| is a member of the Presbytery of Genesee Valley, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and has been in ministry in the Upper Monroe Neighborhood for over 100 years. |
Tedd Pullano
Col. 1:3-14
Nurturing and Growing
Said the Apostle Paul,
great plans.
so he planted
the word of God
the love of God
deep in others
To bear fruit.
We have high hopes
We have great plans
And so we plant.
We dig the rich brown soil
Add drenching, quenching life giving water
Share our time our energy
Prune and pare
Pray for sun, pray for growth.
A tree grows.
We reach into the rich soil of their hearts and souls
Add wisdom, ask questions, summon patience,
Share the quenching drenching Word of God,
The love of God
Sprinkle hope
Pour in our minutes, our hours, our days
Our selves
We pray
Without ceasing.
Our children grow.
We have high hopes
We have great plans
And so we plant.
The tree will need strong roots
To stand lofty
To absorb water, life giving nutrients,
To hold firm when Mother Nature roars her fierce winds.
Strong roots our young are building
To steady them, stabilize
An anchor for wise decisions,
Might to hold when life herself bellows and rocks their worlds,
Sending rain and thunder
More than a cloudburst
Roots to find peace, to find God, to bear fruit.
We have high hopes
We have great plans
And so we plant.
The Dogwood, a gift of God's Creation, God's imagination --
Bursting with brilliant pinks,
Pure whites,
Soft petals
Soaring and strong, a superior sight.
Fragile in its early years,
It delights our eyes.
We are blessed to have it here.
Our young ones, too, are gifts from our Creator
Exploding with extraordinary colors in their souls
Music, wisdom, humor, compassion,
Laughter, innocence
Joy
Nick, Emma, Isabella, Emma
Beaming with bliss
Captivating
Taking away our breath.
Stirring our hearts
We pause
We gaze in awe at their majesty.
We have high hopes
We have great plans
And so we plant.
Nurtured, the dogwood will grow, reaching toward the heavens
Sharing its colors,
Keeping us cool on hot days
Providing cover for children, for neighbors
Our hearts will delight in its shadow.
Nurtured, our children are reaching, stretching, seeing heaven
Powerful, strong, wise beyond the years,
Sharing their hope, their future
Keeping us warm on the cold days of our faith.
They are ours but not ours
They belong to God
We know our future is robust in their hands
We nurture, they grow
They nurture, we grow
We have high hopes
We have great plans
And so we plant.
And so we watch,
And our hearts delight
Like Paul, we thank God for these saints in our midst
And pray for them
Thanks be to God.
Colossians 1:1-14
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. 7This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
9For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.