Federated Church of Port Byron Ny

06/14/2026

06/14/2026

Matthew 9:31-10:8

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. " Matthew 9:36

I have seen a YouTube clip of a flock of sheep running around a car, round and round because sheep follow the sheep in front of them. So if the one in front is going around a car, well that's what you do. And the one behind you follows you, and the one behind him follows him, until there is a ring of sheep following each other around the car, blocking it completely. And going nowhere. Like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus understood our humanity. He saw, and accepted our imperfections and ideosyncrasys. He knew we were in need of compassionate direction in our lives. God sees we are harassed, and at times running in all directions at once just to make sense of our lives in this world. And God wants to provide the comfort and peace that compassionate direction can give to us. God's direction, as opposed to the direction that the world gives.
So many false shepherds are ready to tell you what to believe, and what to do, or how to live. (Matthew 7:15-20) But they don't truly have your interest at heart. They just want you to follow blindly without question. One sheep in front of another. Only God can give you the truth you need to be living a life reflecting God's light. We have beautiful stories in Scripture that support our spirit and strengthen our understanding. The Gospels tell us of how Jesus lived, and thus, how we too, can live. There are words of God's grace for us, God's acceptance of us even as we run around looking for the truth. Words of God's unconditional love for the sheep that has gotten lost so that God searches the hill sides for us. We have the Good News. That's what the good shepherd brings to us.

06/10/2026

Genesis 12:1-9

"Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house, to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing....and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12:1-3

While Abram was the father of God's blessings it took many generations for those blessings to come to fruition. It wasn't immediately seen, and never seen by Abram himself. God's time is not our time. God has a much larger picture of what is and what should be. We, however, are locked into a few years of understanding. In some ways we are still waiting for those blessings that God promised through Abram. We received some, but we weren't ready to use them as God desired. We tried to force them to our own desires and not live them as God asked of us.
That is the story of the " chosen " peoples. Listen to God, forget what God says because it's not what we want. And start all over again. If the chosen couldn't do it, (and still can't!) Then humanity has little chance of following what God wants for them.
But that doesn't mean we stop trying. God is always ready to show us once again what the blessings can be and how we can live them. It's called Grace. "Let's try that again.", God says. Grace. And often we catch glimpses of what God has for us. The world isn't all bad. There are plenty of God's blessings for those with eyes and heart to see. ( By the way, Paul, in his letter to the Romans chapter 9, verses 24-26 tells us we are all "chosen", "elected" by God. We all are the bearers of the promises of God's blessings. We are all children of God.)

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06/07/2026

Genesis 12:1-9

"Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.' ....' and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.'" Genesis 12:1,3

Thus begins the saga of the nations of Abraham. It makes for interesting reading, and I always thought it would make a good mini-series for TV. Maybe Netflix will pick it up sometime.
Abram, soon to be Abraham, was chosen by God as a friend. Out of their complicated relationship, God chose his descendants as a "chosen " peoples, God's own people to bless the world. And that became a very complicated relationship! God chose all of them by grace, not because they were somehow superior or better than others. Over the centuries God had to chastise them, send them off to foreign nations, only to take them to Godself once again. It was not an easy time for either God or the children of Abraham. There was a lot of friction over the centuries.
And yet with all of their problems God used them to bless the world with two major blessings: the 10 Commandments, and the birth of the Messiah. Both of these blessings gave humanity a beautiful way to live with each other and with God. That the blessings weren't as effective as God wished was not God's fault. We humans just don't seem to want to live in the grace of God, but choose our own ways. Our own self-centered way, not a God centered way. But God is ever hopeful, even as we chose to disobey and go our own way.
Abram obeyed God and left everything, family, friends, home, and place, to follow God's leading. That is surely a story that we must listen to. God is with us on our journeys.

06/03/2026

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" John 14:6

"If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." John14:7

But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
John 14:26

The Trinity is our unique way of understanding God. We, Christians, are the only Faith on earth that has such a concept of God. Our oldest statement of faith, the Apostles Creed, written in the second century states:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic (universal) Church, the Communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

A few sentences that help us to understand the fulness of God. But God is not limited to our understanding or our words. God remains a mystery.

05/31/2026

Trinity Sunday
John 14:1-31

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

This is a very profound statement by Jesus. He doesn't liken himself to to the way, the truth, and the life. He IS these things. He claims for himself absolute truth that is usually reserved for God. Now we know John accepts him as God and as the very Word of Creation. So John is attuned to any sayings that would point to Jesus as God, not just a human male. In his first chapter John says that Jesus was the word of God, with God, and that all things were created through him. And, "What has come into being in him was life." (John 1:3,4) So Jesus is not just the way to life, he is life. We have life because he is life.
He is also the unadulterated truth. That means his words and action reflect pure truth, God's truth. As he lived so he lived God's truth. That is, to me, God's unbelievable love for all of us. A love that knows no bound. It is a love that is freely given, no matter how we accept it. God never "unloves" us. Because the very nature of God is love (1John4:8) it can't be taken back. God's love for us is perfect and enduring no matter who we are. Jesus is not just the way to God, like a winding road. We don't have to travel to get there. We are there in Jesus. Jesus is the way to God because he is God, the Christ, the second person of the Trinity. "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30) There is no division, just unity.

05/27/2026

"In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy. " Acts 2:17,18. (Joel 2:28-32)

One of the signs of the Messianic age according to the prophet Joel, was that God's Spirit will be poured out to all flesh. It will be a great leveling of the people who preach God's good news. Pentecost was the moment that God used to establish a church of people who are inspired by God's Spirit and who will preach God's love and grace to all. A people who speak the word of God and the fulness of life through Christ. Oh well, God tried. It is sad that people have rejected the Spirit and substituted their own wants for power or greed, or division. It didn't take long before Joel's vision was crushed and a human vision substituted. Within 2 generations the Church was a mess.
But the vision of God goes on. And the Spirit of God is still alive and active. Throughout the ages the Spirit has guided the Church through many conflicts and many difficulties. Our Bible was put together during the conflicts of the early Church. The Spirit guided the people that needed to hear what God's word was. There were many who lost their lives over the centuries who were faithful to God's callings. As the Church was dividing into denominations from a single entity the Spirit used that to maintain the many aspects of our Faith. Even during the horrific times of violence through each century the Spirit helped keep our Faith solid, so the Church could carry on doing God's work. The Holy Spirit is now "God with us" and we will never be alone without God, at anytime.

05/25/2026

Beautiful day for a Memorial Day parade!