Taking care of ourself is good advice! Cold Spring Presbyterian Church provides resources for you to experience the abundant life through Christ, and all of us invest a great deal of our time, energy, and attention in accomplishing our whole-life wellness, which we can call our standard of living. We pay attention to all aspects of our life, our mind, body, and spirit, too, because our time, energy, and talents are exchangeable for the resources we need to maintain or 
improve our standard of living. The Bible speaks a lot about our standard of living, the standards we adhere to that show our love for God and others, and how we measure the standard of living we achieve.
This week, we will consider an often overlooked and misunderstood parable of Jesus about a business manager and how he traded his time, energy, and attention to achieve his standard of living, but forgetting its relationship to his standard of giving. (Fun Fact: Did you know that 38 parables deal directly with money? Yes! And in the Bible, more than 2,000 verses are about money and possessions!)
Pastor Kevin’s message, Standard of Giving, Standard of Living about a dishonest manager will help us all learn how to make the best, even shrewd, decisions, and teach our families to do the same, as we spend, save, and give, each according to our own unique life experience.
Hear the word. Internalize the word. Share the word! Catch up on recent messages at www.coldspringchurch.com/sermons.
We sometimes overlook, or misunderstand, the revolutionary character of Jesus’ message. This week’s text from Luke 14:1, 7-14, is worth taking a closer look. Jesus’ advice was to, “not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors to your luncheons, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid.” Instead Jesus declares that his followers (that’s us!) should invite those who have no hope of ever repaying their host— those he so-called “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.” In other words, those so-called outcasts who can never promote their hosts’ status, and whose presence at table will most likely pull down their host’s standing in the community social structure. Wow. Hospitality occurs when the stranger and neighbor and the excluded are intentionally invited and included! All are welcome means, well, ALL are welcomed (and intentionally invited, sought out, and brought!).
Similarly, Jesus sent an advance team of 72, ordinary people in need of the kindness of strangers, yet given the authority to heal and cast out spirits, a power made known to those who welcome them and provide for their needs. The Jesus way requires trust on the part of those going and those to whom the disciples are sent to produce a plentiful harvest to be gathered, shared and used to feed the world, physically and spiritually.
Maybe you’re like me, feeling a bit overwhelmed when my grandkids wanted me to go on the Buccaneer Pirate Ride. Whoa! Did I want to go first? No way. But, I knew it was important to them, and also to me. Wow! Going first can be scary sometimes, but God sends us ahead with the promise of a harvest of goodness, if we don’t give up! What a ride!!
Do you know what an Advance Team is? When an important plan is underway, like when the President of the United States has to visit, a team of people, an advance team, is sent first to prepare, check it out, bring back information, and be sure its secure for the president’s visit. Let’s experience being on an advance team together. Would you enjoy that? OK! Are you ready? Pay careful attention to the directions, and up in the balcony, you will find a yellow bag. (More details are given you will hear in the message.) Before I send you, let’s pray and ask God to help you. (Prayer.) (Returning with the yellow bag!) Great job. Enjoy the treats in the bag. Choose your favorite! And remember, God has an advance team. You know who that is, right? Yes! You! Now go, listen to Jesus’ word, and enjoy your discovery every day!
The Rubicon river in Italy is not large, but it holds a huge place in history. You have heard the phrase, “Crossing the Rubicon,” which means to pass a point of no return. It refers to Julius Caesar’s armies crossing of the river in 49 BC which was a dangerous, revolutionary act! There was no going back for Caesar once he was on the other side.
When we cross the Rubicon, a revolution is begun and our perspective changes. We see things from a changed vantage point. We stand in a new place, and step off in a new direction. Jesus was constantly inviting his followers to embrace paradigm shifts. Sure, its uncomfortable. Scary at times. Uncertainty, fear, and dread (and it can sometimes feel this way!) are never fun! But we demonstrate our trust and love of God when we decide to follow Jesus with opened eyes, in a spiritually open and intellectually honest way, and embrace God’s emerging future. The future is now. Today. Tomorrow. And beyond. If following Jesus doesn’t feel like an adventure to you, maybe your feet are still in the river?
Everyone loves a great story. But did you know you ARE a story? Each of us represent a story being written every day as we experience life and enjoy our relationship with God through Christ. In Luke 8, find out what happened on the beach one day when new connections were made. When we connect with Jesus, we experience God’s love in a very personal and transforming way. Jesus heals us, transforms us. We are restored to the world. Our story unfolds in God’s emerging future of hope! That’s great news for Cape May! It’s awesome news for the entire << Test Last Name >> family, too!
The human instinct to survive is our most powerful drive. From our earliest age, we learned to respond instantly to danger. Everyone understands, “Everybody Out!” We practice fire drills at school, regularly change batteries in our smoke detectors, monitor neighbors who need mobility assistance, and do all we can to keep our homes safe and smart. Our Deacons in cooperation with the Session are also learning how to make our campus safer and welcoming. Some of our leaders have attended local security seminars led by the Department of Homeland Security. We will hear more about these initiatives in the months to come.
Our Easter celebration continues this week as we consider Jesus as the 
Jesus used foot washing to show several lessons: Hospitality and serving is a mission of Jesus’ followers. The faith community, the host: 1. must take care of their guests. 2. Always serve. Serve others in worship, teaching, dinners, teams, groups, and every interaction with the community. 3. When we serve, our feet will get dirty.
When is the last time you described something as