Jack Escalona | John Gaska | Martha Goedert | Todd Fergus
Hi, My name is Jack Escalona. I'm from the Philippines. I came to this congregation 2006 because my co-workers brought me along. Over the years I have become more involved in the Worship Team. I want to share with you how God has helped me to grow.
On October 23rd of last year I was hit by a car as I was walking to work, and it changed my life. Before, I thought I was living a life that was pleasing God. I tried to be perfect in every way. I forced myself to do things like get up at 3 a.m. to pray and read my Bible. Forcing myself to be perfect brought no joy to my heart and I felt empty. Instead of feeling blessed, I was sick all the time. I could not explain my weakness and was struggling so much.
Through the advice of Christian mentor I came to realize my lack of joy despite trying to please God. The mentor helped me to see that I was doing these things out of selfishness. In an attempt to control my life I didn't realize that I had become judgemental and distanced myself from people who did not live as "perfectly" as me. I restricted myself to what I thought was a good Christian life. I pushed myself not out of love for God but a desire to be right.
When I was injured I spent a lot of time with God. God revealed to me that what is really pleasing is to trust Him. I had been enduring over two years of oppression in my work because I was afraid of not having enough money. But when I was recovering from the accident I was able to distance myself from work and felt the stress start to go away. Then God told me to leave my job. I was scared because I did not fully trust God to provide. But God was changing me, taking me from a life of legalism to a life in the spirit, a life of joy. I left my job. I am so happy. I trust God and know He is pleased with me. Every day God provides abundantly for me when I cannot provide for myself. I still don't have a job, but I have joy. Most importantly I have grown so much spiritually and I am learning to find my voice.
It's not about living a Christian life, it's about letting Christ live through me - and through all of us!
Jack Escalona
My name is Jon Gaska and I was asked to speak about how I experience God at work in worship. When my wife (Joy) and I first visited First Pres about one year ago, we somehow knew that when we moved to Seattle, this church would more than likely become our community. Here we are a few months later joining you as we worship God together.
It is difficult to say in a few words what worship means to me. One way I would say it is that worship is that act of offering our stories before God and before each other. Some are stories of redemption, experiences of new life and resurrection for which we give thanks to God. Others are stories of tragedy, heart wrenching loss, death, and unanswered questions of God for which we worship in deep lamentation.
Worship, I believe, is all of it. We are people of stories and worship is central to our communal story where we sing and praise, laugh and cry over the stories that have shaped us, influenced us, or harmed us, but somehow these stories have brought us here together during this time within the walls of this community to be shared. This is the place where we honor someone that can name their struggles about addiction or separation; where we learn more about God and ourselves as we listen to the words of a young woman that had to make a hard decision about giving up her baby for adoption; where we celebrate as we hear a story about how God is working through a missionary called to what seems like another world where hunger for the gospel looks and feels different.
These stories are so powerful, because they are our stories. I believe the stories we read in Scripture touch us deeply because they not only happened, but are still happening in our lives every day. Worship is the time when we dedicate these stories to a larger narrative, the story about a God that desires his people even as the broken, messed up sinners that we are.
So in this up and coming year as our stories continue to change and grow, I am so excited to be a part of a community that desires to worship the God of our stories as we live into and struggle with what it means to participate as characters within these stories together.
John Gaska
As with most things in life, we get out of it what we put into it. For me, serving in the Wednesday night Shelter Clinic has been the exception. Here's my story.
I was raised a rural Presbyterian kid in the Midwest. This means you take the frozen chosen heritage of the Scots, add pot lucks, rowdy Mariner groups and bridge. You arrange the church basement for an evening of food, with children playing hide and seek while grownups finish playing cards. These evenings were full of raucous laughter, claps of delight, and stories we children would only as mumbles from our hiding places in narthex. So church was happy, home, and a place we were sent, to serve.
We knew that it was expected of us to give back, 'because you can't out give God'. We knew it from Grandmother, a missionary in Manila. We'd had heard over and over about our privilege as well-fed, well-educated children whose responsibility it was to use our gifts wisely.
I had been in Seattle two weeks and chanced upon First Presbyterian on a Wednesday evening. That evening, I met Tim Newton and Bonnie Reese, and realized that another church basement was destined to be a happy spot, a connection to laughter, service, and hope. Tim said that first night, "I knew you were coming; I have been praying for you to show up".
Tim already had a vision for a homeless drop-in health clinic. That was a year and a half ago. Tim's clinic vision is now well established, caring for about 25 patients a night. The men's circle, shelter meal and bedrolls bring in the group for fellowship. Bonnie still makes eye contact with each person needing her attention. Ron Reese sits on the floor listening to someone at bedtime, connecting in a way these men have seldom experienced. And a continuous group of young professionals shows up weekly to be a part of this health care mission.
