2012.09.10 Monday Morning Message

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

Greetings from Vinita Oklahoma. Around here we woke up this morning to an absolutely beautiful day. As I looked out the window and surveyed the landscape I was reminded of the fact that we need to be good stewards of this creation which God has placed us in charge of. I also thought about how difficult it is to just sit still and be present in the moment. I tried to do that as I enjoyed the view from the bedroom window. In Gardening by Heart May Sarton says,

“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of the need for us to slow down enough to be present in the moment. nature is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. The garden door is always open to the holy.”

I like the phrase “slow circles of nature.” It is so easy for us to get distracted and become emotionally detached from the earth. In doing so we run the risk of moving further away from our connection with the divine. We override the slow circles of nature by creating our own pace and our own path. This makes it easy for us to forget who and whose we are. Makes it easy for us to lose our way or get worn out, or both.

Here’s my hope. My hope is that all of us will slow down a bit and focus on the beauty of God’s creation. I hope we will work to recognize the natural rhythm of life and allow that rhythm to become our rhythm. Oh what a beautiful morning.

This is my first Monday Morning Message. As the new pastor of Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, I am thankful to be here. It’s nice to feel like you are doing what you should be doing in the place you should be doing it. This is a wonderful gathering of people and I am happy to be part of this church family.

Blessings,

Ken Bailey

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BINGO AT BURROUGHS MANOR SATURDAY - SEPT. 15- 2:00 - 3:00

COME JOIN THE FUN

SESSION MEETS SEPT 19 - WEDNESDAY AT 7:00

2012.06.25 Monday Morning Message

Greetings and warm regards from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.

If you could, would you turn the clock back?  A columnist, writing in the Tulsa World, wrote "Maybe while praying for the America we want, we can remember the America we had."  Those words awakened my memory, and I realized that we must not live in the past. We can use the past for guidance and inspiration, but we can't go back.  We must go forward or we perish.  To live is to change.  The one thing that does not change is a fossil, and a fossil has been dead for a long time.  We should not fear change.

• I remember the scourge of tuberculosis and polio epidemics, and I wouldn't want to go back to them.

• I remember when Presbyterians would not ordain women ministers and when anyone who sold alcoholic drinks was barred from membership, and when the Revised Standard Version of the Bible was assailed as heresy, and I wouldn't want to put the clock back for any of that.

To live is to change, and we ought not fear that.

With blessings and in friendship.
Richard

Announcements:

We were blessed to have Brian Dishman and his family  in church yesterday.  He and his wife Motoko and daughter Rina live in Japan.  Rina played a special piano piece for our church service.  Also, Brad, his wife Edith and daughter Madison were in attendance.  We had a pew full of Dishmans.

SUNDAY, July 1
4TH OF JULY POTLUCK
Drinks and meat will be provided.
Bring a side dish and join us for a delicious meal.
Following morning worship at 10:00.

The Reverend Nancy Covington will be here.
All are invited to Communion.
Liz Logan will prepare the communion elements and invite 2 Elders or Deacons to help serve.
Sue Ratcliff is Worship Asst. for July.

2012.04.23 Monday Morning Message

Greetings and all good wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, located in the heart of Vinita, Oklahoma.

A young cynic was depressed by the evil and suffering in the world.  He complained, "Why did God make a world like this?  I could make a better world than this."

His wise teacher answered, "That's exactly the reason God put you into the world...to make a better world.  Now, go and do your part."

The Christian gospel is about changed lives, renewed faith.  Though dependent upon God, God gave us the gift of free will, and God depends on us to choose wisely.  God cannot make a peaceful nation and world unless we root out hatred from our hearts.  God cannot build healthy families unless we work with God to bring sharing love and mutual respect to our relationships.  God needs each one of us.

Now, go and do your part!

With blessings and in friendship,

Richard

Our minister this Sunday, April 29 will be the Reverend Jo Wright from St. John's Episcopal, Vinita.

