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THE EYES OF CHRIST Where is the servant church amidst the bluster and boast? Look to the tables: look to the dining tables where stranger and misfit find both food and welcome. Look to the altar tables where humility and justice roll down. Look to the bread: broken shared at the altar broken shared in the home broken shared in the lunch break broken shared in the open heart. Look to the eyes: eyes that rejoice eyes that weep eyes…

Worship this Sunday will focus on what it means to reach in love in our own homes. The following is from Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” Act 1. Brother and Sister Rebecca & George are having a conversation: REBECCA: I never told you about that letter Jane Crofut got from her minister when she was sick. He wrote Jane a letter and on the envelope the address was like this: It said: Jane Crofut; The Crofut Farm; Grover’s Corners; Sutton County; New…

Several of us met Majora Carter at the Inhabit Conference in Seattle this spring. Here is Majora Carter reflecting on people committed to creating peace with justice in their own neighborhoods: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyYjI7zQlaA]

The mission of The United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.   One commentary reflects on the relationship of our Scripture for this worship series (Acts 1.8) to the mission of the church in this way: Jesus does not respond to speculation surrounding what is “not yet” but insists that his disciples engage in a mission “right now.” He points out that the disciples are not waiting for the Spirit within…

We begin our worship series, Reaching in Love, this Sunday with reflection on Jesus’ commission to witness in Jerusalem (Acts 1.8). Jerusalem was home for many of the followers of Jesus.  In a reflection on home, Frederick Buechner writes: The word home summons up a place-more specifically a house within that place-which you have rich and complex feelings about, a place where you feel, or did feel once, uniquely at home, which is to say a place where you feel you…

We begin a new five-week worship series at The Table this Sunday called Reaching in Love.  Worship will be rooted in Acts 1.8:  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Our first worship will focus on what it means to witness in “Jerusalem.” Jerusalem was home for the people gathering at the beginning of…

We gather for the final week of our worship series Ekklesia this morning at 10:30 am.  We’ll celebrate Matt’s ordination and reflect on God’s calling in our own lives. Barbara Brown Taylor writes, One midnight I asked God to tell me as plainly as possible what I was supposed to do.  “Anything that pleases you.” That is the answer that came into my sleepy head.  “What?”  I said, waking up.  “What kind of an answer is that?”  “Do anything that…

Barbara Brown Taylor tells this story of the first pastor she remembers.  She was 7 years old: The pastor was a kind young man with no family of his own, who soon became a regular guest at our supper table.  I grew to adore him.  He was vital and funny and could catch an airborne fly with one hand.  He listened to me when I talked and let me lead him on tours of my projects around the house.  He…

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…