Blog (Page 76)
The Character of Koinonia
John Chrysostom (347-407) writes, Why must you be salt? Jesus says in effect: “You are accountable not only for your own life but also for that of the entire world. I am sending you not to one or two cities, nor to ten or twenty, nor even to one nation, as I sent the prophets”…. For this reason, you see, he requires from his disciples those character traits that are most necessary and useful for the benefit of all. What…
You Are Salt
We will reflect on how God is creating Koinonia in our midst in worship this Sunday. We’ve looked back at Koinonia in history, we’ve looked around at how Koinonia is taking shape in other parts of our country, and now we will explore the contours of Koinonia in our own community of faith. Our reading will be taken from Matthew 5 beginning with verse 13: 13“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how…
Hope for Koinonia
We were inspired on Sunday by the stories of Koinonia taking shape in new United Methodist communities of faith across the country. Where do you find Koinonia, intimate community, in your own life these days?
Toward Koinonia Part 4
We were able to record our worship again for the Podcast. Click here to listen to this morning’s message.
Being Open to Following
Our reading for Sunday will be Matthew 4:12-23. Spend some time today reading these verses from Matthew. In response to this story, Rev. Kate Huey asks: How does God call us, in our own settings, to repent, that is, to turn in a new direction, to open our lives to a radical renewal that may upset and re-orientate them?
New Churches And Koinonia
We’ll be learning about several new United Methodist churches from around the country this Sunday in worship. We’ll reflect on on how these communities are creating Koinonia. Visit their websites. Read about their new ministries. Hear their unique stories. Then, join us Sunday at 10:30 am at The Table for a morning of inspired and inspiring worship. Urban Village in Chicago. Servant Church in Austin. New Creation in Campbell, CA. Revolution and Redemption Churches in Kansas City.
Prayer for the Close of the Day
We reflected on the life and writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer last Sunday. His ministry was a witness to Koinonia. Near the end of his life, Bonhoeffer wrote this prayer: O Lord my God, I thank you that you have brought this day to its close. I thank you that you give rest to body and soul. Your hand has been over me, guarding me and preserving me. Forgive my feeble faith and all the wrong I have done this day, and…
New Communities Reaching New People
We will hear the stories of new United Methodist communities of faith emerging around the country this Sunday in worship. We believe many of these new church starts are expressions of Koinonia, or faithful community, in our day. When you look around where do you see Koinonia in your own life?
Standing for Koinonia
In worship yesterday we reflected on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his experience with Finkenwalde Seminary in Germany during the rise of Hitler. Bonhoeffer’s discipleship ultimately cost him his life. His prophetic witness to costly Grace challenges us all to consider how we practice our faith today. Where and how are you standing for Koinonia today?
New Monasticism
Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, The restoration of the church will surely come from a sort of new monasticism which has in common with the old only the uncompromising attitude of a life lived according to the Sermon on the Mount in the following of Christ. I believe it is now time to call people to this (from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letter to Karl-Friedrich Bonhoeffer on January 14, 1935). What might a “new monasticism” look like today? How would you live today “a life…
Beatitudes
We will reflect in worship this Sunday on Koinonia through a study of the beatitudes and Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life in community. Read Matthew 5.1-12 here. Bonhoeffer offers these words on the beatitudes: Having reached the end of the beatitudes, we naturally ask if there is any place of this earth for the community which they describe. Clearly, there is one place, and only one, and that is where the poorest, meekest, and most sorely tried of all men is to…
Life Together
Our worship this Sunday at The Table will focus on Finkenwalde, an underground seminary led by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Germany in the mid 1930’s. Bonhoeffer writes, “Christian brotherhood [koinonia] is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate” (Life Together, Chapter 1). How is God creating koinonia in your relationships? When have you been most aware of your own participation in this reality that God is…