Spiritual Life
A6
Thursday, July 21, 2022
SPIRITUAL LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
The ‘Good Gift’ initiates and
helps us sustain our faith
LA GRANDE — The message
at Faith Lutheran Church’s 10 a.m.
service on Sunday, July 24, will
expound on the Gospel of Luke
11:1-13. In these verses we learn
that the Heavenly Father gives the
Good Gift to those who ask. The
Good Gift is the Holy Spirit, who
initiates and sustains faith in Jesus
Christ so that we will have peace
now and forevermore.
On July 25-27 members of Faith
Lutheran are scheduled to paint
the fellowship hall. Prep work will
be done on Monday, painting on
Tuesday and fi nishing details on
Wednesday, Lord willing.
SUBMISSIONS
Guest speaker to lead
worship and preach
Churches and faith-based groups are
encouraged to submit Highlights for the
Spiritual Life page by noon Tuesday for
publication Thursday. Submit by email
to news@lagrandeobserver.com (with
Highlights in the subject line).
LA GRANDE — Zion
Lutheran Church meets for wor-
ship this Sunday, July 24, at
9 a.m. Vicky Hart will preach and
lead worship. Fellowship time will
follow the service.
Watch Tabernacle Choir’s
concert event online
Communion will be
celebrated July 24
LA GRANDE — St. Peter’s
Episcopal Church will celebrate a
Communion service this Sunday,
July 24, at 10 a.m., with fellow-
ship immediately following. Bible
study continues with the book of
John in the church library.
NORTHEASTERN OREGON
— In wards of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
on Sunday, July 24, members
of the congregations will speak
at Sacrament meetings, and the
second hour of worship services
will be Relief Society, Priesthood
and youth group meetings.
The “Come, Follow Me” lesson
for the week of July 25 is on the
story of Esther and Mordecai in
the Old Testament book of Esther.
They risked their lives to become
instruments in the hands of the
Lord as they protected the people
of Israel.
For an uplifting spiritual expe-
rience, watch the Tabernacle
Choir perform its annual summer
musical concert titled “Love Thy
Neighbor: A Special Tabernacle
Choir Event,” which was recorded
on July 15 and is now available
for viewing on the website of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-
ter-day Saints or on YouTube.
This was the first time the choir
has gathered for a public perfor-
mance at the Conference Center
on Temple Square since the pan-
demic began in March 2020.
Message comes from story of
widow with only two coins
LA GRANDE — “It’s About
More Than Money” is the mes-
sage Pastor Archie Hook will
share at First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) on Sunday,
July 24. He will refer to Luke
21:1-4, the story of the poor
widow and her two coins. Wor-
ship begins at 10:30 a.m.
— The Observer
‘Who are you, Lord my God, and who am I?’
Y
ou’ve heard it said, “You
are what you eat.” You
may also have heard it
said, “You are what you think.”
But I say to you, “You are what
you believe.”
The dictionary gives us two
defi nitions: fi rst, to believe is
to accept that something is true
or exists; second, to believe is
to have trust or confi dence in
someone or something.
We often call the initial deci-
sion to accept a particular truth a
“leap of faith.” However, the fi rst
leap is not an arrival, but a begin-
ning, the fi rst threshold crossing
in a lifelong journey of spiritual
formation.
One story about St. Francis
recounts how a brother heard him
LAURA ELLY
HUDSON
BELIEVING AND BECOMING
praying, “Who are you, Lord my
God, and who am I?” At each new
spiritual threshold, we need to
ask these two inextricably linked
questions. Whatever beliefs you
hold about the divine will have a
profound infl uence on how you
understand yourself, how you are
to live and who you will become.
When I started writing this
column, I named it “Believing and
Becoming” because I wanted to
call out the relationship between
those two ongoing processes in
the spiritual life. Maturing in
faith, our beliefs move beyond a
basic acceptance of spiritual truth
to a wholehearted, full-bodied
confi dence that encourages tan-
gible action. Action follows upon
belief; refl ection, which clarifi es
belief, follows upon action. We
spiral through these movements
again and again that we may
become humans who show forth
God’s image in the world.
What beliefs lead us to become
assured, courageous and loving
human beings?
