"The Presence of God's Love" - April 25th, 2021

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Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Hebrews 13:16

How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him.

1 John 3:17-19

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Message of Stewardship

from Ed Martel

Well, my association with Church of the Valley began in 2004 when I was hired to be the organist and choir accompanist under the direction of Bill Thomas. And for those of you who may remember, Church of the Valley was in the midst of big changes at that time.

Larry Keene had recently resigned as senior pastor. I was asked to replace a very talented Dave Loeb, who left to become the director of jazz studies at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Now, both of these men had really big influences on the church and when they left, their legacies also left big shoes to fill. One thing I remember about that time that impressed me was that there were several church members, who rose to lead worship and guide the church through those troubled times. Now many of them have even since moved on.

But, you know, I remember how impressed I was with all those people who used so much of their time and energy to keep the church going. You know, I also realize that out of all the hundreds of churches, synagogues, and various houses of worship that I have played music in during my lifetime, this was the first and only place where I actually wanted to be a member. It's a place I felt I really got the message of Christ. It’s an open and affirming church, a place where everyone was truly accepted. As Laura Hall’s song states, “This is a church that has room for everyone!”

And when Bill Thomas left Church of the Valley and Little Brown Church to become senior pastor at the Little White Chapel, he turned to me after the last 8:00AM service here and told me that I was going to take over worship music leader at LBC. Now, that surprised me as it’s something that I had never done or even ever aspired to do, but I accepted this commission and set out to learn how to become a church music leader and strive to be the best that I could be.

Now, Bill taught me an awful lot about church music. And during my time here at LBC, I was also blessed to have not one, but two Cal State Northridge professors of religion in my praise band, Randall and Bob, and they encouraged me to pursue my own vision of church music, which thankfully was also accepted by the attendees of the 8:00AM LBC service.

I will be forever grateful for the help and for the opportunity that was affored me here at LBC.

So we are also now entering another time of big changes at Little Brown Church and Church of the Valley. Lianne and I will be moving to North Carolina next month, but COV and LBC will be gathering again and in person for live worship in two weeks time after 14 months of doing only virtual worship.

Now, I think there's some really exciting times ahead for the church and I am confident the church will thrive. Someone told me during the lockdown that the pandemic was not only a great disruptor but it's also an accelerator. Now, we have all got proficient at little things that we didn't know we could do a year ago. Similar to what happened to this church in 2004. I think this church has a dynamic cast of people who will guide her path.

Pastor Michael is an energetic man with a vision for the church, the elders are a very inspiring group, that was so evident to anyone who watched the recent Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. David Joyce, a close personal friend of mine and wonderfully talented musician will be taking over my position here at Little Brown Church. And there are also so many talented young people here, like Adrianna, who you just heard sing, who I believe are ready to step up and take a larger role in the church.

So now is the time for those people to write their church legacies.

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Pastor Michael's Sermon - April 25th, 2021

Today I want to begin by telling you a couple of short stories.

The first one is about an aqueduct in Segovia, Spain. And it was built in the year 109. It was a mighty aqueduct and for 1,800 years, it carried water to the city from the mountains above. It was a sort of a landmark to the city because it carried water to nearly 60 generations of thirsty people.

But then a generation of people came that had an idea for the aqueduct. They thought this aqueduct was such a great marvel that they needed to preserve it. They thought we need to make it into a museum piece so further Generations can enjoy it. They decided to relieve the aqueduct of its centuries long labor. And that's exactly what they did.

They laid modern pipes all the way from the water source on the mountain, all the way down to the city, and they let the aqueduct remain dry, but still visible out of respect for its service. And as the aqueduct set dry, the hot sun beat down on it and the ancient bricks and mortar began to crumble and eventually the aqueduct fell apart. As it turned out, what ages of service could not destroy, idleness did.

The second story is about the great violinist Paganini.

In his will, he left one of his famous violins to the city of Genoa, which was his birthplace, but also in his will, he wrote that after he was gone, the instrument could never be played again.

Well, the city reluctantly agreed.

And after his death, they placed the violin on display for visitors to see. Well, the violin was made of a type of wood that stood up very well to people handling it and playing it. In those conditions it showed very little wear but as soon as the wood became untouched it slowly began to decay.

Today, the once beautiful violin has deteriorated. Deteriorated into a useless relic.

Both of these stories impress on us the importance of service. But not just service, ongoing and active service. Today's scripture asks us how does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?

This is saying that if we honestly understand the presence of God's love is in, around, and through us, we are incapable of not serving someone in need if we possess the means. It is the presence of God's love that is the empathy, that is the compassion, that is the fuel for our serving others. The love of God within us allows us to see others as God sees them. The love of God within us allows us, no, invites us to treat others the way that God would have us treat them.

