A note from pastor t.j.
May 24th 2020
Road Sign
The signs are everywhere, telling us where to go…
Go this way, go that way, take a left, take a right…
It can get confusing when you are trying to get somewhere you haven’t been before and have road signs keep telling where to go but you don’t know where you are going…
It can distract you… it can confuse you… it can freeze you…
So what do we do, change the road signs to our GPS units…but we still have to have a final destination in mind to to input our final destination…otherwise it just sits there and spins…
Cars honk behind us, people yell and give us dirty looks, all adding to the strain, the stress, the anxiety…
How do we get to where we are suppose to be?
Habakkuk 2:20 The Message 20 “But oh! God is in his holy Temple!
Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!”
Will we listen to the sounds clanging around us, silently, and sometimes not so quietly, screaming at us what to do, where to go, how fast or how slow we are to go?
Or…will we slow down…maybe even stop and listen…to the One who knows our path, knows all of our journey, knows the trail we will travel and desires to guide us down the right direction?
We have everyone, everything screaming in our head directing us yet…
In the stillness of our heart is where we connect, where we hear the Creator voice, the Shepherds voice, encouraging us, calling us in the direction we are to go.
Habakkuk 2:20 Contemporary English Version
20 Let all the world be silent--
the Lord is present in his holy temple.
The Creator is always there, in the song of a bird, the smell of a flower, the gentle breeze that blows, in the sun or rain that falls on us, in the song He puts in our heart that we start singing and weren’t aware of…
Will we be silent, the sheep know the Shepards voice as they listen, learn it, will we?
Will we listen to all the signs clamoring for our attention, the people yelling at us to hurry up and make a decision…
Or…will we stop…breath Him in and out and wait for our ABBA to show us, direct us, guide us in where and how we should go?
TJ Smith 5 24 20
May 17th 2020
What is normal?
What is normal?
Going with the flow of the crowd?
Being 6’4”…or 4’6”?
The world continually tells us…you need to be this way or that way. You need to look like this or that…wear this or that!
Genesis 1:27 NIV So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
What does the image of God look like?
Look in the mirror, there He is, His image recreated, not to look like everyone else but to reflect a image of him in you.
Is that normal, the God who created you, making each of us a image of him?
Even in the same family, we are not “normal” the same, we are each uniquely created to be who we are, how we are, the way we are.
The world tells us to be like it…the Creator tells us to be like Him, that’s how we are truly created.
Hebrews 10:23 CEV 23 We must hold tightly to the hope that we say is ours. After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us.
Will we hope to match what the world tells us, to all be alike, to all be the same?
Or will we hope and trust in the One who has known us, created us to be who we are, not what others say we are to be?
Will we hope to be like everyone else or hope in the One who created us to be who we are created?
I get tired of trying to be someone I am not created to be, I want to be normal, be who I am created to be…
Psalms 139:13-14 Message
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body;
I want a new normal, not to be who and what the world tells me to be but who I am marvelously made to be!
I want to celebrate with everyone who you bring across my path who you have created me to be and share with them they can be who they are created to be.
I want to reflect you, not someone else, I want to reflect the Creator who made me.
I don’t want to be normal like everyone one else, You created me to not be normal but you created me…to be ME!
TJ Smith 5 17 20
May 10th 2020
Living Agape
Agape, a love that is beyond our grasp yet through the Creator, all things are possible
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 The Message (MSG)
3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
It is not about what we do…but how we live out of our hearts.
It is easy to get burned out, by striving, trying to earn, trying to show love to others…
When I do things without agape love…
my head gets big…
I do things to get paid back later…
It is about me…what I have done…
I brag and maybe exaggerate about how I loved others
I do things to get noticed, to earn those accolades, to look good for myself or anyone who is watching me…
When I do things with agape love…
I do things because the Creator calls me to…
I do things to show and share what love is, without restrictions…
I do acts of love regardless
I look for ways to share agape love, to those I know and those I don’t know
I share agape love to be supportive, to live out what loyalty may look like and to give hope and trust to those who may not have it.
1 Corinthians 13:13 Message 13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
TJ Smith 5 10 20
May 3rd, 2020
In Our Transition
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Ps 56:3 NIV
Over the last 6-7 weeks fear has gripped us, controlled us, messed with us and our emotions.
The fear of Covid and getting sick, fear of finances, fear of hunkering down, the fear of opening back up…that is a lot of fear.
We live in a place of fear, and in our society, where to be right they have to be wrong…and that divides us.
Who do we trust? Where do we turn?
But even when I am afraid, I keep on trusting you. Ps 56:3 CEV
We each are approaching this transition from our own journey, even within our own families, we each have a different view, perspective, thought, idea…
Through these times, it may be hard to trust the Creator, to continually go back to the same passage, the same prayer, but it is worth it when we can trust Him, so to not live and be in fear.
When I see a family member that I trust on one side side of the conversation and see another on the other side…and it tears them apart…it hurts our family.
To agree to disagree that is good, to disagree and divide, that is what the evil one wants.
Fear does that, it divides us, tears us apart, makes us want to give in, to be right, regardless of the cost…
We have a choice in fear, to give into it or to ask the Creator to…
Take my side God-Im getting kicked around, stomped on everyday. Not a day goes by but somebody beats me up. They make it their duty to beat me up. When I get really afraid I come to you in trust. I’m proud to praise God; fearless now I trust God. What can mere mortals do? Ps 56:3 Message
When I am getting kicked by my own mind, or by being shamed by others, remind me that I have a choice, to give into the fear, take the beating and lash back at them or to come, trust and be fearless in our ABBA.
