'baptism' Tagged Posts
Toward Sunday
This week we continue our worship series with a celebration of Baptism. Outline for Christian? It’s Complicated. October 4: rooted in Grace. it’s complicated. Mark 1:9-11 October 11: growing in faith. It’s complicated. Mark 10:17-31 October 18: reaching in love. It’s complicated. Mark 10:35-45 October 25: Baptism. Mark 10:46-52/Galatians 3:27-29 November 1: Deep Commitments Mark 12:28-34 Read Mark 10:46-52. Jesus said to [Bartimaeus], ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the…
First time…again?
“And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time” ~ from T.S. Eliot’s “Little Gidding” from Four Quartets. As adults, so much of what we “know” of the Bible has been learned in settings that teach a “right way” of understanding. While this is not inherently a bad thing it does limit one’s understanding. If you have had the privilege of the initial moment of latching your…
Toward Sunday
We’re so grateful for Jackie Kortright’s leadership in worship on Sunday. We will continue our worship series this week called I Wonder… While Godly Play is our ministry with children, we have shared Godly Play with students at UC Davis and colleagues in various ministry settings. This worship series will be transformational for people of all ages as we wonder together about the stories of our Christian tradition through the lens of Godly Play. Outline for I Wonder… ▪May 31:…
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…
Toward Sunday
We are in the third week of our series called Artisans at The Table. Outline of Artisans at The Table September 7 Soul based on Genesis 2.7 & Exodus 2.1-15 September 14 Voice based on Genesis 3:1-11a September 21 Image & Craft based on Matthew 3.13-17 September 28 Masterpiece: A New Humanity based on John 2.1-11 In this week’s reading we encounter Jesus presenting himself at the River Jordan for Baptism. What voices might Jesus have been hearing…
The home. The belonging. The name.
How to speak of this? There is light, resting on you, wrapping everything, creating height, slipping down and up each wall even cupping undersides in soft white hands. The bird, whose language no one understands, how does it choose just where it flies, it sings, it lands? There is heat, murmured, a glue that holds you to everything, makes you all one word. And silence, yes, bestowed, not left: tendered, its weft woven with the warp of tiny threads, little…
Toward Sunday
We continue our five-week worship series this Sunday with a celebration of Baptism! It is a beautiful gathering in the life of our community. This worship series will invite reflection on the significance of our Baptismal identities. The United Methodist Book of Worship states, “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…
How Deep?
The Sanctuary, Social Hall and our entire campus are fruits of the extravagant generosity of those who have gone before us. They lived with sincere faith. We are called to “Guard the good treasure entrusted to [us], with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.” Our extravagant generosity will share this treasure with the generations to come. What difference does extravagant generosity make? Think of a time in which you witnessed extravagant generosity or were the recipient…
Toward Sunday
We begin a five-week worship series this Sunday called How Deep? This worship series will invite reflection on the significance of our Baptismal identities. The United Methodist Book of Worship states, “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…deeper experiences of God, acts of Christian…