2012.04.16 Monday Morning Message

Greetings and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, located in the heart of Vinita, Oklahoma.

Holy Week, the most significant week of the Christian calendar, is a drama that portrays life in three acts.

Jesus endured the stress of his arrest and trial, and then was hoisted to a cross to hang in excruciating  pain.  To be sure he was dead, soldiers, with a spear, pierced his side.  Then he was laid in a borrowed tomb, sealed by a large boulder.

The world of his disciples, and those earliest followers of Jesus, collapsed.  When the women went to the tomb on Easter morning to annoint his dead body they found the tomb was empty.  They discovered that Jesus was alive, their Lord and Master was free.

When the disciples got this report, they dismissed it as an idle tale.  But after the report of the women was confirmed, they came alive again!  Jesus was risen from the dead.  Jesus was free!  With that good news, the spirit of the disciples was restored.

How often are you really down?  When everything seems to go wrong, when you are disappointed, when you are in the pits,  Jesus comes with a helpful word or a kind act and you are inspired again.

Let Easter be your year round experience.  Through us, Jesus wants to work to help people, to free people, to cheer the lonely and to heal the afflicted, and to guide the lost.

God needs each of us and we can be joined in a partnership with God, through the living Christ.  Let's not run away from the important part we have in God's plan.

With blessings and fond regards,

Richard

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Bingo at Burroughs Manor Sat. April 21 - 2:00 - 3:00

Helpers are needed

The Reverend Craig Gibson will be in the pulpit this Sunday April 22

(we refer to him as the one who brings his kids)

Please plan to attend.

Attendance April 1 -- 31

April 8 (Easter) -- 79

April 15 -- 32

　

2012.02.13 Monday Morning Message

Greetings from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, in the heart of Vinita, Oklahoma.


I hope the messages are a welcome start to the new week.  Several email friends have asked for prayers.  Be assured that any and all communication, including prayer requests, will get a personal reply.

With blessings and all good wishes,

Richard Evans

One of the convicted co-conspirators in the Watergate scandal made this remarkable confession:

"I have lived 50 years of my life without ever coming to grips with the very basic questions of what is and what is not important to me;  What is and what is not right and wrong; What is and what is not valuable and worthwhile."

We might ask ourselves in pursuit of taking a good, hard look at ourselves some useful questions.

Have I grown more caring or more callous?

Have I become more forgiving or more vengeful?

Have I become more tolerant or more critical?

Have I become more generous or more self-centered?

Have I tried to become better or only better off?

Have I change for the better or for the worse?

Have I grown as a person or have I become smaller?

TAKE A GOOD, HARD LOOK AT YOURSELF!

A NOTE FOR THE LOCALS:

St. John's Episcopal has invited Pilgrim Presbyterian to a salad luncheon following morning worship Sunday, February 19.  Their church is over about 11:30 and we have Session and Deacons meetings at 11:00 so it should work out great.  Please let the church know if you plan to attend.  It is a privilege to have them prepare a luncheon for us so please try to participate.  

Call the church office and leave a message 918-256-2258 or email pilgrimpresby@sbcglobal.net.  

THEY DO NEED AN APPROXIMATE COUNT.

SESSION AND DEACONS MEET FOLLOWING MORNING WORSHIP SUNDAY, FEB. 19

THE REV. RAY HICKMAN WILL CONDUCT MORNING WORSHIP AND MODERATE SESSION

2012.02.06 Monday Morning Message

　
Greetings and best wishes from all of us at Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, Vinita, Oklahoma.  

It may be a sign of old age, but I know that life's arithmetic means that for every new year we celebrate, we can subtract a year from our life.


That sounds pessimistic, but what I mean to say is don't wait too long to do what you want to do.


In too many simple things we wait too long to do them.