As we come out of hunker down, as we transition to a new normal, help us to not hunker down in our opinion, on others and with those who don’t see the same as I/we do, but to respect others as we trust You.
When we are afraid, help us to not lash out… but to stop and breathe you in and live you out in our actions… and in our words and through our lives.
Help us to grow and live our trust in You. Abba, help us to be proud in You, fearless in You and trust You where ever we are on the spectrum of trust.
TJ Smith 5 3 20
April 26th, 2020
Where is our focus?
Psalm 33:20-22 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
20 We depend on you, Lord, to help and protect us.
21 You make our hearts glad because we trust you, the only God.
22 Be kind and bless us! We depend on you.
A phone, a child asks for help, the sun shines, we lose our focus.
Our focus can bounce all over, from here to there, from one crisis to another, perceived or real.
Our focus can bounce from one thing to another.
A bouncing focus is a tiring focus, trying to keep track of all we are suppose to.
What can draw us back to be focused? What should we focus on?
Psalm 33:20-22 New International Version (NIV)
20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
My Hope, My Love, it is easy to focus them somewhere other than where I am called to
To hope in others, to earn the the love of another…
But who has loved us from when we were in our mothers womb?
Who knows the path we are created to go down, then allows us to decide what trail to take?
Only the One who is our shield and protects us…that is where we our focus should be.
Psalm 33:20-22 The Message
We’re depending on God; he’s everything we need.
What’s more, our hearts brim with joy since we’ve taken for our own his holy name.
Love us, God, with all you’ve got—that’s what we’re depending on.
Creator, help our heart to be full of your joy, when we forget the path you have chosen helps us to stop, listen, allow ourselves to be loved, to hope and dream and know You have us.
Help our focus to be on you, to be dependent on You, reliant on You.
When I get distracted, draw me back to who loved me first, to the One who gives me hope for my life, to gives me what I need not what I want.
We all lose focus, but we know the One who will guide us to the place we are to be…If we ask and let Him.
TJ Smith 4 26 20
April 21, 2020. As we are in the storm of life, and right now that of Covid, I wrote and closed our service with this prayer. I pray it helps you in the storms you will face in guiding us all back to our Creator.
Calm in the Storm
Storms crash on us, some unknown to us until they hit us, others we see coming.
It is easy for me to hit the panic and fear button, to give into the fear of what I perceive.
Fear can take over me, paralyze me, cause me to shorten my breath, cause my anxiety to cause my heart to race…
What can I do when the storm crashes, when I can’t catch my breath, when my heart races out of control…?
NIV Psalm 46:10 Be still and know I am God”
Luke 24:36 “Peace be with you.”
Do I know that the Creator has me, do I know that in my heart?
In the storm, when we have figured out where the wind blows from and it shifts, will we be calm or stress out.
Will we allow You to greet us in the storm, to calm us, or will we try and go it on our own?
CEV Psalm 46:10 Our God says, “Calm down,
and learn that I am God!
Luke 24:3636 While Jesus' disciples were talking about what had happened, Jesus appeared and greeted them.
When storms of life, or the stress of Covid hit us, help us to step out of what the world does, and do what you call us to, keep our eyes fixed on You.
Help us to pause, stop and catch our breath, to hear Your voice calming us at our heart, to hear the words “Peace be with you”.
The world tells us to panic, you call us to rest.
Rest through your Word.
Rest through prayer.
Rest through breathing you in and out.
Message Psalm 46:10 “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God
Luke 24:36 While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.”
TJ Smith, April 19, 2020
April 12, 2020. A Easter Prayer for us.
On this Easter…
As I reflect on Easter, in a time and way that have never been…I wonder why would God do this for me?
I know he would do it for you but why me?
I am not a lovable person that anyone would want to give up their life for me.
I have never loved God in the way I should…
I feel as I have failed in to many ways to be loved.
1 John 4:10 New International Version 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Love…how can I be loved by someone who is perfect when I am not?
What do I need to do to earn that love?
Can I try harder? Do better? Do more?
On this Easter, I am reminded that isn’t I who loved first but you who loved me first when…
I am dirty, broken, struggling, throwing a temper tantrum, being stubborn, being childish not child like…
You showed us your love almost 2000 years ago… Help me to surrender to the real love…not the performance love of the world
1 John 4:10 Contemporary English Version 10 Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.
To have someone give up their life for me, with my shortcomings, from my struggles, all because He loves me as I am.
To be loved as I am, to be reminded that though I am, nor will ever be as I should be, His love has never changed.
The love the Creator has for us is a love like no other, it is not performance based, it is not title based except we are his daughters and sons that he love
1 John 4:10 Message This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.
Creator, I am loved so I can love all because of that first Easter almost 2000 years ago.
When I feel like I am not lovable, remind me of this Easter, a reminder of how much I am loved
Help me to share that love with my life and actions to those you bring across my trail
And if I must, to use words
TJ Smith 4 12 20
I wrote this as I prepared for this Easter...
