Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! Thanks to everyone who helped create a beautiful celebration and gala gathering last night.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas Eve Service 8:00 p.m.
Dear Friends,
The church is beautifully decorated and, not to be outdone, God has put flocking on all the outdoor trees.
I look forward to a wonderful celebration of Jesus' birth this evening, including a gala gathering in the parish hall with sherry, sweets, and savory's.
Amy Kortuem will play Celtic harp before and in the service.
If you can't be at Holy Communion tonight, I wish you a Joyous Christmas where ever you are.
~Tom
The church is beautifully decorated and, not to be outdone, God has put flocking on all the outdoor trees.
I look forward to a wonderful celebration of Jesus' birth this evening, including a gala gathering in the parish hall with sherry, sweets, and savory's.
Amy Kortuem will play Celtic harp before and in the service.
If you can't be at Holy Communion tonight, I wish you a Joyous Christmas where ever you are.
~Tom
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Christmas Eve Service 8:00 p.m.
Looking forward to the Christmas Eve Service! 8:00 p.m. Decorations are going up right now. Amy Kortuem will play her Celtic harp. It's going to be beautiful.
Afterward we'll gather for sherry, savories and sweets in the parish hall.
Everyone is welcome to receive communion at our services.
Afterward we'll gather for sherry, savories and sweets in the parish hall.
Everyone is welcome to receive communion at our services.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Fall back, ye saints of God
Daylight saving time ends tonight, just when we start to need it most (technically early tomorrow morning). Iceland observes it all year.
Tomorrow is All Saints Sunday. We'll be hanging ribbons for those who have been saints in our lives, as well as reading their names during the service. If you didn't get to write names on ribbons last week, take advantage of that extra hour to come a little early and do so before the service.
The question for tomorrow's sermon: How should the bible be understood?
Tomorrow is All Saints Sunday. We'll be hanging ribbons for those who have been saints in our lives, as well as reading their names during the service. If you didn't get to write names on ribbons last week, take advantage of that extra hour to come a little early and do so before the service.
The question for tomorrow's sermon: How should the bible be understood?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
All Hallows Eve with Prima Vox
Friday, October 15, 2010
New Sermon Series will begin Sunday
I'm planning a sermon series in conversation with
Brian McClaren's latest book, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are Transforming the Faith. While I don't agree with everything McClaren says, he raises very interesting questions, and gives us some insight into the emerging church movement.
Brian McClaren's latest book, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are Transforming the Faith. While I don't agree with everything McClaren says, he raises very interesting questions, and gives us some insight into the emerging church movement.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Walk or Bike to Church on 10.10.10
Walk or Bike to Church on October 10
The Minnesota Episcopal Environmental Stewardship Commission and Michael Schut of the Episcopal Church Office for Environmental/Economic Affairs have invited us to participate in the International Global
Work Party on 10/10/10. Schut writes, “This will be a great party around the world. We can all do our part.
By working together, we can send a message to world leaders that they need to get to work as well.”
Walking or biking to church when possible is a simple step we can take to reduce our carbon dioxide emission and enjoy God’s glorious creation at the same time. I hope it will also remind us that we could walk or bicycle to many of the places we visit regularly around town.
Bikes have come a long way in the last 20 years. Many are quite comfortable for casual riders, with upright postures, cushy seats, and wide gear ranges that shift easily and precisely. You can even get an electric assist up the hill or a grown-up tricycle. I’m sounding like a sales person, but if you ever enjoyed riding and still have a 20-(or more)-year-old bike, you really need to see what is available today.
Why would Christians care about the natural environment? There are a multitude of reasons in our scriptures and our theological traditions, but since we are coming up on the Feast of Saint Francis (October 4) and the Blessing of the Animals (October 9) let’s look at the one Francis inspired.
Francis of Assisi accorded the same respect to other creatures that one ordinarily grants to people. He gave them the honor of being treated as subjects in their own right, with their own purposes and desires independent of human beings. He also considered them worthy of the same salvation God extended to humanity. Francis related to the natural world in the way we need to relate to it today. He spoke of the birds and other creatures as brothers and sisters—as other beings worthy in their own right under God. They were entitled to care and love by virtue of their being.
