The New Church of Boulder Valley

Many of us have been forced to slow down from the normal pace of our busy lives. Can we use this time to really slow down our racing minds and observe and reflect and go within and find peace and contentment?

One of the Ten Commandments that was given from Mount Sinai was the command to observe the Sabbath, to observe a time of rest and reflection. It is interesting that it had to be made a commandment. Maybe because without it we will just keep racing and speeding along without intentionally stopping to breath and to listen for that “still small voice”.

Please join us online this Sunday on Facebook live for worship at 10:30 a.m. We will look into how we might truly use this time to gain new perspectives and habits that can help us build stillness into our lives and a knowing of God’s presence with us. “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

One of the realities of life in this world is that there will be struggles. Right now the whole world is engaged in a struggle to overcome a dangerous virus. We all have to do our part to try to remain hopeful and to support each other in a variety of ways as we struggle together.

We hope you can join us online on our Facebook page as we look at this story and its relevance to our current struggles and to our eternal journey.

See you online at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. Stay well and stay connected.

We are continuing to follow the story of the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised land of Canaan – a land flowing with milk and honey, as the story describes it. The children of Israel again found reason to cry out in despair.  They were hungry and missed their Egyptian diets.  In response the Lord miraculously gave them manna every morning and quail every evening.  All they had to do was to gather it, prepare it and eat it.

The grief of the Children of Israel pictures the anxiety we feel when we have begun to change but we aren’t yet feeling like there is any tangible, detectible benefit yet. We miss our old habits and the enjoyment we got from them, and in this new “spiritual growth plan” we haven’t started to feel and sense the benefits. We might be asking the question, “What is the point of all this hard work when all I am experiencing is want and loss?”

The good news that the story brings to light is that God does provide us with true and deeper delight if we will keep to the path of spiritual progress. Miraculously each day manna appears. Sometimes we feel it is hard to find or sense delight in our lives–but, it is there, we just have to look.  

In light of this story the task this week is to acknowledge and show gratitude for the blessings that God brings into your life every day.  Keep your eyes, mind, and heart open. Look for the manna. When you feel empty and spiritually hungry for happiness in your life, pray “give us this day our daily bread. Lord, help me to recognize the bread (goodness and blessings) in my life.”

At this difficult time with the Covid-19 virus spreading we will be having our church service, but we encourage you to stay home and watch online if you are at all sick or part of one of the more vulnerable populations. We will be doing best practices for health and cleanliness and encourage you to make choices about attending or not based on what is best for your own health and the health of others.

May the Lord bless you and yours and may we all look for the blessings amid the difficulties.

We are following the story of the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised land of Canaan – a land flowing with milk and honey, as the story describes it. On the way they face different trials or temptations. After they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground and they sang and celebrated and then marched ahead unable to find any water for three days. When they do finally find water it is too bitter to drink. Moses is instructed to throw a tree or some wood into the water and it is made sweet and drinkable.

The symbolism within the story opens up the meaning for us. The water (truth) can seem bitter and harsh when we don’t see what the good is that it is leading toward. Once we can see the good or love behind (after wood is added) it we can find the truth to be sweet and enjoyable. One example is having to study for a test can be a big pain and we can find it bitter or unenjoyable unless we can see that if we can pass this test then we can be done the course and then we can graduate and get a job and have lots of freedom and money, etc. 🙂

You are invited to explore this story and its personal meaning for our daily lives on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

Have you ever felt like you were stuck? Like no matter which direction you chose it would be bad? When the children of Israel left Egypt the Lord led them away through the wilderness to the Red Sea.  They were led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  The Egyptians pursued them and trapped them against the Red Sea. They had the sea on one side and the Egyptian army on the other. What were they supposed to do?

This dramatic story illustrates how the Lord leads us through temptations – times when we feel like there is no answer and no way out.  What the story shows us is that Lord is always there, sometimes in obvious thoughts (pictured by the pillar of cloud by day) and other times in our more subtle feelings (pictured by the pillar of fire by night).  A way forward will show up when we stand still (pray, reflect) and move forward (follow the Lord’s truth as we have come to understand it). A good solution will present itself if we can trust the Lord enough to ask, reflect and listen for some guidance, and take the next step. Do the next one thing we can. A way forward is waiting to appear.

You are invited to worship together on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

When we get stuck, how do we get out or move forward? The Exodus story from the Bible reflects in its deeper meaning our journey from being stuck in hurtful patterns of behavior to a life of freedom and enjoyment.

Our story continues this week after Moses and Aaron confronted Pharaoh with the message to free the Israelites from slavery.  He stubbornly refused until he and Egypt were overwhelmed by all the plagues and especially the pain of the final plague – the death of the firstborn. God gave the children of Israel instructions on how to prevent the plague from striking their households. They were to eat a meal called the Passover. It was a meal of roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. They were also to paint the doorposts and lintel of their doors with the lamb’s blood, and to be ready to go.

The Passover feast was instituted as a way to remember how God freed the children of Israel from slavery by a mighty hand. For us it is a reminder that it is God who fights for us, protects us, and leads us through our difficulties to spiritual freedom.

We will dig into the deeper meaning of this story as it operates as a mirror to our inner spiritual journey.

Please feel welcome to join us at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Stories from the Bible are given to us because we can use them as mirrors to our inner, spiritual journey. The Exodus story, in short, is about our journey from being stuck in hurtful patterns of behavior to a life of freedom and enjoyment.

Our story continues this week with Moses and Aaron confronting Pharaoh, king of Egypt, with a message that he needs to let the children of Israel go free from bondage. Pharaoh stubbornly refuses over and over as plague after destructive plague ravishes the land.

In the deeper, spiritual meaning of this story the plagues picture what happens when we ignore the truth and our higher nature and instead listen to our sensory experiences – following them as our guide and teacher. These plagues picture our progression toward increasingly more tragic states of disorder, pain and unmanageability when we don’t make an effort to to change the things we know we need to.

This week we will consider the signs we are given that may be a call for us to live differently.

See you Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

The Exodus story is about our personal journey from being stuck, or bound by hurtful thoughts, attitudes or behaviors, and how we are freed from them and led to a happier and more peaceful way of life. This way of life is pictured by the Promised Land. Of course the journey there is long and the winds through a wilderness. But it is a successful journey.

We begin this journey by recognizing that we are stuck and that we need help moving forward.

Join is this Sunday as we begin to examine how this story is our story and that it holds clues to our way to freedom, peace and joy.

Worship begins at 10:30 a.m.