If you remember last week we talked about the importance of always being aware of the presence of Christ in our world and in our lives. We talked about how we need to be aware of his presence to reap the benefits of what Christ is doing for us. Well, the same is true for the presence of God's love within us. It is vital that we remain aware of God's love for us and God's love within us because it is our most critical tool for fulfilling what God has created us to do.

In the gospel according to Matthew, Christ is asked, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” And he replies, as you well know,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all of your mind, this is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it, that you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Loving God, God's love for us, these are so closely connected to our serving our neighbor. When we love our neighbor as ourselves, we love our neighbor as God loves our neighbor, and we will do for our neighbor as we will do for ourselves.

In my neighborhood, I see almost every day two men going out for a walk. One of them is a very elderly man and the other one is a much younger man. They may be related, I'm not sure. As they walk, the elderly man is very bent over so much that he is pretty much looking at the ground. And in addition, he walks with a walker at a very, very slow pace. And at his side, the younger man walks, maintaining that very, very slow pace as well. Often times with his hand, on the back of the older man. They always seem to be having a conversation.

Whenever I see them, I am always struck by the patience, the care, and the compassion that I see in the eyes of the younger man. I can see the love of God within him. Inviting him to serve another.

Each time I see these two, what is apparent to me is that I am witnessing an act of care. I am witnessing the love of God playing out in service.

Now, we've talked about the ways that we can serve others through our church,

we've talked about the many ministries that our church will continue when we get back to in-person worship and the new ministries that we will begin as well,

and I believe that these ministries are truly fueled by the love of God in each one

of you, and they are important ministries and I can't wait to get back to them. But I also want us to take a moment and put some extra attention towards how we serve others in our day-to-day lives.

These are really the smaller things. For many people, receiving a handwritten note in the mail can make their day. We can simply write a note to someone that we know, telling them how important they are and how happy we are to have them in our lives. This is service.

I have a neighbor who about once a year gets up on his house with a leaf blower to blow all of the leaves off of his roof and out of his gutter. And after he does this, I will hear a noise on my roof. Because he will usually jump from his roof onto mine and blow the leaves off of my roof, and out of my gutters. This is service.

Our elders recently delivered meals for a week to someone in our church community who had a medical procedure. Maybe you have a neighbor who

for whatever reason could use a hot meal but is unable to make one. An unexpected meal delivered to someone's door is always appreciated.

This is service.

And then, of course, service comes in forms that are even simpler. Service comes in the form of a smile, of listening, of a compliment, of getting the door for someone. Each act of service that is done for another is fueled by the same love of God within us. No matter how big or how seemingly small,.

There's a wonderful line in today's scripture that sends a message that is important to remember.

Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

We're reminded not to simply talk about it or to shout amen when someone else speaks of service, we are reminded to do it. It's about our actions. And these should not be actions that we perform only to please God.

These should be genuine actions that pour forth from us because we already possess the love of God. The more we act upon the service that God's love invites us to do, the more It becomes simply a part of our lives. It becomes a part of who we are.

Go out this week fully aware, fully acknowledging that there is love within you from God. The love of God is within you and allow yourself to be led. Accept God's invitation to serve. And as you serve others, you too will be served through an even closer relationship with God.

Let's pray.

Holy one, we feel your love for us. We feel your love within us. Make that love fuel us to serve one another today, tomorrow, and always. It's in your son's holy name we pray.

Amen.

"Christ is Always With Us" - April 18th, 2021

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Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Message of Stewardship

from Herb Gore

Recently, because I hadn't gained enough weight over the last few months,I went out to dinner with friends and had a tiramisu dessert.

This met the standard by which you measure all other desserts. It was the best ever made. It was the lightest, the fluffiest, you would order it again and again. You would name your firstborn after it! Tiramisu.

One of the people at the table who was a chef proceeded to tell us what goes to make a tiramisu. And yes, there is a scientific principle behind it. You know, I can tell you the recipe that he told us. I can tell you what he talked about. Ovens, what type of oven you need to have, the cooling process, everything that goes to make a tiramisu. But which would you rather know? The scientific fact of what goes to make a tiramisu taste good or actually taste it? There is no comparison.

I can tell you why I want to come back to worship in person. I have a lot of friends that I've missed. I need the inspiration that comes from being here. I need to see the work that has been done around our facility and to commune with my friends. To learn and to be inspired. But nothing can take the place of being here when we are in person worship. The experience trumps the knowledge.

I hope you will contribute over the next few weeks to making sure that our worship experience and ongoing ministerial experience will be able to continue at Church of the Valley and Little Brown Church.