Walking or biking alone will not be enough to mitigate climate change. We’ll need a coordinated host of actions at individual, organizational, and government levels. But they are on point, because transportation and electricity are the two biggest sources of CO2 emissions. I think of these simple acts as sacraments that remind us of our intention and our call to serve God and care for creation.
When you get home from your walk to church on the 10th, I invite you to follow up by doing something around your house that will lighten your impact on the environment there. Perhaps there’s a gap that needs sealing, or a good place to try out one of the new LED (light emitting diode) bulbs that are many times more efficient and long lasting even than the compact fluorescent ones we’ve been installing lately. If you need more ideas, you can look at the lists from the Green Congregations Program at www.TomHarries.net.
The Minnesota Episcopal Environmental Stewardship Commission and Michael Schut of the Episcopal Church Office for Environmental/Economic Affairs have invited us to participate in the International Global
Work Party on 10/10/10. Schut writes, “This will be a great party around the world. We can all do our part.
By working together, we can send a message to world leaders that they need to get to work as well.”
Walking or biking to church when possible is a simple step we can take to reduce our carbon dioxide emission and enjoy God’s glorious creation at the same time. I hope it will also remind us that we could walk or bicycle to many of the places we visit regularly around town.
Bikes have come a long way in the last 20 years. Many are quite comfortable for casual riders, with upright postures, cushy seats, and wide gear ranges that shift easily and precisely. You can even get an electric assist up the hill or a grown-up tricycle. I’m sounding like a sales person, but if you ever enjoyed riding and still have a 20-(or more)-year-old bike, you really need to see what is available today.
Why would Christians care about the natural environment? There are a multitude of reasons in our scriptures and our theological traditions, but since we are coming up on the Feast of Saint Francis (October 4) and the Blessing of the Animals (October 9) let’s look at the one Francis inspired.
Francis of Assisi accorded the same respect to other creatures that one ordinarily grants to people. He gave them the honor of being treated as subjects in their own right, with their own purposes and desires independent of human beings. He also considered them worthy of the same salvation God extended to humanity. Francis related to the natural world in the way we need to relate to it today. He spoke of the birds and other creatures as brothers and sisters—as other beings worthy in their own right under God. They were entitled to care and love by virtue of their being.
Walking or biking alone will not be enough to mitigate climate change. We’ll need a coordinated host of actions at individual, organizational, and government levels. But they are on point, because transportation and electricity are the two biggest sources of CO2 emissions. I think of these simple acts as sacraments that remind us of our intention and our call to serve God and care for creation.
When you get home from your walk to church on the 10th, I invite you to follow up by doing something around your house that will lighten your impact on the environment there. Perhaps there’s a gap that needs sealing, or a good place to try out one of the new LED (light emitting diode) bulbs that are many times more efficient and long lasting even than the compact fluorescent ones we’ve been installing lately. If you need more ideas, you can look at the lists from the Green Congregations Program at www.TomHarries.net.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Musings on Reniasance Festival and the blessings of modern life
Last Saturday I danced with the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society at the Renaissance Festival. As I was getting my costume together I had to think about all the things we take for granted today that didn’t exist 600 years ago. (When we’re there to dance we’re part of the “cast” so we’re supposed to be in a reasonable approximation of the costume of the day.) Modern things, if you need them, are kept out of sight in a bag or pouch.
Into the bag went my watch (and yet we’re supposed to perform precisely on time.:-) My cell phone, of course, set to silent and not be taken out except backstage; sunscreen, etcetera. That cell phone represents a number of successive improvements in communication over distance. In the 1300’s very few people could read or write a letter, or afford the materials to do so. Since then, at least in the developed world, we have gone through the advent of printing, the spread of literacy to nearly everyone, reliable postal service, the now old fashioned land line telephone, and email, to the cell phone which we can easily take with us to the fair, and yet with which we can easily call South Africa or Japan.
