Pastor's Blog Spot
Pastor's Blog Spot
Practicing Gratitude: A Moravian Love Feast
Dear Lely Church Family:
On Sunday, November 2, Lely Presbyterian Church invites you to our Moravian Love Feast worship service – a unique and celebrative service rooted in the traditions of the early Christian church. Love feasts (also called Agape Feasts) grew out of the practice of sharing absolutely everything in common and being reminded of the unity and equality found in the faith community.
Our Moravian Love Feast on November 2 will be a contemporary version of this service, which will include: personal faith testimonies “gratitude reflections”, scripture readings and poetry, traditional Thanksgiving hymns, the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and music led by a Dixieland jazz band. We encourage you to arrive to the church sanctuary early that morning as the music will begin at least 15 minutes before the worship service begins. Traditional to a Moravian Love Feast, sweet bread will be shared during the worship service, and we will enjoy hot, mulled apple cider in Kemp Hall following worship.
This year’s Moravian Love Feast – focused on the theme “Practicing Gratitude” – will highlight four specific steps:
– Embrace Mystery
– Experience Your Deep Sorrow
– Be Present in the Ordinary and Extraordinary
– “Say it!” – Express Your Gratitude
In your worship service bulletin, there will be a place where you can write your own personal notes as you reflect on some specific ways you might consider practicing gratitude in this season.
The Moravian Love Feast is among my favorite worship services, which I have experienced now for over 10 years! One of the reasons why I find this service so meaningful is because I believe the worshipper can really feel and experience the community of faith in such a palpable way as church members share powerful, heartfelt testimonies and as there are many, many worship leaders participating in the worship service. There is also lots of congregational singing and, personally, Thanksgiving hymns are among my favorite of all Christian hymns.
This service will be a wonderful way to get ready for Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas with the knowledge that Jesus is the reason for the season and that Christ is the foundation of all of our lives and faith. Every one of us will be invited to practice gratitude – to be poised to offer all praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth.
“Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices.”
– Pastor Jonas Hayes
Our Moravian Love Feast worship service will be on Sunday, November 2 at 10:00 a.m. Remember to come early to enjoy the Dixieland jazz band as we prepare to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We hope you will also join us following worship that day in Kemp Hall for a special Pancake Breakfast prepared by Scout Troop 325.
Pastor Jonas
Celebrate World Communion Sunday. - October 1st
Dear Lely Church Family:
This coming Sunday, Lely Presbyterian Church will celebrate World Communion Sunday. World Communion Sunday, which begin in 1933 at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. World Communion Sunday was an idea of the Rev. Hugh Kerr to proclaim the interconnectedness of all Christians at the Lord’s Table. In 1940, the Federal Council of Churches (which we know now as the National Council of Churches) promoted World Communion Sunday globally, coinciding with World War II, to promote unity during a time of division.
In a world that has become so divided by conflicting needs and politics, World Communion Sunday is just as important and prophetic today as it was in its early days. One of Jesus’ heartfelt prayers, which he prayed before his death and resurrection, was: “…that all may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” (John 17:21)
Jesus Christ proclaims a new command to “love one another” (John 13:34-35), but we must be able to see each other first before we are able and empowered to “love one another as Christ loves us.” (John 13:34-35; 15:12)
This Sunday in worship, we invite you to dress in clothing from:
a.) your native country,
b.) a place associated with your family ancestry, or
c.) a place from your travels.
When we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion, we will hear the Words of Institution – “This is Christ’s body broken for you” and “This is Christ’s blood shed for you” -proclaimed in various languages as spoken by members of our church family. Various breads from other cultures and around the world will be displayed on the Communion Table.
At the Lord’s Table, we are doing much more than receiving bread and the cup. At the Lord’s Table, we encounter God’s Spirit and we leave as a changed people, as God empowers us to see the world with scripture-colored glasses and to see the world from Christ’s perspective.
The world is in great need of World Communion Sunday.
May it be more than one Sunday that we proclaim our unity with our brothers and sisters around the world.
May we strive to see one another in our own uniqueness – “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) – so we can love one another as God’s beloved.
Pastor Jonas
Lely Presbyterian Church Weaves Music and Art into Engaging Fall Sermon Series - August 24, 2025
Beloved Church:
This coming Sunday, August 31 will conclude the Summer Sermon Series on the Lord’s Prayer with a sermon entitled “AMEN.” In the Bible, the Hebrew word that is typically translated as “AMEM” also means: “May it be so!” “Certainly!” “So be it!” It is an affirmation of the people of God; it is a response to God’s Word as God speaks.
Often, we say or hear “AMEN” at the conclusion of a prayer such as when we say the Lord’s Prayer. However, sometimes “AMEN” is said at the beginning. In the Bible, Jesus often proclaims: “Verily I say to you…”, which also means: “truly” or “AMEN.”
And so, this Sunday, as we reflect on the single word “AMEN” – it is not only a conclusion of the Summer Sermon Series; it is also a beginning of a new chapter and season in the life of Lely Presbyterian Church.
Beginning Sunday, September 7 – I will begin a new Fall Sermon Series exploring the Bible along with contemporary music and art. The series is entitled: “The Human Songbook: Finding Your Voice in God’s Narrative.”
Communion Sundays are on the first Sunday of each month and for this fall sermon series the Communion services will be “Motown Eucharists” (September 7 and October 5) – which means the Sunday morning worship services will include songs from Motown. Worship services this season will also include versions of songs “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye, “One” by U2, and “Time” by Pink Floyd. Music is not an afterthought at Lely Presbyterian Church. As King David taught in the Psalms, music is a powerful form of prayer. In the words attributed to St. Augustine: ‘When you sing, you pray twice.’”
In addition to weaving in music, contemporary art will also be engaged as part of this series. On Sunday, September 28 – a church member at Lely Church will paint a live art canvas depicting the biblical story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42.
Our worship of our Lord Jesus Christ engages all our senses. “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” Psalm 34:8 proclaims.
And may God inspire us to deepen our faith and practice of God’s commands.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jonas
“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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