• Don't wait too long to show kindness.
• Don't wait too long to speak or write a word of encouragement.
• Don't wait too long to express your love and thanks to elderly relatives.
• Don't wait too long to love and enjoy your children and grandchildren.
• Don't wait too long to read the books and listen to the music that enlarges your mind.
• And of course, don't wait too long to practice a daily quiet time when you strengthen your inner spirits.

Life goes by quickly.   Don't wait too long to do the things you want to do!


With blessings and in friendship,
Richard

"The PAST is where you

learned the lesson

The FUTURE is where you

apply the lesson.

Don't give up the Middle!"

2012.01.30 Monday Morning Message

Greetings and best wishes from all of us at Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, Vinita, Oklahoma.  


We are a congregation with a big heart overflowing with loving care and concern. I know this to be true from personal experience. Because of poor health, I have had to resign as part-time pastor. Friends in the congregation have overwhelmed me with their kindness.

So...this is "Thanksgiving time for me"...KUDOS to Jewell Morgan, church secretary at Pilgrim Church, and Brian Dishman, editor of the Pilgrim Church Blog. They have kept our "on site, on line" ministry on track.

     ...Thanks to each of you who have sent cards and notes.  Each one has buoyed my spirit.

     ...Thanks for the food, for the thoughts and prayers, which have helped me regain strength.

     ...The attractive, unique album you have given me is filled with beautiful words from cover to cover. Sentiments in the album are humbling, especially those I know to be a little exaggeration.

And, I am thankful to friends in Grace Presbyterian Church, Grove, where I served for six years as a part-time minister, and to members of John Knox Church, Tulsa, where I was pastor for more than ten years, for comfort and concern.

I shall always cherish the friendship of each of you.

With blessings and affectionate regard,

Richard

Final Monday Morning for 2011...

Pilgrim Presbyterians in Vinita, Oklahoma send greetings and best wishes as you make your  journey to the New Year 2012.

I am cleaning out my overstuffed files and found this piece, One Solitary Life, by an unknown author.  It is appropriate for after Christmas, and at the threshold of a New Year.  I hope you like it.  Of course, it comes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, Vinita, Oklahoma.

 

ONE SOLITARY LIFE

 

Here is a man who was born of Jewish parents in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.  He grew up in another obscure village.  He worked in a carpenter's shop until he was thirty, and then for three  years he was an itinerant preacher.

 

He never wrote a book, he never held an office, he never owned a home.  He never had a family.  He never went to college.  He never put his foot inside a big city.  He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born.  He never did one of these things that usually accompany greatness.  He had no credentials but himself.

 

He had nothing to do with this world, except the naked power of his manhood.  While still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him.  His friends ran away.  One of them denied him.  He was turned over to his enemies.  He went through a mock trial.

 

He was nailed to a cross, between two thieves.  His executioner gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth, while he was dying - and that was his coat.  When he was dead he was taken down and laid in  a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend.

 

Nineteen wide ceturies have come and gone, and today he is the centerpiece of the human race, and the leader of the column of progress.  I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that were ever built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon earth as powerfully as has that solitary life.

 

Thanks be to God for self-revelation in Jesus Christ.

 

With blessing and all good wishes for the New Year.

 

Richard

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This is the last Monday Morning message I have received from Richard as he is still ill.

 

There will be no Morning Worship Service at Pilgrim Presbyterian this Sunday, January 1.

Services will resume the next Sunday, January 8 at 10:00 a.m.

I would ask that everyone keep Richard in their thoughts and prayers this Holiday Season.  

Peace and Love to him and us all!

Brian

2011.12.12 Monday Morning

Greetings and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma, at America's crossroads, on historic Route 66.

 

My Christmas message is simple and direct:  your life in Christ, and Christ's life in you, will change your very being for the better!

 

It is this affirmation that Dickens, in A Christmas Carol, wrote a classic story that is a favorite around the world.  It is beloved because it is a story of hope.

 

You may remember that Ebenezer Scrooge is pictured as a wealthy man who employs his nephew, Fred, at pitiful poor wages, supported a joyful, closely bonded family, including a handicapped son.

