God's Loving Presence in a Hurting World

Musings from the Pastor's Desk

June 8, 2025

A Place to Rest:

Pillows, Pride, and the Practice of Hospitality


Hospitality is among the simplest and most powerful expressions of Christian love. It doesn’t always manifest through grand gestures. Sometimes, it appears as a comfy pillow. Debbie Kerzic created a cozy spot to sit in our lobby. Who doesn’t love to snuggle up with soft pillows?

 

When Debbie placed soft, cozy pillows on our bench, she conveyed, “Stay a while. Make yourself at home.” A pillow may seem small, but it carries a message of intentional welcome, comfort, and care. It tells the guest: “You belong here.”

 

That’s what Christian hospitality is meant to be—an act of love that creates space for others to feel safe and embraced. The apostle Paul puts it plainly: “Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7). Jesus didn’t just tolerate people—he embraced them fully, with compassion and joy.

 

During Pride Month, this calling takes on special significance. Many LGBTQ+ individuals have not found the church to be a place of comfort or belonging. Some have entered churches and encountered judgment instead of joy, exclusion instead of embrace. That is not the way of Christ.

 

We are called to demonstrate radical hospitality. This begins with simple expressions of love. Whether it’s a smile at the door, an affirming word, or even a comfy pillow thoughtfully placed in a welcoming space, we send a message: “There is room for you here.”

 

So this Pride Month – and every month – let’s continue to open our hearts and our church. Let’s be a church of warm pillows and warm hearts, where everyone who walks in finds not only a place to sit but also a place to belong. In our hospitality, may others experience the radical love of Christ—a love that always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. With each cushion we set out and each person we embrace, we live out our larger call: to embody Christ-like love, extend belonging to the outsider, and affirm the God-given dignity of all God’s children.

 

Let’s fluff the pillows, open the doors, and say without hesitation: You are welcome here. You are loved. You are home.

 

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:35

 

Join us for worship this Sunday at 10:30 AM, or watch live on Facebook at Hopeclinton. Come and experience God’s love. You are loved for who you are!


All are welcome!

 

Shalom+

Pastor Eric.

Preparing for Sunday

Day of Pentecost


Acts 2:1-21

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

Romans 8:14-17

John 14:8-17 [25-27]


Household Prayer: Morning

Blessed are you, Lord God: By your tender mercy, the dawn breaks upon us. Guide our feet this day in paths of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Household Prayer: Evening

Blessed are you, Lord God: for you have smiled on us this day and redeemed us from our sin. Give light to all who wait in darkness until we rest with you in perfect peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Bible Study

We will meet for Bible Study this Friday @ 10.30AM!

Words to Ponder

Let us ensure that no one who comes seeking God’s love leaves feeling like there is no room on the couch for them.

Burial

Darrell & Dorothy Bush

When: June 5th @ 3PM

Where: Arlington National Cemetery, 1 Memorial Ave, Fort Myer, VA 22211.


Planning to attend? Please bring proper identification.


www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Visit

Father's Day Potluck


Join us in the Fellowship Hall on June 15th after the service for a potluck to honor all of our fathers and father figures. If you can, please bring a dish to share. 


All are welcome ... with and without a dish!

Crab Feast


When: June 28 @ 1:00

Where: The Kerzic's home and yard

Menu: Crabs, Shrimp, Hot Dogs, Hamburgers and other Picnic Foods, plus Drinks & Desserts


Come early, come late, just come!

 

Everyone is invited to this gathering of family and friends. So that Debbie has an "about" headcount, please let her know that you are coming.

Faith Night at Nats Park!


This is a great way to meet others from across the synod. 


When: Aug 16, 2025, at 4:05PM


Tickets: $17


Deadline: Aug 13, 2025


Tickets: See bulletin (Constant Contact didn't allow us to include the link).

Choir Rehearsal


The Hope Choir will rehearse immediately following Sunday’s Service.


We will rehearse an anthem for the first week in July.


Don't miss it, all are welcome!

Pop-up Food Distribution

Thursdays and Saturdays through June 30th @ Giant.


When: Thurs. 5-7PM/Sat. 9-11AM

Where: 7074 Allentown Road

What Shall We Do?

by Heidi Mann

 

Acts 2:37-42

37 Now when [the people] heard [Peter’s proclamation about Jesus], they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

 

Devotion

The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on Pentecost, prompting them to speak in other languages. This, in turn, prompted some who didn’t understand their words to accuse them of drunkenness. So Peter stood and delivered a long “sermon,” connecting ancient prophecy about God pouring out the Spirit and about the good news of Jesus the Messiah. This is the setting of today’s reading above. Peter’s proclamation about Jesus moves the people so deeply that they respond, “What shall we do?”


If a sermon actually moves one to do something … well, that is a powerful sermon! That said (lest we expect too much of our preachers or ourselves), it’s not the speaker who moves us so much as the Holy Spirit working through them. When something we hear—or read or witness or are confronted with—prompts us to ask what we should do, we’d best pay attention. It’s the Holy Spirit knocking on the door of our heart!


“What shall we do?” the people asked Peter and the other disciples. “Repent and be baptized,” came the reply. Turn your life to follow the Messiah. Receive the gift of baptism and, through it, the Holy Spirit. Let your sins be forgiven. The promise of God is for you—and for all. Listen for, and follow, Jesus’ call.


There was still more to Peter’s answer: “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Ah, now that’s something we can relate to! If ever there was a corrupt generation, we might think, it’s now. But apparently it was so in first-century Jerusalem too. And, really, every generation before and since. There has never been a human generation that was not corrupted by self-centeredness in its many forms. The question is a good one, nonetheless: What shall we do? How do we “save ourselves”—and others—from whatever corruption of God’s justice and goodness is taking place? Specifically, as followers of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, what shall we do when innocent people are unjustly captured and deported from the place that has long been their home? When health and welfare resources are being decimated here and around the world? When the beautiful God-created diversity of human beings is disparaged? When Goliaths are pouncing on little Davids all around the world?


The Holy Spirit will come upon us in different ways and guide each of us uniquely in what we shall do. And to open ourselves to the Spirit’s direction, we follow in the ancient converts’ footsteps: After being baptized and receiving the promises of God, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” When we don’t know what to do in a tough situation, joining with other believers for prayer, learning, nourishment, and fellowship will, in time, reveal our course of action.

 

Prayer

God, we are in the midst of a desperate time in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Help us to not be overwhelmed, but to be concerned enough to know we must do something. Lead us to ask of you, “What shall we do?” Then help us discern and heed your call. Amen.

 

(The above devotion is from Frontline E-devotions, a ministry of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Gaithersburg, MD. If you would like to receive daily Frontline E-Devotions, go to www.GoServe.net/FrontlineDevotions.)

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