Posts from June 2011 (Page 2)

A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition: We take upon ourselves with joy the yoke of obedience.  We are no longer our own, but thine.  Put us to what thou wilt.  Rank us with whom thou wilt.  Put us to doing.  Put us to suffering.  Let us be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.  Let us be full.  Let us be empty.  Let us have all things.  Let us have…

The United Methodist Book of Discipline states: Ordained ministers are called by God to a lifetime of servant leadership in specialized ministries among the people of God.  Ordained ministers are called to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world and the promise of God for creation…elders are called to ministries of Service, Word, Sacrament, and Order.  Through these distinctive functions ordained ministers devote themselves wholly to the work of the Church and to the upbuilding…

The United Methodist Book of Discipline states: …the ministry of all Christians is shaped by the teachings of Jesus.  The handing on of these teachings is entrusted to leaders who are gifted and called by God to appointed offices in the church:  The United Methodist Church has traditionally recognized these gifts and callings in the ordained offices of elder and deacon.  The United Methodist tradition has recognized that laypersons as well as ordained persons are gifted and called by God…

We’ll conclude our current worship series, Ekklesia, this Sunday with a focus on ordination.  Our worship will be rooted in 2 Timothy 1.1-14.  Here is a link to the text. Who are the family or friends who’ve inspired you in your faith journey?  What are some of the factors or events in your life that led you to “sincere faith” as Paul describes?  Think back to when you first decided to follow Jesus, what have you learned about the cost…

The podcast from yesterday’s Pentecost sermon and spoken word is on our website.  Listen here. Thomas Long writes, Augustine said, in the very first homiletical [preaching] textbook in the history of the church…that the purpose of a sermon is “to teach, to delight, and to persuade.”  When Augustine preached, what he wanted to hear at the door of the church was not, “Thank you for your little talk,” but “I learned something this morning, I was moved by what you…

Thomas Troeger writes, I recall hearing in a chapel one day a slightly nasal, reedy organ stop, the kind of sound that intrigues the ear.  The tonal quality was so rich and distinctive that I felt if I reached out, I would touch the sound with my hands, as if it were a substance suffusing the air.  I saw others around me perk up their ears.  This was a far different experience from each of us listening to our tunes…

The Low Road (an excerpt) Two people can keep each other sane, can give support, conviction, love, massage, hope… Three people are a delegation, a committee, a wedge  With four you can play bridge and start an organization.  With six you can rent a whole house, eat pie for dinner with no seconds, and hold a fund raising party. A dozen make a demonstration. A hundred fill a hall. A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter; then thousands, power…

What is Confirmation? Let’s recall how John Wesley uses God’s House to describe the ways that grace works in our lives. The porch, the doorway and the house… God’s grace that goes before us is like the front porch of a house, we call this prevenient Grace which “wakes us up” to God.  Once we have “woken up to God” , God’s grace works to get us in the front door.  Through this justifying grace, we are enabled to have…

John Ortberg tells the story of a friend who made his first trip south of the Mason-Dixon Line from Chicago to Georgia. On his first morning in the South he went into a restaurant to order breakfast, and it seemed that every dish included something called grits… Not being familiar with this southern delicacy, he asked the waitress, “Could you tell me, exactly what is a grit?” Looking down on him with a mixture of compassion and condescension, she said,…

Thomas H. Troeger writes, Who would ever have picked Peter, that wavering and unreliable disciple, to deliver the first major sermon after the ascension of Christ?  Yet there he stands before a crowd enlightening and expanding the landscape of the heart:  “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall…

We will celebrate Pentecost and confirmation in worship this Sunday.  Our worship service will be rooted in the story of Pentecost in Acts 2.  Read the full text here. Reflect on a time when you have traveled where you did not speak the language of those you encountered.  What was it like?  In the Acts story, those gathered were able to hear the others speaking in their own language.  Have you ever experienced anything like this? In comparison to how…

We will move in our worship series from baptism to confirmation and Pentecost this Sunday. As we transition, we pause to offer time in prayer: For wedding celebrations near and far, for the persistence of folks celebrating Gay Pride in the rain, for graduating seniors and their families, for new employment opportunities, for the celebration of the lives of our loved ones who have passed away, for the dreams of new ministries…Gracious God, we give thanks. For families who grieve…