Pastor's Blog Spot
Pastor's Blog Spot
“Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”: A Call to Prayer and Compassion - August 5th 2025
Dear Friends in Jesus Christ
-Mark Twain said, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I don’t understand that bother me – it’s the parts I do understand.”
It’s our human nature that it is easier to focus on ideas that we agree with as opposed to ideas that we find challenging or disagree with entirely. When we read an article or watch the evening news, it is easier to listen to opinions that align with our thoughts on what is right and how the world should be.
And yet, our Christian faith calls us to grow in our faith, hope, and love by being open to change and transformation. “Love one another, as I have loved you,” proclaims Jesus. (John 13:34) St. Paul, one of the first apostles and church planters proclaims the call to be ever open to new ideas and to be open to changing our minds as he says: “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” (Romans 12:2)
The Bible is clear: we are called to offer care and compassion to people who are experiencing poverty and food insecurity, as well as others who are marginalized and oppressed by society. The Poverty and Justice Bible is one great resource which highlights more than 2,000 verses that focus on issues of poverty and justice.
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer and say: “Give us this day our daily bread” – we are not simply praying for physical food for ourselves. We pray that God’s people will be fed throughout the world – fed with physical food, but also spiritual food such as the fruit of God’s Sprit – such as “joy, peace, kindness, and goodness.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
Mark Twain said, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I don’t understand that bother me – it’s the parts I do understand.”
In his paraphrase of the Bible entitled The Message, the late Eugene H. Peterson interprets Isaiah 58 to say:
“What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.” (Isaiah 58:6-9)
Each Monday from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Lely Presbyterian Church serves over 300 people in our community through a mobile food pantry called Meals of Hope.
Lely Presbyterian Church also regularly helps to serve food and home goods to families of farm workers in Immokalee along with many other initiatives in community engagement and mission.
In The Message, Isaiah 58 proclaims:
“If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.” (Isaiah 58:9-12)
We pray: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Prayer is our lifeblood. Prayer is our relationship with God. The members and congregants of Lely Presbyterian Church are a people of prayer. And yet, Lely Presbyterian Church desires to do more than to say “our thoughts and prayers are with you” when people are experiencing distress and hopelessness. Our church family desires for our prayer life and ministry to also show the love and compassion, the justice and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
May we be bread for one another, so that everyone has enough and no one has too much. (remembering words of Robert McAfee Brown)
God’s peace and grace,
Pastor Jonas
Holy Listening - July 5, 2025
Dear Friends in Christ,
The great church leader who wrote almost half of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, proclaims:
“We do not know how to pray as we ought, but God’s Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26)
I take great comfort in these words to know that God is actively searching my heart and “intercedes with sighs” that encourage us even when we struggle to find the right words. One of the most valuable and meaningful words shared with me about prayer is that “Prayer is a relationship. Prayer is not a product.”
Prayer is actively listening for God, as well as speaking our own personal, heartfelt prayers. This summer at Lely Presbyterian Church, as we explore the Lord’s Prayer in our Sunday morning sermon series, there will also be another opportunity for prayer – beginning on July 8 – through a 30-minute prayer service, which will be held on Tuesday mornings at 9:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary. These prayer services are called Holy Listening Prayer Services.
I will facilitate an abbreviated practice called Lectio Divina, meaning “sacred reading”, which is an ancient Christian prayer practice focusing on the slow, contemplative reading of scripture. Lectio Divina is a prayer practice, which is a significant part of my personal devotional practices. I look
forward to sharing this practice with you – a prayer practice that has come to be among my most cherished of spiritual practices!
Lectio Divina has four steps or phases, which are not meant to be mechanical or formulaic. In the same way that a conversation has rhythms, ebbs, and flows, so too does the Lectio Divina prayer
practice.
The four phases of Lectio Divina are: lectio (listening/reading), meditatio (meditation), oratio (prayer),
and contemplation (contemplation).
Lectio Divina is the practice of praying with the scriptures; it can be practiced alone or in a group. Lectio Essential to Lectio Divina is not focusing too much on a literal, surface meaning. That meaning may
end up being important, but God may also speak to you through this passage about something completely unrelated to its literal content.
I will read the scripture passage one time and then invite anyone who wishes or is so moved by God’s Spirit to share a word that stands out for you. Listen for God and God’s word to you as you
find a word that resonates with you and as you hear others share a word that resonates with them.
Meditatio
Meditate on your word and is drawing you into a deeper relationship with God. It may be more than one word and you may be drawn to multiple words as you hear others share. God can take you anywhere. What images come to mind as you meditate? What thoughts and feeling come up for you?
Perhaps you recall an area in your life that is challenging or unreconciled and you seek Christ’s healing and peace. Repeat your word(s) and allow yourself to listen. You may be moved to speak to God.
A member of the group will read the scripture a second time and I will invite anyone who would like to share a phrase or portion of the text that is catching their attention. Oratio Beautiful and life-giving conversations consist of both listening and speaking. After listening for God in silence, we may be moved to respond with more words. God’s Spirit will intercede on our behalf whether our prayers are verbal or non-verbal “…with sighs too deep for words.”
