Posts from May 2014
Book of Worship
“From John Wesley’s Sunday Service of the Methodists of North America in 1784, through the hymnals, rituals, and books of worship of our antecedent denominations, our official worship resources have defined our Church. They celebrated our heritage in worship and formed new disciples of Jesus Christ. Out of this tradition comes The Unted Methodist Book of Worship.” (from the preface of the BOW). I wonder if people are aware of the deep roots of the worship we celebrate at The…
Worship is not random
The order of worship is not random. Many communities of faith follow the same order and make it their own by adding specific language, music, ritual and prayers. Take time to read our scripture passage for this series. (Acts 17.22-31) Paul’s response to the people in Athens could easily be read as a surprise to their the way in which they ordered their way of life. Think of a time in which you were surprised by something that happened…
Toward Sunday
We continue our worship series, Missio Dei, this Sunday with focus on understanding the parts of worship. We will reflect on why we do what we do in worship this Sunday. Outline for Missio Dei May 18: Worship & The Mission of God (Acts 17.22-31) May 25: Meaning & Purpose of Worship (Acts 17.22-31) June 1: Understanding the Parts of Worship (Acts 17.22-31) June 8: Pentecost Celebration. Worship as Hospitality & Hope. (Acts 2.1-21) Our basic pattern of worship at The Table…
Prayer for your day
Great God in whom I am. Great God, in whom I am,whose being isall Being:Bein me.Dear Christ, near whom I am,thou breath of nearness:do not leave me,but my Mother be.O Spirit,truth of God, and truth of me:be thou my life,that all my living bebut thee. by Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Möbius
In writing about her experience working with a möbius artist Lygia Clark writes: “No separation between subject-object. It is a body to body affair, a fusion. The different responses will come out of your choice.”. How do you experience connection between God’s mission and worship?
Toward Sunday
Worship this Sunday will invite us to reflect upon the relationship of worship to mission through the image of the möbius strip. We often think of worship as separate from mission. This week’s worship will offer an alternative to this thinking. Outline for Missio Dei May 18: Worship & The Mission of God (Acts 17.22-31) May 25: Meaning & Purpose of Worship (Acts 17.22-31) June 1: Understanding the Parts of Worship (Acts 17.22-31) June 8: Pentecost Celebration. Worship as Hospitality…
Family Album?
“Our worship is the medium of our identity over time. Like a family album, our liturgy bears the marks of those who have gone before us-portraits of those we have never met, inscriptions written in many different hands, bits and pieces of treasured correspondence, favorite recipes, prayers, and remedies-all of them left for us by our ancestors in the faith, who have bequeathed us their manual for approaching God.” (from The Preaching Life by Barbara Brown Taylor p 65) How…
Worship
“Worship is the ongoing practice of faith, and not only the practice but the actual experience of it. Whether it takes place around a kitchen table or the carved marble altar of a great cathedral, worship is how the people of God practice their reliance on their Lord. Through liturgies of word and table… we do what we were created to do. We pray, we listen to God’s word, we confess, we make peace, we lift up our hearts, we…
Toward Sunday
We begin a new worship series this week called Missio Dei, Missio Dei is Latin for “the mission of God.” In this series we will explore the meaning of worship and wonder about how worship relates to mission. Followers of Jesus have often separated worship from mission (or reaching in love as we tend to call it). In this series, we will reflect more deeply on the interrelatedness of worship and mission (on being rooted in Grace and reaching in love).…
Flock of love
You, the voice that I know because you know me, because you call me by my name, the unsaid name you gave me, voice of silence, speak. Utter me into myself. Shepherd of my soul, lead me into my body. Lead this kept sheep out of my want. Through this death-shadowed valley bring me with you. I obediently follow to perfect freedom. Out of the sheepfold comes a flock of love. by Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Shepherd’s Voice
The sheep follow because they know the shepherd’s voice. —John 10.4 There are voices in the streets within: the sales pitches and the rants, the thrilled anxiety of lurking disaster, the voice of the displeased father, the unhappy mother, the fearful voices that remind you how you should fit in and don’t, what you have to do and can’t, who you ought to be and won’t. Don’t listen to that rush of that traffic, the chanting of those crowds.…
Listen
“It is no surprise that the BIble uses hearing, not seeing, as the predominant image for the way human beings know God. We can’t walk around God and take God in like a cathedral or an artichoke. We can only listen to time for the sound of God – to the good times and bad times of our own lives for the words which out of God’s innermost secrets God is addressing to, of all people, us.” (adapted from…
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