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Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

Luke 24:45-48

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Pastor Michael's Sermon - April 18th, 2021

Researchers have created something called the door study. And the way it goes is this, someone involved in this study approaches someone else on the street. They have a map, they pretend to be lost, and they ask the person on the street for directions. Well, while the two are standing closely together looking at the map,

two people approach carrying a door kind of long ways and they carry that door directly between the two people looking at the map. And as the door goes between them, the person asking for directions actually switches places with one of the people who are carrying the door. So after the door passes, a different person is now asking for directions and yet in most cases the unsuspecting person giving the directions remains unaware that they are speaking to a different person.

There's also another study and I've seen footage of this study many times, but now I see it very differently than I did the first time. This one is called the Gorilla study and some of you have seen it because we had a guest speaker here a few years ago on a Saturday seminar and she showed this clip in the video.

We see six people three of them are wearing white t-shirts and three of them are wearing black t-shirts. And one in white is holding a ball and one in black is holding a ball and we are told to count the number of times those wearing white pass the ball and then all the participants begin moving around within the space.

Weaving in and out of one another and as they do, those in black passed the ball to those in black and those in white pass the ball to those in white.

And as the viewers we are very focused on those in white and counting each time that ball is passed and after about 30 seconds or so, they stopped and we are asked did you get the right answer? Then we are told the correct times a number of times those in white pass the ball is 16. Well, of course as the viewer we are proud of ourselves that we got it, right, if we got it right.

But then we're asked another question.

Did you see the gorilla?

Well, this seems like a strange question because the clip had nothing to do with the gorillas. But then the clip is shown again, but this time we are not asked to count the number of passes, and what we see now is that midway through the time that the ball was being passed and the people were moving all around one another, a person in a gorilla suit walked into frame, stops in the middle of all the action, beats on his or her chest, and walks off the other side while the participants are still passing the ball.

Well, of course as the viewers we insist this must be a different clip, but in reality, it's not. It's the same clip. Researchers say that one half of viewers miss the gorilla

because their attention is elsewhere. By the way, I didn't see the gorilla for the first time either. And also by the way, did you know that once you know the gorilla is there, you can't not see it?

Sometimes we don't see things that are right in front of us.

Today's scripture is a reminder of that.

If you remember last Sunday, we looked at the story of Doubting Thomas and we saw how after Christ had risen, Thomas wouldn't believe unless he could see Christ and touch the wounds on his side and his hands. This happened on the evening of Christ's resurrection.

Well, today's scripture takes place shortly after that on the same evening. And in this story Jesus is empowering his disciples and their power comes, as he says,

because they are witnesses to all that he has done including the resurrection.

He's recognizing that they now have authority he seems to be passing a torch of his ministry to his disciples.

We're also told that he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, which is very interesting because Christ has told his disciples many times about the scriptures and how the Messiah must suffer but now this feels different. It finally feels like Christ has made them understand and honestly, it isn't really clear whether he physically allowed their minds to finally be opened or whether it was just all that was happening that allowed their minds to be open.

But what is clear is that they finally fully understood Christ and his ministry. They could finally see what had been right in front of them all the time.

As followers of Christ, we are like his disciples. We have been empowered through Christ and our power comes because we too are witnesses of Christ's life and his ministry and his message. Not in the same way as that his disciples who physically walked with him. We have a walk of a different kind. But our walk with Christ equally empowers us and allows us to have our minds equally opened.

But that empowerment, that understanding can only remain with us when we stay aware of what is right in front of us and that is the presence of Jesus Christ.

We must have a constant awareness and acknowledge the truth that Christ is with us always and there is evidence of this all around us.

I was reading about a 13 year old girl who was asked where she saw Jesus in her life, and she said that she had seen Jesus when the marshmallows on the top of her cocoa floated into the shape of a cross. She also said that she once saw Jesus in two rubber bands lying on the ground that had themselves form the shape of cross.

A man at Little Brown Church once told me that he saw Jesus in the doors of the windows of our church because of the way the square patterns are divided by cross shapes.

Well, whether these are actually the presence of Christ is up for discussion, but certainly they are useful reminders of his presence. For me, especially lately one way that I can feel and see the presence of Christ right in front of me is through healing. When we can go from a place of deep despair, a place of sadness that has left us unable to ever imagine that any sort of healing is possible, and yet we are slowly moved to a lighter place, a place from which feels like we are able to move on.

When that occurs, it is clear that we have been carried, embraced, and led by the presence of Christ. There are so many areas where Christ removes us from one place to another. At times when we feel lost, the light of Christ guides us back to a place where we can be found. If we have done wrong, the grace of Christ leads us to a way to make our path straight again. If the world leaves us hopeless, Christ's promise of new life restores our expectation and provides a hope like no other.

