In today's worship, we explored the profound question of "Where is God?" and how this inquiry shapes our understanding of God's presence in our lives. Historically, the Israelites experienced God's presence in tangible forms, such as the tabernacle and the temple, which served as physical manifestations of God's dwelling among them. However, the narrative of God's presence is not confined to these structures. From the patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who encountered God without a designated holy place, to the Samaritans who worshipped on Mount Gerizim, the story of God's presence is diverse and expansive.

The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians and later by the Romans challenges the notion that God requires a physical dwelling. Instead, it invites us to consider that God's presence transcends buildings and is not limited to any one location. This understanding is echoed in Psalm 112, which calls us to a life of worship that is not about a place but about the posture of our hearts. A life of worship involves being in awe of God, receiving His light and love, and sharing these gifts with others.

We are encouraged to find our "thin places," where the separation between the divine and the earthly feels minimal, and where we can experience God's presence more intimately. These places can be in nature, in the city, or in acts of service. The spiritual practice of creating a personal altar or sacred space in our daily lives serves as a reminder of God's constant presence and our call to live a life of worship.

Ultimately, the message is that God is not confined to a building or a specific location. God is with us, in our hearts, and in our lives. By turning to God regularly, we allow Him to fill us with His love and grace, enabling us to overflow with these gifts to those around us. This week, let us intentionally seek out those moments and places where we can connect with God and let His presence transform our lives.

**Key Takeaways:**

1. **God's Presence Beyond Buildings:** The historical narrative of God's presence, from the tabernacle to the temple, illustrates that God is not confined to physical structures. Instead, God's presence is with us, wherever we are, inviting us to experience Him in our daily lives. [02:53]

2. **A Life of Worship:** Psalm 112 calls us to a life of worship that transcends physical locations. It is about cultivating a heart that is in awe of God, receiving His light, and sharing it with others. This life of worship is a daily practice of turning to God and allowing His presence to fill us. [12:10]

3. **Finding Thin Places:** We are encouraged to find our "thin places," where we feel God's presence more intimately. These can be in nature, in the city, or in acts of service. These places help us connect with God and experience His nudges and challenges in our lives. [20:49]

4. **Creating Sacred Spaces:** The practice of creating a personal altar or sacred space in our daily lives serves as a reminder of God's constant presence. Whether it's lighting a candle or placing a prayer by the steering wheel, these small acts help us focus on God and invite His presence into our daily routines. [22:32]

5. **Overflowing with God's Love:** By regularly turning to God, we allow Him to fill us with His love and grace. This overflow enables us to share these gifts with those around us, bringing light to a dark world. Our spiritual practices, though simple, have the power to restore our souls and impact others. [19:09]

**Youtube Chapters:**

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [01:23] - The Tabernacle and Temple
- [02:53] - God's Presence with the Patriarchs
- [04:24] - The Samaritans' Worship
- [06:10] - Theological Implications of God's Presence
- [08:10] - Transition from Egypt to the Wilderness
- [09:02] - Building the Temple in Jerusalem
- [10:28] - Destruction and Rebuilding of the Temple
- [12:10] - Psalm 112 and a Life of Worship
- [16:15] - Sharing God's Gifts
- [18:03] - The Overflowing Bucket
- [19:09] - Spiritual Practice of Worship
- [20:49] - Finding Thin Places
- [22:32] - Creating Sacred Spaces
- [22:32] - Conclusion and Call to Action

**Bible Study Discussion Guide**

**Bible Reading:**
1. Psalm 112
2. Genesis 12:1-3 (God's call to Abraham)
3. John 4:19-24 (Jesus and the Samaritan woman discussing worship)

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**Observation Questions:**

1. How did the Israelites initially experience God's presence, and what were the physical manifestations of this presence? [01:23]

2. What role did the tabernacle and temple play in the Israelites' worship, and how did this change over time? [09:02]

3. How did the Samaritans' place of worship differ from that of the Jewish people, and what impact did this have on their relationship? [04:24]

