December 26, 2021

Merry Christmas Day 2 Church of the Good Shepherd Family

We did not physically gather this morning due to the Covid contact my family recently experienced. There have been no ill effects at all to date, and we just bought at-home screening tests.

The spirit, however, was on the move today in my son, James Martin, who will share what is on his heart. Tune into the audio file recorded from my front porch (see Update, below). Better yet, for really clear audio and video, please go the Good Shepherd Facebook page.

Here is a video gift of Southland Christian Church—kids’ telling of the Christmas story. Click the YouTube link to view a delightful interpretation that is only three minutes long.

And, don’t miss the wonderful pictures of the Christmas eve outdoor service and pageant.

We will be back in the house next week!

Blessings on your day and week,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to James Martin’s Sunday message.

December 19, 2021

The Turn

Tuesday, December 21 will be the shortest day of light in the Northern Hemisphere, and then the light grows and expands. I love the timing of celestial and incarnational realities.

Light and life arrive with Jesus at Christmas, and the darkness of sin and death are turned away. But sometimes it still feels dark, right? There is the celestial darkness in January, February and March, and the darkness may also be an unwelcome intruder in our hearts and lives.

Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish up from down even in a beautiful sunset.

On Sunday, we will look at an account from the Gospel of Mark regarding a turn from broad paths of despair to a narrow and winding path of life and joy!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message, as recorded in the washroom, about Jesus and His gift of love through suffering.

December 12, 2021

The Approach

Christmas is two weeks away. In flying terminology, we are on the approach.

Are you afraid of flying—terrified of the approach to landing? How about with the Lord? How do you, or do you approach the Almighty?

The Christmas good news is that He approached first and came in an unintimidating package of human infancy. The eternal good news is that He is coming back—in a bit more intimidating fashion! See Philippians 2 about every knee bowing and every tongue confessing the exalted Messiah.

What now? We are in the in-between of incarnation—Word made flesh, and restoration—new heaven and earth under His direction. And we can and must approach Him in this messy in-between.

This week at COGS, we look at the approach of one bold Greek woman as recorded in Mark 7 and Matthew 15. Jesus’s response to her boldness might make you uncomfortable or even mad at first glance. Let’s take a second glance together.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about our approach to Jesus and Christmas.

December 5, 2021

Light Erases Darkness—Getting Rid of the Stain

Do you remember a series of recent TV ads where a stain on a shirt or sweater speaks louder than the person wearing the garment? We all have stains—scars and indelible marks on our lives and journeys.

We are also quite adept at turning the attire of our lives inside out, and keeping the dirt and the grime from the public eye. Are you with me here?

As we march into December all polished up for the holidays, I want to invite you to let the Stain Breaker bring holiness into your hidden, sin-stained heart.

John 1 says that in Jesus, life comes that was the light of men, and that light doesn’t just hide the darkness. The light of Christmas turns the darkness off altogether.

Some stains seem impossible to remove—the miracle of grace and holiness is that the impossible becomes a daily reality!

This Sunday also will feature a singing of the classic Christmas song, “Mary Did You Know?”, led by Leah, with her daughter, Laurel, and son, Sam. The opening stanza is:

Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you delivered will soon deliver you?

The child delivers us from the stain that lingers. Let’s learn more and live into that gospel on Sunday.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about the miraculous ability of Jesus to scrub away the spiritual stains of our lives.

November 28, 2021

What’s With the Waiting?

Is the experience of waiting for you more wallowing or wishful? Would most of us answer, “It depends?”

As readers on this website, you are likely to be adults whose waiting may relate to matters of your children or grandchildren. Perhaps other waiting worries revolve around diagnoses or dynamics in your workplace.

For those in Jesus’s path, the dynamics were much the same, as Mark recorded in chapter 5 of his Gospel. Jairus was mayor of the town where his daughter was dying, and on the way to that emergency Jesus was interrupted by a woman who had bled for 12 years.

Both might have been familiar with the passage on waiting from Isaiah 40:31, “Those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength and soar on wings like eagles.”

Does that help seem elusive in your wait?

Let’s talk Sunday about how the Lord gives his followers an expectant and hopeful wait.

Until then let’s all pray for patience with all that irks us!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message as he explores the Christian wait.

November 21, 2021

Purpose in the Power

Why do the winds howl and the seas stir with violent turmoil?

Why would the Prince of Peace exert His power over creation to allow storms that wreak havoc?

In my little suburban kingdom of Smallwood in Washington, I spent two of the past three days moving mountains of leaves to the street for pickup. And I fret over a day when 15 mph winds threaten to level my mounds of mulch! O me of little faith!

In C.S. Lewis’s opener to the Chronicles of Narnia, a newcomer to the Christ lion, Aslan, asks, “Is He quite safe?” The answer: “Safe? Course He isn’t safe. But He’s good. He’s the King I tell you!” We all want a safe God who offers protection from all suffering and winds of change.

This same God, however, sent His Son into a hostile world that was far from safe, and wound up with the worst of earthly endings—the brutal execution at the cross. But His power to raise Jesus from the dead was not fully expended at Easter. His power is present and purposeful.

Let’s look at some storm stories this week from Mark chapter 4 at Good Shepherd.

Bring your hurricane heartaches and allow the Lion to take up your fight!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about Mark’s account of the active life and ministry of Jesus.

November 14, 2021

The Collies Return to Lead Services at Good Shepherd!

Note from webmaster: Jay and Jeanne Martin have climbed this mountain, reportedly in search of inscribed stone tablets, and consequently Pastor Jay will not lead services today. He sends the following message in his absence.