This idea of Christ moving us from one place to another reminds us that he truly is our shepherd. Of course, there was also evidence of Christ's presence in everyday life. We can see him and acts of kindness that are as big as building a home in Tijuana. Or something as small as conveying a smile to someone who looks like they need it. Christ can be seen in those working hard to provide for others, but it can also be seen in the hope that it takes for some just to get out of bed. But just because Christ can be seen all throughout our world and our lives, that doesn't mean that we're always seeing him or always feeling him.

It's up to us to remain aware of his presence. Our minds have been opened. Let us keep them open. We have been made witnesses through the power of our walk through Christ, with Christ. Let us continue to witness.

Jesus has done so much for us. Let us in turn acknowledge each and every day his grace, his work, and his ever-present love.

Let's pray.

Holy God, we thank you for your son who is with us always. Focus our minds and our hearts upon him and his ways. It's in your son's holy name we pray.

Amen.

"Palm Sunday" - March 28th, 2021

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"Rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of the donkey."

Zechariah 9:9

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Message of Stewardship

from Claudia Tumaliuan

Like so many of you, this week I will be dying Easter eggs. Oh, that is just one of my favorite parts about the Holy Week time!

You know, I have a very weird relationship with eggs. Fun fact about me: my family has a farm. Well, not my family - my uncle!

When I was little I would go to Iowaand I would spend like a week at their farm and my job was to gather Easter eggs. And as a city kid, that's weird. Why, you ask? Here's why. You have to distract the rooster because apparently they’re dangerous, I don't know if that's true. Then you had to throw feed to get the chickens out of the chicken apartment or they called it a coop. And then when all the chickens came out, then you ran real fast and went inside to gather the eggs.

And each time we went inside there was always a weird number of eggs. One day every hen had laid an egg. The next day maybe nobody laid an egg. One chicken even laid three eggs one day. I was sure that she was going to lay three eggs the next day. She didn’t.

You know, your offering is a lot like that. It doesn't matter when you give or how much you give. You could give today. Tomorrow. Saturday. Right at noon! And it all is gathered up. And it all goes back to providing for our church family. Keeping the lights on.

My uncle on his farm, they use the eggs to feed their family and we literally do the same thing with your offering. So no matter what you give or when you give, it's all appreciated.

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"Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who were following were shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!'"

Mark 11:7-10

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Pastor Michael's Sermon - March 28th, 2021

In 1974, my grandmother surprised me and my brother by telling us that she was going to be taking us to the next Rose Parade. I've lived in California my whole life,

but I had never actually been to the Rose Parade, just watched it every year on television. And I think she told us a whole year earlier because well, my grandmother was not about to camp on the sidewalk overnight to see the parade

and so we were getting tickets and sitting in the bleachers.

She had this idea that we would buy the tickets together. She would buy half of the ticket and we would buy the other half of the ticket. So she told us very early in the year so that we would have enough time to earn the money for our half of the tickets.

Now our half of the ticket wasn't really much money, but at the time my brother and I were 10 and 9, so we needed some time to raise our half.

Anyway, we did raise the money and I remember the whole year being so excited that we were getting to go to the parade.

Well, in April of that year Hank Aaron beat Babe Ruth's home run record by hitting his 715th home run. And if you were alive back then, you probably remember it because it was huge news. Hank Aaron was pretty much all that was on the television until about a month later when the Watergate hearings began.

Hank Aaron was so popular that it was announced that he would be the Grand

Marshall of the next Rose Parade on January 1st, 1975, the very parade that we were going to! Well if we weren't excited before we were really excited now.

So finally the day arrived we spent New Year's Eve at my grandmother's house in Lakewood and we had to go to bed very early because we had to get up at the crack of dawn to go to the parade. And that morning we drove to Pasadena and we found our place in the bleachers and I remember it was very cold.

I have a lot of good memories of that day. I remember being surprised how much more vivid the colors were on the floats in person rather than on television. The bands were exciting. I loved seeing the horses! But for me and I think for most of the crowd, the most thrilling moment was when that convertible slowly went by carrying Hank Aaron. There was this man that we had heard so much about, this man who people considered a hero and he was already being looked at as a legend. He was right in front of us and as he went by everyone was yelling out to him and waving banners.

You know at that time inflation was terrible and we were still fighting in Vietnam

and Nixon had resigned in disgrace just a few months before. Hank Aaron represented something positive. Someone who in the midst of all of our troubles could lift us all up.

