Tag: Jesus

Pastor’s Notes 3/6/2026

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

“Then children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them,  but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.”  –Matt. 19:13-15

Tell me something good…

Have you noticed the century plant blooming in our prayer garden?

The century plant (agave) is extraordinary. For years or decades, it grows slowly and quietly, storing energy. And then, almost suddenly, it sends up a towering stalk that can rise ten to thirty feet into the air. It doesn’t bloom all at once. It unfolds in stages. And when it does, it becomes a feast for bees and birds and every pollinator nearby.

And then, after that magnificent bloom, the main plant dies. But the good new is that this isn’t the end of the story. Before it dies, the century plant sends up “pups” of small offshoots at its base. New life rising from the old.

I can’t help but see something holy in that rhythm.

Protection and care for the vulnerable is not accidental. Our texts for Sunday, Deuteronomy 24:17–22 and  Matthew 19:13–15 remind us of a need for intentionality . It is cultivated over time. It is rooted in memory… “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt,” Deuteronomy says. It grows quietly in the habits of a people who leave the edges of their fields unharvested. It blooms when a community refuses to push children aside. It feeds more than we realize.

And sometimes, the most beautiful acts of care create new life beyond us.

Like the agave sending up pups, protection of the vulnerable ensures that life continues. It says: there will be a next generation. There will be those who are sheltered, fed, welcomed, and blessed. There will be room at the edges.

I look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday for “The good news is… protection and care for the vulnerable.” 

Brett

Pastor’s Notes 2/27/2026

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
–Luke 7:50

Our Lenten theme this year is Tell Me Something Good. This Sunday, “The good news is… Great love for God and neighbor.” We’ll be holding together two powerful texts: Luke 7:36–50 and Matthew 25:35–40.

In Luke’s Gospel, a woman enters a Pharisee’s house because she knew Jesus would be there. She brings an alabaster jar. She weeps. She kneels. She anoints Jesus’ feet with extravagant love. The host, Simon, evaluates. Judges. Calculates. Jesus then tells a story about two debtors and then gently exposes the gap between minimal hospitality and abundant love.

Rev. Dr. Brian Blount, in the A Sanctified Art curriculum, reminds us that this story is more than just forgiveness, it is about love that refuses to stay small. He notes that the woman’s actions are not polite, restrained, or respectable. They are excessive. And in that excess, we glimpse the wideness of God’s mercy.

Her love is called “great” not because it is flashy, but because it flows from the deep knowledge of grace.

And then we turn to Matthew 25, where Jesus says that loving him looks like feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned. “Just as you did it to one of the least of these… you did it to me.” Love of God and love of neighbor are inseparable.

If this woman is to “go in peace,” it will require a community that practices Matthew 25 love: the kind of love that feeds, welcomes, and restores dignity. Peace is sustained when neighbors become participants in grace.

I look forward to worshiping with you Sunday on YouTube and in person as we explore what it means to love God and neighbor with a love that is generous, embodied, and brave.

Brett

Pastor’s Notes 1/23/2026

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

“Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” 1 Cor. 1:10 

What do you prefer:

  • Salty or sweet?
  • Do you drink coffee, tea or water?
  • Have you embraced the digital world are you still clinging to analog?
  • If there was one kind of food you could eat for every meal, what would it be?

Preferences are part of being human. They give us language for what we enjoy, what feels familiar, what has shaped us along the way. On their own, they aren’t harmful. But it doesn’t take much for preferences to harden into camps and for camps to quietly pull us apart.

This Sunday, we will listen to Paul’s words to the church in Corinth from 1 Corinthians 1:10–17, where he calls them back to what truly matters. Paul reminds them (and us) that when allegiance to personalities or positions becomes louder than purpose, the body begins to fracture.

Our theme for the day is “One Mind in Christ.” Partnership, as Paul imagines it, means moving toward the same horizon, even when we bring different perspectives, experiences, and voices with us. It is a shared orientation of heart and purpose, grounded not in who leads, but in why we are here.

So, we will figuratively lace up those old WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets and remind ourselves of who we are and whose we are. Together we continue to thrive and live into the shared call Jesus has for us at Sun City Christian Church. I look forward to worshipping with you in person or on YouTube Sunday.

Brett

Pastor’s Notes 12/19/2025

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
– Luke 2:16

This Sunday we will light the final candle of Advent, love. We will turn to Luke 2:15–20 and the timeless symbol of Christmas: the Nativity. In these final days before Christmas, our hearts center on the scene of Jesus’ birth. It is a scene that has shaped our imaginations, our worship, and our homes for generations.

