JANUARY, 2014 VOLUME 35, ISSUE 1 52 STAMPS It’s that time again! It’s the time we decide some aspect of ourselves, or our lives, needs improved. It’s time for “New Year’s Resolutions.” As we ponder how we wish to make our life better let me pose a thought: maybe it’s not about you. There are 52 weeks in a year. Can you commit to doing something once a week? How about writing a letter? This year, instead of focusing on yourself for your New Year’s Resolution try this: Focus on Someone Else: In a world quickly ceasing to exist on paper, the idea of writing something down is more important than ever. For example, what is the Bible if it’s not events deemed important enough to be written down? Writing something down changes it; it becomes permanent, it becomes real. Who can you think of to write a letter to? It doesn’t have to be long, or deep; a simple sentiment can say more than a novel if the right words are there. And how much do you enjoy getting mail? Not e-mails or text messages, but actual cards, in the mail, with a stamp? Everyone needs to know they are thought of. Everyone needs to know someone else cares, and while we may believe those whom we love know this, that cannot replace expressing it. Focus on God: Don’t have the money for 52 stamps? That’s okay; a letter to God doesn’t require postage, you’ll never get the wrong address, and you know it will be read. Often when we think of God, we think of Him as a far-off entity who already knows everything, and therefore doesn’t need us telling Him about ourselves, or our situation. This is a distant version of our Lord, and one completely opposite the Christmas message “Emmanuel, God with us.” This year, resolve to bring God closer by writing Him every week. You can tell Him what you did, what you failed to do, how you feel, what you want; the possibilities are infinite. Plus, you just might learn something about yourself. Through writing letters you might come to meet yourself for the first time, or you might finally come to see the “you” God sees—and loves. In a world existing more and more in a virtual realm (which isolates rather than connects) a stamp holds a new meaning: you matter enough to have some of my time. We know time is a precious thing. We are slow to give it away, quick to want it back. Taking time out to remind someone they matter, to properly say thank you, to encourage, or to inspire, might help you remember how much you matter—to others and to God. Writing letters to God might give you the confidence you need to make the changes you want to make. And maybe, just maybe, you will come to find focusing on someone else ultimately helps you focus on God, and through God all things are possible—even New Year’s Resolutions. By: Sarah Anderson This Issue’s Good News Ministry Report- Kevin gives a look at past and future of the music program. -Page 2 Key to The Kingdom- One of amazing papers Allen’s been writing for school. -Pages 3-5 Moving Forward- David Derus clues us in on his new job. -Page 6 PAGE 2 - THE GOOD NEWS - JANUARY, 2014 MUSIC MINISTRY REPORT In other churches where I have worked, a year-end report was asked of the music director to sort of summarize the year past and to give thoughts on the coming new year. And so, I include one here. My tenure at Faith Presbyterian began officially in midFebruary (on my birthday, in fact), after having filled in on two prior Sundays. I felt fortunate in having inherited what seemed to me a very capable choir, able to produce a sound far larger than their size accounted for. My greatest challenge thus far has been the reorganization of the church's music library, which had been filled with a great number of illegal photocopies. I am glad to say that I am about halfway done with this reorganization. The relocation of some of the music, the choir robes, and the black piano to the library building was completed at the beginning of September. I hope to have the rest of the music library sorted out within the next few months. While our choir remains somewhat on the small side, we have supplemented with a number of professionals from within and without our congregation. Of course, Amber Erwin and Allen Rascoe have been indispensable as musicians and leaders in the choir. Over the course of the year, we have been aided by singers Elise Ackermann, Amy Engelhardt, and Kiara Ana Perico (not to mention a guest appearance by Merilyn Vaughn, Ian and Dylan's mother); violinists Corinne Olsen and Matthew Tobin; trumpeter Nathan Johnson; pianists Kazue Blackwell (a new member who has just joined our choir, too), Tim Butterworth, Aimee Pan, and David Wheatley; our very own guitaristinternationale Dave Hill; and the multi-talented Jay Sloat, whose original songs bring a great joy to our worship. Our contemporary worship experiments have been a great opportunity for me to work with pianist-singer Tina Tong from La Cañada Presbyterian and our C.E. director, Naomi Wilson, on vocals, a collaboration that we hope to continue in the new year. The music ministry of a church is not simply about having something pretty to sing or listen to on Sunday morning. Music, as an extension of prayer, is a tool we use in worship to connect more deeply to the divine, to experience more fully the grace and peace of God. Music is used to amplify the Message in the same way that salt is used to amplify food, in the same way that metaphor is used to amplify writing. (Get it?) To that