Pastor’s eNote: Weekly Update

There are lyrics, prayers, and poems which lodge themselves in our minds and hearts. Even people with memory loss can often easily recall these artifacts, especially when they are set to music in a phenomenon called “musical mnemonics.”

I am always blessed when making a pastoral call to someone deep in memory loss or even closer to death when they can say Psalm 23 with me or sing a hymn. The Lord’s Prayer is also quickly recalled even by those who appear to be asleep!

The same can be said in moments of panic. Our brains can recall things in a seemingly remarkable way. Prayers, songs, and liturgies somehow lodge themselves in our spirit. They are evident when we often feel most helpless.

I learned the Lord’s Prayer when I first came to Christ and learned it as part of our weekly worship. Of course, I learned and said it for decades using the words, “trespasses” instead of “debts.” As a witness to how deeply the prayer gets into our Spirit, you may hear me stumble over these same words in our Sunday worship. Old forms are hard to overcome. Rather than a mistake, I like to see it as a witness of how deeply Jesus’ words in the Lord’s Prayer have made an imprint on us all.

This Sunday we will conclude our worship series on the Lord’s Prayer with these words, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Perhaps moments of temptation and confrontation with evil are the very moments the Lord’s Prayer should come to mind. When faced with temptation, testing, struggle, or even evil we might just begin praying the prayer which is engrained into so many of us.

This might be most true when we have no idea of what to pray. (Which is often true in the face of crisis, temptation, and yes, the loss of our memory.) What God sees is not just the words, but the intent of the heart. Defaulting to the Lord’s Prayer signals the heart’s intent to seek the Lord. Liturgy is not just ritual. It is rhythm and rhyme. It is a cadence of living which serves to shape our hearts into followers of Jesus.

Take a moment right now….

“Our Father who art in heaven…”

Grace to You All,

Pastor Craig Brown

(November 11, 2025)