Luke tells us that the shepherds, having heard the angels’ message, “went with haste” to find Mary, Joseph, and the newborn Christ lying in the manger. 

They encountered God in the most unexpected place, and left glorifying and praising God with full hearts and changed lives. Their story reminds us that God’s love does not wait for perfection but meets us in ordinary places. It is a love that dwells in humble spaces, and invites us to draw near.

On Sunday we will reflect on the Nativity as a symbol of God’s love made visible. Few images speak more deeply to our understanding of Christmas than figures gathered around the manger, the world hushed in wonder, heaven touching earth through a child born for us. We place nativity sets in our homes, we light up lawns with the holy family, and we reenact this story year after year in pageants because it tells us who God is: love embodied, hope revealed, peace born small and vulnerable, and joy shared with the world.

Come to worship on YouTube or in person, ready to stand with the shepherds, to gaze once more into the manger, and to share in the love God has placed at the center of our world. Advent grows short, Christmas draws near, and may Christ’s love find us all.       

Brett

One of the most visible expressions of our faith: serving

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

“Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;”
–Matthew 25:34b

Church family, let me begin with gratitude!

Thank you so much for the clergy appreciation gifts. Your kind words in the card touched me. The love gift is amazing and totally unexpected, and the T-shirt captured my thoughts perfectly! I am the pastor of an awesome congregation, and I can’t wait to see how we put our faith into action next.

This Sunday, we continue our worship series, “Living Our Verbs,” by focusing on one of the most visible expressions of our faith, serving.

It’s fitting that this focus falls on All Saints Sunday, a day when we remember those who have served Christ faithfully before us. There are saints we remember and some we have never known who shaped our congregation and strengthened this church through quiet acts of love and care.

Our scripture comes from Matthew 25:31–40, the separation of the sheep and the goats and more importantly, the compassion that will lead us through the gates one day.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

In this parable, Christ identifies himself with those in need. To serve others is to serve Christ himself. It is a reminder that sainthood isn’t reserved for the few; it’s lived out daily by those who see Christ in the face of another.

On Sunday, we’ll give thanks for the saints who have gone before us, those whose service continues to echo through this community. We’ll also reflect on how we, in our time, can live as saints-in-progress: serving God and others, not for recognition, but out of love.

Brett

Moving from commandment to calling to embodiment

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

Jesus said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
–Matthew 22:37-40

Many thanks for your participation last Sunday in working with our Thriving Team to identify the verbs that represent who we are as the living body of Christ. The catered meal was great, and the conversations were thoughtful. All the ideas collected will be used by the Thriving team in the finalizing of our current identity statement, mission, and congregational vision.

I was moved by the blessings you wrote during our final activity. Your words were beautiful and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Not only will they influence the work of the Thriving Team, but we will share them together as spoken benedictions to end our upcoming worship services.

For the next several Sundays we will continue our work of “Living Our Verbs” by highlighting the words that appear most representative of who God is calling us to be right now. This Sunday will center ourselves around loving. Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 22:37-40, and John 13:34-35 will remind us how we are to love.

In Deuteronomy, we are commanded to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.” Jesus later lifts up that same commandment, adding that we are also to love our neighbor as ourselves, declaring that all of God’s law and purpose hang on this. And then, on the night of his betrayal, Jesus takes love one step further: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Through these three texts, we move from commandment to calling to embodiment. Love begins in God, is expressed through us, and becomes visible in our relationships and actions.

As we gather this Sunday, we’ll reflect on how love isn’t just a feeling or a virtue, it is an action that defines who we are and how we live. I look forward to worshipping with you in the sanctuary or on YouTube!  

Brett

Our shared meal becomes a mission of love

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’  – Luke 14:12-14

Last Sunday, we gathered around the Lord’s Table in the spirit of World Communion Sunday. We are reminded that Christians everywhere, in all times and places, share one bread and one cup. But if we take that moment seriously, it calls us to something even deeper: to live communion, not just receive it.

This week’s scripture from Luke 14:12–24 is one of Jesus’ parables about a great banquet. This feast table imagery mirrors the communion table we gather around each week. In the story, those who were first invited make excuses as to why they cannot attend, so the host sends servants out into the streets to bring in the poor, the blind, the lame, and the forgotten. The table becomes a place of radical welcome, widened again and again until every seat is filled.

It is a reminder that the blessing found at the Communion Table doesn’t end when the worship service does. Every act of kindness, every moment of forgiveness, every time we make space for another, that is communion, too. The Holy Spirit empowers us to keep communion a verb, an act we repeat throughout our week by doing as Jesus would.