4. According to the sermon, what is the significance of "thin places," and where might these be found in our lives? [20:49]

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**Interpretation Questions:**

1. What does the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob suggest about God's presence and how it is experienced outside of physical structures? [02:53]

2. How does Psalm 112 redefine the concept of worship, and what does it mean to have a "life of worship"? [12:10]

3. In what ways does the destruction of the temple challenge traditional views of God's dwelling place, and how does this affect our understanding of God's presence today? [10:28]

4. How can the concept of "overflowing with God's love" be practically applied in our daily interactions with others? [19:09]

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**Application Questions:**

1. Reflect on a time when you felt God's presence outside of a traditional worship setting. What was that experience like, and how did it impact your faith journey? [06:10]

2. Identify a "thin place" in your life where you feel especially close to God. How can you intentionally spend more time in this place to deepen your spiritual connection? [20:49]

3. Consider the idea of creating a personal altar or sacred space in your home. What items or symbols would you include to remind you of God's presence? [22:32]

4. How can you incorporate the practice of turning to God regularly into your daily routine? What specific actions can you take to ensure your "bucket" is filled with God's love and grace? [18:03]

5. Think about a person in your life who might benefit from the overflow of God's love in you. What practical steps can you take this week to share God's light and love with them? [19:09]

6. How does the understanding that God is not confined to a building influence your approach to worship and community? What changes might you make in your spiritual practices as a result? [12:10]

7. Reflect on the role of awe in your relationship with God. When was the last time you felt truly in awe of God, and how can you cultivate this sense of wonder in your daily life? [12:10]

Day 1: God's Presence is Not Limited to Structures
God's presence has historically been associated with physical structures like the tabernacle and the temple, where the Israelites experienced His tangible presence. However, the narrative of God's presence extends beyond these buildings. From the patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who encountered God without a designated holy place, to the Samaritans who worshipped on Mount Gerizim, God's presence is diverse and expansive. The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians and later by the Romans challenges the notion that God requires a physical dwelling. Instead, it invites us to consider that God's presence transcends buildings and is not limited to any one location. This understanding encourages us to seek God's presence in our daily lives, wherever we are. [02:53]

"Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord.'" (Isaiah 66:1-2a, ESV)

Reflection: Where in your daily routine can you pause to acknowledge God's presence, even in the most mundane places?


Day 2: Worship is a Posture of the Heart
Psalm 112 calls us to a life of worship that transcends physical locations. Worship is not confined to a specific place but is about cultivating a heart that is in awe of God, receiving His light, and sharing it with others. This life of worship is a daily practice of turning to God and allowing His presence to fill us. It involves being open to His guidance and letting His love and grace overflow in our interactions with others. By focusing on the posture of our hearts, we can live a life of worship that is meaningful and transformative. [12:10]

"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:22, ESV)

Reflection: How can you intentionally cultivate a heart of worship today, regardless of your physical surroundings?


Day 3: Discovering Thin Places
We are encouraged to find our "thin places," where the separation between the divine and the earthly feels minimal, and where we can experience God's presence more intimately. These places can be in nature, in the city, or in acts of service. By seeking out these thin places, we open ourselves to experiencing God's nudges and challenges in our lives. These moments of connection can be transformative, helping us to see the world through God's eyes and respond to His call with greater clarity and purpose. [20:49]

"And Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.' And he was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'" (Genesis 28:16-17, ESV)

Reflection: Identify a "thin place" in your life where you feel God's presence more intimately. How can you visit this place more often?


Day 4: Creating Personal Sacred Spaces
The practice of creating a personal altar or sacred space in our daily lives serves as a reminder of God's constant presence. Whether it's lighting a candle, placing a prayer by the steering wheel, or setting aside a corner of your home for reflection, these small acts help us focus on God and invite His presence into our daily routines. By intentionally creating these sacred spaces, we can cultivate a deeper awareness of God's presence and nurture our spiritual growth. [22:32]

"But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:6, ESV)

Reflection: What simple act can you incorporate into your daily routine to create a sacred space for encountering God?


