Blog: Forest Lake Talks

Weekly Devotional from Ed Black Text: 1 Corinthians 12:4-31  Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to…

Text: John 1:1-13 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through…

January 5, 2022 Dear Friends, Sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with information, and I don’t think I am alone.  In the church office we recognize that sometimes, even though we use all of our channels of communication to let you know about events and happenings, that message does not make it through the noise and busyness of your lives.  To try to make our communications easier to receive, we have a good website, we send out weekly emails that summarize the most current information, and then a longer newsletter is emailed and/or mailed every two weeks.  That…

December 22, 2021 Dear Friends, The celebration of the anniversary of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem is almost here!  In fact, depending on how you receive this newsletter, you might get this newsletter after December 25th (as we continue to pray for our Postal Service and the Postal workers!).  If you get this before Christmas, I’d like to ask a favor.  Please make time in the schedule of whatever you have planned for Christmas Day to stop and to read some portion of the story from Scripture (or from a Children’s Bible if your plans include small people).  I’d suggest reading…

Dear Friends, December 21st is the winter solstice, the shortest day, and the longest night of the year. And this year, I want to encourage you to think of those around you who are experiencing darkness and figure out a small way to bring light into their lives. John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.” (Common English Bible Translation) John is talking about the advent of Jesus Christ into the world. And we believe that God’s presence is both light and life for us and for the whole world. So, I…

Text: Philippians 4:7: And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Devotional: The Union Seminary, Forest Lake, and Eastminster families have worked on me enough to help me realize it can be OK at times to open up. I am always interested in what’s going on in your life, but I’ve generally had a hard time expressing my true emotions to anyone outside my closest circle. Many of you know this. This devotional will be an example of me continuing to work on it. What is the “peace of God?” Paul doesn’t really…

Text: John 12:24: Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Devotional: The losses we experience in life are real and personal, and each carries its own significance. In yesterday’s family class, we discussed how grief is directly related to attachment – strong attachment equals strong grief when something or someone dies. In 2021, we lost many members of our church family. And, many in our church family lost extended family members or friends, too. As we enter the holidays,…

Weekly Devotional from Ed Black Text: Colossians 3:12 “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” Devotional: Have you ever had to take an Enneagram personality test? It’s an assessment to help an individual learn more about their personality and how they can potentially work with individuals with different personalities. In other words, it helps you understand you and (potentially) everybody else. When an Enneagram consultant reviewed my recent test, she said one thing in response to a question about the trickiness of ministering to all types of personalities. She said, “Ministry is the…

November 10, 2021 Friends, I am struggling.  I find that the continued frustration and difficulty of the space where we are living has a way of making me feel pessimistic and tired at the end of a long day.  The grief that people have experienced, the suffering of so many, and the hard work that it takes to continually navigate change has the effect of making it harder to see what God is doing! I don’t think I am alone. So, what are we to do? I’d like to hear how you are managing the grief, frustration, and anxiety. What…

Text: Ephesians 4:29-32  Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,  and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Devotional: Do you watch Saturday Night Live? If so, did you catch it a…

Text: Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Devotional: I wonder how many hands would be raised if we asked the following question during worship: “By show of hands, how many of you are “weary and are carrying heavy burdens?” And, I wonder what would happen if we followed it up with an additional statement: “Keep your hands up if you always turn to God when you’re weary.” Would some of the hands go down? I know I’m exceptionally good at thinking I can work out a “heavy…

Dear Friends, This week, a small group of FLPC folks took advantage of an invitation to tour the new and permanent Anne Frank House exhibit that is housed on USC’s campus.  We learned that Dr. Harris Pastides initiated this partnership with the Anne Frank House and Institute in Amsterdam years ago.  As a result of his behind-the-scenes work, USC now is home to this permanent exhibit!  I encourage you to make the effort to tour this remarkable exhibit. Many of us have read The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank’s diary that gives an account of how the Frank…

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ Devotional: The Hebrew word for soul is “nephesh,” but it’s one of those words that doesn’t have an exact literal translation in English. However, while we don’t have an…

Dear Friends, The book of Judges in Scripture describes a dark and turbulent period in Israel’s history.  The tribes were loosely joined, but kinship and unity often crumbled as each tribe sought its own good.  There were a few strong and wise judges who unified the disparate groups and who spoke for God to all the people.  But there were also unwise judges who served chaos, division, and their own pleasure more than they served God.  Read again the stories of Sampson!  At the very end of the book of Judges there is a summary of this whole era in…

Click here for a recap of Sunday school from October 3, “take home” activities, and the Sunday school schedule for October 10. The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Devotional: One of the many traits of being born a human is we love power and being in control, so where does the power reside in this passage above? We read that John announces Jesus’ arrival, and upon the disciples hearing “him…