Originally posted on Spacious Faith:
The four offertory prayers below are written for the four Sundays of Advent to coordinate with the Advent candle themes. ? Holy One, this Advent season we wait in hope. And we give in hope. Hope for your coming reign; Hope because of your presence with us even now. Receive…
Originally posted on Spacious Faith:
With Matthew 28:1-10 The earth is shaking.Are angels descending?The tomb is before us.Is the stone rolling back?It’s bright as lightening, blinding as the sun reflecting off of snow.Of course we are afraid.But we need not tremble.We need not become like the dead.Because the tomb is emptyand we are calledfirst to…
Originally posted on Spacious Faith:
? OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA A few years ago I audited a class at St. Paul seminary on “Preaching and the Short Story.” There was a story on the syllabus with “Easter” in the title, and I kept thinking I should read that before I wrote my Easter sermon. So this…
I’ve been listening to a podcast about the Heaven’s Gate cult, thinking how very strange and warped the group members’ beliefs were—they thought aliens from the Halle-Bop comet were going to pick them up. Then I started looking at the story of the ascension: “While Jesus was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was…
Please see the previous post for an introduction to this prayer series. Suggested Spiritual Practice: Visual Lectio Divina You can find a description and example of this practice here. Music Links: All will be well (contemporary song) The 23rd Psalm (Bobby McFerrin) Call to Worship: Christ, you long to gather me under your wings. I…
Originally posted on Spacious Faith:
The treats Grace and I made for her party: pink pretzels. 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…
Reflections on the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Maidens Matthew 25: 1-13 Someone once told me there are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world in to two kinds of people, and those who do not. Rich and poor; men and women; Republicans and Democrats, believers and non-believers, liberal…
My RevGals prayer for this week: Saturday Prayer: A Prayer from Psalm 46 Holy, Compassionate, Comforting, Empowering God, You are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Let us not fear, though the earth quakes; though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though its…
In the spirit of “better late than never,” here are some thoughts about the Nashville Statement: To all who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, intersex, transgender, gender non-conforming, questioning and/or otherwise queer: God created you and loves you. You are sacred, you are worthy, you are an integral part of the true Church. I…
*This post is excerpted from a sermon on John 1:29-42. These days, we hear the phrase “Lamb of God” most often during Lent. We connect it to Jesus as the “suffering servant” of Isaiah 53, and it conjures up images of Jesus’ bloody body hanging on the cross. I can’t imagine, though, that this is…
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