St. John's Presbyterian Church Camas

09/11/2026

Today we remember America’s tragedy. We hold in prayer all who are grieving still. We hold in prayer First Responders who have developed incurable disease from the toxic air. They sacrificed their life for others in ways we’ll never fully understand. We hold in prayer the faces of those today who we’d like to blame for what happened then. We pray for the safety for our Muslim siblings who know that with this remembrance comes increased violence perpetrated by racism. Let this prayer remind us how on 9/12 the world came together in unified support and for a time we felt more united than we had in a long time. Don’t let them sell us anger or hate for their profit. May we come into today seeking Christ’s way to love our neighbor as ourselves, loving creation, and using our voices for peace and inclusion. Let that be our remembrance tradition.

09/08/2026

Look, the reality is that this isn't political - This is literally how to love your neighbor. Stand up against unfair labor practices like:
Child labor, enslaved labor, under paid laborers, unsafe labor, laborers who were expected to never have time off or see family, laborers who were worked to death, discriminatory labor, withheld employment... Disrupting injustice is what Jesus calls us to do. Today we remember Labor Day as what we strive for fair and equal employment. This is how we love our neighbors.

09/07/2026

Homecoming Sunday & Ice Cream Social Sunday September 13th
You are cordially invited to join us next Sunday. We’re ramping up for this coming year. GIFT starts on 9/15 -our in-person mid-week group. The quilters meet on Wednesdays. Book Club is at the Camas library. Missions is in full swing. Come join us and learn all the different places you can jump in!

08/27/2026

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of
worship." Romans 12:1
In Romans 12:1-8 Paul has a lot to say about what it means to live this Christian life. I'll admit, I could write for days on all the bad examples of Christians and how we all mess up living as though we are always in worship. I have absolutely had my days where I have messed up royally. I am very grateful for grace upon grace.

A few days ago when I heard about Dolly's passing I was a bit surprised by how hard I took the news. I think most of us would agree she was one of the good ones. She has a long list of philanthropy, generosity, contagious kindness, and speaking up for others who are being picked on. That sounds a lot like living in a constant state of Loving You Neighbor.

When Paul writes the verses in Romans 12:1-8 he reminds us that this isn't just about one person. We are a body together with one another and there is no part that is more important than another. We all have different skills, gifts, and talents that we can use to be a better body, a living sacrifice. What a world it would be if we lived like that. The beautiful thing is that God continues to transform us one moment at a time. Little by little and bit by bit we are changed when we set our hearts and minds towards God's ways. Dolly wasn't the perfect person either, she's been very open about that. Maybe that's what makes her so perfect is the way she holds grace for imperfection in herself and everyone around her.

We'll miss you Dolly, but we'll keep a little bit of your faith with us and remember how you lived your faith out, celebrating the gospel into the world.

08/10/2026

Thank you Rick for giving our sermon on Sunday. In Romans 10 Paul writes (a lot) that we aren’t saved because we have lived a legalistic life. Where he says we are saved and we find life is loving God and learning to love others as Christ Jesus taught.

In his sermon Rick used the analogy of a ladder. Many times people treat salvation like a ladder of accomplishments. With each new legalistic discipline they believe they are one step closer to heaven. With every failure, one rung lower. In their mind it’s some cosmic game of Shoots n Ladders attempting to get into God’s good graces. Sin, and you’re at the bottom. Live a good wholesome life, ascend 3 rungs. What if the God is always with us? What if we aren’t needing to bring God down to us as we climb up or make God come up from hell to get us when we sin? What if in our union with Christ we were raised up to be with God through the resurrection of Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit? What if the saving grace of Jesus has already done the heavy lifting? Our job is to live in gratitude and be disciples of that kind of love. Our job isn’t to demand laws for others. Our job is to love our neighbors and see the humanity of all our neighbors.

Many religious parents attempt to force the law on their children. The Church today is in a crisis, in part, because of heavy legalistic parenting trends of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. When these children grew up they became adults who only remembered punishment, but no love for God. Studies today show that adults who stayed with their family’s faith beliefs stayed, not from heavy legalism, but from the gentle loving faith of their grandparents. Kids were profoundly changed when they saw faith lived out and not preached AT them. They were more likely to develop faith practices when they were encouraged to explore how faith helps to navigate challenging times in life and relationships. The relationship of child and grandparent sets the stage for the development of a friendship and conversations about life and faith that lasts a lifetime. Jesus was clear that loving one another was the ultimate goal. God is always with us and nothing we do or say can take God’s love from us. If we truly love God then it’s our job to love one another and no one says that’s easy.

Want to hear Rick’s sermon-check us out on YouTube at https://youtube.com/-camasworship5182?feature=shared

Join us in-person or Live Streamed on Sundays at 10:30a

08/05/2026

Tickets on Sale on Friday!

https://givebutter.com/empty-bowls-camas-2026-tdgm1i

07/27/2026

On Sunday July 26th we finished reading Romans ch 8 where Paul ends this portion of his letter with the BIG finish that No. Thing. Nothing! Can separate you from the love of our Triune God. Paul begins this portion of his letter by saying we don't even know how to pray, but God reads our hearts and knows even our groanings that come before prayer.