Food is expensive at the festival, so our coordinator of the day had kindly packed enough lunch to share with everyone. As we gathered round, shutting off the view of visitors, she drew out of her bag three large Tupperware containers. With a shrug she said, “What else are you going to pack it in that will seal it and keep it safe from spills?” How else indeed? Neither she nor I is old enough to remember wrapping a sandwich in anything other than a baggie or plastic wrap, or packing the potato salad for a picnic except in a plastic bowl.
The RenFest, being put on for the fun of the public, is about appearance not reality. Still, the bag I had last year was a little too clearly synthetic material, so at the state fair I looked for one made of linen or cotton. That was easy enough. More difficult was finding a color that could conceivably have been created by the dye makers of the time, and owned by a peasant. Purple was out. It could be made, but was so expensive only royalty wore it. According to Dr. Richard M. Podhajny, “Emperor Aurelian refused to let his wife buy a purpura-dyed silk garment, as it cost its weight in gold!”
I could go on and on. Just looking into fasteners was intriguing. But I’m running out of space. (I am fully aware that not every advance is an unmitigated blessing. Even so, I’d rather live today than in any previous age.)
One reason acquiring new things brings only short term enjoyment, is that we so quickly become accustomed to them. We adjust our expectations readily and soon cease to notice things that were wonders when they first appeared. Thinking through what I could use and wear that would be appropriate to the Renaissance caused me to appreciate anew many of the technologies and materials we ordinarily take for granted. It also gave me occasion to give thanks to God for human ingenuity and the products and techniques it has created.
Since gratefulness is next to godliness, I encourage this spiritual exercise: Look around your house and give thanks to God those things, human products of god-given creativity, that ease and enrich your life.
Into the bag went my watch (and yet we’re supposed to perform precisely on time.:-) My cell phone, of course, set to silent and not be taken out except backstage; sunscreen, etcetera. That cell phone represents a number of successive improvements in communication over distance. In the 1300’s very few people could read or write a letter, or afford the materials to do so. Since then, at least in the developed world, we have gone through the advent of printing, the spread of literacy to nearly everyone, reliable postal service, the now old fashioned land line telephone, and email, to the cell phone which we can easily take with us to the fair, and yet with which we can easily call South Africa or Japan.
Food is expensive at the festival, so our coordinator of the day had kindly packed enough lunch to share with everyone. As we gathered round, shutting off the view of visitors, she drew out of her bag three large Tupperware containers. With a shrug she said, “What else are you going to pack it in that will seal it and keep it safe from spills?” How else indeed? Neither she nor I is old enough to remember wrapping a sandwich in anything other than a baggie or plastic wrap, or packing the potato salad for a picnic except in a plastic bowl.
The RenFest, being put on for the fun of the public, is about appearance not reality. Still, the bag I had last year was a little too clearly synthetic material, so at the state fair I looked for one made of linen or cotton. That was easy enough. More difficult was finding a color that could conceivably have been created by the dye makers of the time, and owned by a peasant. Purple was out. It could be made, but was so expensive only royalty wore it. According to Dr. Richard M. Podhajny, “Emperor Aurelian refused to let his wife buy a purpura-dyed silk garment, as it cost its weight in gold!”
I could go on and on. Just looking into fasteners was intriguing. But I’m running out of space. (I am fully aware that not every advance is an unmitigated blessing. Even so, I’d rather live today than in any previous age.)
One reason acquiring new things brings only short term enjoyment, is that we so quickly become accustomed to them. We adjust our expectations readily and soon cease to notice things that were wonders when they first appeared. Thinking through what I could use and wear that would be appropriate to the Renaissance caused me to appreciate anew many of the technologies and materials we ordinarily take for granted. It also gave me occasion to give thanks to God for human ingenuity and the products and techniques it has created.