My lament due to Covid this Easter
I am called to serve people, to walk with them, console them, shake their hands, give them a hug to tell them that it will be okay, lay my hands on them as I pray for them…
The family that both parents have been laid off.
The family that has a loved one that is sick…but they are not sure why.
The family that is struggling, but does not feel as if they can reach out and ask for help.
The family that has a loved one who has Covid, or worse who is hospitalized with Covid or worse…a family that a loved one has walked on.
Abba, in this time help me to learn how to serve anew.
I ache as I am tired of phone calls, FB, texting, zooming…
I want to walk and be with those that are hurting and in despair yet I am not able to.
To pray from afar, yet not be able to lay a human hand on the one who is hurting.
In this Holy Week, a time where we celebrate the love you have for us in Christ death. and resurrection and yet…I mourn as I am not able to celebrate with Mita Oyate, (My People).
Creator you created us to be together although now we have to and need to be apart.
You said it is not good for a person to be alone, yet many of us are.
In this time, help me, to stop and breath you in, then breath you out in whatever method and way I am able to.
In this Holy Week, as you prepared for the cross starting with prayer, so let it be for me.
In this Holy week, as we celebrate it as the first one was, isolated, alone, “hiding”…
Help me to not be fearful as the followers of Christ first were, but to be connected through your Spirit to You and those you bring across my path.
Help me to not let fear overtake me
When the waves of fear crash on me, when it creep into my heart, help me to stop and breathe you in and breathe you out.
TJ Smith 4/8/20
As we struggle through these times
The Creator laid on my heart to write a prayer to close out the service each week through this pandemic. I invite you to join us on Face Book Live every Sunday at 10:30 am Alaska time if you have no community to worship with.
Here are the prayers from the last two weeks and will reposting them every week from here out
Keeping Anchored, Written by TJ Smith, Reverend, April 5, 2020
I have been tossed all over the place, everything is shut down, we have to keep our distance and can’t gather, hug or shake another hand
The time to stay at home has gone another 30 days
The voices we hear are confusing as they don’t agree, where do I turn?
Psalm 27:1 The Message A David Psalm
27 Light, space, zest--
that’s God!
So, with him on my side I’m fearless,
afraid of no one and nothing.
It feels dark like a storm has rolled in and it is getting darker, the storm is growing
I need a harbor, a place where I am safe, to feel protected from the storms around me, those brought but the virus, the world and those that I have created and live in myself.
A place where I can ride the storms out, a captain that I trust and will keep me safe, whose voice can calm the storms around me and in me
Psalm 27:1 Contemporary English Version (By David.)
A Prayer of Praise
27 You, Lord, are the light
that keeps me safe.
I am not afraid of anyone.
You protect me,
and I have no fears.
ABBA, be my anchor, light my path, help me to not be afriad
When I start to leave Your shelter, when I become fearful, remind me you are my anchor, when the storm grows regardless if it from outside or inside of me, you light my way
Draw me back to your safe arms, shine your light through this darkness
Psalm 27:1 New International Version Of David.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation--
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life--
of whom shall I be afraid?
A prayer for us as we are in a Hunker Down Order…TJ Smith, Reverend writtenMarch 25 2020
Psalm 55:22 New International Version
22 Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
Lord, we have many cares to give you, our health, our families, our finances
I know you will sustain us, but will I/we let you?
Help us to share with you from our hearts, our worries, anxieties, those cares that keep us up at night, that are stressing us out, making our emotions short and tempers quicker than normal…
Help us to not give into the stress or anxiety. May we sense the Holy Spirit rising up in us but to remember that you won’t let us go.
Psalm 55:22 Contemporary English Version
22 Our Lord, we belong to you.
We tell you what worries us,
and you won’t let us fall.
ABBA, we are your daughters and sons, we are your children.
As a little child does, help us to share with you our booboo’s, those monsters under our bed or in our closets or that invade out dreams and thoughts.
Help us to hear and know you are waiting for us to run into your arms for safety, comfort and peace.
Psalm 55:22-23 The Message
22 Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders--
he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out.
As a Father cares for their hurting or suffering child, help us to allow you to care us.
Remind us you don’t need out help, nothing is too big or too small for you to take care of.
When those worries and anxieties crash upon us, help us to turn them over to you, quicker and quicker each time.
Help us to stop, breath and listen with our hearts to what your Holy Spirit is calling us to give up, what we are called to let go of.
March 15, 2020
Greetings NSC!
As things are rapidly changing in our world and community with the Corona virus, I wanted to update you on what we are doing at NSC. A couple days ago to be in a group of 50 was okay, as of yesterday they are encouraging people to be in groups of no more than 10.
I was on a conference call yesterday with other pastors across the State with Dr Zink. One of the things I came away from the call was the importance of serving and taking care of our neighbors. Luke 10:27, “The man replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.’”
So in loving God, we have to love our neighbors, so we will not be gathering for our services until farther notice. Our prayer in not gathering is that we will do our part in “flattening the curve”, to diminish the chance of any catching it and passing it on to our elders or those with compromised health so they are safe and to help relieve stress on our neighbors that work in the health industry
With that being said, this is a hard choice as the Church is a place where people turn to in hard and stressful times. So while we are not gathering, that doesn’t mean we can’t still be the Church. We are to be the hands and feet of Christ.
