​I walked out of the garage this morning with three layers on. They were clothing layers. I chose not to put on a coat.  As you might have guessed, the cold penetrated all three layers of clothes and I was immediately cold. I had options.  I could have gone back into my warm house and picked out any number of fall / winter coats. I could have sat down in my vehicle with its heated seats and working heat source (which is what I did). I had options.
 
This weekend I am mindful of those who don’t have options. There are folks who don’t have warmer clothes or a home or a vehicle in which to warm up. They may be hanging out in the mall or at the library for some relief from the cold.  They may or may not have an option for shelter for the evening. Their every day and night is a battle which I have never experienced. These folks and their struggle are on my heart.
 
This weekend the youth will get a taste of homelessness and food insecurity to enable them to develop a sense of empathy. The youth will be sleeping outside in cardboard structures that they design and build. They will have no sense of when or from where their food is coming.  You can support the learning of our youth. You can support our local PROP agency that is in ministry with folks experiencing homelessness and food insecurity in Eden Prairie and Chanhassen. Drop by any time on Saturday after 3:30 p.m. and bring a donation for PROP (food or finances) and visit with the youth. Come Sunday morning prepared for a donation. Pray for our youth. Pray for those who have no other options for shelter. And pray about how you might be involved in a systemic change that eliminates homelessness and food insecurity in Minnesota.
 
Blessings!
Pastor Becky Jo Messenbrink

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
 
The words of the hymn can be sung with familiarity but without a sense of their fullness.  I have a hard time calling myself a “wretch” and if you stand close to me you’ll probably hear me sing “wreck like me.”  That is a truer depiction of who I can be in my life – a wreck in need of saving!
 
But these words were written by a former slave trader who knew very well what it meant to be a “wretch.”  John Newton’s journey of living fully into God’s grace for his life was a slow one.  He left the slave trade because of health problems, not moral dilemmas.  Even after a revelation of God’s grace on his life, Newton continued to support slave trade.  It would be three decades before he would fully live into the grace God offered him, a forgiveness and restoration marked by a changed and maturing faith life.  We have this classic hymn because eventually grace grew roots in Newton’s life, and he became an ordained clergy who wrote hymns to be sung in his worship services.  Newton’s is a life covered by grace, even when he didn’t know he needed it, convicting him and making him right with God when he came to realize his “wretched” self, and helping him grow into maturity in faith.
 
You, too, are covered by grace!  From the moment you are born until the moment you die, God’s grace is pursing you.  God’s grace covers you at your most beautiful moments and in your most “wretched” acts.  God’s grace is available to you, even you, even there, even now, even then.  There’s nowhere for you to go to escape the cover of God’s amazing grace.
 
This is good news!!!
 
Join us for the next three weeks as we look carefully at this core belief of the United Methodist Church – grace!
Blessings!






Pastor Becky Jo Messenbrink