I am in the rare position as pastor among ministers at COGS to be at a place of joyful peace when I leave the message in the hands and hearts of so many of you within this worshiping body of Jesus followers.

This weekend, Mark and Caroline Collie return to lead along with our remarkable praise ensemble.

If you don’t follow Caroline yet on her weekly writings of wisdom and wit, please explore her website and become a subscriber.

Here is this week’s entry:

As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed. When Moses’s hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down … And Moses built an altar and named it The Lord is My Banner.

Exodus 17:11-12, 15 (NKJV)

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

November 7, 2021

Rest and Rescue

“Sabbath” or spiritual rest is not a concept we wrestle with much in our generation.

What we seek to place in our bucket lists of life are accumulations of leisure experiences from which we need more rest in the aftermath than we find in those moments.

Jesus got in hot water with the religious folk on “Sundays”. They had more rules for Sabbath than realization of the promise of rest.

Jesus used days of rest for deeds of rescue.

Maybe you need both—rest and rescue. Come Sunday and explore these interwoven realities that only your Lord can provide.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about rest and rescue drawn from Mark 2-3.

October 31, 2021

There’s a Deeper Healing Than Meets the Eye

Name one thing, one change, one dream or aspiration that if fulfilled would make you say, “It is well with my soul …”.

I sense some hesitation. This is one of those trick preacher questions, right?

As recorded in chapter 2 of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is asked to heal a paralyzed man. The four bold friends go so far as to destroy a portion of a neighbor’s roof just to gain access to the healer. They succeed, and surely this could become a pivotal moment of messianic magic, where the world will see the wonders of lifeless limbs given strength and believe in the Christ.

Yet, Jesus does what Jesus does—He knows that the deeper wound is self-inflicted and terminal. Before He heals, He deals with the physical condition of the man. He identifies the condition of the heart, which holds a barrier to life to the full.

“Your sins are forgiven” is the first order of business. Come tomorrow to Good Shepherd for the rest of the story, or sneak a peek by clicking this YouTube link for a scene from The Chosen.

An audio version of this message will be available after Sunday morning, October 31.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message as continues to dig into the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus reveals his power to heal the whole of us.

October 24, 2021

Would You Accept a Call From a King?

Over the past 20 years, the nature of our communication has radically changed, right?

I must confess now that I rarely answer my phone unless the caller is familiar to my caller ID filter. Several numbers I have officially blocked. On many occasions I wait for a voicemail to see if they are worthy of a callback. Our time and attention does have value!

The Lord knows this, and the Lord wants to be known so that when He calls we will answer and not block His invitation to follow.

Just last week I began a new series of messages from the ancient texts—in this case, the good news Gospel that Mark recorded as a witness to the actions of Jesus. He shows us the plan and pattern of the Lord in order to prepare us and all his readers to know whether or not to answer his call. Jesus’s invitation is not a cold call.

This week we will dive into Mark 1:14-34 to explore how Jesus calls four of his first disciples, and to try and understand why they would drop everything to go alongside this teacher, preacher and healer. Furthermore, we will look at what He calls them into almost immediately.

Come alongside for a wild ride of calling!

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message as he continues his exploration of the Gospel of Mark.

October 17, 2021

Good Saturday Afternoon Good Shepherd Family and Friends!

Change is in the air—by the time tomorrow morning that worship rolls around, a cold front will have blown through with a bit of rain, and the temperature will have dropped 30 degrees.

Change is also afoot at Good Shepherd in the message department.

Last Sunday, Leanne Lee did a masterful job of bringing the “I Am” series home, as we completed looking at what Jesus says about Himself in the Gospel of John.

Tomorrow I begin “Mark My Words”—an overview of the Gospel of Mark, in which we will see Jesus more by what He does through the eyes of Mark and the disciple Peter, who is there in every scene. It is a gospel laden with action and eyewitnesses.

Tomorrow I will focus on Mark 1:1-13, which has some surprising points to connect the fullness of God with the early life of Jesus. The goal at COGS is always to know Jesus and share the journey. In knowing more of Jesus we know more of what life closely aligned with the love of God is all about.

If you are on the road or home-bound, I will send the audio file of the Garden Talk version of the message by eight or so in the morning, and you can tune in on Facebook Livestream on the Good Shepherd page.

Part of your preparation for participation in this message can be watching this nine-minute, very informative overview in animated form by clicking this YouTube link from the BibleProject on Mark.

Can’t wait for tomorrow—warm, welcoming hearts on a chilly Sunday.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

P.S.: If you have read this far—bonus: Pumpkin bread in the kitchen makes its return!

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message as he wades into the Gospel of Mark.

October 10, 2021

I Am That We Are

During the past couple of months, we have explored the significance of “I Am” to us as Christians. Has this offered you any encouragement and perspective on the person, plan and passion of Jesus? He who invites all into a saving and savory journey with him on this peril-infested planet and beyond?

In a formal message sense, we will wrap up the series on Sunday with a taste of the vine as Leanne Lee delves into John chapter 15 and Jesus’s final recorded “I Am” declaration: “I am the true vine and you are the branches”, which is followed by this warning and admonition, “apart from me you can do no good thing.”

Before we raise our voices in protest, let’s breathe and receive what the Lord would have us know.

Come and gather this Sunday, 10:10 a.m. at COGS.

Pastor Jay

October 3, 2021

Resurrection Requires Reflection and Rewind

The last several Sundays at Good Shepherd have been filled with stories of new life and coming out of darkness into the light that only the light of the world can bring.

