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Minneapolis, MN 55410
Phone: 612-926-7645
Email: church@lakeharrietumc.org
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We are a church that believes all people are children of God, unconditionally loved by our Creator whatever their age, race, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, economic status, marital status, physical or mental ability.
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Welcome and thanks for visiting! Please take a few minutes to explore the site and get a sense of what the LHUMC community has to offer. We also hope you’ll come visit us for worship or an upcoming event. We look forward to connecting with you and going deeper in our faith together. You are welcome here!
Rev. Karen Bruins
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19
Feb '20
Running with Mark 53
19
Feb '20
Day Fifty-Three – February 19, 2020
Read:
Mark 8:14-21 New Revised Standard Version
The disciples had forgotten to bring any bread and had only one loaf of bread in the boat.
Even though they had witnessed miracles of Jesus multiplying loaves and fish, it sounds like they were still worried about not having enough bread.
Jesus says to them, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” He is not talking about literal yeast (I always wonder how people who claim they take the Bible literally understand passages like this.). What do you think he meant by the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod?
Here’s what I think he may have meant. The Pharisees were religious leaders who sometimes got stuck on the interpretation of the law, rather than the spirit and the people behind it. They also had a tendency toward judging others. Herod, as the Roman King of Judea represents power and oppression. Both the Pharisees and Herod missed opportunities to show love, to demonstrate compassion, to show grace.
I also wonder if Jesus meant that the thinking and the attitudes of the Pharisees and Herod are like bad yeast that can get into us. Bad yeast can slowly dissolve our values and beliefs. Bad yeast can make us hard hearted. Bad yeast can make us judgmental.
Anytime we put someone above God we are committing idolatry. Bad yeast means the bread will not rise. Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35) For today, make a conscious choice to feast on the bread of life. Read Scriptures that fill you with comfort. Sing songs that bring you hope. See if feasting on these things prevent you from being distracted by the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.
Music:
Prayer Focus:
Take a few moments today to eat a piece of bread. Savor each bite. Ask God to be as real to you as that slice of bread.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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18
Feb '20
Running with Mark 52
18
Feb '20
Day Fifty-Two – February 18, 2020
Read:
I asked Siri on my Iphone, “Is God real?” Siri replied, “It’s all a mystery”. I wondered if Alexa, my smart speaker, might indeed be smarter. “Alexa, is God real?”. She said, “People all have their own views on religion.”
It feels like that’s what the Pharisees are doing with Jesus. “Give us a sign Jesus. Show us you are real.” They (and we often) look for a God they can codify, define, dissect and observe under a microscope, a God who will fit neatly in a box.
I like what Blaise Pascal said, “Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a gift from God.” I think he is right. Faith is a gift from God. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” says Hebrews 11:1.
What if, for today, we focused not on proof of God, but in trust of God?
Author Brennan Manning, in his book Ruthless Trust writes:
Ruthless trust is an unerring sense, way deep down, that beneath the surface agitation, boredom, and insecurity of life, it’s gonna be all right. Ill winds may blow, more character defects may surface, sickness may visit, and friends will surely die; but a stubborn, irrefutable certainty persists that God is with us and loves us in our struggle to be faithful. A nonrational, absolutely true intuition perdures that there is something unfathomably big in the universe, something that points to Someone who is filled with peace and power, love and undreamed-of creativity – Someone who inevitably will reconcile all things in himself.”[1]
Maybe all we can do is keep walking down the road, trusting in God.
- “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.” Isaac Newton
Music:
Herod’s Song from Jesus Christ Superstar
Prayer Focus:
Trusting in God
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
[1] Manning, Brennan. Ruthless Trust: the Ragamuffins Path to God. New York: HarperCollins e-books, 2010. p.180
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Running With Mark 51
Day Fifty-One – February 17, 2020
Read:
Mark 8:1-10 New Revised Standard Version
This story is also found in Matthew 15:32-39.
Another day, another miraculous feeding, this time of 4000, with seven baskets of food left over.
The feeding of the 4000 is important because of where it took place. The feeding of the 5000 took place near Bethsaida, on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. This is the Jewish side. The feeding of the 4000 took place near Decapolis on the south side of the Sea of Galilee. This was the Gentile side.
In the feeding of the 5000, there were twelve baskets of food leftover. Twelve represented the twelve tribes of Israel. In the feeding of the 4000, there were seven baskets leftover. In Judaism seven is the number of “completeness” or perfection. In the creation poem found in Genesis, God creates the world in seven days.
I’m hungry .
Have you ever known hunger? Not the, “I haven’t had a snack since breakfast and it’s 11:00 am hunger”. Have you experienced that deep hunger that makes it hard to concentrate? A hunger that can leave you without energy?
At any given time, approximately 9.7% of Minnesota households are experiencing food insecurity. “If all Minnesotans struggling with food insecurity lived in one place, they’d nearly replace the populations of the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul combined!”[1] That statistic is staggering and really puts the problem of hunger into terms we can understand.
Spend a little time learning about food scarcity in Minnesota. Here are a few websites:
http://www.hungersolutions.org/
https://www.2harvest.org/our-impact/hunger-facts/
https://www.thesheridanstory.org
https://www.joyceuptownfoodshelf.org/
How are you being led to help fight hunger and food insecurity in Minnesota?
Music:
I Am the Bread of Life – Notre Dame Folk Choir
Let Us Be Bread – sung by children
Prayer Focus:
- Those who are hungry
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
[1] http://www.hungersolutions.org/data-posts/2017-usda-food-insecurity-data/
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W H A T ‘ S N E W
Lake Harriet News: February
Lake Harriet United Methodist Church is a vibrant, active, inclusive congregation whose mission is to welcome, inspire, and nourish its members and community to be the hands and feet of God in the world.
Lake Harriet News is our monthly print newsletter for sharing the church’s programs, services, and abundant opportunities to participate in community ministries. We invite you to click on the image, read the document, and explore the opportunities to live out our mission in your daily life in and through the church.
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