2026-10-15
Brooke Strong
A Place By Me
Thursday, October 15, 2026
The Federated Church of Chagrin Falls
This Sunday, we will celebrate Judy Bagley-Bonner as she transitions back into retirement. But how do you give thanks for someone whose story with a congregation reaches all the way back to childhood?
Long before Judy served in ministry here, she was a child growing up among these people. Her life and the life of Federated have been woven together for decades. This congregation has helped shape her, and she has helped shape this congregation. And that is a great deal of shared life to bring into worship.
This Sunday we will be exploring with Judy a passage that invites us into a conversation between Moses and God. In Exodus 33, Moses has been entrusted with leading a people, and he wants to know that God will go with them. He asks to know God’s ways. Then he makes an even bolder request: “Show me your glory.”
God’s answer to Moses includes the words that give Judy’s sermon its title: “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock.”
I suspect many of us recognize that longing. We want to see the One we have been trusting. We want some glimpse of the goodness that has sustained us, especially when life is changing and we cannot yet see what comes next.
God gives Moses a place to stand and shelters him as the divine presence passes by. Moses cannot see God’s face, but he is allowed a glimpse after God has passed. Perhaps there is something familiar in that, too.
Sometimes we recognize God’s presence most clearly when we look back. We remember someone who helped us find our voice. A community that made room for us to grow. A difficult season we somehow came through together. What we could not fully understand while living it begins to look, in memory, like grace.
As we celebrate Judy, we have an opportunity to pay attention to that grace in our own shared life. What have we received through her presence and ministry? What has she helped us see? What will we carry forward because she has been among us?
And there is another word in this passage that deserves our attention. God tells Moses: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
I hope we can hear that promise for Judy this Sunday. There is joy in giving thanks for work faithfully offered, and there is love in blessing someone’s freedom to lay that work down. The belonging that began here in childhood reaches beyond any particular role.
I hope you will join us as we listen to Scripture, celebrate Judy, and give thanks for the goodness of God that has passed through so many years of life together.
Read Before Sunday
Exodus 33:12–23
Questions for Reflection
- Who first helped you know that there was a place for you in the life of the church?
- What gift from Judy’s life and ministry (or perhaps some other pastoral presence) in your life do you carry with you?
- What does God’s promise of presence and rest mean to you in a season of change?
I look forward to making these promises with you this Sunday.
With Gratitude,
Pastor Michael
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