Posts from June 2011

As we reflect this week on our neighbors, those from “all of Judea,” may this poem by Ted Loder be our prayer: I Remember Now in Silence Lord, plunge me deep into a sense of sadness at the pain of my sisters and brothers inflicted by war, prejudice, injustice, indifference, that I may learn again to cry as a child until my tears baptize me into a person who touches with care those I now touch in prayer: victims of…

Barbara Brown Taylor writes, At its most basic level, the everyday practice of being with other people is the practice of loving the neighbor as the self.  More intricately, it is the practice of coming face-to-face with another human being, preferably someone different enough to qualify as a capital “O” Other – and at least entertaining the possibility that this is one of the faces of God (An Altar in the World). In what concrete ways will you go about…

We continue with week 2 of Reaching in Love this Sunday in worship at The Table.  Worship will be rooted once again in Acts 1.8:  8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We will focus this week on what it means to be witnesses “in all Judea.”  Judea was a very large region in…

We gathered yesterday for the first part of our Reaching in Love worship series.  Worship focused on what it means to witness and to reach in love in the places we call home.  We began with prayer stations that invited us to reflect on where we live, work, go to school, spend our time, and where we’d like to explore. God of Grace, May our worship gatherings inspire and challenge our community to reach in love with more intentionality and deeper…

THE EYES OF CHRIST Where is the servant church amidst the bluster and boast? Look to the tables: look to the dining tables where stranger and misfit find both food and welcome. Look to the altar tables where humility and justice roll down. Look to the bread: broken shared at the altar broken shared in the home broken shared in the lunch break broken shared in the open heart. Look to the eyes: eyes that rejoice eyes that weep eyes…

Worship this Sunday will focus on what it means to reach in love in our own homes. The following is from Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” Act 1. Brother and Sister Rebecca & George are having a conversation: REBECCA: I never told you about that letter Jane Crofut got from her minister when she was sick. He wrote Jane a letter and on the envelope the address was like this: It said: Jane Crofut; The Crofut Farm; Grover’s Corners; Sutton County; New…

Several of us met Majora Carter at the Inhabit Conference in Seattle this spring. Here is Majora Carter reflecting on people committed to creating peace with justice in their own neighborhoods: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyYjI7zQlaA]

The mission of The United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.   One commentary reflects on the relationship of our Scripture for this worship series (Acts 1.8) to the mission of the church in this way: Jesus does not respond to speculation surrounding what is “not yet” but insists that his disciples engage in a mission “right now.” He points out that the disciples are not waiting for the Spirit within…

We begin our worship series, Reaching in Love, this Sunday with reflection on Jesus’ commission to witness in Jerusalem (Acts 1.8). Jerusalem was home for many of the followers of Jesus.  In a reflection on home, Frederick Buechner writes: The word home summons up a place-more specifically a house within that place-which you have rich and complex feelings about, a place where you feel, or did feel once, uniquely at home, which is to say a place where you feel you…

We begin a new five-week worship series at The Table this Sunday called Reaching in Love.  Worship will be rooted in Acts 1.8:  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Our first worship will focus on what it means to witness in “Jerusalem.” Jerusalem was home for the people gathering at the beginning of…

We gather for the final week of our worship series Ekklesia this morning at 10:30 am.  We’ll celebrate Matt’s ordination and reflect on God’s calling in our own lives. Barbara Brown Taylor writes, One midnight I asked God to tell me as plainly as possible what I was supposed to do.  “Anything that pleases you.” That is the answer that came into my sleepy head.  “What?”  I said, waking up.  “What kind of an answer is that?”  “Do anything that…

Barbara Brown Taylor tells this story of the first pastor she remembers.  She was 7 years old: The pastor was a kind young man with no family of his own, who soon became a regular guest at our supper table.  I grew to adore him.  He was vital and funny and could catch an airborne fly with one hand.  He listened to me when I talked and let me lead him on tours of my projects around the house.  He…