God has a sense of humor. We're a motley crew, new nurses and old ones. Every week, just the right measure of human energy and insight comes together to help. The students quickly catch on to our patients' needs. Once per week is not enough to treat the bad festers, but we soak and bandage, and marvel at how new skin grows when given just a wee bit of care.
We realize that that we are not the healers. Volunteers keep the flow going, welcoming, listening, caring, and getting my attention for someone 'really sick'. We've had cases of H1N1, bed bug bites, viral pneumonia, and always infected feet. Medications are simple: Over the counter medications, antibiotics, anti-hypertensives, diabetes medications, anti-smoking aids, and systemic anti-fungals. Young nurses learn old tricks, and see firsthand what happens to untreated infections growing in wet shoes 24 hours a day.
Andriette recently showed up, "an experienced nurse who specializes in maternity and babies". I said loudly to everyone, "not to worry, we're all babies here". We laugh a lot! The hardships of street life would kill most of us. Lifespan for homeless people is 15 years less than those with shelter. We marvel at our neighbors who are now like family. God sees our work and knows we are inoculated against thinking we can ever out give God.
Martha Hoffman Goedert, FNP, CNM, PhD, FACNM
Hi, my name is Todd Fergus. I am a new Christian, member here at First Pres and a member of the New Life Community, a discipleship ministry for men located here in the church. I just want to express to you my gratitude for a loving god that pulled me out of an empty life and brought me here so that I could have a new beginning. There are a lot of things in my life for which I am grateful for these days. I am grateful to experience and witness gods awesome love and grace every day here at church. I see god changing lives through different ministries, such as Wednesday night shelter and bible studies. There is a lot more going on than I could possibly list but I guess the most awesome thing about it all, at least for me is that I get to participate.
I also want to talk with you about our congregation covenant which encourages us to give, to invest in God's mission through financial tithing. I like to think of it as giving back to God. For a long time, I struggled with faithfully tithing. For the first time in my life I have decided to make a pledge and stick to it. There's something different now that I have made the commitment. It just feels safe to trust god with some of what he has given to me instead of trusting myself with all of it.
I just wanted to express to all of you how good it's been so far to be able to give back what has been so freely given to me. Thanks for letting me share.
Todd Fergus
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Jack Escalona
Jack Escalona is a member and leader of Seattle First. Jack shared this story in worship on Sunday, January 31, 2010.Hi, My name is Jack Escalona. I'm from the Philippines. I came to this congregation 2006 because my co-workers brought me along. Over the years I have become more involved in the Worship Team. I want to share with you how God has helped me to grow.
On October 23rd of last year I was hit by a car as I was walking to work, and it changed my life. Before, I thought I was living a life that was pleasing God. I tried to be perfect in every way. I forced myself to do things like get up at 3 a.m. to pray and read my Bible. Forcing myself to be perfect brought no joy to my heart and I felt empty. Instead of feeling blessed, I was sick all the time. I could not explain my weakness and was struggling so much.
Through the advice of Christian mentor I came to realize my lack of joy despite trying to please God. The mentor helped me to see that I was doing these things out of selfishness. In an attempt to control my life I didn't realize that I had become judgemental and distanced myself from people who did not live as "perfectly" as me. I restricted myself to what I thought was a good Christian life. I pushed myself not out of love for God but a desire to be right.
When I was injured I spent a lot of time with God. God revealed to me that what is really pleasing is to trust Him. I had been enduring over two years of oppression in my work because I was afraid of not having enough money. But when I was recovering from the accident I was able to distance myself from work and felt the stress start to go away. Then God told me to leave my job. I was scared because I did not fully trust God to provide. But God was changing me, taking me from a life of legalism to a life in the spirit, a life of joy. I left my job. I am so happy. I trust God and know He is pleased with me. Every day God provides abundantly for me when I cannot provide for myself. I still don't have a job, but I have joy. Most importantly I have grown so much spiritually and I am learning to find my voice.
It's not about living a Christian life, it's about letting Christ live through me - and through all of us!
Jack Escalona
John Gaska
Jon is a new member of Seattle First, and a student at Mars Hill Seminary in Seattle. Jon shared this story in worship on Sunday, January 31, 2010.My name is Jon Gaska and I was asked to speak about how I experience God at work in worship. When my wife (Joy) and I first visited First Pres about one year ago, we somehow knew that when we moved to Seattle, this church would more than likely become our community. Here we are a few months later joining you as we worship God together.
It is difficult to say in a few words what worship means to me. One way I would say it is that worship is that act of offering our stories before God and before each other. Some are stories of redemption, experiences of new life and resurrection for which we give thanks to God. Others are stories of tragedy, heart wrenching loss, death, and unanswered questions of God for which we worship in deep lamentation.