end, the music must speak to our current congregation. The music ministry is also outreach, and to that end it must speak to our congregation to come—if we're willing to let them listen! So, I would like to grow this little music program in order to be a better outreach into our community, with concerts and music events open to the public. My goal is to have a choir of 12 regular singers (we especially need ladies!), and it will be difficult in this city, at this time, as I have been told I cannot hire anymore section leaders (Allen and Amber have been grandfathered in, so to speak). Two other large parts of our music ministry are our instruments and our sound system. Jay Sloat has been incredibly gracious and skillful in lending his time and talents in this area, and I, for one, definitely appreciate it. But I'm not sure the setup we have now will be conducive to the future of our church, and I fear our church becoming too reliant on Jay's talents such that he feels over-pressured or even used, as happy as I'm sure he is to help out. When I first came on board, I asked about the possibility of securing a new organ, as this church has never replaced the organ that was lost after the Northridge Earthquake. Jay was crafty and industrious and came up with something similar, but not quite an organ. (It does marvellously for what it is, though!) After pouring over the budget a bit, I noticed that we have a fund to replace the organ that has never been used. I did some research and found a comparatively cheap organ with a fantastic sound that is nearly within that price range, works the way an organ should, and would fit very neatly in our chancel. This effort has stalled a bit, as Worship and Music has not met since then, but I would like to resume it if this is an area of interest for the congregation. So, if you have enjoyed some of the organ music you have heard thus far, or perhaps yearn to hear more organ in worship (as I do), please let me or Joe Gallagher know. The sound system is all in good order, I just think an effort should be made to move the equipment out of the chancel and to the rear of the congregation where it can be better utilized to set levels, play music, and so on. I am not thrilled with having to work with it myself during worship when I should be worried about the music. This should be a fairly easy move to make, but might require a professional coming in depending on how we want it to look. All in all, I think the music ministry here at Faith Presbyterian has been quite vibrant, alive, and full of spirit and heart. In 2014, we hope to continue the work we are doing, to build up our program and reach out to more people, to reorganize and simplify, to create beautiful music, lifted as double-prayers to the ears of God. By: Kevin F. Story Faith Chapel Choir Soprano Kazue Blackwell Joanne Gallagher Jane Runnalls Poole Alto Amber Erwin Tenor Allen Rascoe Ian Vaughn Bass John Eddings Jay Sloat Dylan Vaughn PAGE 3 - THE GOOD NEWS - JANUARY, 2014 LATEST AND GREATEST? -MOVING THROUGH THE ROUGH SPOTSThis year’s Advent-Christmas dinner was the ‘latest’ it had been in memory (by date on the calendar, ‘late’ in the month) – was it also the greatest??? These types of things can’t and shouldn’t be compared, but I do believe that this years dinner was significant. In the midst of lots of positive shifts, changes, and growth in 2013, there were certainly plenty of challenges and difficulties. For one, this was the year the Lord called many beloved friends to the heavenly estate: Ransin Maryohanna, Frank McCraven and Jill McNulty. What would the advent dinner be and feel like without these longstanding ‘pillars’ of the Church? Well, because they were there in Spirit (and prominently displayed on the Christmas tree in special ‘holders’ tended to by Debbie Sloat) their memories lived on in the joy, cheer – and amazing food that marked another incredible annual festive celebration. Tough as it is to ‘carry on’ through some of the challenges and difficulties that life brings whether we want, invite, like them or not – but its moments like these that remind us that we are doing the right thing, headed in the right direction, and strong enough to overcome any challenge or hardship that might be brought our way. I’d like to especially thank Debbie Sloat and John Eddings for their work this past year with the fellowship committee, and all its members: once again there was an abundance of incredible food that was enjoyed by all. Also of note was the hard work of our Choir director Kevin Story and the choir members who once again brought the holiday classics to life. And who could forget the care and priority we give our children and youth who were carefully attended to by our CE Director Naomi Wilson – and none other than jolly old Saint Nick himself! Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices, for another great AdventChristmas dinner, the year of 2013 as a whole, and the promise of God’s faithfulness to us in 2014 and always, Amen. By: Pastor Rich LISTENING IN This text from Dylan Vaughn woke me up the other day. “You have twenty four hours to send me two articles. One about how you liked to listen to the choir practice and how you miss it, and one about your new job. 24 hours.” It has been 23 hours since the ultimatum. I am probably going to send in my articles five minutes late in order to exercise the most overlooked fruit of the spirit; spite. In all seriousness though, I really did want to write to share with how I feel about the coming early to hear the choir practice. In short, it is a treat. The first thing that strikes me about walking into the chapel during rehearsal is the laid back atmosphere. I come in with a cup of coffee, sit in the back. No one is expecting me to sing. No one is expecting me to stand or sit. I could leave any time and go to get another cup of joe. Secondly, there is no pressure for perfection. As the choir sings, sometimes they stop. Sometimes they go back and try to work through a rough spot. This is rehearsal. This is where strong talents become better. Finally, it is overlooked. The sounds of the choir fill the church before a service. They are often ignored, yet at the same time they provide a soundtrack for Sunday morning. There is something to their mere presence in a different room that already is starting to prepare my heart for worship. All in all, coming in and listening to the choir practice is a sacred moment for me. It helps me get my “head in the game” for church by soothing my stress and focusing more on the act of worship that is about to begin. By: David Derus KEY TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD On a night like this one, many moons ago, something quite extraordinary took place. A baby was born. However, this was a very special baby. God the Son had come down to Earth and was enmeshed in flesh (John 1:1-18). The Incarnation is the very key to the doorway of the Kingdom of God the Father. Entrance is through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. While living on Earth, Jesus the Christ modeled for us what a fully alive and free human being would do and say in a variety of situations. God did not stand far off and pompously pontificate on what should be done. No. Jesus entered, and lived life to the fullest with celebration, tears, and even suffering unto death on a cross of wood (John 2:1-11, 11:33-53, 19:16-30). (continued on Page 4) PAGE 4 - THE GOOD NEWS - JANUARY, 2014 (continued from the article, “Key to The Kingdom of God” on page 3) Jesus walked many miles in our shoes, transforming the ordinary leather into divine sandals. Jesus’ very life, death, and resurrection provides the means and methods for transmitting the ‘Good News’; Jesus is the best news! Every believer is called by God, set free from the bondage of sin by Jesus, and empowered by the Spirit to incarnate the Gospel in daily life. We must walk the walk of Christ, and love others unreservedly as we have been loved (John 15:1-17). The missio Dei is concerned with developing friendship with all of creation. Therefore, God goes before us on God’s mission, beckoning us to follow; teaching and sustaining us as we falteringly stumble towards Golgotha. Staying firmly focused on Jesus, we steep ourselves in relationship to the Father by the Spirit through prayerful listening and subsequent obedience; for discipleship is truly costly, but is what testifies to the Gospel in every context. The Incarnation is vital to an understanding of God’s mission, for it reveals the very nature of God’s being. “God is love” (1 John 4:8). God loved the world so much that God left the heavens to risk it all on love for the creation (John 3:16). The revelation of God as the Divine Lover, wild and free with compassion and challenge commingled, is an eye opener for us. We would, most of the time, prefer to keep God ‘out there’ as an amorphous concept, rather than have God get so close. God’s closeness can frighten us, for then God becomes ‘real’ and an answer is required when asked by Jesus, “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16: 13-20). Yet, God came close not to frighten us, but to offer healing and freedom to those who would accept (John 12:44-50; Luke 4:16-19). God, in Christ, was revealed as ultimate love that challenges us with the unwavering Spirit of truth that pierces our hearts; while at the same time, respecting and accepting our freedom to say yes or no to a love relationship with the triune God. Truly then, it can be said that the Kingdom of God is near whenever Christ is proclaimed in word and deeds interlocking, because the King has actually shown up! This is indeed God’s mission, and we are invited to present the face of Christ to the world. We are called to put on Christ, becoming reborn as we are washed in the blood of the Lamb (Colossians 3:1-17). What an amazing and humbling gift. As God was clothed with flesh, thus transforming and purifying humanity, we too can participate in this renewal from the inside out (Matthew 17:1-8). We are given the ability, by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, to live into the reality that the Kingdom is near! We are to incarnate, or represent, our Lord Jesus. We “have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer [we] who live, but it is Christ who lives [within us]” (Galatians 2:19-21). Thus, the only way to transmit the Gospel is to live it (e.g.,Tan, p. 506). We must leave the safety of our comfort zones, jump into the treacherous trenches where God is at work, and join in the risky business of true love (e.g., Abraham, p. 167-170). However, we need to pay close attention to what God is doing, and how we are specifically invited to participate given the situational context. We pay attention through tending to our own relationship with God by remaining open and receptive to hearing