This weekend I took my 12-year-old daughter to see Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. And I have to say that I just don’t get it. I mean, I get that Justin is cute–if you’re twelve. And I get that he has a good singing voice. And I get that he has a pretty amazing stage…
Words for Anointing Happy Wednesday, everyone! Someone else is doing most of the worship planning for this coming Sunday, which means I haven’t written any new liturgies for the week. I’m posting the words I speak to people when I do anointings. We do not offer anointing at my church very often; when we do,…
This call to worship is based on a piece from Seekers Church. Their site contains many beautiful liturgies–it’s one of my go-to resources. The offertory prayer is one I wrote awhile back. As always, feel free to borrow/adapt these for your own use. Call to Worship: In the presence of our Creator, who called the…
When I saw that one of the Lectionary readings for this week was from Leviticus, I promptly (and, yes, sarcastically) informed my husband that we don’t hear enough sermons based on Leviticus. Well, you know what’s coming next, right? I’ll be preaching on Leviticus this week. It’s a stunning, beautiful text. Actually, I am drawn…
I began the celebration of Valentine’s Day yesterday by preaching on adultery and divorce. (Gotta love the Lectionary!) In about an hour I will continue the celebration by hanging out with a classroom full of first-graders who are ingesting way too much sugar. For now, though, I want to reflect on the true meaning of…
The congregation I serve has a Ministry Team. The four members and I meet once a month to pray for people connected with the church and to discuss any needs people have that the church might be able to meet. Everyone who is actively part of the congregation is assigned to one of the Team…
This morning I have a call to worship and prayer of confession based primarily on Deuteronomy 30:19-20. For those of you planning for worship, I pray a fruitful, spirit-filled preparation. Call to Worship God has set before us life and death. We long to choose life. God has set before us blessings and curses. We…
I have long loved this week’s Old Testament lectionary text, Deuteronomy 30:15-20. “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.” These words are dear to my spirit . . . “choose life.” Yet as I read the passage this time around, I…
The “Friday Five” over at Rev. Gal Blog Pals today is to share the top 5 perks/gifts of ministry. “Perks” and “gifts” seem like quite distinct categories. The “perks” would be my flexible schedule, my travel and continuing ed allowance, my housing tax break, the ability to do a lot of my work from home,…
Call to Worship, based on John 15: 1-8 We are branches, rooted in the vine of Christ. We come because we seek to abide in Christ. The branches that remain in the vine bear much fruit. We come because we long to be spiritually vibrant, alive, productive. If we abide in Christ, then Christ’s words…
Spacious Faith 