Two weeks ago we welcomed a local counseling team to speak at worship, only to pile on with a newfound friend Pastor Tommy, whose own daughter experienced healing from cancer while on the waters. And now he and his wife Kel take others on the waters where many storms of life receive the quiet healing of the Lord of wind and waves.

This is all about resurrected life—broken places made whole and shattered shards transformed into holy vessels of life-giving grace!

Sunday at Good Shepherd we will dive back into the resurrection waters in the message and in the music.

Mark Sillitoe has prepared to lead with Anne three inspired songs from ages past. Reflect on these lyrics for a taste of resurrection!

I am so excited for a go-back/throw-back Sunday to celebrate our new life in Jesus. Do you need a refresher from “I Am”?

From “Jesus Shall Reign”

Blessings abound where’er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blessed

From “Blessed Assurance”

Perfect submission, all is at rest.
I in my Savior am happy and bless’d,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

From “Wondrous Cross”

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

—————

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about “I Am” and resurrection in Jesus.

September 26, 2021

Where Is Your Way? What Is Your Truth? How Is Your Life?

In the good news declaration of John, one of the biblical disciples, the writer records Jesus himself offering encouragement to other worried disciples. The passages of note are found in John 14:27 and 1-6, in which the Lord comforts those in his presence in saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”, and, “I go to prepare a heavenly place for you.”

Unwavering in their worry the question arises, “Yes but how do we know the way to where you are going?” Jesus promises a return and then drops this trilateral declaration:

“I am the way, and the truth and the life.”

This Sunday at Good Shepherd, I will be away celebrating my 60th birthday with family and friends. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid!

Three wise men will speak on their personal journeys of way and truth and life. Two are from across various ponds, in Mark Collie from South Africa and Mark Sillitoe from the U.K. The third, Kevin Clancy, has traveled much of the world and found Jesus right here in Beaufort County.

This promises to be a Sunday of promise fulfilled. Don’t miss.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

September 19, 2021

Resurrection Isn’t Just for Easter

We are hitting the homestretch on this identity-defining series of claims that Jesus makes, which begin with a simple “I Am”. This week we come upon John, chapter 11, and his statement to Martha, the sister of dead brother Lazaras, where He says, “I am the resurrection, and the life”.

I routinely read this passage, and next week’s John 14:6, “I am way, truth and life”, at memorial services for saints whose earthly days are done.

But if we leave these promises at the graveside, we miss out on the fullness of their truth.

Paul writes to the Ephesians’ church in chapter 2 about leaving the sin-dead life and being temporarily seated in the heavenly places to prepare for more good works.

Take time to read the passage in a modern rendering from Eugene Petersen’s The Message translation below.

Ephesians 2

Saved by Grace

1-6: It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

7-10: Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

—————

All of us need resurrecting of our walking-dead lives now!

Come alongside on Sunday to explore the means of regeneration of our stagnancy in the journey of life.

Also prepare to welcome local friends and counselors Gladues and Judith Peele, who will offer a glimpse into the new life and perspective that Christian counsel can bring.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about our resurrection in Jesus.

September 12, 2021

I Am the Good Shepherd

Among the top three most memorized and beloved scripture passages throughout the ages is the 23rd Psalm, with the other two being the Lord’s Prayer and John 3:16.

Like many familiar recitatons, it is so easy to go through the motions and have the words spill from our lips, while our hearts are far from the statement of belief that we speak back to God.

A lofty and archaic sounding six-verse hymn was written based upon the promises of the Shepherd entitled, “The King of Love My Shepherd Is”. From a grammatical point of view, it would seem that the better title would be “My Shepherd Is the King of Love”.

I don’t know the author’s heart, but my read on it is that given what the Shepherd does, we need and should demand no less than a King to lead and to love.

Opening stanza is a warm fuzzy:

The king of love my shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his
And he is mine for ever.

Verse 3 is confessional truth:

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love he sought me,
And on his shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.

Though David wrote and sang these words centuries ago, join me now on Sunday in embracing afresh Jesus’s claim, “I am the good shepherd … I lay down my life for my sheep”.

See you on Sunday, or tune in here for the Garden Talk.

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about our relationship with the Good Shepherd. Also view this brief account of one man’s laying down his life at 9/11. Don’t rush out to your day—sit down and give your focus to this story as we remember the man in the red bandana. Ask yourself, “What would I do?” I am that we are …

September 5, 2021

I Am the Door

Years ago in the golden age of game shows, Monty Hall would have me transfixed as he presented the choice of what’s behind three doors to the finalists on Let’s Make a Deal. For the lucky winner, a car or elaborate vacation might await. For the not-so-lucky ‘”loser”, one might find a vacuum cleaner or year’s supply of popcorn.

Our Jesus (yes, He came to be yours and mine) does not leave it to guesswork or luck when He boldly asserts in John, chapter 10—”I am the door”.

Over the past three weeks, we have opened up the “I Am” world of wonder with a God who hears, sees, comes and rescues, and promises to be with us. Then Jesus comes in presence and says I am bread—and has us pray for and receive that bread daily.

Last week we considered the dual claim and challenge, “I am light of the world and thus you who follow me are also light of the world”. In this week of floods and power outages, we yearn for the light that brings life all the more.

This Sunday, let’s answer that promised knock-knock of Jesus from Revelation 3:19, which is no joke but a rare and ongoing initiative of our creator to sit at our table, and … ?

To find out, come Sunday or tune into the Garden Talk, which will be posted below.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message, which continues to exploration into our identity in Christ.

