From the Pastor

WELCOME!

Published on May 9, 2023 // Written by Don Flowers

Welcome to the virtual home of Kernersville Moravian Church! We are glad you are visiting with us!

That is a different kind of welcome! It wasn’t that long ago that a “virtual welcome” was an unknown term, but now so much of our world is spent virtually! We get our news online, watch movies online, communicate with our children and grandchildren online. So we want to use this medium to communicate with you, to let you know what is going on at our church, to give you an opportunity to worship with us, to assist you whenever and however we can.

Many times people ask, who are Moravians? Well, the Moravian Church traces our roots before the Protestant Reformation. We believe in the priesthood of all believers, the importance of education, and the need for social justice. We are also known for their strong missionary work. We founded the first Protestant school in the Americas, and they have been instrumental in the development of music education. The Moravians have also been involved in many social justice movements, such as the abolition of slavery and the fight for women’s rights.

That is who we have been, but no we are moving into a wonderful hopeful future. We continue our social justice work through Bethany Cafe, providing a meal to those in our community in need. We have a strong music program with our band, our choirs for all ages. We seek to provide worship that is open and welcoming to all.

That is some of who we are, but the best way to know about us is to come and experience us in person. Our worship service begins at 10:00 Sunday morning with childcare provided.

If there are other questions you have, or if there is a way we can be of service to you please let me know. You can email me at DonF@kernersvillemoravian.org.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

JOIN US!

Published on April 14, 2023 // Written by Don Flowers

There are a few things that pastors can count on the Sunday after Easter.

The sermon will be about Thomas. It is the text EVERY year the week after Easter.
The crowds will be much smaller!

Well, I can promise you number 1! Thomas is making his yearly appearance Sunday.

I just hope you will prove us all wrong about number 2! Come and join us as we continue to remember the Easter story. It isn’t a one-day event you know!

While I have your attention, I want to thank everyone who helped make our Holy Week services so memorable. To Paula, the choir, the band, the soloists—you made such a difference. To Cheryl Cottingham who added her voice to our reading every night! And to you who showed up, walking with us every step of the way. You made this a Holy Week I will never forget!

Remember. We will see you Sunday!

Holy Week

Published on March 30, 2023 // Written by Don Flowers

Sunday begins the most holy week of the Christian year. We will begin with the celebration of Palm Sunday, a wonderful time with our children leading us with palms and song. It is going to be wonderful.

But I hope you will not leapfrog to Easter!

Join us each evening as we walk with Jesus, not just in triumph, but all the way through the week. To the cross, and to the open tomb.

The daily walk will make the season more meaningful.

See you Sunday morning!

What’s in the Middle of Your Garden?

Published on February 28, 2020 // Written by Christy Clore

Wait, aren’t we supposed to be in the wilderness with Jesus? That might be more what you’d expect to find me reflecting on as we begin a Lenten journey, but… the lectionary actually offers us two texts that ask us to consider where our focus is. Yes, there is the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, the typical text with which to begin our Lenten journeys. But there is also the temptation in the garden of Genesis that is another wilderness journey.

In Jesus’ wilderness, his focus always points back to God. He trusts God will provide, so he doesn’t need the offer of food. He doesn’t feel the need to test God’s care and he doesn’t crave power. Jesus’ temptation and stance is unique – it’s about who Jesus is meant to be. His focus is all on God – what God is calling him to be, what God offers that nothing else can. But our wildernesses usually look a bit more like the wilderness of Genesis and that tree in the center of the garden. But which tree is in the center of that garden? In Genesis 2:9, there are 2 trees – the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

But when we get to the temptation for the humans living in the garden in 3:3, we have a singular tree. What happened to the other one? Oh wait, God asked them not of eat of only one of those trees, the good & evil one. The fruit of the other is fine, the fruit from the tree of life. The focus is only on the one that is forbidden.

So the question comes to mind, what’s in the middle of your garden on this wilderness ramble we’re embarking on? God was in the middle of Jesus’ garden. But where is your focus, what consumes it? That’s what’s in the middle of your garden. Is your focus, the place where you center your garden, where you mean for it to be? Could this be a season to re-center yourself?

I Am With You

Published on November 16, 2019 // Written by Christy Clore

What does it mean for us to hear throughout scripture that God is with us? For Moravians, this is part of what our celebration of the Chief Eldership of Christ is about. Christ is the Chief Elder who sits among us in every Board or committee meeting, in every classroom, in every small group that gathers. Christ sits at all the tables and gatherings of life with us. This is the uniquely Moravian perspective on the immanence of God, the promise God that is present to us in the world.How should this knowledge that Christ sits among us in our conversations shape more clearly, or even transform, our ways of being with and for one another? How should it be impacting everything we undertake together?

Haggai offers the word of the Lord to the people, “Take courage,” he says, “for I am with you.”

From the Pastor

Watchword for 2023