Here are a couple ways we can be the hands and feet of Christ in this time…
As Dr Zink said yesterday, “We are encouraging social distancing but not isolation.” Let’s be the reflection of hope in our time and world that seems fairly hopeless. I will be sending out regular updates. Continue to pray, the length of this time is unknown. Please let us know if there is any way we can serve you or others that you know.
We do not want to live in fear as many in the world are but to live and reflect the Hope, Peace and Love of GOD.
TJ
September, 2019
I am reflecting on the words in Deuteronomy 31:6 Contemporary English Version (CEV) 6 Be brave and strong! Don’t be afraid of the nations on the other side of the Jordan. The Lord your God will always be at your side, and he will never abandon you.
Moses is saying goodbye to the people as they are about to cross the Jordan river as he wasn’t allowed in for not trusting God. The image of God is always at my side, he will never abandon me…struck me hard. I started to think yea right! Then…I started to reflect on it, God has and is always on my side, I am the one who has left or moved, not he. The image I have is that of a boat anchored, the anchor never moves but as the tide comes and goes the boat still does. Even as the boat moves, it is still connected to the anchor. The more anchors a boat is connected to, the less it moves, but it still moves.
Wakan Tanka (Lakota for Creator/God), You have never left me, you are my anchor, you are everywhere, in the wind, the trees, conversations, sun, song, snow, my heart…when I feel empty, or alone, empty, help me to hear you still quite voice. To have a snowflake or rain drop touch my face, have me hear your song in a bird, or a word a person says remind me that I am not alone, I am not forgotten, I am not alone.
Just as the Israelites had to be brave and strong, to go against what the world says, against their own fears and understanding, help me to be brave and strong, to trust not with my head but with my heart and life.
Amen
April, 2019
Happy Easter! As you prepare to celebrate our Resurrected Savior, as we have started “Holy Week” I wonder…
How much more are we like those on Palm Sunday, as they celebrated Christ coming into Jerusalem yelling Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna…and yet 5 days later where yelling Crucify Him, Crucify Him, Crucify Him!
How are we like those in the time of Christ you ask?
A simple and all to often way for me is when I think about in my life, where I thank and praise God for what He has done. Yet a couple days later, if I am lucky as usually it is a couple hours or minutes later, I have forgotten what our Creator has done and I get frustrated and “yell” at God as I am not getting what I want. I throw a temper tantrum, I did not get what I wanted, when I wanted it or the way I wanted it.
There are many of those that cheered Christ as he rode on a donkey into Jerusalem and yelled for him to be killed a couple days later. They didn’t get what they wanted, when they wanted it or the way they wanted it. They wanted to be free from Roman rule right away, they forgot what the Torah told them. They wanted freedom but only Christ’s death and resurrection could give that. Being human and selfish, they didn’t want to wait, they wanted it now.
I compare it to eating. When we go through a fast food place we want it and we want it now! If we have to wait very long we get, while I do anyway, frustrated that I did not get it faster. Then we eat it…and I think I wanted this? But when we go to a restaurant and expect to wait, thinking of the time, effort and energy that the chefs are taking to prepare that meal. When the meal comes and it tastes as we hope, as we wanted and as we waited for.
We often want God to be like the fast food but taste like the high end restaurant. God does not work that way. We often, at least I do, forget what Christ went through. I celebrate Easter and the resurrection but often gloss over, or do not think at all, about what Christ went through. The rejection by those close to him. The turning of his own “people” against him. The trial, beatings, the death on the cross…do we take time to remember, reflect on God’s love for us?
Philippians 2:8 Contemporary English Version
8 Christ was humble.
He obeyed God
and even died on a cross.
As we go through this Holy Week and as we prepare to celebrate Easter, what will we be saying? Hosanna or crucify Him? It becomes a matter of our heart. Will we humble ourselves and trust that God has us? Will we obey what God is calling us to go through, regardless of what it is? Will we go and throw a temper tantrum?
For me this week is a great reminder, as I shared before, of God loves for me, for us. He knew we will fall short and yet He sent Christ anyway. Christ knew we would have temper tantrums and yet He went through all He did because of His love for us. As we are. The way we are, those days when we shout Hosanna and those days we don’t.
I pray you have a great Easter and that we all take time to reflect on God love for us. If you have nowhere to celebrate together I invite you to join us for our Service starting at 10:30 am at 8225 Spring Street. After our service we will be having a potluck and a kids Easter egg hunt.
Have a blessed and reflective Easter.
March, 2019
As we look ahead toward Easter, I am continually amazed by the love of God. That God loves us so much that he sent Christ to die a terrible death for you and I. On April 21st we will be celebrating that death and more importantly his resurrection. If Christ had died for us and nothing else how would he have been any different than any of us? But he didn't...he died and rose after 3 days in the tomb!
I wonder, do we live in that awe and live differently than the world or do we live as everyone else in the world does? We are called to live in this world but not be of it, that means to live but not like the world does.
To live differently than the world and to live like Christ calls us too and the early apostles did we are going passage by passage through the book of Acts. I am excited as we look at the example of the early church, their connectivity together, their reliance on the Holy Spirit and how we can learn and live out what the set as an example for us.
We invite you to join us!
