Scandalous Love – of the worst March 30, 2009

Last night was one of my most favorite nights at The Water’s Edge so far!

Jesus was notorious for reaching out to the sinners of his day – the worst of the worst – he loved them regardless and he wasn’t afraid for anyone to see it.  That’s the way we’re supposed to love, too!

So we opened with a couple songs: Marvelous Light (Charlie Hall) & Oh Praise Him (David Crowder).
We heard Jesus’ thoughts on the topic from Matthew 9:9-13
We watched a video by Chris Seay called Getting Offered Drugs all about our calling to be in and among – to be approachable – to be loving and non-judgmental.

Then Eric got up to  share.  His talk was so good, I thought I’d just put his whole outline in the post.  

Have you been offered drugs?  Are you in the places and situations where there are real, broken and hungry people to interact with, to love?  Jesus was like that, always looking out for those people on the edges, the ones that were often quickly passed by.

Here’s a story from Luke’s Gospel of one of the times Jesus scandalously loved the worst of the worst…Luke 19:1-10. 

Some background… Jesus was passing through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem.  What do you think his mindset might have been?  Anywhere Jesus went, he had become famous (or notorious) enough that people showed up!
Why did they show up?  For the good or the bad reasons.  The religious leaders of the day were always questioning Jesus in front of the crowds to discredit him.  They asked questions about the Torah.  It was quite a show – some people might have wanted to watch the show, not caring so much for the message Jesus was sharing.  Others showed up becuase of the Message – for the answers, for the food, for the healing.

Why was Zacchaeus there?  To say he had a front row seat to the latest drama?  Or maybe because he had heard of the way Jesus reached out to  people like himself – maybe this was his one shot at a friend?  We don’t know.

Everyone grumbles about Jesus being a guest at Zacchaeus’s house and it wasn’t the first time Jesus had been grumbled at.  Shortly before a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to his house. A woman washed his feet and dried them with her hair.  The grumbled, ”If this man was a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him–that she is a sinner.” (Lk. 7:39)
Jesus DID KNOW! And he knew who Zacchheus was, too.

And even before that, in Luke 5:30-32:
The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Who was Zacchheus?  Was he one of the sick or one of the righteous?
- A Tax Collector
- A Jew Profiting from Rome’s occupation of Jewish Lands
- Took what he could get – no tax brackets in those days
- Chief among Tax Collectors

But Jesus saw a man who:
- Was an outcast, Probably had no friends
- Could trust no one
- A man who needed to be brought in and embraced
- He may have been there to see a fight or he may have been there to meet his potential savior.

So what is Jesus’ response to this person?  It’s the way God acts towards all his children: he overlooks people’s sins so we can ask forgiveness – versus our way: we expect people to ask for forgiveness and then we might overlook the wrong.  Jesus hopes his generous spirit will give sinners the space necessary to let go of their sin.

Zacheaus is delighted to welcome Jesus to his house. The crowd on the other hand, are shocked and outraged.
But Jesus is more interested in the outcast than the outraged.  The crowd – and us – try to exercise control over others by keeping them prisoners of their past mistakes; Jesus sees beyond to what the person can become. By entering Zacheaus’ house he gave back to Zaccheus a dignity that had been lost; he restored his self image; he gave him space from the pressure of always being the despised one.

The basic principal behind the approach of Jesus is this. It is hard to be good unless you first feel good. If you totally despise and hate yourself it is hard to begin new. If, on the other hand the good in you pointed out, you can feel joy and have enough hope to make a better start. This is what Jesus did with Zachaeus. Unfortunately, we often bring the condemnatory attitude of the Scribes and Pharisees rather than the affirming attitude of Jesus to the people who hurt us.
In the last part of the scripture Jesus says:

“Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.”
The Jews didn’t want Zaccheus to be a Son of Abraham. They didn’t want Jesus to dine with sinners and, especially tax collectors. They didn’t want our Lord’s compassion to reach beyond their religious comfort zone and out to their “enemies.” They wanted their prophets to stay inside the walls of their prejudices. Even the disciples did not want the love of Jesus to include Greeks, Romans, Samaritans; prostitutes, adulterers and tax-collectors.