I will invite a member of the group to read the scripture for the third time and then invite anyone
who would like to share a very brief reflection (no more than 1-minute to allow for others to share if
they wish).
Comtemplatio
The conversation comes to a close and we say: “Thank you, God!” AMEN. May it be so and we
express our gratitude to God for the living Word of God.
______________________________________________________________________________
This ancient prayer practice of Saint Benedict from 1500 years ago takes seriously the belief that the
Bible is the living Word of God. Through the Bible, God speaks to the reader directly in the here
and now. We just have to “incline our hearts” to God and listen for God’s word through holy
listening (ref. Psalm 119:36).
May God bless you and keep you on your spiritual journey of faith,
Pastor Jonas
Holy Listening - July 5, 2025
Life-Giving Prayer - 07-01-2025
Dear Friends in Christ,
One of my favorite Christian writers, Anne Lamott, says there are three essential prayers for every Christian: help, thanks, and wow. We cry out “help” in times of need. We pray “thank you” when we feel gratitude. And we say “wow” when we are in awe of God’s grace, mercy, and love.
St. Paul reminds us, “We do not know how to pray as we ought, but God’s Spirit intercedes on our behalf with sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26)
The Book of Psalms has long helped me find words to pray. The psalmists have inspired me to pray alongside God’s people through the ages and to discover fresh expressions of God’s grace in my life and in the world. They are wonderful prayer partners. And Anne Lamott continues to help me find my own voice in saying: help, thank you, and wow!
Beginning Sunday, July 13, we will launch a new 8-week sermon series at Lely Presbyterian Church: “Life-Giving Prayer”—a summer journey through the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9–13.
The Lord’s Prayer is not a formula, but an invitation to bold, passionate, and meaningful conversations with God. When Jesus says, “Pray then in this way…,” He offers us a path to live as God intends. Each week, as we pray these familiar words, we proclaim the truth of God’s amazing love and grace.
Come and worship the God “who is making all things new” with us this summer. Let’s explore the Lord’s Prayer line by line and deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ together.
We hope you will join us.
God’s peace and blessings,
Pastor Jonas
Father vs Heavenly Father! - 06-15-2025
This coming Sunday, we celebrate Father’s Day, a time to honor and give thanks for the fathers and father figures who have shaped our lives with wisdom, love, and guidance. But as a family of faith, we also pause to reflect on a deeper question: How do we give thanks to our eternal Father in heaven? How do we acknowledge the boundless love and protection of our Holy Guardian, who walks with us every step of our journey?
In recent years, Father’s Day gifts have ranged from practical tools to thoughtful keepsakes—a digital tape measure for precision, a 365-day prayer book for men to nourish the spirit, a smoker oven for shared meals, or a personalized embroidered t-shirt to carry meaningful words close to the heart. Yet beyond these tokens of appreciation, we are reminded that true gratitude goes beyond material offerings.
How do we express our thanks—not only to our earthly fathers—but to our eternal Father? Through worship, reflection, and embracing the lessons of love and forgiveness that He has placed before us. This Sunday, we invite you to gather in faith, as we explore this theme in the sermon “Earth Is Forgiveness School.” Worship begins at 10 AM, and you are warmly welcomed to join us in fellowship, prayer, and praise.
Come, reflect, and celebrate the love that surrounds us—both here on earth and in the heavens above. You are welcome here.
Pastor Jonas
Get the Red on! - 06-08-2025
This coming Sunday, June 8 is Pentecost Sunday, which celebrates the birth of the church.
Pentecost is 50 days after Easter. It’s a period of time the disciples of Jesus are beginning to forget the passion that they once had soon after the resurrection.
What are you passionate about? How are you called to serve Jesus Christ in the community in this season?
So, come to worship with us at Lely Presbyterian Church as we seek to experience the divine in the context of a diverse community as part of the Body of Christ.
Sunday morning worship is at 10:00AM.
Remember to wear the color red in worship to remind us of the fire of God’s Spirit acting in the world and inside every child of God.
See you in church!
-Pastor Jonas Hayes
Lely Presbyterian Church; Address: 110 St Andrews Blvd., Naples, FL 34113; Phone: (239) 774 – 6151; Website: www.lpcnaples.org
Pastor Jonas
Generational Love - 06-01-2025
This coming Sunday, June 1 – the theme of my message for worship is: Generational Love.
In the news, we have been hearing about “intergenerational trauma”. Whenever a person or group oppresses or marginalizes another, many of the victimized people may suffer trauma, and then pass on that trauma.
To all who have experienced generational trauma, Psalm 100 proclaims Generational Love: “The Lord is good. God’s steadfast love endures forever and God’s faithfulness to all generations!” (Psalm 100:5) Come and reflect on God’s word proclaimed in Psalm 100 and to reflect more deeply on how we can proclaim God’s Generational Love in place of the intergenerational trauma which we can experience.
And may God empower us to proclaim and offer God’s Generational Love – and to create space where God’s people can thrive and flourish. Worship is at Lely Presbyterian Church is at 10:00AM. All are welcome.
Welcome to Lely Presbyterian Church. Welcome to worship. Welcome home.
Pastor Jonas Hayes
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