TJ Smith
Road Sign
The signs are everywhere, telling us where to go…
Go this way, go that way, take a left, take a right…
It can get confusing when you are trying to get somewhere you haven’t been before and have road signs keep telling where to go but you don’t know where you are going…
It can distract you… it can confuse you… it can freeze you…
So what do we do, change the road signs to our GPS units…but we still have to have a final destination in mind to to input our final destination…otherwise it just sits there and spins…
Cars honk behind us, people yell and give us dirty looks, all adding to the strain, the stress, the anxiety…
How do we get to where we are suppose to be?
Habakkuk 2:20 The Message 20 “But oh! God is in his holy Temple!
Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!”
Will we listen to the sounds clanging around us, silently, and sometimes not so quietly, screaming at us what to do, where to go, how fast or how slow we are to go?
Or…will we slow down…maybe even stop and listen…to the One who knows our path, knows all of our journey, knows the trail we will travel and desires to guide us down the right direction?
We have everyone, everything screaming in our head directing us yet…
In the stillness of our heart is where we connect, where we hear the Creator voice, the Shepherds voice, encouraging us, calling us in the direction we are to go.
Habakkuk 2:20 Contemporary English Version
20 Let all the world be silent--
the Lord is present in his holy temple.
The Creator is always there, in the song of a bird, the smell of a flower, the gentle breeze that blows, in the sun or rain that falls on us, in the song He puts in our heart that we start singing and weren’t aware of…
Will we be silent, the sheep know the Shepards voice as they listen, learn it, will we?
Will we listen to all the signs clamoring for our attention, the people yelling at us to hurry up and make a decision…
Or…will we stop…breath Him in and out and wait for our ABBA to show us, direct us, guide us in where and how we should go?
TJ Smith 5 24 20
May 17th 2020
What is normal?
What is normal?
Going with the flow of the crowd?
Being 6’4”…or 4’6”?
The world continually tells us…you need to be this way or that way. You need to look like this or that…wear this or that!
Genesis 1:27 NIV So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
What does the image of God look like?
Look in the mirror, there He is, His image recreated, not to look like everyone else but to reflect a image of him in you.
Is that normal, the God who created you, making each of us a image of him?
Even in the same family, we are not “normal” the same, we are each uniquely created to be who we are, how we are, the way we are.
The world tells us to be like it…the Creator tells us to be like Him, that’s how we are truly created.
Hebrews 10:23 CEV 23 We must hold tightly to the hope that we say is ours. After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us.
Will we hope to match what the world tells us, to all be alike, to all be the same?
Or will we hope and trust in the One who has known us, created us to be who we are, not what others say we are to be?
Will we hope to be like everyone else or hope in the One who created us to be who we are created?
I get tired of trying to be someone I am not created to be, I want to be normal, be who I am created to be…
Psalms 139:13-14 Message
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body;
I want a new normal, not to be who and what the world tells me to be but who I am marvelously made to be!
I want to celebrate with everyone who you bring across my path who you have created me to be and share with them they can be who they are created to be.
I want to reflect you, not someone else, I want to reflect the Creator who made me.
I don’t want to be normal like everyone one else, You created me to not be normal but you created me…to be ME!
TJ Smith 5 17 20
May 10th 2020
Living Agape
Agape, a love that is beyond our grasp yet through the Creator, all things are possible
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 The Message (MSG)
3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
It is not about what we do…but how we live out of our hearts.
It is easy to get burned out, by striving, trying to earn, trying to show love to others…
When I do things without agape love…
my head gets big…
I do things to get paid back later…
It is about me…what I have done…
I brag and maybe exaggerate about how I loved others
I do things to get noticed, to earn those accolades, to look good for myself or anyone who is watching me…
When I do things with agape love…
I do things because the Creator calls me to…
I do things to show and share what love is, without restrictions…
I do acts of love regardless
I look for ways to share agape love, to those I know and those I don’t know
I share agape love to be supportive, to live out what loyalty may look like and to give hope and trust to those who may not have it.
1 Corinthians 13:13 Message 13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
TJ Smith 5 10 20
May 3rd, 2020
In Our Transition
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Ps 56:3 NIV
Over the last 6-7 weeks fear has gripped us, controlled us, messed with us and our emotions.
The fear of Covid and getting sick, fear of finances, fear of hunkering down, the fear of opening back up…that is a lot of fear.
We live in a place of fear, and in our society, where to be right they have to be wrong…and that divides us.
Who do we trust? Where do we turn?
But even when I am afraid, I keep on trusting you. Ps 56:3 CEV
We each are approaching this transition from our own journey, even within our own families, we each have a different view, perspective, thought, idea…
Through these times, it may be hard to trust the Creator, to continually go back to the same passage, the same prayer, but it is worth it when we can trust Him, so to not live and be in fear.
When I see a family member that I trust on one side side of the conversation and see another on the other side…and it tears them apart…it hurts our family.
To agree to disagree that is good, to disagree and divide, that is what the evil one wants.
Fear does that, it divides us, tears us apart, makes us want to give in, to be right, regardless of the cost…
We have a choice in fear, to give into it or to ask the Creator to…
Take my side God-Im getting kicked around, stomped on everyday. Not a day goes by but somebody beats me up. They make it their duty to beat me up. When I get really afraid I come to you in trust. I’m proud to praise God; fearless now I trust God. What can mere mortals do? Ps 56:3 Message
When I am getting kicked by my own mind, or by being shamed by others, remind me that I have a choice, to give into the fear, take the beating and lash back at them or to come, trust and be fearless in our ABBA.
