Ocala First Connection

What would it look like for us to deeply live as Easter people? " You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,   in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of Christ who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light .  Once you were not a people,    but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy,    but now you have received mercy."                                                                             ~1 Peter 2:9-10

"Easter Us"   a prayer for Easter fullness  You God who terrified the waters,     who crashed your thunder,     who shook the earth, and     scared the wits out of chaos. You God who with strong arm saved your people     by miracle and wonder and majestic act. You are the same God to whom we turn,     we turn in our days of trouble,             and in our weary nights;      we look for steadfast love and are dismayed,      we wait for your promises, but wait in fatigue,      we ponder your forgetfulness and lack of compassion,             and we grow silent.  Our lives, addressed to you,     have this bitter-sweet taste of             loud-clashing miracles and weak-kneed doubt.  So we come in our bewilderment and wonderment,     deeply trusting, almost afraid to trust much,     passionately insisting, too timid to insist much,     fervently hoping, exhausted for hoping too much.  Look upon us in our deep need,     mark the wounds of our brothers and sisters

As we settle into these last days of Holy Week--the days where Jesus went even into the grave--We consider what the death of Christ means.  Christs' presence in the grave means that those who walk in grief are doing so WITH God who has been there. And those who follow Christ into death are given the hope of following into life, too... Here’s a testimony from Lynn Blalock who has experienced this first-hand: Empty is not usually a word I use to describe myself. Sometimes I feel like I'm “running on EMPTY"  because I’ve allowed life and its 'busy-ness' to overtake me. But when I get quiet and spend some quality time in His presence, He fills me with His love and peace and grace and mercy.  Recently, however, I experienced a different kind of empty; a deep, painful emptiness that was forced on me with an awful tearing of the heart and soul. On December 17th, 2015, my husband, my spouse, and my best friend suddenly died.  The suddenness was shattering.

Prayer for Palm Sunday Steadfast Love: you hand us the palm branches, so we can wave them in hope; you steady us in the days when pain is stuck  to the bottom of our lives, when fear is our constant companion. We empty ourselves so you might fill us with joy. Humble Healer: When our mouths turn numb and we cannot speak our dreams, you tenderly caress our cheeks, leaning over to hear our faltering words. When our arms have grown weak from the burdens we carry, you take them from us, and strengthen us with your mercy. We empty ourselves so you might fill us with grace. Voice of Wisdom: when death hovers so close we can feel it's cold breath, you come to us, the warm breath of resurrection pushing aside our fears. When we hesitate to walk into  the unknown stretching before us, you tightly clasp our hands and teach us the first step. We empty ourselves  so you might fill us with peace. God in Communi

Reflection by MaryBeth Mutarelli     This Lenten season, I have been thinking about emptying out some less than desirable of my  personality traits, and working toward replacing them with  more God-centered, positive ones. I want to work on replacing chatter with presence.      I recall the times I have rushed to the side of a grief-stricken ,hospitalized,  or seriously  ill, friend or loved one. My visits, and interactions, were, upon honest reflection, both good and bad. I was motivated to go to them by my concern and empathy (good).  I wanted to comfort them, and remind them they were not alone (good). I believed I could understand some of what they were feeling, drawing on my own experience, or what others in similar situations had shared with me. (Good and bad?) I think this attempt to empathize is a good starting point, but only for opening a conversation, leaving the direction and content of the discussion entirely up to my friend.  No one can completely know what ano

"We are afraid of emptiness... We like to occupy and fill up every empty time and space. We want to be occupied. And if we are not occupied we easily become preoccupied; that is, we fill the empty spaces before we have even reached them. We fill them with our worries, saying, “But what if …” It is very hard to allow emptiness to exist in our lives. Emptiness requires a willingness not to be in control, a willingness to let something new and unexpected happen. It requires trust, surrender, and openness to guidance. God wants to dwell in our emptiness. But as long as we are afraid of God and God’s actions in our lives, it is unlikely that we will offer our emptiness to God. Let’s pray that we can let go of our fear of God and embrace God as the source of all love." ~Henri J. M. Nouwen,   Bread for the Journey "Make me empty, so  I can be filled ‘Cause I’m still holding o nto my will And I’m completed wh en you are with me Make me empty... ‘Til You are my one

God, I come with hesitant steps and uncertain motives to sweep out the corners where sin has accumulated, and uncover the ways I have strayed from Your Truth. Expose the empty and barren places where I don’t allow you to enter. Reveal my half-hearted struggles where I have been indifferent to the suffering of others. Nurture the faint stirrings of new life, where your spirit has begun to grow. Let your healing light transform me into the image of Your Son. For You alone can bring new life and make me whole. You are welcome in my life, Christ. I want more of you in my life, Jesus. 

“Prayer is to be in God’s presence with open hands and an open heart. There are many things in my life to which I cling as with a clinched fist – my possessions for sure but the immaterial things as well­­–the work I do, the position I hold, the friends I have, my ideas, my principles, my image. If I should open my fist, they still remain. Nothing drops out. But my hands are open. And that is what prayer is.  After a while, if I am willing to remain long enough with open hands, the Lord will come. God will have a look and roam through my hands to see what I have. God may be surprised—so many things! Then Christ will look at me and ask: ‘Would you mind if I take out this little bit?’ And I answer: ‘Of course you may take it out. That’s why am here with open hands.’ And perhaps the Lord will look another time at me and ask: ‘Would you mind if I put something else in your hands?’ And I answer: ‘Of course you  may.’ “That is the heart of prayer. The Lord may take some

                   I come from a family of overachievers.   And I fit right in.   To be honest, I never really knew any different.   I was a Clark.   It was what Clarks did.   If there was a task to be done, we surpassed expectations.   If there was a competition to be had, we finished towards the top.   If grades were given, ours were superior.   Did my family expect my very best?   Sure.   Was that wrong?   No.   This was my life.   It was good.                     Without even realizing it, I grew into a woman who found her worth in praises that other people dispensed.  If the world felt I was successful, then I had worth.  The more tangible tokens I collected of my past accomplishments, the more valuable I must be.  Right? I became a stay at home mother over twelve years ago and, with that, I transferred all my worldly productivity into household tasks and the molding of my children.  However, that time has been peppered with personal struggle.  How can the world measure my w

When Pastor Emily shared the theme for Lent with me, I felt like it was chosen just for me.  I am trying to be EMPTY in 2016.  For those who don’t know me, I thrive on being busy and I have a problem saying NO.  I want to please people and help them and be someone my friends can turn to.  But in the end, I realized I was taking away from other things that need my attention. I need to empty out some things in my life. One of my favorite Christian bloggers is Jen Hatmaker. She is a writer, mother of 5 children (two adopted from Africa), wife, church planter, speaker, and more.  I first fell in love with her and her incredible sense of humor when I read her book 7. Over the course of SEVEN months she emptied out her life to make more room.  The first month she only ate seven food items, the next month she only wore seven articles of clothing, the third month she gave away seven possessions EVERY SINGLE DAY! 210+ items!!! In the fourth month she gave up media. How much time do we s