Day 5: Overflowing with God's Love
By regularly turning to God, we allow Him to fill us with His love and grace. This overflow enables us to share these gifts with those around us, bringing light to a dark world. Our spiritual practices, though simple, have the power to restore our souls and impact others. As we receive God's love, we are called to let it flow through us, touching the lives of those we encounter and reflecting His light in our communities. [19:09]

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." (1 John 4:7, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life needs to experience God's love through you today, and how can you intentionally share it with them?

"God gave instructions for how to put together a tabernacle, a tent of meeting. And there's extensive instructions in Leviticus and Numbers about how to put together this tabernacle. And this was a tabernacle that had a holy of holies place, a smaller tent within the bigger tent, where only the high priest went. And the Ark of the Covenant was left. And that was where God lived." [00:01:33] (28 seconds) Edit Clip


"Because there's a theological issue here. If God is in the tent and moves with the people through the wilderness, or if God is living in the temple in the city of Jerusalem, how powerful is God? Like, is God everywhere or is God only there? I mean, what is God and what is our connection with God?" [00:02:53] (33 seconds) Edit Clip


"God shows up in Ur, in another country, the country we now call Iraq, over by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. God shows up and simply starts talking to Abraham. They build up a relationship and God's like, I want you to start walking with your family and your stuff, your flocks. I want you to go to a different place, the place that we now call Israel." [00:03:48] (24 seconds) Edit Clip


"In the New Testament, we hear about the Samaritans. Now, the Samaritans were people who worshipped God, the same God that the Jewish people worshipped. They had the same text of Moses that they read as Holy Scripture. But the Samaritans, who were neighbors of the Jewish people, did not go to Jerusalem to the temple to worship. They went to Mount Gerizim. North of Jerusalem. And they gathered there to worship God." [00:04:52] (30 seconds) Edit Clip


"Now, I think part of this story... of where is God has more to do with us than it has to do with God. Because I think God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I think that's the core of who God is. I think God shows up in our lives. God works God's way into our life. Talks to us. Nudges us. Gives us ideas. Gets us to move and change and do things differently." [00:06:14] (33 seconds) Edit Clip


"So God, using the leadership of Moses, frees the Israelites from Egypt. They crossed the Red Sea. They are now in the wilderness. The wilderness of Sinai. And they don't know what to do. Like, where's our temple? Where do we go worship? So God gives them the instructions for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting." [00:08:10] (22 seconds) Edit Clip


"All of this is beautiful and lovely. But what if even the temple in Jerusalem was God trying to help us along? Because even there, they're looking around. They're looking at the neighbors. And they're like, all of our neighbors have temples. They've got beautiful buildings. We want a beautiful building. Just like our neighbors. It's what... It's what the Joneses are doing next door." [00:09:54] (30 seconds) Edit Clip


"so what do we believe does God need a building a place or is that our need is it something that God said have this place as a place to gather with me but do we really need that do we really need that does God really need that I think our theology today is that God is bigger than a building God is everywhere God is the God of the universe God can't be contained in any one building or cathedral" [00:12:10] (37 seconds) Edit Clip


"all of this leads us to our psalm today and I think when we sit with the words of this psalm I think we have to come to the realization that God is not about the building God is not about the temple the cathedral God is not about the church the cathedral God is not about the church not about a place rather God is looking for a place of worship in our hearts are our lives a life of worship" [00:13:38] (33 seconds) Edit Clip


"God has gifted us with light through the gift of his son, Jesus Christ. That we, by receiving Jesus Christ into our hearts, can become the light of Jesus. That we can bring Jesus' light to a dark world, to the people around us who are feeling a great darkness." [00:15:37] (23 seconds) Edit Clip


"So the spiritual practice today of worship in our life inspired by this psalm is to be turning to God on a regular basis so that God is refilling our bucket of light and love and grace so that we always have enough to share with the people around us." [00:19:24] (23 seconds) Edit Clip

Hello and welcome to worship today at Suamico United Methodist Church. My name is Annalisa Hunter, and I serve as pastor here.

