Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - April 5, 2023

Over the course of the last forty days, we have been examining what it means to look for love in the wrong places. We have been reminded that power, certainty, status, money, approval, control and fame are false paths that don’t connect us to God’s love. In fact, searching for those things often leads to addiction, emptiness and despair. 

God’s love is something different. It is not earned; it is poured out. There are no supply chain issues in God’s economy. God’s love does not run low because of inflation.  

This week we will be examining what that love looks like. A love that is an immovable object; an unstoppable force. Love that overflows.

Join us for a Feast of Love at Mi Fogata on Thursday, Stations in the Street on Friday in Giddings Plaza and our Easter worship at Chicago Methodist Senior Services on Sunday. 

Wherever you are, know that God loves you.

Peace,

Matthew

Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - March 30, 2023

I am sure that each of us have stories from our past of things that happened in unexpected ways. Our lives seldom turn out to follow the plans that we have set out for ourselves. Still, I am confident that God works through our lives. God redeems the places where we don’t do things quite right. God guides us in unexpected ways.

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was unexpected. This traveling preacher who became the talk of the town. In much the same way, God’s love is unexpected. It pours out and overflows to each of us, and we share that love with the world around us. 

This week at Berry will be filled with unexpected moments.  From Palm Sunday at our pizzeria home, Borelli’s, to Maundy Thursday at Mi Fogata, to Good Friday in Gidings Plaza, to the culmination of our Lenten journey on Easter Sunday at Chicago Methodist Senior Services. These are not the traditional spaces of Holy Week, but they are they places where God is calling us to gather. After all, none of the historical events occurred in a holy place. They each occurred in the ordinary spaces of the people of that time. 

Won’t you join us as we meet God in the ordinary spaces of this time.

Peace,

Matthew

Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - March 23, 2023

Have you ever had that sense of freedom that comes with knowing that you are doing what you are called to do? It can be an exhilarating feeling when the actions we are involved in match up with the needs of the world in a way that creates synergy and life. 

As I read the story of Jesus’ life more closely, I notice the way that Jesus lived. He knew that he was upending the power structures of the time, and he kept showing up. He kept reaching out. He kept loving people.

This Sunday we hear of one of those acts of liberating love.

Peace,

Matthew

Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - March 16, 2023

When A Christian statement gets placed on buttons and bumper stickers it loses its appeal. “What would Jesus do?” is one of those sayings that was overused to the point that is can sound hackneyed to my ears. Still, it is not a terrible way to look at life. I often ask myself where God is leading me, where God is leading this congregation. What would Jesus do? 

When we open our table to all, I believe we are doing what Jesus would do. When we draw the circle wide, we are doing what Jesus would do. When we remember the older adults in our community who live with memory loss, we are doing what Jesus would do.

As we gather for Brunch Church this Sunday, we will discuss the story of Jesus healing a blind person on the Sabbath. When the Pharisees heard they asked themselves, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” To my ears it sounds similar to those who would keep our LGBTQIA siblings from being pastors. It sounds similar to those who question how we can pay for policies that will care for those with mental illness or house the unhoused. It sounds similar to our inability to believe that "certain people" are capable of powerful acts of goodness.

Time and again Jesus uses the metaphor of the shepherd to teach us how we ought to love and care for each other. Join us for Brunch Church. Join us for the conversation. Join us as we look for the shepherd.

Peace,

Matthew

Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - March 9, 2023

I know that each of us has places where we like to go to recharge. For me one of those places is in the wilderness. One of my favorite places to go is Isle Royale National Park. It is situated on Lake Superior in between the upper peninsula of Michigan and Canada. 

When camping on Isle Royale there is no cell coverage, there is no electricity, there is not even running water, so I have to learn where to find water clean enough to be filtered or boiled for drinking. It is in situations like this that I begin to understand the value of a well. A place to find pure drinking water that does not need to be filtered or boiled. A place to encounter a thirst-quencher safely.

This Sunday we will be examining the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. She had looked for love in many places, but Jesus offered her living water. Even in a world of water on tap, the living water that Jesus offers is able to quench thirsts that I have more than anything I can find in the deepest of wilderness. Join us as we worship with the people of Chicago Methodist Senior Services. 

Peace,

Matthew 

Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - February 23, 2023

One of the things that the last few years have taught me is the importance of connection. As I spent more time in my own home during the times of high COVID transmission, I came to realize how much I depend upon my social connections for my own grounding.   

