The Mountain View March 2003

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven on Earth.

In the dark? I was. Last Thursday there was a major power outage across the valley. I had just ordered three large pizzas from Little Caesar's (You know, "Pizza, Pizza!") I was expecting nine other United Methodist pastors at my home for our monthly pastors' support and prayer meeting. I went to pick the pizzas up. When I asked the young man behind the counter, "Are my pizzas ready?" he replied, "Well, they're prepared." (My heart jumped with joy!) "They're just not baked!" (My heart sank!) The pizza place had ELECTRIC ovens, of all things. I didn't think sushi pizza would go over well, so my first thought was, "I'll take the pizzas home and bake them myself." They said they didn't know if they were allowed to do that. Besides, they couldn't get the cash register open to process the transaction. Then it hit me. It didn't matter anyway. I have an electric oven too. The words from the classes "Hee-Haw" song returned to me in an instant:

Gloom, despair, and agony on me,
Deep, dark, depression, excessive misery,
If it weren't for bad look, I'd have no luck at all,
Gloom, despair, and agony on me.

I wandered aimlessly out into the dark streets, (they seemed dark anyway, even though it was 11:30 a.m. on a beautiful, clear morning.) I moved in a daze toward the Subway store mumbling something about cold cuts and cheese and nine people for lunch. Chris, a friend of mine whom I had not seen in a long time, stepped out of his car next to the sidewalk and said, "Steve, I don't think I've ever seen you look so downtrodden!" I told him my sad, sad story, and we both stood there weeping in front of Subway. About that time, the Subway manager popped her head out the door and said, "Sorry, I can't even sell you a cold sandwich. My register won't open." With that, she closed the door and locked it. My weeping turned to wailing. Whatever would I do? Wherever would I go?

It turned out to be a wonderful lunch with my nine friends. I just opened up the pantry and the cupboards and the fridge and said, "Have at it!" We found lettuce and dressing for salad, a box of croutons, a bag of carrots, all sorts of different crackers, pretzels, peanut butter, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and animal crackers. It was a veritable smorgasbord that will be remembered long after the pizza would have been forgotten.

Is there a sermon here? I am sure you are thinking by now, "I sure hope so! And I sure hope it's shorter than what lead up to it." It is.

Psalm 139:11-12 says, "If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." We each have times of feeling we are stumbling around in the dark, trying to make the right decisions and good choices. But our darkness is like light to God. God sees our path clearly. God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path (Psalm 119:105). God will keep us from stumbling. Even in the middle of our darkness, God is full of beautiful, bright surprises. God swings wide open the doors of the storehouse of peace and strength and prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies, whether those enemies are external or internal. So sit down. Take a load off. Enjoy the feast of God's love.

The first annual Mountain Vista Auction will take place March 15, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. here at our church. The earnings will to toward programs, such as Boy and Girl Scouts, CERT program, food/clothing pantry, and men's and women's support groups. It is not loot late to offer your donated auction items. Please call Mitch Lambin or e-mail him at mcl3086@worldnet.att.net with questions, suggestions, or offerings. Your help and time are also needed. Please contact Mitch if you can help with the auction in any way.

The 4th through 6th graders received their Christmas presents in a unique way this year. Their teacher, Donna Kasten, bought books and asked each of them to pick out one book to place in our Church Library in their names. The books are as follows:
The Christmas Story - donated by Whitney Cafarelli
The Quiltmakers Gift - donated by Gypsy Doran
A Christmas Tree - donated by Emily, Brianna and William Haden
The Tower - donated by Maddie Hayes
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey - donated by Donna Kasten
Children's Letters to God - donated by the Kasten Family
A Small Book of Prayers - donated by the Kasten Family
Jacob's Gift - donated by Luke Peralez
One Winter's Night - donated by Scott Reinhard
The Christmas Candle - donated by Mackenzie Whitmer

February 16, 2003
James Allan "Jake" Egelston, joined by his parent, Jim and Jennifer Egelston and sisters Ashley and Lucia.

New Member Class

March 22, 2003

9 a.m. to noon

Due Dates for Sunday Bulletin and Newsletter

For the Sunday Bulletin: Information due Wednesday of each week.
For the Mountain View: Articles due the 3rd Tuesday of every month. Articles on disk preferred.