We are continuing our worship series this month as we look at the ways that God brings light into our blahs and our blues, especially that we experience this time of year when the days are short and the skies are often gray.

Let's open today before hearing God's message with a prayer from Psalm 25.

"Show us your ways, Lord. Teach us your paths. Guide us in your truth and teach us, for you, our God, our Savior, and our hope is in you all day long." Amen.

We've been enjoying ourselves thinking about simple, ordinary spiritual practices—simple, ordinary tasks that we do every day that we can make into a spiritual practice by being aware of God's presence and doing something that helps us feel closer to God.

We've talked about saying a prayer as we get out of bed in the morning. We've talked about using laughter as a form of medicine to make us feel better. Today, we're going to be talking about "Where is God?"

Now, there's some big theological implications to this question, but where is God? Where does God live? Where do we come to worship God?

Now, after the Israelites left Egypt, they were brought through the Red Sea by Moses. God gave instructions for how to put together a tabernacle, a tent of meeting. There are extensive instructions in Leviticus and Numbers about how to put together this tabernacle.

This was a tabernacle that had a holy of holies place, a smaller tent within the bigger tent, where only the high priest went. The Ark of the Covenant was there, and that was where God lived. God would be a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud during the day, sitting right over the holy of holies. Everyone knew that was where God was.

Later, when the Israelites got into the promised land, Solomon built a beautiful temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This was the center point for the Israelites, the Jewish worship of God. They would gather at the temple, which also had a holy of holies, but it wasn't a tent anymore; it was a beautiful building. It was a room within a room within a room where people could gather, and the priests would go in to be in God's presence.

Now, all of this is very interesting. But it gets more interesting when we really start thinking about it. Because there's a theological issue here. If God is in the tent and moves with the people through the wilderness, or if God is living in the temple in the city of Jerusalem, how powerful is God? Is God everywhere, or is God only there? What is God, and what is our connection with God?

There are two more things that I want us to think about from the Bible here. The first thing is, when we think about the patriarchs of faith in Genesis—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—there's no tabernacle, there's no tent of meeting, there's no temple in Jerusalem. God shows up in Ur, in another country, the country we now call Iraq, over by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. God shows up and simply starts talking to Abraham.

They build up a relationship, and God's like, "I want you to start walking with your family and your stuff, your flocks. I want you to go to a different place, the place that we now call Israel. And I want you to start life there. I'm going to have a relationship with you that's going to be special."

There's no place for God. God just shows up with Abraham. The whole time that Abraham is living in the area that we now call Israel, the whole time of Isaac's life, the whole time of Jacob's life, there's no place for God. God shows up to them. God talks to them. Jacob wrestles with God. Jacob leaves a stone as a memory, as a memorial to his time of wrestling with God. But there's no building for God.

In the New Testament, we hear about the Samaritans. The Samaritans were people who worshipped God, the same God that the Jewish people worshipped. They had the same text of Moses that they read as Holy Scripture. But the Samaritans, who were neighbors of the Jewish people, did not go to Jerusalem to the temple to worship. They went to Mount Gerizim, north of Jerusalem, and they gathered there to worship God.

Same God, same practices, same Bible, same people, neighbors. But they worship in two different places to God, and that makes them moral enemies. We hear in the New Testament how people don't like the Samaritans. That's why Jesus uses the Good Samaritan as the person in this story to horrify his listeners.

So where is God? Is God in a building? Is God in a tent? Is God out in the wilderness? Is God everywhere? Is God with us? Suddenly, this all got really complicated.