When I read this story about Christ entering into Jerusalem, when I think about the Palm Sunday story, I'm often reminded of that day that Hank Aaron went by with everyone cheering for him. But of course, there are big differences in the two stories. Our cheers for Hank Aaron were cheers of adoration. Now, of course in Jesus case yes, there was surely adoration. People were spreading their cloaks.

They were waving the leaves and shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” But there's something else that they shouted that makes the words of those around Christ go beyond simply adoration.

They shouted, “Hosanna!”

Now, although Hosanna is often thought to be an alternative for “Hooray!” it's really not the case. Hosanna is believed to come from two Greek words one meaning save us and the other meaning please. So when the people entering Jerusalem were shouting Hosanna, they were shouting to be saved.

But from what were they shouting to be saved? From what were they shouting to be saved? Well, there's two answers to that. First of all, they wanted to be saved from oppression. They wanted salvation from the Romans. The Israelites believed that this one who came in the name of the Lord could drive the Romans out.

But as I said when we hear the story of all the people shouting Hosanna, we also can't help but hear another type of cry for help.

When they shout save us, please, indeed they also shout for their own salvation. Their own personal salvation. As we read this story, we can't help but hear hosanna as a cry for personal salvation because we know that Christ is

indeed the one who can lead us to our salvation.

Although this story took place centuries ago, it is still relevant today. Even now people of this world continue to shout hosanna. We may not use that very word, but we still shout save us, please. What is it that compels us to shout hosanna today? What is it in this world and in our lives that invites us to shout save us, please!

When I watch the news, I see so many things for which we shout hosanna.

Right now there is an overwhelming number of young people, children who are being detained at our border and they are being held in facilities that were not designed for such large numbers, and the conditions of the facilities, the

accommodations, the beds are not satisfactory. And these young people are being held for longer periods than the law even allows now.

I don't care what political party you tend to vote for. This problem is bad under this administration and it was bad under the last administration. We've got to find a better solution. So we shout hosanna, save us, please.

And the problem actually extends farther than that.

It extends to the reason for their wanting to come to this country in the first place. Many are trying to escape suffering and oppression taking place in their own country. So for all of those around the world who suffer everyday from oppression,

we shout hosanna, save us, please.

There are over a half a million people in our country and 150 million people in our world who are experiencing homelessness. In a country as wealthy as ours and in a world that needs to be taking care of one another, these numbers are staggering and heartbreaking.

For our sisters and brothers who yearn to have a roof over their heads and food to eat, we shout hosanna, save us, please.

For a humanity that struggles with accepting difference, for a society that sees color as something that divides, for a systematic structure that allows race to be a cause for injustice. And for a culture that turns its back on all of it. We shout hosanna, save us, please.

This weekend ten people were shot overnight in Virginia Beach. Two of them died. Less than two weeks ago, eight people were shot and killed, six of them being Asian. A man went into three different spas in Atlanta, methodically shooting his victims. And then this past week in Boulder, Colorado, a man shot and killed 10 people who were simply shopping at a grocery store.

He began killing in the parking lot and then he made his way into the store.

He continued taking lives one by one with an assault-style weapon that he had purchased only six days earlier. These mass shootings have become woefully common in our country.

Now some will say guns don't kill people, people kill people and that's where the problem lies. It can be pointed out very often that it is shown that it is mental illness that causes these shooters to act out. But the truth is there is mental illness all over the world and yet these mass shootings are a uniquely American problem.

We are a culture where many have lifted up weaponry to a place of idolatry. And yes, the Constitution does allow for citizens to bear arms, but I am sure that those who created that document could never have envisioned the type of assault weapons we possess today. Except in times of war, I have heard no legitimate reason for anyone needing to possess assault weaponry.

We are long past the time for our leaders to do something about this uniquely American tragedy. The cost of not doing so is too high. For all the victims of all the shootings and for our country in need of new priorities, we shout hosanna, save us, please.

So even today we shout hosanna as a country.

We shout Hosanna as a people, as a world, and we shout hosanna as individuals.

We ask to be saved from circumstances.

We ask to be saved from indifference.

We ask to be saved from ourselves.

And I believe that just as Christ heard the cries of the people as he entered Jerusalem, he still hears our cries today. Christ hears our cries and responds to our hearts. While we are here on this Earth, we can still do our part to better those things from which we asked to be saved, and in doing so we will know that our work is not being done alone because Christ walks with us. Works with us. For he has heard our cry. Hosanna!

Let's pray.

Holy God, we thank you for the gift of your son. May we feel his presence as we begin our walk through Holy Week. Remembering his death and glorious resurrection.

It's in your son's name we pray.

Amen.