I recall being on a call with a friend of mine who asked me how my prayer life was. He recognized that times of loneliness in his life often coincided with times of disconnection from God. He went so far as to wonder if the loneliness that he felt was God missing him. It was a convicting conversation that changed the way I see prayer. 

During Lent we will ask what steals vitality and bandwidth from being able to live and love fully the things and people that are most important to our lives. How we often look for love in all the wrong places. 

We are also offering a small group that will meet on Wednesdays using the book Soul Reset. In it, Julius Dotson details his own journey of running at a pace that was unsustainable. While preaching at a funeral he collapsed and was diagnosed with extreme fatigue. He realized that vulnerability and authenticity are the way to find wholeness. 

We had an introduction to the book on Wednesday, but will hold the first study session in the coming week. Please consider joining us. 

All that we do during Lent is offered to draw us closer to God, because God does miss us when we aren’t connected.

Peace,

Matthew

Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - February 16, 2023

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

These are the powerful words that we use each year on Ash Wednesday. They are words that I am familiar with, yet they still elicit many thoughts of reflection for me. Thoughts of introspection and evaluation. They give me the permission to look at my life, but to also accept God’s grace. 

During Lent this year we will be examining ways to piece together a life of purpose and meaning while also looking at the things that fail to bring meaning and connection.  Our series Looking For Love will offer moments to revisit our own priorities. 

Our Ash Wednesday offering will be in the community. We are offering Ashes to Go at the Western Brown Line stop. What better way to enter Lent than to look someone in the eye and let them know that they are dust. Register online or get in contact with me if you are able to join us. If you can’t apply ashes, think about stopping by to receive ashes.  

Peace,

Matthew

Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - February 9, 2023

Ten years ago, I began a position as the Activities Specialist in an assisted living facility in Evanston. Although I had the experience of ten years serving in youth ministry, for one year in seminary I was a chaplain intern for older adults, and the position was a good fit for that time of my life. Youth ministry centered on building relationships and planning events where people could have fun and build bonds. This was also much of what I did at the retirement center that I worked at. 

One of the activities that I lead was a seated exercise class. We would move our feet to the music, stretch from side to side and lift weights. The class was not long, but it was one of my best attended activities because the people there knew the benefits of moving. As I have heard said, “Move it or lose it.”

This Sunday we will worship at Chicago Methodist Senior Services. Although I won’t be leading a seated exercise routine, our message will be centered around the practice of moving to elevate our mood. This is a great opportunity to engage in worship and to share in ministry to the community. I hope that you can join us.

Peace,

Matthew  

Message from Rev. Matthew Krings - February 2, 2023

A number of years ago Megan and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary by traveling to Ireland. After spending all of my life in the US, and always being interested in history, I experienced awe when encountering things older than the dates the first Europeans traveled to North America. Many of the very old places that we visited were also known as sacred spaces. What Celtic Spirituality describes as thin places.

Thin places are believed to be places where the boundary between heaven and earth thinner than they are in other places. Places where there is an experience with the holy. I do enjoy this idea of places having meaning, and some places being more meaningful than others, but I have been thinking about how we can use the idea of a thin place to create meaning in our lives.

I think of friends who have told me that they have altars in their own homes. Not places where they worship, but rather places where they have placed things that have meaning for them. I wonder if this creates a personal thin place, because although there are places that I know I feel more aware of God, I also believe that God’s presence lies in all of creation. 

This Sunday we are exploring how we can create our own little altars to boost our mood during this season. The sun continues to shine a little more each day. I pray that you are able to lean into God’s goodness as you go about your own day.

Peace,

Matthew 

Message from Rev Matthew Krings - January 26, 2023

“But employ whatever God has entrusted you with, in doing good, all possible good, in every possible kind and degree, to the household of faith, to all…” 

John Wesley

Some of my favorite memories in ministry have come while serving others. Whether it was in the hills and hollers of Appalachia, at a reservation in North Dakota, or serving the children of Rogers Park, my life has been changed by service to others. Beyond that, service to youth at camps and vacation Bible schools is what stoked the fire of ministry that I found in my own heart. We are taught that loving our God and loving our neighbors goes hand in hand. They are inseparable.

As we continue to focus on practices that center around our mental health, this week we will be discussing the ways that being in service to the world not only connects us to God, but provides purpose and meaning. Think of your own life. In what ways have simple gestures of kindness and caring allowed you to fully live out who you have been created to be? How has service that someone has provided to you changed your own perspective?

I hope that you are able to join us on Sunday morning at Borelli’s. Bring a friend. Service to others is a ministry that all the world understands.

Peace,

Matthew