May! May? May?! How is it already May? I feel like we skipped something. This year is going by too quickly. Soccer has been going for me again and it has been a ton of fun! The kids are learning well and playing better each game I think. One problem they have though is looking forward. They get the ball and they focus on it. They are dribbling around with the thing focused on it and not looking forward. Looking forward is not always as intuitive as we think it should be. The kids have their focus on what they want to have their focus on, the ball, and keep their eyes on it to the exclusion of the broader game. They have their piece and want to keep it for as long as possible.

This sense of control, focusing on their one piece and not thinking about the bigger game is not a very helpful thing though. We need them to have their piece but be aware of what is going on around them, too. During practice we are trying to help them learn that they can trust that the ball is going to be where they left it the last time they saw it, so they can look around every once in a while to see where they are going and what other people are up to on the field as well. Are we focusing on our piece to the point that we aren’t engaged with the bigger thing that is going around us?

            In the coming months we will be looking at the book of Acts in a sermon series called “Acting Out.” Our purpose is to learn from the early church about how they engaged with the cultures they lived in and how we can do the same. If you are interested in getting a head start on what we are going to be studying as a church read the book of Acts!

Many of us have had a chance to get a break this past month. Taking time to get away with friends or family at the start of a new season. You may have taken a trip or decided that staying home and resting was what was most needed for you and your family. I had a friend from college come and spend two weeks with me and we got the chance to explore a bit of the natural beauty of God’s creation by getting down to the Redwoods and checking out the Stout Grove! Seeing the amazing Redwood trees was a wonderful reminder for me of the power of strong connections. The roots of these great trees don’t go very deep but their strength comes not from driving deep into the earth and standing on their own, it comes from reaching out and building strong connections to those around them.

My hope is that you have had time this month to rest and reflect and reconnect. That God has been working in your life in this time of renewal. That Jesus’ resurrection means more for you than candy and family. The longing that you feel for connection is fulfilled in Jesus. This coming month I hope that we are able to reach out to Him and reconnect. To find our strength renewed and multiplied in His presence and love so that we can join what Jesus is doing to connect with the people around us. Each of us has an important part to play in this interconnected system of heart roots that Jesus is the center of!

We are coming up on Easter! This is one of my favorite times of year. We are experiencing all sorts of lovely changes in weather and building our hope for Spring. We are looking forward to family trips and time to explore the natural world, we are looking for a break. The expectation we have with the change of seasons is that we would get a break to let us know the shift has happened. A lull or down period that lets us know something big is coming.

Over the next couple weeks we will be looking at the times that Jesus talks about His death on the cross. These passages build expectation for us in the same way that warmer days herald the coming of Spring. Something is going to be different soon and we need to be ready for it. This month we celebrate the close of Jesus’ time here on earth with the Disciples and mourn the crucifixion of our Savior. The time Christ was in the grave is like that interlude between seasons. We know something big is coming and have to be ready for it. We hope and pray that we can be ready for it: this thing that is so powerfully new and wonderfully beyond our wildest imaginings, the resurrection of our Messiah and invitation into the Kingdom of Heaven which is available forevermore.

What do you wake up for? Because the alarm clock went off, because you have that appointment today, because work, because family, because you don’t want to spend all day in bed (some of it will be spent in that favorite chair we all have), maybe it is something else. The reason we get out of bed in the morning (or evening for those night owls out there) is tied to what we see as our purpose in this life.

Our reason for being awake and alive is core to who we are. If you are like me, waking up in the morning is something you have just been doing. I haven’t been thinking about what being awake that day means. I have been hearing the alarm and thinking about the list of things that should probably be done that day. I have been staring at the ceiling and thinking about how many times I can snooze before I actually have to roll out of bed and get going. I haven’t been thinking about what my awakening means; it means I have been blessed with another day. It means that I have a chance that day to do something wonderful. I have a choice to make.

Each day we are alive on this Earth we have been blessed, we have a chance, and we have a choice. We have been blessed by God with the beautiful opportunity to impact this world for Him. We have been given the chance to be changed and renewed as we seek the places and people that God wants us to be engaging with that day. We have a choice to worship God or worship the world. When you wake up to worship your perspective on what each day means shifts dramatically. It isn’t about the list anymore. It is about the life God has granted you. A life of communion with the Holy Spirit; a life renewed and reconciled.

As we continue to discuss what Worship looks like I want to encourage you to pray for awakening. I want us to pray for this for ourselves, for our families, for our friends, for the strangers we meet on the streets and in the markets, for our brothers and sisters in other congregations all over this valley, and for our nation. Let’s pray for awakening. A Spirit led awakening in our hearts that alerts us to what is truly important and what life can be when lived in relationship with God.