Since gratefulness is next to godliness, I encourage this spiritual exercise: Look around your house and give thanks to God those things, human products of god-given creativity, that ease and enrich your life.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Please welcome the Rev. Carolyn Schmidt
The Rev. Carolyn Schmidt will be here at Holy Communion to celebrate and preach this Sunday. I trust you'll give her a warm welcome.
God willing I will be returning from sailing in the Apostle Islands on Sunday evening. I'll be back next Wednesday for the job search training, which, by the way, has been going well. A small but engaged group, and one person got a job already! Don't think we can take much credit but still a nice sign of hope.
Read and Feed also went well last Thursday. Again a small but appreciative group. Thanks to everyone who helped.
God willing I will be returning from sailing in the Apostle Islands on Sunday evening. I'll be back next Wednesday for the job search training, which, by the way, has been going well. A small but engaged group, and one person got a job already! Don't think we can take much credit but still a nice sign of hope.
Read and Feed also went well last Thursday. Again a small but appreciative group. Thanks to everyone who helped.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Loving our neighbor well
So how do we go about actually doing it? How do we do it well and keep getting better at it? In order to love well it seems to me we need three things. (Which is appropriate for a Trinitarian church.) We need the right attitudes within ourselves. We need skill. And we need practices that improve our attitudes, increase our skills, and actually convey love to others.
One of the essential, foundational skills for loving well is listening. It is essential for two reasons. First listening in and of itself often helps people. It may in fact do more for the person than anything else we could do. Listening is a rare gift. To listen well requires focusing on the other with a genuine desire to know. Rather few people can actually drop their own agenda, suppress their desire to make wise pronouncements or share their own experiences, and just listen. Consequently there is a huge hunger among people simply to be heard.
Second, listening is essential because each neighbor is different. Loving our neighbor well requires responding wisely to that particular neighbor’s needs or joys. If you wanted to do something really nice for my wife, or for Rob, you might give them a really good role in a play. Me, not so much. To give me an outstanding gift you would have to provide a day of sailing—or a week. My cousin, although he likes sailing all right, would be much happier to have a carbon fiber bicycle.
These examples of course are more at the level of desire than need, but they serve to make the point. In order to respond to someone in love, you need to listen long enough and well enough to understand what would be the most loving thing to do for them.
Love well.
One of the essential, foundational skills for loving well is listening. It is essential for two reasons. First listening in and of itself often helps people. It may in fact do more for the person than anything else we could do. Listening is a rare gift. To listen well requires focusing on the other with a genuine desire to know. Rather few people can actually drop their own agenda, suppress their desire to make wise pronouncements or share their own experiences, and just listen. Consequently there is a huge hunger among people simply to be heard.
Second, listening is essential because each neighbor is different. Loving our neighbor well requires responding wisely to that particular neighbor’s needs or joys. If you wanted to do something really nice for my wife, or for Rob, you might give them a really good role in a play. Me, not so much. To give me an outstanding gift you would have to provide a day of sailing—or a week. My cousin, although he likes sailing all right, would be much happier to have a carbon fiber bicycle.
These examples of course are more at the level of desire than need, but they serve to make the point. In order to respond to someone in love, you need to listen long enough and well enough to understand what would be the most loving thing to do for them.
Love well.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Job Search Training #2
Wednesday August 4 at 10:00 am marks the beginning of our second Job Search Training. The training is free and open to the public and while we can't guarantee you'll find a job, those who work the process generally find jobs faster than those who don't. So, if you or anyone you know is looking for a new job, please come and learn how it's done in 2010.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Baptism on Sunday
God willing we will baptize Alexandra at the 9:30 service on Sunday. Please join in blessing and supporting her life in Christ.
Last Sunday we heard the Great Commandment: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says that these are the heart of life with God. So I started thinking, if that is the main thing we are supposed to be about as Christians, how do we do it well? For the rest of the summer I plan to offer a series of sermons exploring how we love our neighbor well from various angles.
Last Sunday we heard the Great Commandment: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says that these are the heart of life with God. So I started thinking, if that is the main thing we are supposed to be about as Christians, how do we do it well? For the rest of the summer I plan to offer a series of sermons exploring how we love our neighbor well from various angles.