As we come out of hunker down, as we transition to a new normal, help us to not hunker down in our opinion, on others and with those who don’t see the same as I/we do, but to respect others as we trust You.
When we are afraid, help us to not lash out… but to stop and breathe you in and live you out in our actions… and in our words and through our lives.
Help us to grow and live our trust in You. Abba, help us to be proud in You, fearless in You and trust You where ever we are on the spectrum of trust.
TJ Smith 5 3 20
April 26th, 2020
Where is our focus?
Psalm 33:20-22 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
20 We depend on you, Lord, to help and protect us.
21 You make our hearts glad because we trust you, the only God.
22 Be kind and bless us! We depend on you.
A phone, a child asks for help, the sun shines, we lose our focus.
Our focus can bounce all over, from here to there, from one crisis to another, perceived or real.
Our focus can bounce from one thing to another.
A bouncing focus is a tiring focus, trying to keep track of all we are suppose to.
What can draw us back to be focused? What should we focus on?
Psalm 33:20-22 New International Version (NIV)
20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
My Hope, My Love, it is easy to focus them somewhere other than where I am called to
To hope in others, to earn the the love of another…
But who has loved us from when we were in our mothers womb?
Who knows the path we are created to go down, then allows us to decide what trail to take?
Only the One who is our shield and protects us…that is where we our focus should be.
Psalm 33:20-22 The Message
We’re depending on God; he’s everything we need.
What’s more, our hearts brim with joy since we’ve taken for our own his holy name.
Love us, God, with all you’ve got—that’s what we’re depending on.
Creator, help our heart to be full of your joy, when we forget the path you have chosen helps us to stop, listen, allow ourselves to be loved, to hope and dream and know You have us.
Help our focus to be on you, to be dependent on You, reliant on You.
When I get distracted, draw me back to who loved me first, to the One who gives me hope for my life, to gives me what I need not what I want.
We all lose focus, but we know the One who will guide us to the place we are to be…If we ask and let Him.
TJ Smith 4 26 20
April 21, 2020. As we are in the storm of life, and right now that of Covid, I wrote and closed our service with this prayer. I pray it helps you in the storms you will face in guiding us all back to our Creator.
Calm in the Storm
Storms crash on us, some unknown to us until they hit us, others we see coming.
It is easy for me to hit the panic and fear button, to give into the fear of what I perceive.
Fear can take over me, paralyze me, cause me to shorten my breath, cause my anxiety to cause my heart to race…
What can I do when the storm crashes, when I can’t catch my breath, when my heart races out of control…?
NIV Psalm 46:10 Be still and know I am God”
Luke 24:36 “Peace be with you.”
Do I know that the Creator has me, do I know that in my heart?
In the storm, when we have figured out where the wind blows from and it shifts, will we be calm or stress out.
Will we allow You to greet us in the storm, to calm us, or will we try and go it on our own?
CEV Psalm 46:10 Our God says, “Calm down,
and learn that I am God!
Luke 24:3636 While Jesus' disciples were talking about what had happened, Jesus appeared and greeted them.
When storms of life, or the stress of Covid hit us, help us to step out of what the world does, and do what you call us to, keep our eyes fixed on You.
Help us to pause, stop and catch our breath, to hear Your voice calming us at our heart, to hear the words “Peace be with you”.
The world tells us to panic, you call us to rest.
Rest through your Word.
Rest through prayer.
Rest through breathing you in and out.
Message Psalm 46:10 “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God
Luke 24:36 While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.”
TJ Smith, April 19, 2020
April 12, 2020. A Easter Prayer for us.
On this Easter…
As I reflect on Easter, in a time and way that have never been…I wonder why would God do this for me?
I know he would do it for you but why me?
I am not a lovable person that anyone would want to give up their life for me.
I have never loved God in the way I should…
I feel as I have failed in to many ways to be loved.
1 John 4:10 New International Version 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Love…how can I be loved by someone who is perfect when I am not?
What do I need to do to earn that love?
Can I try harder? Do better? Do more?
On this Easter, I am reminded that isn’t I who loved first but you who loved me first when…
I am dirty, broken, struggling, throwing a temper tantrum, being stubborn, being childish not child like…
You showed us your love almost 2000 years ago… Help me to surrender to the real love…not the performance love of the world
1 John 4:10 Contemporary English Version 10 Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.
To have someone give up their life for me, with my shortcomings, from my struggles, all because He loves me as I am.
To be loved as I am, to be reminded that though I am, nor will ever be as I should be, His love has never changed.
The love the Creator has for us is a love like no other, it is not performance based, it is not title based except we are his daughters and sons that he love
1 John 4:10 Message This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.
Creator, I am loved so I can love all because of that first Easter almost 2000 years ago.
When I feel like I am not lovable, remind me of this Easter, a reminder of how much I am loved
Help me to share that love with my life and actions to those you bring across my trail
And if I must, to use words
TJ Smith 4 12 20
I wrote this as I prepared for this Easter...
My lament due to Covid this Easter
I am called to serve people, to walk with them, console them, shake their hands, give them a hug to tell them that it will be okay, lay my hands on them as I pray for them…
The family that both parents have been laid off.
The family that has a loved one that is sick…but they are not sure why.
The family that is struggling, but does not feel as if they can reach out and ask for help.