 

By every reasonable standard Scrooge should have been on top of the world.  He wasn't!  And, the clerk's family should have been miserable.  They were not!

 

Dickens implied that faith makes the difference.  Faith has its own ability to change a person for the better.  In this dramatic story, Scrooge was confronted with two facts:

1. The fact of Christmas - the fact that God has come to dwell with us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth;
   
2. and the fact of his own selfishness. 

Scrooge had to choose which of those two facts he was going to embrace.  After intense struggle, Ebenezer scrooge consciously chose to embrace the fact of Christmas - God with us.  The result of that choice was a remarkable, dramatic change in his life.

 

Jesus - God with us - does change lives.  What are some of the enduring changes we cherish as Christians?

The power of compassion, the healing of forgiveness, the transforming power of love, the energizing power of prayer and the sustaining power of faith.

 

With fond regards and all good wishes for a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

Richard

2011.11.07 Monday Morning

Top of the morning and all good wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.  

Pilgrim Church is one of the oldest Presbyterian churches in the area, celebrating its 129th birthday on the Sunday nearest All Saints Day, which this year falls on Tuesday, November 1.  Thankful for its past, Pilgrim Church continues a faithful mission and outreach ministry.  Congratulations 'Pilgrims'.

Having received a wonderful heritage, my prayer for Pilgrim Church in the present and future is "to think outside the box", and set before you A VISION  of what God wants you to be.

The importance of having a vision comes from my dear Mother.  In her declining years, she went blind.  At first she was frustrated, angry, and reluctant to admit her limitations.  Strong and capable all of her life, her blindness forced her to seek help from family and friends.

She was a remarkable lady.  She did not engage in self-pity, but soon took charge of her life and began to turn her handicap into a blessing.  She had been an executive secretary at the J. I. Case Co., in Racine, Wisconsin.  Still able to type, she wrote countless letters of support and encouragement to people, encouraging them to develop new ways to be useful.  All of us have handicaps; some are just more visible than other.

Stevie Wonder once said, "Just because a person lacks the use of eyes doesn't mean a lack of vision."

"Be Thou my vision,

  O Lord of my heart...

        Though my best thought

By day or by night,

 Walking or sleeping,

     Thy presence my light"

With blessings and in friendship,

Richard

2011.10.31 Monday Morning

 

Special warm greetings to all of you from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, in Vinita, Oklahoma, where we celebrate the 129th anniversary of Pilgrim Church.  

For six years at Pilgrim Church, I always sensed a feeling of thrill and humility to preach, and to serve Communion, as the congregation celebrated its birth on the Sunday nearest All Saints Day (Nov. 1, 2011).

 

To be in the company of an unseen cloud of Christians (Hebrews 12:1) who risked everything by leaving the comforts of their homes in the east to cross a hostile terrain to Oklahoma, with the good news of Jesus Christ, makes me feel very humble.

 

Humbling, yes, but it is also challenging to have entered into their labors.  Each generation is a link in a chain of Christian discipleship.  We must see to it that ours is not a weak link!

 

Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.  In that way we will be true to them, and to our Lord, who is the same yesterday, today and forever.  (Hebrews 13:8)

 

God is with you!

 

With blessings and in friendship,

Richard

 

2011.8.29 Monday Morning!

Top of the morning from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, located in the heart of Vinita, Oklahoma.

 

In one of Charles Schultz's cartoon strips, "Peanuts", Charlie Brown comes downstairs and into the kitchen in his pajamas.  Sleepily rubbing his eyes, he says to his mother, "I think maybe I've discovered my trouble in getting out of bed - I think I am allergic to morning."

 

This is the way a lot of us face a new day.  We are allergic to dawn!  Morning means one thing to a single mother who gets a child ready for nursery school before driving off to a stressful job.  To another person, morning means struggling into bed after working the graveyard shift in a food processing plant.  For some, morning means the toothache that throbbed at 1:00 a.m., is nothing more than a slight annoyance at 8:00 a.m.

