Posts from 2014 (Page 2)
Toward Sunday
Searching scripture is one of the ways we stay in love with God. To this end, we continue this week with our study of the writings attributed to John from the New Testament. We focused our first two weeks on the Gospel of John and the Letters of John. We will conclude our three-week series this Sunday with reflection on the Revelation of John. Outline of Worship Series. November 9, 2014 Gospel of John (John 3.16) November 16, 2014 Letters…
God’s love
We never get beyond God’s love for us in Christ and how that is lived out in love for one another. We are always drawn back to that central, and centering, claim. We know God’s love, first and foremost, through knowing Jesus; and we know God’s love because we have witnessed it in love for one another. 1 John 7 may serve as a reminder that we never grow beyond our need to hear again the gospel of God’s love…
Toward Sunday
Searching scripture is one of the ways we stay in love with God. To this end, we continue this week with our study of the writings attributed to John from the New Testament. We focused on the Gospel of John in worship last Sunday and we turn to the the Letters of John this week. We will conclude this three-week series with reflection on the Revelation of John. Outline of Worship Series. November 9, 2014 Gospel of John (John 3.16)…
Mot Juste
The Gospel of John is written in a different fashion than the others. Below is a quote from Frederick Buechner (Peculiar Treasures, a bibilical who’s who. p83) to ponder as you go through your day and in preparation for our new worship series on John. “Jesus, for John, is the Jesus he knew in his own heart and the one he believed everybody else could know too it they only kept their hearts open. He is Jesus as the Word that…
Toward Sunday
Searching scripture is one of the ways we stay in love with God. To this end, we will study the writings attributed to John from the New Testament over the next three weeks in worship. We will begin with the Gospel of John, then turn to the the Letters of John, and conclude with reflection on the Revelation of John. Outline of Worship Series. November 9, 2014 Gospel of John (John 3.16) November 16, 2014 Letters of John (1 John…
Toward Sunday
We draw our worship series, How Deep?, to a close this Sunday by offering our Deep Commitments. Please prayerfully consider how you would like to deepen your commitment to God and our community of faith in the coming year. Here is a link to our online Deep Commitment Card.
Holy persons
Parker Palmer shares a story about one of God’s children like this. “On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks – an African American woman who was a seamstress and in her early 40’s – did something she was not supposed to do; she sat down at the front of a bus in one of the seats reserved for whites – a dangerous, daring and provocative act in a racist society. Legend has it that, years later, a graduate…
Baptism
“Baptism is an act that looks back with gratitude on what God’s grace has already accomplished, it is here and now an act of God’s grace, and it looks forward to what God’s grace will accomplish in the future….Baptism anticipates a lifetime of further and deeper experiences of God, further acts of Christian commitment, and ministries in the world.” (United Methodist Book of Worship pg. 81) How often do you remember your baptism? What about your baptism has been meaningful…
Toward Sunday
We continue our series, How Deep?, this Sunday with a celebration of Baptism. How Deep? Oct 5 rooted in Grace (Matthew 14.22-33) Oct 12 growing in faith (Matthew 14.22-33) Oct 19 reaching in love (Matthew 14.22-33) Oct 26 Celebration of Baptism (Matthew 22.34-40) Nov 2 Deep Commitment Sunday (Matthew 23.1-12) The United Methodist Church teaches “that in baptism God initiates a covenant with us, announced with the words, “The Holy Spirit works within you, that being born through water and…
Reaching
John Wesley defined Methodists during his life as people who ‘unite together to encourage and help each other in…working out their salvation, and for that end watch over one another in love’ (from A Blueprint for Discipleship p. 109). Who do you watch over in love? How is your faith made deeper from this act? Who watches over you in love? How has this love inspired your faith?
I wonder
This scene of Jesus and Peter on the water with the disciples looking on from the boat has been our image for wondering How Deep? How Deep? are we are willing to go this year as we root our lives in Grace, grow in faith and reach in love? As you go through your day today we be aware of the opportunities around you for reaching in love to others. In your workplace, in your classroom, at home and in…
Toward Sunday
We continue our series this Sunday called How Deep? Our church continues to grow in number and depth because of the deep commitments of so many. Each fall we devote an entire worship series to reflecting on the depth of the commitment we would like to make to God & our church for the coming year. We will focus each of the first three weeks on the simple (artisan) ingredients that frame our life together: rooted in Grace, growing in…