This Sunday, we’ll continue reflecting on what it means to live as the body of Christ in daily life. We will explore how our shared meal becomes a mission of love that continues long after the bread and cup are passed.

Come ready to gather, to grow, and to go forth in service together! I look forward to worshipping with you on YouTube or in our sanctuary!  

Brett

Pastor’s Notes 10/3/2025

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?  Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. –1 Corinthians 10:16-17

This coming Sunday, October 5, we will join with Christians all around the world in celebrating World Communion Sunday. It is one of those holy days that reminds us we are a part of something greater. It is a day when our table feels a little bigger, our prayers reach a little farther, and our fellowship stretches across languages, cultures, and traditions. It is the one Sunday a year when Christians, no matter our denominational or local church practice, take Holy Communion.

Our scriptures for Sunday, 1 Corinthians 10:16–17 and Matthew 13:1–9,  help set the tone for our belonging and connection together. Fittingly, our choir ensemble will offer the hymn Seed, Scattered and Sown as special music. This hymn, written by Dan Feiten in 1987, was inspired by these very passages of scripture. It poetically ties together Jesus’ parable of the sower with Paul’s teaching about the unity of the church through bread and cup. The hymn invites us to see ourselves as seeds scattered throughout the world, yet brought together as “one bread, one body.” Its imagery reminds us that while we come from many places and experiences, at Christ’s table we are gathered and made whole.

On World Communion Sunday, we will break bread and share the cup with the awareness that we are part of something larger than ourselves. From small congregations in rural villages to large cathedrals in bustling cities, believers everywhere will echo the same words of blessing, share the same bread of life, and drink from the same cup of blessing.

Let us prepare our hearts this week to come to the table with gratitude, humility, and joy—remembering that in Christ, we are never just scattered, but always gathered and bound together in love. I look forward to meeting you at table in the sanctuary or on YouTube.

Brett

Pastor’s Notes 5/30/2025

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.   John 15:4-5

In a world that often tells us to work harder, do more, and produce at all costs, Jesus offers a surprising alternative: abide. Not hustle. Not perform. Not manage. Simply abide.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower… Abide in me as I abide in you.”

Our text for Sunday is one of the most beautiful and organic images in all of Scripture, the vine and the branches, reminding us that we thrive not by striving, but by staying deeply connected to Christ. Fruitfulness isn’t something we force. It grows when we remain rooted in God’s presence, love, and truth.

We’ll also reflect on what it means to be pruned by God, cutting away what no longer serves, not to punish, but to make room for greater growth. Just as a gardener lovingly prunes a grapevine so it can flourish, God tends to our lives with care and purpose.

As we continue our “Thriving” series, this week invites us to slow down and ask:

  • Where is God inviting me to abide more deeply?
  • What might God be pruning in our church or community?
  • How can abiding lead us toward real fruit—like compassion, justice, joy, and peace?

Our tree connection this week, the vine and branches, reminds us that growth isn’t always visible at first. But when we stay rooted in the Spirit, new life will come.

Come join us this Sunday in person or on YouTube as we learn to thrive by abiding. Please also continue to consider the role you desire to play in Sun City Christian Church and check out the ministry fair tables and sign-ups in Cobbs Hall!

Brett

Pastor’s Notes 3/14/2025

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

Jesus began to weep. -John 11:35

As we journey together in faith, we are reminded that our calling is not only to live well but to finish faithfully, to trust in God’s presence through every season of life, including its closing chapters. This Sunday, Rev. Al Beasley will lead our reflection through John 11 and the story of Lazarus. It is a passage that speaks to grief, hope, and the power of resurrection.

When Jesus arrives at the tomb of his dear friend, he does not rush past the sorrow. Instead, he weeps. In that moment, Jesus shows us that grief is not a failure of faith but an expression of love. He stands in the pain of death, fully present with those who mourn. Yet, he also speaks life into what seems beyond hope: “Lazarus, come out!”

What does this story teach us about finishing faithfully?

  • Jesus honors the reality of death. He does not dismiss its pain or pretend it isn’t hard.
  • Jesus is present with us in grief, reminding us that God walks with us in every loss.
  • Jesus calls us into new life, pointing to hope beyond death, both now and for eternity.

As we consider our own journey of faith, may we be people who face life and death with trust, who weep with those who weep, and who hold onto hope, even when the tomb seems closed.

Join us this Sunday in person or on YouTube! Many blessings.

Brett