Here is a Call to Worship for Easter morning, based on Isaiah 25:6-10: God has destroyed the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations. Let us rejoice and be glad in God’s salvation. God has wiped away our tears and removed our disgrace. Let us rejoice and be glad…
Originally posted on Spacious Faith:
Holy Week tends to be pretty hard on pastors–or at least on me. There is, of course, the practical aspect of organizing and leading extra worship services. (Between today and next Sunday there are seven worship services in which I have a significant part.) More worship services means more sermons…
[This is an excerpt from my sermon for March 22, 2015. You can read the full sermon text here.] I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me. “I have calmed and quieted my soul.” This calm, this stillness,…
I think it is natural to imagine that our holy spaces will be quiet, private. Places where we can be still and alone. Or maybe with a few intimate friends. Yet if we define a holy space as a space inhabited by God, then the Gospels affirm crowded places as distinctly holy. Jesus was often…
Creative Prayer Experience based on John 12:20-33 Create a drawing or collage of a growing plant–possibly a wheat stalk. Show the “dead” seed within the earth and the living plant above. If you would like, you can add words to your collage. Within the earth, write words that represent “deaths” you have experienced–deep disappointments, things…
Our scripture readings this Sunday are Luke 13:34-35 and Psalm 131. Here is the call to worship I wrote: Our Creator longs to gather us under her wings. We long to rest near the Divine heartbeat. In this sacred space of worship, God’s longing and our longing meet. Like sheltered chicks, Like weaned children, We…
While we can inhabit holy spaces, scripture reveals that the holy inhabits us as well. God puts the holy law within us. God writes on our hearts. God cleans us from the inside out. As we consider holy spaces along this Lenten journey, we must recognize that our very bodies are holy spaces because God…
So we’re not exactly using the Lectionary right now. This Sunday’s theme is “sacrifice,” and here is our call to worship based on Micah 6:6-8. With what shall we come before our God? How shall we approach the Almighty? Should we write large checks? Should we empty our wallets? Should we promise to fast and…
I am notoriously bad with directions. My ability to get lost has amazed and astounded my friends throughout the years. Some of them have found out the hard way that just because I’ve been somewhere before does not mean I know how to get there again. For that matter, just because I’ve gotten somewhere does…
Lent was a fairly new concept for me when I was in college, and one year I decided to make the ultimate sacrifice—chocolate. I still remember standing in the ice cream parlor, looking at the luscious rocky road and chocolate swirl and brownie chunk ice cream–and choosing butter pecan. Butter pecan. Such is the suffering…
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