Friday, August 1, 2025

As we start another new month, today's reading takes us to the Gospel of Mark...

                        "They laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged Jesus that they might touch just the tassel of his robe. And everyone who touched it was made well." (Mark 6: 56 HCSB)

"If I can only hold out... God permitting... I will eventually be seen." These are the frantic words pilot Bob Gauchie scrawled in his personal journal, nearly seven weeks after making an emergency landing on a remote frozen lake in Canada. The conditions were atrocious --- high winds, circling wolves, and temperatures that hovered in the seventies (on the WRONG side of zero) were all conspiring to make sure this poor man didn't make it through the night. But he did make it. And when he was finally found, the pilot who picked him up remarked that he looked like "he was waiting on a bus." 
   
How did Gauchie preserve his sanity? Simple: by holding on each day to the one thread of hope he could see --- he was still alive.
   
That's the kind of hope today's verse describes. A crowd of desperate, hurting people with no earthly hope were now in sight of  the very embodiment of hope: Jesus. So what did they do? They hung on, knowing that if they could just touch the fringe of His clothing, then their long-awaited healing would finally arrive.
   
Are you clinging to Jesus with that same kind of desperation?  

              Savior, help me value You more than life itself. You're my only hope in this cold and barren world. Amen. 

+++ When we gather for worship this coming Sunday we'll be hearing from Philippians and the Gospel of Matthew. My message is entitled, "Becoming a Lifelong Student." I know for kids this sounds horrible... but as an adult I have come to realize that when you stop learning you start dying. Hopefully you never want to stop learning, as well. We will also celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion this Sunday when we worship at 9:00am. If you are away, look for our "live-stream" on the church's Facebook page at 9:00am and we will, of course, upload the completed worship service to our YouTube channel.   

+++ Our Trustees meet on Wednesday, August 6th at 4:00pm in the Fireside Room.

+++ Vacation Bible School starts on that same night at 6:00pm! We will gather for dinner and fellowship, fun and learning each Wednesday night in August. We hope to see all the young folks and their friends at Vacation Bible School! Click here for information and to register.

+++ Our Mini Golf for Missions Tournament is next Saturday, August 9th at the Fairmount Glen Golf Course on North Onondaga Rd. We start with Registration at 8:30am and a ShotGun Start at 9:00am. And then we'll come back to church for a delicious brunch and prizes. I hope you are registered and have been playing a few practice rounds! You can also click here for information and a registration form.

+++ Our September/October newsletter deadline is August 20. Please have all submissions to the church office no later than that date.

Make this day a great day and hold fast to Jesus each and every day!   
​Pastor Jack