Love in Greek
I asked Stewart if he would write a little bit about the Greek words for love and how they are used. His remarks are below. Thanks Stewart.
Love in Greek
Well, this is something I might know about, though not in N.T. context in detail. Eros and agape are famous, the former sexual love (between and among humans of either gender) and the latter, love between God and Man.
Agape seems a relatively late word in Greek. Much less common than all-purpose philia. Doesn't appear in Homer, for example. Before Christianity it seems to have been a fairly bland word governing any kind of non-sexual love but not used much. The Christians found it lying around and gave it special meaning.
Footnote: In Mod. Greek agape has won out over all the other words but with no connection to religion. S'agapo is I love you, and with a few other words like phenggari (moon) forms 66% of the vocab of pop songs.
In ancient Greece, only a few zealots like Euripides' Hippolytos loved a particular god or goddess. Mortals usually feared their gods and had no expectation that any god would care about them, let alone love them. Worship was a commercial arrangement in which you gave or promised something to the god and only then expected a return.
Christianity was a hard sell to sophisticated pagans. Also a hard sell were some Christian moral teachings about loving and forgiving enemies. (I always forgive my enemies, said Oscar Wilde: Nothing annoys them so much.) A key tenet of pagan morality was: Do good to your friends and bad to your enemies. That Jesus and Paul specifically reject this counsel must have made them seem naïve.
There are miscellaneous other words used for love: stergo (verb) usually applies to children and parents. Pothos is 'yearning' and often describes what we might call ?desire? in an athlete. Alexander was described as having a pothos.
Now we come to oft-misunderstood Platonic Love. This kind of love does not rule out physical sexuality, but sex is only the lowest rung on an anagogical ladder. You fall in love with one (or more) beautiful body and then transfer your love to what all beautiful bodies share, namely beauty or The Good, Plato's God, more or less. When you make love in the lower, physical realm the result is children, which is fine and gives you a kind of immortality. Even better, though, is the spiritual and philosophical realm where the product is not beautiful children but beautiful ideas, which yield true immortality.
All this, as you may recall, is in Socrates' speech at the end of Plato's Symposium.
Socrates' various maxims and paradoxes often blend well with Christianity: That no one does evil knowingly or willingly means that I will never do bad to my enemy. It is better to live in a good city than a bad one, so if I
do bad to my enemy I will hurt myself because I will live in a bad city.
Post scriptum: Romantic Love. This love thrives on impediments and even seeks them out. The true goal is not union in this world but in the next. So death is the perfect ending for Romeo and Juliet, ditto the Liebestod of Tristan and Isolde. But also pop songs like Teen Angel. The key may be in Denis de Rougement's Love in the Western World. He blames the Cathars, a medieval Christian sect that followed Plato in celebrating the immortal soul and denigrating the corrupt body.
Hope this is interesting.
Stewart
Love in Greek
Well, this is something I might know about, though not in N.T. context in detail. Eros and agape are famous, the former sexual love (between and among humans of either gender) and the latter, love between God and Man.
Agape seems a relatively late word in Greek. Much less common than all-purpose philia. Doesn't appear in Homer, for example. Before Christianity it seems to have been a fairly bland word governing any kind of non-sexual love but not used much. The Christians found it lying around and gave it special meaning.
Footnote: In Mod. Greek agape has won out over all the other words but with no connection to religion. S'agapo is I love you, and with a few other words like phenggari (moon) forms 66% of the vocab of pop songs.
In ancient Greece, only a few zealots like Euripides' Hippolytos loved a particular god or goddess. Mortals usually feared their gods and had no expectation that any god would care about them, let alone love them. Worship was a commercial arrangement in which you gave or promised something to the god and only then expected a return.
Christianity was a hard sell to sophisticated pagans. Also a hard sell were some Christian moral teachings about loving and forgiving enemies. (I always forgive my enemies, said Oscar Wilde: Nothing annoys them so much.) A key tenet of pagan morality was: Do good to your friends and bad to your enemies. That Jesus and Paul specifically reject this counsel must have made them seem naïve.