 

In stories and myths,  dawn is viewed as significant in that light has its own way of overcoming darkness and fear.  Dawn re-awakens life!  However you experience the morning, the Bible tells us that we can experience "the mercies of God which are new every morning."

 

How do you experience the morning?  Be intentional about the wonder of life.  Be intentional about the way you speak and act.  God through your new day as a tourist, seeing everything as for the first time, and you will discover that mercies surround you- mercies are within you.  These mercies will offer you new opportunities.  You will be more joyful and cheerful!

 

Yes, 'top of the morning'  to you with  all good wishes,

 

Richard

2011.7.4 Monday Morning!

Greetings to you and your loved ones on this 4th of July.  Let your celebration be joyful and safe.  And, thanks for visiting our "off site - on line" ... center ... of our Church Family, Pilgrim Presbyterian, in Vinita, Oklahoma.

My heart aches at every war casualty reported in your daily press.  I know the grief families are experiencing, and my prayer for each sorrowing person and family is not to lose hope and give up.  No power on earth can take from you the love you have experienced.  Difficult as it is, ask yourself what life is still expecting from you.  With an aim, with goals, you'll find reasons to carry on.

I have found that in the most difficult moments of my life a look to the future gives me courage and hope.  New challenges, new opportunities give me reasons to live in spite of my sorrows and sufferings.

There is purpose to our existence.  If you nuture your inner life you'll find the light of Christ will shine into your deepest darkness.

With love and in friendship,

Richard

2011.6.27 Monday Morning!

Greetings and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.

In 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen from a Paris museum, and went missing for two years. In its place hung a frame covering a blank space. It was reported that more people went to stare at the blank space in two years than had gone to look at the masterpiece in the previous twelve years.

It is human tendency to fail to notice and appreciate precious things while we have them, but let one be taken away and we become painfully aware of the blank space in our lives.

Helen Keller affirmed this truth when writing "I have often thought that it would be a blessing if each human being were striken blind and deaf for a few days some time in adult life. Darkness would make that life more appreciative of sight, silence would teach the joys of sound."

Too often it takes a threat to our blessings to make us aware of them.

You are alive and wonderful! Develop a keen awareness of joy in life.

"Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done."

Treasure your blessings while you may.

And be assured, each of you is among my blessings which I cherish.

Richard

2011.3.28 Monday Morning!

Greetings and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in the heart of Vinita, Oklahoma.

In the last three months our family has mourned the sudden deaths of two dear friends.  Both friends gave their hearts to Jesus Christ.  By their kind, gracious lives they declared and demonstrated Christ as a living power.

Their wholly unexpected deaths remind me of the impermanence of life.  As pilgrims on a journey, none of us is assured of tomorrow.  We live to the rhythm of life and death, of sorrow and joy.

The Tulsa World, a daily newspaper, devotes a page which is called "Our Lives."  On that page notices of birth and deaths, marriages and divorces are reported.  Behind each notice their is a case of human sorrow and human joy.

No one can escape from this rhythm of life.  Know that we are not permanent residents on earth, but pilgrims of eternity.

Know, too, that Christ is with us on our pilgrimage.  Christ gives us his life, his spirit, his love, joy and peace.

With blessings and in friendship,
Richard

2011.1.24 Monday Morning!

Greetings and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.

Have you ever considered that the instinct "to fight" is strong within the human race? Children play "White Hats/Black Hats" and current TV programs, with the same 'fighting' spirit are popular.

When we get older the instinct "to fight" is carried into sports events. My alma mater has a well known "fight song": "On Wisconsin, on Wisconsin, fight on for its fame; fight fellows, fight, fight to win this game."

The instinct "to fight" is carried into the business world, where it is called "competition."

You cannot breed the fighting, competitive spirit out of the human race. What is important is that we "fight" for the right reason - to fight, to struggle against injustice, poverty and want. These are things we ought to fight.

