Rev. Zachary Mabe is Pastor of the Terryville Congregational Church

Scripture: Luke 20:27-38 (NRSV)

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her." Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."

Reflection: Children of God, Children of the Resurrection

The longer I am in ministry, the less I know.  But I know one thing, and I have found one thing to be true time and time again:  the hope, the power, the love, the joy, and the peace of Jesus Christ is fulfilling and sustaining, and without it I cannot get out of bed each day.  That knowledge - along with God's gift of laughter - move me forward each and every day, and I say praise God!

To me, there's always been something about numbers. So I don't know if it's because I'm in my 15th year at my church, or because I'm in my 41st year of life, but I think I've been doing more reflecting this year than ever before.  And the thing I keep coming back to is simple yet profound, I think.  I keep coming back to this:   I belong to God.  You belong to God.  We belong to God.  No matter what happens, we are not alone.  No matter what life throws at us, we are children of God.  Not only children of God, but children who believe in something more powerful than anything else in the history or future of the world:  the resurrection of Christ.

If you're anything like me, sometimes you get wrapped up in your own bubble of life, or your own day-to-day routine and worries, frustrations, etc., and before you know it you're forgetting some of the basics and foundations that have brought you forward and have never left your side.  So my word to us today is, remember.  Remember who you are, and remember whose you are.  Remember that you are a child of God.  Remember that you are a child of the resurrection.  And nothing is more powerful than -- nothing can separate us from -- the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

There's something I learned from a church member that also helps me daily.  She said, "Put feet on your prayers."  In other words, not only pray for it -- but also meet God by working and serving God toward that end as well.  So remember who you are, and put feet on your prayers.

PRAYER

Dear God, thank you for being you. Thank you for loving me and claiming me as your own. Help me to remember this good news, and to put feet on my prayers.  Help me to be a servant of the Risen Christ.  Amen.

New Prayer Requests:

We ask churches and church leaders to join us in the following prayers either by sharing them during worship, printing them in bulletins, or sharing them in some other way. To make a prayer request, please contact Drew Page at drewp@ctucc.org.

Prayers of Intercession:

• For those grieving or suffering after a a bus crashed into a river in Nepal, killing 17 and injuring over 50
• For those grieving or suffering after a shooting on Halloween in Orinda, CA, which left 5 dead
• For those grieving or suffering injuries from mass shootings* over the weekend in Denver, Phoenix, and East Texas (*mass shooting defined as 4 or more shot or killed)

Prayers of Joy and Thanksgiving:

• For the delegates to the Southern New England Conference Annual Meeting Nov. 1&2

Please Remember These Connecticut Conference Churches
In Your Prayers:

Coventry
Second Congregational Church, UCC
 
Coventry
The First Congregational Church of Coventry, UCC
 
Danbury
First Congregational Church, UCC
 
Danbury
King Street UCC
 
Danielson
South Killingly Congregational Church UCC

This Week in History:

November 5, 2009  (10 years ago)  13 people are killed and more than 30 wounded in the Fort Hood shooting spree. Major Nidal Malik Hasan carried out the deadly assault, which lasted 10 minutes. Hasan, who represented himself in court, was found guilty in August 2013 and later sentenced to death. Hasan remains on death row at Fort Leavenworth.

“Study the past if you would define the future.”
— Confucius

the Rev. Zachary Mabe Mabe

pastor of Terryville Congregational Church