There are miscellaneous other words used for love: stergo (verb) usually applies to children and parents. Pothos is 'yearning' and often describes what we might call ?desire? in an athlete. Alexander was described as having a pothos.
Now we come to oft-misunderstood Platonic Love. This kind of love does not rule out physical sexuality, but sex is only the lowest rung on an anagogical ladder. You fall in love with one (or more) beautiful body and then transfer your love to what all beautiful bodies share, namely beauty or The Good, Plato's God, more or less. When you make love in the lower, physical realm the result is children, which is fine and gives you a kind of immortality. Even better, though, is the spiritual and philosophical realm where the product is not beautiful children but beautiful ideas, which yield true immortality.
All this, as you may recall, is in Socrates' speech at the end of Plato's Symposium.
Socrates' various maxims and paradoxes often blend well with Christianity: That no one does evil knowingly or willingly means that I will never do bad to my enemy. It is better to live in a good city than a bad one, so if I
do bad to my enemy I will hurt myself because I will live in a bad city.
Post scriptum: Romantic Love. This love thrives on impediments and even seeks them out. The true goal is not union in this world but in the next. So death is the perfect ending for Romeo and Juliet, ditto the Liebestod of Tristan and Isolde. But also pop songs like Teen Angel. The key may be in Denis de Rougement's Love in the Western World. He blames the Cathars, a medieval Christian sect that followed Plato in celebrating the immortal soul and denigrating the corrupt body.
Hope this is interesting.
Stewart
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Celebration of our Nation service, Thursday, July 1 at 7:00 PM
Plan to lead off your Fourth of July Celebration at a service of prayer and song with the Riverblenders.
Poster
Poster
Highlights of the lessons for Sunday July 11, when next I preach
What questions, curiosities, or thoughts do you have?
A lawyer asks Jesus Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus turns the question back to him and elicits the great commandment. Then in response to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, ending with the question, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
Paul writes to the saints at Colossae and says, “we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. “
Amos has a vision of God holding a plumb line in the midst of Israel and prophesies before the King, foretelling the exile.
In Psalm 84 God says,
"How long will you judge unjustly, *
and show favor to the wicked?
Save the weak and the orphan; *
defend the humble and needy;
Rescue the weak and the poor; *
deliver them from the power of the wicked.
Full text of lessons
A lawyer asks Jesus Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus turns the question back to him and elicits the great commandment. Then in response to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, ending with the question, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
Paul writes to the saints at Colossae and says, “we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. “
Amos has a vision of God holding a plumb line in the midst of Israel and prophesies before the King, foretelling the exile.
In Psalm 84 God says,
"How long will you judge unjustly, *
and show favor to the wicked?
Save the weak and the orphan; *
defend the humble and needy;
Rescue the weak and the poor; *
deliver them from the power of the wicked.
Full text of lessons
Monday, June 21, 2010
Lessons for Sunday, June 27
Please add your question you'd like me to address in the sermon, or comments, below.
Luke 9:51-62: Following Jesus is a whole life commitment:
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Galatians 5:1,13-25
Through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Elijah is “caught up into heaven.” Elijah picks up his mantle.
For the full text of the lessons, go to:
http://www.io.com/~kellywp/YearC_RCL/Pentecost/CProp8_RCL.html
Luke 9:51-62: Following Jesus is a whole life commitment:
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Galatians 5:1,13-25
Through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Elijah is “caught up into heaven.” Elijah picks up his mantle.
For the full text of the lessons, go to:
http://www.io.com/~kellywp/YearC_RCL/Pentecost/CProp8_RCL.html
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
A brief summary of the Lessons for Sunday, June 13
Please add your question you'd like me to address in the sermon, or comments, below.