The family that has a loved one who has Covid, or worse who is hospitalized with Covid or worse…a family that a loved one has walked on.
Abba, in this time help me to learn how to serve anew.
I ache as I am tired of phone calls, FB, texting, zooming…
I want to walk and be with those that are hurting and in despair yet I am not able to.
To pray from afar, yet not be able to lay a human hand on the one who is hurting.
In this Holy Week, a time where we celebrate the love you have for us in Christ death. and resurrection and yet…I mourn as I am not able to celebrate with Mita Oyate, (My People).
Creator you created us to be together although now we have to and need to be apart.
You said it is not good for a person to be alone, yet many of us are.
In this time, help me, to stop and breath you in, then breath you out in whatever method and way I am able to.
In this Holy Week, as you prepared for the cross starting with prayer, so let it be for me.
In this Holy week, as we celebrate it as the first one was, isolated, alone, “hiding”…
Help me to not be fearful as the followers of Christ first were, but to be connected through your Spirit to You and those you bring across my path.
Help me to not let fear overtake me
When the waves of fear crash on me, when it creep into my heart, help me to stop and breathe you in and breathe you out.
TJ Smith 4/8/20
As we struggle through these times
The Creator laid on my heart to write a prayer to close out the service each week through this pandemic. I invite you to join us on Face Book Live every Sunday at 10:30 am Alaska time if you have no community to worship with.
Here are the prayers from the last two weeks and will reposting them every week from here out
Keeping Anchored, Written by TJ Smith, Reverend, April 5, 2020
I have been tossed all over the place, everything is shut down, we have to keep our distance and can’t gather, hug or shake another hand
The time to stay at home has gone another 30 days
The voices we hear are confusing as they don’t agree, where do I turn?
Psalm 27:1 The Message A David Psalm
27 Light, space, zest--
that’s God!
So, with him on my side I’m fearless,
afraid of no one and nothing.
It feels dark like a storm has rolled in and it is getting darker, the storm is growing
I need a harbor, a place where I am safe, to feel protected from the storms around me, those brought but the virus, the world and those that I have created and live in myself.
A place where I can ride the storms out, a captain that I trust and will keep me safe, whose voice can calm the storms around me and in me
Psalm 27:1 Contemporary English Version (By David.)
A Prayer of Praise
27 You, Lord, are the light
that keeps me safe.
I am not afraid of anyone.
You protect me,
and I have no fears.
ABBA, be my anchor, light my path, help me to not be afriad
When I start to leave Your shelter, when I become fearful, remind me you are my anchor, when the storm grows regardless if it from outside or inside of me, you light my way
Draw me back to your safe arms, shine your light through this darkness
Psalm 27:1 New International Version Of David.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation--
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life--
of whom shall I be afraid?
A prayer for us as we are in a Hunker Down Order…TJ Smith, Reverend writtenMarch 25 2020
Psalm 55:22 New International Version
22 Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
Lord, we have many cares to give you, our health, our families, our finances
I know you will sustain us, but will I/we let you?
Help us to share with you from our hearts, our worries, anxieties, those cares that keep us up at night, that are stressing us out, making our emotions short and tempers quicker than normal…
Help us to not give into the stress or anxiety. May we sense the Holy Spirit rising up in us but to remember that you won’t let us go.
Psalm 55:22 Contemporary English Version
22 Our Lord, we belong to you.
We tell you what worries us,
and you won’t let us fall.
ABBA, we are your daughters and sons, we are your children.
As a little child does, help us to share with you our booboo’s, those monsters under our bed or in our closets or that invade out dreams and thoughts.
Help us to hear and know you are waiting for us to run into your arms for safety, comfort and peace.
Psalm 55:22-23 The Message
22 Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders--
he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out.
As a Father cares for their hurting or suffering child, help us to allow you to care us.
Remind us you don’t need out help, nothing is too big or too small for you to take care of.
When those worries and anxieties crash upon us, help us to turn them over to you, quicker and quicker each time.
Help us to stop, breath and listen with our hearts to what your Holy Spirit is calling us to give up, what we are called to let go of.
March 15, 2020
Greetings NSC!
As things are rapidly changing in our world and community with the Corona virus, I wanted to update you on what we are doing at NSC. A couple days ago to be in a group of 50 was okay, as of yesterday they are encouraging people to be in groups of no more than 10.
I was on a conference call yesterday with other pastors across the State with Dr Zink. One of the things I came away from the call was the importance of serving and taking care of our neighbors. Luke 10:27, “The man replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.’”
So in loving God, we have to love our neighbors, so we will not be gathering for our services until farther notice. Our prayer in not gathering is that we will do our part in “flattening the curve”, to diminish the chance of any catching it and passing it on to our elders or those with compromised health so they are safe and to help relieve stress on our neighbors that work in the health industry
With that being said, this is a hard choice as the Church is a place where people turn to in hard and stressful times. So while we are not gathering, that doesn’t mean we can’t still be the Church. We are to be the hands and feet of Christ.
Here are a couple ways we can be the hands and feet of Christ in this time…
- PRAY. As I went to Costco yesterday and saw fear and hopelessness in people eyes I was brought to tears and called to pray for everyone I saw.
- Check in on your neighbors, make sure they are doing well, keeping our distance but not being isolated.
- Do you know any elderly or those with compromised health? Call them, make a run to the store for them.