It will be a bad day when we cease to differ from one another. It will be a great day when we can differ and still love.

Richard

2010.12.13 Monday Morning!

Best wishes for a MERRY CHRISTMAS from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.

 

Christmas is a time for lights.  Beautiful lights are shining in every city and village.  Lights are an important part of Christmas, symbols of the Christmas story:

    The true light that enlightens every person has come

     into the world in the birth of Jesus.  In him was life,

     and the life was light for all people.  His light shines

     in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

                                            (Will you read John 1:1-18, please?)

 

The mood of despair, however, is familiar in our dark patches.  Immense problems face our nation and the world;  war, an economic recession, unemployment, hunger, home foreclosures, terrorism.

 

And, there are personal difficulties:  problems within families and among friends, jobs that no longer give satisfaction, loss of health, unexpected death of a loved one.

 

I understand how people may feel abandoned by God.  Sometimes I ask myself "Is there really a God who cares?"

 

Then the light of Christmas comes with the assurance that in smooth and rough places "God is with us".  None of us is alone.  Confident of that helps disperse times of darkness.  I haven't  answers to the many questions that bother me, but of this I am sure; God is with me and helps me carry on with courage and strength.

 

My thoughts and prayers are with friends for whom 2010 has been a shattering year.

 

Richard.

Message to all Readers

Hello to Everyone,

It would seem that our old counter has died and/or the homepage company I am using is forcing us to use a new guest counter, so if the number of visits has all of a sudden Jumped to a much smaller number than previously, there is nothing I can do about it.  I guess we shall continue on.  I do know that we were around 1200 - 1300 visits recently.  Anyway, while this may not be very many, it is still not so nice to loose around 800 visits from our counter.

Thanks for your continued visits and your hard work for all of us Richard!

- B. D.

2010.10.25 Monday Morning!

Greetings and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, located in the heart of Vinita, Oklahoma. Dare I get personal with you today?  Ordinarily I have an abundance of pep, lately I've been feeling very tired (lazy?).  A week ago I opened William Barclay's book of devotions and on the page that stared at me were these words:  "tiredness is often as much staleness as anything else."  Barclay went on to write that tiredness comes when ones personal resources have been over strained.  He illustrated his point with this example: "When a car battery is exhausted...it must be brought into contact with a new source of electrical power from which it may be recharged." Repeatedly, Jesus had to go into a lonely place to pray - to listen to God - so that his strength might be renewed.  What was necessary for Jesus is far more necessary for me.  How about you?  O Lord, keep me from going stale! With Blessings and Cheers, Richard

2010.04.26 Monday Morning!

Greetings and best wishes from Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Vinita, Oklahoma.

With six to eight members of Pilgrim Church, I spend an hour Monday morning with residents at Burroughs Manor, a retirement home next door to the Church. We call our gathering Monday at Ten. It is a wonderful hour - a "happy hour" - spent in good conversation, singing, a brief message and a closing prayer.

My present intent is to encourage those attending to write their life story. We have unique fingerprints and DNA, but they don't identify us completely. We also have our own soul print. By writing "my story" one shapes ones soul print with loved ones, and it will be cherished for years to come.

Have you written your own story? If you have not, try doing it. Ask yourself "where the meaning of your life lies"? By answering that question I believe you'll remember small things as well as big events.

Here are some tips to get you started: Who were your early childhood friends? What games did you play? Did you take music lessons? What books did you enjoy reading? What school did you attend - rural, town or city?

Did your family have a car? What make? What year? Do you have an idea of the cost of the car? Comparing costs in the past with costs today will be interesting. What did an ice cream cone cost? How much did it take to get into a double feature movie?

What were your favorite radio programs before TV? What's new in the world since your youth? Computers? Cell phones? What else?

Your story will be interesting because it is unique. What a treasure it will be to your descendants. It will be well worth your efforts. Try it!

Richard