin to happen. The Holy Spirit’s presence is always equated with power. Just as the violent wind shook the room, the disciples knew that something glorious was happening. They were immediately convinced that what they had been waiting for had begun. Christ had kept his promise to them! They would never doubt that their Lord had come to them in this unmistakable way. The mighty breath of God was moving among them.

Breath is life. We breathe eighteen times a minute, 1,080 times an hour, 25,000 times a day. At age 40 you will have had 365 million breaths, each a gift from God, the gift of life. A few moments without breath and you are unconscious, a few moments more and you are dead. No wonder the Psalmist declares, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:6. On his death bed, John Wesley’s last words were “I’ll praise…I’ll praise…” he was struggling to say the words of the great hymn of Isaac Watts, “I’ll Praise my Maker while I’ve Breath.” What natural breath is to the human body for its existence, so is the mighty Breath of God—the Holy Spirit—to the spirit of a person. We simply cannot live long without him. We are more right than we knew when we pray as we sing, “Breath on me Breath of God, Fill me with life anew.”

Each year we witness as our eighth graders confirm their faith. Their journey is also one of an extreme makeover. How do they look? Physically they have matured. I have had the privilege of baptizing a number of them and I have watched them grow to this point. But it is in the area of the Spirit that they have undergone an “extreme makeover.” From their statements of faith, class discussions, the love shown on service projects and ministry around the church, they have undergone an “extreme makeover” spiritually.

It is also good for each one of us to reaffirm our faith in Jesus our Christ and acknowledge the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives as well. What is to be the result of our extreme makeover with the Holy Spirit?

Go with God,

Pastor Qualley

God’s Love

Before my father passed away, I had spent some time talking with him about what it means to be a pastor or minister. Something I took away from our conversations, and conversations with other church leaders as well, is that one of the most important things a minister must do is to love their people. Well, as Martin Luther did, I believe in the priesthood of all believers, that all Christians are called to care for and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with all people. Each one of us is called to be a minister in the world. This being said, I refer back to my father’s words and give thanks for this congregation, Lord of Life Lutheran, and your love for one another and for those to whom you serve in the world. The Spirit is so evident in the life and ministry of this congregation. I give thanks for your partnership in the Lord’s work and feel blessed to be a part of this community of faith.

I want to share with you words from Paul’s letter to the people of Ephesus, Ephesians 3:14-21, a prayer that I pray for you, the people of Lord of Life, fellow members in the Body of Christ, and all people everywhere: “I bow in prayer before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name. I ask the Father in His great glory to give you the power to be strong, inwardly through His Spirit. I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in Him. And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love–how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Chris’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then, you can be filled with the fullness of God. With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more that anything we can ask or imagine. To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen.”

I am grateful to God for all of God’s blessings including the opportunity to serve in ministry at Lord of Life. I live grateful to you all as well, for your hospitality, care and for your ministry to me and my family. I look forward to continuing to partner with you in the Gospel and journeying together. I know God continues to have great things in store for Lord of Life and indeed will continue to guide and bless us.

God’s Peace!

Pastor Percy

Instruments of History

Somewhere in the middle of Edward Rutherford’s novel Sarnum, the religious experience of his fifteenth century characters is described with the gloom as having “conscience but no cause.” We can be sensitive to what ought to be, aware of how life might be lived, and able to discern with real precision the very best way to navigate through the ambiguities of human experience, but for all of our enlightenment, we may be led to little more than disillusionment, frustration, guilt and self-condemnation.

Having all the earth-moving equipment parked at the site does not mean that the road has been built. Having a clear understanding of all the options does not alone mean that we are any closer to exercising any of them. Knowing right from wrong does not mean that we are thereby on the road to the rewards of virtue. One of our pastors used to say we can get bogged down in “the paralysis of analysis.” There are many people who have a near-perfect capacity for accurate analysis, but cannot go beyond the process of conscience and enter the universe of “cause.”

I grew up with a neighborhood bully who used to say, “I don’t care whether I’m right or wrong, I’m right, see?” His “cause” was to get his way, and he succeeded often enough. As he grew to maturity life was not kind to him, and self-determination soon yielded to futility and grief. We need to see that having a “cause” is not simply trying to get our way, even as having a conscience is not limited to merely understanding our circumstances. It is rather that we understand, as Oswald Chambers repeatedly wrote, “We cannot do what God can do, and He will not do what we can do.”We need to take the steps that allow our conscience to shape our “cause.”

The Holy Spirit can hone our conscience to the finest edge, but only we can wield it into an instrument of history. So let us realize that as individuals and as a congregation we can be such instruments of history. To realize that every moment that we claim for the cause of Christ will engrave a message in the corporate memory of what happens because the people of God engaged their time of ministry. In three hundred and some days from now our record will have become history. Let us together in Christ thank God for this time before us, and for the marvelous joy of the comradeship and spirit that abounds in the glorious cause of Christ.