August 29, 2021

I Am Light That You Are Light

This Sunday at Good Shepherd, I will continue the timely series entitled, “I am that we are”. We will probe and ponder several passages concerning light and darkness and how Jesus the incarnation, the embodiment of God, addressed his identity and ours with language of light and dark.

As you will see and hear, among the eight “I Am” statements that Jesus makes about himself in the Gospel of John, “I am light” is the only one where we as disciples are told we have the same identity. Matthew 5:14 records Jesus saying, “You are the light of the world.”

We are not bread, nor the good shepherd, the door to heaven, the resurrection, or the way and truth and life. We are not the true vine. But through Jesus we are light and are sent to help the darkness of the world understand true light.

For further preparation, read John 8:12, John 9:1-5, Psalm 27:1-6 and John 3:19-21.

Let’s explore this together on Sunday!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Updates: You can listen to the audio version of Sunday’s message, what I like to call a Garden Talk. Also, just two years ago this week, Good Shepherd friends Mark and Caroline Collie and family experienced one of the greatest tests of faith I have ever seen, when their son Blake suffered a life-threatening brain bleed. Watch the brief remembrance of their hallelujah story on YouTube.

August 22, 2021

I Am Bread

The whole conversation about needs and wants is an interesting one. It is related to the very subjective discussion about rights and privileges.

In John chapter 1 of the Bible we read, “To all who received him, to all who believed him, he gave us the right to be called children of God.”

The “right to be children of God” is a big one to wrap our minds and lives around. To explore the depths of that game-changing declaration requires time, talk and intentionality. It requires the presence of God himself in the conversation.

Jesus stands at the door and knocks and wants to dine with us. Jesus declares himself to be the bread of life, which is table and presence language.

Come Sunday to taste and see that the Lord is good and that He alone can meet and sort out the needs and wants, rights and privileges that can be so troubling and divisive!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Updates: Listen to Jay’s morning message recorded on his back porch. Also find the YouTube link to a wonderful song so relevant to this hour from worship leader Matt Maher, “Your Love Defends Me”.

August 15, 2021

”I Am” So That “We Are”

Hang with me on this deep dive into theological history.

John Calvin published his very theological-sounding master work, Institutes of the Christian Religion, in 1536. He began the two-volume book with these two short chapters:

1. The knowledge of God and ourselves is mutually connected

2. What it is to know God

A couple of key concepts from Calvin:

• Our wisdom, assuming it is true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of ourselves.

• No one can accurately survey himself without first turning his thoughts toward the God in whom we live and move and has our being.

This Sunday I will launch into an eight-week series of messages that explore what we know of God and thus what we know of self. The series will draw largely from the seven statements of Jesus, which begin with the seemingly simple assertion, “I am”.

Before we get to Jesus, though, we will start in Exodus 3:14 with Moses and the mysterious burning bush, where “I Am” originates in the Bible.

Would you agree that the search for identity, “who I am”, is the vital concern of the human condition, which is only magnified exponentially these days?

The living Word of scripture as it reveals the living Word of Jesus is life- and identity-giving. Let’s explore this gift the next couple of months. Lean into “I Am” and grow in the assurance of who we are!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about our identity in Christ.

August 8, 2021

Prayer, Power and Peace

This week at Good Shepherd, Bo Brooks, one of the many ministers and mentors in our midst, will share the message of power and grace in a walk with the Lord.

Bo brings his whole self and transparent accounts of deliverance from past patterns into a present journey with Jesus that is happening big time out of his new shop in downtown Washington on Market Street. Come on out at 10:10 a.m. on Sunday!

His message will center around Paul’s words to Timothy and to all believers in 1 Timothy 1:2-10. See an excerpt of the translation from Eugene Peterson’s The Message below.

1 Timothy 2

Simple Faith and Plain Truth

1-3: The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.

4-7: He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.

8-10: Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God. And I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Bo Brooks’s morning message as he continues the exploration of Paul’s letters to Timothy.

August 1, 2021

Faith to Finish the Fight

Whoa, pastor. Fight?

Didn’t gentle Jesus say clearly, “Blessed are the peacemakers”?

Yes, He did. And He meant it and lived it and died to make peace with the war that our sin had won, and continues to win in all who are not seeking His rescue, ransom and restoration.

So why the language of conflict?

Read with me for Sunday part of Paul’s final charge to spiritual son Timothy in his letter found in the Bible in 2 Timothy 4:1-8. As he prepares for his departure by saying, “I am being poured out”, he also writes, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.”

Fought the good fight? Are there bad fights and good fights? You know it!

Let’s talk Sunday about how faith informs the fight, what is worth the fight, and how the Word can help us on our battlefields with “great patience and careful instruction”.

As it turns out, Paul was a pretty smart and very humble guy: “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world” (Ephesians 6:12).

Need insight here? So do I!

Let’s gather and grow Sunday at 10:10 a.m.

Pastor Jay

Updates: Listen to Jay’s morning message on this first dog day of August. Also find the YouTube link to an amazing rendering of John Newton's stirring hymn, “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds”. The COGS band will lead us in singing it this morning!

July 25, 2021

Avoid Godless Chatter

The most powerful muscle in the human body is not the heart—it is the tongue. As we enter this Olympic season where trained athletes gather every four OR five years to lay it all on the line, it is worth adopting and understanding that training for excellence embodies every aspect of our being—especially our speech.

At Good Shepherd we have been considering all summer the mentoring messages that Paul chose to pass along to his spiritual son Timothy, and Paul himself acknowledges that he has been a messy mentor model.