But Christ’s love was like an unstoppable tide. A current that is too strong for man to stop. Jesus washes over the world rising above our prejudice and self-righteousness.

Who exactly do we NOT want Jesus to love? No matter how deep that lack of love goes, the awesome thing is - He’s already there… Jesus is there for all, arms opened wide.  And if we can’t follow him there than we can’t call ourselves his followers.  Where does he want you to follow?  When the crowd refuses to embrace Zaccheus, they refused to embrace Jesus.  Who do you not want embrace?  Who makes you uncomfortable?  Who do you avoid?

“To seek and to save” is the work of Jesus and therefore must also be the work of the church.  We cannot save by ourselves but we must help make that connection.  We must seek those people out.  Are we looking down into the dark alleys and looking up into the sycamore trees to find the lost children of Abraham?  If we call ourselves followers of Christ – it is not an option.  Our purpose must be to do everything we can to help Jesus “seek and to save.”  We can be assured that Satan is out to “search and destroy,” and we know he is not afraid of dark and scary places.

As Tina walks us through this time of meditation, think about the Zaccheus in your life.  Think about the people, the places, and the things that make you uncomfortable.  Think about the things in your own life and your own heart that you don’t want to confront.  Jesus is there – he was there before you were even born and he is there now waiting for you to follow.

In response to these thoughts, we passed out little cups of dark water.  We used the little communion cups our church sometimes uses.  Each person had a little cup in their hand.  In the center of the room there was a table with a rich scarlet cloth on it.  In the center of the table was a glass bowl full of clear water.  We rigged a light under the bowl so it was beautifully radiant – the focal point of the room that night.  The dark water was to symbolizes the “worst” – and we started there.

I asked everyone to think about those people that they know who are desperately mired in sin… They need God’s love so badly.  We looked at the darkness in that water and spent a minute or so just thinking of them, picturing them, praying for them.

Next I said I was sure you, like me, were thinking, ”wait, I’m not perfect – there’s some dark water in my life, too.”  Yep, none of us are without sin, and a sin is a sin is a sin.  So we spent some time identifying the dark water in our own lives.  In our own choices.  In our own behaviors and thoughts.  Whether the things we’ve done or the things we’ve left undone – we lifted up to God our worst and asked him to take it from us.

Then finally, we turned to the darkness that Jesus endured, the worst he experienced while here on earth.  The closer we get to Easter the more those scenes loom over me.  Jesus endured a lot of darkness in those days before the resurrection – He even asked his father to spare him of it if possible.  But he endured, because that was what was required to cover our sin.  All that darkness was for his love of us.  As we looked at that dark water – we listed out the dark moments we imagined he went through and thanked him for his willingness to sacrifice for us.

When people were ready to accept his gift, the gift of Jesus’ scandalous love for the worst, then we invited them to come forward and bring their dark water.  I referenced the bowl in the center of the room - a brilliant, clear, vibrant bowl of purity and forgiveness.  Floating on the top – the cross of our Christ & the heart of our Savior. (carved in white foam – a cross with a heart shaped hole at it’s center).  Pour your dark water right into that heart – as you do so, saying thank you for the transformation made possible through Jesus.  From darkness to light – as they poured their dark water into the bowl it turned clear.  80 or so people came forward letting go of their darkness – the bowl just stayed that crystal clear state.  They put their empty cups all around the bowl.  An awesome image of what the church is all about – regular imperfect people, poured out, and drawn to the light.  Here’s what it looked like:

Wondering how we did that?  I can give you the recipe for the “dark water to clear” trick = just ask!

As people came forward we heard “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” over footage from The Passion of the Christ movie (just the flashback scenes of Jesus with his disciples washing feet and sharing in the last supper.)  We then sang “Unashamed” by Starfield - the lyrics tied into the night SO beautifully!!  Especially the last verse that we’ve added to the song:  In times of trouble and despair, God comes in grace to heal.  He’ll use us to make new again, so let our love be real.