Now, I think part of this story of "Where is God?" has more to do with us than it has to do with God. Because I think God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—that's the core of who God is. I think God shows up in our lives. God works God's way into our life, talks to us, nudges us, gives us ideas, gets us to move and change and do things differently.

Now, Jacob's son, Joseph, was his favorite son, but he was a brat. His brothers hated him. His brothers made a bad choice in sending him off to Egypt to become a slave. But Joseph was the first one who ends up in Egypt. Eventually, all the Israelites come during a time of famine. The Israelites settled down in Egypt because there is food there, there is work there.

Eventually, different rulers come. Times change. They became oppressed living in Egypt, and they cried out to God to release them and take them out of Egypt. The thing is, they lived in Egypt for quite a while. They worked for the pharaohs. They saw how the pharaohs operated. They saw how the pharaohs were seen as a son of God. The pharaohs were deities. The pharaohs were the connecting point between the gods of Egypt and the people who lived in Egypt.

Most likely, the Israelites also helped build a number of the temples. They were built to honor, to worship the Egyptian gods. So in their time in Egypt, the Israelites got used to the idea of gods having houses, of gods having temples, of having a place that you go to worship God.

So God, using the leadership of Moses, frees the Israelites from Egypt. They crossed the Red Sea. They are now in the wilderness, the wilderness of Sinai. And they don't know what to do. Like, where's our temple? Where do we go to worship? So God gives them the instructions for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting.

God knows there needs to be a transition period where God's people are being un-Egyptified—taking the Egypt out of the people. But we're going to give them something so that they can see a place for God. Because this is what they're used to. They saw the homes of the gods in Egypt.

So God said, "Okay, I'm going to make this easy for you. I'm going to give you a design for a tent that you can take with you so that you know... Maybe it's a little bit like a security blanket. So you know I am with you. You know where to gather together to worship me."

Eventually, they settle down. They're not living in tents anymore. They are building villages. They've got houses. They are a more settled people living in the area of Israel, the promised land. Eventually, King David has built up a kingdom. They have a royal city in Jerusalem. David's like, "I want to build a temple for God." And God's like, "You know, you made some screw-up choices in your life. I'm going to let your son Solomon build the temple."

Solomon builds a glorious temple, and it is the central point of the religious practices of the Jewish people. All of this is beautiful and lovely. But what if even the temple in Jerusalem was God trying to help us along? Because even there, they're looking around. They're looking at the neighbors, and they're like, "All of our neighbors have temples. They've got beautiful buildings. We want a beautiful building, just like our neighbors."

But then the Babylonians come, and the Babylonians destroy the temple. It is gone. It is leveled. The city of Jerusalem is destroyed. The people are sent into exile. Now, eventually, Ezra and Nehemiah return, and they are able to rebuild Jerusalem. They rebuild the temple. King Herod comes along. King Herod is wealthy and powerful and arrogant, and he decides to make the temple the most glorious temple anywhere.

It's huge. It's massive. He expands the foundations. It's fantastic. But come 70 Common Era, 70 years after the birth of Jesus, the Romans destroy the temple again. This time, it never gets rebuilt. Now, if you go to Jerusalem today, you can still see the foundation that King Herod built for the temple. Part of that is called the Wailing Wall, and it is a holy place for people of the Jewish faith to go and pray to God, to worship God, to put prayers on pieces of paper and fit them between the stones.

But up on top, there is no temple. There now is a mosque. It is the third holiest site for the people of the Islamic faith. It is still a place of God's presence, but it is different.

So the question is, does God need a house, a temple, a building? In the earliest days, there was no building. In the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, there was no building. Then we have the tent, and we have the temple, and then we have no building again after they have all been destroyed.

So what do we believe? Does God need a building, a place, or is that our need? Is it something that God said, "Have this place as a place to gather with me," but do we really need that? Does God really need that?

I think our theology today is that God is bigger than a building. God is everywhere. God is the God of the universe. God can't be contained in any one building or cathedral.