In chapter 2 of his second letter, the entire message focuses on aspects of healthy and unhealthy speech, teaching and quarrels. There is no doubt in reading these verses that scripture is relevant to today!

Join on Sunday for a convicting and challenging message on “speech therapy”. Words ALWAYS matter.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about the age-old struggle with the taming of the tongue.

July 18, 2021

How Do I Get to Know a God Who is Spirit?

I remember the first time I heard the prayers of another person who seemed to “know” God personally. I was 12 years old. Her name was Cindy and at that time it was in the top five strangest moments of my life.

Nearly 50 years later I have based my life and vocation, and hope in my future, on the truth that I trust in a God who can be known.

What changed? Is this a struggle of yours?

Over the past couple of months we have explored the series of messages concerning Paul and Timothy. On Sunday, we will dig deeper into a curious line in the early part of Paul’s second letter to his spiritual son: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.”

I know whom I have believed.

Is knowing God possible? If so, how?

Come and explore this at Good Shepherd on Sunday.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message from 2 Timothy 1:11-14.

July 11, 2021

Are We Dropping the Baton?

My title tips the track of a message that finds connection to the sports realm. Paul in the New Testament often refers to the race to illustrate the journey of faith. The Olympics is set to begin in just two weeks, and I do grieve over pandemic protocols, which will make for a very different level of participation. Yet I find joy and energy in the stories and performance of these amazing athletes from all over the world.

One of the more dramatic events of track and field is the relay, and there are three moments in each relay fraught with particular angst and peril. If you are a fan you know that I mean the passing of the baton. For U.S. relay teams since 1995 in international competition, they have been off the medal stand 10 times due to miscues in passing of the “simple” baton from one runner to another.

On Sunday we will parallel the passing of a baton to the passing along of faith from one “runner”’ to another, or one generation to the next. What’s the challenge? What’s at risk?

Join me Sunday for deeper exploration of Paul and Timothy’s relationship of passing along the faith!

Blessings on your weekend,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about passing the baton of faith along to others.

July 4, 2021

Revelation on the River

In the first chapter of the letter to the churches we know as Revelation, John the author and apostle meets with Jesus and reminds us in chapter 1 verses 5-6 that we are to praise “the One who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His blood”. Later in this amazing 22-chapter letter called Revelation, we are told that eternity will feature a river and trees and fellowship with Jesus—that is what will happen this Sunday as a glimpse of glory.

This Sunday coincides with the 4th of July and we will gather at Griffin’s Beach (just Google “Griffin’s Beach Road”) at 10:10 a.m. to celebrate freedoms in Christ.

Our host family the Lees have set up a huge tent, and they have the COGS big red cooker and are offering a hot dog (200 at last count) lunch to follow.

Please RSVP to jaycogs509@gmail.com for lunch and if able bring a side or dessert.

Also as with tradition it is a BYOC (bring-your-own-chair) Sunday, though there will be extras.

While there is plenty of parking under normal conditions at Griffin’s Beach, given the rain forecast today it would be wise for families to ride-share as much as you are able.

Come in holiday or beach attire (I will preach in shorts and “Jesus” sandals), as you are all invited to stay and play in sand and water this week after worship.

Our in-house band of Anne, Will, Scott and Kait will lead worship music along with new friends Darren and Crystal Libby, who were with us on Father’s Day.

See you Sunday to celebrate freedom!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about Revelation.

June 27, 2021

Giving “Worth-Ship” Where It’s Due

In our ongoing journey with Paul and his spiritual son Timothy, one of the vital and oft-overlooked lessons that does not come in the form of a three-point challenge is Paul’s modeling of worship.

In several places in the letters he just bursts out with a praise statement about the One to whom all praise is due. See the image and text of 1 Timothy 1:17.

The theme of the morning is Paul’s modeling worship to Timothy and our consideration of what worship actually means. In much of the contemporary church world, understanding the worship part is the music, and what the preacher does is prayer and proclamation, and what we do outside the walls of the worship space is well… anything but worship.

Consider this statement: “We are all worshippers who connect our identity, hopes and dreams, our inner sense of well-being, and o ur meaning and purpose to something. We all live after something” (Paul David Tripp). We all give worth to something or someone.

So today, every word you say, every choice you make, and every action you take will be shaped by some kind of worship. Let’s choose to consider how that looks together on Sunday at Good Shepherd!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message as he continues to explore the relationship between the apostle Paul and Timothy.

June 20, 2021

The Father’s House … Hold

Father’s Day is celebrated this Sunday, and we will go into the Father’s presence on Sunday morning as well. Particularly in the good news Gospel of John, we hear Jesus repeatedly telling his disciples that “I and the Father are one” and that “I do nothing without my Father’s will.”

Even with that celestial and eternal unity, there is rare but profound tension. “Father take this cup from me”, Jesus prays from the garden the night before the crucifixion, and on the cross itself, “Father, why have you forsaken me?”

The father dynamic is a tricky and sticky one right?

In another biblical narrative and relationship, Paul and his spiritual son Timothy navigate what fatherly expectations there are in this world under the watchful care of the Lord. We will look at that deeply in 1 Timothy 3, which is both about leadership in the Father’s house—His church—and in individual home life.

My hope is that this will be both an encouraging and compelling study and a message to us all.

See you at the Father’s house!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

P.S.: We have new Washington residents and Smallwood neighbors Darren and Crystal Libby leading us in praise and worship music this week. I am so thankful for the Lord’s going before us here each and every Sunday!