And after one last challenge from Eric to consider where God is calling us to reach and who, we sang “God of this City” by Tomlinwith video from Ringgold as it’s background.  It was an awesome night!!!!  Great crowd and people really dug it!  God was in our midst and it was powerful!

Here are our prayer requests this week:
(Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know!  You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: We have an “unspoken” prayer for a man struggling with depression – pray he can find healing and hope. (“unspoken” just means they want to remain nameless. God knows his name, that’s all that matters!)

:: Jackie Anderson is going through another rough patch – pray for strength and patience, and now a new job.

:: Sonya Cooper’s Aunt – Mary – is home and feeling pretty good. Pray that she will continue to feel good as long as possible as her battle with cancer continues.  She leaves for more treatment in Mexico on Easter Day.

:: Louise & Keith Kenney’s daughter in law – Michelle Kenney - has FINISHED her treatment for breast cancer and so far all is good!!!  Keep praying for her and her family (husband and two kids)!

:: Pray for Lynn Kelly – she’s doing good, but still struggling with several recovery issues. Her sister-in-law also just had emergency surgery for cancer – her name is Susan.

Scandalous Love – Of the Only March 23, 2009

Last night was full of humility and humanity as everything that could go wrong seemed to!  But everyone was very gracious and loved me through my personal leadership crisis.  I guess that’s one of the awesome parts of the Water’s Edge – it’s real.  It’s messy.  And God is in the middle of it. 

Our topic – the way Jesus held his focus on God, the one and only, in the face of a culture filled with idolotry.  We heard his teaching on the matter: Matthew 6:19-24 and we watched a short video called “False Idols” that helped us get our heads around what this looks like today.  The reality for most of us is that we struggle constantly to keep God at the center of our lives.  Anything we lift up as more important that him is an idol.  That can be anything from money, to power, to our job or family, to the drug we crave or our own pride.  The world we live in is full of voices that offer us other options besides God – and way too often we listen to them instead, and the focus of our worship turns away from the loving, open arms of our Father.

So we started the night with a couple songs: Foreverandever, Etc (David Crowder) and Made to Worship (Tomlin).
We heard that teaching from Matthew and the False Idols video bit.  Then it was time for discussion.  Usually once every series we have a discussion night.  The format for this one was a little different, we’re always trying new things.  So here is the material we worked through – maybe you could think through these questions, too:

First, we asked people to just talk (& listen) to God and work through these questions:
- Think about who is first in your thoughts, in your love?
Some ways you can tell:
Where is your time and money spent?
What do you worry about or dwell on?
When are you most full of joy?

- What is most important in your life?

Then we asked everyone to get a partner and talk through this:
- Share with your partner the most connected you’ve ever felt to God.
What was the situation – how did you feel – what was the outcome?

- Why is it that we don’t have experiences like this all the time?

Then two sets of partners got together and talked about:
- When Jesus was being tested by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days (just after his baptism) he was put through several tests. This is the end of that story found in Matthew 4: 8-11
For the third test, the Devil took him to the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth’s kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, “They’re yours-lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they’re yours.”
Jesus’ refusal was curt: “Beat it, Satan!” He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.”
The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus’ needs.

- What is laid out before you that would tempt you to turn to it instead of to God?
Who’s voice presents these options to you?

- Why is God worth worshiping?
& Why is ANYTHING else always going to fall short?

We split back to just one partner discussion for these questions:
- What could you do to remove any false idols from your heart and mind?

- What would the result of cleaning out such false idols have in your life?

And then finally, it was back to just them and God:
- Who is it that you listen to when it comes to finding truth and purpose, love and peace?

From there we watched a video with the song “Voice of a Savior” by Mandisa  (this isn’t the video we used, but you can hear the song here.)  It’s a beautiful song about the idols we often choose to listen to instead of the voice of the Savior who loves us.

