'growing in faith' Tagged Posts (Page 15)
Barns
Someone out of the crowd said, “Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance.” He replied, “Mister, what makes you think it’s any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?” Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.” Then he told them this story: “The farm of…
Toward Sunday
We continue our five-week worship series this Sunday called How Deep? This worship series invites 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 commitment,…
Flooding
Along the brimming river sandbags lie in mute protection, inert, dense, impassable. For cities on rivers this is good. But how are our hearts sandbagged against the deep opaque flood that threatens us each moment, the murky, relentless waters of resurrection, the eroding force of humility and failure, the depths of wonder, the force of the unfathomable, and all that we cannot control? A world presses against your thin levees, waits to inundate you, swamp you, cover you, in the…
Sanctification
In “Beauty and the Beast,” it is only when the Beast discovers that Beauty really loves him in all his ugliness that he himself becomes beautiful. In the experience of Saint Paul, it is only when we discover that God really loves us in all our unloveliness that we ourselves start to become godlike. Paul’s word for this gradual transformation of a sow’s ear into a silk purse is sanctification, and he sees it as the second stage in the…
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…
Hope of Heaven
How silly: we stand on the porch of heaven a little uneasy, though eager, too, the heartfelt invitation in our hands, briefly admiring the pearly gates— amazing, really, the pearl, the craft, the lucent colors purling up the columns, the welcome warmth wafting from within— but then we turn to the hope at hand… and so— how silly, and how sad: we stand and fumble for the keys, and rummage anxiously, and dig around forever, searching, failing, grasping more, our…
Toward Sunday
We conclude our four-week worship series this Sunday called The Difference Heaven Makes with emphasis on the ethics and hope of heaven. Our worship series has been rooted in the biblical texts below and the work of two important theologians: Christopher Morse (The Difference Heaven Makes) and Jurgen Moltmann (Sun of Righteousness, ARISE! and In the End-The Beginning) Outline of Series September 8: Hearing of Heaven Today (Isaiah 60.1-9) September 15: The Theology of Heaven (I Corinthians 7.29-31) September 22:…
Wondering
Christopher Morse states, “The most real thing about our present life on Earth now is heaven.” What does this mean to you?
(Why is your) Heaven so small.
We listened to this song in worship Sunday as we considered the difference heaven makes. We invite you to do the same where you are today.
Toward Sunday
We continue our four-week worship series this Sunday called The Difference Heaven Makes with emphasis on the reality of heaven. Our worship series will be rooted in the biblical texts below and the work of two important theologians: Christopher Morse (The Difference Heaven Makes) and Jurgen Moltmann (Sun of Righteousness, ARISE! and In the End-The Beginning) Outline of Series September 8: Hearing of Heaven Today (Isaiah 60.1-9) September 15: The Theology of Heaven (I Corinthians 7.29-31) September 22: The Reality…
Moment of Clarity
“The resurrection of Christ is not just a promise that you get to go to “heaven” when you die. It’s a moment of clarity that heaven is at the heart of this world. It unveils the reality that God, who brings creation out of chaos and life out of death with loving grace, is actually the dominant force in the universe. Despite the appearances of this world, the anxious workings of our ego-minds, and the powers of this world…