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message for Father’s Day as he explores further the relationship between the apostle Paul and Timothy.

June 13, 2021

Messy Mentors Make Models for Ministry

Friends of the Shepherd,

We all need counsel and advice, right? And we need words of wisdom way more than we would like to admit. The trick is trust. Who gets a voice at the crossroads moments of life?

God’s word here, which has been confirmed by my experience, is that mentors who have walked their talk, even in making horrible messes from which they have found redemption and rescue, make the best counselors.

Join me as we sit at the feet of Paul and Timothy this Sunday. I will lean into the text of 1 Timothy 1:12-19 and explore their relationship toward a shared journey of wisdom and understanding, which is conveyed between generations.

Bring an open heart and mind and a teachable spirit.

On the music front, Nathan Head returns from Raleigh, and our ensemble of in-house worship leaders is growing, as are our tools for music—come and hear!

The table of the Lord is open as well and servers will be up front for the first time in over a year.

Last, July 4 is a Sunday and we are trusting the Lord that Griffin’s Beach will dry out over the next three weeks so that we can gather at the river for worship and a picnic.

Joyful assembly awaits—come and see!

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message as he explores the relationship between the apostle Paul and Timothy.

June 6, 2021

Fanning the Flame in the Family of Faith

My calendar reads June and my knowledge of history says that this Sunday is June 6—D-Day in 1944, which marked the allied invasion of Europe and the beginning of the end of World War II, at least in the European theater. Such an effort required years of planning, training, preparation and prayer that all would go in a manner to liberate the continent from the stranglehold of Nazi Germany. Why this lesson on a church page?

Because life happens, evil is real, and preparation for the battles of this world require planning, training, preparation and prayer. June in recent decades has become the month of graduations and weddings, which are wonderful! Both also require planning, training, preparation and prayer.

For the balance of this month, we will examine what I call “Tim Time”. This is the apostle Paul’s lessons and leadership in faith given to his spiritual son Timothy as recorded in two letters, which are addressed to a person and not a church.

Every generation has the obligation to bless the next.

Let’s share this journey together!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about the mentoring relationship between the apostle Paul and Timothy.

May 30, 2021

Bart and Anne Celebrate the Wonder of the Lord

Good Shepherd Family,

Among the wonders of the family of God is that we are all given ministry and message for the reality of hope that is a gift from Jesus himself—the author and pioneer of our faith (see Hebrews 12:1-3).

This Sunday at Good Shepherd, we are fortunate to have passionate and powerful preacher/lawyer Bart Brown (don’t let that scare you—the apostle Paul was a lawyer as well). Bart will share a message on the wonder of the Lord digging back into a familiar post-resurrection passage from Matthew 24. Speaking of passion for worship, Anne Bryson will sing her heart out to the Lord in pointing us toward Him. God is so faithful within the Good Shepherd family to bring truth and grace and messages with meaning to which we can all relate.

Bart has already pointed me to this inspiring video of wonder: Snow White—Ryan Long song.

Enjoy and prepare for Sunday worship wherever you are and remember—this is Memorial Day weekend, and sacrifice has run our national and spiritual freedom.

No livestream from Good Shepherd this Sunday, but don’t fret: Tune in for a special mountaintop message from Montreat.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

Note: Speaking of Memorial Day, today’s image is from my son Win, who is serving for the next month at Young Life Trail West Camp in Colorado to military families.

May 23, 2021

To Progress We Must Remember

This Sunday at Good Shepherd we celebrate our high school graduates, and with them we ponder what this milestone means in the context of “knowing Jesus and sharing the journey”.

To “remember” is the operative word and reality for healthy living in the present toward an abundant future that the Lord promises (see Jeremiah 29:11).

“Remember” is both a plea to the Lord and a command from the Lord. Over the past couple of weeks, we considered beleaguered and bitter and childless Hannah, who passionately prayed for the Lord to “remember” her with a child. When the prayer was answered, it was prefaced with “the Lord remembered Hannah”.

Jesus chided his disciples for failure to “remember” bread for the journey, and Moses called upon Israel to “remember the Lord who freed you from slavery”. (See Matthew 16:5-16 and Deuteronomy 8:1-3.)

To remember is both practical and profoundly foundational to how we live.

This week’s graduates will be challenged to remember the family, faith and foundations of their childhood as fundamental to building fresh wisdom, fabulous experiences, and newfound friendships.

We are all on the journey, so the same is true for you and me.

Remember to join at 10:10 a.m. on Sunday!

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about the importance of remembrance in Jeremiah, Matthew and Deuteronomy.

May 17, 2021

Exam Time for Christians

The merry month of May, right?

How was your last week? Chilly, rainy, out of fuel—literally and figuratively?

For our children kindergarten through college, May tends to be exam month, and oh wouldn’t it be nice to outgrow that reality of being tested?

But deep down we all know that in life and in God’s word and plan, times of testing are part of the plan. But why?

Through the biblical narrative of Joseph in Genesis and echoed in Psalm 105, we see how and why God’s testing is both for His glory and our joy—yes joy—in His journey.

Come and see on Sunday at Good Shepherd.

Bonus worship leader Nathan Head from Raleigh will help point us to Jesus with faith put to song.

Blessings all!

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about the biblical narrative of Joseph in Genesis and Psalm 105.

May 9, 2021

Celebrating Mothers, and Andrew and Sarah

Good Shepherd Church Family,

In the language of family and church we must consider the relational dynamics of parents and children, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, and oh the cousins. In God’s word there are no “perfect” families, only wrecked and redeemed ones. Some are wrecked at their own hand, others by calamities of a broken earthly realm, most by elements of both.