Our prayer following the song:
God we’re all in different places along the road – but tonight we’re all looking toward you.
Give us the strength to keep our eyes there
Let us put away those things that distract us from honoring you
The things that distract our hearts, our minds, and our bodies
So that as we look to you – we can connect to you with all our feeling,
with all our understanding and with all our strength.
Help us to see you as the most important thing – the one and only
the other things, and people and habits are temporary, God -
and no matter how good they are, they fall short of your glory
So may our eyes stay focused on you
and may we respond in worship with our whole selves.
knowing that if we do, everything else will come – all the details will work out
all the hopes and dreams will be yours -
and that will always be better than anything we can come up with on our own.
We’re listening for your voice, God – the voice of a savior
the words to that song were right on:
we’ve all got a void
and we’re just trying to fill it up with something that’ll give just a little peace
All we want is a hand to reach to
Open arms that say I love you
God, we’d give anything to hear the voice of a Savior
Speak to us God. Speak.

We wrapped up the night lifting our voices together, singing “In Christ Alone” (Geoff Moore & Avalon I think) and “The Heart of Worship”   It was messy.  It was real.  God was there.

 Here are our prayer requests this week:
(Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know! You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: We have an “unspoken” prayer for a man struggling with depression – pray he can find healing and hope. (“unspoken” just means they want to remain nameless. God knows his name, that’s all that matters!)

:: Jackie Anderson is going through another rough patch – pray for strength and patience, and now a new job.

:: Allison Frank’s dad (Doug) is home from the hospital!!  (emergency quadruple bi-pass surgery Wed before last.)  He’s got lots of recovery ahead but is so thankful for the miracle of his health so far!

:: Sonya Cooper’s Aunt – Mary – is home and feeling pretty good. Pray that she will continue to feel good as long as possible as her battle with cancer continues.

:: Louise & Keith Kenney’s daughter in law – Michelle Kenney – in treatment for breast cancer. So far, so good, but she still has LOTS of treatment ahead – keep praying for her and her family (husband and two kids)!

:: Pray for Lynn Kelly – she’s doing good, but still struggling with several recovery issues. Her sister-in-law also just had emergency surgery for cancer – her name is Susan

Scandalous Love – of the enemy March 16, 2009

Last night we considerd how Jesus loved the enemy – when confronted with the negative forces of the world, Jesus kept right on loving – and we’re supposed to do the same.  Even on the cross his words of grace floated down, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.”

We opened with “Salvation is Here” by Hillsong and “You are so good to me” by Third Day
We heard Jesus’ teaching from Matthew 5:43-48
Then we gave everyone the chance to name their enemies.

Everyone took a piece of colored paper and a sharpie.
They thought about who it is that is their “enemy” – who or what you tend to fight.
The negative forces at work in their life.  This might be a person or a relationship, but it could be a concept: poverty, racism, war, global warming.  It could be a more internal struggle: depression, addiction, apathy.  It could be the lies you wrestle with.  It could be the fight against Satan himself as he tries to undermine what God is doing in your heart.

They took the length of the song “Love is Not a Fight” by Warren Barfield to write these “enemies” down on their paper.

Then we invited them to visualize what it is God does with these ugly, angry, painful parts of our lives – how Jesus’ scandalous way of loving tears down these evils – IF WE LET HIM.  They ripped their paper up into small pieces.  And they brought them forward to a couple tables we had set up in the middle of the room.  In doing so, they created a palate of color for an artist to work with.

John got up and began to share a message with us.  Melony (the local Middle School art teacher) got up and started working with our broken pieces.  We set up a live video feed so that as they were listening to John’s words, they were watching Melony’s hands (representing God’s hands) work to piece back together our hurts into a beautiful image of the love of Christ. 

As she finished we sang “The Wonderful Cross” by Chris Tomlin & Matt Redman.  And we saw the final product.  We were reminded that this can happen when we let Jesus’ prayer for his enemies be our prayer.  If in the face of hate we can say, Father forgive them.  If in the temptation of retribution and revenge we can say, Father forgive them.  If from the underside of our hurt and fear we can say, Father forgive them – then all things can be made new.  We can trade our ashes in for beauty if we’ll lay these things at the foot of the cross.  Restoration is possible.  Healing is possible.  And we can be set free.  It would be a scandalous way to love and it would also be revolutionary.  We then closed out with “Revolutionary Love” by the David Crowder Band.