I appreciate the Buddha’s prac-
tical advice on this matter. He told
his students to test the truth of any
teachings they received, looking
at cause and eff ect. Unskillful
beliefs lead to harm and illness;
skillful beliefs lead to peace and
joy for themselves and others.
But many people who claim
belief in creeds or doctrines never
really test them out, and so they
never move beyond the fi rst sta-
tion of belief. Another problem
is that we all carry unconscious
beliefs that we act upon, whether
we intend to or not. For example,
there are Christians who say they
believe in a gracious God of for-
giving love and mercy, but their
actions outside of church show
that they truly believe in a pun-
ishing god who sees mercy as
weakness.
The trouble is, much as we
become our belief, we can also
become our fears. In the face
of fear, we all struggle to stay
true to our best and most beau-
tiful beliefs. Fear disguises itself
as truth. But, as author Robin
Sharma puts it, “A fear is just a
lie that you’ve rehearsed so many
times you believe it’s true.”
What we believe matters.
Living through the rapid changes
of our time, we struggle to
release fear and believe in love.
There’s never a better time to
pray with St. Francis’ questions,
asking to be shown the kind of
believing by which we become
people of peace and well-being,
not only for ourselves, but for the
whole creation.
█
Laura Elly Hudson is co-pastor of the
La Grande First Presbyterian Church and
founder of Story Journey. You can find her
at lauraellyhudson.com.
WORDS OF THE BUDDHA
Generosity, kind words, doing a good turn for
others, and treating all people alike: these bonds
of sympathy are to the world what the linchpin
is to the chariot wheel.
—Jataka 20
Much though one recites the sacred texts, but
acts not accordingly, that heedless one is like a
cowherd who only counts the cows of others —
one does not partake of the blessings of the holy
life.
— Dhammapada 1.19
One is not low because of birth nor does birth
make one holy. Deeds alone make one low,
deeds alone make one holy.
—Sutta Nipata 1.136
— www.pariyatti.org
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Northeast Oregon Directory of Churches
Cove United
Methodist Church
1708 Jasper St., Cove, OR
North Powder
United
Methodist Church
390 E. St., North Powder, OR
JOIN US... Catch the Spirit!
Worship: 9:00 a.m. Cove
Worship: 10:00 a.m. N. Powder
SUMMERVILLE
BAPTIST CHURCH
Sunday Services:
Sunday School & Adult Bible Classes
9:45AM
Children’s Church & Worship Service
11:00AM
Family Worship Service
6:00PM
Wednesday:
Prayer Mtg, Children’s Bible Club, Youth
Group 7:00PM
A church for your whole family
Visit us at summervillebaptistchurch.org
First Christian
Church
(Disciples of Christ)
901 Penn Avenue 963-2623
lgdisciples@gmail.com
Bible Study
9:00 a.m.
Worship
10:30 a.m.
~Join us at The Lord’s Table~
Imbler
Christian
Church
www.imblercc@gmail.com
Sunday Services
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Sunday School
Worship Service
Phone: 541-568-4230
grace.lutherancove@gmail.com
La Grande Seventh-day
A Place where hope is found in Jesus
Join us in Fellowship & Worship
Saturday all age classes 9:30 am
Saturday Worship 11:00 am
1612 4th Street – 963-2498
www.lagrandeumc.org
Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am
Sunday Worship 10:00 am
Adventist Church
“OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, OPEN DOORS”
For service information go to
The Place
62848 Philynda Loop in Island City
440 Ruckman, Imbler 534-2201 “We are called to Serve”
LA GRANDE UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
Pastor Roberta Smythe
GRACE COMMUNITY
LUTHERAN CHURCH
2702 Adams Avenue, La Grande
963-4018
109 18th Street • 963-3402
Sunday School 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.
lagrandeor.adventistchurch.org
Learning for Today and Eternity
Little Friends
Christian Preschool/Childcare 963-6390
La Grande Adventist Christian School
K-8th Grade 963-6203
FIRST LANDMARK
MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH
1812 1st St. La Grande
541-605-0215
We use the King James Version Bible
Sunday School - 10:00 am
Worship 11:00 am
Sunday Evening Bible Study - 3:00 pm (Effective June 10)
Wednesday Evening - 6:30 pm
“Where you can find TRUTH according to the scriptures”
www.flmbclagrande.com
Services
This
Week