the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Our minds can thus be drawn back to the Incarnation, for there are multiple examples in the Bible of Jesus staying in communication with God through prayer (John 17; Luke 9, 18, 22; Matthew 26). We do pray individually. We also pray with our brothers and sisters in Christ, so that our prayers do not dissolve into self delusions or wish fulfillments, but are kept in check by the community of faith (Reese, p. 52-54). We pray during tragedy, partying, and even the mundane monotony. We pray with screams of frustration, groans of shame, nervous laughter, and overflowing words of loving praise. We should pray so much that it becomes a habitually conditioned response to all of life. The point is that we stay in close contact with God, no matter what. God is our best friend, our love, our light, our hope, our disciplinarian, our joy, our teacher, our King, our all in all. God is the center, and in order for us to live the Gospel, we must stay in orbit. As we endeavor to stay in relationship to God through prayer, we will find that an essential component is ‘listening’. This statement easily rolls off the lips, but what does it mean to ‘listen’ to God? This is an invitation to practice our faith through practical experimentation. Martha Reese, in Unbinding the Gospel, sets before us a challenge to be still in prayer, and to do so with other believers so that we may learn how to listen for and discern the leading of the Holy Spirit (p. 55). There are ways of listening as one pays heed to the thoughts and ‘gut’ feelings that come to mind during prayer. Part of listening to God in prayer is to be open to interruption; listening to the people around us in everyday life: the screaming neighbor, the crying executive, the giggling barista, or the confused older gentlemen crossing the street. These are beloved children of God, and we can recognize that the Holy Spirit is moving in these situations. How will our words and deeds reflect Christ into these relational contexts (Reese, p. 111)? “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want” (Matthew 26:36-46). As we continue to ‘flesh out’ what the Incarnation means to our embodiment of the Gospel, we see that out of listening prayer we are led into the will of God by obedience, just as Jesus the Son was in obedience to the will of God the Father. My mentor, Dr. Ewing, once said to me that we are our own worst enemies if we know the truth, yet do nothing about it (e.g., Luke 6:46-49). Therefore, Jesus prayed mightily in the dark of night. He discerned that the true will of the Father was for him to give up his life so that all might be saved. He was obedient unto death. We are told by Jesus, in John 14:15-31, that if we love him, then we will do what he has told us to do. What are we to do? Jesus PAGE 5 - THE GOOD NEWS - JANUARY, 2014 (continued from the previous page) goes on to say that we should “love one another as [he] has loved us...to lay down one’s life for one’s friends...and to go and bear [this kind of] fruit” (John 15:1-17). This is discipleship that requires our very selves. This enactment of the scandalous love of God, that is full of naked truth, is the method of transmission of the Gospel message that becomes ‘real’ for people (e.g., Reese, p. 57-58). In Jesus, we see the ultimate in contextualization, inculturation, and translation. God interacted with people in all of life’s messiness, spoke the language, and lived in a small town. He went amongst the people, especially to those considered ‘undesirable’ by the respectable and ‘holy’ religious practitioners of the day (Mark 2:13-17; Roman 3:21-26). Jesus had immense love for those who were sick and who were very aware of that fact; they were honest, not fake (Luke 18:9-14). This love was evidenced by his sometimes shocking words of mercy, and pointed questions challenging conventional religious wisdom. Jesus’ offer of loving friendship was the herald of an amazing beginning to recreation; a new Heaven and a new Earth with transformed lives as part of that cultivated fruit (e.g., Reese, p. 73-74). We, as the body of Christ, are called to participate in a similar way. Jesus sent out the disciples to go from town to town proclaiming the nearness of the Kingdom of God; not with words only, but also with their very presence (Luke 10:1-23). They stayed in the towns, and participated in the daily life of work and play. They lived the Good News with those to whom they were sent, just as Jesus had showed them. These disciples were also given spiritual powers; not for the sake of dominance and boasting about themselves, but as a testimony to the strength and passionate love of God. Further contextualization evidence is gathered when we take a look at the interesting story found in John 4:1-42. Jesus talked to a Samaritan woman with a checkered past; an ‘undesirable’ to be sure! We see that Jesus did not bring judgment, finger wagging, or a holier-than-thou attitude. He met her right where she was, treated her with respect and equality, and invited her into a friendly conversation with Kingdom depth (e.g., Abraham, p. 170-172). Now, there was a moment where her ability to accept the “living water” hinged on her honesty. She was truthful, and Jesus upheld her ‘realness’ when saying, “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him” (John 4:23). In Matthew 19:16-26, we see a different outcome. The freedom of