So, Jay, is this getting hopeful any time soon? Always.

In 1 Samuel 1:1-20 we read of a mother named Hannah (one of two wives to “Fin”—nickname—and we already see a situation ripe for ruin). Hannah is a praying mama even before she is a mama. Read yourself to get the picture.

This Mother’s Day weekend we look at how and for what mamas pray. See the photo to your right on the screen of a weathered parent prayer card. Powerful and humbling.

We also celebrate and grieve the departure of praise leaders Andrew and Sarah to Alabama and join in chorus of praise through our tears of 13 years one more time.

We have about 25 committed to linger for lunch and room for more if your schedule allows. I am hearing of King Chicken, mac and cheese, salads, strawberries, and pound cake if you decide with your stomach.

Can’t wait for Sunday!

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message about Hannah’s hard journey of faithfulness related in 1 Samuel 1:10-20.

May 2, 2021

The Saving Grace of Compassion

Everyone needs compassion, right?

We will open with that lyric tomorrow as part of a powerful personal anthem of the church called “Mighty to Save”. You may join in the chorus, as will I, but how well do we live it?

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem for ultimately his last time, Luke recorded that he was “filled with compassion” for the people for whom he came to die, who happened to be the same people who took his life. Compassion is a messy and risky business.

Two brief video testimonies are attached below, which tell different but vital stories of compassion of the Lord. Take time to tune in, and hope to see you tomorrow!

• Blake Collie story

• Kiwi’s compassion testimony

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message, “The Saving Grace of Compassion”.

April 25, 2021

Faith in Good Times and Bad

It’s easy to be grateful and give thanks to God when life is going the way we want. But what about when life is incredibly hard?

What about when pain and suffering enter the picture?

What about when we face trials that we don’t think it’s fair for us to have to face?

What about when we’re struggling through a multitude of divisive opinions in a global pandemic?

This Sunday we’ll consider how to wrap our heads around hard times, both from a theological perspective and a practical one. And maybe if you’ve brushed up on your scriptures and can fill in a few blanks, you’ll take home a loaf of bread!

Caroline Collie

April 18, 2021

Our Identity in Christ

What do you want to be when you grow up? Who do you want to be now that you are grown up? What three words would you offer that best sum up your identity? Are they all related to what you do or rather what the world says you are?

These are fundamental questions for how we live, move and find our being.

These are the questions for every age, but it seems that identity choices are more and more varied and up for grabs.

Does God get a voice in this conversation?

What do you think?

Let’s wrestle with identity questions Sunday at Good Shepherd.

The Bible passage for consideration comes from the little letter toward the end of the scriptures called 1 John. We will look at 1 John 3:1-10.

Today is always a good day to hear who the Lord says we are!

See you soon.

Pastor Jay

Update: Listen to Jay’s morning message, “Child of God in a crisis of identity”, from 1 John 3:1-10, John 1:12-13 and Romans 8:14-16.

April 11, 2021

The Heart-Healthy Table:
Easter Leftovers Are Nourishment for Eternity

Easter has come and gone—or has it?

For our local flock and friends there was a spectacular Easter Sunday on the Pamlico River, complete with a resurrection reminder of the power to realize all things through him who strengthens me. The Monday after the mountaintop is usually hard, right?

For a pair of the first disciples on the road to a little town out from Jerusalem, the afternoon of Easter was brutal. They had not gotten the word that Jesus had risen. However in his care, mercy and might, a stealthy Savior came alongside and led them through conversation and communion, to an awareness of his constancy and eternal presence from the earliest of scriptures, which literally gave them “heart burn” (Luke 24:32).

In our house, the leftovers after a week of Easter feasting with my mother and friends have continued to feed us like kings. How much more the fulfillment of the promises of God and his abiding presence can draw us again and again to a table that knows no end. And may our hearts burn within us as we dine with the Lord and know him more and more deeply.

Pastor Jay

April 4, 2021

Worship on the River

This Good Friday was a beautiful albeit chilly day down east on what was the best Friday in all of human history, because our Lord of love and living sacrifice, Jesus—The Messiah—laid down his life on the cross. He did this willingly to satisfy the justice plan of eternity in order that all who trust and receive His love will be saved from ourselves and the penalty of our rebellion.

Ponder Him throughout the weekend. Also prepare for Sunday—Easter Sunday.

We will gather at Griffins Beach for Easter Sunday worship at 10:10 a.m.!

The Resurrection message will center on the path and power that Jesus provided for all who seek to overcome the trials and travails of this life. We will raise the question, “Are all things possible through Him?”

Good Shepherd will meet outdoors at Griffins Beach down River Road just before the Route 32 fork at the “Y”. There will be signs on the river side of the road and you also can Google Griffins Beach Road and get directions that way.

Alternatively, for directions from COGS to the location on Griffins Beach Road, click here.

Pastor Jay

March 28, 2021

A Return to the Table of Sacrifice

• Jesus is in Jerusalem for the time and season of the Passover, coming hailed as a king because of the witness of his miracles, and the anticipation and expectation of what that means for God’s people. And then in a twisted turn, he becomes derided as an imposter, a fake, a usurper, a criminal—until there are calls for his death!

• The elements of the table of the Last Supper are reflective of the Passover meal, especially in the taking of the cups that are identified in the story.

• The entire event is focused on the work of the Sacrificial Lamb—his suffering and sacrifice—but for the joy that is promised in his coming!