In Christ,

Pastor Jansen  

To Have a Well Lived Life: Keep a Tenacious Grip on Faith, Cultivate Contentment & Be Defined by Generosity.

When it comes to the end of your life, what would you want to be remembered for? One of the defining characteristics I hope you and I will be remembered for is generosity. My hope is that people would say of us, “He was defined by generosity,” or “She lived what Jesus taught: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts. 20:35) My hope is that we would learn the truth of Winston Churchill’s famous words: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

When God created humankind, God designed us to be generous. But there is another voice that is at war against God. It is the voice of fear, which tells us, “If you give there may not be enough left over for you.” We are afraid to be generous because we are afraid of what might happen to us.  What if we don’t have enough to fill the gas tank or buy groceries or pay the bills? Fear, along with a misplaced idea about the true source of our security, keeps us from being generous and leads us to hoard what we have. There is a second voice of self-gratification, which tells us, “If you give, you won’t have enough money to buy the stuff you need to make you happy.” Our culture tells us that our lives consist in the abundance of our possessions and pleasurable experiences. So we find ourselves thinking, “If I give, there won’t be enough left for me.” So how do we defeat the voices of fear and self-gratification? They are defeated the moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ. As the Holy Spirit continues to work in our lives, we begin to think less about ourselves and more about others. We begin to see the needs of others and wonder, “If I don’t do something, who will?” We discover that we find more joy in doing things for other people and for God than we ever did in doing things for ourselves. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts. 20:35)

Lord of Life Vacation Bible School

The central theological foundation for generosity is this: “Life is a gift, and everything belongs to God.”  Even your capacity to acquire wealth is a gift from God. You didn’t bring any of it with you when you came into this world, and you won’t take any of it with you when you leave. From the early days of the Old Testament, God’s people observed the practice of giving some portion of the best of what they had to God. A gift offered to God was called the first fruits or the tithe, and it equaled one-tenth of one’s flocks or crops or income. That practice continues for people of God to this day. Most Christians agree that the tithe is still a good guideline for our lives and one that is pleasing to God. Tithing is a challenging idea for many. It can be a stretch, especially for those who are wrestling with the voices of fear and self-gratification. Sandi and I have been tithers for most of our marriage and are blessed to move beyond that in our giving. It simply might not be possible for you to begin giving 10% to God, but I encourage you to take a step in that direction. Perhaps you can give 2% or 5% or 7%. 

Lord of Life Stephen Ministers

Here is an interesting fact: Our generosity to God and others not only touches God and other people, it also changes us. Malachi is right when he says, “Bring your full tithes. Put me to the test, and see if I won’t throw upon the gates of heaven and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.” (Malachi 3:10) Sometimes you hear people say that the church is always asking for money. That statement is untrue. It is the world that is always asking for money. When did you last go to the grocery store and have a checkout clerk not ask for money? Your mortgage company/bank regularly asks you for money. Most of us see a collection of bills coming through the mail or online every month. Are any of them from the church? Who withholds a percentage of every dollar you earn? Uncle Sam does, your Heavenly Father does not. There is no free lunch except at the church. You can attend and worship every week with no admission charge. If you are sick or in the hospital, our pastors come to pray with you. Where else can you get free counseling when you need it? Where will your children be married? Our building is well maintained so that whenever we are here it is comfortable, clean, cool and inviting. No one knows whether you contribute money or not. You have to pay taxes to provide your children “free public education.” Our church operates a Sunday school for no cost to you. The church requires no membership fee, no annual dues, and it never sends you a bill. Is there any other organization in the world that functions this way? So you can see the church asks for money far less that some say. Yet the church needs money to conduct the ministry. Christ calls us to provide. Our money goes to share Christ’s love. Isn’t that something you want to be part of? So pray and consider what you share now and see if you could increase that amount. But we will serve folks whether they contribute or not.

A man was on vacation with his family at a rented cottage on the New England seashore. On the first day of his vacation, he was out in the yard digging a hole. He was putting out a small plant. As his son observed this strenuous work, he asked his Dad why he was going to such effort to put out a plant when this was not even their cottage. They would not even be returning the next year. The father replied, “Somebody will be here.” “What kind of plant is it?” the son asked. “A century plant” his father replied. “A century plant, you mean it won’t bloom for a hundred years? The son asked. “Not that long,” the father explained, “Maybe twenty or thirty years.” The boy was astonished. “Why in the world would you come out on this hot morning on your vacation in a rented cottage to put out a plant that won’t even bloom for twenty years?” The father paused and looked up at his son. “I saw one the other day, and realized that someone twenty or thirty years ago wanted to share it with me. And so he planted it for my enjoyment. Some day, I said to myself, I’m going to plant one so that people will enjoy it after I’m gone. And that’s what I’m doing this morning.”

What will you do to have a lasting significance? May you have a tenacious grip on faith, cultivated contentment, and be defined by your generosity.

May you live a life well lived,

Pastor Qualley