Luke 7:36-8:3, A woman anoints Jesus’ feet
Simon, a Pharisee, invited Jesus to eat with him. While he was there a woman brought at alabaster jar of ointment. She bathed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair, kissed them and anointed them. Simon privately objects and Jesus, sensing this, tells a parable about two debtors who have their debts forgiven. “Which will love him more?” Jesus said to her, “your sins are forgiven.”
Galatians 2:15-21
Paul speaking: a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ.
Psalm 5:1-8
2 Hearken to my cry for help, my King and my God, *
for I make my prayer to you.
3 In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; *
early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you.
1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14), 15-21a
Jezebel arranges the death of Naboth, who would not sell his family vineyard to King Ahab. As Ahab goes to take possession of it, God sends Elijah to find him. Elijah says, “Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, I will bring disaster on you.
Luke 7:36-8:3, A woman anoints Jesus’ feet
Simon, a Pharisee, invited Jesus to eat with him. While he was there a woman brought at alabaster jar of ointment. She bathed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair, kissed them and anointed them. Simon privately objects and Jesus, sensing this, tells a parable about two debtors who have their debts forgiven. “Which will love him more?” Jesus said to her, “your sins are forgiven.”
Galatians 2:15-21
Paul speaking: a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ.
Psalm 5:1-8
2 Hearken to my cry for help, my King and my God, *
for I make my prayer to you.
3 In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; *
early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you.
1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14), 15-21a
Jezebel arranges the death of Naboth, who would not sell his family vineyard to King Ahab. As Ahab goes to take possession of it, God sends Elijah to find him. Elijah says, “Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, I will bring disaster on you.
Parable of the paint
Jesus parables were mostly about agriculture, with a few about merchants and possessions. He lived in a pre-industrial time and place where the vast majority of people lived by farming. What else was he going to tell parables about? If Jesus were alive today, he would likely base his parables on things we spend our time at. Earlier today I was painting an exterior window frame that had gotten to be in pretty bad shape. I got to thinking, that painting could make a reasonably parable about the process of Christian faith.
If you are starting with bare wood, you make sure it’s all clean and smooth, and then you put on a coat of primer. This is like teaching young children to have good basic values: sharing, kindness, and doing unto others only what you’d like them to do unto you. These are consistent with Christian faith, just as many of the ingredients in primer are the same as in paint, but they are more basic, intended to provide a good foundation. Like primer they make it easier for the paint of faith to stick.
As older children or, if they don’t get it then, as adults, people are ready to receive the first coat of paint with its colorful pigments. The paint is the learning of Christian faith per-se, leading to a commitment to Christ and to God in the Baptismal promises, re-affirmed at confirmation. Many people only ever get that one coat, which covers, but just barely. To get a strong, long lasting finish a person needs a second coat of adult learning to really understand their faith and practice it deeply. People who put on a second or third coat by practicing their faith have the brightest coloration as Christians.
You might think of the ongoing practice of faith as akin to the paint doing its work: keeping the sun and rain from damaging the underlying wood, and reflecting back vibrant colors of the sun to enrich everyone’s life. (Here the allegory breaks down a little, because paint wears out with time, whereas practicing faith is like exercising a muscle. It gets stronger with use.)
If you neglect to touch up your paint, as I neglected my window out back for too long, you may end up having to scrape off all the old, flaky, peeling paint, get down to bare wood and start again with primer. It will last much longer if you touch it up from time to time. Likewise our faith will hold up better if it’s touched up regularly with daily prayer, weekly worship, works of compassion, and occasionally even a spiritual retreat, which might be like getting a whole fresh coat.
Different people will have different ways of touching up their faith and keeping it bright and cheerful. Some like to study, some pray or meditate, while others prefer doing good deeds. All are good. I encourage you to select those that are most helpful for you and build them into your routine, so that your faith remains strong and vibrant.
If you are starting with bare wood, you make sure it’s all clean and smooth, and then you put on a coat of primer. This is like teaching young children to have good basic values: sharing, kindness, and doing unto others only what you’d like them to do unto you. These are consistent with Christian faith, just as many of the ingredients in primer are the same as in paint, but they are more basic, intended to provide a good foundation. Like primer they make it easier for the paint of faith to stick.