- Reconnect with your family. We are already hearing stories of people connect again.
- Check in with each other.
- If you are not able to help or serve another, please let me know as we are able to.
As Dr Zink said yesterday, “We are encouraging social distancing but not isolation.” Let’s be the reflection of hope in our time and world that seems fairly hopeless. I will be sending out regular updates. Continue to pray, the length of this time is unknown. Please let us know if there is any way we can serve you or others that you know.
We do not want to live in fear as many in the world are but to live and reflect the Hope, Peace and Love of GOD.
TJ
September, 2019
I am reflecting on the words in Deuteronomy 31:6 Contemporary English Version (CEV) 6 Be brave and strong! Don’t be afraid of the nations on the other side of the Jordan. The Lord your God will always be at your side, and he will never abandon you.
Moses is saying goodbye to the people as they are about to cross the Jordan river as he wasn’t allowed in for not trusting God. The image of God is always at my side, he will never abandon me…struck me hard. I started to think yea right! Then…I started to reflect on it, God has and is always on my side, I am the one who has left or moved, not he. The image I have is that of a boat anchored, the anchor never moves but as the tide comes and goes the boat still does. Even as the boat moves, it is still connected to the anchor. The more anchors a boat is connected to, the less it moves, but it still moves.
Wakan Tanka (Lakota for Creator/God), You have never left me, you are my anchor, you are everywhere, in the wind, the trees, conversations, sun, song, snow, my heart…when I feel empty, or alone, empty, help me to hear you still quite voice. To have a snowflake or rain drop touch my face, have me hear your song in a bird, or a word a person says remind me that I am not alone, I am not forgotten, I am not alone.
Just as the Israelites had to be brave and strong, to go against what the world says, against their own fears and understanding, help me to be brave and strong, to trust not with my head but with my heart and life.
Amen
April, 2019
Happy Easter! As you prepare to celebrate our Resurrected Savior, as we have started “Holy Week” I wonder…
How much more are we like those on Palm Sunday, as they celebrated Christ coming into Jerusalem yelling Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna…and yet 5 days later where yelling Crucify Him, Crucify Him, Crucify Him!
How are we like those in the time of Christ you ask?
A simple and all to often way for me is when I think about in my life, where I thank and praise God for what He has done. Yet a couple days later, if I am lucky as usually it is a couple hours or minutes later, I have forgotten what our Creator has done and I get frustrated and “yell” at God as I am not getting what I want. I throw a temper tantrum, I did not get what I wanted, when I wanted it or the way I wanted it.
There are many of those that cheered Christ as he rode on a donkey into Jerusalem and yelled for him to be killed a couple days later. They didn’t get what they wanted, when they wanted it or the way they wanted it. They wanted to be free from Roman rule right away, they forgot what the Torah told them. They wanted freedom but only Christ’s death and resurrection could give that. Being human and selfish, they didn’t want to wait, they wanted it now.
I compare it to eating. When we go through a fast food place we want it and we want it now! If we have to wait very long we get, while I do anyway, frustrated that I did not get it faster. Then we eat it…and I think I wanted this? But when we go to a restaurant and expect to wait, thinking of the time, effort and energy that the chefs are taking to prepare that meal. When the meal comes and it tastes as we hope, as we wanted and as we waited for.
We often want God to be like the fast food but taste like the high end restaurant. God does not work that way. We often, at least I do, forget what Christ went through. I celebrate Easter and the resurrection but often gloss over, or do not think at all, about what Christ went through. The rejection by those close to him. The turning of his own “people” against him. The trial, beatings, the death on the cross…do we take time to remember, reflect on God’s love for us?
Philippians 2:8 Contemporary English Version
8 Christ was humble.
He obeyed God
and even died on a cross.
As we go through this Holy Week and as we prepare to celebrate Easter, what will we be saying? Hosanna or crucify Him? It becomes a matter of our heart. Will we humble ourselves and trust that God has us? Will we obey what God is calling us to go through, regardless of what it is? Will we go and throw a temper tantrum?
For me this week is a great reminder, as I shared before, of God loves for me, for us. He knew we will fall short and yet He sent Christ anyway. Christ knew we would have temper tantrums and yet He went through all He did because of His love for us. As we are. The way we are, those days when we shout Hosanna and those days we don’t.
I pray you have a great Easter and that we all take time to reflect on God love for us. If you have nowhere to celebrate together I invite you to join us for our Service starting at 10:30 am at 8225 Spring Street. After our service we will be having a potluck and a kids Easter egg hunt.
Have a blessed and reflective Easter.
March, 2019
As we look ahead toward Easter, I am continually amazed by the love of God. That God loves us so much that he sent Christ to die a terrible death for you and I. On April 21st we will be celebrating that death and more importantly his resurrection. If Christ had died for us and nothing else how would he have been any different than any of us? But he didn't...he died and rose after 3 days in the tomb!
I wonder, do we live in that awe and live differently than the world or do we live as everyone else in the world does? We are called to live in this world but not be of it, that means to live but not like the world does.
To live differently than the world and to live like Christ calls us too and the early apostles did we are going passage by passage through the book of Acts. I am excited as we look at the example of the early church, their connectivity together, their reliance on the Holy Spirit and how we can learn and live out what the set as an example for us.
We invite you to join us!
TJ Smith