God was proclaimed by Jesus in response to the query of a young wealthy man. However, the supposedly ‘righteous’ young man could not accept the offer to follow Jesus because he was not able to face truth, let go, and let God be the center. He chose to walk away. I wonder what happened to him? Did he experience a change of heart after a couple of nights of restless sleep, and run to meet the Master with tears on his cheeks? Yes, there is a wonderful wideness in God’s mercy. A wrestling with this mystery of mercy is important for our ability to build and maintain friendships, both inside and outside the Church. The disciples were greatly puzzled by the difficult statement made by Jesus concerning the narrowness of the entrance to Heaven. They nervously asked, “Then who can be saved?” (Matthew 19:23-25). Jesus replied, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). With this in mind, we are thankfully released from our tendency to be filled with anxiety concerning ‘who is in’ and ‘who is out’ of the Kingdom (e.g., Newbigin, p. 179; Tennent, p. 213-214). We are set free to let God be the judge, for God is completely trustworthy (Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 1:4-9). God’s judgments is righteous, filled with mercy and compassion (Psalm 107, 116). By trusting in God, we can thus rejoice in our freedom to simply love all with hospitable welcome. We are also empowered, by the Holy Spirit, to love those whom we might not like, even in our Churches. This idea leads us into the acknowledgement that oftentimes it is hardest to love those closest to us; for we see their faults, and their idiosyncratic quirks grate on our nerves. So, taking all of this into account, our churches can begin to more fully embrace their missional calling arising out of an understanding of the Incarnation. We are invited to participate in the body of Christ through these specific endeavors in unified diversity: open and honest communication, experimentation and flexibility, a severe reduction in egoistic power struggles as we focus on Jesus as the head of the Church, and finally a total submersion into the amazing grace and mercy of God by acts of forgiveness through the power of the Holy Spirit (e.g., 1 Corinthians 1:10; Reese, p. 48, 54-55, 63-64). What a wonderful opportunity we have in our churches to practice what we preach, so that the world will surely know we are Christians by our crazy wild wastefully extravagant love! We embody the Gospel message through cultivation of our relationship with God in prayer and worship. We learn what the word ‘love’ really means as we practice building true friendships with those inside the Church whom we call our brothers and sisters in Christ. As a result, we are empowered by the Spirit to live out that overflowing love in the world so as to be the face of Jesus to those we meet ‘out there’ (Reese, p. 58-68; Abraham, p. 182). Thanks be to the triune God for the opportunity to live into the reality of a new day dawning where “the cow and the bear shall graze [together]” (Isaiah 11:1-9)! Many alleluias and a hearty amen! (Bibliography available upon request) By: Allen Rascoe PAGE 6 - THE GOOD NEWS TALENTS AND TONGUES -A NEW SONG- As a creator—well, THE Creator—you can imagine that God is into the NEW. The Bible is filled with new experiences and ideas—well, they were new then (and, sometimes, they can be new to us now). Have you noticed the world God created is always changing? There's always something new and exciting around the corner. God's got a hand in it, no question. “Sing God a new song” is a bit of a psalm that always jumps out at me, probably because of the singing reference. But I often wonder if God's tired of the same old music all the time. I mean, how many years has Handel's Messiah been kicking around? And some of our old hymns go back to triple-digits A.D., long before the signing of the Magna Carta or the Battle of Hastings or any of those other dates we had to memorize in history class. Does God grow weary of these repeated instances of music, all meant in honest praise and prayer? Was God saying “See, I am making all things new” with an added implication of “and you can, too”? Well, I don't think God minds the repeats at all. But what God might mind is the “repeat for repeat's sake,” where we sing songs without feeling or conviction because we are simply repeating them. I find this happens around Christmastime often, because these are songs we all know rather well and it can be easy to just sing them by rote without regarding the meaning behind the lyrics. It also happens nearly every week with two songs we here at Faith always sing, rain or shine: our gloria patri, Avery & Marsh's “Glory Be to the Father” and the standard doxology set to Old Hundredth, “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.” When was the last time you really thought about those words, what you were singing, what they meant? I used to play a trick at my last church, with the pastor's blessing, of switching the gloria patri and doxology to something different every season, in order to force people to look at the words, to process what they were singing, and turn that understanding into prayer. In this way, we “sang God a new song” constantly, whether they were old songs or contemporary songs. They were new to us, and we could sing them with a new understanding. Perhaps this is what God means by “making all things new;” the