As older children or, if they don’t get it then, as adults, people are ready to receive the first coat of paint with its colorful pigments. The paint is the learning of Christian faith per-se, leading to a commitment to Christ and to God in the Baptismal promises, re-affirmed at confirmation. Many people only ever get that one coat, which covers, but just barely. To get a strong, long lasting finish a person needs a second coat of adult learning to really understand their faith and practice it deeply. People who put on a second or third coat by practicing their faith have the brightest coloration as Christians.
You might think of the ongoing practice of faith as akin to the paint doing its work: keeping the sun and rain from damaging the underlying wood, and reflecting back vibrant colors of the sun to enrich everyone’s life. (Here the allegory breaks down a little, because paint wears out with time, whereas practicing faith is like exercising a muscle. It gets stronger with use.)
If you neglect to touch up your paint, as I neglected my window out back for too long, you may end up having to scrape off all the old, flaky, peeling paint, get down to bare wood and start again with primer. It will last much longer if you touch it up from time to time. Likewise our faith will hold up better if it’s touched up regularly with daily prayer, weekly worship, works of compassion, and occasionally even a spiritual retreat, which might be like getting a whole fresh coat.
Different people will have different ways of touching up their faith and keeping it bright and cheerful. Some like to study, some pray or meditate, while others prefer doing good deeds. All are good. I encourage you to select those that are most helpful for you and build them into your routine, so that your faith remains strong and vibrant.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
First Job Search Training a Success
The first ever Job Search Training at Church of the Holy Communion was a success. Twenty one people attended at least one session of the training that took place on Wednesdays in May, while the average attendance for all the sessions was ten. Participant evaluations were uniformly positive, saying that the presentations were clear, understandable, and useful.
Heather Soukup and Nola Speiser of the Minnesota Workforce Center attended session three to share the many resources they have available. Heather said, “We’re so excited that you are offering this here in St. Peter, because that is one thing we’re not able to do!” Douglas Kalahar of the Hiniker Company came in for the session on interviewing. He shared his insights from the employer’s side of the table and responded to questions from every participant.
Each session ran from 10:00 am until noon. A simple soup lunch was served by members of the Church. It also received positive evaluations. (The training and lunch were provided at no cost to participants.)
The church plans to offer job search training once each quarter. The next four week training will begin on Wednesday August 4.
Finding a job is a job in itself—one most of us never trained for. It has gotten more complex and demanding in the last few years. Participants will learn a proven 6 step program for finding work. Anyone who is out of work, or seeking different work, is welcome to participate.
The Job Search Training has six steps that must be done in order to be effective: personal attitude, assessment, marketing strategy, marketing materials, interviews, and follow up. Participants are encouraged to attend all four session to get the full benefit of the training. Surveys have found that people who consistently work the program are more likely to find a job than those who don’t.
Heather Soukup and Nola Speiser of the Minnesota Workforce Center attended session three to share the many resources they have available. Heather said, “We’re so excited that you are offering this here in St. Peter, because that is one thing we’re not able to do!” Douglas Kalahar of the Hiniker Company came in for the session on interviewing. He shared his insights from the employer’s side of the table and responded to questions from every participant.
Each session ran from 10:00 am until noon. A simple soup lunch was served by members of the Church. It also received positive evaluations. (The training and lunch were provided at no cost to participants.)
The church plans to offer job search training once each quarter. The next four week training will begin on Wednesday August 4.
Finding a job is a job in itself—one most of us never trained for. It has gotten more complex and demanding in the last few years. Participants will learn a proven 6 step program for finding work. Anyone who is out of work, or seeking different work, is welcome to participate.
The Job Search Training has six steps that must be done in order to be effective: personal attitude, assessment, marketing strategy, marketing materials, interviews, and follow up. Participants are encouraged to attend all four session to get the full benefit of the training. Surveys have found that people who consistently work the program are more likely to find a job than those who don’t.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