Here are our prayer requests this week:
(Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know! You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: We have an “unspoken” prayer for a man struggling with depression – pray he can find healing and hope. (“unspoken” just means they want to remain nameless. God knows his name, that’s all that matters!)

:: Jackie Anderson is going through another rough patch – pray for healing and hope.

:: Allison Frank’s dad (Doug) pulled through an emergency quadrupal bi-pass surgery.  He’s got lots of recovery ahead still but is thankful for the miracle of his health so far!

:: Sonya Cooper’s Aunt – Mary – is home and feeling pretty good. Pray that she will continue to feel good as long as possible as her battle with cancer continues.

:: Louise & Keith Kenney’s daughter in law – Michelle Kenney – in treatment for breast cancer. So far, so good, but she still has LOTS of treatment ahead – keep praying for her and her family (husband and two kids)!

:: Pray for Lynn Kelly – she’s doing good, but still struggling with several recovery issues. Her sister-in-law also just had emergency surgery for cancer – her name is Susan.

Scandalous Love – of the lowest March 9, 2009

Our worship focused in on how Jesus wasn’t afraid.  Considering the culture he lived in and the religious climate he was negotiating, he was pretty brave and even scandalous – always challenging the status quo and upsetting religious leaders.

He cared about different things then them – about different people.
He didn’t let people’s expectations get in the way.
He was full of surprises.

We considered how he loved the lowest – the poor and marginalized of society.  The outcast and the overlooked.
We heard his words to those he sat at a dinner party with – taking every opportunity to let his life speak wisdom and challenge (Luke 14) – ESPECIALLY to the “religious” people.

From his teachings we heard that motives matter.  That people are equally sacred.  And that we are called to have a particular passion for those that otherwise get passed by.  Jesus pegs our behavior appropriately.  Most of the time, we do most everything for repayment, for a pat on the back, for attention, for advancement.
The way of Christ is so scandalously different.

So we sang a couple songs: All We Need (Charlie Hall) & God of this City (Tomlin version)
We watched a short video piece called: Becoming the Poor - very powerful words.
We heard the Word speak (thanks to some images and a voice over from from my dad): Luke 14:12-24
We watched a video interview with Phil Ledbetter – Phil is the Coordinator for the Catoosa County Family Collaborative.  He works to bring together all the different agencies and groups who work with families to make sure we’re meeting needs in the best ways possible.  He gave us some information about the poor and marginalized in our county, helping to drive the topic a little closer to home.

John spoke some on the challenge to scandalously love the lowest as Jesus did.  Shared another story from the Bible about Jesus doing just that – feeding the 5000 instead of sending them away – making do with what they had to feed the hungry.  Then he brought us to another meal Jesus shared – the last supper.  We didn’t bring out our fancy chalice and plate.  We didn’t have a beautiful loaf of bread and grape juice.  John just asked – “what do we have?”  So there was some sweet tea and crackers in our snack window – I grabbed a box I had to make an altar table.  And John took the ordinary – asked God’s blessing – and it became extraordinary.  The truth: God takes what we have, blesses it, and makes it what we need. 

I know – scandalous – and there were some in the room that couldn’t go there.  But the reality we wrestled with is this: Jesus’ love is bigger than the details.  It doesn’t get hung up on tradition or expectations.  Jesus came so that ALL might find a love that CAN NOT be stopped by technicality or lack of resources.  

As people came forward to receive communion (which we did by the coolest method I think.  You receive it then you turn around and serve it to the person after you.  They turn around and do the same, etc.  We’re all called to be ministers of God’s love and this method is a beautiful picture of that truth) we sang some more songs:
Your Love is Deep (Jami Smith), You are the Light (Steve Fee) & God of this City (again.) 

This time as we sang the words to the song a video played in the background – images of OUR city to help us feel the power of the words.  It’s on youtube.

We wrapped up with a beautiful prayer I found online somewhere:

Dear Lord,
We lift up to you the poor and the marginalized.
We know that these are your cherished ones, that you are a God whose heart cries out for justice, that you are a God who longs to feed the hungry. We ask simply, Lord, that you give us your heart.
Fill us Lord with your compassion, give us your eyes to see, give us boldness and selflessness and wisdom, so that we too might cry out for justice and feed the hungry, so that your light might shine throughout the earth.
Lord, you know every wretched tale. Every overwhelming statistic, you know each individual personally, one by one. Thank you that one day you will make all things right through your Son, Jesus Christ.
Until that day, let us be tireless in doing what is good and what is right unto the least of these, knowing the Father’s love for them.  Amen.