Worship, I believe, is all of it. We are people of stories and worship is central to our communal story where we sing and praise, laugh and cry over the stories that have shaped us, influenced us, or harmed us, but somehow these stories have brought us here together during this time within the walls of this community to be shared. This is the place where we honor someone that can name their struggles about addiction or separation; where we learn more about God and ourselves as we listen to the words of a young woman that had to make a hard decision about giving up her baby for adoption; where we celebrate as we hear a story about how God is working through a missionary called to what seems like another world where hunger for the gospel looks and feels different.
These stories are so powerful, because they are our stories. I believe the stories we read in Scripture touch us deeply because they not only happened, but are still happening in our lives every day. Worship is the time when we dedicate these stories to a larger narrative, the story about a God that desires his people even as the broken, messed up sinners that we are.
So in this up and coming year as our stories continue to change and grow, I am so excited to be a part of a community that desires to worship the God of our stories as we live into and struggle with what it means to participate as characters within these stories together.
John Gaska
Martha Goedert
Martha Goedert is a practicing nurse and instructor at Seattle University. Martha leads a medical clinic for men who visit the Seattle First homeless shelter. Martha shared this story in worship on January 31, 2010.As with most things in life, we get out of it what we put into it. For me, serving in the Wednesday night Shelter Clinic has been the exception. Here's my story.
I was raised a rural Presbyterian kid in the Midwest. This means you take the frozen chosen heritage of the Scots, add pot lucks, rowdy Mariner groups and bridge. You arrange the church basement for an evening of food, with children playing hide and seek while grownups finish playing cards. These evenings were full of raucous laughter, claps of delight, and stories we children would only as mumbles from our hiding places in narthex. So church was happy, home, and a place we were sent, to serve.
We knew that it was expected of us to give back, 'because you can't out give God'. We knew it from Grandmother, a missionary in Manila. We'd had heard over and over about our privilege as well-fed, well-educated children whose responsibility it was to use our gifts wisely.
I had been in Seattle two weeks and chanced upon First Presbyterian on a Wednesday evening. That evening, I met Tim Newton and Bonnie Reese, and realized that another church basement was destined to be a happy spot, a connection to laughter, service, and hope. Tim said that first night, "I knew you were coming; I have been praying for you to show up".
Tim already had a vision for a homeless drop-in health clinic. That was a year and a half ago. Tim's clinic vision is now well established, caring for about 25 patients a night. The men's circle, shelter meal and bedrolls bring in the group for fellowship. Bonnie still makes eye contact with each person needing her attention. Ron Reese sits on the floor listening to someone at bedtime, connecting in a way these men have seldom experienced. And a continuous group of young professionals shows up weekly to be a part of this health care mission.
God has a sense of humor. We're a motley crew, new nurses and old ones. Every week, just the right measure of human energy and insight comes together to help. The students quickly catch on to our patients' needs. Once per week is not enough to treat the bad festers, but we soak and bandage, and marvel at how new skin grows when given just a wee bit of care.
We realize that that we are not the healers. Volunteers keep the flow going, welcoming, listening, caring, and getting my attention for someone 'really sick'. We've had cases of H1N1, bed bug bites, viral pneumonia, and always infected feet. Medications are simple: Over the counter medications, antibiotics, anti-hypertensives, diabetes medications, anti-smoking aids, and systemic anti-fungals. Young nurses learn old tricks, and see firsthand what happens to untreated infections growing in wet shoes 24 hours a day.
Andriette recently showed up, "an experienced nurse who specializes in maternity and babies". I said loudly to everyone, "not to worry, we're all babies here". We laugh a lot! The hardships of street life would kill most of us. Lifespan for homeless people is 15 years less than those with shelter. We marvel at our neighbors who are now like family. God sees our work and knows we are inoculated against thinking we can ever out give God.
Martha Hoffman Goedert, FNP, CNM, PhD, FACNM
Todd Fergus
Todd Fergus shared this story about giving in worship on Sunday, January 31, 2010.Hi, my name is Todd Fergus. I am a new Christian, member here at First Pres and a member of the New Life Community, a discipleship ministry for men located here in the church. I just want to express to you my gratitude for a loving god that pulled me out of an empty life and brought me here so that I could have a new beginning. There are a lot of things in my life for which I am grateful for these days. I am grateful to experience and witness gods awesome love and grace every day here at church. I see god changing lives through different ministries, such as Wednesday night shelter and bible studies. There is a lot more going on than I could possibly list but I guess the most awesome thing about it all, at least for me is that I get to participate.
I also want to talk with you about our congregation covenant which encourages us to give, to invest in God's mission through financial tithing. I like to think of it as giving back to God. For a long time, I struggled with faithfully tithing. For the first time in my life I have decided to make a pledge and stick to it. There's something different now that I have made the commitment. It just feels safe to trust god with some of what he has given to me instead of trusting myself with all of it.
I just wanted to express to all of you how good it's been so far to be able to give back what has been so freely given to me. Thanks for letting me share.
Todd Fergus
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