When we look through Christian history, we can see all sorts of buildings. We can see humble house churches. We can see churches that were carved out of rock, and then we see the glorious cathedrals of Europe. But how many of those cathedrals, as amazing as they are, say more about the powerful people that paid to have them built and less about the God who is being worshipped in those places?

To be honest, most of those places are more tourist attractions now than houses of worship. There may be priests and religious leaders who are continuing to worship in those places, but so often there are more tourists than worshipers praying inside.

All of this leads us to our psalm today. I think when we sit with the words of this psalm, we have to come to the realization that God is not about the building. God is not about the temple, the cathedral. God is not about the church. Rather, God is looking for a place of worship in our hearts, in our lives—a life of worship.

When we talk about a life of discipleship, a life following in the way of Jesus, our church is a spiritual pathway that we encourage people to grow with Jesus on. The first one is, what is your life of worship? Your prayer, your devotional life, both daily alone and when you gather each week together.

A life of worship is what Psalm 112 is calling us to. It starts with "Happy are those who have awe for God." We don't use the word "awe" much; we say "awesome" a lot. But awe—to be in awe of someone—when was the last time you stopped your life and were in awe of someone?

Another line in the psalm says, "They rise in darkness as a light for the upright. They are gracious, merciful, and righteous." God has gifted us with light through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. By receiving Jesus Christ into our hearts, we can become the light of Jesus. We can bring Jesus' light to a dark world, to the people around us who are feeling great darkness.

Towards the end of our reading, we see, "They have distributed freely. They have given to the poor. Their righteousness endures forever." God gives to us freely, and then God asks us to distribute, to share with the people around us.

It starts with the light of life, but it includes our talents, our energy, our excitement, our care, and our love—our financial resources, the stuff of our lives. A life of worship is not just coming to God with awe, but it's receiving what God gives us and then sharing through our offerings to the people around us.

So what about us today? The psalm is not focusing on a location for God. Instead, God wants to be with each of us. We can choose to take time out of our life to give to God so that God can flow through us to the people around us.

The best description of this I ever heard was from Pastor Terry Tate. I was at a conference when I was a young mom. I was excited to go to the conference, but I had two little kids running around at home, and I didn't have money to get there. Somehow, someone at church managed to pay my way and take care of my kids.

I went, and this pastor talked about his daily prayer life. Every morning, he said he got up and went wogging—a walk-jog thing. He would put on praise music and spend time focused on God by listening to Christian music that focused his mind, and he would pray.

The way he described it was, he said, "You know, I have a bucket, and I put it out, and I say, 'God, fill me up. Fill me up with all the love that you have for me.' And when I am focused on you, and I am holding my bucket, you are filling me so full that my bucket is overflowing with all the love that you have for me."

While I am focused on you and my bucket is overflowing, that overflow splashes onto the people around me. But he said, "Do you know what happens when I stop turning to God with my bucket? I turn to the person next to me, and I am so excited. I am sharing out of my bucket the love and mercy and grace. But then my bucket runs out. If I don't turn myself back to focus on God, my bucket will be empty, and I will have no light, love, or grace to share with anyone."

I thought that was such a wonderful image—to be turned towards God with our buckets, to be filled with light and love. When we turn to anything else in our life, no matter how deserving of our attention, we turn away from God, and our buckets start to empty.

So the spiritual practice today of worship in our life, inspired by this psalm, is to be turning to God on a regular basis so that God is refilling our bucket of light and love and grace so that we always have enough to share with the people around us.

So what is that place where you can best focus on God? Where is it that you turn towards God and feel your bucket getting filled? I know a bunch of people say, "It's when I'm by water." Maybe it's the fishermen who are out on the water quietly fishing. Maybe it's the people who love sailing and boating and the rush of the wind and the waves.