• In a very real sense, we are called to that same table of sacrifice.

The Lord’s Table, however, points back to that “once-for-all” sacrifice. Those things that we endure are to be aligned with it, as we, in turn, willingly reflect the willing sacrifice of the cross of Christ to others today—the willingness to be broken and poured out, until we are glorified!

Pastor Brian van Deventer

March 21, 2021

When the Good Table Gets Messy!

As we return to the table of fellowship, we often find that the reality of community is messy. Amidst the joy of being together, we find frictions, disappointment, and disruption. But the Bible is fully aware of that. The church of the New Testament was not a fairytale. It is just as real and as human as we are. So this week we will look at a story in Acts about how the early church lived into the messiness of the Good Table.

Pastor Peter Hartwig

Update: Listen to Peter’s message, “The Table of Good Problems”, from Acts 7:1-6.

March 14, 2021

Return to the Table Week Four

Good Shepherd Friends and Family!

We return to the table this week at Good Shepherd. This time the table is set with “touchy table topics” as Jesus dines at a Pharisee’s house, with Luke recording the evening in Luke 14:1-24. Maybe it’s a table like many of us have experienced. One with hard questions and awkward silences and eyes staring at the floor waiting for someone to break the tension.

Are those tables necessary? Shouldn’t all of our meals be around the great feast, the precursor of the heavenly banqueting table? Ironically, this passage talks about just such a moment. Jesus speaks of hospitality and whom we invite and who, when invited, makes excuses.

“I must to tend to my land, my cows, my family, say the naysayers.” All of these objections sound plausible as conflicts to the table time. But Jesus goes into deeper motives and priorities. How are we doing with accepting the Lord’s invitation to dine? Are we ready for some awkward questions? Are we also ready to extend His grace beyond our comfortable people?

If you want to avoid this time of dialogue, stay away on Sunday!

On the other hand, if you are open to gathering to spur one another on to a fellowship that we were made for, then RSVP. YES!

Eager to chat!

Pastor Jay

March 7, 2021

Return to the Table Week Three

Good Shepherd Friends and Family!

Table for two or table for twelve, Jesus hosted them all. Fans of The Chosen (see the YouTube video) will remember Jesus, who was sitting across the table from Nicodemus, as they discussed under cover of darkness what it meant to be “born of the Spirit”, and Jesus, quoted in John 3:16, says? You know what He says!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

There are so many beautiful and intimate table moments in God’s Word. It was at the table after the walk on the road to Emmaus that Jesus opened the eyes of the two disciples to who he was and how the entire scriptures pointed to Him!

This Sunday we will revisit a “palatial table”’ with a wounded and woebegone soul, who has the curious name of Mephibosheth (you will get to hear what that wild name actually means on Sunday). The pivotal piece of his story is recorded in 2 Samuel:9 and involves three primary players: David, Jonathon, and mysterious Mr. M, who lives out in a place called “LoDebar”, which is Hebrew for No Fruit, No Pasture, No Where.

His fortunes radically change not on a whim but as cause and effect of covenantal faithful friendship. Read the story for yourself and come alongside Sunday to explore the bigger picture of returning to the table.

Pastor Jay

February 28, 2021

Return to the Table Continues

Good Shepherd Friends and Family!

Are you ready to come back to the table for round 2? This week I was reading in the book of Acts chapter 17 of Paul and Silas, who are preaching the gospel in Greece—Thessalonica to be precise. They spoke in the synagogue for three straight weeks “reasoning” with the listeners about what the Scriptures said about Jesus. They must have had many meals between Sabbath dialogues, and then suddenly the jealous adversaries stirred up a resistance, and Paul and his companions had to flee for Berea under cover of darkness.

What's the point? In our "Return to the Table" understanding we must realize that Jesus invites sinners to become saints in a “pre-game” meal format of feeding them before the fight, which is taking truth compassionately into a hostile arena. This week we will look at Matthew 9:9-12 and also Mark 8:31-38 to understand that as Jesus was celebrating the intimacy of table fellowship, it had the additional purpose of preparation for less-pleasant encounters. Jesus calls Matthew and dines at the “sinners” table to prepare his disciples to be sent out “among wolves” into the arena.

It is human nature to flee from suffering. Suffering will come—the question is, "Are we receptive to the power to persevere that comes alone in Christ?" Join me on Sunday as we explore this more fully—live at Good Shepherd at 10:10 a.m. and also on our Facebook livestream feed.

You have the power to overcome the adversary!

Pastor Jay

February 21, 2021

Weather Warning! You May Need Sunglasses Today!

Remember that celestial orb 93 million miles away, which occasionally peaks out from behind the cloud cover? Might make a rare February appearance today. (No promise of significant warmth, however.)

The sun may be elusive, but the Son of Man—Jesus—the host at the table is near.

Tomorrow at Good Shepherd we "Return to the Table" with a seven-week series of messages on the meaning of and various narratives that center around Table Time with the Lord and with the Body of Christ. Join in at 10:10 in person or on Facebook stream.

Yes, we will be celebrating communion, and yes it will be optional, and yes the bread and the cup will be prepared in a sanctified manner.

And home-bound folks, here is an invitation for you: home table delivery. Let me know and I will come by at your convenience with bread and cup this week to partake together of word and sacrament.

Can't wait to come to the table with you all.

This Sunday we will revisit:

• Psalm 23, the psalm of the shepherd; and,

• I Corinthians 11:17-34, where Paul offers compassionate correction on the abuses at the table.