implication is not one of starting over from scratch, but of taking the old material and doing something different with it. Certainly that's what Avery & Marsh were thinking in the 70's when they composed the gloria patri we sing today, taking the old words and setting them to what used to be “hip” music. And when the old music is performed today, it is done with a new understanding, so that no two Messiahs could be confused, and so on. This new year, let's all sing a new song. Let's be a part of making all things new. Let's embrace the new, but also add the newness needed to make the old brighter, so that we might be filled more with spirit and understanding, and so that God might incline his ear further to us and be praised more greatly. By: Kevin F. Story - JANUARY, 2014 MOVING FORWARD -MY NEW JOB- Starting this Sunday, I will be the new director of youth at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica. It is a great fit for me. It is nearly walking distance from my house. It is the church that is closes to my old high school. I will actually be serving students from my old high school! This area of town and I have deep roots together. The job focuses on helping the church build a youth program from the ground up. New fellowship development is something that I have done often. The first time in Birmingham, England. The second time was here with iFollow. The third time was at Silverlake Church doing my internship. The group is mostly junior high school students right now. However, I was given opportunity to grow, to work with High school students, and they even have plans for this position to develop a 20something group. While it is not an ordained position it is still a great fit. I can see the fingerprints of God all over it. Does that mean I am leaving Faith? Yes and no. I will no longer be here Sunday mornings. But I am planning on still assisting with session as the clerk. I also plan on attending the new contemporary worship service as it kicks off midweek. By: David Derus PAGE 7 - THE GOOD NEWS - JANUARY, 2014 PASTOR’S CORNER -JANEWARY- “Behold! I am doing a new thing…” God says through the prophet Isaiah thousands of years ago (Isaiah 43:19). Even though thousands of years ago, Isaiah’s prophecies held true for our recently celebrated advent and Christmas seasons – recognizing that God is present in EVERY time and place, as the Apostles reflected in the early life of the Church: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow” (Hebrews 13:8). God is present, Jesus is the same, and we know that the Holy Spirit, the counselor will guide and equip us to be faithful in every way (John 16:13) – what’s different, what’s NEW, is us, is our time. We must make use of what we have learned, and what we know, to sustain us out, into, and through this ‘new’ and different time and place as we eagerly await and learn to recognize God’s presence that has preceded us, leads us, and waits to welcome us into a that ‘new thing’ that the ancient, timeless God has prepared for us, as individuals and as a worshipping, Church, community. One of the most important considerations regarding interpreting and understanding this pivotal scripture from Isaiah is in the first word: behold. This is an invitation, a caring sensitive request: God is asking us: “Can you see?” Like a parent who is willing to lift their child onto their shoulders to help them gain an advantageous view point, like a patient partner or friend who has caught a glimpse of something special and points in its direction until the other can make it out: God can see something we can’t, knows something we don’t yet know. This kind of situation can be very frustrating, and it can feel like one is struggling, floundering, failing if they are unable to see, to know – but God is patient, and we must trust, that when we come to God in humility and earnestness, God will stick with us until we are lifted high enough to see, or patient enough to wait for the item of interest to come into focus. God will not fail us – will we fail God? Not if we cling to the basics of our faith: peace, love, joy, justice, mercy and grace. These timeless attributes of God are emerging in unique ways in our time and place. So let’s continue to keep our hearts, minds, and hands open to both the familiar and the new things that God is doing in our midst, Amen. By: Pastor Rich -The Good NewsThe Good News is published on, for the most part, a monthly basis by Faith Presbyterian Church of Valley Village, with only a few breaks in publication since the early 80’s. goodnews@faithpresvv.org PAGE 8 - THE GOOD NEWS - JANUARY, 2014 CHURCH CALENDAR -Sunday the 5thChoir Practice at 9:15am In the Chapel -Sunday the 19thChoir Practice at 9:15am In the Chapel -Sunday the 26thChoir Practice at 9:15am In the Chapel -Thursday the 9thChoir Practice at 7:00pm In the Chapel -Thursday the 23rdChoir Practice at 7:00pm In the Chapel -Thursday the 30thChoir Practice at 7:00pm In the Chapel -Sunday the 12thChoir Practice at 9:15am In the Chapel -Friday the 24thChoir Concert at 7:30pm In the Chapel -Thursday the 16thChoir Practice at 7:00pm In the Chapel -Saturday the 25thChess Tournament at 4:00pm Faith Presbyterian Church 5000 Colfax Avenue Valley Village, CA 91601 Return Service Requested -ReminderThe Good News accepts articles at any time, for any occasion, even months in advance, if you want. Just send them to – goodnews@faithpresvv.org Stamp Here