'God' Tagged Posts
The gospel and God.
“The gospel” and “God” are not identical, of course, but the gospel discloses who God is by expressing what God’s intentions look like; we see these intentions when people experience healing, inclusion, forgiveness, and hope. Acts depicts the gospel as not only a message but also something embodied in Jesus’s followers, as individuals and mostly as the communities they form.” ~from “Intrusive God, Disruptive Gospel, Encountering the Divine in the Book of Acts” by Matthew L. Skinner p. xvi How…
The word God.
In her book On The Mystery, Discerning Divinity in Process, Catherine Keller writes: “But what is the link between the truth question and the God question? There are, of course, truths about anything and everything. But in the vicinity of religion, and in particular of Christianity, truth has also served as code for “God” and whatever God reveals. But even if we understand God to be “absolute” – non biblical but conventional language — that understanding does not make,…
Source of Life
“Nothing is real without deriving its reality from God. This was the great discovery of St. Francis when he suddenly saw the whole world in God’s hands and wondered why God didn’t drop it. St. Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John Vianney, and all the saints are saints precisely because for them the order of being was turned around and they saw, felt, and -above all- knew with their heart that outside God nothing is, nothing breathes, nothing moves, and…
Toward Sunday
On Ramp is our five-week worship series imaginatively exploring central topics in Christian faith. We turn from Bible to God this week in worship. We are drawing upon and adapting some of the framework of a series called Animate (Faith) by SparkHouse Publications as we prepare this worship series for our particular context. Outline for On Ramp ▪July 12: Religion (Mark 6.14-29) ▪July 19: Bible (Acts 17.10-12) ▪July 26: God (1 Timothy 6.16, John 1.18, Matthew 6.9, Revelation 4.1-11, Luke 13.34) ▪August…
Crossovers
“Whatever drew the crowd to Solomon’s Portico and to Peter and John that day, the chances are good what they received when they got there was not at all what they expected. They came to Solomon’s Porch wide eyed and astonished, lured by the mystery of healing, and what they got in return was … a sermon. They came drawn like moths to the ultraviolet glow of miracle, and what they got was the clear, steady light of a homily.…
Toward Sunday
This week our worship will be rooted in Matthew 2.1-12 and the Magi’s arrival at the birthplace of Jesus. We will celebrate Epiphany which is the day after the twelve-day celebration of Christmas (or, in some liturgical calendars, the twelfth day of the Christmas season). The English word “Epiphany” comes from the Greek word epiphaneia, which means “appearing” or “revealing.” Epiphany focuses on God’s self-revelation in Christ. On this day, many Christian traditions pay special attention to the visit…
God the Accompanist.
Here is an image of God. Playing along. Waiting for you to approach. Knowing your tune before you are aware. Accompanying you. What would it be like if you understood that this is how God is with us on The Advent Way?
Heaven
We will consider these two definitions of heaven in our worship over the coming weeks: (1) heaven [is] exclusively…the place one goes to when one dies… and (2) heaven is the origin of a reality that is coming towards us at present. Your life is an open doorway where God enters the world. What you say and do, what you notice, what you hold and set down, each is a portal. The passage is best left open, not filled. Fully…