Here are our prayer requests this week:
(Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know! You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: We have an “unspoken” prayer for a man struggling with depression – pray he can find healing and hope. (“unspoken” just means they want to remain nameless. God knows his name, that’s all that matters!)

:: Sonya Cooper’s Aunt – Mary – is home and feeling pretty good. Pray that she will continue to feel good as long as possible as her battle with cancer continues.

:: Louise & Keith Kenney’s daughter in law – Michelle Kenney – in treatment for breast cancer. So far, so good, but she still has LOTS of treatment ahead – keep praying for her and her family (husband and two kids)!

:: Pray for Lynn Kelly – she’s doing good, but still struggling with several recovery issues. Her sister-in-law also just had emergency surgery for cancer – her name is Susan.

Scandalous Love – of the guilty March 3, 2009

Jesus was always rocking the boat, challenging the status quo, and defying the expectations of his culture. He loved in a way that was often shocking and generally scandalous.  We’re called to love that way, too.  So during this series we’ll study the teachings of Jesus that instruct us on the art of scandalous love and we’ll be challenged to raise some eyebrows of our own.

3.1 – Of the Guilty: are you modeling a discipleship of second chances?

3.8 – Of the Lowest: how are you loving the poor and marginalized of our community?

3.15 – Of the Enemy: when confronted with negative forces, do you love them, too?

3.22 – Of the Only: who have you put at the center of your life, your energy, your love?

3.29 – Of the Worst: is your heart big enough to love from the bottom up?

The way of Jesus involved second chances, pity, challenge, and above all, a belief that people could change.  An understanding that the sinner had the ability to rise above their iniquity.  Jesus always had the hope that a sinner could become a saint. 

Matthew 18:21-22
At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?” Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

The way of Christ is so scandalously different.

Tonight we’ll explore an extreme example of giving 2nd chances – of loving those who are guilty - of a scandal of phenomenal proportions.  It’s the story of the people of Rwanda told through the documentary: As We Forgive.

The web site said this about the film:

Could you forgive a person who murdered your family? This is the question faced by the subjects of As We Forgive, a documentary about Rosaria and Chantal-two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. The subjects of As We Forgive speak for a nation still wracked by the grief of a genocide that killed one in eight Rwandans in 1994. Overwhelmed by an enormous backlog of court cases, the government has returned over 50,000 thousand genocide perpetrators back to the very communities they helped to destroy. Without the hope of full justice, Rwanda has turned to a new solution: Reconciliation.

But can it be done? Can survivors truly forgive the killers who destroyed their families? Can the government expect this from its people? And can the church, which failed at moral leadership during the genocide, fit into the process of reconciliation today? In As We Forgive, director Laura Waters Hinson and narrator Mia Farrow explore these topics through the lives of four neighbors once caught in opposite tides of a genocidal bloodbath, and their extraordinary journey from death to life through forgiveness.

So that’s what we did – no music – nothing fancy – we just came face to face with a heart-breaking and soul-lifting example the kind of scandalous love this series is all about. 

Here are our prayer requests this week:
(Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know! You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: We have an “unspoken” prayer for a man struggling with depression – pray he can find healing and hope. (“unspoken” just means they want to remain nameless. God knows his name, that’s all that matters!)

:: Sonya Cooper’s Aunt – Mary – is home and feeling pretty good. Pray that she will continue to feel good as long as possible as her battle with cancer continues.

:: Louise & Keith Kenney’s daughter in law – Michelle Kenney – in treatment for breast cancer. So far, so good, but she still has LOTS of treatment ahead – keep praying for her and her family (husband and two kids)!

:: Pray for Lynn Kelly – she’s doing good, but still struggling with several recovery issues. Her sister-in-law also just had emergency surgery for cancer – her name is Susan.