This got me to thinking what is prayer really? At one time in my life prayer was to be quiet and in private like Matt 5:5-6. At another time is my life prayer was loud, joyous, Spirit filled chaos -how glorious those worship services are! This might be likened to Acts 2 of Pentecost or Acts 4 where the believers pray out loud and in public. Jesus is often said to have retreated to the mountain top alone -what did his prayer sound like? I have always imagined him just "being" not "doing" or "saying" anything. I imagine him just being still and absorbing his time in nature with silence. At St.John's we encourage the prayer practice of a labyrinth walk. You'll find it out on the east side of our building. Enter from our upper parking lot, go into the backyard, and it's behind the church manse. We hope you enjoy.

The reality is that prayer can be all of these things and also it can be something that is just part of our operating system- an ongoing conversation with God that has no beginning and no end. It's like walking with a friend where the conversation rises and falls and drops away and comes back again - no beginning, no end. There is no one "right" body posture and there are definitely no right words. If God knows your heart, then God already knows your language. Just be fully yourself.

I think it's important to say that many people have been told that they are unforgivable -that who they are or were or are becoming is an abomination to God. They've been told by others and sometimes by themselves that THEIR sins could never be removed by prayer. That is probably true. To be clear, sin is removed by grace, that was brought about through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We say that Jesus is our All in All, and above all, and over all. If we actually believe the lie that "we are unforgivable" then we are saying that Jesus' life was in vain - he is too weak to disrupt ALL sin. We can't have it both ways when we believe we are unforgivable. Either God conquered sin and death or God didn't. Something to think about the next time those lies starting getting loud - poor thinking can really ruin our day, but Christ Jesus, apostle Paul, and a whole lot of really smart people have been saying for a long time that God loves you and always will, and a little thing like sin can not ever overcome something as powerful and full of light as the gift of grace.
Nothing can separate you from how much God loves you!

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Our worship services are at 10:30a on Sunday mornings.
We live stream on our YouTube channel.
We'd love to have you stop by and join us.

07/20/2026

For years now Carol Aust has generously given us permission to use her art and you'll mostly see it at in-person worship. This piece is titled Breaking Bread and it depicts a large group of people gathering together. Take time to look at and take in all the details. What do you see first? What did you overlook at first? Where are you in this picture? What do you see that you would like for yourself?

On Sunday we read Romans 8:12-25 and Apostle Paul isn't gentle that if we claim to be children of God then we should act like it. His letter to the Romans doesn't mince words or soft pedal that we have an obligation and that obligation isn't to dictate who's in or who's out. It isn't an obligation to demand we are served first and most. That is all selfish ways of thinking and Paul has some dire warnings about the consequences of selfishness. If we want to say we are children of God then we better be acting like it. That means representing the family with generosity, kindness, love, inclusion. Jesus tells us in his sermon on the mount we are to love our enemies, and welcome the stranger.

What I love about Carol Aust's work is that this is what I feel like might be the very vision of a collection of Children of God. Look at all the groups within the group. There are smaller conversations tagging into bigger conversations. There are people in motion moving towards one another. Some are lifted up to not be overwhelmed by the crowd others are embracing and you can feel their excitement to be together. When I hear Jesus speak I hear him telling us to come together. He lived and preached in heavy political divide and yet he doesn't speak to that directly - he speaks to everyone about changing their hearts towards community and away from othering one another. That is some hard work to do. It is an offensive message to many -it certainly wasn't a message well received by the Romans!

If you would like to learn more, please check us out on YouTube at www.https://youtube.com/-camasworship5182?feature=shared

Our website is www.sjpc-camas.org
In person worship is at 10:30a on Sundays, at 1206 NE Birch St. Camas Wa. 98607

Stop on by and join the community. We're not perfect, but we're enjoying getting together and would love to have you join us.

07/14/2026

Immigration is a theological conversation as well as a social conversation.

The Rev. Dr. Safwat Marzouk, Associate Professor of Old Testament at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, led an immigration webinar last week for the Synod of the Covenant, reflecting on Biblical accounts of people on the move. Read more: https://hubs.ly/Q04pkQKH0

06/28/2026

It’s the last Sunday of PRIDE month. I recently learned that PRIDE started as an acronym after a unified stand against long standing laws, false arrests, ignored brutality of people in same s*x relationships. This is all before the Stonewall uprising in 1969. PRIDE stands for Personal Rights In Defense and Education. People began to stand together to change laws, call out violence, and demand to be seen.
Here is the reality, we all want to be loved. All we need is love. We all want to know that we are cared for by others. When we work together in harmony we can make a beautiful world. Let’s keep up the good work of creating loving places for everyone.