Some of us just like sitting with the waves lapping or the river or the creek going by. For many people, where there's water, the water of life, they feel God. Other people feel God when they are walking through the woods, listening to the birds, seeing the animals, the bugs flying around when they are in nature.

But other people feel close to God when they are in the city, with the busyness of all the people God has created bustling around them. Some people feel close to God when they are serving their neighbors who are struggling.

For each of us, it's going to be a different place. These places sometimes have been considered thin places. Thin places are places where people feel like there's less of a separation between this life and the next.

Some of us have known loved ones and been with them as they are nearing death. Sometimes they talk about the people who've gone before, who have died in their lives, and they can see them again and talk to them. There's a thinness to the separation as they are preparing to go over to the next phase of our life with God.

Some of us, when we are by the water or in the woods, or maybe there's a favorite park bench, or maybe there's a corner of our house, there are places where we feel God's presence on a regular basis. There is a thinness to those places.

The woman, Marsha McPhee, who wrote this worship series for us, feels her thin place is when she is on the Isle of Iona off the coast of Scotland. It has been a holy place for centuries where people have gathered to worship and to be with God.

What is your thin place? What is the place where you feel close to God? What is the place where you feel God's presence, where you can feel God's nudges and God's challenges in your life?

This week, we have another spiritual practice card you can pick up here at church. If you are looking online, if you go to our home page, there is a blue button that says "Spiritual Prayer Cards," and you can click that and get a copy of all of the cards. There's a nice graphic on the front, and then there's a prayer and some ideas of things to do this week.

This week, we suggest that you create a little altar for yourself or a little altar to share with people around you. Find a place and intentionally spend some time with God there. Maybe it's lighting a candle during your devotional time. Maybe it's putting some flowers by the kitchen sink or the kitchen stove, where you can think of the holy duty you are doing when you're preparing food to feed the people you care about.

Maybe it's putting a prayer or a Bible verse by your steering wheel in your car, so that when you get in your car to go someplace, you say a quick prayer as you are going to work to serve others or as you are delivering loved ones to appointments and events.

Find a place where you can be with God on a regular basis this week and make it a special little place. Bring something in that is meaningful to you. Maybe even do something else—maybe in the corner of your yard where the people walking by can look at that and say, "You know what? That is a special place. There is something special, holy happening in this place."

I encourage you to spend time in this place and share this place with other people. Because I think a lot of us are just trying to blow through our lives. Henry David Thoreau talked about people living lives of quiet desperation, and many of us don't know how to live our lives.

When we live our lives, we don't know how to live our lives. Many of us are just trying to get through our days, and we are not happy in the awe of God. So let's bring some of that happiness in by taking time to find awe.

Now, some of you are like, "You know what? There are some people who have some really serious mental health problems. These little spiritual practices—just how much good can they really do?"

Well, I've been hearing some great stories from people about the times that they have shared laughter in the last couple of weeks, the special surprise moments of mercy they shared with their co-workers or loved ones.

This week, I was in a gift store at a museum, looking through stuff. I had been given a gift certificate for my birthday, and I came across a book that talked about walking in the woods and a program that takes veterans who are suffering from mental health problems. They talk about walking in the woods when they are struggling with PTSD and other mental health issues.

They take them on long walks—sometimes super long walks like the Appalachian Trail, but sometimes just a few hours in the woods. It talks about the profound, substantial improvement in their mental health that comes from time spent in the woods on a walk.

These may be simple, small spiritual exercises that we are adding to our lives, but they are not the only things that we are adding to our daily lives. Sometimes it is only a minute or two that we are carving out for God in our days. It is not a huge, massive thing; we're not building a cathedral. But these things matter. They bring health; they restore our souls.

So try this spiritual practice this week. Try some of the ones from the previous weeks. The ones you like, keep doing. If it's not for you, we'll have another one next week. But there is strength, and there is power when we take time to seek God, to feel God, to be with God.

God wants to fill our buckets of light and love and grace so that we can overflow to everyone around us. Let's take that time this week. Amen.