Blog: Forest Lake Talks

Dear Friends, I want to say “Thank you!” I know that gratitude is one of the results of claiming and receiving God’s Grace. And I know that I don’t stop often enough to say “Thank you!” to people through whom God works. First, I want to say thank you to Beverly Salley. As many of you know, Beverly has told us that after forty-five years as the organist at Forest Lake, she is ready to retire. She planted the seeds that developed into the organ fund, that eventually allowed us to purchase a new pipe organ, and so it was…

DID YOU KNOW? A group of teens and adults from Shillington, Pennsylvania spent the night in our building twice in June. Once on Saturday, June 16, as they were on their way to do construction and mission work in Macon, Georgia. And the group spent the night with us again on Friday, June 22, as they made the return trip home.  They left us a picture of the group with the following thank you note: Dear members of Forest Lake Presbyterian Church, We greatly appreciate you guys letting us stay at your church. Thank you for blessing us before we…

Dear Forest Lake, The week at Camp Fellowship on Lake Greenwood has been a wonderful experience. A ministry of Camping Ministries of the Carolinas, Inc, Fellowship works to engage our community in experiences that make connections for better living, stronger communities and personal and spiritual growth and development. This summer campers have the opportunity to learn and wonder about the great “I AM” and our relationship to God as fearfully and wonderfully made children of God – who they are as individuals called into a community and living the life of faith. The week has been filled with many activities…

Dear Forest Lake, During the summer we know you will be traveling ~ some to visit family and friends, some on trips with the church, some to get away and visit a new place, some to just relax and find rest.  All of these are good things. As noted in Mark, after Jesus was baptized and tempted, he called the disciples. Then began the work of ministry. Jesus was very busy – confronted by a man with an unclean spirit, besieged as he left the synagogue by many who were sick or possessed late into the day.  Mark 1:35 tells…

Dear Friends, It is the season of transition . . . . . again. There are transitions that we all celebrate: graduations (from kindergarten all the way through graduate school!), recitals, Eagle Scout awards and crossing the bridge from Webelo to Boy Scout, birthdays, weddings, becoming a parent, starting a new job, leaving work for a time of vacation. There are gifts that transitions bring. Transitions bring a fresh start, a change of pace and sometimes a chance to try again. There are also transitions that we don’t celebrate: divorces, deaths, losing a job, a break in a friendship, surgery…

Dear Friends, I want to begin by thanking Bill Wanamaker, Hartland Mershon and Paul and Jane VanWyke for sharing their experiences of God and of growth in faith last Sunday in worship. If you were not able to attend worship on May 6th, please visit the website and listen to the service. It was moving and powerful and inspiring. Bill, Hart, Paul and Jane all shared their personal experiences with coming to grips with God, loss and suffering, and also with God’s grace and love. They told their stories honestly and simply in ways that directed us all to look…

Dear Friends, In 2010, our congregation completed a strategic planning process that identified Christian Discipleship as our “organizing principle.” An organizing principle works kind of like a filter. When we are looking at what FLPC might do and be, all of that has to pass through the filter that helps us determine which activities, studies and investments help us most effectively be and become disciples’ of Jesus Christ. The church may be and do many wonderful things. The problem is never what to do, but always “which” to do. So, just as each of us make priorities that guide the…

Dear Friends, I hope you have been hearing and reading about the new grass roots justice ministry in which FLPC has been participating. MORE Justice Ministry is a new, non-profit organization in the midlands that is working to unite congregations of faith (Christian, Jewish and Muslim) to hold elected officials accountable to take small measurable actions that will address justice concerns. This year the process – which began more than a year ago actually – has focused on justice issues in the area of education (with a focus on school discipline and out of school suspensions) and mental health (focus…

Dear Friends, Last Sunday, after worship, many of us were greeted with a couple standing by Rockbridge Road with a baby in a stroller begging for help.  Someone told me that they wondered if it was a set up.  No.  At least not a set up by me. It is very uncomfortable to be faced with someone begging for money, food, etc.  And I am not comfortable with what this couple was doing.  I have from time to time given money to people who ask me when I am out and about in my “civilian” duties.  But often when I…

You are loved unconditionally and completely. You are not what the world makes you. You were created because of love and you are given unconditional love. That is who you are: A beloved child who has love to share. Suggested Scripture John 12:12-16 ~ The Triumphal Entry Mark 14:32-36 ~ Jesus Prays in Gethsemane Reflection That voice of love made it possible for Jesus to walk in the world, to live in truth, and also to suffer. He knew who he was, he claimed it, and he lived from it. People rejected him, hurt him, and finally killed him on…