I Will Be With You
I Will Be With You
Exodus 3:12
‘I will be with you,‘ said God before the Exodus.
These words fill the ‘be still and know that I am God’ kind of moments.
They are our spiritual mantra, a gift from the great I AM who says, ‘I will be with you’ and means it.
Before Moses turned towards Egypt to liberate the people, ‘I will be with you’ was the game plan.
Before the disciples scattered to liberate the world, ‘I will be with you’ was the game plan.
I will be with you is God’s plan in a nutshell. Read the pages and hear the stories, I will be with you is the point of the game.
I will be with you in all the seasons of your life.
I will be with you in your fear and your doubt.
I will be with you in the planting of the new and the harvesting of old.
I will be with you in your darkness and in the desert of your existence.
I will be with you in your joys, all the weddings and births that reveal new life.
I will be with you when you are alone, whether you perceive me or not.
I will be with you before you know you need me, and when you are certain that you do not.
I will be with you as the Creator of the universe and know you within in it.
I will be with you as Jesus Christ who liberates your soul and transforms your life.
I will be with you as Holy Spirit putting ‘words in your mouth and teaching you what to speak.’
Be still and know that I am God…and you are not.
That is why I will be with you.
Searching for a Resurrection
The Antidote

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven…
- Walk through your neighborhood.
- Pray the Lord’s Prayer for people in the homes and business along your path.
- Repeat daily.
Life is a Sandbox
How do we live in times of uncertainty, when division is the norm?
I once applied for a position in a company with rapidly shifting sands that created uncertainty almost every day. It was their sandbox and I was an employee within it helping them achieve their goals. Change was both their strength and the core of their chaos. My interviewer asked me how I felt about ambiguity. It was a strange question. How do I feel about ambiguity? “Ambiguity just is,” I said. “It is not good or bad, right or wrong, awful or joyful. It just is. Life is full of ambiguity.” I got the job. That’s how I’m surviving the sandbox these days–embracing the uncertainty of change. This is both the strength and the chaos of the church. Sometimes it is a struggle and I desperately want to fix the sandbox—my way. I want to control the sandbox, but am I forgetting who really owns it? God owns the sandbox, not me. It is God’s sandbox and I am there as a disciple who believes in Christ’s mission to redeem the world through love. Love one another as I have loved you. That is what I do to help God in the sandbox. It is what makes me a disciple, transforming the world and identifies me as one of Christ’s disciple, working together with other disciples in God’s sandbox. I don’t get to pick and choose who enters the sandbox. God does. Nor do I get to judge them. God does that as well. My job is to love them. Period. Maybe we need to go back to the sandbox; remember who owns it, the mission, and what we are supposed to do in it. And, if we are really in sync with God, maybe we can stretch the water hose for life-giving waters and connects us to one another in the sandbox. When we love one another, then everyone will know that we are Christ’s disciples— by watching us play in the sandbox.
The Resurrection of Le Sueur United Methodist

- He is Risen
- He is Risen Indeed.
First Things First
Focus on The Family
In the 1959, First United Methodist commissioned a new building. They were bursting at the seams as Baby Boomers added an average of 4 children per family. They came to church every week and attendance soared to 250-300 per Sunday morning. Times change and so do the numbers: Families have fewer babies and worship less often.

Power of One

It stuck. People listened. Just one person had the power to make a difference in the world. This is the power of one. One person makes a choice. One person prevents a disaster. One person saves another. It is the power of one. What difference will you make as a disciple of Jesus today? Will the world be safer, kinder, and more loving? Will the hungry be fed, the lonely visited, or someone lifted up in prayer? How will you use your unique God given power of one? Most importantly: who will know Jesus because of you? Only you can grow another disciple. Only you can live so others see Jesus. Only you can share what faith means. Only you can share Jesus. Only you can greet a new comer. Only you can introduce yourself and ask their name. Only you can take them to coffee and turn a stranger into a friend. Only you can make a difference. When you embrace what you can do as ONE individual with the Spirit’s help, one becomes many. The church body grows. And more people become one together. We are in a cultural shift away from Jesus. Only you can change that. How will you use your power of one to make a difference? “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Matthew 28:19

You Are Free to Go

Suitcases and clothes were strewn across the cabin floor, some lying open in their haste to be out of the way. The girls huddled on the top bunk, watching a corner of the cabin with fear.
“It was a Mouse!” they whispered loudly. “We don’t know where he went. He came from under your bed.”
“Ugh! Now, I have to be an adult,” I thought.
“I’m sure he’s gone. We’ll be fine.” I helped them put the suitcases back while watching for the intruder, but no luck. Time to just go to bed.
Weary, I peeled back my blankets, ready to be done for the day. Staring back at me, in the middle of MY bed, were two big brown eyes, wider than mine. “Mouse!” I screamed. No time to be an adult. Bedding flew everywhere as I ripped out the sheets and blankets.
We chased it behind a mini-fridge. Locating my inner adult, I unplugged it so the girls would not electrocute themselves or Herbie, the mouse they endearingly wanted to name and be rid of at the same time. Of course, there he was…..hiding behind the coil.
“Oh, he’s so cute!” the girls exclaimed, their fear suddenly dissipated.
After a few rattles of nearby objects, Herbie decided he had enough and ran into an empty trash can. Again, they all took a moment to admire him and declare his innocence.
“Outside!” I decided. One girl proudly grabbed the trash and marched out the door into the wilderness of the cold, dark woods. She gently laid the can down. Herbie froze. He was safer inside his new prison than alone in the wilderness, and he knew it. Three tries later, she dumped him upside down and Herbie was forced into freedom. Free To Go.
It’s hard to run to freedom when the shelter of a hard exile feels safer than the unknown. Sometimes, freedom comes with a push.
Jesus pushed. The Son of God forced the hand of evil to hang him on a cross. Suddenly, generations of suffering pounced upon Jesus, a lifetime of darkness and pain drawn to die on a cross. Then, our Messiah took that suffering to the depth of despair, crushing death with a resurrection. The exile from God’s presence was broken.
God so loved the world that God’s presence returned to the people, first as Jesus and then as the Holy Spirit forcing us into a life of freedom through Christ. Enough suffering.
You are free to go.

The Watch


embraced the future.